3820TG Owner's Lounge - Part Two

someone finds solution for always dirty keyboard? Is on ebay some compatible keyboard with another design? problem is that mess is under buttons

 

funny guys here remove all the buttons and then clean it.

 

I guess I'll just keep trying until I get some improvements. Although, I think I may have screwed up something putting it back together. The led on the power button doesnt work anymore. The button works, but not the led. Hope I didn't sever a wire or something taking it apart.

How do you remove the buttons? Just pull them out?

On a side note, I've been playing CoD MW3. This laptop handles the game with everything maxed out, but zero AA. Game looks amazing on the little screen. Some scenes like world war 3 taking place in NYC Harbor just leave you in awe. The 3820tg continues to impress me the more I use it.

 

Use wet cotton batting on the front of a knife to clean between the keys.

 

It is an amazing little notebook. Even with HDMI run through my 1080p LG 75 hz IPS display, the Acer does not skip a beat running MW3.

 

No

This should not be that hard. It's always so with computers, sooner or later you'll be happy just having it back the way it was before you decided to fix the "problem" lol.

Any ideas on what to do next?

 

Well that's a bummer. I would uninstall CCC and the Intel driver, restart, go to device manager and uninstall both the dedicated and integrated graphics, restart and just install Acer's stock drivers. This should ensure you start over on a clean slate, barring running any cleanup utilities of some sort.

 

Dual fan/heat sink cooling reappears.





I still think Acer engineers had the more elegant solution but this P330 looks like a monster. With dual cooling design, Throttling should be a non-issue. Still waiting to see. Still don't think I'll be getting rid of my Acer anytime soon.

 

Hey guys, recently I plugged my 3820tg to an hdmi monitor and lost the hdmi audio driver... In control panel/sound I can't see the hdmi audio. When I try to install the hdmi audio driver it's saying No driver is supported in the driver package. Took it on the realtek page R2.64. I tried with a previous version no sucess. Currently running stock acer switchable drivers with 11.10 installed on top...

 

Don't!

I did this, the knife went through the cotton and scratched the paint off the keyboard backplate. Not like I even use a sharp knife, just a letter opener.

You should use a can of compressed air and blow out the dirt.

 

I occasionally use a vacuum cleaner with hose and brush attachment. I also don't eat over the KB.

 

It seems that every time i try to install the latest amd drivers i stumble in to problems. And seems like im not the only one either. Last time i successfully managed to install the 11.9 drivers. But only after i factory reset my 3820tg and installed the latest drivers while in descrete mode and booted back into switchable. Now this seems unnecessary, but so far it seems like the only way since i am not able to install the 11.10 drivers.

I cant understand why it should be so hard to install the latest drivers. It seems like you have to start from the stock ati drivers that came from the manufacturer when i first bought the machine, but this stock ones do not exist anymore, only newer ones.

 

I had no problems installing the 11.10 Catalyst drivers.

I did the following, and rebooted after every step:

• Completely uninstalled the previous drivers.
• Ran Driver Sweeper and cleared off anything for AMD-Display.
• Installed the latest drivers from Acer's website.
• Changed display adapter in BIOS to Discrete.
• Installed the 11.10 drivers from AMD.
• Installed the optional Hydravision and AMD Media Codec Package drivers.
• Switched the display adapter in BIOS back to Switchable.

I haven't had any problems switching graphics or with the driver itself.

 

Thank you for your responce. Will try this following your steps.

 

Now i have followed your guide, but still no go.
Now i am left with version (8.771.1-100909a-121057C-Acer) when i check out the driver version under CCC.
Noticed that when i installed the 11.0 drivers from ATI it said that the graphics card driver was already the newest and installed (says version 8.771.1.). So it seems im refused to install a newer driver.

Have no clue what went wrong.. any suggestions?

 

Can't tell you for sure what went wrong. My best guess would be that something from previous drivers wasn't completely removed. It all should be though after selecting Uninstall All in the Catalyst Install Manager and running Driver Sweeper.

I did notice you have a Radeon 5650. I have the 6550, though I doubt that would be causing the problem. But you never know with ATi drivers.

 

after running driver cleaner for the third time just to be sure. It seems like it wont delete about 10-15 registry entries.

Not sure if this would cause it either. But the problem seems to be that when i install the 11.10 drivers, it sees the installed video driver as the newest one, and i cant imagine why it does that.

 

hey can u pls tell me in steps how to overclock i5 480m?? what pll did u use?? and all the information??

 

Well i tried going back to factory settings again to install the latest drivers from ATI. after the factory settings were completed, i set it to descrete in bios, and tried to install the 11.10 drivers from ATI. Again it told me that the videocard driveres installed were the latest. So now im stuck with even older drivers (8.713.3.3-100420a-099253C-Acer).

Now i really dont understand why these drivers are recognized as the latest, while infact they are over a year old...

 

I don't use Driver Cleaner, haven't since it was no longer free. I have bee using Driver Sweeper for a few years and it has always worked great for me.

 

Thank you again for your reply. I actually managed to get the driver installed.
I had to download the catalyst_mobility_64-bit_utility (the smallest of the downloads on the ATI software and driver page) and not the driver directly.

Dont ask me why this seemed to fix the problem, as i really dont see how it should make a difference. The only thing i can image is that the driver file from ATI is somehow faulty..

Anyway. I now have the 11.10 drivers up and running!

Thanks again for your replies and help =)

 

has anyone tried running skyrim on the 3820tg? How well does it run?

 

Gonna try to give it a go tomorrow )))

 

Screenshot by Lightshot
!! some texture problems on skyrim with 11.8
I had CCC set to 'use app settings'
high settings (w/ low shadows)

Incase anyone else has this - seems like 11.10 will fix it up nicely.

Aside from the above, it runs pretty solid & is pleasing to look at.

 

skyrim is enjoyable on high/medium settings, 1280x720, no AA.
note _enjoyable_; im picky when it comes to framerate. i'd say its still playable on 1920x1080 and high settings, as long as you keep AA off.

oh yeah, with OC on 780/1040 (i have 6550m)

dunno about my drivers, havent optimized anything for the game..

 

Skyrim runs pretty damn good. I run it at high settings with shadows on medium. No AA but 16 anistropic filtering. Interior scenes fly, and outdoors mostly above 30frames a sec. Only time might get a little lag is when looking at a scene with lots of water and trees. But its not that noticable. This game is amazing. Enjoying it alot more than Oblivion.

 

Ciao,

I am thinking about upgrading to 8GB/1333MHz, it's so freaking cheap at the moment, i can't resist... (always wanted to try ramdisk)

Only thing that troubles me:

I read some posts about completely loosing ovcerclocking-potential? (which would be a deal breaker)

So, any type or brand of memory that would keep me able to OC with 8GB?

(my system runs artifacts-free, stable and cpu/gpu Temp never over 90°C with i450m@TurboBoost 3,0GHz and 5650@700/1000Mhz which is a noticable ~20% boost. Played Skyrim for 1Hour, never been under 30FPS with "high" settings at native resolution)

From the last posts i read, word is.

4GB (2x2 Stock)

- Hynix 1066MHz@158MHz FSB

8GB / OC:

- Corsair: No ( There seems to be a way, but i have no idea what he is talking about...)

- Crucial: Yes?

- G.Skill: ?

- [TESTED]Mushkin Essentials 2x4GB 1333MHz: NOT much (FSB 140MHz)

- GeIl: ? (which means "horny" in german, btw...)

Any opinions/experiences on this topic?

THX in advance!

 

Well, the problem you face is that regardless of RAM you buy it will boot on CAS7. The 1333MHz you see everywhere i based on that they are allowed to run on CAS9, which for us is impossible to change to 'on the fly'. I haven't seen many 8GB sticks that OC particulary high on CAS7, most of those 'OC' types are based on relaxed timings. Those sticks I have in my laptop is actually pretty darn good @CAS8, and to modify them is not that hard really. You simply install Typhoon burner and choose a preset and reprogram the sticks, its done in 5min. The culprit is to avoid the settings that will render the sticks unusable, but with a proven setting like I have its a walk in the park. I doubt you will get a better OC with any of the 'high performance' CAS9 sticks you see out there.

 

Sorry forgot to mention that I used that install as well, not the individual driver download.

 

Fixed my problem...
Uninstalled drivers
Reboot
Cleaned with driver sweeper
Reboot
Installed hdmi audio drivers
Installed the 4820tg latest drivers (VGA_AMD_8.84.7.4_W7x86W7x64_A)
reboot in dedicated mode
installed the 11.1 drivers
reboot in switchable mode
done

 

Hey Lennong,

Thanks a lot for your reassuring reply!

I guess I will just give it a try, results will be posted here, of course.

Ciao,

flunserl

 

No problem!
Could have saved me from doing a factory reset though
But im just glad i got it up and running again.

 

Hey guys, thanks to part I and II of this thread, I've been glad to been an owner of the 3820tg for just under a year now.

I was just wondering whether or not anyone out there has been able to find a decent keyboard protector for the timelinex 3820tg-3022 model (2010, brushed aluminum with the european keyboard that is an upside-down "L" shape for the "enter" key; for canadians, it was purchased at staples). I've tried amazon and the best I can find was one that was without the pre-molded keys since nearly all of them only accomodate the US keyboard with the horizontal "enter" key.

Thanks for the input!

 

Very impressed with the way the 3820TG handles MW3, I let it choose optimal settings for Audio and Video. It's running smoothly on high settings with 2x AA. Looks great, but I had to significantly up the brightness.

I haven't done a Fraps yet, but I'm fairly certain I've never dropped below 30FPS, I've not noticed any slowdown.

 

Thanks for the feedback on skyrim, i was gonna get it on console if it didnt run well on pc, but it seems like the pc is the best thing to get it on!

also i was wondering, is it possible to upgrade the graphics card and processor on the 3820tg? Ive seen some posts of people with the 6550m which may run skyrim even better as well as other games. I realise its not typically possible but im thinking if i can buy the OEM one for this laptop, it might work. Im considering taking it apart to replace the thermal paste anyway.

 

Processor is possible, but graphic card you need to find another motherboard with 6550M..

 

The best way to get the other graphic card is to get a new motherboard from Acer with the faster one.

To solder something like a graphic card on a laptop you need professional equipment.

 

where could i buy a new motherboard? I remember seeing a link to a good parts replacement store so it would be great if i could get that, unless its really not advised.

 

Skyrim.
-1680x1050 16:10 monitor, laptop screen is on dual mode for surfing same time
-I run it "High" and 4xAA 12xAAF, FXAA disabled, Shadows lowered to medium, Radial Blur High, view distances few clicks higher than High settings.
-I use AMD clocktool to overclock Ati 560 and 900.
-I also use the Skyrim Mod to get more fps
-Fps is usually 20-30, sometimes 40. It should get better with new mods.

-VSync is on
-Fov is 95

= I could use lower settings for some extra fps, but this is fine for me. I really love the performance of this laptop

 

A new motherboard will cost you almost as much as a left over 3820tg. You might be better off selling your unit and looking for a used or left over. Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820TG-484G75nks - Notebooks - computeruniverse

 

What are your computer specs? I have a 5650 and i7-640m 8gb ram. I'm thinking of picking up this game if it could run properly. What is this fps mod you are talking about?

 

where did you get this?

*EDIT*

lol you beat me with 3mins

 

Specs are i5-450M 2,4GHz, ATI HD5650 and 4GB DDR3.
The mod is this one Skyrim Better Performance at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community
It gives 4-9 fps more. I tried FXAA mod too, but it looks horrible and you cant use this mod same time.

Im still trying to figure out the optimal graphics settings. The VSync is now off (on cities the fps is now little bit better). I read that this game uses CPU alot(is more depent on CPU than GPU http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...cards/624505-skyrim-performance-oc-460m.html), so how can I overclock my CPU?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/562583-3820tray-hardware-control-powerprofiles-cpumonitor.html

 

How do I overclock the GPU?

 

Msi afterburner or AMD Gpu clock tool

 

Just a brief warning to owners about how delicate this laptop is to small drops. I dropped mine about 2 feet from my bed to my fairly soft carpetted bedroom floor, knocked the hard drive for six and refused to boot for about an hour. That was a long hour too, nothing was backed up. Amazingly, windows startup recovery managed to do something, and without any mroe intervention after a hell of a long time seemingly doing frozen nothing, it booted from some kind of system restore I think, everything came back slowly.

 

Hard-drives don't recover. Make a backup and post SMART status here.
It may be just a matter of time before it dies (granted it may be perfectly fine although it's less likely)

 

One more reason for an SSD.

 

Especially when HDD prices are sky high right now