Gigabyte P35W V3 Owners thoughts

Had it for a few weeks now but I've just had to send it back which I'll discuss further down.

One of the best laptops I've had.

• Screen is great
• SSD boot and access times are great.
• 1TB is a 7200rpm which is a BIG difference from the lone crappy 5400 I had in my Lenovo Y500.
• Speakers are adequate. I've heard worse.
• No bloatware installed and the auto-update and smart manage tools are actually useful.
• It's fast.
• It's very quiet during normal operation but when gaming it's very noisy. Not the sort of thing other family members would be willing to listen to in the same room.
• Plays Far Cry 4 on Ultra 1080p fine which is amazing for a laptop to be honest.
• At the above settings the CPU temp maxed at 90 and GPU temp maxed at 88.

BUT...

Missing 970M in Device Manager issue:

Halfway through a game of FC4 it locked - completely. On rebooting the 970M wouldn't show in device manager. It was under hidden devices as "No longer connected". When looking into the BIOS under PCIe configuration it showed NONE when it should show GENX3.

I'd read that BIOS updates and Switching ODD via Smart Manager could cause this to happen but I'd updated the BIOS a week earlier. Rolled back to an older BIOS, loaded defaults, even did a full recovery as GB told me too. Nothing would bring the 970M back! I'd arranged to have the laptop replaced and then yesterday morning I turned it on and the 970M was back again! It appears to be an intermittent fault and I cant nail down the cause so I've sent it back for a replacement anyway. I was doing nothing but playing a game when it disconnected and did nothing but turn it on one morning when it came back. I was hoping it wasn't a heat issue that had killed the 970M (it gets hot!) which fortunately does not seem to be the case.

People with P35X have been having the same issue so I hope Gigabyte get to the bottom of it.


BSOD Wifi issue:

The latest wifi driver would cause the laptop to BSOD when waking from standby and the wifi woldn't wake until you manually enabled it but I found a new driver on Lenovos site which fixed the problem. It now appears that GB have updated to this version 17 but if you are experiencing that problem, this version is the fix.

I'll post back when I get the replacement but if anyone experiences the missing 970M please let me know.

 

Thanks for posting this! I've had the laptop for the few weeks as well and share the same pros. I have not had the 970m missing issue as you mentioned. I'm hoping that's not a common thing. As far as the heat goes, I've underclocked/undervolted my CPU down to 20x/-60mv. That has helped the temps and fans a bit. Underclocking the CPU hasn't affected gaming for me and I don't benchmark.

I also had the BSOD issue. I have not tried the fixed driver so I'll give that a shot as well.

 

Do you have a guide on dropping the CPU down? The GPU, RAM and disk speed are far more important than clock speed for the stuff I do.

 

I want the P35W v3, but I'll be using it for work too and I want at least 4 hours of battery life and not to get hot when working! Should I be concerned?

 

I don't believe it will get hot doing normal work related stuff. In a software dev and temps were fine. I've not run it on a battery yet so can't can't comment although it might be worth looking up battery benchmarks for the v2 as it's likely similar in that department. (Maybe a tad better due to more efficient processors)

 

I just read the owner's for the P35X. They're essentially the same machine except for the GPU. I don't think anybody else underclocked though. They may have done it through the power settings.

 

Ive had my p35w v3 for over a month now also undervolted my cpu using intel etu only took mine down to -50mV. It ran without issue at -70mV but I prefer to run with the 20mV buffer just to be sure. Also experienced the BSOD but only before updated drivers and no issue since. Never had an issue with 970m not showing up and find everything about this laptop excellent. Great screen(1080p version), great battery life (around 6 hrs on light use, 1.5-2 hrs gaming) only issue I have had is every now and then it seems like my keyboard will produce double letters and spaces. Most frequently double space and even this doesnt happen very often so not really a problem hasnt produced any in this post yet. As far as heat, the cpu will throttle some, but with my undervolt, ic diamond repaste, and a laptop cooler, it can be prevented. Runs cool and silent during normal use and only gets hot and loud while gaming and benchmarking for me. Ive owned the razer blade 14, msi ghost pro (970m), and this is definitely the best of the 3 in my opinion.

 

Love this laptop, however there is one small concern. Seems that sometimes my keyboard will produce double letters and spaces. Most of the time its double space, which isnt quite as bad as letter I guess but its still a bit annoying. Thankfully id doesnt happen very often, but does happen enough that its noticeable. Anyone else have this issue? Wondering if its software or hardware issue and if its just my keyboard or a frequent issue with this model.

 

I haven't notice the issue, but I'm mostly gaming so I wouldn't notice it.

BTW, what were your temps before/after your repaste? Wondering if it's worth it. Underclocking/undervolting seem to do the job for me, but I'll repaste if it's a significant difference.

 

Had the repaste done by the seller so I dont know what factory temps would have been. I can say this tho, IC diamond seems to be better than Arctic silver 5 because I repasted with AS5 and temps arent as good as I was getting with IC diamond although I havent reached the recommended curing time yet so I suppose they might improve a bit. I would say if your going to be doing intensive gaming go for the repaste, if not, then dont worry about it because it only truly shines when you need that extra 2-3 degrees to keep from throttling. When I was using IC diamond I was able to prevent throttle with undervolt and laptop cooler with AS5 im getting some throttle with same conditions. Also, the IC diamond repaste job was a mess and they were very sloppy with it so a good repaste with diamond would probably be even better. I ordered a tube and hopefully when I revert back to it I can get back to throttle free gaming.

 

I'm really bloody annoyed at the moment.

So, like I said, after a few weeks and halfway through a game the 970M disappeared from the laptop. It had gone at a BIOS level because the BIOS was showing NONE under the PEG0 section instead of GENX3 as it should. Gigabyte suggested doing a Windows recovery which, of course, made no difference as it was missing at a BIOS level.

If you do "Show Hidden Devices" in Windows it would show up as "Currently Disconnected".

After 3 days trying to figure out why it had gone missing, I arranged to send it back to Scan.co.uk and on that morning, I turned on the laptop and the 970M was back and working again!!

I continued with the RMA because I don't want an intermitant fault to re-occur outside the 30 day return period, but now Scan have a laptop which they can't find a fault with. They've had it 'testing' for 3 days now (bear in mind it took two weeks for the problem to first reveal itself) and I can't get a replacement from them. Instead, I can get my current, intermittently faulty laptop back after they've been running games on it constantly to see if it will go wrong. That's another reason I don't want it back now after been left to run at max temps for so long!

Something is causing the nVidia display to disconnect (and reconnect) to the Laptop, leaving the system running from the Intel 4600 and no one knows why.

 

I am glad that I chose gs60 over this one, its amazing how gs60 can maintain the temp to 70 degrees while u are playing games

 

I've had the same issue with mine, but mainly double characters, I think u is the most common, let me try: cuue cue cuue cuue cuue cue cuue cuue cuue cuue.

 

I didn't notice the problem on mine. I should be getting it back soon so I'll give it a test.

 

I posted in the P35x thread in response to Iamanian but presume you have tried changing the Windows 'repeat rate' under keyboard settings in control panel?

 

I hadn't tried that and it does seem to improve things, thanks for the tip.

 

I am having the same problem as slikvik with the missing 970m. This is a stock p35w v3, which i have had for about 2 months, updated drivers and latest bios, no bluescreens. However, yestersay, a game I was playing locked up and froze (windows was not stuck, just the game, but I couldn't bring task manager into view to to close the game). I attempted to restart my computer, and midway through I was given multiple warning messages from the system tray saying that the game was blocked from using the display adapter. I continued with the reboot, and the next time I logged in there was no 970m in device manager. Also, my PEG0 status in the bios (under Chipset) says NONE.

I have managed to make PEG0 display GEN1 (instead of GEN3 like it should be), but after booting up windows I still would not have a 970m show up. Showing hidden devices in Device Manager shows that it was disconnected. I tried uninstalling the device and the Nvidia drivers (even though the problem seems to be at the bios level, but whatever), and tried uninstalling a disconnected PCI Express device in device manager, but I am still not able to get my 970m to show up. It's been less than 24 hours, so I'm not ready to file an RMA just yet (gigabyte's website is down anyway). I have not tried installing an older bios just yet, but I did try reflashing the current bios, which did not bring the card back. As soon as Gigabyte's website is back up I will try getting an older bios version.

Any other ideas? I really like this laptop, but I need that 970m

 

Its very frustrating. The fact mine came back with no explanation doesn't help solve the problem. I've now had the laptop back a few weeks and it hasn't gone wrong again so far. BUT I haven't been gaming anywhere near as much as before.
After it went wrong, I did downgrade the BIOS, but the problem didn't fix itself until a few days after that (although I didn't re-upgrade the BIOS, and haven't since so....)

 

Yeah, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any clear solutions to this problem. I found others with situations similar to this, but with different manufacturers, and no definitive fix.

Do you have a link for the older bios? I don't see it on gigabyte's site.

 

I had the exact same problem - once in the 2 months I've owned the laptop.
I notice there is a new BIOS available in the last few days (FB09) - so hopefully this resolves some of these issues.
Anyone know if Gigabyte provide release notes for the BIOS updates?

Also, I don't know if it is a coincidence but I've found games much more reliable and performance is better if I stick to the Nvidia drivers that Gigabyte provide, rather than getting the latest driver directly from Nvidia / Geforce Experience.

 

Hello,

I am currently debating between either taking the P34W or the P35W V3. Two quick questions: how is the heat/throttling on this machine? Secondly, are the CPU/GPU soldered or are they upgradeable? Thanks!

 

I own the P35w v3 so only know about that, but I'm 99% sure the CPU/GPU are not upgradeable. Heat/Throttling I've never had an issue with and the new BIOS (which I haven't used yet) I believe sets the max temp to 95deg so I would think would remove the very minor throttling that you could get running benchmarks before (90deg). The key is fan noise though really as running on full Max fans removes any throttling but is very loud. I actually run the CPU under-volted and under clocked to 2.4ghz most of the time and i can then play most games with the laptop on my knee and on the 'low auto' fan profile and whilst my better half is watching TV

I'm very happy with mine, it's great for my needs, but I know there are a few who have had issues more so with the p35x version so maybe worth having a read in that thread. Also quite a lot of choice in the 15" 970m laptops now so choosing got much more difficult... Hope it helps.

 

Yes, GentechPC just confirmed to me it is not upgradeable: bummer!...Oh well. Anyway, thanks for your feedback! I'll go have a look at the P35X thread, but what are the biggest issues people are having (apart from the 970m suddenly disappearing)?

 

If the laptop has a HQ processor, it's soldered. If it has a MQ, it's socketable and removable.

 

Well, I've finally ordered mine from GenTechPC: we'll see how it goes!

 

hi,any update on disconnect graphic card issue?since i also having the same problem..update to new bios and some update also not helping

 

Boy, I had totally forgotten about that issue, I hope I won't run into the same problem :/

 

Well, I have just received my P35W, out of the box, factory installation and...No 970M...Great, I either find a solution or I am asking for a refund.

 

Sorry to hear that, is it not showing in device manager or gpuz?

 

Not at all.

 

Maybe just try Nvidia inspector too and see if that picks it up, but it does sound very strange. Not sure if it is possible that the 970 could be disabled via BIOS, which is the only other thing I can think of.
Let me know if you'd like me to check anything settings wise on mine to compare and I can try and help later. Hope it's something simple...

 

Could be the Bios, but I am not an expert (I have almost never been in the Bios): where is the 970m located in the Bios on your machine? I can check if I have the same settings.
Nvidia inspector didn't pick up anything. Now the funny thing: after uninstalling the factory drivers they stopped being "reinstalled" everytime I reinstalled the factory settings of the laptop.

 

Worth putting a call in to your reseller and logging a support case with Gigabyte I would think. I'll take a look for you when I get home and see if I can see anything in the BIOS.

 

Ok, thanks!

 

The only thing I can see in BIOS is under Advanced tab check '3d graphics Acceleration' is set to enabled. I've checked and it should just show under device manager/display adapters. Not sure what else to suggest, did any of the previous users with the issue ever get a response from Gigabyte?

 

3D graphics acceleration is enabled under the Bios. I am at work at the moment, but I will call GenTechPC when I'll get home.

 

same as mine..inside devise manager gc showing disable..try using nvidia update also not found..finally just send back to reseller and waiting for a good news

 

Does anyone have any more information about this issue and what is causing this?

 

I returned mine... 970M, ran so hot it burnt my fingers. Top half of the KB.

 

So, I am now thinking about buying the Gigabyte P35W V4-CF2 and I was wondering if the problems with the previous model were resolved in any way, since the GPU is the main reason I'm considering this machine. Also, is anyone aware of any issues with the newer model?
Thanks