3820TG Owner's Lounge - Part Two

oh haha wow i just quoted you on sd

 

Using the latest Acer-switchsable-Drivers+latests AMD Catalyst: Witcher 2 should run fine at medium Settings and without any glitches

 

Also, there are some complaints on this forum of horrendous battery wear - up to 20% wear within 2 weeks reported.

 

That wear was never real. once the user discharged their battery to 0% their machine kept on running for another hour+. It's a calibration issue. One that's almost always fixed by discharging completely and recharging a half dozen or so times. Lack of patience was the only problem with that user's battery.

 

Hello,
i am new here and from germany. so sorry for my bad english .

I have been some overheating issues since a few days during playing video games. I am a owner of an Acer 3820TG-434G64N (i5-450M, ATI Mobility HD 5650). I bought the laptop in April 2010 and i could play easily power-hungry games (BF-BC2, DiRT 2, Anno 1404, MW2, etc.). Now, after don't played video games about a half year with the notebook, i bought DiRT 3 and Starcraft II to get some fun again. However, I get a shutdown after some minutes played. A stress test with the Intel Burntest and MSI Kombustor showed the sad truth: CPU and GPU temperature gains 100°C and more (CPU is at 100°C and slows down then, GPU increases up to nearly 120°C and shut down the PC then).
After that I open the laptop and carefully remove the dust (as electrical engineering student i can handle with sensitive hardware), but this did not remedy the problem. I'm really desperate now...
The fans do their job, you hear them clearly, but it does not really come out warm air. A manual fan control isn't possible, right?
Can someone help me maybe? I can't believe, that i have hardware issues quite suddenly...

Some basic information:

BIOS version: 01.19
KBC Version: 01.15

ATI Catalyst Hotfix v11.5b
PowerPlay disabled
Neither CPU and GPU overclocked

Would be very grateful if someone had an idea ...

 

It sounds like you don't get a proper heat transfer between the heat sinks and the CPU/GPU. Try to change the heat sink compound with something of good quality. I prefer Arctic Cooling MX2, but there are other brands of good quality out there. Do some research first, as long as the paste perform decently and are of the non-conductive kind you'll be just fine. Clean the sinks properly with ethanol before applying the new paste.

 

@fatlus


Re-apply the thermal compound on both the CPU and GPU, then use the 3820TG fan utility that can be found in the Acer forum.

My 3820TG runs Crysis with an overclocked GPU @ 65c for the cpu and 70c for the GPU max; So I don't see why yours can't too. My fans are set to 100%.

 

IC Diamond is better imo. Arctic Silver wears out quite fast in my experience.

 

@fatlus

Recently my CPU was running pretty hot, 50+ degrees when idle and would quickly rise to 90+ degrees when gaming. I solved it by spraying compressed air into the vents on either side. It didn't seem like a lot of dust came out, but my temperatures have dropped. I now get temperatures of low to mid 40's when idle, and when gaming the CPU was around 70 degrees. I did re-apply the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU before I used the compressed air but for me it didn't make a huge difference.

-------------------------------------

Has anyone encountered this problem with the mouse pointer icon? Usually I use a mouse, but occasionally I'll briefly swipe the touchpad by accident, and sometimes when I do this the mouse pointer on screen changes to the 'touchpad scrolling' icon, and stays like it. It also stops the scroll and tap functions of the touchpad from working, though it can still be used to move the pointer around the screen. I can't open the Mouse options in Control Panel either. I have an ALPS touchpad, running the drivers that came with the laptop, and no newer drivers have been released on the Acer drivers page. I'm running Windows 7 SP1. If I restart then everything is back to normal. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Solution part 1: use my gaming profile from the sig. I recommend to NOT USE any Windows tray/fan application they can interfere with your system!

Solution part 2: clean all the thermal paste and apply Arctic Cooling MX4. Very easy to apply, not wearing out, cheap too! I got much better temps using it than anything else, because it is soo easy to apply.

 

Good day lads I asked this question before, but didn't seem to get a reply, perhaps my luck will change now, got this weird problem with the laptop completely freezing up when playing flash videos, the sound keeps on playing like nothing wrong, but the numlock and ctrl+alt+del don't do anything at all, the only way out is to restart. Is it perhaps the flash version that's bugged or the catalyst drivers, reinstalled flash, even installed shockwave (just in case), reinstalled the catalyst drivers as well, 11.6 now. Still no luck. I happens quite randomly, sometimes it happens once a day, sometimes after every 5 minutes. Using Flash 10.3.181.14 (because too456 wrote that the new versions cause the flash videos to freeze)

 

Try updating to the current flash player, it works fine now.

 

Also curious about one more thing, I have just installed the new Realtek Drivers, R2.62 and right after I installed the drivers I could hear some background noise in my headphones (sounds like the hard drive is working). Without the Realtek drivers though, there is absolutely no background noise what so ever (if you just use the standard windows drivers). Is there perhaps some tweaking in the realtek options that can get rid of this background noise? With the Realtek drivers the speakers of the notebook are a bit louder than without the drivers.

 

hey dudes i own a 3820t (not TG) and i wanna upgrade to an SSD. can anybody tell me what the crucial c300 64gb performs like in these laptops? will the battery life be any better or about the same? thanks.

 

I get green artifacting in flash videos on the integrated gpu now. I remember reading that it's a driver issue, but I haven't installed new drivers or anything. What's the deal?

 

The C300 performs very well in the 3820. Battery life should be about the same.

Bronsky

 

Actually the C300 is the best SSD to get as of today. Its made in the 34nm tech(better longevity than 25nm)and are performing excellent. I have the 128GB model and it is killing the competition in the 4k random read tests(real world/OS related test). Get it before it goes OOS.

Diamond is absolutely good enough. Arctic Silver is of the conductive kind and should not be used. Its old, obsolete and potentially hazardous.

 

Arctic Silver is not conductive.

Quote form their website:

 

But they also said "While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.", which means that it's potentially conductive enough to destroy mobos.

 

You wrote it yourself- capacitive and then you summed it up as being "conductive enough". Capacitive doesn't equal conductive.

 

Yes, honestly I don't know whether it's capacitive o conductive...still it contains silver which is a bad thing to have around your components,taken you have "spill" or paste where it should not be. MX2 or MX3 is the best in my simple world if you want to add some new paste.

 

Haha what I meant was that it has the capability to carry a charge to fry the mobo - sorry for the mistake

 

But it doesn't. Capacitance across two runs would never be enough to fry a mobo. Maybe make your machine crash until you cleaned it off, but ALL thermal compounds (all compounds actually) have some capacitance.

 

IC Diamond is non-capacitative.

 

Hello Acer 3820TG Community,

I really like my 3820TG especially since I replaced the 750GB HDD with a 128GB Kingston SSD, its really a big performance difference

A new problem right now is the available space, I moved the 750GB HDD into a USB 3.0 case and got it connected it via USB 2.0 to my Acer. The speed is "acceptable" but you actually notice the "USB 2.0" bottleneck often :/

I saw in the old discussion thread that there is a possibility to add USB 3.0 support with a mini PCIe card to the 3820TG?

Anyone here tried to use such a USB 3.0 mini PCIe card and connected it successfully to the usb board of the Acer 3820TG?

 

Nothing is non-capacitive. NOTHING. except a vacuum. which is technically still nothing.

 

Diamond has no conductive or capacitative properties which would allow it to mess around with the electrical circuits within the motherboard.

 

I don't see a reason to continue playing ping-pong with what's capacitive and what isn't but maybe you guys like it
Can we just settle this with a Diamond definitely is less capacitive than AS?

 

Haha okay. Sorry for the virtual ping-pong game

 

Good call, I agree.

 

Hey guys! I'm a long time lurker and because of this forum purchased a 3820tg last summer. Unfortunately my house was broken into and my wonderful laptop was taken.

Question: I can pick up a new 3820tg, i5-480m, 6550 for 680$ CAD. Should I buy this or instead opt for the 3830tg?

RRhaire
**note: also posted this in the 3830tg forum**

 

Hey all... I recently picked up a 3820tg and really liking it so far.

I also have a WD Scorpio black 750mb/7200rpm drive I was going to install this weekend. The WD True Image (?) software seems to only allow cloning the entire stock drive contents (including the recovery, other partitions), which I do not need on the new drive.

I'd like to only clone the C: partition to the new drive (connected via USB), make the new drive bootable, then swap it into the machine. Perhaps this is a silly, simple question and I just don't know or have the correct software to do it?

The other, perhaps better option is just a full re-install but I've had the machine a while and lots of software, games, etc. installed to the C: drive which I would prefer not to re-install.

TIA,
PD

 

With all the issues that the 3830TG has, I would opt for the 3820TG. I'm keeping mine for another year and see what unfolds then. It still outperforms everything I throw at it.

BTW, who still has 3820TGs in Canada? How many do they have? I'm looking for a new computer for my wife.

Bronsky

 

I want to know the same thing.
BTW, Bronsky, What is your acer 3820tg idle temp?

 

Gladly. In fact, I'd pretty much let it go til now.

Just to clarify. Capacitance in your thermal compound, if you get some on your mobo, can possibly make your machine crash due to interference between two runs. It is highly unlikely, but possible. IT WILL NOT FRY YOUR MOTHERBOARD. Wipe off the excess thermal paste and viola, your machine will run like new. AS5 is not some bogey man that will eat your children in your sleep if you accidentally get some on your mobo.

My main complaint was the scare tactics of AS5 will fry you mobo. It will not. neither due to capacitance (of which it has some) nor conductance (of which it has none)... There, all done.

 

Hey guys,

I was lucky enough to find one last one on clearance at a small shop in Ottawa. I have it on reserve (should be picking it up this weekend if I choose to buy it). One weird thing that I did notice, however, is the 3820tg listed under the CanadaPost website which redirects to many dealers.

this one says in stock for the 460m with 5740 @ 600$
http://www.mikescomputershop.com/acer-recert-3820tg7945-500g-5470-512mb-p-25455.html

and this one has 2 left of the 480m 6550 @ 900$
Aspire® 3820 TimelineX 13.3" Notebook - LX.RAC02.041 - Acer Notebooks - QuantumhyperX Systems

I've never heard of these stores but they are apparently Canadian!

I'm having a seriously hard time deciding whether or not to buy this laptop. Will I be missing out big on SandyBridge? The laptop is really just for school, but I like to play starcraft 2 and will be playing diablo 3 which i'm hoping (comments?) the 6650 can handle. As i mentioned, i used to have the 5470 version but had lots of trouble with it (sent it in for repair 3 times.. faulty screen, keyboard, boot issues).

P.S. if anyone is looking for a cheap 3820tg, i'm sure the crooks will have my last one up on ebay for 100$ sometime soon...

RRhaire.

 

My CPU idles in the low 40Cs. It rarely goes over 68C even when gaming or video editing.

@RRHaire - Thats a 5470. Some models had that GPU (Staples). I would not get that one. Go for the 6550 but those prices are really high. It sold for $735 at NCIX. Not sure I would pay that kind of a premium.

Bronsky

 

@Bronsky: I wouldnt pay 900. I'm going to pick up the 6550 version tomorrow for 680$, a very reasonable price i think

RRhaire.

 

Considering that the sandybridge timelines are throttling without throttlestop down to 1.2GHz and with throttlestop to 2.1 or lower to keep temps down to 90C, and that my 4820TG (single fan not dual like the 3820TG) runs at full turboboost (2.9GHz) at ~90 to 95C, there's no way the SB machines are going to be faster in the CPU department. And since I've seen most 6550 based 3820TGs overclock their GPUs and get 3DMark06 scores of 9500 to 10000, I doubt you'll be missing anything performance wise from the GT540 either. The only thing you'll be missing is USB 3.0.

 

Sxooter, you've smooth talked me into it. All this talk of overclocking and SB throttling has got me all excited and ready to pick up my 3820tg tomorrow

I'll probly pick up an SSD while I'm at it. I haven't searched the forum, but is there a standard SSD everyone is using in these?

 

Could add USB 3.0 using a mPCIE card as described at http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...sb3-mini-pcie-card-hp-8710-a.html#post7243607 . Or maybe more trouble than it's worth.

It would also be worthwhile keeping an eye on SB 14" Lenovo Y470 prices. Remove it's optical drive and you're at 4.4lbs (2.00kgs). Add a $80 900P LCD and it moves into another league altogether. There was this ripper $850 deal recently for a Quad-core + BD-rom. Can ignore the U41SV below - it doesn't look like Asus intend to release it in the US anytime soon.

Code:

13" Acer 3830TG$	4.11lbs (1.87kgs). 1.14" thick. GT540M. Poor cooling=throttling. No ODD.
[URL="http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/U41SV/#specifications"]14" Asus U41SV$[/URL]		4.40lbs (2.00kgs). 1.06" thick. GT540M. No ODD.
14" Acer 4830TG		4.77lbs (2.17kgs). 1.17" thick. GT540M.
14" Lenovo Y470		4.85lbs (2.20kgs). 1.29" thick. GT550M. mSATA. Quad-core option.

 

omg! I just threw a couple of games at my 3820tg,

and it ripped them off!

Overclocked, (750/900) i could play crysis 1 at high! 30fps,
and crysis 2, 28fps at the advanced settings!
sc2 at ultra gets 30 fps!

crazy!

for 700$ CAD for the 480m and hd6550, it's a steal! really!

I loooove this computer!

thank you guys for making this forum and makin me believe in the magic of the 3820tg!!!!!

GO ACER! haha

 

Now let's just hope Acer makes the 3840TG right, eh? So in a couple years I can upgrade to that.

 

I asked the same question but nobody here replied to my post. I think it should be possible, at least on the full working mini PCIe slot which is being used for the WLAN card.

 

AFAIK you can solder a m-PCIe slot onto where the 3G card is supposed to be at, and that can be used for a WLAN card. You cannot add a storage device (HDD, SSD) to it because it does not work. It was posted by a member in the original thread, but good luck finding it because the search function does not work anymore. No one here has tried that yet, because it's rather tricky to solder on another m-PCIe slot, unless you're willing to sacrifice WLAN for a USB3 card.

 

Can anyone recommend a SSD for my i5-430M 3820TG? I am looking for something between 90-120 GB.

 

OCZ Vertex is okay I guess, but I would recommend a larger capacity because you'll find that 120GB runs out very, very quickly

If you want to read up before buying, these two articles should do: 1 2

 

Thanks for the reply. Now I am looking to upgrade to the 3820TG with the HD 6550 GPU. Where would I be able to find this laptop at the cheapest price? I live in Toronto.

 

This will be nearly impossible to find.

Acer AS3820TG-6829, Notebook - Intel Core i5-480M 2.66GHz, 13.3" LCD, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, AMD Radeon HD 6550 1GB, No ODD, Wireless BGN, Bluetooth, HDMI, Webcam, Windows 7 Home Premium | Canada Computers

If you go to the link above, it appears they have one in stock in Markham if you are willing to drive all the way there.

All the other sites that I usually check including NCIX, Memoryexpress, Tigerdirect, LUcomputers and Cendirect don't seem to carry it anymore.

Alternatively, Canadacomputers and other stores now carry the next generation timelinex laptop (the 3830tg is most comparable to 3820tg). There is a thread regarding these laptops at http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/553306-acer-timelinex-3830-4830-5830-t-g.html. I suggest you check out the thread because there have been some complaints regarding throttling and possible battery degradation that you probably want to be aware of. That being said, the laptop is priced at $700.00 which is essentially the same price as the 3820tg.

 

Hi all. I have a problem when I overclock the 6550m gpu. I overclock it to 750/900. Runs 3dmark06 fine and gpu temps during gaming are mid 80's and cpu temps are low 80's. However, at one point the game will freeze for good. Even when I only overclock to 700/850 the laptop freezes after a few min of gaming. I don't get what can be the problem since temps are fine. Does this just mean my laptop can't be overclocked and be stable enough to play games in?