Acer Aspire 5740G Owners Lounge

Never believe reported temperatures until you have verified that they
* start at near ambient (if the monitoring app is loaded at startup) ,
* track linearly with no huge steps or plateaus,

and ideally verify a higher temperature startup too by putting the laptop in a hot cupboard to reach 40 c ambient.

Only if the monitoring app reports credible slow changing values for temperatures you know should you believe about ones you don't know !

 

I wouldn't do that- not that it's very harmful or anything but there's no reason to do so. Tests like that should have been (and probably had been) performed by Acer before this notebook was launched.

 

Sorry Downloads You miss my point.

Acer will not have spent any time finding out if speedfan, CPZ or SIW can correctly read the motherboard temperature reports.
The BIOS will be using this data from source to control fans, etc but this information is not easily available from windows.

These forums are full of people reporting that XXXX program reports their CPU starts at 85c and never moves or that their motherboard . . somewhere somehow is cooking nicely at 48c at startup. My point is if your monitor program says laptop MB starts up at 45c in an ambient temp of 15 then don't believe it ever again

Final confirmation would come from a higher temperature check which i was proposing. You laptop will get a lot hotter than 40c in a car in the summer.

 

And my point was that you shouldn’t really advice people on performing such tests because there is a chance that it may end not-too-good (BTW I wouldn't leave my notebook in a car not only in summer)
There are monitoring programs like HWMonitor, RealTemp or Everest that are confirmed to work fine with this notebook- I specifically mentioned them while starting this thread to minimize confusion.
I do agree with what you are implying about startup temperatures and that's why I'd say using any application that is confirmed to give proper readouts just after the system start-up should be enough to verify the start-up temperatures.

Another thing is that as you've mentioned fan is controlled by BIOS and if it doesn't spin fast at boot- it means it doesn't have to. Additionally if air blown out by the fan is not hot- it means the CPU/GPU/chipset aren't hot either regardless of what certain application may claim (we don't know that application is it anyway)

 

I used Core temp and now i read from somewhere it shows wrong temptures, wrong by about 10.

Does anyone know better program than this and is also available as a gadget?

Thanks about the info about keyboard dl, just my one keyboard button fails to understand i am pressing on him hehe.

 

I did a test of CoreTemp (0.99.6) and I can confirm it shows the same temperatures that RealTemp and Everest (5.5) show so I don't think it's wrong.
Just to be on the safe side I've installed the gadget too- didn't change anything.
I remember you've asked about your idle temperatures and these were all right.
Why don't you run i.e. Prime95 and RealTemp to see what is the maximum temperature your notebook achieves after some 10-15 minutes of testing (whatever happens during startup is not as CPU-intensive as that)
BTW what CPU do you have (Core i3, Core i5, which version)?

 

Unfortunately, I'm used to the 7200RPM from my last laptop... and with what I'll be doing with the laptop, the extra performance isn't essential, but highly desirable.

If I stick with a 5400RPM drive, I'll probably have to go to something like the Seagate 640GB or similar. While performance is an important issue, I'm also going to need some extra space (and even with 500GB+, I'll probably be carrying a large capacity external enclosure with me).

BTW: I noticed that you didn't mention the Hitachi 7K500. Have problems with that drive in the past?

 

I installed RealTemp and compared the results...everything shows different lol. i guess i trash CoreTemp and start using RealTemp (<- is there gadget for it?)

http://i39.tinypic.com/1zfsqq0.png

 

Not RealTemp gadget that I know of. Maybe you don't have the latest CoreTemp and that's the problem? I see we have the same CPU and CoreTemp works fine for me.

 

Hi guys,

Wanted to stop in and say thanks to everyone (especially Downloads) for the great advice in this thread. I've just got my new 5740 (Core i5-420M - HD5650) and I've been going through a little checklist based on the info from this thread;

1) Check BIOS (1.22 - Okay)
2) Update Windows
3) Delete Crapware
4) Install Windows Security Essentials
5) Update Catalyst (10.4 - Okay)
6) Install Steam client

At this point, I've found out that my left arrow key just doesn't work. It feels kinda soft when pressed and basically doesn't register presses. Everything else with the laptop seems to work just fine, but I'm debating RMAing the laptop because of the keyboard issue.

Anyone got any clues? Anything I could try to get that key working before I lose the laptop for days/weeks/months?

Also, could someone gimme some pointers on overclocking the Mobility 5650? I can't find a version of the ATI utility linked earlier in the thread that was released after 2008!

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Actually I instinctively missed out the Hitachi because the only Hitachi Laptop Drive I ever had failed after 5 months. It was a while ago and I am probably holding onto that grudge for too long as plenty of people have had their own problems with Seagate over the years while I have 'touch wood' been lucky. Performance wise I recall the Hitachi looks good/better on some points although the Western Digital Black drives should also be on a full list

 

AMD GPU Clock Tool link from the first post still works fine. It's been released in July 2009.

As for the keyboard problem- try cleaning it, use gas duster and check if there's nothing stuck there. Some retailers replace faulty notebooks at once (for some time after the purchase) and then deal with Acer themselves- check if you are eligible for that.
It looks like the keyboard needs replacing which is not time-consuming nor expensive so the procedure takes like 10 minutes tops- the rest is shipping it.

 

The response from WD after I used their customer service.

 

Nice move on their side- they admitted it's Acer's fault
What about quietHDD gentlemen? No feedback from anyone. Does it work or not?

 

Ray Valdez

It's frustrating isn't it. unless the HDD is on death's door they wont exchange it . . and even then they want the drive and probably all your licenses and data sent in exchange. Pretty standard though.

Dell used to have an option where you paid a small fee on new system to allow replacement without returning the drive if it failed Dell's tests. This meant you could destroy or retrieve your data at your own convenience.

Pretty much a case of buy a new drive and accept the cost . . although if you put the clicky one back to factory state at least you could return the Laptop for any warranty work with that one in it not your nice new data filled one.

My drive clicks a bit as most drives do . . but as you have other symptoms too so I think you are right to be wary of that drive as a long term bet

 

My new 5740G should arrive tomorrow from UPS. I'll tell you if quietHDD stops the freezing in Dragon Age: Origins and Counter-Strike: Source.

 

I can tell you right now that I haven't noticed any freezing in Dragon Age after using QuietHDD...the caveat being that I wasn't really playing the game before I started using QuietHDD. I noticed the freezing in WoW, but unfortunately my WoW account has expired and I don't feel like shelling out another $15 atm to see if QuietHDD has fixed the problem there too...but for now at least my harddrive heads aren't parking like crazy like they were doing before.

 

If you get a new unit you may end up with non-WD drive. Still feedback will be appreciated.

So far so good. Thanks for the info.

 

I'm currently Looking to get a 5750G here in the UK, so far I've found two version which suit my liking, Both have 500GB HDD, the 5650, 4GB of ram. One is £600 with an i3 330M and a DVD-RW Drive, and the other is £700 with an i5-420M and a Blu-Ray Drive. I can say for certain that I'll never, ever use the blu ray drive so is the i5 worth the extra £100 over the i3? it's only clocked at 130Mhz more and from what I understand, other than clock they're the same exact processor inclining me to believe it's not at all worth the extra.

 

You probably meant Core i5 4 30M- basically you are right the only noticeable difference is core frequency but the difference is not really 130MHz.
Core i5 430M has Turbo Boost that brings the clock up to 2.53GHz- what's interesting is that Core i5 430M is probably the only Core i5 with Turbo Boost working when both cores are under load.
At first I thought it's a mistake on Acer's part and sth is wrong because the Turbo Boost should work only when one core is under load but in this particular CPU it works just like another Speed Step. So 430M should be considered 2.53GHz CPU while Core i3 330M is 2.13GHz.
That said the difference in performance definitely isn't worth £100.

 

If you really don't want the BluRay then the i5 is probably not quite worth the £100 . . depends what you use it for. However changing your mind about the blu ray drive later will cost ~ £150

Not sure it's a 5750G you are looking at though ?

 

Thanks for the help downloads, that's an interesting twist on the i5, however, considering this'll be mostly used for gaming/uni work the CPU will never be the bottleneck so I've decided to stick with the i3 the £100 difference is definitely too much.

quite sure: Acer Aspire 5740G, 15.6inch HD LED LCD, Notebook, 4GB: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

How's the i3 and 5650 for overclocking? I've read in a few places in this thread that the 5650 can be clocked up to 650Mhz Core (+100Mhz) and 800Mhz Memory (+50Mhz) without issue, is it reasonable to expect my machine to be capable of that (Although it's not a decider for the purchase)? Not sure if I'd be interested in overclocking the CPU but I definitely am interesting in overclocking the GPU.

 

No it's not reasonable to expect that... you can expect more
If you are unlucky you will get stuck somewhere close to 620MHz core and memory slightly over 800MHz. Most users can expect something more- like in my case 670MHz core and 900MHz memory and the lucky ones can get the core over 700MHz and/or memory over 1000MHz. Mind you memory bandwidth is very important for this card (it's a limiting factor) so do not disregard it.

 

For your records;

WD Blue 500GB (after about 4 hours of WoW and various downloads/restarts)

HD Tune Pro: WDC WD5000BEVT-22A0R Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 200 200 51 0 ok
(03) Spin Up Time 183 182 21 1825 ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 100 100 0 28 ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 200 200 140 0 ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 100 253 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 100 100 0 10 ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 253 51 0 ok
(0B) Calibration Retry Count 100 253 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 8 ok
(BF) G-sense Error Rate 93 93 0 7 ok
(C0) Power Off Retract Count 200 200 0 2 ok
(C1) Load Cycle Count 200 200 0 312 ok
(C2) Temperature 103 99 0 44 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 200 200 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 200 200 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 100 253 0 0 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 100 253 51 0 ok

Health Status : ok

I got a stable OC of the 5650 at 670/950 and everything ran like a dream. Had one MAJOR freeze in WoW for about 10 seconds, but that could have been anything (and I am downloading two games from Steam in the background!).

Decided I'm going to have to return the unit...the keyboard fault is annoying me already! Hopefully it won't be gone for too long, since I paid extra for the "Quick Turnaround of Faults Within 14 Days" warranty doodad.

In general, this laptop is pretty awesome. WoW on one-notch-below-Ultra at native resolution never dropped below 40 FPS and spent most of the time above 60! Next things to try when they've downloaded are Half-Life2 and the greatest game of all time (and the reason for paying extra for the Core i5) Football Manager 2010!!

Downloads - can I make a suggestion? I think some kind of quick and nasty step by step guide for new owners would be awesome in this thread. You know, what bloatware can be safely removed, what order to do stuff in and so on. If you like, I can try to knock something together, but I'm a bit useless!!

 

I don't mind much. I knew there would be at least a drawback with this laptop.

I hope the HDD lasts for a few weeks before. Suggestions on HDDs and software to transfer the data?

 

Popular 9.5mm HDD's include WD blue 640GB (5400), Seagate momentus 500 , hitachi 7K500. Although of course you will find someone who hates any one of these

Paragon Backup and restore is available in a free version to back up and restore using an external USB and run from the boot disk has never failed for me. I am not sure if the free version does Disk-Disk copying though but if you need a backup of the clean drive for warranty return purposes anyway then this is no problem. Time to back-up factory drive, swap drives physically and restore to new drive c4Hrs with a decent USB2 external HDD

 

hi.this is my 1st laptop.its been 6days since i bought n its running just fine.i have been playing batman arkum asylum..yest i had one prob - even though i had connected to power source it would say connected to power but battery not charging....i just removed n put back the battery n it started charging..so anyone with same prob??? does that mean any prob with battery???n downloads thanks 4 the thread n info.mine came with all the latest software u had suggest like bios 1.22 etc

 

It depends what the battery level was when you connected it- if it was lower than 96% it should charge it- if 96% or above it wouldn't do it on purpose.
See if the problem persists- computer science is not exactly a science- sometimes something happens once and never again even though the circumstances remain the same.
If the problem persists it may mean faulty battery but see what's gonna happen.

 

Hi everybody...
I would like to know if after you repartition the 500GB HDD into 2 partitions...and use the 3 DVD's to reinstall the OS...

will the hidden restore partition still be there and working? Anybody did it and can check it for me? just click start and type 'computer management' and then open 'disk management'. It should be a 12.70GB recovery partition there.

You know... the advanced recovery method "return your computer to factory condition"...
I've already did a restore from there...it brings you back to the factory settings (probably the same like you get from the DVD's)

I don't like that huge amount of space on just one partiton...takes forever to scan, defrag and so on...

I own the 5740g6979
ati 5650
500GB
4GB
i5

 

I installed quiteHDD and it feels that the mouse freeze occure a little less frequently than before. It also seemed to be more frequent while running on battery.

I checked quiteHDD configuration, APM settings were 255 for both AC & Battery but AAM settings were 254 for AC while 128 on battery. Can AAM settings affects this. I almost always use mouse with the laptop so cannot test with touch pad. Does anyone faced the same problem.

Also on the discussion related to monitoring temperatures. I use HWiNFO32 for monitoring the temps of my Laptop. It has a sidebar gadget as well. It shows the temp of CPUs, HDD, PCH, IGP (Intel) as well as CPU power consumption. As per my experience its seems to be displaying correct values, so people give it a try.

Regards,

 

I thought so but in your original post you said

which is/was different laptop entirely

Hope you enjoy it

 

Yes the recovery partition is still there.

 

Right...SimplyAcer have been pretty good, as far as I can tell. Reported the keyboard fault on my 5740G this morning, got a call back before midday and they've arranged to collect the faulty unit this afternoon, check it out tomorrow and hopefully send a replacement unit for delivery on Friday!!

As I said, I'm really happy with the machine and I'm looking forward to getting hold of a fully-working one!

I have a couple more questions for more knowledgeable types here if anyone has a few minutes;

1) If I buy a suitable 7200rpm 2.5" SATA HDD, I should just be able to install it and then recover using Alt+F10 and my Recovery DVDs right?

2) Has anyone every tried something like this with their Acer? Would it likely destroy my laptop, void my warranty and kick my dog? Should I stick to a known-good branded Sanyo replacement? Original battery is a Sanyo AS07A31.

Thanks (again!) for any help!

 

1 No :
* Make Backup DVDs.
* Image existing drive to external HDD using Paragon Backup and restore 10 free or similar
* Put original drive aside for warranty return use
* Install new drive. and restore image for immediate full acer experience on faster HDD

Or/later if you prefer clean install W7 to new drive using apps like acer ePower, Launch Manager and arcade from the recovery DVD. You will lose Alt F10 functionality in this case.

(Full HDD Image not strictly necessary if you do clean install immediately . . . but always good to have one for troubleshooting purposes)

2) If it looks to good to be true it probably is . . .

 

1) It should be possible to use Recovery DVDs but if i were you I'd go for an image of the old HDD (including the recovery partition) and transfer it to a new HDD.

2) It looks like a scam. This battery is supposedly twice as powerful as the original one yet retains the same dimensions. If you look at extended batteries offered by manufacturers (take a look at netbooks as these are widely available) the extended battery is always bigger.
There's a reason for that- Li-ion cells have a certain density and capacity. To double the capacity while retaining the original dimensions would mean the managed to double the density of the cell- which is for one physically impossible and secondly would mean the battery is much heavier- which is not because the eBay site states just over 500g for the 8800mAh battery.
If you buy it it's gonna work but probably just as long as your current battery. Additional risks and lack of any benefits make it totally not worth it IMO.

EDIT: BruBoo beat me to it

 

Thanks to both you guys...that's excellent advice. I was a bit leery about the battery anyway, but now I wouldn't touch it with someone else's 10ft pole!! I'll have a look at those backup programs you mention BruBoo...it'd mean I don't need to re-download 10GB of games from Steam too, which would be nice!!

For the new HDD I'm looking at either the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 or the Western Digital Scorpio Black. Both look pretty handy, I'm just not sure about going from a 500GB to a 320GB.

Thanks!

 

The momentus is available in 500GB I think . . Also the Hitachi 7K500

I have already filled too much of my 5400rpm 640GB to do either now . . but it is no slowcoach either . just not as fast as the 7200's


ps if you use the paragon option while it is installed to do the backup you must make the burnable boot CD, Then you can restore the new system at boot with only a blank drive in the Laptop.

 

This looks interesting too;

Windows 7 &ndash; moving to an SSD

Basically shrink your Windows partition in Windows 7 to something small (no problem for me yet...new machine!) then use the Windows 7 backup to an external USB disk (and burn a Recovery CD). Then presumably I can re-expand the C: drive to fill the old disk, shut down, swap the HDDs, boot from the Recovery CD and restore the image, then grow it to the right size for the new HDD.

I *think* the Windows 7 utility will image all the partitions, including the hidden recovery one(s). If I go for the 320GB one, I might look at this. If I get the 500Gb one, I reckon that the Windows 7 image backup might be the way to go

 

I have never used this approach . . and tend to only recommend others do things I have done myself

My past experience with older versions of windows backup was that it never really seemed to handle it well enough to avoid re-registration of licenses etc . and in some cases needed to have windows installed before your could recover . . windows duh!

Please let us know if you try this approach though.

 

Will do! Need a new HDD and a working 5740G first though! Maybe in a couple of weeks. Being brutally honest, I'm not that confident around Windows. Perhaps I'll just boot up a System Rescue CD and give it some ntfsresize and dd action Much simpler!

 

What setting are recommended for quietHDD?

EDIT: Any guides for the disk to disk change?

 

Hi ,
Brought my new Acer 5740G yesterday and was very happy until I tried to install CRYSIS did all the unpacking and when I ran setup at the end got the message
'The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.'
same with Web of Shadows
am going nuts
need some help urgently

 

Hi Guys,
Brought my acer5740G and was very happy till I tried to install CRYSIS.Did all the unpacking and ran Setup but at the end got
'The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.'
Ditto with Web of shadows,
Am going nuts ,need help please

 

Guys, for what it's worth my AS5740G-6395 was delivered last night. Definitely an eye opener from my old Alienware Area 51-M (1GB RAM, 3.2Ghz P4), but that's the great thing about progress.

First thing off the bat, I noticed that Windows 7 seems to be better suited to dealing with multiple core CPUs than Windows XP does. I've got a homebuilt XP system with a Q6600 and 4GB RAM that's no slouch but doesn't compare to the AS5740G-6395.

I know that part of this is the fact that it's a new system (i.e., not much space taken on the HDD and the registry is uncluttered save for the tons of crap they load onto the Acer), and that the architecture of the i5 should be superior despite using two cores (opposed to the quad core Q6600). But it shouldn't be so noticeable as it is IMO. I'll probably bump the homebuilt to Win 7 in the next few weeks and see whether or not the jump to Win 7-64bit offers as much of a performance boost as I see here.

But I digress. The info I want to pass along is that the stock HDD for the AS5740G-6395 is a Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B HTS545032B9A300. Physical specs on the drive can be found on Hitachi's Web site here.

More detailed information can be found via the datasheet on the product here.

FWIW: the Hitachi 7K500 has the same physical specs as the drive currently shipping with the AS5740G-6395

 

Thanks Yoda.

EDIT: I think that with QuietHDD there have been no more clicking sounds, but I will wait to try this at home.

 

it was well below 48%...will c if the problem repeats..thanks for reply

guys is the keyboard sturdy enough to handle gaming or do u suggest buying a usb keyboard or a game pad? any specific brand? i stay in india

 

Well I FINALLY got a working 5740G back from Acer. I bought a brand-new 5740G-6395 about 1.5months ago and it had a headphone hissing problem out of the box. Sent it in for repairs 1st time and they replaced the....hard drive? (not sure how they are related). Also, the built-in keyboard + touchpad just stopped working. Sent it in a 2nd time (btw each turn around time is like 2weeks+ since Acer uses Ground shipping both ways and their repair center is in Texas whereas I am in NY) and they ended up replacing the mainboard this time. So no more headphone hiss! They scratched up the plastic a bit on the hinge when they had it in for repairs (when i sent it in it was like-new with all the stock protective clear film/stickers on it) but oh well, I just want a working machine so not going to bother sending it in again or ask for a replacement.

Just wanted to let you guys know my experience with Acer tech support (had to call in 5+ times) it is "meh" and based overseas (outsourced). Your experience varies based on tech and some of the ones I got were downright rude (one told me that the headphone hiss was normal and by design and to just deal with it). When I got my 5740G back yesterday I called Acer Support back to ask them to extend my warranty end-date 1.5months since I basically couldn't use this as it was in for repairs the whole time. I got escalated to Tier2 support which seems to be US based and the gentlemen was able to help me just fine. I'll try to get transferred to Tier2 support next time I have to call in as unfortunately they don't give out a direct number to Tier2.

I want to love this machine as its value can't be beat for the hardware you get for the price. The build-quality and Acer Tech support leave a lot to be desired though, we'll see.

 

downloads - I just received my 5740G from newegg.com and what is strange is that it already has BIOS 1.22 installed on it. Furthermore, the power adapter is tightly fit and no longer falls out loosely (not that I am complaining about that). It came directly from newegg's warehouse in Tennessee right after they received my defective unit and has Acer's packaging stickers all intact. I cannot tell if it's a new computer or a refurbished one.

Anyways, on to the freezing topic, the harddrive I have is the WDC WD5000BEVT-22A0RT0. I haven't gotten the chance to test out quietHDD due to final exams, but I will get back to you about that when I get the chance to test a few games on it to see if the freezing is gone.

 

I am thinking about getting this laptop 5740(g)-6395

I know it has hdmi, which supports hd/digital audio. So I can hook it up to my receiver and get hd video and surround sound. That is what I got from reading at least.

However, can I use the spdif plug (coaxial ) to connect to receivers that don't have hdmi and still get 5.1 sound while using hdmi hooked to the tv?

 

Does the 5740G support ATI Eyefinity?