Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

The performance should be similar, but with dual fans, it has a better cooling system, thus being a better system for long-term gaming. I've been playing SCII on the 4820TG and it does heat up, with HWmonitor getting to 85+ C.

On another note, did anybody find any luck ordering a 9-cell battery from anywhere? eBay, Amazon and Google didn't produce any results. As a student, the 6-cell barely does the job of lasting all day on campus (6+ hours) with brightness set to the forth lowest, Wi-Fi on, bluetooth off, and power on to power saver in Windows 7.

 

soon to be new 4820tg owner, estimated arrival is tomorrow.
already have plans for some upgrades, but want to make sure they're all compatible:

- Corsair F120 SSD (already purchased, I'm sure this will work)
- Intel Centrino 6200 or 6300 wireless card - half mini card form (are there only 2 antennas?)
- Intel Core i5 540M (is it locked out of the Acer BIOS?)
- 9.5mm optical HDD caddy (any other 4820TG owners using this exact item?)

And a few other questions:

- where can I buy a 9 cell battery? I've only seen 6 cells on ebay and Acer doesn't seem to have a parts store
- any anti-glare films and/or keyboard covers that are particularly popular amongst 4820TG owners?

 

Yes, there are only 2 antennas.

The I5-540M has been installed in a 3820TG and seemed to be supported. Mine was just delivered and, as soon as a couple of other parts arrive, I'll be putting it in my 3820TG. I'll let you know if it is supported in that model.

Anti glare films and keyboard covers have been reviewed for the 13" acer. Check out the owners thread.

Where did you order you unit from?

Bronsky

 

Are any i7 mobile processors supported? And if so, which ones?

 

The 4820TG is sold in the EU with an I7-620M. That would be supported in the current bios. I don't think quad cores are supported in the TimelineX bios.

Bronsky

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the dual core Is the upgrade worth it? I think they go for ~250-300 on eBay.

 

awesome, thanks.
not too familiar with the going rates of these new chips... what's a fair price on the core i5 540m? core i5 450m?
I tried to find some comparisons of power consumption between core i3 350m and i5 450m-540m, but couldn't come up with anything. I know they're all rated at 35 TDP, but I wonder if the consumption will be similar under normal activities?

I've been all over the place trying to decide on my next laptop and thought I was settled on the HP 8440p. Found a refurb deal in HP's outlet, i5 520m, 4gb, 160gb ssd, 1600x900 for only $999! But right before confirming my purchase... the rep said it was sold
Anyway, so my next choice was the 4820TG, told myself as soon as it is back in stock I'd jump on it and TigerDirect had it. Good thing I did... it was sold out in less than 12 hours These Timeline Xs are selling like mad, most MicroCenters are sold out of both i3 and i5 models, Amazon sold out of the 3820T w/ 9 cell model and 4820TG, and TigerDirect is out of the 4820TG.

 

I'm upgrading from a 450M to a 540M. The I7's have shown a propensity to run hot. We have seen temps in the low 90C range. But to its testiment, the I7 did not throttle at that temp. The extra 1MB of cache seems to eat more power than the 3MB I5s. I think the I5 is a better compromise at this point. I just bought an OEM 540M for $270.

The 450M is a great CPU however. If I didn't need things like AES security protocols for my business use, I would probably stay with the 450M. It OCs like mad.

Bronsky

 

[CPU Speed Issue]

____________________________________________

Notebook: Acer Aspire 4820TG

Processor: Intel Core i7 620M

Graphics Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650

4GB(2x2GB) DDR3 RAM

____________________________________________


Hey there, I dunno if its just me or some of you might have the same issue regarding the speed of your i7 620m cpu during gaming or running Torture Test with Prime. So for my case, it goes like this..

Whenever I played a game with demanding specs on my laptop, the cpu speed of my i7 620m will downclock itself to a lower speed and multiplier, this happens after a while of gaming for like 2 - 5 hours , this includes running Prime as well. The cpu speed will then remain permanent(@1.3+Ghz) unless I restart my laptop without playing any power demanding games, then it will run normally with turbo boost @ 2.6 - 3.33 Ghz. If not it will remain @1.3+Ghz and there will be no turbo boosting.


[On Mafia II]





-During start of gameplay while cpu was running fine @ 2.6 - 3.33 Ghz
-FPS was at 40-60
-Very Smooth





-After a while of gaming
-FPS was about 20-40
-Noticeable lag during points of gameplay





[CPU Speed when it was running fine]



-Multiplier => x23.0
-speed is able to reach at 3Ghz
-Turbo Boosting is observed
____________________________________________



[CPU Speed when lag is noticeable in Mafia II]



-Multiplier => x9.0 - x11.0
-speed maintains at about 1.3Ghz
-Turbo Boosting is not observed
____________________________________________



ANY IDEAS ON WHAT THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE ? I SUSPECTED THAT IT IS HEAT RELATED AND I NEED TO CONFIRM IT WITH YOU GUYS. THE CPU WAS RUNNING HOT AT 80 DEGREES AND ABOVE WHILE GPU AT 70 DEGREES AND ABOVE. AND I HAVE NOT REPLACED THE THERMAL COMPOUND WITH ARTIC SILVER OR WHAT SO EVER.

 

Are there guides for OCing the 450M and the HD5650? I would like to try. Also, has anyone attempted undervolting?

 

You need to run temp monitors and see what your max temps are. CPUIZ monitor is fine. Temps in the 85C range should not cause throttling. But it looks like that is what your're experiencing. We have seen I7's in teh 3820TG run in the low 90C range without throttling. Are you running driver 10.8?

Bronsky

 

The temperature goes high to about 88 degrees and above probably it willl reach 90C at some point. After a while of intense gaming the temperature will decrease by itself to 60+ degrees, thats when the cpu speed decreases too and maintains at about 1.3Ghz without any turbo boost.After I restart the laptop, then it will run normally with turbo boost up to 3.33Ghz. I tend to look at the average temps, is it different with the max temps ?

No, I haven't tried the 10.8 driver yet.

 

Forget 10.8 for now. It is glitchy as hell.

It sure sounds like thermal related throttling. If you're hitting temps over 90C, that might just be it. Max temps and avg temps are different - use the CPUZ hardware monitor. You might also think about running Intel burn test which will identify throttling.

Hendrickson, who started the 3820TG owners thread just replaced his thermal coumpound with IC Diamond and reports temps lowered by as much as 5C under stress. This might help. But, replacing the thermal compound is not an easy job on a TimelineX.

BTW, did you get your I7-4820TG from Germany?

Bronsky

 

I bought mine in singapore, it might cost ya about US$1255.72, but it was made in china.

 

Oh damn... It didn't went over 90C , and still it downclocks itself when running the intel burn test.

 

Maybe it gots something to do with the tjunction. When the temperature is high enough the CPU will throttle it's performance (to save itself from potential damage).

Maybe that happened, when my cpu reached 90 degrees.

 

An I7 should run all day long at 90C. It should not begin to heat throttle until 96C or 97C. That is the typical range of operation that we have seen from the other Singapore models that have run tests in this thread. Something's wrong.

I almost bought one of your models from Firdouse in Singapore. I would up importing one from Germany with the I5 for $850 USD.

I would have your 3820TG looked at under the warranty.

Bronsky

 

LOL , I voided my warranty... I've opened my laptop haha.. Oh well life goes on

 

A bit late response, dunno if you got your answer...
but here are the results I had with my HP TM2
- WD Caviar Black 500gb @ 7200rpm = ~4.5 hrs
- Hitachi Travelstar 7k500 500gb @ 7200rpm = ~4.5 hrs
- Samsung P800? 256gb SSD = ~4.5 hrs
- Corsair Force F120gb SSD = 6.5 to 7.5 hrs

After owning the Samsung SSD, I didn't believe the hype that SSDs would actually improve battery life, but this new Corsair Force (or OCZ Vertex 2/Agility) with the Sandforce controller is incredibly efficient.

 

For those thats coming to Singapore. There will be an IT Fair this few days from 2 Sep to 5 Sep.

This is a link to the Acer TimelineX on sale then

Acer Notebooks Asipre TimelineX 3820T 5820TG 4820TG 5943G 8943G COMEX 2010 Scanned Singapore Price List Brochure Pamphlet Leaflet

 

Wow. An i7-640M (2.8 GHz) and 750GB HD. Sweetness...

 

hey bronsky im thinking of buying the canadian version of the 3820tg with a 5470 and upgrading it to a 5650. Where can i find one of those motherboards with a 5650 and how hard is it to switch?

 

Hey guys, is this normal for the stock ram?



Should I upgrade? If so, what's the best ram I can get? DDR3-what?

 

Shark Technologies sent me the wrong board. I'm sending it back. It looks like nobody has a refurbished 3820TG board for sale, so a reasonably priced swap is not possible. Sorry. A new motherboard is $500. This option turned out to be a dead-end street.

Bronsky

 

Perfectly normal. No need to upgrade.

 

He probably wants a 6.7 in his Ram column.

 

The question is: how do you get a 6.7 score for RAM?

 

I got 6.8 with 8GB of DDR3 1066.

 

But does it matter when it doesn't boost performance?

 

No ... but the score looks cool.

 

So it honestly doesn't boost performance at all?

 

Sure it doesn't boost performance, but for my classes, I have to virtualize XP and Ubuntu, so it works well to keep them running and don't have any issues with 7.

 

FYI, Newegg has the i5 450M in stock for $829: Newegg.com - Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-3195 NoteBook Intel Core i5 450M(2.40GHz) 14" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650

 

So many people are going to be happy about this!

 

Hey guys, does anyone have an SSD in their 4820TG? If so, could you post your ATTO benchmarks?

Here are mine:



Thanks!

 

Thanks for the link. Updated the links on the first post.

 

I bought the 5637 i3 last week. Should have waited a little bit longer...

 

thanks for that. just ordered. now comes the painful waiting until it arrives. i think its a great price for what you get. its not bulky either which i like. it will be my first acer.

 

Ohhhh man to order from newegg or not. I still want to hold out for a 3820TG, I don't know. Plus the CA tax makes me want to wait for amazon to get the i5 5650. bbllllalaaaaaaaaaaa

 

Bronsky

 

Seems too good to be true. $830 for the i5/5650? Microcenter was $900.

 

When I saw it, I thought "what a great price". You know though that as soon as you order one, the 3820Tg will show up on Amazon for $850.

Bronsky

 

i cant wait for mine to arrive. i looked at the envy also but it was pricey with the higher resolution. im trying top figure out if i can still do a lightup keyboard mode with this model.

 

It's possible.

 

woohoo. now its even better

 

Ugh I can't stand all these 5400 RPM hard drives. Do not want, but I don't have the cash to upgrade to an SSD. Might have to get a 7200 RPM drive or Momentus XT hybrid.

 

Inm8#2, I couldn't agree more. It's very difficult to drop to 5400rpm drive having had a 7200rpm in my previous laptop. The Momentus XT is €110 for 320gb but I'm stuck as to what SSD I should go for. 64-80GB is plenty, but it's hard to know which one will give the best (most noticeable) results. I know some of the guys here have an SSD, but what helped you to make the choice, and bite the bullet?

 

Don't forget tax @ Micro Center too.

$830 (no tax from newegg in ny) vs $970 (ny tax at micro center)

hell of a savings :eek

not to mention neweggs exponentially better return policy

micro center's 7 day return policy with strict restocking fees really blows.

 

Jay are you using this ?

cd rom bay adapter

just trying to figure out if this is what i need for a second hard drive.

 

Yes. Needs minor modifications to swap the faceplate but at the end of the day it looks perfect.