Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

I think I'm going to have to do a complete windows 7 reinstall. For some reason I am unable to overclock the GPU as I was able to in the past. On top of that, its performance has somehow dipped. Before I'd be able to get 50 FPS non-OCed in the most intense parts of BFBC2 multiplayer but now I only get 30 and its very choppy at times. I recently bought BulletStorm and the the GPU can barely handle the game at the lowest settings. It gets about 30 FPS but very often it dips below that to 20 or even 15.
This is just ridiculous. I hope the clean install will fix everything, but if this GPU is getting left behind even by the most recent games, then idk if getting this laptop was such a great idea.

 

Shadows had a huge part in FPS change. Thanks aylafan <3

 

Hmm. didn't realize GDDR5 ran way hotter than GDDR3. Makes sense though.

Wave soldering equipment? Pshhhhh. Just remove the motherboard, bake at 400 degrees for a few minutes in your trusty toaster oven. Carefully remove only the GPU upon reflow. Slap some some solder paste on the pads. Place the new GPU in place. Repeat with the toaster oven. Easy peasy

 

If you have a WD HDD, check the first post in this thread for tips on installing "quiethdd," which prevents the momentary lags/stutters you may be experiencing.

 

BGA replacement/reflow/reball requires proper equipment, temperature and procedure.

 

Yes. When I had my I3 in, I ran the GPU OCd for video editing. Worked flawlessly.

Bronsky

 

Thanks for the advice, gonna check it out now, I'll update how it goes in case anyone else happens to come across the issue.

 

Well i bought the laptop when it was $800 and amazon dropped it by $70 two days after i already got my laptop. That is the one thing that made me a little mad, they put they dont do post - price matching, so I decided to take my chance and call them to tell them about it and they are refunding me the $70!!! , so for the question about the thermal paste did you take the thermal pad off the gpu and just added thermal paste and put the sink on. I think im about to open it up and put some new thermal paste in about a month once i get another 4gb to total 6gb.

 

Thats it! I've just deinstalled the Acer graphics driver package and now windows update will find SP1..
After installing SP1 i reinstalled the Acer driver package and it seems to work.

The issue is described by Microsoft here:
You do not have the option of downloading Windows 7 SP1 when you use Windows Update to check for updates
Intel driver 8.15.10.2104 through 8.15.10.2141

 

Yes. I took off the thermal pad, cleaned the heatsink and top of the CPU and GPU dies. Put new thermal paste on the CPU dies and GPU die before I replaced the heatsink.

 

The same thing happened to me! They basically said it was a one-time exception and refunded me the $70. WTG Amazon customer service.

 

NICE.

Same thing happened to me. I also contacted them saying how I am a persistent customer for years and they gave me $70 back.

+1 to the consumers!

 

Have you tried using AMD GPU Clock Tool? That's the software I use to overclock my 5650 and I haven't had any problems with the GPU not overclocking.

 

how difficult is it to upgrade the ram in this model? Say I wanted to upgrade to 8GB. What type of ram would I need and how would I put it in? Sorry If that's a dumb question.

 

K I've had problems with the OCing part before.

After changing it to 700/1000 it's been running smoothly with no hiccups at all. So thanks to whoever threw that out there, I don't think 750/950 was stable for whatever reason.

 

Laptop RAM is different from desktop RAM, so I don't know what to get, but the RAM is accessed by removing the smaller panel on the bottom of the laptop that has a small indent so it's easier to pull out. It's a relatively easy procedure.

Page 49 and 52: http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/Manuals/acer/2010/ServiceGuides/SG_AS4820T_20100525.pdf

 

Thanks! So from reading that and some of what I've gathered in this thread, If I open up that back panel, those two Dimm Slots should be empty correct? This where I would put the extra ram? The 4 gigs already in the computer is in another location? Am I correct?

And does any one know what type of ram specifically I need?

Also If I open up the back to upgrade the ram am I voiding the warranty?

 

No, the 4GB will occupy the either two dimm slots, depending configurations...

SODIMM DDR3 1066MHz/1333MHz is fine..

 

Dangit man! Stop giving away all my secrets! hahaha

 

Sorry if this has been mentioned prior, but I heard that the 4280TG were getting refreshed to Sandy Bridge CPU's and 6650M's this summer. Any truth to this?

 

Hi!

So, i have some doubts...
I bought some days ago the 4820tg-6847 from amazon.

It says it comes with the ati radeon 6550m. But i could not find this model in ati's website to download the driver. which driver am i supposed to use?
** i have downloaded the catalyst here ( http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx#1) but it says it's incompatible with my system :S what should i do?

and other thing -- is there a way to make default the intel onboard video and only switch to the ati when i want? i could not find that option, i dont want to have it switching by itself when its on AC power, since i got some problems on some problems (even some blue screen saying something like USB_BUG_CODE)

and another one:
i've tested with a 8gb ddr3 crucial 1066mhz and a 8gb ddr3 corsair 1333mhz and both gave me 6.9 of rating on "windows experience index" for memory. why that?

thanks =D

 

No, the slots are occupied by your current RAM.

No, you're not voiding your warranty. Hell, you can remove the motherboard without voiding it.

Go to Acer's site for drivers.

WEI doesn't really rate the HW based on how fast it is, but on what HW you have, so scores are worthless. There's also zero actual performance gain in normal programs and games from going to 1333 MHz RAM.

 

Anyone know if you can make the laptop wake up from sleep just from opening the lid, instead of hitting the power button?

 

I put a 32gb OCZ Vertex2 in my 4820TG last night and I am waiting on my 9.5mm HHD Optical Bay caddy that I ordered on eBay and I am planning on sticking the 500GB HD in that. I should have mine in a day or two, as I ordered from within the US. I will let you know how it goes.

 

thats great man. I went cheap and went with the one from china would've gone for the newmodeus if i spent $729 upfront instead of $800 for the laptop either way amazon cool enough to give me a $70 refund. Let us know, i read in the other thread diy ssd/hdd in optical drive bay that some guy couldn't get his drive to read in his bay. <-- might have been bad hdd caddy.

 

This has been talked about many times before but since the forum search function is broken I'm asking again quickly. I like keeping my graphics card drivers up to date, and it's killing me to see all these new ATI drivers and have no official update from Acer. I'm still running stock because I've been warned that there are bugs with using the newer versions of catalyst (through switching to descrete in bios, installing, then going back to switchable). Still, a lot of people seem to use the newer drivers. What exactly are these bugs and do the benefits of the newer drivers outweigh the negatives? It seems like a very simple install process.

I'm also trying to decide whether it's worth uninstalling the integrated video drivers to install SP1?

 

i am running the latest ati drivers from amd. 11.2 and I have no problems. Its very simple, New drivers might give a boost in performance in gaming. I say make a driver backup of your current drivers. Then do it and just in case it doesn't work you got your back up.

edit: you can dl sp1 from microsoft and put it on a dvd like I did. cause i couldn't see sp1 in windows update. So you wouldn't have to uninstall anything for sp1

 

I can confirm that SP1 does install if you download the stand-alone package from Microsoft. I have multiple computers and figured it was easier to download one copy.

As for updating graphics drivers. The only bug I've noticed is the lack of brightness controls. Could be other stuff missing, but personally, the gaming boost is worth it.

 

Hey aylafan, would it be possible for you to post on your first page the steps to being able to close the lid on the laptop while using an external monitor?

Here's the steps if you want to just copy and paste:

Click Start
Click Control panel
Click Hardware and Sound
Click Change Battery Settings
Click Change Plan Settings
Click Change Advanced Settings
Scroll down to power buttons and lid and click the drop down
Click the drop down for lid close action
Change plugged in: option to Do Nothing (when the laptop is plugged into the outlet)

Just thinking this might be helpful to some people.

 

So there's a lack of brightness controls. That's annoying but alright, I'm assuming that's just via the Fn+arrow shortcut?

I do game quite a bit so I suppose that'd be worth it. And when I need to worry about brightness I'm almost always running on battery and therefore the integrated graphics, so it will probably work then, right?

Also if anyone knows any other bugs I'd be very grateful!

 

That is a great tip! Thanks deligma!

BTW, does anyone know if the 4820TG has or will have the capability to do wireless transmit to a TV? Like Intel's PushTV available on several laptops (HP has their own version).

 

I have brightness keys working fine on my 4820TG with Catalyst 11.2 mobility drivers. It didn't work in earlier Catalyst versions though. It also works with the Intel GMA HD.

Thank you for the suggestion, but I don't think it is necessary for me to add this to the first post since it's not directly related to the 4820TG. I believe most people would know how to change the power settings in Windows 7 if they ever wanted to output to an external monitor or TV.

I appreciate the input though.

 

Answering my own question, looks like this would work.


Amazon.com: HP Wireless TV Connect: Electronics

 

Awesome, good to know. I'll def do it then. I'm assuming you install the ATI Catalyst Software Suite and not the Catalyst Control Center, right?

 

Correct, use the ATI Catalyst Software Suite mobility drivers and follow the installation steps on the first post. Comment back if you have any problems.

 

Hey guys. For those of you who did a clean install, did you notice an increase in performance in gaming?

 

Thanks @B!0HaZard.

But, is there a way to keep my integrated intel gpu as the default, disabling this auto-switch on AC power and only switching to ATI when I choose?

Thanks!

 

Does anyone have the game bulletstorm? I average out at about 30 FPS on the lowest settings. From what I understand, the 6550 should be able to run the game at med-high with 4xAA settings at 40 FPS+

 

Try Bulletstorm without 4xAA. Anti-Aliasing makes a big impact on FPS in a lot of my first-person shooter games.

The 6550M is still a middle-level performance graphics card; don't expect great performance from it with newer demanding games. However, it's still one of the top graphic cards for 14" laptops and smaller at the moment.

 

Well I just received mine yesterday and this machine is awesome! Although without doing a clean install I am noticing severely reduced graphics. I can't even finish 3dmark06 with it. AND I just got the dreaded BSOD already! With the same bug usb driver code. So I just called Amazon less than a minute ago and one will be here tomorrow...talk awesome customer service!

On another note, would a clean install really improve performance that much?

 

What USB bug are u referring to.. How can I test if mine has that problem?

 

a stupid question...
which memory would you keep?
a corsair 2x4 1333mhz or a crucial 2x4 1066mhz?

---

and i have noticed that, after installing the most recent catalyst (by the trick of disabling and re-enabling the switchable graphics) my games recognizes the 6550m as a 5600/5700 m board (even the catalyst shows that) and the performance is worse.
i dont know, i mean:
- by using the acer driver, fallout new vegas set up graph config to high and it runned smooth;
- by using the last driver, fallout set to ultra and runned bad; and even setting it back to high it didnt run as smooth as originally;
so i felt back to the acer driver.

 

MOAR QUESTIONS!

Anyone opened this laptop yet (the revised one with the 6550M that is)? I'm looking for the clock generator name (for SetFSB, to give Abo-san) and I don't want to open it up and probably void my warranty if I'm not going to find a clock generator on the motherboard.

In any case, will the clock generator be the same on all 4820TGs? Mine's the 4820TG-6847.

EDIT: So, if anyone has the 6550M 4820TG, please let me know what the clock generator name is, so I can get started on overclocking this i5-480M.

 

even though the laptop doesn't use memmory at 1333mhz speed and it will downclock to 1066mhz. It will be instead of 9-9-9-24 it will go to 7cas at 1066mhz and they are about the same price if im not mistaken. plus newer laptops are gonna go with 1333mhz as sb can read those so the resell value of 1333mhz is higher than 1066mhz.

 

I've got Bulletstorm running on low-high-high-low--if you have the game, you know that this means-- with 30-40 FPS outdoors and 60 FPS indoors. I did turn off AA, though VSync is turned on (can't abide screen tearing). You have to modify the StormEngine.ini, however. I've got the gorgeous godbeams turned on and everything.

The thing is, Bulletstorm isn't well-optimized for PCs out of the box.

 

I've noticed something weird with playing BC2 Vietnam. Sometimes when I launch, I get pretty crappy frames. I'll have to do restart for smoother frames. Could this possibly a problem with the switchable graphics?

 

He should be able to give you some guidance if you send him a PLL Diagnosis screen shot and the dump file from CPUz tools (the .txt file).

If the new models are anything like the old ones, the clockgens are somewhat random.

Bronsky

 

Yeah I've noticed that sometimes it doesn't switch graphics properly when connecting/disconnecting from an AC source. Have you checked the bottom right corner with the icon tray to make sure that the ATI Catalyst control center is running vs. the Intel HD graphics?

 

Yeah I checked and made sure it was in high performance mode in the switchable graphics settings. I have found that if you switch to the discrete having used the intel graphics beforehand, it will not fully utilize the ati graphics. The only way to get the best performance is to boot with the laptop plugged in.

 

Hi guys, now I'm also a proud owner of 4820tg. What do I need to do to update the gfx drivers ?

Some one please provide me a link for latest drivers.