Acer Aspire 8942G Core i7 Owners Lounge

Ok, thanks for the answers.

 

Hi Erik,

Sorry for replying late. IIRC, no one has yet test the "bus speed override" option with extreme processor. Possibly the overclock option doesn't work but you can try on your notebook. Under "CPU Control Sub-Menu", you can increase the TDP & TDC Limit ("Extreme Edition" option). I'm interested to know how well it works with extreme processor.

For flashing BIOS in DOS mode using USB bootable drive, please go to post #1 at my BIOS mod request thread. You can find the link in my signature.

The weather is very hot at this time in Thailand, Malaysia, etc. Room temperature without air conditioning can reached 34 to 36 Celsius. It should getting better in next 1 to 2 weeks.

kizwan

 

Kiwzan / Seaman,

That bios worked first time, via the USB method.

I have enabled 'Extreme Edition' in the CPU menu.

I have been able to disable hyper threading, which I've longed to do...

And though my startup times are 1.1sec less, I have a snappier system without hyperthreading.

Some info on that here: http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/637.html This in no way means a fault with Novell's software, merely that excution latency is increased when virtual cores are woken.

However, changing the bus speed appeared to do nothing.

I was a dab-hand at overclocking front-side-buses in the Core technology, but no experience with Clarksfield. So is there not a simple menu to change the multiplier?

Some pics for you all attached.

thanks

Erik.

 

I think changing FSB is limited by PLL. If it was posible we would have it on SetFSB - but it is not.
I thought that might be posible to change multiplier with Extreme processor and modified bios.

 

Sorry, no. It's rare to find hidden overclock options that really works. The one found to be working is in M17x-R2 modified BIOS. After unlocked the overclock option, non-extreme processor also can overclocked.

 

Hey guys after a long time i make an appearance. I am just curious at the moment i do a bit of everything video editing "1080p mts files", gaming and audio production.

I am still with i3 CPU and considering an upgrade. I wanted to ask an honest opinion what would be the best option for an upgrade in terms of speed improvement but not a whole lot of temperature increase. Or is there a link you guys could provide me with to see the list of all supported cpus ?

At the moment my GPU stays under 69 celsius overclocked to 700/950 and so does my cpu right under 71 celsius.

Thanks for any tips, as pointed out long time ago the replacement should be fairly easy just unscrew the heatsink pipe and filt it up high enough to swap the cpus "wit ha bit of paste of course".

 

Probably the fastest i5 will be the best solution to keep temperatures down.
You get more speed on two cores than with i7 and much lower power consumption and heat.
If your video editing software can handle more than 2 cores, you may try as well i7 840qm wich is 240 $ on ebay.

 

Thank you for the response i jsut wanted to check the socket for an i5 or i7 cpu of my choice is PGA-988/BGA-1288 ? Just to be sure ... Thanks again i might look for fastest i5 on the market then...

 

The socket in your laptop can accomodate either i3, i5 or i7.

 

Just a question:

I may buy an Aspire 8942G on sale here, but i was wondering if yours had a strong chemical smell when brand new or not, since i'm a bit sensible with that stuff.

I'm not referring to any smell of "new", more to a definitely strong or faint "burnt plastic" odor that may last days, or weeks after unboxing, which corresponds to a volatile chemical compound used against corrosion (VCIs, the're called).
I breathe that stuff regularly when unboxing some brands of PC, and i'm fed up with it. Plus, it's toxic.

Since i'll use the laptop near my kitchen I don't want any toxic fumes here.

Thanks in advance.

 

I narrowed my search to 820qm or 840qm , but in the acer FRU list only the 820qm is listed. Does anybody know if the bios would support the 840qm ? Thanks again !

 

Maybe it works with new R4 modded bios. I understand that bios has updated CPU microcode.

 

Gents,

My blue-screens were solved with a Dell PA-15 150W power supply. (OEM is 120W).

Then I proceeded to adjust the thermal temp limits, and low and behold - 3456.7MHz.

Attached pics with two different installs, and two different version of CPU-Z.

Remember, my i7-920QXM has Hyper-threading disabled, hence only four cores visible.

I'd like to extend my greatest thanks to all of your working tirelessly in pursuit of unlocked / modified bios's, and sharing of information. I tip my hat gents...

See attachments, previously only 3192MHz, whatever I did was the max if I remember correctly...and its stable at 3456.7MHz too...

Erik.

 

Congrats, Eriko !
My question is - what is max speed you can achieve on all 4 cores ?

 

Congrats, Eriko!

Does disabling hyperthrading make the cores run much cooler & you can push (overclock) it further?

 

Gents,

I'm sure you can push it further, but I think with an all-four-core speed around 25xx MHz, I shall not push it any more. Retail it was supposed to be 2000MHz, but in reality it was more like 2133MHz (if I remember correctly). So high 25xx MHz seems enough, as I don't want to carry the 150W brick to work with me each day, and I don't want any blue-screens, or damage.

Just to be specific, I increased the hex-overclock option, up 3 clicks, and the overall cpu temp up 3 clicks, and each of the 1, 2, 3 and all 4 temp options, up 2 clicks each. Enabled 'Xtream option', Memory extream option doesn't work (grey-ed out), but I do have the extream memory profile sodimm fittted (Hyper-X).

I disabled Hyper threading, as it increases the latency of CPU requests, and mostly we don't need 8 logical cores. So I get a snappier system by doing this, but some benchmarks that rely on all 8 logical cores suffer. Hyper threading works for you if you have a CPU >85% constant usage. That just doesn't happen anymore in our world of multiple-processor systems at our enthusiast level. So thats that. Show me a system with a maxed-out CPU, and I would enable Hyper-threading in a heart beat. (think server usage)

Well, of course I feel the ugre to 'play' and push it all the way, but an 8000GBP caravan purchase ensures I cant' afford to blow this laptop for the next few months. And the company laptops are dreadful, giving me chest-pains watching them boot, so I must look after this one for a while. Who knows, maybe in a few months time I'll have to scratch this tuning itch...

Regards,

ErikO

 

Hi fellas,
This is my first post to the forum and honestly I'm fishing for a bit of information on the 8942g, mainly about any hardware problems you might have heard of.
While I do know the basics of hardware, I should probably mention I'm not a computer wizard so I might not be able to get you the specifics you are used to. I do have a couple of friends who will be able to help me with that though.

I have owned a 8942g myself for the last 15 months and 11/12 weeks out of warranty the laptop starting having serious problems. Essentially, it will get past the acer spash screen when turned on and then nothing, just a black screen. Safeboot wont work and can't be prompted through BIOS like some other laptops. I've tried booting off a windows 7 repair disc I found online and a friend tried using a win7 32bit disc but no reaction at all. There's no text or blinking underscore at the black screen either (we know the hard drive is working). BIOS is the only thing that can be accessed.
I've given my laptop to the friends mentioned earlier, and both are stumped. The more hardware-minded of the two believes it is either the main board or the graphics card but he can't be sure. He thinks that maybe it over heated and the adhesive gave way but this is a guess. The last time I used it I was running VLC to watch a film then shut it down when I was finished. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and it wasnt on my bed or something that would block the ventilation.

I'll put the spec from the side of the box below. Any advice you can give me would be a massive help. Even if it's only pointing me to another site or just telling me that you've never heard of a similar problem it's still helpful. I'm an architecture student so this isn't my field, I could use all the help I can get!
Thanks in advance,

Mark

Acer Aspire 8942g-726G64Bn
Win7 Home Premium 64bit
Intel Core i7 720QM (1.6GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
18.4" HD Acer CineCrystal LED LCD
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 (up to 3806MB HyperMemory)
6GB memory (DDR3)
640GB HDD
Blu-Ray Disc/Super-Multi DL combo drive
Multi-in-1 card reader
WLAN: Acer Nplify 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Webcam: Acer Crystal Eye HD webcam
Battery: 8-cell Li-ion battery
System BD/BIOS: 00/V1.3109

 

First, blow the ventilation fins with compressed air and back cover removed.
Then try to boot with only one module memory at a time. Watch fan activity,too. You must determine if it's a hardware issue or software problem.
On the hardware side, you can have problems from memory, fan or power supply. If computer can not enter in Windows, try to reinstall operating system with Alt+F10.

 

THanks seaman for the tip. Could you point me in the direction where to get the modded bios ?

 

Hi nox - check here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6791755-post804.html
I did not test R4 bios since I did not upgrade my CPU. I am still using R3 bios.

 

Hello @all,
Im so delighted to find a good Acer support Lounge here.
I am from germany and need your help!
I am a new owner of Acer Aspire 8942G-728G128TWN since two days ago! BIOS_Acer_3314_A_A is upgraded. But i like to use mod Bios on it, iI know this risk and i will be appreciative for you assistance. A great notebook. Is there a place for a newbie like me here?
Thanks in advance
Blessingme in Bremen


Acer Aspire 8942G-728G128TWN
ATI Mobility Radeon HD5850
Grafikspeicher 1024MB
DDR3 SDRAM 8GB
Core i7
Aktiv-Matrix-TFT
TV-Tuner
Disk 1280GB
Blu-ray Disc Writer mit DVD SuperMulti
Windows 7 Home Premium 64

 

Welcome tot the forum !
If you read just the post before yours, you will find the modded bios.

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH

 

New bios 3315 3.8 MB 2011/08/08

 

I managed to flash the modded bios but despite many new and advanced settings I couldn't overclock. Am I missing something? For you people who use modded Bios - what do you find most interesting in terms of new features or improvements (that actually work)?

And stelio_lulas thanks for the info on new official bios. I will check it later.

 

OK, I need help.

Something has happened with the display on my laptop. It looks as if a cable is loose (I hope) or is damaged. I seem to have lost a colour. . .

I can see that there is a small crack on the lower left side, left of the little square "hiding" a screw. And the left. . whats the word. . joint (where you close and open the laptop"? was not completely snapped together.. The laptop must have been crushed somhow. .

So;

I need to open the screen and see if there is a cable that is loose. any suggestions... bluprints ?? Any help is apreciated!

 

Hello friends,

I've flashed bios 3315
What's new in this bios?



Hello Ulrik W,

maybe it helps you further:

Google - Acer Aspire 8942/8942G Series Service Guide.pdf

:smile:greetings from Germany:smile:

 

Gents,

Hows this? Nearly 3.6 GHz, on the standard power brick. I'm back in Asia, so I don't have the Dell adapter to play with unfortunately. I'm positive with this extra current headroom it would go further. I get BSOD @ 3.7ish...

I can't see the Bus Speed Over-ride feature do anything, other than enable & set its value in Hex.

In my BIOS I can change the max multiplier(s) for each of the 4 cores with ease now.

Remembering from my uProcessor programming days (20+) years ago, I simply converted the Hex value to BCD (Binary Coded Decimal), then summed the 1's for each of their positional value, to get the x27, x26, x20, and x19 multipliers that I'm using. I just didn't see it at first glance.

So Bus Speed over-ride is out it would seem. Anything else anyone would like me to try?

Leaving HT on knocks 2 secs off of my boot time.

 

Which version of BIOS did you use? How do you accomplished this? Do you need to mod the BIOS whenever you need to overclock (for example, from x26 to x27)?

 

yeah, can someone write step by step how do you change multipliers, or post already modified bios? ErikO?

 

I'm using BIOS V1.3109, thank you all here very much.

In the CPU Sub Control Menu:

I have 'Extreme Mode' = Enabled.

You will see four hex values for the four cores.

So with my changes, I've the following:

Core 1 = 1Bh
Core 2 = 1Ah
Core 3 = 14h
Core 4 = 13h

Where 'h' simply means to the base 16. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F)

What this means, for example:

In Hex: 1B=
for the 1: 0001, for the B: 1011.

Added together gives: 00011011 to the base 2.
Positional values as therefore: 128,64,32,16,8,4,2,1, with the LSB (Least Significant Bit) to the right hand side.

Add only the 1's: where in this example, the lowest 1 = 1, and , the highest 1 = 16, we have 16+8+2+1 = 27 to the base 10, i.e. decimal. [In uProcessors, this would actually be 28, as we have to count the zero state as it does indeed represent a value].

So one less, i.e. '1A'h = 26 in decimal. Hence a multiplier of x26

As another example:

14h = For the 1: 0001, for the 4: 0100.

Put together we have 00010100 to the base 2.
We now have 16+4 = 20 in decimal. So the multiplier here would be x20.

I hope this helps explain it to someone out there. BTW, this was off the top of my head, so don't shoot me if I'm mistaken, but I think this method is correct.

I 'can' use throttle-stop to overclock, and find it a fascinating program, but I love a fast start time, so I prefer to modify within the BIOS, so all the gains happen as soon as I power on.

- ErikO

 

Hi Erik0,

thanks, but unfortunately I do not understand it.
It would help if you could upload your Biosmod.
Please simplify it all something.
You could just upload a tutorial here with photos of your modified BIOS settings.

I have the Acer Aspire 8942G-434G50Mnbk with
Core i5 450M 2.4 GHz, ATI 5650 and would like to overclock the CPU a bit.

The ATI 5650 can be overclocked with TRIXX.
800/1080 and 1.15 V are completely stable for me.
Games have 35% more frames / sec!

Incidentally, the Biosmod ( Aspire 8942G 3109 microcode MOD TEST R4.rar) is the most stable bios for me until now.
With the Bios 3314 and 3315 I had the problem sometimes, that my SSD was not detected!
Thank you again kizwan!

In 3109 microcode MOD TEST-R4 can be switched off Hyperthreading.
Maybe some games are faster without Hyperthreading?

Sorry for my bad English!
Many thanks and best regards from Germany

 

Yeah, I totally forgot about this options.

Code:

Extreme Edition: --|
                   |--  TDC Limit: 
                   |--  TDP Limit: 
                   |--  1-Core Ratio Limit: 
                   |--  2-Core Ratio Limit: 
                   |--  3-Core Ratio Limit: 
                   |--  4-Core Ratio Limit: 

I also forgot the " x-Core Ratio Limit:" options only visible if extreme edition processor is use.

 

That's right! I should have said, it does not directly refer to core 1, core 2, etc, it refers to the number of ACTIVE cores in use, and thus the max multiplier that will be set across the FOUR cores...

So, for 3 active cores, the max multiplier is 14h = x20, and that is the max multiplier for all cores then.

I'm sorry I can't explain it any easier, you need to understand your nibbles, bytes, BCD, Hex > Bin, Bin > Dec, and in reverse - depending on what you want to do. And teaching all that is outside the scope of this post I'm afraid. There is much help on these topics online though.

 

So if I understood correctly:

1. You must have an extreme version of the CPU (XM). With unlocked multipliers.
2. Flash modded 3109 BIOS. Find Extreme mode and check if it is enabled.
3. Add 1 to the lowest bit for each of the number of active cores and turn it into hexadecimal

So for example if I have 26x

Dec: 26
Bin: 0001 1010
Hex:...1.....A...
I should see 1Ah right?

and want 27x

Dec: 27
Bin: 0001 1011
Hex:...1.....B...

I should write 1Bh right?

And do that for each number of active cores.

So ErikO in your case you started from:

Core 1 = 1Ah =00011010 = 26
Core 2 = 19h =00011001 = 25
Core 3 = 13h =00010011 = 19
Core 4 = 12h =00010010 = 18

And added 1 to each multiplier and turned that into Hex:

Core 1 = 26+1 = 27 = 00011011 = 1Bh
Core 2 = 25+1 = 26 = 00011010 = 1Ah
Core 3 = 19+1 = 20 = 00010100 = 14h
Core 4 = 18+1 = 19 = 00010011 = 13h

That way the frequency of memory is multiplied with a new multiplier giving you a higher CPU clock right? And it is stable and not heating up too much?

Can you add something to this?

I have Q720 so it is not an extreme version so multipliers wont work right?

 

>I had a 720QM, and no this won't work, but I didn't have this cool BIOS then - Erik.

You now know how to recognize the decimal values of the hex in the bios. Well done.

 

Thanks Erik

Yes bus freq. My bad.

Cheers!

 

Acer Suport:

Changes to the BIOS to version 3315 are only upgrades to newer hardware that is built into the series.
It is in the newer BIOS only one "factory build upgrade" involved in order to receive appropriate compatibilities.
Another thing about this new BIOS, nothing has been involved.

Sorry for my bad English!
Many thanks and best regards from Germany:smile:

 

Hi Gents

I am in a need of another advice. My search for cpu upgrade is down to 740qm vs 820qm. The clock speed on both is identical the only difference is that the 740 has 6MB L3 and the 820 has 8MB L3. Would i see a huge performance benefit from the extra 2MB of L3 Cache in terms of gaming/video editing ?

On another note i am also considering to squeez every drop out of the i3 i have inside atm , is there any software that would allow me to overclock the cpu ? And what is a safe temperature range to be within.

For your info i have succesfully o/c the ati 5650 to 700/1000 at 1.00v and get max temperature after stress tests of 68 celsius !

Happy modding/o/cing and summer !

nox

 

Cache will have a very small impact on performance. Though if you are looking to improve your gaming performance it wont have a huge impact.

 

Thanks for the quick info i guess i can save some money then

Now if there is anyone who knows how to overclock the i3 330m in the mean while. I cant find what clack generator is used ...

Thanks , and all the best

 

If you want to upgrade to 740qm or 820qm, go ahead. It will be useful for video editing or graphic design. If I were you, I prefer 740qm than 820qm.

Aspire 8942G clock generator is SLG8SP585V. Unfortunately, this clock generator only support 100MHz & 133MHz. So, overclock is not possible. The only way to overclock is by upgrading the processor to extreme edition processor. Another alternative is, not overclock actually, upgrade to TDP/TDC Limits unlocked processor. Excluding extreme edition processor, I only know i5 processor have unlocked TDP/TDC Limits. You can increase the TDP limit & this will "supercharge" the processor a little bit.

 

Hi friends

here are my GPU overclocking scores:



best regards from Germany:wink:

 

Eriko,
I want to know what is max frequency you can run on all 4 cores,on your Extreme CPU, after bios mod.
Also, some details about temperatures, power consumption.
Thanks.

kizwan,
What means that rising TDP/TDC limits will "supercharge" the CPU ?
An i5 is dual core. It can run both cores at max freq specified in turbo mode.What is the benefit of rising TDP limit?
I use an i5-430M CPU.

 

When you raise the TDP limit, Turbo Boost will work longer. More heat will produced of course.

 

Hello friends

I think the CPU overclock brings a lot of heat but very little power.


GPU overcklock Games have 35% more frames / sec.
That makes a big difference!

How much more processing power could bring to overclock the CPU?
What do you think?

Greetings from Germany

 

If you can run an Quad Core CPU with all cores at 3.2 GHZ instead of 2 GHZ, that is a lot of more processing power - but only for applications wich can use all 4 threads.

 

searcher?: Thank U! Much obliged! I'll have a look at this

 

Hello seaman

this is true, but what are the benchmark of testing?
The maximum temperature of the CPU would interest me too.

Hello kizwan

how much percent I can get maximum performance?
What do you think?
Worthwhile at all mean?


My Hardware:

Acer Aspire 8942G-434G50Mnbk/ATI 5650/i5 450M 2,4GHz/8GB RAM/HDD 1 SSD > 120 GB/HDD 2 > 320 GB/Sony Blue Ray Burner

With best regards from Germany :smile:

 

Thanks for the info Kizwan i will be going with the 740qm then. Just out of curiousity why do you prefer the 740qm ? And also from your previous post i gather that i wont be able to overclock this cpu either only if i have extreme edition or an i5 correct ?

Thanks again

TO Searcher?:

Thanks for the info on 5650, i have managed to OC mine to 725/1000 stable with max temperature at 72 Celsius but i dont want to go any higher i think pushing the card over 80 celisus is a bit muc what do you think ?