Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

Found a Windows 7 home premium x64 image, just finished re-installing windows, now doing all the drivers and getting ready to sit down for a 24 hours+ update of windows... *rolls-eyes*

to DCPress: try and use the acer support website, since they will have the only valid drivers that will work for the radeon card

Acer driver download

 

Yeah I sent him a PLL Diagnosis screen but apparently he needs the clock generator name from the chip on the motherboard to go any further. And I'm guessing I will have to void my warranty if I want to have a look around the motherboard.

 

If you don't have to remove any stickers, you're not voiding your warranty.

 

So, in a fit or insanity (or genius, they're hard to tell apart) I just ordered this: 14.0-inch LG LP140WD1-TLA1 Laptop LCD Screen 1600x900 LED Glossy - US$87.00 | HooToo.com

I'll let you guys know how the upgrade goes. Or doesn't. crosses fingers, toes, etc...

 

Proud future owner of 4820TG-6847 (i5 580M and Radeon 6550). Quick question. Does the Atheros wireless card support 5 Ghz and dual band?

 

i hope it works i dont like the 1366x768 resolution. good luck to you.

 

I have a broadcom wireless and ahteros gigabit ethernet connection on mine...did the specs say that it was an atheros wireless?


ALSO: to anyone contemplating a clean install...DO IT! Awesome afterwards and things just seem to work alot better. Just don't forget to use the back up utility to make 4 full recovery discs and 1 applications and drivers disc, literally one or two clicks and done.

I know it's off topic, but has anyone installed bitdefender total security 2011 on their laptops or other pcs? I need some security and would like something that isn't a resource hog.

 

Why not use Microsoft Security Essentials?

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

 

Laptop Mag said it does: LAPTOP Magazine - Product reviews, tech news, buying guides, and more

But I haven't gotten mine yet. Does the broadcom do 5Ghz and/or dual band? And, if it doesn't, is this model bios locked so I can't put a different card in?

 

No, the Acer spec doesn't say it and they are importing not the test papers.

 

@BRONKSY

I want to replace the odd in my 4820tg and replace it with a hard drive. I also want to put an ssd in my machine for the OS and programs and use the 500gb hdd for storage. this will increase boot time and save battery life right?

do i have to put the ssd in my primary hdd slot and then use an odd caddy for the hdd? or can i just put the ssd straight in the odd caddy?

any help would be much appreciated.

 

It will decrease boot time, it will not save power. You're adding a power consumer, not replacing it with one that requires less power.

 

Since the 3820tg does not have the odd, i have not done this to my timeline but I would think that the drive with the os would need to go in the current hd slot.

Bronsky

 

I'm also quite interested in how this turns out, good luck!

 

Actually you can change the boot order in the BIOS. So I don't think it matters where you put your SSD.

 

I say it's genius. Either way, keep us updated - that would a FTW moment if that works!

 

Hey guys I've been playing the crysis 2 demo. The game runs really smooth but my temps are showing nearly 90C on my i7 processor and 80C on the HD 5650 oc'ed @ 666/1000. Is that really bad ? cuz it kinda scares me.

Any cooling tips for me guys ?

 

These are normal temperatures for the Core i5/i7 and HD 5650 on the 4820TG (in demanding games).

If you are worried about this, you can always buy a laptop cooler and it'll probably bring the temperature down by 5-10C.

 

While gaming I have 83C max on GPU, no matter if I OC ( 700-1000 ) or not, and then it starts to drop to under 80. I believe thats when fan is switching to highest rpm. It's uncomfortable ( hand is getting wet. ) but it's not dangerous for the card. And i believe the cooling sys on highest power can handle some more degrees. Anyway, I've heard that changing stock thermal grease can give even 10C drop. I'm going to check this next week. Flooding insides with sweat voids warranty anyway!

 

Hello i read a bit of the service manual posted in the first page of the thread and i am curious about an eventual hardware upgrade of my 4820. Is it phisically possible to put a faster ram, hd (7200rpm) and a faster processor replacing the default ones? Are the parts listed in the service manual all suitable for my model (4820 with core i5430 hd 640gb)?

 

faster ram will only mean low cas latency because i heard if you get any other ram like 1333mhz or 1600mhz for laptop it will downclock to 1066mhz with low cas latency. So in a way yes upgrade ram. 7200rpm hdd is possible. For processors i think your limited to dual core, but wait till someone has more info on that since i have no idear.

 

Is anyone running a dual Harddrive setup? A ssd for the OS and apps and a storage harddrive. How's the effect on battery life? I want to add in a ssd for my os but want to what's the effect on battery life.

 

Oh.. So you plan to replace the thermal grease. Do inform us of your results and what thermal grease do you think is best ?

Btw, what would be the temps when "it starts to drop to under 80" ? 79-76 ? Just want to confirm this

 

Yes, i was wondering if it is possible to unplug my i5 processor from the motherboard and simply plug an i7 like the one listed in the service manual. CPU Intel Core i7 620M PGA 2.66G 4M (KC.62001.DM). I don't know if the processor is built in the motherboard or it is easily switchable and if my motherboard supports an i7

 

Acer's bios seems to support any of the full-powered dual-core arrandale CPUs. You can swap the I7 with no problem.

Bronsky

 

Do you mean that i might plug an even faster mobile i7 than the one on the service manual?

 

Hi all,

I recently applied new thermal paste to both the CPU and GPU and got lower temps. However, when playing games CPU stayed fairly low and GPU went up to 100C which isn't good. I'm not sure what I could have done wrong.

There was a thermal pad on the GPU that I took off and replaced with thermal paste. The thermal pad was pretty thick so I'm thinking that there is now a gap between the cooler and the GPU w/thermal paste. Could that be the problem? If so, how can I fix this?

 

Which one did you use? You would need something more viscous (e.g., MX-2) to fill the gap between the GPU and its heatsink. I applied MX-2 on both CPU and GPU and the temp reaches 75-78 C on GPU when playing GTA IV on 700/1000 MHz.

 

I used MX-2 but I only applied a thin layer.

 

I'm running a dual hard drive set up, with an Intel X25 in the ODD bay.
I haven't tun the battery down completely yet but the battery indicator shows me having more time left per charge than it did without the SSD (about 25 minutes or so).

 

I'm no expert on this but applying a drop of paste at the center of the die without spreading it seems to give the best results. Just make sure you keep the heatsink as parallel as possible to the die when mounting it for the paste to spread evenly. Also try not to lift the heatsink once you get contact with the paste to avoid getting air bubbles.

 

Okay, I have enough thermal paste to try out that drop method.

Thanks

 

Question: I OC'd the GPU like the OP said to, set it to 650/950. However, I then tested it by switching back to integrated graphics, then back to the 5650, and went back into AMD GPU Clock Tool, and it's set at 100/150? How'd that happen?

I'm running the updated drivers by the way.

 

Well, you aren't setting a permanent clock in the GPU BIOS, so whenever you shut it down and start it back up it loads the BIOS which tells it to run at default clocks.

 

Oh I see, I didn't realize that people were resetting their clock every time. Still, why did it go to 100/150? That's much slower than it should be, isn't it?

 

Sounds like ATI PowerPlay. Basically, it downclocks the core and memory speeds to reduce power consumption when you aren't using graphic intense programs.

 

Ah OK, as long as everything is working as it should haha. Thanks for clearing that up guys.

 

Thermal paste is NOT meant to fill in large gaps, it is made to fill in the surface imperfections in the two mating surfaces. You need to get a piece of thin copper shim (about as thick as the pad you removed) and put thermal grease on both sides and use it to replace the pad you took out.

 

can it be this or other

 

You have to replace the thermal pad with a material with equal thickness.
Normally people would replace it with a Copper Shim that offers better thermal conductivity.

 

if anyone replaced their thermal paste and put copper shim instead of the thermal pad what size is the thermal paste so i can get the same dimension copper shim when i change thermal paste.

 

Hmmm... Strangely, My temps for my gpu ranges from 75-80 degrees while gamming and rarely goes higher. I've applied arctic silver 5 on the gpu while still having its thermal pad attached to it's heatsink. Maybe a copper shim might help to reduce that gap.

 

With all the commotion about copper shims, I guess I'm getting one too ! But first, can anyone tell me what are the suitable dimensions of copper shim to be placed on the GPU ?

 

Have you guys tried bending the tabs up. Bending them lowers the heatsink and eliminates the gap. That's what I did and it worked like a champ. Look at the service manual on the first post, page 72 to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

 

I'm getting pretty good temps now with just applying the thermal paste using the dot method.

 

so, i read somewhere in this thread that the 4820tg-6847 has actually a express card with the wifi board.
so, could i change it with some other wifi board with bluetooth? is it even possible or am i talking crap?

thx

 

Which tabs? Do you mean the 4 parts that are covering the RAM?

 

What screws go into.

Edit: Meant to say, where the screws go into.

 

I'll try that next time I open up my 5820TG.

 

Why is Acer using only an Intel GMA GFX Card in the upcoming TimelineX Sandy Bridge notebooks?

Kind of a let down Maybe I should grab a 4820TG while the getting is good.

Edit: I jumped the gun. In the Notebook Italia video there is an option for an NVidia 540M GPU. Can't wait now.