Acer Aspire 5740G Owners Lounge

Well , these are some pictures of my laptop : the photos aren't that good but I hope you got the idea: the "carbon look" you can see it's a result of taking off all the paint from the upper cover since the touchpad got black because the silver blueish paint came off : I just couldn't stand it : so I used a mild abrasive paste to get this "carbon look" and let me tell you it has been an hard job (it took me days) but very satisfying at the end !

 

Hi Daerrag, I was wondering about the way you found to adapt the quad cpu on the dual core heatsink: because i realized that the 840qm has a larger surface of contact with the heatsink than the dual core and I had to detach the black square frame from the heatsink because the 840 was n't small enough to be surrounded by it : same problem with the copper plate that wasn't big enough to cover all the top area of the cpu that in this way was partially contacting even the alluminium portion of heatsink ; you said you used coollant artic pro that is well known as very corrosive with alluminium and that it must be used only on copper heatsinks surface so how did you manage with it ? did you have the same problem I had or what ? cheers , Boazz


View attachment 94462

 

Realtek released new sound driver R2.71 (date 2013/4/8).
I know, I know- not very exciting news but there was no sound driver update from Realtek for a while, so if anyone had sound-related issues it might be relevant.

 

Well, good to know anyway ! cheers.

 

does it have the beep control ??

 

No- unfortunately it doesn't have beep control.

 

ok

i think i will stick with this driver which support Dolby + beep control

 

DOWNLOADS: Could you please make this file available to me so I can update my BIOS - i have the exact same issue as Richard. Thanks.

 

Here it is. Please notify me once you have it.

 

Hmm... I have been running a 720QM for a few months now. After cleaning out the heatsink and applying decent thermal paste my temperatures idle @ high 30s°C (which is the same idle temp as the 330M & 460M that the lappy hosted previously) and under full load for GPU & CPU stabilise at high 70s°C which is about 20 degrees below Tjmax. That's at about 20°C ambient, if it's warmer the idle temps go up a bit bit not the max. It's worth mentioning that the i3 with the original nasty thermal pads had about the same maximum temperatures under load. Not really surprising, the original thermal pad/paste/gunk (?) was so poorly applied it only covered half of the GPU ic and looked really budget. Also, with the slow CPU, it took so much longer to get any task accomplished; the laptop run at full load for longer.

I have no reservation recommending a 45W quad core. In fact, I'd love to come across a cheap 840QM. Hell, if I could get one cheaply, I'd give the 55W i7-9xxXM series a go. For my use case of a lot VMs and media encoding, the extra cores really DO make a huge difference. (Plus, on some games it seems to lift the minimum FPS a bit, they feel a bit smoother.)

The big advantage of the i5 -5xx and i7-6xx dual cores is that they come with AES-NI instruction set, if you use encrypted drives/partitions the boost in performance on R/W is huge, especially if you have a fast SSD drive that's not bottlenecked by having to spin to the next bit / empty cluster.

Anyone thinking of upgrading i3 equipped 5740G (the flavour that seems to have been sold in NZ is the i3-330m+5650 model) AVOID the i5-4xx series, they have the same instruction set as i3, total waste if time - all you get is turbo-boost, which for the 4xx amounts to an extra 0.266GHz max - woooohooo...

Totally agree with you @downloads the only difference between i5-5xx and i7-6xx is an extra 1MB L3 cache and an extra 0.133GHz turbo bin, you'd never notice the difference in real life tasks. If you are going dual core those are the ones to go for, buy whichever you find cheapest.

 

Wow these temps are really really low. What type of thermal compound you use ? And how do you apply it ?

 

@consolation

You're definitely measuring temps in a different manner or with a different software or under different conditions than I did. It's physically impossible to have max temp of 70*C under full GPU & CPU load with any CPU in this notebook with 720QM yet 90*C with 430M (my initial test was made before I upgraded).

In case my post comes across as less-than-nice let me clarify- I'm not calming you lie or anything like that. Just saying that we would have to agree on test conditions.

I agree as to Core i5 especially AES-NI part as I use TrueCrypt full disk encryption with my SSD and it's flawless. Core i5 560M can encrypt/decrypt AES at roughly 900-1000MB/s which is a lot faster than any SATA III drive can achieve (let alone SATA II which is what's used in 5740G).

 

Well, after a couple of months to bed the system in, it was typically high 70s°C, i,.e 77-79°C. IIRC it'd usually flick to 81-2°C then come down to ~78°C. It's possible I've got a particularly good 720QM, but 90s°C for 430M sounds rather high? Having said that - my old i3 would get into 70s under load as well.

I use 64bit prime95 to load up the cores and MSI Kombustor for the GPU. Temperature reading is from Core Temp - which, admittedly, I have not calibrated. Just did half hour run before bedtime it stabilised at ~86°C, which is a bit hotter than I expected, I suspect the heat sink might be getting bit dirty again.

Oh, the paste; I used Arctic MX-2 . I used to build custom workstations a while back, used it on all our builds. I like it more than MX-4 as it's denser so (imho) easier to apply consistently. I think with the really uneven surface of our laptop's heat sink (that's me being polite; it looks like a drunk made it with a hack saw) MX-4 is too "wet."


Pic below is of Prime95 stress test with 8 threads - no GPU in this one, I was reading some articles online... Stayed the same for an hour at which time I closed it down.

 

Well 86*C sounds more like it. I will retest once more later this evening although it's not gonna be a re-test as such since I made an initial test on Core i5 430M and I'm using Core i5 560M. Also ambient temp will be higher than yours- 24-25*C unless it gets colder in the evening.

I assume you did a run on 4 cores with Prime 95. Also was the GPU overclocked for the test or not (if so to what degree).

 

I added a pic to previous post; it's low 80s without the GPU cranking, all 8 virtual cores loaded up on Win 7 pro i.e. 8 workers. Ambient temp is 23°C according to the heat pump that's 2/3s up a high stud wall - so it's probably bit lower on the coffee table where the laptop is sitting.

Re OC, when I first tested and got the high 70s results, the GPU would be at 5730 speed. Since a catalyst update a while back when using TRIXX I get screen flicker - no matter if I under or over clock - so the 86°C was with no OC. I really should mod the BIOS - I don't expect Acer will be putting out any more updates...

I'm going to have to put my 5 year old back to bed, he's sick and up, hence mucking around with laptop at 1 am...

What do you think of setting a standard set of tests & measuring software for our thread? That way when users mod we can compare Apples to Apples (Acers to Acers?). I'm totally up for running few more tests tomorrow.

 

I got it thanks !

 

I have a 5740 (not G) and attempted to flash my version 1.09 BIOS with either 1.22 or 1.28 but it failed. I flashed via WINFLASH in windows 7 (64 bit) and walked away from the PC (as it seemed to be taking forever) , when i returned it was black screen with power light on only. Since then I am stumped trying to get it to work. I've literally tried everything been suggested on forums.

It's at a state where if I take the battery out for 5 mins then put it back in, and then attempt to hold down ESC + FN whilst plugging power in it - it automatically starts (i read where you had to press POWER button after it was plugged in to trigger CRISIS RECOVERY). With that said it turns on, and about 35 seconds later power light goes off for 2 seconds and then comes on again like it rebooted , the fan whizzes for about a second and USB flash drive flashes for about 1 second and thats it.

How do I know this BIOS is even in a state to accept a valid CRISDISK USB anyway, could I be flogging a dead horse by trying different crisis disks etc when maybe my acer isn't even getting into CRISIS mode correctly???

Any assistance would be good.

I'm concerned given this is a 5740 and it has a EC-KB bios chip that I have somehow screwed that in the process.

 

New Catalyst 13.4 drivers are out.

 

Links updated- thanks for the heads up.

 

I used HWinfo32 under Win7ulti32 with same temps, under XP32 temps are 10°C higher, so some
prog. are not correct.
I have i7-640m for a month ago for € 50, same as a see i5-560, so its better choice for me.

 

@kiwispook

Maybe you clear the cmos ?

 

Well, I just tried it on "dead space 3" game and I have to tell you that in my case it goes much worse than the 13.1 which gives me much better average frame rate : what about you? have you tried it yet?

 

I am currently playing DS3 too.But i had a break and started playing it again few days ago(i think the day before the drivers came out).So i can't make a good comparison,but it doesn't seem "much worse" or any worse for me.

 

Hi,

probably this idea has gone through here, and I used the search but not found anything concrete (sorry for my english)

I have an acer 5740G with a port empty or mini pcie or pcie 1x or mSATA or another or another name I do not know what is.. it was supposed to be a board bluetooth

but what I wanted to know was possible to put an ssd, do not know if it is mini pci or another, but with the aim of making cache and not as boot, like the sandisk ready cache, corsair accelerator..

Thanks.

 

It's mini PCI Express not mSATA so it won't work as far as I know.

Also it wasn't meant for Bluetooth since it's placed elsewhere in the laptop- it must have been for something else.

 

But it is not possible to put an ssd because not exist ssd for mini pcie? I wanted to boot normally by harddrive but with external cache for frequently accessed files as I do on my desktop with a sandisk ready or like Intel Smart Response for any ssd.
Thanks.

 

It would have to be mSATA for it to work. Also mini-PCI Express connectors are often wired internally through USB- if it's a case with 5740G you'd end up capped at 30MB/s

 

..and it was only possible to know the speed if I tested it, right?
therefore, I think I'll choose to buy a caddy for replace the dvd by another unit. This indeed already have speed or also is connected to the usb?
Thanks.

 

I think one of the users who posted in this thread tested mini-PCI express card to enable USB 3.0 and it worked at 30MB/s (although I'm not sure if it was in this thread- I read way too many posts). So I think your chances are rather low- caddy seems to be a better idea- it is a SATA connector and is bootable.

 

So I think I'll opt for the same caddy. Thanks for the help. :thumbsup:

 

People who have this laptop and a cooler, what cooler (cooling pad) do you have?

How are the temps with it?

Or does anyone have any cooling tips, like a different fan? Warranty is about to expire and I am going to open it up, clean the dust and put some as5 on it. Thing idles at 75-80c, which is higher than it used to max out on games.

 

by chance, I did a cleaning about 2 weeks ago, so I usually do this time of year to be come the summer so the laptop gets hotter ..
for a few years before my warranty runs out I bought a chinesse cooler pad (ebay) to cool the laptop, but since I started to clean inside never needed it. Right now I'm with this pc and high performance of around 50ºC CPU with HW monitor.
This laptop has a coolant fantastic and silent, the only problem is you have to disassemble the whole laptop up to remove the motherboard from the chassis.. so, I'm not responsible for what happens next

I recommend this topic
How to disassemble Acer Aspire 5740/5340 series laptop >> Inside my laptop

 

Opened it up and cleaned the dust from the exhaust. Put some arctic silver 5 on it. CPU is around 53c at idle, and maxed out at 82c running windows score.

GPU is 42c and maxed out at 54c. Looking like I got the paste on the gpu good, but cpu is not looking that great. Going to give it a while for the paste to break-in.

Ambient is 23-24c. Paste is old (like 5 years old) but its been in fridge.

edit: prime 95 for 5 minutes maxed out at 88c. Laptop does not have hdd or memory cover on yet.

 

These are good temperatures- we're talking about a laptop here so temperatures higher than in desktops are to be expected.

 

Yea, it is way better. It was normal for the thing to hit 100c while gaming. When it was new it would max out at 75-77c. Was trying to get those temps again.

Got a notepal u3 to test and it does not seem to change temps at all.

 

Hi to all

The good news, usb 3 works fine !!!

The bad news, most of the minicards have the components on the upper side, so its not possible to close the hdd cover if you have a minicard in the slot.

The only thing to make it work is to get some external 5V, in my opinion the best place from D19, above the sata connector and right from the wireless minicard. The connection near the minicard is + and the other side is -.
Its a 5V power rail to HDD so it's influents by power saving mode S4.( off in sleep mode)
Connect it to the minicard psu connector.

I have some picture's and screenshot's of it but I'm too stupid to get it here, even after reading some FAQ.

So, if you looking for any expansion board for the minicard slot, be shure the components are facing inside the laptop.

 

latest Atheros driver 10.0.0.247

http://www.station-drivers.com/tele...fi_10.0.0.247-w8(www.station-drivers.com).exe

 

10.0.0.247 is a Win 8-only driver (me thinks)

 

Finally upload works, had to go back to XP for it.

.



With a sheet of paper at the back you can see that the cover can not be closed



Here is the place (D19) were you can find the 5V, it's big enough to solder.
( red is 5V, black is ground )



Even without the connectors it will be tight to close the cover.



Here some benchmarks, it's an old 2,5 WD, so speeds are not very fast.
( same results on my Acer Extensa 5220 with USB 3.0 express card )



First partition, FAT32 6Gb (Bootable)



Second partition, NTFS 72Gb

@ downloads last post about minipci, it's reserved for a 3G SIMcard holder,
but it's also universal with USB 2.0 ( usb12 ) and PCI-E x1 ( lane3 ) lanes
straight from the PCH chipset.

.

 

Thanks for the info. Nice mod although that is not something that can be done if one wants to keep the computer mobile.
Still nice to know it's doable.

 

Yes, your right

I will remove the connectors from the board, cut the USB cables on lenght
and solder them with the 5V line on the other side of the board.
then I replace the usb gate's on the right side of the laptop.

(thanks for adviceing)

 

Hi people,

after a couple of happy years with this laptop i decided to upgrade the cpu.

i had a i3 330m and now have a i7 720qm, just for 50 bucks on ebay shipped

I opened it and after changing the thermal paste (ac mx-4) and cleaning it i have even lower temps , rounding from 50 to 75ºc.

I read somewhere on thi thread that someone had 16gb of ram working. i have 8gb and thought it was the maximum.
Can the i7 that i have noww address the 16gb or its still capped at 8gb?

I would also like to change my dvd and use a caddy and had a hard drive, can someone please tell me one that is tested to work?

I would also like to overclock my graphics card by 10% and save those values on the gpu bios. i heard about rbe, does anyone have any experience with that software?
I was also wondering that if i overclock my card to the new values, it would still underclock when its on battery and not in heavy use?or will i need to run the oc speeds all the time?

thanks

 

I used a generic optical to sata caddy I got from eBay, works fine for my second drive.

 

Hi, fgkrew , ies you can upgrade the ram up to 16gb on i7 first generation quad cores , I did so on my i7 840qm even if officially intel says it can support 8gb max I can assure you that the aspire 5740g can handle it : if you want ,you can have a look at my previous posts from page 509 on where I explained how i did it . by the way: did you realize that the copper plate on the heatsink is a bit smaller than the i7 quad cpu die even taking off the black square self adhesive frame that sourrounds the cpu ?

 

Hi guys

I'd like to upgrade my notebbok with the bluetooth. I found in internet a lot of cable that are suitable to my notebook.
Becouse i didint open yet the notebook i'd like to know hom many pins have the cable when is connected to the motherboard: 4pin or 8 pin.

The bluetooth module that i'm taking is T60H928.33. is it compatible?

Thanks

 

Hi boazzz, i did not see that, i dissasemble this while having a couple of nice portuguese red wine and missed that part, but i am still having great temps.
But no problem, since i ordered a new fan on ebay to replace mine that is doing a strange noise so i will have to open it again. I will look into it and try to find a solution for that.

I also ordered this caddy:
Universal 2nd 12 7mm SATA Hard Driver Caddy for HP Dell Acer BenQ Asus Lenovo | eBay

Do you think it will work?

I will buy 16gb to replace my 8gb, do you have any information on ram speeds and brand for max compatibility?
i can get to of these for a good price :Transcend 8GB DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 - JM1600KSH-8G

thanks

 

Hi fgkrew, , you don't need a 1600 mhz ram module because the max ram speed an i7 first quad core generation can handle is 1333 mhz : I found geil 8gb modules 1333mhz very
convenient and above all without any compatibility issue related.. Don't waste your money on Kingston or corsair.:you won't get miracolous better performances but rather you could have some compatibility problem with them.

 

Andy53, sorry to burst your bubble, but the 50MB/s you transfered with your USB3 card is actually just saturated USB2 speeds. Max theoretical USB2.0 speed is 60MB/s. I tried the same thing a while back on my 5740G (it's buried somewhere in this thread) only to find that mini pci-e is actually just connected via USB2.0. Plug your drive into one of the side USB ports and you will transfer the same speed. Sorry we can't do USB3.0.

 

That's not possible- max theoretical speed of USB is a bit like max theoretical speed of Wi-Fi. USB 2 doesn't go any higher than ~30MB/s. Sure- maybe you can see 35MB/s if you are lucky but no way will it reach 50MB/s

 

Thanks boazz

Any tip on the caddy i ordered?

i already knew that i7 max ram speed is 1333 but i can find those 1600 for cheaper then 1333 so i think i will go with that.