P35W v2 News

This is why the keyboard in this machine has so much flex. It is just one thin aluminum piece.










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What does that mean? Is the machine not performing at a 100 percent with the included power brick?

 

Yeah, the power brick limits electric current to maintain power output below 150 Watts, which does not let laptop go full speed. What components and how exactly are throttled is hard to tell.
My guess would be that CPU does not turn turbo as though you set max CPU power to 99% in power settings. The latter is how you typically limit laptop power envelope on full by OS means. My P35G is set like that and it never goes above 127 Watt.
However, power brick limit affects not just CPU but other components too.

 

Just receive mine I'm one of the first in France!

It looks very well built and is very nice.
The keyboard flex is not a problem for me (but the keys are a bit too big).
The screen is great and really wide angles (but there is some small white areas - not that much big deal but unfortunate - do you know if it is a reason to send it back in with the warranty?)

But the main issue is the heat and the noise.
When doing the installation, the laptop was incredibly hot in the area between the keyboard and the screen.
After the installation of the drivers, looks a (tinny) bit better but still too hot for IDLE (I haven't try to launch any soft yet). It shouldn't be hot at all when the machine is doing nothing, right?

And come with that the noise issue because fans need to start often: sometime it is perfectly silent, most of the time it's okay, and sometime it is too loud.
And that why it is annoying: the change of noise level very often.

Can we expect Gigabyte to fix that with the next firmeware (as MSI did more or less for the GS60)?
Or should we prepare to do it ourself with undervoltage, etc (is that even possible?)?

So my early conclusions are (but I can for the mac universe so I'm difficult :
Nice laptop but I really really hope that the heat/noise issue will be fixed in a near future (at least in idle)… Otherwise I'll have a problem with this laptop (that I can't return)

Oh and btw, this laptop is a fingerprint nightmare

 

Hi guys i'm getting this error when i try to use gigabyte's smart usb backup app....i even restore my windows drive to factory settings and still the same thing. Any help please...




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So I disabled the 870m and it is wait better so far. Looks like optimus isn't capable yet to tell when using or not the integrated chipset.
I'll see with some load how it is.

I'm a bit worried about the white spots on the screen, do you think it worst to send it back to ask to change the display or it will be the same with all the displays?
It's ok because it is only when the screen is black that I can see them but still, too bad for such a good display.
What do you think?

 

I had 3 replacements before the one i have now. All of them with light bleeding on the screen. I think the issue is not the screen, is the bezel that surrounds the screen. If you press the bezel in the area where the white spot is, you will see the spot disappear.

At the end i accepted a fourth replacement with still issues of light bleeding on the screen.


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Yeah that what I thought, it can't be avoided…
Thanks for the answer anyway, it make me more comfortable with mine

I have a extra question about the SSD/HDD because I have some issue to understand how it works:
Here what my disk look like (in French sorry)


- What should I do to use the 1to HDD as storage? It doesn't appear in the computer and I can't even formate it…
- Should I change the order and put disk 0 (the FREEDOS) as 1 and the SSD as disk 0

Thanks for the help

 

You have to right click on the 1tb HDD and click on create a new volume.


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Any help with this guys? I can't use the smart USB backup app.





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I received mine this week from Affordable Laptops (Australia) and wanted to share my initial impressions. Note that I've only used it for a few hours and nothing heavy. Also, I'm comparing to my old Macbook pro from '09....

-build quality is pretty good but the screen has some flex and I think this is a real shame
-fingerprints galore
-the screen is inferior to my macbook pro from 2009. Seriously, in spite of the glossy finish on the mac, I've always liked it - viewing angles are truly wide. The gigabyte's colours and brightness change even with slight head movements. Perhaps I'm too fussy
-there's lightbleeding particularly along the top edge but it's subtle and not a deal-breaker
-the keyboard does indeed flex in the middle though not excessively. The keys don't offer the same give as my macbook's (but the difference is subtle)
-I wish the touchpad, though adequate, could be more sensitive (even after I adjusted the sensitivity). I like a light tap to be able to select an item (eg hit a link whilst browsing) but I'm finding I have to use slightly more pressure than I would my macbook. It sounds silly as the difference is minuscule but it does change the experience
-whisper-quiet whilst doing nothing intensive. My mac has an audible whine at all times but the gigabyte thus far doesn't.
-the battery check button could have been easier to access

Please don't hate for comparing against my mac, these are my personal observations. Nothing I've mentioned makes me regret the purchase and at the end of the day, what I really bought this thing for was gaming, which I could never do on the macbook pro. With time I reckon I'd get used to the nuances, as with any new set-up.

 

I also received my laptop from Affordable Laptops a few days ago. Have to say, they were excellent in processing my order, as I had to delay payment for a week, but once that was completed, delivery was fine.

The laptop itself is what I expected, comparing this to my old Dell Studio XPS 15" it's much less bulky and thin and light. I share the same sentiments with EgonSpengler in many aspects of the laptop:

- I hate keyboard flex in general, and was quite worried before buying this that it would be an issue. ALthough there is some flex on the keyboard, it's not a problem for me at all.
- I have some minor light bleeds on the bottom and top of the laptop which I only really notice during bootup, otherwise it's no issue.
- Track pad is average at best, the sensitivity isn't good at all, but given that I mainly use a mouse, I can live with it.

Now on to my biggest issue, if someone could please help! I mainly play Starcraft 2, which I installed first thing, and noticed that there is pretty horrific lag, not only on the highest video settings (Ultra), but also on low settings. When I play both AI and Multiplayer, mainly towards the middle to late game. At first I thought it was a graphics card issue, so I made sure that the computer was always using the NVIDIA card in the settings, but still have the issue. BF3 works perfectly fine on ultra settings in multiplayer, so I know that the graphics card is working okay at least, so it must be isolated to Starcraft 2 or Blizzard games?

If someone has been playing starcraft 2 on this computer, or has Starcraft 2, could they please see if it runs ok, and whether they have come across this problem? Any help would be appreciated!

 

It's been a wee while but I'm back with a few benchmark tests to show performance, noise and temperature.



Does anyone have any requests that I could reasonably accommodate at this point?

 

I've yet to see a teardown of this laptop...;-)

 

And your 'yet' will continue for a while longer

 

vgifelix - could I ask for you to run Starcraft 2 on your machine? To see if it runs properly on High/Ultra settings with no FPS drops. I'm having some problems with mine where the FPS drops even in menus etc. Really shouldn't happen.

 

Haven't got Starcraft II I'm afraid.

 

Is it for sure running on the nvidia card?

 

Yea, it's definitely running on the NVIDIA card, manually set it in the NVIDIA control panel. If I can verify it's isolated to only Starcraft 2, then there's nothing I can do about it until a patch I think, but if other people can run it fine, then it might be my machine somehow.

 

The further I go, the better it comes about the heat and the noise so it is a good news.

But it makes a "scratching" noise all the time... Is normal for the PC? (I had a macbook pro so I can't tell...)

Also I just realize that the screen is much smaller than my old 15" macbook. At least 3 cm are missing at the height.. too bad because there is a lot of space at the top and the bottom of the screen...
Is that really a 15"? And why it is so strech (16/9)?

 

The scratching sound is likely a bad HDD or an overactive ODD, or maybe a faulty fan or loose wire hitting the fan mount. At any rate, it shouldn't make those noises. Mine is totally silent (except when the fans spin up while gaming), but I have neither an ODD or HDD installed.

Re the screen, it is 15.6", so it is actually bigger than the 15.4" on the MBP. It may look smaller to you because the bezel is big and because the aspect ratio is 16:9 instead of 16:10.

 

I just got a response email from Gigabyte today about the 3 different screen types that the P35w v2 is being shipped with.
Here is the email...

"According to our HQ in Taiwan. There are three LCD panel options. Two are IPS and one is non-IPS.

For IPS Panel, there’re 2 panel AVL:
LG LP156WF4-SPK1 C.G. 72%
AUO B156HAN01.2

For non-IPS Panel, please refer to the followinf Panel Model.
CMI N156HGE-LA1

Regards,
Ching Shih
Technical Support Agent"

I just got off the phone with Gentech.com and they said they have the CMI N156HGE-LA1 variant only. Which is a non-IPS display. They said that the LG display was back ordered. They did not know when the IPS displays will be available again. Super Bummer.
So those of you that got your early. Damn, YOU LUCKY!!!

 

I would still like to know about the mouse functions. does it have tap to click, two finger scroll, and, most importantly, does it have two finger tap to open menu?

 

Yes, all that can be customised. But sensitivity is poor.

 

I want to ask, how are the temperatures of this laptop while unplugged/on the go? Would it be reasonable to use this on a lap/thin table? I don't mean for gaming while unplugged, just stuff like web browsing and video playback.

Also, how do the temperatures feel while playing games (plugged in)? Does the keyboard remain usable?

 

Thanks for your response. When you say poor. What might that entail? I tried a gs60 out at a local store and the mouse pointer would wobble side to side when you would try and drag it across the screen slowly. Anything like that or by "sensitivity is poor" you mean it takes a second or something to pick up your touch?

Cheers!

 

I fixed the issue. Don't rename your (Windows C: ) drive, otherwise smart backup won't work.


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Oh no, not like that. Tracking is smooth. Just the amount of pressure needed to register a click - could have been lighter in my opinion.

The GS60 is pretty sexy but heat and noise seemed like it would have been an issue...maybe next year's model haha

 

Thank for the answer. Indeed, looks like it is link to the left fan because everytime it speed up, I heard the noice.
I'll bring it back to my retailer to check.. Damn

Ok for the screen but when I put them next to each other, it is definitly not bigger (around 680 cm2 for the p35 and 690cm2 for the mbp)

How do you do to know the reference of the already buyed laptop?

EDIT: Found it
It is AUO12ED
So is that the IPS panel ?

 

I have a question regarding the touchpad. Is there anywhere to get elastic (rubber band) scrolling). Like you get on tablets, smartphones, macbook, chromebooks etc.

I googled this for about half an hour last night and couldn't find a suitable answer.

Ta

 

I would google something like smooth scrolling

 

According to this post Acer has similar display and AUO12ED is AUO B156HAN01.2, i.e. IPS.

 

:thumbsup: thanks

 

How do the running temps in this compare to the P34G v2 (and MSI Ghost, which could be a direct competitor)? Also, question about the cards. How much better is the 870M than the 860M?

 

Notebook check has reviewed both this should answer your question! P35W v2 P34G v2.
I'm still not sure If I will get one
heat & noise as on every slim gaming notebook

 

Just got my P35W v2 from GenTechPC, for anyone wondering the panel ID is CMN15B9, google turns up nothing.

 

How do you like it so far?

 

It runs a bit hot as I expected, playing some World of Tanks it quickly heated up to 84C+ and the fans started to run at max, wasn't able to get an extended session in as I've been installing stuff most of the evening. Otherwise its very nice, screen looks good no light bleed, computer is very responsive (I've got 16GB of RAM and a 1TB Samsung 840 EVO mSATA as the OS drive though, ~$2350 total from GenTechPC with student discount), does a good job switching from integrated graphics to the 870M, when in normal use the top of the keyboard (above the GPU/CPU area) feels pretty warm but it's only 59C at idle and the fans run quietly, its not warmer then my 3 yr old Asus at idle but the heat moves through the thin laptop much easier.

Windows 8.1 is actually pretty nice as someone coming from a 4 yr old Win7 laptop, system resources being used at idle are A LOT less then Win7, uses about 1GB of RAM less then Win7 for similar tasks, that being said losing the start menu is sad but i'll get over it. Lastly, as people have said the keyboard is a fingerprint magnet, but so was my old Asus so that may just be plastics sucking.

 

As for me, I downclocked and limit the Turbo boost settings from intel.. Found out that when it uses the turbo boost settings CPU throttles to around 90C max.. decided to download intel XTU and reduced the multiplier to 25x the same base clock rate for the 4710HQ, and now on max load CPU temps are at 70C max..

it sure is a fingerprint magnet, customized my palm rest area with a matte skin... no more fingerprint magnet

 

How does the laptop performs when you are playing games?? Can you explain me a little bit more about what you did to get 70c on full load?
Thanks.


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Is anyone thinking on repaste the gpu and cpu? Maybe using ic diamond or artic cooling mx-4. I have never repasted a cpu or gpu.


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It is probably relatively new display panel, hence no search results. It is clear that it is 15 inch panel by Chi Mei (also known as CMI = Chi Mei Innolux). On this page nomenclature goes up to N156B6 (no B9) Judging from another post in this thread it is most likely non-IPS display.

 

Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) allows you to set manually CPU multiplier in turbo mode as well as maximum multipliers depending on how many cores are active simultaneously. Here's a representative screenshot



There is a lot more to tweak there. I've found out that not all parameters can be tweaked on P35 but I have not tried hard and, perhaps, I was doing something wrong.


There is an article with some videos on how to use the utility.

 

I know this has been talked about and I have bought some V1's with success. Does this seem like normal keyboard travel? It seems massive to me. I am not sure if my customer is going to like this.
I got the machine from HIDevolution and they said they did have to take the keyboard off to apply thermal paste.

20140723 154552 on Vimeo

 

That's what I see on mine. I typically press lightly on keys so it's not that pronounced. But it may cause some key press misses from time to time because keyboard flexed and key did not travel all the way. It also creates a feel of "flimsiness."

Have not been a real issue for me so far. But YMMV.

 

Seems massive. I did a video ( Gigabyte P35W V2 Laptop Review #11: Using the Keyboard - YouTube) on the travel on mine laptop and while it's noticeable in the middle. It doesn't do that on the side and nowhere near as much as that.

 

Another video on the fans and performance today. I decided to play with the fan settings whilst converting a video and I got some interesting results.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I think the keyboard may have not been put back together properly. I am just contemplating going through the hassle of sending it back. this is to replace an MSI with an AC7260 that wouldn't work ! The customer is going to be pissed also.

Would you send this back?

 

Right and this customer types all day like you would not believe. Just not sure because this is replacing a Ghost Pro MSI that has a great keyboard.

 

My retailler said that the scratching noise is normal with a HDD WD blue so I guess I'll have to deal with it (but not that big deal )

TheSilverSky, the IPS screen have some white areas so your screen looks good even if it isn't a IPS

Thanks a lot for the Intel XTU tip. I'll try this right away!