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Well I found this thread on the driver.
NVIDIA GeForce 296.10 WHQL - Guru3D.com Forums

Looks like many others are having the same problem. Surprised nobody here is having trouble. ?

Going to rollback the driver now. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I will also change the driver link in the original post to reflect the previous driver with a disclaimer for others.

UPDATE:

I couldn't rollback because I did a clean install. But, here is the link to 295.73.
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/41704

 

Well, I've discovered this is a common problem with the fullscreen not working going mostly black. But, it is unrelated to the driver.

But, the pink screen crash is still undiagnosed...

 

@swiftden : Have you looked at the Force 1761, the 17.3" barebones? You might get exactly what you want with that model.

On another note, XoticPC is back ordered on the i7 2670qm. They said they can get the build started away if I upgrade to the 2720, but I can't afford that. So now I'm waiting for the stock to arrive. Anyone has any clue how long it might take?

 

Can you get your money refunded?

First your Sager ordered model discontinued and now your CPU of choice out of stock?

Check other resellers like GenTech if they have the model and the upgrades you desire.

 

Won't that take too long? Wait for the refund, send the check again, I think it's better to wait for the stock to come. It can't that long.. can it?

Their service has been excellent, and I'm actually glad the Sager model was discontinued, I had completely missed the better Force 1761 model! ^^

 

The Intel® i7-2630QM and up will support 32GB of DDR3/1600 as long as you have Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate. With Premium they will only support 16GB.

 

@eelkered, when's the review coming up?

 

Look here

 

I read yours, Tim. I thought eelkered would also make one (the more the merrier, right?). =c]

 

Yeah!!!

 

I haven't added anymore to the post yet. But, I'm here in the meantime just let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll be glad to help out.

 

Just got some Phobya 7.0w/mk thermal pads (1.5mm for under the gtx580, and this time 1.0mm for the top of the gtx580 - apparently they can compress to 0.5mm although I hear from Pau1ow that this may not be entirely accurate), and applied some IC diamond.

Tried a 15% overclock (714 core, 1725 memory), and got 16,896 in Vantage:
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-1761 score: P16896 3DMarks



Highest temp was 82 C during that run, which is not too bad.

I'll post some results over higher overclocks shortly.

Here's some random photos:

Warming the IC Diamond in boiling water:



Cut out and applied the Phobya pads:



Applied the IC diamond (it's a lot easier to apply when its been warmed up, but still sticky and a little tricky) That 'line' method seems to give me pretty good application every time on the GPU - I've checked the results (and then reapplied) a number of times.

 

Shaun !

Well done !

But here are my suggestions:
- 82C degrees seems to be a b it high for this overclock and Vantage test. Did you use cooler boost or have a special profile ? I reached 79degres at 750/1800 @ Vantage with the normal fan profile long time ago, now should be even lower as the fan kicks out at 100% @ 65degrees lol
- Clean properly your gtx580m core and around it ideally with the Artic Cleaner kit lol,
- Did you check when the card and heatsink were out of the MOBO that there were almost contact between each other with the pads fitted ? The core and the copper should almost touch each other so that when you screw it, the contact is perfect.
- Don't use the line method but the Pea method. What I do is I put a small pea in the center of the die and some really tiny bits/peas on each corner to make sure there will be some paste at each extremity of the core Worked well for me and as I tried several methods, even though the core is rectangular, the line method is not appropriate

 

Hey Pau1ow, I didnt use the cooler boost. Just ran this time and let the system control the fan. Here's how I did it: I put the 1mm pads on top, and no paste on the GPU. I then put a very very thin piece of plastic (say 0.1mm) under the gpu and leave some hanging out. Then I fasten the heat sink, and then try to pull on the bit of the plastic I left hanging out. If I cant pull on it then I know there is good contact That was the case here. So if you are getting lower temperatures, then perhaps we can put it down to the difference between the line method and the pea method. I'll pull it apart and try the one large pea in the centre and the two small peas on the edges and repeat the above test, then post back results here.

 

Alright I'm back again with some more OC'ing results.

This time I ran at 750 core, 1800 mem, turbo fan on.

Max temp 78 C during a Vantage run. Turbo fan sure makes a difference! I'll pull her apart tomorrow and reapply the paste as per your suggestion Pau1ow and hopefully get some improvements!

Score is here: Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-1761 score: P17463 3DMarks

 

Looks good shaun ! I advise you to put 4 small peas on each corner, this is what I've done and I think that looks cool and effective

 

Hehe I like 'cool and effective'.. The line don't look cool!!!

 

Update MSI 16F3:
(i7-3820QM, 4x4GB @ 1600 MHz, GTX670M)
3DMark2006: 20.500

The F3-screen seems to be darker than the F2. (235cd/m² <-> 270 cd/m²)

 

You'd rather bench 3dmarkVantage and/or 11 one.de

Shaun keep me posted !

 

Thanks, I had actually read that but didn't link it to you somehow

Sorry. Anyway, your setup is very similar to the one I ordered. Any thoughts on the 570gtx? What have you thrown at it?

 

Battery life seems like the biggest improvement.

7 hr 32 min

 

Wow, that is an amazing score you got there! Did you trying running furmark or games for stability?

That may be a new new record! Where's Meaker....?

I may have to try Oc'ing mine again.

 

Just a reminder, salada2k has a 580M, not a 570M

 

(Homer stlye) DOH!!!

 

Yes this is a 580m so no record unfortunately

I don't doubt any stability at those clocks however I'm yet to put it through a gaming session.

p.s. I dont run Furmark. It's a very dangerous program and has killed many many GPU's and you need to be really careful with it.

 

If you video card cannot survive Furmark it is no good. We test every unit with Furmark and if it doesn't pass, it doesn't ship!

You only need to run it until the temperature flat-lines for a few minutes, but you should be able to run Furmark indefinitely if your card is good. If it can't, blame your card, not Furmark.

 

You are kidding...right?

It may look cool, but it is not effective.

 

I had a 580m die on me because of Furmark. Let's however be clear about 'passing a Furmark run' and 'doing lots and lots of Furmarking'.. Because the latter has killed many many GPU's. Have a read of the Alienware forums. You might want to blame the card as opposed to Furmark, and that might be fair to say, but the reality of the situation is that it IS killing people's very expensive graphics cards, and people need to be aware of that fact.

What method would you suggest?

 

I think there's more disagreement on the Internet about thermal compounds and their application than there is about the best antivirus.

I get pretty close to the same results using several different TCs using a surface spread method.

I first clean off the old TC with Tuniq TR-1

Then I put a grain of rice size amount of the TC on the chips and heatsinks.

Next,with a finger covered with plastic wrap I smear the TC around the surfaces.

After that,I use the straight edge of a credit card,held with the thumb and forefinger of both hands low on the sides of the card and level the TC across the surface.

This works for me with all the MX series,Tuniq TX series and AS5.

I have some IC Diamond on the way to use on my next repasting since my favorite Tuniq TX-3 supply is exhausted and no longer available.

Tuniq TX-2 and TX-4 are IMO not as good as TX-3.

 

I ordered my MSI Force 1761 last Saturday from XoticPC found out that the damn i7-2670 will take an extra 1-2 weeks in production time although I hope its worth it... based on what I've read here it seems like it will be =P

 

I disagree, salada. I believe that furmark is nothing more than you playing a very demanding 3d game for a good run. If my graphics card cannot take several game sessions, why would I want to get it? It's like having a sports car and only being able to rev over 3k for a few seconds at a time, it doesn't make sense.

It should be able to survive as many game sessions as you will throw at it, otherwise it does not serve its purpose.

 

My Furmark two cents....... Furmark stress testing is a very different animal than running a demanding 3D game. I use Furmark, but with care, and not habitually. It's great to see notebooks punished to their limits, over extended periods of time, but NOT MY NOTEBOOK!

Perhaps it's a good idea to consider Nvidia's tech support position on this:

Using FurMark and other Stress Tests with GeForce graphics cards

I think the very first post in the link above sums it up nicely, and I am a bit surprised with Donald's position here.

Use Furmark with care, and you do so at your own risk.

 

With all due respect, sir, I believe you need to understand that the code that runs Furmark is specficially designed to stress test, and games DO NOT do that in the same fashion. There is also plenty of information out there about what Furmark does which supports the claim that it should be used with caution.

That's a good explanation, Striker.

 

I've run Furmark quite a bit, with no issues.

I haven't run it since reading about cards being bricked though.

 

Better to be safe than sorry

At the end of the day we know that

a) Furmark is a stress test tool, that is unlike running a 3D game
b) You likely bought your laptop to run games as opposed to endlessly Furmarking it

So given the above, if your laptop can play games stably, or run in-game benchmarks stably, then is it really necessary anyway to run Furmark to certify that your system is stable?

Not really!

Now don't get me wrong, I like to see my laptop pass all tests as well, and up until my last 580m dying a horrible death, I would advocate the use of Furmark. However it's a case of once bitten twice shy for me, so perhaps my opinion/point of view is tainted. Next time around I have no excuse if my 580m dies. And my wallet will be a lot lighter. So I will no longer use Furmark.

 

Even looking at the Furmark site, Furmark is described as........

and......

Notice it says, 'the PSU too'!

Is everyone here an ' overclocker' or 'graphics card fanatic'? I think NOT!

Interestingly enough, the Furmark website also displays pics of video cards damaged by the software.

 

This one is a beauty! Ouch. Also wrt the PSU, my 180w used to cut out a lot during a Furmark run due to being overloaded.

 

As a side note about Futuremark:

Rovio Entertainment (Angry Birds) acquires Futuremark (3DMark, PCMark) Games Studio

Press Release
Rovio Entertainment acquires Futuremark Games Studio - Rovio Entertainment Ltd

 

Yes, I read some things after yours and Striker's posts. It does seem that furmark is much more taxing on the hardware, so thanks to both of you for enlightening me.

 

Furemark is dangerous, especially when you are overvolting your GPU like all of us do..the heat, power consumption and load is then increased tenfold..

 

So anyone here with the SteelSeries keyboard? On page 1 of this thread, you can see the WASD keys lit up, but only those keys. When I try it on mine that whole left hand section of the keyboard lights up, cant get it to just do WASD only... Is that the general consensus or am I missing something?

 

Like car blows its engine under high stressing and rev-ing, a gpu will do the same

 

Enjoying your new Internet speed! That looks great in your signature.

On page 1 in post #1 I see pix only of the standard keyboard without backlighting.

 

It will not light only the WASD. But, I you really want only those keys lit there is a way to it. Although it is a semi-permanent solution.

You can open up the key board and use a dark liner to block the other keys in the "left third" group of keys. Then you can set the keyboard to light only the "left third" and only the WASD will be illuminated.

Not something I would want myself. I keep all of my keys lit myself.

I did something like this for my wife's laptop. She wanted her Keyboard to be lit in pink as her's only lights up white. So using Ken Lee's film suggestion - I bought a roll of pink cellophane from Hobby Lobby. Opened the keyboard and laid in a sheet of the film over the LED's. It turned out really well.

So same idea for you but use a non-translucent film or paper to block the keys you don't want lit.

Just an idea if you REALLY want just the WASD lit.

 

Oh I forgot. I also cutout the WASD keys from the cellophane to allow the the WASD to a brighter White than the rest of the wife's pink keyboard.

If guess you could do the same but of course you would be stuck with the solid color of the cellophane you chose.

 

Hey Eelkered, I'm getting the same Glossy 72% Gamut screen as you have on your 1761...

Was wondering what you'd compare its quality to?

It doesnt have that ugly blurry effect like the matte finish?

 

Yep, loving the new internet mate!! yes, on second looks it does look like the standard keyboard, so does the standard keyboard light up the WASD like that? Interesting.. I have the Steelseries so no big deal, I was just curious

Great idea there eelkered, I'm not that fussed really and like the ability to change the colours so probably not keen on something semi permanent, but 10/10 for thinking outside the box

On a different note, I'd like to share something with you all here. Apparently, some things in life are completely free. How about a free copy of AIDA64? It's a benchmarking and system diagnostics tool.. Should appeal to everyone here!!!!

AIDA64 Extreme Edition 1.85

There's 18 hours left. I just got my license key for free and this deal is verified. All I had to do was wack in my email address and create an account, then follow the prompts. All up took two minutes and now I have a copy of AIDA 64 Extreme Edition, for free!!! It's usually worth $39.95...

I'm still gobsmacked.... Don't delay guys this is pretty awesome. Apparently they do this kind of thing every day? Anyone else heard of it?

 

Very nice find salada2k...... got my FREE copy!

 

I haven't had a matte screen in over a decade. So, I didn't want to try switching. Others report good things about it though. I, on the other hand, can't imagine it being much better than this.

 

No problems, Striker, I almost couldn't believe it Free software tastes good. AIDA64 IS nice..