**OFFICIAL M860TU/ETU Owners Lounge**

there is a whinning noise in the background. i cant hear anything on mine except the fan.

 

Put your hear close to the Enter key.
The CPU whining is a very well know issue with Intel CPUs. When they go into a lower energy state, they do this screeching, high-pitched, whining noise. It's difficult to explain...
BUT... not a major problem, I have to say. I can only hear it if I'm looking for it and, I trust Clevo will be able to sort it out with a Bios update.

 

Well my HDD is peaking at 59 while instealling stuff not sure if thats gd or bad. Will have to see what i goes down to after it gets a chance to cool off!

 

Do you guys use HWMonitor Pro to monitor temps?

EDIT: Ignore, question answered a couple of pages back.

Petrov.

 

Well if you can only hear it by putting your head to the enter key it's really not a big deal.
Can you play music ont eh m860tu without turning it on i.e. use it as a big mp3 when its in your backpack. I was just curios as i know there are a few laptops out there that have this feature. I think they were asus notebooks.

 

I can't wait to get mine, everyone. Still waiting.

 

an update from my side:

I've turned OFF bluetooth and updated the Intel wireless drivers to version 12.0.0.82 ( http://downloadcenter.intel.com/fil...64-bit+version&lang=eng&strOSs=159&submit=Go!)

So far so good, haven't noticed any more disconnects (touch wood)!

Petrov.

 

Nope, not on, and you're 100% right about that patch/proper sata drivers. I actually never installed the hotkey drivers because it seemed useless. I'm running my own install of XP and... oh boy it was lots of not fun to finally install Intel's sata drivers (that's what that 'vista patch' is). I think it makes a big difference in XP as well, as the fans come on a lot more - maybe the fan control needs to properly recognize the controller? So, if anyone's bought one of these notebooks without an OS and is installing XP:

1) use an xp cd slipstreamed with intel's driver pack and cross your fingers (this didn't work for me actually :/ at least not as a repair install) or
2) hope you have a USB floppy and put the drivers you need (ichr9m sata controller drivers, pm 45 chipset controller, part of intel's matrix storage manager) on it and use that during XP install.
3) "Vista" mode in the BIOS = AHCI/SATA mode enabling. Choosing "XP" gets rid of any option to switch on SATA mode (or the Turbo Memory -.- great)

Anyways, with said proper SATA drivers ("patch", a "patch" which you can't install in XP except from a floppy during setup itself), the max I've reached is 59C, and the fans kick in constantly if it wanders above that temp. Repeat: DO NOT RUN YOUR HARD DRIVES IN IDE MODE.

(I also yanked out more than half of XP's services, index and restore are killed, have like 4 extra processes load during boot up, etc.)

Yeah, I agree that it's not necessary, as my CPU sat at 58C after a half hour of Orthos as well (and then I got bored) and they hover around 45-50 while -gaming- (wow). GPU hasn't gone over 70 for me either, but I haven't run Furmark yet. My HDTune results looked unusual.. but I need to repeat them when the drive *doesn't* go way above spec. Anyway, cooler here I come.

Nice notebook other than the few quirks I found (cdrom drive sluggishness, sort of hard to turn on without fumbling around the hotkeys in the dark, irritating audio driver program installation) and the heat. It *definitely* should have fan controls though

Mine's silent as well (too silent actually), but I have heard a slight whine upon bootup from the cpu area. It's actually more pronounced if you hold down some of the keys on the keyboard or are typing.

That temp's what I found my hard drive maxing at after the sata drivers were properly installed. It seems the fan kicks in any time it goes to 60 or so, because it kept hovering around there. My hard drive's rated for 55C, so it's a bit

The speakers on this thing are LOUD and pretty good for a laptop setup, imo. My screen's pretty good too; I can see where people might think it's grainy. It's not that it's grainy, but if light hits it from behind it reflects it in a strange way (faint horizontal lines across the screen) if you view it from odd angles. The screen's definitely not optimized for the right color & brightness level though from the manufacturer.

 

Just been playing crysis on all high and gfx card maxed out at 56, the proc at 49 and 54 so pretty gd HDD is at around 53 and thats while playing crysis and dl'ing cod4

 

Cooler? Very nice!

 

Good luck Cat.
It's worth the wait... Hang in there!!!


So... which Video Driver should I use for the M860TU?

And one more question. In normal mode, does the fan of the M860TU ever stops? When I have mine on Silent Mode, it is completely silent. But on normal mode, even though the fan is very quiet, you can hear its always there.

 

The fan keeps on going in normal mode. It only increases when you are gaming but you don't hear it over the carnage.

You should use the laptopvideo2go 177.92 driver.

Tried out Silent mode today in a presentation, beautiful, the thing ran for the entire session, gave me no issues, and had everyone in the room asking what kind of laptop it was and where they could get a similar one themselves. I think I should start reselling these things.

 

It is a remarkable piece of workmanship. And Silent Mode is trully impressive.

On normal mode, the fans just go... But I think they don't really need to. Somehow, they are not set to stop in case the temps are low enough. I wouldn't mind to have the fans not running all the time... to increase laptop's life.

I'm going to give it a go at the lv2g drivers with Dox's mod. inf. To see how it goes...

 

Thanks for the reply! I had to go back a few pages to find my post again, lol!

 

The fans also rev up to 100% way too early imo.

I hope they release a bios that gives us full fan control.

 

Carnage? You mean the "total über l33t 0wnag3 bcuz i haz a s0 awes0mer video kard" At least, that's what used to happen until I moved into my dorm and my school blocks all the gaming ports =[

And Silent does really what it suppose to do

 

Just played crysis again, bit higher temps this time after 1hr of gaming, wierd as i gamed longer last time

gfx max: 71
cpu max: 64 and 58
hdd max: 56 (while downloading cod 4 at the same time)

DK

 

Really? I think I've heard the fans on 100% maybe once in three days, during gaming. Mine's very stop and go most of the time (on 2-3 seconds, off 10), and the fans are rarely on continuously, and usually not 100% (based on sound). I have a P8400 however, which stays way cool - stays around 45-48C after gaming for a while. I guess the fans & cooling were built around slightly hotter chips (maybe overclocking's my solution hd still hovers around high 50s after a lot of HD activity). I agree that we need fan control regardless :/

edit: Wait, I just noticed Kevin Jack has a P8600... so that makes no sense. I definitely want my fans on *more,* and I think cooler = longer laptop life (even if shorter fan life, which I don't think is a big issue, as it looks like a standard sized fan and easily replacable).

 

So, I've updated the video drivers to lv2g 177.92 and I suspect the video card is running a little bit hotter. Also, I think the fans kick in earlier now. Hmmmm... Going to do some more testing.

One more question for the M860TU connaisseurs...
I'm really growing fond of the screen. But I just realized something funny...
I can see some diagonal traces on the surface of the screen. Well... it's not traces, is something on the surface. It's like, the screen is not totally flat but has these diagonal lines on it.

Did anyone notice this?

And regarding the whining... Does anyone have a solution for that? It's really getting into my head latelly. I can disable it with the bluetooth, but I want a permanent solution.

Cheers,
M

 

Yep; it's from the angle you view it from and only when you have a light shining at the screen from behind you, right? I think it's specific to the type of glossy screen used. I fiddled with nvidia's screen optimization tools (+adjusting the brightness manually to match the right pattern/color displayed) and I don't notice it now unless it's a black background and I'm specifically looking for it.

No whine here; I have wireless installed (but not enabled nor set up yet) but no bluetooth.

 

Yes, that's exactly it tarentum. I've never notice it anyway... and it's really not bothering in any way. I did thought it was just how the screen is made.
I never see it when I'm using the laptop unless, as you, I'm looking for it.

Regarding the whining... Mine is really audible and is driving me insane.

I've managed to make it stop by:
- Switching on the bluetooth (anyone knows how to switch it on permanently?)
- Selecting High performance power profile (This makes the CPU work at higher multiplicators and so, the whining doesn't come)
- During games or anything else that requires CPU power

So, this whining is characteristic of a power saving state that the CPU goes into and is like an electronic whining that is really driving me insane. It's like the sound made by the old Spectrums while loading games... but different!

Obviously there are work arounds, but I want a fix. I have the P9500 and I really hope it's not a problem from only a batch of these CPUs.

 

Ok, I heard the whining, for around 5 seconds after exiting a game that froze me; it's like a squeaky door that drones on a bit and gets higher pitched toward the end?

I found this discussion (apparently all google results lead back to NBR ):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=165029

About using RMclock to disable "C4 state" on the cpu, which disables the power saving mode from what I can tell. *This seems to crash some people after a while, and I think you have to leave RMCLock running.

The other suggestion that I've found is to run CPU RightMark, go to "Advanced CPU Settings" -- > Platfrom #1 and uncheck (disable) the boxes for "enable popdown mode" and "enable popup mode."

The whine seems to be a lot louder on dells (esp 1330s) from what I can tell from various people's posts.

edit: By the way, I never hear it when I run SpeedSwitchXP and underclock the cpu, while on battery or to save energy/heat during stuff like internet browsing, word processing, etc.

 

Hi everyone, Im doing great so far. Im having two troubles so far:

1) Im trying to use the numeric keyboar using Fn + j for 1, Fn + k for 2, etc. But it doesn't work. I can use the (Fn + /) to get the "+" symbol but not the numbers. Which driver do I need to install?

2) when connecting to a monitor using the HDMI I can get the sound coming from the monitor and still coming from the laptop. Any suggestion?

Thank you very much

PS: sometimes when I use finger print reader I get myself a little electric charge like If I touched an energy contact or something like that. that is strange huh?

 

Hi FX
why are youusing the j/k/l for numbers instead of the numbers.
ive just tried it and like you they dont work except the +

with the monitor i think you can go into the realtek HD Audio Manager and change settings.if not just mute you on board speakers.

 

For everyone having the same 2) issue I just fixed that. Make sure the HDMI wire you got is NOT only a "HDMI Pass-Through" but a True HDMI wire. So, you can use the HDMI pass throught wire but you will need an audio cable to send audio signal to the monitor or just bought a true HDMI.

 

I use excel a lot and I'm so much faster and it's much better when using the numeric Fn keyboard.

Maybe we need a driver or a patch or something like that

 

Hey MrDJ, I've just solve my issue number 1). We first need to locknumber, so press Fn+Ins (Fn+NumLk) and then we can use all the numeric keyboard.

Regards

 

Well to add to the whining noise i tried every thing including turning of mic, speakers and even all the radio buttons. it reduced by about 90% when in silent mode but i definitely dont want to use this monster downlclocked.

I tried the RM clock but couldnt find the "C4 power state mode" can some one point out where that is located?

Also my hdd idles at around 59c. Can some one direct me to a fix for this too

 

Turning on/off the bluetooth doesnt solve the wining problem for me. it only reduces for me in the silent mode. Some one please helppp

 

What Gophn suggested a few pages back also worked for me:

 

Nice one AlienFX (i bet you wished you could change your name now)
at least thats one less thing to worry about.

 

where do i find the "C4 power state mode" in the rm clock??
please let me know

 

If that does not work or is not available (since RMclock may need an update for Montevina systems)...
- then go to your Power Options and set your settings to Max Performance

 

To solve the whining problem you can:

- Enable Bluetooth
- Select Max performance power settings

And that's it...
Unfortunately RM clock doesn't allow for the access to the C4 state option, so you will have either to use your bluetooth or prevent your CPU from going into the lower voltage state by selecting max performance.

That will sort it out... Hopefully!

 

ah, thats why its not whinning rightnow^_^

 

Everyone seems to be complaining of the whining CPU problem but have you's ever tried just hitting your m860TU.......that should sort it out.
Yeh, I'd just give my m860tu a good hard slap on the ***.

p.s. Don't ever try this. I accept no responsibility for any eejit that tries to solve laptop problems with their fist.

 

I have the p8600 processor. Heres my situation no change in the whining whin i tur on/off either bluetooth or wifi (tried all combinations!!
I notice the sound come down a bit when i turn on the silent mode (now the sound is about 20% initial but still noticable).
In contrast to what you say shouldnt the sound increase when i turn on the silent mode instead of decreasing. I am a bit confused and is it probably the sound coming from the fan and not the cpu

I tried the RM clock but for me c4 mode is disabled. Can soe one help me here. How do i update/ make it work other than buying RM clock??

 

Well... the CPU whining is a very high pitch noise that goes like an electronic whining. It sounds like a radio signal of some sort, intermittent and really high pitched.

I think there's another "whining like" noise close to the area around the CPU but might be something other than the CPU.

Regarding the RM clock, you won't be able to disable it like that. Just use your laptop in high performance mode and that alone, will prevent your CPU to go into the C4 state (which is the high energy saving state on mobile CPUs).

If you still listen to the noise... then maybe it's not the CPU whining.

 

Guys, could you recommend two or three of the beter notebook coolers for the m860tu?

Thanks,

Petrov.

 

Zalman NC2000 or Cryo NZXT. I went with the Zalman (which I'm still waiting on), as that one looks slightly better for the M860TU than the NZXT (first focuses on cooling more toward the middle + front sections, other has 3 huge fans, and focuses more toward the back). The NZXT is also -huge-.

 

The Antec Notebook Cooler (not the S) works very well with this notebook. One fan to pull heat, one fan to push cold air, and an aluminium surface to spread the coolness.

I have one, it works really well.

 

Thanks for the tip, much appreciated. I thought the NC2000 is meant for 17"+ laptops - wouldn't I be better off with the NC1000, which I'd understood was made for 15" laptops?

Petrov.

 

I finally replaced my seagate momentus 7200.2 by a hitachi 320go@5400 and finally I can touch my right hand rest without burning my hand, it is now warm but nowhere near uncomfortable like it was (60 iddle and 71 load). And I have not noticed any performance drop read/write but maybe in access time a little bit slower

 

The M860TU's pretty wide and would overhang a bit, and the NC1000 seems to have been made for smaller/non widescreen/14 inch laptops and only fits *some* 15 inch laptops. NC1000's measurements are 12x13x4 inches by the way, and the M860TU's width is 14.25ish inches. I'd only get the NC1000 if you were really tight on money, as it is quite a bit cheaper than the NC2000.

I saw that Antec cooler mentioned as well, but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of a cooler sucking air away from my notebook.

I have a hitachi 250gb 5400rpm one and I can't imagine running a hotter drive, so good decision (I idle at mid 50s and load was 60-64 - coolerless). After I got the notebook I realized that I should have gone for the 160GB 5400rpm option, as that is the only one platter HDD offered by any reseller and that would have run quite a bit cooler (and the 500GB 7200rpm option has *three* platters, so I can't imagine how hot those get in this machine). I highly recommend the 160GB/one platter option for people that aren't eventually planning on a solid state drive replacement, as it's a much better choice for longevity, and external/eSATA drives are a good storage alternative.

 

Hi Deathwinger ... can you post a URL to the Antec model that you are talking about ...please!

Also, confused me on 1 fan for cool air and 1 fan for hot air ... how does that work ... Aren't both Fans basically blowing AIR OUT to the top of the cooler!?!?

In that case does it matter which way the Cooler is laid out ... letters Antec facing you or away from you!?!?

Thanks,

G!

 

I'm pretty disappointed with the fans, or fans settings, on this notebook and hope a notebook cooler fixes both the (fairly minor, idles 56-61C, oddly hotter than when under load) heat issues and the fan behavior. I've heard other people mention a "low fan on constantly" and ... that's not at all what my NP8660 does; I get bursts of 3-4 seconds of fans on full blast, 20-30seconds off, repeat. Both irritating and not keeping my HD too cool. In contrast, while gaming, the fans are on low/medium fully, and the system runs cooler (higher cpu/gpu, lower HD - ).

Fan controls, hello Clevo.

 

yeah i have almost the same problem except my fan kick on alot less often then that.

 

Yep, the above times are when it's been running for a few hours, and initially it's about a minute-2 minutes or most, and then shuts off. Way way way too infrequently, at any rate.

I've been messing with the fan BIOS setting, between "automatics" (yes, with an s ) and "continuous" and I guess continuous results in longer stretches of the fans being on, and at a lower speed. 'Automatics' gets me a lot of revving up and down; sadly I think this keeps the notebook cooler.

 

I made a picture to compare the NC1000 and the NC2000.

I choose the NC1000 over the NC2000 because it's easy to transport. I will get a real picture once I get my M860TU

 

I am running in high performance mode that comes default in vista! Isnt that what you poeple mean?? About the wining it reduces when i go into silent mode. The sound is exactly the way you described it to be. But still how do i get to enable/disable (edit) c4 mode in rm clock (currently its blocked) and it asks me to register if i have to use it!
The low intensity very high pitched noise is very much irritating! So some one please help me