Acer Aspire 5560 Owner's Thread

Starting a thread on this cheap and capable laptop.

A6-3400m is a very capable CPU especially overclocked with K10 stat.

Depending on your CPU expects speeds from 2.5 to 3 GHZ. Performance on level as the i5-2xxx series as shown on the DV6 llano Pavillion thread.

I was able to snag this refurbished from ebay for $329- no tax and free shipping. There are other similar systems going for $339.

Upgraded ram to 8 gb from 6 gb. Will install an ODD caddy for a 2nd HDD.

Link for great disassembly guide and repair manual: How to disassemble Acer Aspire 5560 series laptop >> Inside my laptop

reviews: Acer Aspire 5560G Review – Laptop & Notebook computers | Webfooted

Acer Aspire 5560G review | T3

Range of APUs that can be placed into this system range from the A4 up to A8 APUs.

Price-cost performance ratio is extremely high and I think is the best, and ability to game on this budget system is well documented.

Added 5/17/12:

Diablo 3 on A6-3400m link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFNRzgEusgc

Skyrim on A6-3400m link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-amjD5apsRI&feature=related

 

Hi! In particular, I have the Acer Aspire AS5560G-7809. Well, it will arrive in about a week.

Wondering if there are any owners out there currently? Wanted to get some info about k10stat settings and any useful tweaks.

Thanks

 

very good info! i was wondering if it was possible to remove the optical dvd drive and insert a caddy for an ssd. thank you for the links.

by chance, can you tell me where you bought your caddy and what brand?

 

Looks a bit like the Asus k53ta same gpu and cpu

Verstuurd van mijn GT-I9000 met Tapatalk

 

Got your PM- I am not sure with the sata speed with the ODD bay. You are better off placing the SSD as your primary drive for boot-up and place the HDD in the ODD for your other files. You can put the SDD in the ODD bay and you would just have to get the HDD caddy for the bay either thru ebay or amazon. I have not switched it out yet due to sending in the laptop for wifi problems. Double check if you will need a 12.7mm or 9.5mm for the caddy.

K10-Stat documentation can easily be found in the DV6 llano thread. Remember each CPU will react differently to the OC.

Quite right. Lots of cross information from other threads (DV6 llano and K53ta) that can be used for this thread.

 

thanks! yeah i plan to put the ssd in the mainbay and used as the primary drive. what way can i double check if i need the 12.7mm or 9.5mm?

also, i plan on wiping and formating the entire thing when i get it. drivers should be easily found on acers site or the partition right? you think ill have problems with crossfire ?

 

I wonder if anyone was successful in upgrading the internal wireless card? I'm trying to upgrade to 5ghz due to interference? I've managed to install the card drivers but for some reason the wireless can't see any networks.

 

If has a a L-shape to it -it is a 12.7. Look at the disassembly video. I am wiping it out completely too- acer repair just restored the HDD to default but i still have the connection problem. Let's see what happens next- ebay is really a gamble shoot- lots of people trying to unload subpar products that's why I mostly do Amazon.

 

You might want to do a clean Win 7 install for the system with your drivers and see if that works. You can also try to use a USB wifi stick (if you have one) to see if it the notebook will pick up any signals. My worry for you is that the new wifi card of yours might be white listed. Hmmm - you can take a look at the disassembly video and see if it shows the lcd and how many antennaes it has.

 

Did you connect the antennas properly? If the card is recognized in the bios and the drivers are installed then it cannot be whitelisted

 

Checking in, another 7809 owner. So far, installed SSD, upgraded ram to 8gb, the usual clean install stuff, and messed around some with k10stat. I tried the timings here from here and found that OC to 2.2 was giving an error on Core #3 so I bumped down to 2.1 and have been running fine. I'll try to up the voltage from his recommended settings at some point.

 

Couple questions for ya, if you dont mind..

What kind of ssd did you get? Size brand and is it sata ll or lll? Will our laptop run sata lll?

Did you upgrade to 1333mhz ram or 1600mhz. I've read that the max it can handle is 1333mhz.

Also, I did a clean insteall of mine with Win7 ultimate 64bit. The last unknown device I have is SM Bus Controller.. any idea where I can find the drivers for that?

 

If you put 1600mhz ram in a 1333mhz machine then it will just downclock to 1333mhz. There is no physical difference

Verstuurd van mijn GT-I9000 met Tapatalk

 

having issues with my external monitor.

i am using an hdmi-to-dvi cable. ive set the external monitor to be the main view and have my laptop screen disabled while connected.

issue is.. when i reboot with the cable attached, the external monitor stays black, as if it sees no feed. the laptop also stays black. i detach the cable and the laptop screen still stays black. keypresses or mouse movement does not wake the screen. i end up having to hold down the power button to fully power down and start up again. this also happens from a cold boot. if the laptop is completely powered down, and boots up with the external monitor attached, the dead black screen issue happens.

anyone else having issues with external monitors?

 

Has anyone been successful at installing a 2nd hdd in the optical disk bay? Mine won't even get to the acer splash screen when plugged in.

I can use the hdd if plugged in after windows loads. Is there some sort of bios incompatibility issue with this?

 

Having the exact same problem. It seems that laptop sends the signal at POST then stops and does not even send the feed to it's own panel. Has to be some bug, but don't know where to start. Only thing that fixes this is a hard power down and restart without the HDMI connection.

Does anyone have issues with the battery causing the laptop to beep? I wonder if I have a bad battery. The two issues are very annoying!

 

still have this issue, searched everywhere and cannot find a fix. its VERY annoying. if i forget the hdmi is plugged in, id have to do a hard power down, unplug, then power up, wait for boot, then replug.

the battery beeping thing ive only noticed it happens when the laptop is already on, then i plug in the power ac after.

 

User Ram3500 at the slickdeals forum figured out that the hdmi to external monitor issue is bugged in the latest 12.7b video drivers. He reverted back to the factory ones (which I'm guessing you can find on acers website) and it fixed the issue.

I'm having issues now tho..

Unfortunately, I also now notice the "screen door" effect that other users have mentioned over at the slickdeals forum. When I drag windows around, I see that the edges start to give that pixelated blur screendoor effect.. every time. Can you guys give this a test? I'm on the latest 12.7b video drivers currently.

Another thing.. if my laptop is on for hours at a time, the screen starts to bug out. I start to get a bunch of horizontal line tears on my screen. At first I thought it was my external monitor, but I unplugged the hdmi cable and it still was happening on my laptop screen. A full restart fixed the issue.. for now.

Sigh... I'm am now starting to feel the effects of a "budget gaming laptop"

I'm gonna do a clean uninstall with driversweep of the beta drivers and test out the factory video drivers. Hopefully that fixes the hdmi issues... and must also test how good my games run on them.

 

Thanks for the update. I'll give that a try. Unfortunately the laptop is at my father's house. I set it up for him to be used as a Media Center computer/TV. I can remote in to look at few things, but testing major things will be difficult. I can ask my dad to keep an eye out. I don't recall seeing the tearing. I did however do a full install on a SSD. I am not using the drive that came with the computer. If I hear from my dad I'll post more info. Also I'll remote in to change the video driver and see that fixes anything.

Quick question regarding the battery, are you saying that you hear beeps as well. The way to fix it is to start the computer, shutdown and then reinstall the battery?

Thanks.

Elviso33

 

the battery just beeps one time when i plug in the ac adapter while the laptop is on.

the flickering lines i am talking about is similar to this issue here: HP Laptop Screen Glitch - Flickering Horizontal Lines - dv6-6135dx - YouTube

 

Consult a service manual for this.

 

Why don't you click on the link in my previous post then?

 

LCD cables are listed on page 213 (or 6-9 by internal file numeration).
Unfortunately there are four of those- part numbers 50.4MF01.031, 50.4MF01.001, 50.4MF01.021 and 50.4MF01.011.

Check those out- often times the same cable is used in another notebook so it may be easy to find.

Most likely you won't have to replace it at all if you want to keep the default resolution.
If your notebook has not been offered with higher resolution screens- it most likely doesn't support dual LVDS in which case not even replacing a cable for a dual LVDS one helps.

 

HDMI is indeed impossible. Based on my experience with Acer it will go like this- you can fit almost any 1366x768 and your LCD cable will works fine but you most likely can't upgrade to FullHD screen due to lack of dual LVDS.

Currently only notebooks that are 17" and up use screens that require dual LVDS but all 15" Acers use 1366x768.
It doesn't mean that is can't be done (see .NetRolller 3D's profile) but it isn't easy and in some cases it's impossible.

You can -however- easily replace your current screen foe a better one or a matte one 1366x768.

 

Hello guys,
Ive got the model with A8-3520M and HD7670M.
I would like to know the idle temperature of your 5560G.
Mine is about 50°C (room temperature is 28°C).
Should I be worried or is that normal ?
Thank you and greetings all

 

Considering you relatively high room temperature 50*C is OK.

 

A 7809 owner here. So far, I have not done any changes to the laptop, but I do feel I got a pretty good deal here ($399 from Tiger), especially given the 7670m graphics (yes, it is only DDR3).

I find the crossfire settings to be odd, with the 6520g graphics. There doesn't seem to be a way to disable the 6520, only run in crossfire (high performance), or just the lower power option, being the 6520g.. ?

 

Well, I have managed to overclock the A6-3420m that is in this Acer, from the 1.5ghz to 2.3 ghz, using the K10stat program. Just curious, I have set the voltages down, but is it possible to undervolt too much, and what would be the symptoms/consequences of doing that?

Anyhow, my Windows Experience Index has come way up since the overclock. Pretty easy way to get to near i5 speeds!

 

if you undervolt too much, youll just crash/lockup/bluescreen

 

I mainly game on my Alienware M15x (5850 Mobility/i7-740qm/6gb). So last night, I load up Crysis on my Acer 7809 series. Anyhow, it detected everything High at 1024x768 (DX10). I get playing, and notice alot of flickering in the skies and trees. Shortly thereafter, the game crashes, BSOD ensues. The heat coming out of the left vent is very hot! Not sure if it shut down do to overheating, or some problem with the DX10 setup.

So, I try the DX9 setup. No more flickering skies/trees, and the frame rate is MUCH smoother at High settings. The system seems to be running cooler too. What gives? I thought the 7670M was fully DX11 compliant, and yet it bombs with DX10 settings? Or is this some issue with lousy cooling Acer has in it's machine? Any thoughts?

 

Hi,
I have overclocked my HD7670M to the frequencies of the HD7690M (Core 725 - Memory 900) with TriXX and tested with GT Legends, everything is perfectly smooth:
[GUIDA] HP PAvillion serie Dv61xx:come risolvere il bug dello switch della scheda video - Pagina 27
Hail

P.S. @txsizzler: Which drivers are you using ?

 

I am using Catalyst 12.6 that came out in late June for mobility gpu's. I used the AMD identification tool, and then downloaded the driver.

 

Ok, an update. I grabbed the Sapphire Trixx software, removed the ULPS in the registry, and used GPU-z to monitor temps. I also realized that I had undervolted too much on my original K10stat program. With the Trixx software, I enabled a profile to run at 675/900, and set the fan speed to start ramping up at 40c, and at 100% once it reached 60c. No more problems. Played Crysis for an hour, using 1280x768 resolution with everything set to High. Ran smooth, no freezes or crashes. Checked GPU-z once I finished, saw my temps never went over 71c on the GPU (which is really, REALLY good!!), and my CPU stayed in the low 60's (c) at full load. My GPU (xfire) were running at over 90% capacity while playing (awesome GPU utilization!).

So, I can honestly say I am quite happy with the results. It took some modifying, but now I have a great gamer for the mere $399 I paid for it back in late June.

 

Bravo txsizzler,
Im happy you succeeded. With AMD Overdrive I overclocked the A8-3520M clock to 2.0GHz (default at 1.6GHz) and all is fine but Overdrive is not so "flexible" as K10Stat, the voltage remains the same (constant at 1.125V) and yes, no down-volting at all.
Which are your settings for K10Stat ?
Thank you and good gaming
Ciao

 

i would also love to know what settings youre using in k10stat!

how much of a difference did you notice from overclocking the video card?

 

I will try to post my P-States once I get back to the laptop (at work right now). Increasing the core speed on the video card made a definate improvement. I am now clocked at 7690m speeds. Very nice!

 

My K10stat file. I undervolted by 1 on each setting, while raising the clocks. Very stable!

 

so your vid is oc to 675/900? what games have you played so far and noticed a difference in oc'ing your video card?

 

No, 725 for the Core and 900 for the Memory.
See my post #38:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/664178-acer-aspire-5560-owners-thread-4.html#post8801333
Ciao neenja

 

what video drivers are you using? and did you also o/c your cpu?

any other games youved tried and noticed a nice difference on?

i'm a bit apprehensive about oc'ing my gpu.. but im planning to install darksiders2 and sleeping dogs, figure a lil bump in memory might help a bit.

 

is there a lot of risk in oc'ing the video card?

 

Im using 8.982 official drivers (Catalyst 12.8) and yes, I overclocked my APU to 2.0GHz (P0-state) with K10Stat.
Yes, Ive tried many different games (most of them are driving games like Shift 2, Dirt 3, F1 2011, etc.) and no clipping at all, everything is smooth.
HD7670M is a downclocked HD7690M so there is no risk up to those frequencies (725/900).
Ive not raised the mem clock but someone did it up to 1000MHz and beyond.
Anyway I suggest to monitor temperatures.
Ciao neenja

 

hmm, i installed trixx 4.3.0 and disabled ulps in the registry.. when i try to move the slider up to 725, it doesnt stay put.. im using 12.8 catalyst also.

any idea?



UPDATE: I got it to work. I had to uncheck the multi gpu config thing. Moved the slider up to 725 and confirmed the change in GPUz. awesome stuff, gonna try out some games now

 

Certainly a great improvement, neenja
Let me know your impressions with the games.
Ciao :thumbsup:

 

I think heat is all you have to worry about. Running at 725/900 my GPU temp only breaks 70°C if my CPU is clocked up to 2.4-2.6GHz(p0), and even then only in some games (Sleeping Dogs, Alan Wake for example.) - others, like Skyrim, while demanding, stay cooler. Monitor it on a case by case basis and use different performance profiles for different games.

 

I keep my K10Stat oc at 2.1ghz on all 4 cores, with TRIXX now set at 725/900. I have my profile fan set to start ramping up at 40C (to 40%), and by the time it hits 55C, its at 100% fan speed. My top temp has been 52C, and this is with Crysis playing at HIGH settings (which it defaults to when running these OC's) at 1024x768.

This has to be one of the best buys of the year! Such overclockability for an AWESOME price. Hard to believe one can get such performance out of a sub $400 machine!

 

Hi guys,

Little help needed. I bought mine few days ago. It comes with 500GB HDD with only one partition which is drive C. There are 2 hidden partitions as well recovery and system reserved. I would like to make another partition to store my data which will be drive D. What's the best way to do the partition without effecting my recovery partition. Secondly, after the partition, later in the future if I had to do the factory restore, will it effect my new partition (drive D) in any way??? Help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

You can use Windows disk management tool (control panel/administrative tools/computer management/disk management -that's from memory so names might be slightly different).
You'll have to shrink your current partition and create new partition using "saved" space.

As for recovery- there are two options. One is to recover to factory state- in which case everything is going to be overwritten (back to one factory partition) and another one where you recover only C partition- no other partition is changes. If you were to use recovery the latter would be perfect for you.

 

Many thanks for the help....I've tried shrinking drive C...it is only 30GB used. But disk management only shrinks it to 200GB. Where as I would like C drive to be not more than 100GB. Any workarounds ???

 

You may want to de-fragment it and try again. Windows won't move certain files- that's why it doesn't allow you to shrink the drive more.
You may also use a 3rd party application to do it- it should be able to bypass the whole thing.

Another way is to check what happens if you temporary disable hibernation- that would make hiberfil.sys redundant. This file may be the root of the problem.