3820TG Owner's Lounge - Part Two

Hey all!

I researched for a new laptop for the last month or so and ended up choosing the 3820TG largely because of this community - great stuff in these threads! Needless to say, I got the machine, love it, and have already installed an Intel 320 120GB SSD and an Intel 6200 wireless card. I'm waiting on my US keyboard and then I should be set (I'll probably reapply TIM when I have the notebook apart)

To the point - I was wondering if anyone figured out how to prevent low FPS in games when using SetFSB. I fooled around with ThrottleStop for awhile and couldn't seem to find any settings that raises the FPS again. The reason I ask is I bought the laptop for use as a mobile gamer, and Battlefield BC2 is CPU-limited with this dual core. Thanks for any info!

 

The stock one - 500GB Western Digital.

 

See this thread.

 

THIS can really improve display quality --->>> C:\Windows\system32\dccw.exe

 

is this question or tip if its tip ? can you show your setting in this ???

 

Does it work for you?

I'm not able to move the voltage slider.

 

How can you brick your laptop with setting 1 byte in the CMOS? In the worst worst case you have to take out the battery for 1 second! Modding BIOS is only if you want the change to be permanent.

 

it is a tip, and i cant say my settings. i.e. you see a pattern with dots and adjust the gamma value with a slider until the dots disapear .

when finished the contrast and imagequality of your display seems much better

 

Thanks, I had read through the post and thought it was only for games that were going into "turbo mode." Works like a charm though!

 

Hey every1. I just formated my 3820tg and I have a 1sec lag between using touchpad and keyboard. I forgot what settings I have to change to prevent that. Could you remind me please

 

It's called PalmCheck and it can be found in Synaptics Control Panel.

 

Thank you

 

Hi guys, i nstalled 11.4 mobility over acer's drivers, but in informations i just see changes in control panel version, driver version still remain acer's drivers and not 11.4.. i only use discrete, how can i do ? tnx

 

You can always reinstall the ATI drivers by choosing "custom" and not "automatic" during installation. If you are able to checkmark the graphic drivers then it didn't install successfully the first time. Just checkmark it and reinstall again.

If there is no option for you to checkmark it (grayed out) then it was successfully installed the first time.

 

Anyone here have Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound working over their HDMI cable?

I can get it working on the optical (TOSLINK) cable but not on the HDMI.

I downloaded the special ATI HDMI driver from Realtek's site, but to no avail, it still only allows me to select "2 channels" in its options.

Anyone?

 

OK, you need to find a tool to read your SMART data, that drive appears to have serious issues. Assuming nothing else is accessing it during the test, the technical term is that it's "FUBAR". Good news, you can get a nice 7200RPM 500G drive for peanuts nowadays.

 

i tryed with custom setup for 11.4 and in the line "ATI drivers" it say "already updated" anyway the listed driver version still is 8.752 and not 11.4 .. do you succeded to see 11.X version ?

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

If you want a stable and updated system:
- switch to discreet only in BIOS
- uninstall every Intel and AMD driver from control panel
- uninstall from Device Manager using Uninstall driver checked
- run Driver Sweeper 2.9 in Safe Mode and remove leftovers from AMD driver
- now your system is clean and ready to have the newest official AMD driver installed
- if you want to use Intel too, switch in BIOS

 

thanks ! so as i have to format my drive, can iinstall AMD 11.4 mobility drivers only (discrete setting in bios ) and not acer's ?

 

Something I can send back to aver for, or is it not worth it I should just use it as an excuse to upgrade to an SSD? and will that tool fix the problem, or just determine what it is? (note: what tool..? lol)

Nothing else was running, I restarted and ran the CDM tool. I've been having issues with the drive and wondering why it's acting so ridiculous.

 

Not sure what tool to use in windows, as I run Linux for day to day stuff and I'd use smartmontools there. Oh whaddyaknow, smartmontools is available for windows too! smartmontools It won't fix the problem, but it can tell you if a hard drive is failing and why (typically you'll see lots of bad sectors). Drives are cheap, your time isn't so I'd take it as an excuse to put a newer faster drive in there.

 

Yes, you don't need to do anything with the Acer one. I literally just love my computer since the buggy VGA switching is gone and I can just use the latest Intel and AMD drivers. You just need to download 11.4 Mobility and it will work.

If you want, you can reinstall windows, but its enough if you just clean everything as I've written. If you want to use the Intel card too, you need to mod your BIOS, or just soft-mod it with SYMCMOS. Look for both in my signature. But if you only want AMD then you just need to set your BIOS to discreet and never look back.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/7037805-post8880.html Use Disk Utility described in the link to see if everything OK with the hard drive.

Enough said.

 

Just use this one under Windows:
Hard Disk Sentinel - HDD health and temperature monitoring

I would just buy an Intel 320 SSD, start using that, and send the original HDD to Acer without the laptop.

 

Link doesn't work to dl windows version. I'll search elsewhere if I can for that.

Thanks. Any recommendations for windows utilities? I noticed you use Ubuntu.

 

CrystalDiskInfo..

 

I used this tool and it says "The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors." lol.

 

OK, then its not bad sectors. But a hard drive can have many other problems, once I had a WD Green desktop, which could read and write at full speed, but when I wanted it to verify (read-write-read) it was slowing down totally. No SMART tool said any error, but the drive was clearly a DOA.

Before sending it back, you can try a full low-level internal erase. It will wipe any data from the hard drive, so back up everything before. Here is a guide for it (its for SSDs but you have to follow it exactly):
Guide Secure Erase With bootable CD/USB Linux.. Point and Click Method

Don't connect any important USB, etc to the computer when erasing, just to be sure. It will take about 2-3 hours. Be sure to attach the adapter before.

 

If you open the folder and go back a version it's there. But you already have a tool so you're good. Yeah, I run Ubuntu 10.10 and am quite happy with it. 4.5 hours battery life and everything just works.

 

mdott, I don't think there's anything wrong with the performance of your drive. Compare it to other benchmarks and you'll see it's on par:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...5000bevt-500gb-2-5-hdd-review-benchmarks.html

I'm assuming you have the standard 500GB WD Scorpio blue that everyone else has in your laptop. Your load times are extremely long, but it's probably due to software rather than hardware. What's your procedure for installing Windows? Are you installing chipset drivers before video? Are you running a lot of extra programs on start up? Is your start up time extremely slow after you first install windows or does it get progressively worse?

 

Thanks for the post.

I'm pretty sure I installed the chipset before the VGA, I believe I did the VGA last, but then again I could be wrong. And it was about 60s when I first installed. There are no degradations, and I have minimal programs/services at startup (AVG+RST+a few other similars), etc. Not sure what the problem is, it's happened after my restore, then my clean install, so maybe it is something I'm doing wrong with the installation process.

 

Anything is possible. Where exactly is your boot delaying? In the BIOS? At the Windows loading bar? At the "Welcome" screen?

It could also be a conflict within your BIOS. The 3820TG's BIOS is pretty limited, which rules out a lot, but I would check your boot order. Make sure your hard drive is first in the list; you can use the F12 menu if you ever need to boot to another device (enable that option in the BIOS). Also check to see that your HDD mode (forget the proper term) is on AHCI and not IDE. Note that if you installed Windows while it's in one mode and then switched it after, this can also cause boot delays. If none of these suggestions help, we can exam your install process.

 

Can someone here using ATI HDMI for audio please check and see if you have the option of selecting a 5.1 setup in the Windows Sound Control Panel, or, if you have it, the Realtek Control panel?

Does anyone here have their HDMI connected to a receiver which indicates you are getting true Dolby Digital 5.1 audio when you play Movies/games that have it.

I know this problem is widespread on the Internet but the volume of posts on it is extensive. It may even have something to do with the version of Realtek / ATI drivers I have.

 

i made a new clean win7 installation , too bad 11.4 drivers are not installed ! it seems i need to use acer's drivers .. what's wrong ?

 

You have to mod your bios to use it like zsero, if not you have to go with the hybrid 11.3 drivers, or just live with the stock acer drivers.

 

Could someone please point me to the post, or tell me, what the proper order is to install the latest ATI and Intel drivers and have it work properly on the 3820TG?

I remember reading there's a certain order it should be done in.

I think it was:
- Go into BIOS, select discrete, install Catalyst drivers, Reboot.
- Then go to BIOS, switch to integrated, then install Intel?

Is that right? Thanx.

 

ok now i got it ! so is hybrid stable ? where can i find them ? thank you so much

 

It's not delaying at the boot at all, more the windows GUI screen, and then at the desktop it takes a long time - there's not much loading but it loads everything reeeallly slowly.

All of my BIOS is in order, so I'm not sure what the problem is. I wish I knew more about how to diagnose this, but I believe I'll probably just invest in an Intel 320 drive.

edit: is the 160gb ($295, anywhere cheaper?) worth the extra ~$70 over the 120gb ($230ish)? Debating spending the extra for the 160 (on sale from 419, but I doubt it's ever really that expensive as everywhere else is 320ish). and I noticed the Vertex 2 180gb is on for 279 too, but I think I'll stick with the intels.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6314728-post101.html

 

Do ya think it would be best to go into device manager and delete all the existing drivers first?

Also, how can I tell which Catalyst driver I have installed? I always get confused between those long version numbers in Windows like 6.00.2745.11.9 (that's just an example, not an actual version), vs. simply "v 11.4". How to read or find out the version number?

 

i used uninstaller program its clean the installation all and then i did clean installation

 

yeah i also used some uninstaller program + device manager. couldnt get rid of ALL files but whatever. after that i installed the acer driver, after that i set discreet in bios, then installed 11.4, back to switchable, and its done.
now i can see that i have 11.4 under program information in CCC.

 

But a problem with this is that the Intel HD Graphics driver will not be updated and is one of the affected versions of the MSN Messenger crash syndrome, which prevents you from updating your computer to Windows 7 SP1. You're better off installing the stable 11.3 hybrid drivers which include updated versions of the Intel HD Graphics driver that allows you to upgrade to SP1 safely. You will need WaterMark Remover as well.

The stable 11.3 version includes includes ATi Display Drivers v8.831, CCC2 and Intel HD Graphics v8.15.10.2281. Extract the 7z file to C:\ and run install.cmd as Administrator. After installing, extract Watermark Remover anywhere and run the one appropriate for your system. This is to remove the watermark that you will notice at the lower right of your desktop the next time you restart.

 

Not true, the discreet option is present in the stock BIOS! To install the latest AMD driver, you just need to select Discreet in BIOS and download the latest Mobility drivers. He won't be able to use the Intel, but maybe its not an issue for him.

Just be sure that the BIOS is set to Discreet and that you are trying to install the latest Mobility Catalyst drivers. They should work perfectly. You only need to mod your BIOS if you want to use Intel. BTW, soft-modding the BIOS is just editing 2 bytes in the CMOS, its not dangerous.

 

After installing in discrete you can change back to switchable. It works fine.

 

Sigh, someone please help me understand all these version numbers.

Why does installing v 11.3 end up with 8.831 drivers? Are they v 11.3 or v 8.831???????

 

AMD named the drivers that way to keep track of when they released the drivers. There was a page that described this naming scheme, but I forgot where I read it.

AMD Catalyst 11.3 = version 8.831
AMD Catalyst 11.4 = version 8.841

 

It depends on what's loading and if there's conflict. You can check the event log and see if there's any issues being reported. Also make sure that you have the Superfetch service enabled and you defrag regularly, both help.

SSD's are amazing in laptops, especially since laptop hard drives are that much slower than their desktop counterparts. I actually just put a 120GB Intel 320 in my 3820TG, and it's been great (got it on sale for $210 last week). I'm partial to Intel drives because of their rock solid stability and reliability. Also, extra "speed" of really fast drives (510, Vertex 3) really isn't useful in a laptop because the internal buses will limit it anyway.

 

Probably worth reading if you're on-the-fence about the new model 3830TG of the current 3820TG. http://forum.notebookreview.com/7457546-post746.html

Bronsky

 

Yeah I'll look to enable superfetch tonight when I get home, if it isn't already. Funny thing is there are no problems in the boot log (boot times are what i posted; no degredations). I wish i knew how to read them more in depth, but all seems in order minus the odd degredation from updates.

Yeah I'm looking at the 120gb or the 160gb version of the 320 model. I've read the 160 is a little better (performance wise, can't cite that unfortunately) than the 120 for some reason, and it's only $80ish difference.