Acer Ethos AS8951G/AS5951G Owners Lounge

Ray,

Thanks for the reply. We have the same mind set. I like to stay at least 2 revs back from any new bios, drivers, OSI updates/patches etc. Don’t fix what isn’t broke!

I’m parking bios (V1.05) until the vendor Acer issues a memoranda to 8951G owners as a recommended critical/performance patch. Just like Microsoft does with security patches.

Any takers for 8951G Nvidia 3D management settings?….Just want to compare how others set it and if there is any benefit.

This is what I did… Manage 3D>>Global settings>>Preferred graphics processor Selected >>High performance Nvidia processor

Programs added: Adobe Acrobat, Clear.Fi, IE9, Win Media Player, Win Media Center, MS Photo Gallery, Cisco PacketTracer, MS Office (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint)

The idea is to steer all video processing to Nvidia GT 555M, not Intel HD 3000. Any other tweaks, please advise.

P.S. Gearing up for a scientific experiment with 8951G HMDI out to legacy Sony720p plasma component and Sony Parametric EQ Pre-AMP Audio via optical digital cable using HD Fury gender converter.

 

Hi why are you still on 1.05 ?
New bios update
Improve the battery life of Acer MediaRemote control touchpad
Supports new LCD panel - probably replacing when damaged ?
I would replace it for better one what do you think ?

 

I did some Clear.Fi Picture view stress testing just to compare the 8951G vs. old Dell XPS M2010 which has a dead ATI X1800 video card.

Hi resolution Hubble Telescope space shots always caused video freeze up, pixelation, and artifact issues with the XPS M2010.

Downloaded Orion Full Res jpg 1/2/2006 (18000 x 18000) from the Hubblesite.org.
The XPS M2010 would freeze, can’t zoom, pan, rotate, nothing.
8951G…. What can I say?

Wow…. Something strange I never saw before, when Orion is rotated 90 degrees left.
Looks like a man’s head upper left and lion’s head lower right coming out of the cloud.
Tested V838 jpg 2004/2005/2006 (6332 x 3639) (20,000 light years from here)
Interesting shape shifting events in the dust cloud.
NGC 2080 Ghost Head pocket size jpg (2400 x 3000) rotated 90 degrees left, another head appearing in the cloud. No problem with the 8951G.

Next to test….Speakers….
XPS M2010 had 8 + sub HD 2.1 SigmaTel vs. 8951G has 4 + sub HD 5.1 RealTek.

Tried 2 music tracks, same song different artists…1 studio & 1 live concert.

El Paso – Marty Robbins studio 4:50 minutes. Has a lot of dynamics.
Played with Dolby HT V4 EQ pre-sets: open, bright, rich, warm. Very nice.

El Paso – Grateful Dead Live 7:00 minutes. GD had the wall of sound
setup on stage for PA system (3 story wall of speakers & racks of Macintosh amps).
This is a tough one because the bass player often goes into the sub-sonic area way below 40HZ.

 

Just a quick goodbye from me.

I sold my 8951g today and am going to get a DELL XPS 17 tomorrow for almost the same price I sold my Acer. Except, the Dell has better CPU, better GPU, better Touchpad, better speakers, and WAY better screen.

Anyways you guys enjoy your machines and thanks for helping out here, a specially big thank you goes to RAY24 who helped more than the whole acer support division
If anyone is looking for me, I'll be lurking on the DELL XPS Forums here from now on

cheers to all of you!

 

8951G Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/Bio Finger Print Scanner/ Bullet Proof Security


Bluetooth: I’m using an XPS M2010 mouse. It works, but sometimes drops. Have to go
back to the launch manager and select off/on again thru Acer media touch pad. Some postings have flagged this issue along with a dumb GUI launch manager that has no save options. The security preference would be at boot-up, Wi-Fi off & Bluetooth on. Take a look at the surrounding environment with inISSDer, Vistumbler or Wireshark. Who can see who and the raw data?

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth both occupy a section of the 2.4 GHz ISM band that is 83 MHz-wide.
When a Bluetooth radio and a Wi-Fi radio are operating in the same area, the single 22 MHz-wide Wi-Fi channel occupies the same frequency space as 22 of the 79 Bluetooth channels which are 1 MHz wide. When a Bluetooth transmission occurs on a frequency that lies within the frequency space occupied by a simultaneous Wi-Fi transmission, some level of interference can occur, depending on the strength of each signal.

Finger scanner: I didn’t do it. Reason, scan an index finger then hit it with a hammer, put a band-aid on and re-scan. Instead of this, Supervisor passwords were set for boot-up & bios.

Security: I’ve been using Win 7 firewall. It’s ok, but will shut off and go back to Comodo firewall. The nag pop-ups which will occur for about 48 hours, will allow me to do a detailed security audit of all Acer factory installed apps, plus everything else.
Here are a few Firewall & Defense + sandbox settings:

1. Alert me to incoming connections and make my ports stealth on a per-case basis.
2. Enable IPv6 filtering.
3. Show Trustconnect alerts for unsecured wireless networks and alerts for public networks.
4. Uncheck the box that says "This computer is an internet connection gateway”.
5. Check the box to "Do protocol analysis".
6. If your computer is part of a network, such as a wireless network, also check the boxes to "Protect the ARP Cache" and "Block Gratuitous ARP Frames.
7. "Defense + Sandbox". Open the tab for "Execution Control Settings.
8. Treat unrecognized files as Partially Limited.
9. Select the tab for Protected Files and Folders & 3rd Party Protocol Drivers.
10. Add new item, just copy and paste in the following path \Device\KsecDD.
What you have just done is cut off the access that unknown programs have to the Windows encryption tool. This could be used by some malware to encrypt your files.

 

Hello Everyone,

Thanks in advance for any help.

I just tried to update the bios on my machine using the latest version from the Acer website. The utility says that it failed to write to bios and then closed.

Ok, no problem. But now the computer will not boot.

Screen does not come on, HD light flickers and power light stays on.

Couple of re-boots / connect disconnect battery etc does nothing.

Any ideas how to factory reset to the original bios?

 

if I am not mistaken, there was a solution including flash drives few pages back.

 

Well, after selling my custom built MSI GX720 (brought barebone from US + Quad Core Q9200 + etc) after approx 3 days of usage (well I received an offer I can't refuse including $1k profit ) @ 2009 , since then I was looking for a desktop replacement for a long while.

During this time, I chased another GX720, GX730 then discovered 18.4" ones by Sony AWs but I didn't have a chance until now.

So after 3 years of waiting, I know possess an Acer 8951G at last \o/

I had already entire thread several times before , but still have things to ask.

a - I formatted computer to get rid of bloatware but now I can't play blu-ray. Anyone have any idea how to get required application?

b - There were people asking but never replied, is Bluetooth integrated to wifi ie can I get rid of it?

Thanks in advance

 

Hello Johnfalshny & CoreRepublican

John, some bios info is located back on pages 38, 39, & 40 of this thread.
As a suggestion, call Acer customer service and tell them the situation.
Do a little arm twisting, can’t afford the downtime, impacting business and
revenue. Get Acer to move forward ASAP to correct the fault with new bios version rather than backout to original. Please post the results here if you call Acer.


Core, (A) Format means the C drive? If not, go to control panel in Win 7 and
do a system restore (select a restore point before the date of blu-ray issue).
Next are the backup disks. If you made an Acer DVD App Backup, then use this DVD
to re-install. (B) Bluetooth software can be uninstalled thru Win 7 control panel. Drivers can be removed in device manager. Integrated BT + WiFi on Intel N62XX. Keep an eye on that device manager for Broadcom BT 3.0. Have a backup ready just in case for re-install. Acer’s website might have the Apps in support/downloads for 8951G.

 

Hello, JohnfWalshny,

already solved your problems? If yes, congratulations.
If not, please post a note, and I will describe exactly each step to do to restore the bios. Fortunately I wrote down the way to help myself next time I kill my pc's bios.
Or google for acer crisis disk, read my note a couple of pages ago, and you should succeed.

Good wishes from
Manfred Glinke

 

Just bought a refurbed AS8951G-9600 (the old 2630 version, didn't bother me for what I paid...). Computer looked new when I bought it except the lcd screen cover was not fully clipped in, applied pressure and all was well. Doubled ram and put a second hard drive in (crucial m4 128).

Was using an external keyboard but just realize that my G and N keys are broken (touch anywhere from the middle to the bottom and they snap right off). The tabs on the bottom of the keys are broken.

Does anyone know where I can find replacement keys? Did some googling but no one seems to have keys for this machine. Found full replacements...does anyone know how involved a keyboard replacement is?

Really can't believe how poorly made the keys are...I have been using my old gateway laptop since 2008 and it still runs strong with NOTHING broken (my core 2 duo is just a little too slow now).

 

Thanks everyone for your quick responses.
I wound up sending the computer back to Acer today.

Their level 2 technical support claimed there was no method, be it keystroke combo or otherwise to solve the problem.

I have never seen a Bios update brick a computer.
It is unacceptable that a manufacturer would post a potentially hazardous bios.

Several of my keyboard keys and the power key were also misaligned and stuck sometimes. So given that the machine is so new (1 week) I though it best to have them square it away once and for all.

I'm trying to negotiate a free extended warranty for the hassle. Stay tuned.

On another note:
I have an SSD to install as a second drive; is it safe to just install the drive without those rails? It seems like it would be snug enough; anyone gone that route?

 

@ethosguy917

Replace the whole keyboard. It's cheap and less fuss than trying to fix individual keys.

@johnfwalshny

Flashig BIOS is always risky and on occasion it does't end well.
There is a disclaimer on Acer website warning about it.
If there were no "potentially hazardous" BIOSes posted there would be no BIOSes posted at all.

 

@EasyCruz

a ) Yes a complete wipe out. Found out that software called "InstantOn Arcade" does this but couldn't find it. So either have to use a 3rd party solution or use factory default disks , both options are horrible.

b ) I am interested in removing bluetooth physically. I don't use BT and think it is a bloat(hard)ware too.

 

What you're looking for is Acer Arcade.
At least one copy is floating around the net somewhere.
It's an old one but this software has an auto-update feature so it should do the trick for you.

 

8951G Acer Crystal Eye Webcam

Did some testing, set to 720p HD. Works better than the Dell XPS M2010.
The M2010 had an led light to indicate webcam is on, the 8951G doesn’t have one.
That’s a security issue. Factory installed version is 1.0.1904. A popup alerts me
to update V1.5.2406.1. I installed it (This will auto uninstall V1.0.1). At first it looked
ok, then started to blackout buttons when hovering over them with mouse. Did an uninstall
and reverted back to V1.0.1 using my Acer app recovery DVD.

So how to know whether my webcam is hacked or not? All webcams have at least a small light that comes ON when they are activated. It means your webcam is watching you! For laptops also, there should be a status LED for integrated webcams.

Can I prevent those webcam hacks? Webcams can be hijacked if you run an insecure system. Sensible use of applications will reduce the risks a lot. Set a Comodo firewall rule and Crystal Eye will ask permission (nag popup).

 

No rails needed for 2nd drive (frankly I don't think they're really needed for the 1st drive).

Sorry you had the dreaded BIOS brick, I went thru the same sequence (see my prior post). If you paw thru this entire thread, you'll get most of the pieces needed to recover on your own. Hint: you'll need a thumb drive, and the ESC+FN keys are magic.

But sounds like you had keybd issues and needed tech service anyway.

fwiw: bios v1.11 doesn't "feel" like it changed anything, but some of the notes on the intervening releases seemed to indicate its needful (ucode updates + removable trackpad battery life). It sortof seemed like the screen contrast/brightness improved, which may relate to the comment about "support new LCD screen", but I could also be fooling myself. I've got the newer version of the 8951, so maybe I got the "new LCD screen" ?

 

Hey guys,

Not sure if this has been answered somewhere in this thread (couldn't find it anyway) is there any info on the 1080p screen? gamut, brightness, blacks, whites, contrast, etc.

Thank You!

 

You can find the info in this review: Review Acer Aspire Ethos 8951G Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

My own measurements of the screen using X-Rite i1 are a little bit better:
Brightness = 192 cd/m2 (center of screen)
Black = 0.6 cd/m2
Contrast ratio = 320:1

The review mentions poor viewing angels. This is true, but not to the extent that the review would lead you to believe. The best thing to do is see the screen for yourself. Microsoft stores in my area have them on display. Hope this helps.

 

thanks for the info. +1 rep! (when the system lets me ... )

 

8951G LCD Color Calibration in Windows 7

Just wondering if anyone preformed a calibration. Below are the factory settings.

Current Nvidia GT 555M settings:
Brightness @ +50%, Contrast @ +50%, Hue @ +179, Saturation @ +50%
Gamma: Red, Green, Blue are all @ +1.00
Dynamic range: Full (0-255)

Current Intel HD 3000 settings:
Brightness = 0
Contrast = 50
Gamma = 1.0
Hue = 0
Saturation = 0

 

Attached is my ICC profile I did a while back with my X-Rite i1. Just unzip then find the icc file and put it into Windows\system32\spool\drivers\color and you should be able to select it from your display color profiles. Keep in mind that not all monitors are equal and although from the same manufacturer, our monitors may display colors differently. Obviously, the best way to calibrate your monitor is by purchasing a hardware solution like the X-Rite or Spyder products.

 

@ cnorton

I moved the icc file into the color folder, but Intel’s control panel has no select/import option.
Opened Windows 7 calibrate display color tool & Intel control panel. Made the following
minor changes & saved in Intel CP. Just curious as to what settings that file had compared to the ones below.

Current Intel HD 3000 settings:
Brightness = 0 New = -14
Contrast = 50 New = 48
Gamma = 1.0 No Change
Hue = 0 No Change
Saturation = 0 No Change

 

You don't need to export anything. Just copy the ICC file to the specified location. In the "advanced" tab on your display options, you should then be able to select the profile and set it.

The ICC profile defines the color space and is used prodominately so your display device matches your output device (ie your printer outputs the exact colors your monitors dispays). I did not mess with brightness, contrast or gamma and the profiles should calibrate hue and saturation.

 

HDMI YCbCr444 Colour Space

I have my new AS5951G connected to an external monitor via HDMI, and I'm noticing it looks pretty washed out. Does the GT555M/optimus support setting the the colour space to YCbCr444 for the HDMI output? I don't see the option in the Nvidia control panel. Has anybody else looked into this?


On as side note, one of the first things that happened when I opened it up is the pre-installed acer auto-update wanted to update the bios. I of course just clicked ok... and bricked it. A big thanks to you all in this forum for having the info up to bail me out of that mess (flash bios via usb with fn+esc boot). Those turkeys at Acer really need to fix that. So not cool!

 

@cnorton

Did the ICC file configuration thru windows color management CP OK. Interesting.
If I’m correct, there are better shades of red, green, blue, grey & white.
Also found an LCD target/pattern tester that can be used offline with IE.
LCD monitor test images.
This has more tests than WIN 7 cal display & can run online as needed.

 

u don't have video from nvidia on tv . that is intel HD 3000...

 

Just got my 8951g last week in Sydney and pretty impressed, 2 x 750 gb HD, 8 gb ram, Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 WiFI adapter for just over 1500 AUD$. Only downside I have seen so far is the bootup which does take some time about to drop a SSD and another 8gb ram so should get the speed up. The thread regarding the I7-2860QM swap is very interesting, that should mean you should be able to get 32GB ram in Yes/No?

Regards,

 

Update on the problem I'm having: As far as I can tell the monitor I have connected via HDMI is being detected as a television. Apparently this is a common issue, but from what little info I can find about this it seems one of the determining factor as to whether it's detected by the graphics card(s)/drivers as a television or a monitor is the presence of audio support on the device. I was able to build a custom monitor driver with the audio support info stripped from the EDID, and that has the desktop looking fine now. However some full screen programs (games) still load up thinking it's a television. This means crushed black levels (16-255) and some even running interlaced! Also, even the desktop occasionally reverts to a compressed colour space.

I contacted Acer support and they just told me to send the laptop back for them to investigate, which I am reluctant to do if it doesn't look like that will do anything to solve the problem.

Has anybody out there run into this problem?

 

8951G HDMI Dual Monitor Test

I’m on battery backup with the Acer in a bright sunny room. Dual monitor
screen operability will be tested via HDMI using a legacy Sony plasma 720p display.
(Sony is set to AV PRO)

This Sony is connected RGB component to HD Fury converter to HDMI to 8951G.
Pulled up Win 7 display “change display settings” 1st. Powered off Sony, connected,
then powered on Sony. I was expecting issues, but there it was. The LCD and plasma
screens showing display settings.

Made 1 change for resolution, dropped to1280x720 . This was recommended by
a popup (Slick). Refresh rate auto selects @ 59Hz.
Checked Nvidia GT 555M Physx panel which sees the HD Fury connection OK.
Checked Intel HD 3000 control panel and it sees the same OK.

After running video content, no other settings were touched, no color, no driver installs, nothing.
Did some HDMI disconnect/connects, and the Acer auto reverted back to 1080p
@60Hz then back to 720p @59Hz. Great.

Which display wins? The Sony plasma 720p. The Acer 8951G wins for functionality.

 

After bricking the laptop by applying a bios update on the Acer website, they sent it back and replaced the motherboard.

Now I have another issue that I'm trying to solve myself before sending it back a second time within 30 days.

I'd return it to newegg.com for a refund but I made the mistake of using the original box when I sent it to Acer repair but they threw it away and so I'm stuck with this thing.

The Nvidia 555m adapter no longer works.
It either displays as a Standard VGA adapter or the 555m but always with an error 43 saying the device returned and error.

The laptop now has the 1.11 build (latest) from Acer

I've tried the build from the Acer website along with the latest and beta drivers from nvidia. I'm able to re-create the problem on a fresh install as well.

On a fresh install with the original Acer drivers, they install but I get the BSOD when I open the Nvidia control panel. Then when it re-boots it goes back to error 43.

Also is there any help to be had on the trackpad? The scrolling is just horrible and many times the mouse just goes crazy and I have to eject it and re-seat it to get it to work properly.

So frustrated. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

@johnfwalshny

Troubleshooting? Google it, “Nvidia 555m error 43”. Pulled up enough
Info to localize, isolate, and hopefully repair.

Interesting, Acer, Dell, Asus, Lenovo all getting error 43. Is it the bios, Nvidia
driver, or a Windows system file/registry key?

Defined: 43 Error Code is caused in one way or another by misconfigured system files in your windows operating system.
Also found an (Error 43) repair utility. If you use this, have your malware/virus software
turned up HI & scan it in case it’s malware.

Also right here at notebookreview forum, error 43:
Go to Alienware M14X>GT 555M driver not picking up card, start pg 6 & fixed pg 13.

As for the touchpad, I use it to turn on Bluetooth for a BT mouse then power off.

 

Could someone re-upload this as it has expired again ?

I just got my new keyboard, and I would like to know how to properly install it... (don't want to break anything)

 

I pick up a 8951g-9824 the other day and love it but want to upgrade the main 750gb drive to a SSD. Cant seem to find an answer anywhere so hoping someone can answer here.

Does this laptop support SATA 3?

 

SATA 3, yes.

Upgrade is easy, if you'd like to add a second hard drive rather than swap (no reason not to since you have the extra hard drive slot) you need to buy a cable (currently available on ebay but if you search this thread you'll find links to another place that sells it). I actually swapped the SSD into the space where the main hard drive is and put the HDD in the second bay (I don't think it matters which is where). Removing the big panel on the bottom will give you access. You don't need to buy the hard drive rails/bracket, just the cable as the foam will make it a snug fit. You can do a clean install on the SSD, or do what I did and shrink drive C (original) to fit the SSD and do a windows backup, then restore that image to the new SSD.

 

Thanks for the quick reply I actually got two 750GB drives in mine so no need for me to buy any cables.


Also any suggestions on a SSD? Ive been reading a bit and it looks like OCZ is not very reliable.

 

Wanted to just to confirm, yes this Laptop does support SATA3. I can get ~560 MB/s read and write on synthetic benchmarks. I have a Corsair GT 240GB SSD in mine and it flies. Other have reported problems with the drives with Sandforce controllers (which includes the OCZ agility and vertex drives), but mine has been rock solid without any crashes or blue screens for over two months. Many recommend the Crucial M4 if reliability is a top concern (Samsung 830 is also a good choice at a slightly higher price point). These drives have Marvell controllers which benchmark a tad slower than the Sandforce controller, but in reviews, show much less complaints regarding crashes and blue screens. However, with the latest firmware for the Sandforce drives, complaints about reliability seem to have decreased. You also want to choose synchronous memory as opposed to asynchronous if maximum speed is desired. Hope this helps.

 

No discussions on running MacOS on non-Apple hardware please.
Apple doesn't want this so we have to stick to it.

Thanks for understanding.

 

I have a silly question, as you know 8951 has an external VGA and a DVI port. Is it possible to use all 3 (laptop screen, external monitor and LCD TV) at the same time (not cloning, all will have own)

 

I dont see a DVI port on mine just a VGA and HDMI.

 

get one of these AOC E1649FWU and you can. USB 3.0

 

Hi, sorry to be a bother, but can you please upload this again ? I've been looking high and low for something like this, as I just can't seem to remove my keyboard to clean it up (spill accident )

 

Two questions, I've been searching for days and spoken to Acer tech with no clear answers. So here it goes, Is this notebook's pcie mini port capable of MSATA? I have the 8951g-9630. The current version of the 8951g, the 9424, comes with optional raid array AND uses the same HM65 chipset (not hardware raid capable). Is acer shipping these with software raid or what?

The reason I am asking these questions is that I have replaced the original 5400rpm 750gb drive with a Second Gen Seagate Monmentus XT hybrid drive. I want to buy a second XT and setup a Raid 0 array. (right now I think software raid is my only option), I then want to the use msata port (if equipped) for a SSD cache. I've read that similiar setups lead to substantial performance increases,even with software raid setups. If I cant use a msata ssd for cache, I'll likely install a 2.5ssd in the second HD slot, to use as a cache or boot drive.

 

Hi,

I cannot answer your RAID question, but I tried plugging a combined GPS/3G module (Qualcomm Gobi 2000) into the spare PCIe mini port, and both GPS and 3G was detected by the 8951G. So I suspect a MSATA SSD would also work. By the way, neither my GPS nor the 3G worked in the end, but not because of drivers etc., but likely because I couldn't engineer a decent antenna for the GPS and couldn't figure out how to add a SIM reader for the 3G!

Which MSATA SSD are you considering? Sounds an interesting idea.

Richard

 

Hi Fatsausage,

I'm also an MS consultant and bought an 8951G to run Hyper-V. Seems I have the same terrible performance as you do. I'm dual-booting W7 and W2K8R2, both booting from VHD files and the performance is TERRIBLE.

Did you ever get any feedback or find a solution?

I'm going back to the original W7 installed on one of the original HDs, and check performance. Then I think I'll try an identical install, but to the second disk, which is a SSD. If this is all OK, I'll dump all the W7 optimised drivers to a folder and then install W2K8, trying to use all those same optimised drivers. Finally I'll configure Hyper-V.

Be good if we could share thoughts?

Richard

 

Hey Exelle; A spill accident.. (Guess that's why I never have any fluids --or food near my laptop --or on the same table for that matter

I've uploaded it again Here is the link: Step-by-Step to RAM slots underneath Keyboard.pdf download

Hope you can get everything cleaned up and working again!

 

thank you very much missed the buttons under the little rubber tabs. And while I'm at it, I'll also upgrade my memory to 16 GB and add an SD card for ReadyBoost

 

interestly enough, i havent got that far yet. I did look at the intel 310, but more and more options are becoming available from more venders. also, i have read solid state caches dont use more then 60gb to their advantage. atleasts thats what intel says about their specific solution. However since this pc doesnt have the z68 chipset, i couldnt use their solution anyway. i have read about a low cost high impact 256gb msata samsung soon to be released. Although at that size i might as well just use it as a book drive! I am still looking for solutions to the msata compatibilty and RAID question before moving forward to the next step in my project. I Have found a PCIE mini, sata raid controller Mini PCIe to SATA Controller Card - 2 Port | with Built-in RAID Support | StarTech.com

this would solve my hardware raid problem, but then again... would raid in sata 2 be slower then software sata 3 raid? i have also heard of momentus xt drives being prone to issues while in raid 0 arrays. i need to determine if those issues are limited to
first generation drives. so now these are three my possible outcomes:

1. hardware raid w/ 2x momentus xt second gen on sata 2
2. software raid with 2x momentus xt second gen on sata 3 w/ msata ssd cache
3. 2.5in ssd boot drive w/ momentus xt

btw i know option 3 is fastest, but i like alot of hd space!

 

Ok, After alot more reading and navigation through the nooks and cranny's of the internets, I've got the answers to my above post.

First off, The 8951g does not support MSATA, it can support PCIE mini SSD drives. Please note PCIE mini and MSATA physically look the same, however are quite different in application. PCI mini SSD drives do not function anywhere near the speed of their MSATA brethren. So dont be fooled folks, a PCIE mini SSD will give you little to no performance over your traditional 7200rpm SATAIII drive. Even if a PCIE mini SSD were a little faster then your traditional drive, then couldn't it be used as a solid state cache? Read below.

Second, SSD caching software DATAPLEX is currently propriatary and only works with specified drives from OCZ, Consiar, Crucial etc... (non of which are MSATA or PCIE mini) Please note, these outfits also protect their software by requiring the software to scan for the specified drives physical presence before software installation, Also a software licence key that must me activated/deactivated though there websites, Thus rendering use and installation on other SSD type devices futile. (I guess you can go buy one of these 2.5in Cache drives just for the software, and do the ole swaparu if you wanted, but why? lol) We dont have the Z68 chipset, so intel's SSD cache solution is also out.

Third. Why not just use the 2.5 SSD Cache drive from one of those venders? Simply put 750gb is not enough.

Fourth, I mentioned Momentus XT 2nd Gen Hybrid in hardware raid 0. While this is still a vaid option using the PCIE mini SATAII Raid Controller mentioned in my last post, there are some practicality issues which have caused me not to pursue this route either:
A: The SSD component of the drives wont function at full speed
B: To avoid lockups, and sleep/resume issues power management requires disabling (not practical for me in a laptop - even though its tethered to a power outlet most of the time)
C: Chassy modification. To use the PCIE mini raid controller I would need to make several small modifications to the chassy, due to space constrains caused by SATA cord redirection (to the controller) and female/male sata power adapter from ACERS proprietary SATA/Power port. (btw does anyone know what that port is called?). Modifying a brand spanking new machine under warranty is a huge Nogo for me.

Lastly, What I did.... is what most of you have done. I've ordered a 240GB SSD for use as a main/boot drive. They're on sale right so I figured what the heck. I'll let you all know how it configuration works once I get the SSD in the mail. A SSD boot drive coupled with a 750tb Hybrid for apps and files should be a decent combination.

 

i am hoping i'm in the right place to discuss this.... im a bit of a noob

i have the AS8951G-2638G1.5TWikk

had had it less then 2 months

All I've done is added 2 x 4 GB sticks to the expandable slots @ 1333mhz
(they should run at 1066mhz correct?)

the laptop randomly restarts mostly when when playing games eg. Roller coaster tycoon 3

has also happened once or twice while just browsing the net

i monitor the heat as a gadget in my sidebar and there is nothing that show it should be restating

anyone else had this problem or... any have a solution