Acer TimelineX 3820TG Owners Lounge. Info, benchmarks, tweaks, mods and upgrades

has anyone tried to run 3dmark vantage?
i overclocked my gpu to 650/950
ran 3dmark vantage, the first test my fps was like damn low (9-13 fps only)
anyone has this problem before? =/

 

Well I wish you luck getting a nice OC chipset bronsky. Also will you be swapping over your i5 540 OEM to the new 3820TG ?

No KB mod again?

 

I'm going to hold off on any mods for a few weeks. Shark is giving my mobo to Acer to diagnose. I suspect that some of the board's soldering was messed when power arc'ed. If they can fix my mobo, I would rather have my original unit back. If they can fix the board, I can sell this unit if I keep it original. If not, I'll put the BL KB and I5-540M in there if it looks like they can't fix my mobo.

If I buy from PCHome, I'll get a silver unit.

 

I keep doing the same but do you really think Sandy Bridge won't bring anything significant in power savings? That's what I was holding out for, even though it's a bit of a long shot.

I'd love a 3820TG with an i5-580m and I suppose the 5470, just to be safe. I dunno though. I'm still inclined to wait yet watching deals come and go (tgoode's TG for sale is nearly a mirror image of what I was aiming for) is hard to do.

 

It'll likely be faster per clock with the same power draw, or a little more since you can't gain something from nothing as in the case of the GPU. I wouldn't expect it to draw less power. Battery life, at best, a couple percent higher is my guess as it won't need to throttle up as much to complete the same work.

 

Yes ... I think SandyBridge will be more power efficient than the arrandales. But, the SandyBridge can not be OC'd (at lest ATM). There will be tradeoffs.

I also think the superior IGPU won't make much of a difference when there is a dedicated GPU in the laptop. Finally, although the Chip will be available in January, the new Acers will probably not be out until March or April. Since there are still 2 months to January, I don't think it's worth the wait. I need a notebook for work and can't keep using my 1410T forever.

Bronsky

 

If you want it without a CPU I am willing to make adjustments.

Hell, if you want it with a 580M, I could swing that too (with pricing adjustment and prepayment of course).

You buy now!

 

All but one of the Canadian Retailers are sold out of the 3820TG. It is amazing how fast these notebooks are selling. I can get a 3820TG from Agilee for around $860 delivered. That unit has no built in BT. It does have 4GB Ram however. Most importantly, they take American Express so I can order it today.

PCHome has an I3 unit for a few dollars more that has BT built in but only 2GB Ram. The Taiwaneese unit is silver. I have to pay with a visa ATM card so I have to deposit the funds in the bank and wait for them to clear before I can order.

I would guess delivery times are similar for both sites. Anybody have any problems with PCHome? I think I can register both of them here in the US to activate my warranty. I am leaning toward getting the built in BT from PCHome. That way, I won't have any excuse to open up the notebook for a few weeks.

Bronsky

 

eh, i thought you were planning on taking it apart anyways to upgrade the CPU... might as well slide a BT in there

my experience with PCHome has been very pleasant, as with many others. They take pretty much anything Paypal accepts, so wouldn't American Express work fine?

 

I'm actually going to wait a few weeks before opening my Acer, incase they can repair my motherboard. If they do, I'll sell the new 3820TG.

Paypal can not use American Express in Taiwan because Amex will not let Paypal convert to NTD. Go figure. So, I have to use a Visa/Debit card.

Bronsky

 

Hmm, tempting, thank you however I'm not in dire need of anything now so I'm just keeping eyes open mainly for Intel press releases. I am really trying to summon the will power to wait until at least Sandy Bridge is released and see what impressions they make in other models. I'm surely over the Asus at this point because of the i5 & turbo. The 580m will still be around in January if I decide to go that way but for now I will enjoy reading about everyone else's experiences with modifying their TG.

Are you looking at this from Agile? It offers nearly nothing for specs so I don't know about BT but $735CDN is the base price. Does shipping and customs really add that much more? I remember reading many pages back that it was about $60 to get a Canadian 3820TG to a US doorstep.

Also, PC home doesn't have the English/French keyboard to replace. That is a plus.

 

Anyone knows where to find a service manual for the 3820TG? How to disassemble and so on...

 

Actually you're correct, it is only $802.62CN ($779.69 USD). I had that price mixed up with another. I'm not so sure about stock anymore. The site now says call for availability. The PCHome price is $803.41 US plus $57.43 shipping.

Bronsky

 

For the start, like 3 pages back:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/488205-acer-timelinex-3820tg-owners-lounge-info-benchmarks-tweaks-mods-upgrades-639.html#post6805735

 

Yesterday I was browsing the web with my Asus EEE 901 (using Windows 7). To keep battery draining low, i got the display to minimum bright and saw something quite familiar, something that we have been talking about in this post regarding the 3820...the brightness of the display flickers!! Everytime i opened a web page that had a diferent color and contrast, the panel flickered a bit like trying to get used to that new color.

I am starting to think that this flickering is maybe due to the Windows 7 energy planning and that it seems that it is a way, by switching the flickering/colour/brightness/contrast so slowly, to preserve energy. Maybe, when we have the display with more brightness, the display does not go so radical about energy and switches really faster, seeming instant to our naked eyes.

Just my two cents!

 

There were discussions about this, namely that this might be an Intel feature (not a mistake) - if I recall correctly.

 

Yep,...i also posted about that Intel feature (it's among the specs in the 3820TG). Not sure what it is and if it is related to the flickering (I haven´t seen that intel thingy in the EEE 901).

 

Whenever it comes to computers, there'll always be odd expreiences. I'm using Batterycare, satisfied with it, though I really hope it indicates my battery's wear level wrong.
I've reciveved my unit with a designed capacity of 66600 mWh, and with a standard 3% wear level. I only had the battery on when I was on site, everything went right. One day I came up on this:


Whoa – I said, and began the drain-full charge operation, which resulted in this:



Nice, some managed to OC the GPU or/and the CPU, I’ve managed to OC the battery.

After some restars, things setteled:


In the end of the process my wear level increased from a factory 3.x % to 4.93%

Since then, I only have my battery out, when I’m gaming, that’s 2 hours in every 3-4 days. Everything went „normal”.

Today I’m facing this:



Some of the solutions are found, some of them are just got used too, like this flickering stuff – at least till it’s fixed . Some owners got rid of this just by updating drivers with the latest Acer ones, some of them still experience it, or worse, some of us – like zsero – reported not brightness „flickering” but „shifting”.

That’s just the way it is, but two cents are always welcome.

 

My wifi is Broadcom and it is terrible. My wife has a Samsung lappy with Atheros that never drops but mine has disconnected every 2 hours, I have to close and reopen the wifi every time to have internet... I know that most Atheros ones are Ar5b93 in your laptops, what I want to know is if I order Ar5b95 http://www.aliexpress.com/product-f...ess-B-G-N-card-AR9285-AR5B95-wholesalers.html do I lose 3.0 BT ? or simpl order the same one exacly same as yours? here Wholesale-New AR5B93 BGN Half Size WiFi For dell M2400 M6400 1710

 

the bluetooth is from a separate user-replaceable module on the lower left side of the motherboard, so replacing the wireless card won't effect it. It should be a quick and easy process that won't even void the warantee as you can easily access it off the bottom panel. I however have the broadcom card, and it has yet to drop me. maybe your card is a bit defective?

 

The wireless card is accessible from the bottom panel of the 3820TG. The BT card is not. It is located under the USB card on the left-hand side of the notebook and requires the USB array to be removed. You will have to take the notebook halves apart to do that. But, to simply replace the wireless card, the OP can do that in minutes.

Bronsky

 

Anyway...just loving my 3820, even if it's the i3/5470 version.

Has anyone tried to use another OS with the Acer? Maybe XP, Linux or Hack Os? I would be interested in adding ubuntu for a dual system booting.

 

I would think XP would be a mess on this unit because of the power control. Linux is attractive but I don't know anyone who is using it. It has been used successfully on the 1820T TimelineX models but they don't have switchable graphics.

Bronsky

 

Wow. Now I'm happy I got a different battery (Panasonic AS10B5E). About screen flickering my AUO panel does it (only on minimum brightness). Does the LG panels do it too?

 

I think that it will break BT 3.0, since it uses the wifi card. If you swap the wifi card, you'll end up with bt 2.1.

 

What I am asking is exactly that? Isn't that B.T 3.0 using wifi card?

 

According to that, I will lose BT 3.0.... Anyway I rarely use BT, I need a fine wifi card. Which one do u recommend?
Wholesale-Acer Aspire ONE Wi Fi Wireless B/G/N card AR9285 AR5B95
Wholesale-New AR5B93 BGN Half Size WiFi For dell M2400 M6400 1710

 

FYI - There's a Bluetooth driver update on Acer's website:

 

Why not use the original Atheros card used in the 3820TG that everyone seems to like? I'm sure you can get one from an Acer reseller.

Bronsky

 

While I am waiting for my deposit to clear in my ATM account, I am really torn about where to order this unit from. The best OC I have seen, other than the EU units, was RobTV's 3820TG from PCHome. I have not seen a Canadian owner OC the CPU more than 20% so far. My old unit would OC by 35%. So, I think my best chances for a good OC are to get a PCHome unit (based on pure superstition on my part).

It's just that it would be so much less of a hassle if something goes wrong if I order from a Canadian Retailer. The PCHome unit actually costs about $75 more. Decisions ... decisions ... decisions.

Bronsky

 

I managed to get my i7 620m Canadian unit up to 3.73 GHz in turbo mode. that's up from a stock clock of 2.66GHz. Bear in mind that I am a relative neophyte when it comes to overclocking.

 

The issue may have been decided for me. PCHome will not take American Express and this is what I get when I try to use a visa debit card with Paypal.

"We found that the information you provide can not approach trading PayPal

We have to cancel your order, please re-order again if the Internet for any inconvenience caused, please do forgive me, once again thank you for your support and love!!!"

No love here. Hopefully, I can find a Canadian Retailer who has these in stock.

Bronsky

Edit: Placed an Order with Agile but it did not confirm that they have units in stock. On the other hand, it did process the order. $795.62CN ($770.71 USD) delivered which includes AMEX 1% surcharge. Amex has confirmed that they will honor a second year warranty.

 

sorry if this has already been discussed, but i was wondering if i'd be able to add internal bluetooth to my 3820tg that i just purchased. I'm already going to be taking the laptop apart to install an i7-620m so i dont mind ripping the laptop apart. thanks

 

Yes ... it is located under the USB card. If you like, I will check my old unit to see what the part number is.

Bronsky

 

New 13.3 MacBook Air.

Specs here: Apple - MacBook Air - Technical specifications of the 13-inch.

1440x900 display and 256 GB Flash sounds great, but how does their CPU/GPU compare to the 3820TG?

At $1599 for the top model how does this compare performance wise with the 3820tg?

 

Light, and hires display, but waaay too weak CPU and GPU. It's apples and oranges. Pun intended

 

Not to forget the about it's price. If I was in the US I'd take it a shot just because it's an Apple, but in the EU, no way.

 

The Acer will chew it up and spit it out and then slap it around like it's a baby. The MBA is just a thin C2D/IGPU (X4500?) unit. Not much good for much other than impressing your friends at Starbucks and letting them know that you are willing to pay way too much for yesterday's technology, as long as Steve Jobs puts it in a pretty shell.

Bronsky

 

Its using nVidia 320M...

 

Well that's a positive ... but then why would anyone buy a MBP?

Bronsky

Okay, I went to look at the specs a little closer (Lee's keeping me honest) and this is not a bad device if you like Apple. In fact, if Microcenter has a decent discount on these eventually, I might get my wife one of these (13") rather than a MBP. These are actually very nice looking.

Sandybridge will probably flood the market with competition for the MBA but for now, I think this will sell quite well. The resolution on the 13" display is decent. It is a shame I hate OSX so much and would never buy an Apple to run windows.

On another front, I suspect that all of the Canadian 3820TG retailers are out of stock. I'm waiting to hear about my order, but I suspect what I will hear is that it is on preorder - no dice. I am trying to deal with CPHome to see if I can get the paypal payment approved somehow. It's amazing how quickly a few hundred units have sold out in Canada. I was not aware that Canada has 300 people who knew how to use a PC (just kidding - I'm no hater ).

 

Just ordered a 3820TG from computer universe after quite a frustrating time getting credit cards to work! i5-460m with 5650m model. I've also gone for the 500GB momentus xt so Ill do a straight swap out....have any of you found a good enclosure for the hard drives you are pulling out? USB powered? Ill be left with a 750GB hard drive which would be a shame to go to waste! Deliberating buying a intel 6300 wireless from Dell...there wouldn't be any issues because its from Dell would there? Might just wait and see how the in built one fairs out....though I presume there is no 5GHZ?

 

I expect you most likely have seen this but in less than a week, PC Canada will have more in both warehouses. Only 7 are backordered out of a receiving shipment of 25. It's the i3 CPU but if you're installing another 540m yourself, you'll pay less up front.

 

And also to spread some love..

8GB DDR3 SODIMM sets from GSkill, Mushkin and OCZ are on sale at Newegg. Link to post in deals section.

 

My graphics card is having problems switching automatically. I would play games with the power plugged in and switched to the 5470 gpu, and when i unplug the power and stop gaming, it would try to switch to the power saving gpu but it would say that the 5470 is in use. I'd have to log out of windows and log back in before it can switch. anyone have solution for that?

 

yes please do, I'd definitely appreciate it. So is it a module I'd just have to buy straight from acer? If that's the case I may just settle for a usb bluetooth dongle. I figured since I'm already pulling the laptop apart I might s well throw bluetooth in there.

 

Here are the markings from the Sticker on the top of my BT module. Since you're removing the motherboard anyway to add thermal paste, the USB card should lift right out and you can snap one of these in a second.

T60H928.33
E6141012685
Rev-03
MAC:506313B4B7CC
CMII ID2008DJ1596

Bronsky

 

Will I miss anything essential if I do a formation from the very beginning?

 

i got a VERY BAD SCORE HERE PLS HELP :'(


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

So I went into overclocking the Cendirect model. Overclocking with the 370m can get to 3042MHz without errors in IBT and hits 79C on a Zalman notebook cooler. The cooler/propped up dropped CPU like 4C - it hit the same temperature at around 2800MHz without the cooler. The GPU can do 775/1030 running Furmark and IntelBurnTest. Furmark hits 85C, ATI tool hits 77C. There doesn't appear to be a difference with the cooler or without. I think the cooler's biggest advantage was just having room for breathe as lifting the notebook up instead of having it on the cooler also lowered the CPU temp a few degrees.

What I'm surprised about is the battery life. The included 6 cell battery could easily have been "marketed" at 11 or 11.5 hours but they chose 8. Power draw at idle with wifi off, no Bluetooth, and minimum brightness (which is actually a bit brighter than most other notebooks' min brightness), the system draws in between 5500 to 5800mW with Aero enabled. Disabling Aero does not seem to have an impact on battery life. I will be doing more testing to see what hardware and task levels change the battery life into what. The potential for 17 hours of max battery on 9 cell in crazy.

 

Nice to see a Canadian unit OC that well. That is closer to the kind of clockspeed increases we have seen from the EU and Taiwaneese Acers. The temp is about right for stock paste. Mine would go to 93C fully OC'd with the GPU clocked as well - 91C with just the CPU at maximum OC.

I have a question for everyone - does anyone know if your can install any of the ATI/AMD Firepro drivers on the HD 5650 and take advantage of increase performance in professional applications? Anybody know which Firepro model uses the 5650 as its base?

Bronsky