Acer Aspire 5942G Owners Lounge

Unfortunately the sounds that my laptop is making can not be stopped.
The most annoying one comes from the fan.
Whenever it kicks out ( when it kicks in the whine is there for only a second) there is a high pitched whine for 5-6 seconds.
Also there a random pop from the speakers and the sound made by moving the browsing bar or when moving photos etc and a whine when pressing the space bar.
That means i have to get it serviced again and of course changing the motherboard...
I have to lose my laptop for over a month as there are no motherboards in Greece.
I think i was unlucky with this laptop considering that i also have a burned pixel.
Damn...


Edit:
Btw 77/69 for cpu gpu when i play games is ok or my fan is not working well except the noise?

 

g47, you really have a problem with the sound there. My laptop doesn't produce those sounds. Was it there before the service ?

 

Anyway, what game are you playing ?
My cpu/gpu temp is just around 74/65 when i play games.
But i think it depends on the room temperature too.

 

There is a problem with those sounds yes...
But i am trying to avoid sending it for the second time to the service.
The people there are more than stupid.
Last thing i asked them also proved it..
I called them to ask them buy the recovery dvd's and they said that they are not for sale!!
Well in every place in the world they are but not in Greece.
Unfortunately, they are in some point right as the option to buy recovery dvds is removed from greek acers website (why??).
Anyways, to the point.
I made the pop disappear by uninstalling and installing the hdmi ati driver.
I also made an upgrade to the realtek drivers from realteks site.
Thats solved.
The space bar sound is slowly disappearing as i use it. Thats not bothering me right now.
The burned pixel is not covered by the warranty, so no luck there.
Does not bothering me either, it on the upper left corner nearly see-able as it is only one pixel.
The browsing bar noise its not there until you notice it.
In a very quiet and i mean very, if you stick your ear on the down left part of the laptop and catch the bar and move it up/down, there is no noise?
Because if you move it using the wheel of your mouse its not there.
The most annoying noise and the only one that i can say it is a problem is the fans one.
Once it kicks out it whistles until it drops down to the first scale's rpm.
I am talking about a whistle of 4-5 secs max which you can hear only if the speakers are not playing any sound.
For example there is no noise if the laptop is turned on and for all time during surfing the net.
Its not there when it is working at high rpms but it will be when you are done playing and you are going back to windows.
Then the temps lower, then the rpms of the fan lower and there i got a sound.
Anyway, maybe i am too sensitive.
But i decided to keep my laptop until anything else comes to appear.
I also bought the extended warranty to be covered for three years and for accidental damage.

As regards the temps, i have to point out that my 5942g has the i7 possessor.
At idle the temps are for cpu/gpu 50/46, when browsing, writing at forums and generally surfing the net it goes at 52-56/50-52 and when playing games (mostly MW2 online at this time) it goes at around 77/69 with a tendency to go up a little some times but these are the average values.

 

g47, I tried to put my ear on the left speaker (which is below the left tuba hole i think) and I didn't hear any noise. Perhaps my room isn't that quiet.
The right speaker, I'm not sure where it is, by listening soms music it's not below the right tuba hole, its like below the green power saving button. But putting my ear there, I didn't hear any noise either.

But I have my own problems with the speaker, the sound quality of the right speaker is not as good as the left speaker, perhaps because it's below the power saving button ? Is yours like this too ?

 

About the fan, is the whistling sound very loud ? Is it louder than the 5920G ?
I was quite happy with the fan's noise because it is much silent than my 5920G.
I'll try to listen to it again tonight when everything is quiet.

 

g47, Sorry I forgot my laptop also has the i7 processor.
Although my temps when gaming are lower than yours (playing anno 1701 or need for speed). But when I'm compressing a file (using winrar, its multithreaded) or encoding video (using media coder, also multithreaded), the CPU's temp can rise to 82-84. So I think your temp is still normal.

 

I did not say left speaker, the noise comes from the down left corner of the laptop, where the stickers (windows 7,ati, intel) are.
My left and right speakers are equally good.
I can not say that i am sure but i think they are emitting the same sound, both of them.
That does not mean of course that i have perfect sound.
These speakers are far from perfect, i always use a set of Senheisers to get good sound.
About the fan..
The noise is not always there.
Is only for about 4-5 secs when the fan is slowing down until it gets again to constant rpms at a lower level.
When the rpms are constant there is no sound.
Even when playing games, and the fan spins at high rpm's, there is no whistle.
It is not loud (if i am on the balcony there is no way for i can hear it) but it is there.
Generally, it has a big difference from my 5920g, its quieter.
But my 5920g does not whistle when its fan is going from a lower level of spinning!!

 

Just an update.
The speakers are fine, the keyboard has sut up as i have bought a keyboard silicone protector, the speakers are fine, the whining is there but no big deal.

But i have mentioned a burned pixel some posts ago.
Well...its not.
Its a white microscopic particle of dust that does not allow light from the screen to come out!
Is the plastic cover in front of the screen sealed or not?
If it is i suppose it was there from the factory, if its not...that is worrying, i hope no more comes inside.
Now, any ideas how can i move that?
I tried hitting the screen gently to the front and back nut nothing.
I tried to lift the plastic cover a little but i gave up in case i do damage to it, it is hardly glued.
I think that i just have to hope for it sometime to fall down by its own but knowing that my screen is fine and having there a black spot, makes me want to fix it.
If anybody has any ideas...

 

Very quiet in here..
Any news, updates, mods or anything?
A heads up... there is a new bios for our laptops (10.5).
Fixes AUO LCD panel flick issue when enable color boost function.
Havent tried it yet, what exactly that fix means?

Edit:
I just installed the new bios.
The known screen problem with the diagonal lines is not there anymore.
This is a good change.

 

Just checked this forum again....
Wow a new BIOS.... I'll try this.
Anyway, how is the picture affected, do we still get those nice colors with cineboost ?

 

I have updated the BIOS. Theres some good change in the display.
The flickers in the title bar thich blends with the wallpaper (with aero transparency) are gone.
And we still have those nice colors with cineboost on.
So I think this is very good.
I really like this laptop after some upgrades (BIOS to 1.05 and Memory to 8GB)
It's fast, quiet, cool and easy to work in the dark (thanks to the backlighted keyboard).

 

They only sell the i3 version here in the UK. I have an i5 540m OEM.

Would i be able to open up the 5942G to pop out the existing CPU and put in the i5? I know the mobo supports it. Some crappy makes solder components onto the mobo so i was wondering if i can take out the 5942G's cpu.

Thanks.

 

Hello All...
I just bought a 5942g-744g64mnbk for £799 and i would like to know if i got a good deal or i got ripped off, the reason that am not sure is that at the shop (currys UK ACER Aspire 5745G - Black Laptop buy online | Currys) the price spec tag had wrong processor, wrong GPU and wrong model (5745G), on their web site the have the right info on processor but wrong gpu again. Google returns pages from other countries and not UK when i search the model so everything is a bit weird to me.

My 5942G specs are:
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor

Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

RAM 4GB DDR3

Graphics card ATI HD 5650 1Gb

Screen size 15.6"

Hard drive 640GB hard drive 5400rpm

Optical disk drive SuperMulti DVD ( NO Blu-ray)


I also have one more question, i can hear a small tick tick sound, its not loud at all its very faint and it seems irregular but am not sure if its norm or not so its annoying a little, sounds like is coming from HDD or fun maybe, should i be worried about it or is it normal? i have WD blue drive.
I hope someone in here has some info for me, thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

That chain is notorious for playing with specs to fit their own price points.

Headline processor, slower RAM, poorer GPU, drop BluRay, bigger worse HDD etc. Seen it all. Makes pricing look more competitive to internet

Acer's have the full spec on the side of the box. Send them to get one from the stockroom. If you bought and the spec doesnt match the ticket (worse) get a refund or TAKE PICTURES and call TRADING STANDARDS

 

I noticed the same at my local pcworld/currys (Macclesfield) and when I enquired they supposedly had none in stock.

It seemed a great machine.

 

Case in point, I was looking at this on the Curry's website. Spoke to the local shop abut getting it, and they said it had a GeForce 310M. Confused, I phoned customer service, who told me it came with a GeForce 420M. So, I called the shop back, spoke to someone else, who went and checked the actual machine, and told me it came with the ATI 5650...

Moral of the story; don't believe anything they say until you've seen it yourself! However, thankfully getting one (as per proper spec) as the last guy was very helpful - and it was the last one in the shop!

Tim

 

Hi everyone,

I was browsing through some search results looking for some tips and came across this thread. As a happy Acer Aspire 5942G owner, I thought Id add my thoughts.

Im by no means a computer savvy bloke, but the 5942 is easily the best notebook ive had. I have the 724G64Bn model which I purchased October last year after reading a good review.

What caught my eye in this thread was the discussions on cooling. I'm pleased to see that the temps Ive been getting are pretty much the norm (Idle 45-55c, stretched playing F1 2010 at high level, 80-90c) but the latter figure concerns me slightly so Ive been lookign at ways to get that down a bit.

I had looked into a cooling pad, but noted that the vent ports arent in a very good position for most commercially available models. Has anyone come across one that works reasonably well for them?

A comment on another forum I read suggested removing the fine fishnet mesh Acer put over the vent ports which makes sense as they do restrict the airflow quite significantly, but as mentioned, getting to the back one is a near impossibility and Im not sure this would be a recommended modification, especially in terms of warrently claims.

The other question is I read that there is occasionally a new Bios put out. Is this an official Acer release or a 3rd party work?

Cheers
Andrew

 

Hey guys, I've had a bit of bother,

I installed BIOS 1.07 and now when I try and get to my BIOS with F2 its asking for a password, I don't know much about laptops but i know the only password i have ever set was my account password, i have no idea what it is, I am the only owner too so not a previous, any tips?

 

No tips- sorry. Forum rules prohibit any discussions on bypassing security measures. All I can advise is to contact Acer although I doubt they are going to be helpful.

 

This is a bit of a case of thread necro, but I'm intrigued/looking for advice.

I'm looking to upgrade a couple of things on my 5942G, particularly the RAM (have default 4GB) and HDD (to an SSD). Does anyone have advice/tips as to what to get for it?

I gather that the default RAM clock speed is 1066MHz. Is this the maximum speed I can use or can I push it to 1600MHz?

What SSDs would the good folk on this board recommend? I'm looking for something of comparable size (at least). Main reason I want to do the upgrade is that I'm trying to improve access times for games and such.

Tim

 

Up!
I am interested too!

 

Hi guys,

My HDD recently died big time, neccisitating a replacement. I Went with a 256 GB crucial M4. Can say that its quite honestly excellent. Very quiet, ample space and quick. Windows 7 boots in about 5-10 second flat.
At the same time, I bumped the memory up to 8 gb DDR3. Whilst 4gb was plenty for what I was doing, I did notice that there was a pretty small margin when running some apps. As DDR3 is pretty cheap at the moment, I thought it a wise investment for the future.

Upgraded, its still an excellent unit. Still wish I could find a way to keep the temps down though. Its really the only thing letting it down- Can't understand why ACER didnt put more intake vents on the underside.

 

You dont have any vents on the underside, is that right?
Mine has only on the front and back side.

 

Okay, I might sound like a complete fool for posting this, but what exact RAM did you use? I'm still looking to upgrade the RAM, but I'm worried about buying the wrong stuff, or buying a set that's got a lower clock speed than the laptop can take. I know by default the RAM's 1066MHz, but can I take up to 1300MHz?

Tim

 

1333MHz will work at full speed with Core i7 720QM and at 1066MHz with all Core i3/i5 and two core i7s (like i.e. Core i7 620M)

 

Ah right cool. So for my i7-740QM I can use the 1333MHz stuff. Anything in particular I should go for (manufacturer, etc)?

Thanks,

Tim

 

Yes- with 740QM it will work @ 1333MHz.
Any respectable manufacturer will do OK- whichever of the good ones is better priced at the moment.

 

Wonderful, thanks for that. Just wanted to check before I committed to buying something only to discover that it was useless.

Many thanks again,

Tim

 

Hmmm... So I updated my RAM to 8GB (2x 4GB) of Corsair 1333MHz DDR3 but my 5942G-744 is still telling my I only have 4GB of RAM installed. I entered set up (F2) as soon as it booted, but found no way to change this in the BIOS. Is there anything I'm missing, or am I actually limited to 4GB, just with a higher speed?

Tim

 

Does BIOS also list 4GB or only Windows?

 

BIOS lists 4GB, and I can't get into anything on the BIOS to check the clock on it or anything else.

Tim

 

Verify that both modules work by switching slots or testing both modules separately.
If you still have your original sticks test one 4GB and one 2GB to see it 6GB will be recognized properly.

Last but not least- make sure your BIOS is up to date- update if necessary.

 

As it transpires, it wasn't anything so complicated. When I had installed the RAM, I hadn't put the top module in as completely as I had thought, so it didn't register! Ahem... Ah well, that's what you get for being overly-delicate with this stuff. I redid it and now both Windows and the BIOS indicate 8GB of RAM.

Tim

 

Hi guys, just wondering did any of you try to upgrade CPU on your 5942?
If you did or have any of these CPU-s, please share your experience with us/me

My came with i430M, and if it's possible i would like to upgrade to i7-820QM or i7-720QM processor as there are stock ones 5942 that come with those cpu-s, which are completely identical in every other aspect of look and futures.

Biggest problem I feel is the overheating, even with i430M it gets pretty hot when in heavy use e.g. gaming (or that might be gpus fault)
Front side openings are just not enough to deal with the temps it can produce, so i'm looking into ways to deal with that right now.

When it was new highest GPU temp was 64C now after almost 2 years of use it's around 80 C. First time I disassemble it ,i was really surprised of how little dust was in it Time for new thermal paste..

 

Do not downgrade your i5 430m to a i7 720qm or 820qm. Likely hood is you won't notice the difference in performance. I don't even think it is possible as the i5 430m comes with a gpu inbuilt to it while the i7 doesn't. Anyway ythose i are 1.6ghz quad and require 45w tdp without any graphics vs the 35w that includes hd intel graphics.

You won't notice any real world performance and 10-20% maxed out both cores for 20w more power consumption is not worth it.

 

Hi all! Firstly allow me to introduce myself...I'm Pete and i am the proud owner of my second ACER ASPIRE 5942g Laptop...!! i am partial to the look of the acer and as this is my second i am even more impressed with the i7 processor and the backlit keyboard and fingerprint scanner.....blah.....bl;ah.....blah! What i am not impressed with AGAIN (it was the same on the first acer i owned! :-( ) is the fact that it has a nice BLUETOOTH button on the left hand pane but in fact according to the machine DOES NOT have bluetooth!!!!! Please can anyone advise as to if i can put this in myself....?? and if so is it easy and where can i get it from. Thanks in advance, and this is a great website. Thank you so much!

 

Google "aspire 5942 service guide" for a service manual with detailed instructions and photos.
Service guide itself can't be shared here on the forum.

 

Thank you @downloads I will listen to your advice.

On another note, there is a new Intel Turbo Boost TM 2.6 ver. driver out on Intel's site for our notebooks

Cheers

 

Since I posted that we've changed the rule concerning posting service manual so here you go.
It's on the house

 

. I have a 5942G that I bought second hand. The mobo is faulty, and I wonder if anyone knows where I can get a replacement from. I am based in Ireland.

Thanks for your help in advance !

 

eBay seems to be the best place for that. Don't shy away from used ones as long as they give you at least a week of warranty to test it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.
I have seen one that is a refurb for sale on e-bay, but it comes from Shenzhen in China and I dont think I would be succesful in getting a refund if it was faulty. Surely they must be available from Acer?

 

Only if you hand it over to them and pay them to fix it.
Acer doesn't supply parts to individuals.

Wait a while- good deals tend to pop up on eBay every once in a while- there may be nothing on now and something interesting in a week.

 

Is this laptop ssd upgradable?
From bios side i mean.

 

SSD is not BIOS dependent so yes it is.

 

So if i buy one, its a straight forward replace, right?
Except of course the image of my os that i will duplicate with acronis.

 

Sometimes SSDs don't fit because there's plastic near the connector in the notebook. If you look at the HDD it doesn't have anything below the connector but SSDs are like a brick so there can be nothing in its way.

I know it's a poor description but it's hard to put into words. Check if anyone posted about issues fitting SSD drive or about having to remove a casing form SSD in order to fit it into 5942.

 

I have to be honest, i didnt understood a thing
Its me probably.
Let me show you two pictures.
The hdd is in a metal casing fixed with screws on the main body.





[img=http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9936/25177393.th.png]
[img=http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/1930/69099429.th.png]

 

Crucial M4 256 Gb is on its way, it was verified by crucial that i can upgrade without problems.
Whats the fastest sollution for ram upgrade?