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

Thank you, Bronsky. Happy New Year to you as well!

 

Nearsightedness (myopia) =/= lack of accommodation (presbyopia)....AFAIK 1/4 to 1/3 of students at my university wear glasses.

It's a pretty common condition this day and age with us youths, us being the first generation exposed to (and thus chained to) high-power multimedia computers starting at young ages.

 

I was kidding. I've had glasses my whole life. Blind without.

I enjoy how you know the proper terminology though.

And, I understand completely...

EDIT: Hope I don't sound old. We're probably around the same age.

 

okey Could I take my laptop apart to se what clockgen I have?

It´s kinda hard to see if I managed to change the fsb and stuff when the clock is around 1,5GHz in cpu-z..

I found one clockgen that is able to change the upper and lower thing and apply without error. but when i use prime95 to check it the cpu only goes to 3,2GHz at maximum..


took the laptop apart...

here´s some pics, what is the clockgen ic on the motheboard??

 

So I just got a new router; the D-link dir-815, that spews out 2.4ghz and 5ghz wireless bands. However, my 3820tg equipped with the broadcom wireless card, doesn't pick up the 5ghz network. I know its working cause my cellphone see's both the network name, so I was wondering if the broadcom card is even dual band and if not what card can I find that'll make it work. Thanks for any help guys.

 

Hello all,

I just wanted to let you all know that I received the 3820TG today (Its installing stuff now). Its seems like a fine unit so far, I really like the design and so far no noise. Thanks to everyone who helped me in this thread. Ill keep lurking in this thread from time to time. Any tips for stuff to install or other things to do when I get into windows for the first time?

 

Hey guys, I think that I fixed my artifact problems, I just overclocked my card 5Mhz up and there's no more artifacts LOL.

 

On the 3820TG, the clockgen is under the fan/sink unit on the GPU. The motherboard has to be turned over to get access to it.

You are getting 3.2 on what kind of CPU (you might want to put your specs in your sig), an I5 or I3. My max OC on my I3-370M was 3.1 and it ran optimized at 3.0. My old I5-450M OC'd to 3.2 stable. But, every CPU is different. Some have only been able to get the I5-450M to 2.8 or so.

If you found a clockgen to get you to 3.2ghz, try to adjust the ratio between the two slides. You might be able to make it a more stable OC. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the best settings.

Bronsky

Edit: I would ask this question in the 4820TG thread. They can probably point you right to it. Here is what the clockgen looks like (it's from the 3820TG). http://forum.notebookreview.com/6700413-post45.html

 

see Bronksky on top ^^^
he's one of the take-everything-apart expert here.

not sure who was it who tried to OC a i7 before...

i'm leaving mine intact due to the "warranty void if broken" stickers over my backplate screwholes Sorry man~


oh yea... did you manage to click "Set FSB"? you need to be able to "Set FSB" to work.

thats why i mention either pay the guy or try the free one

some idea of things:
http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=2175

 

That is completely wrong. Plus, the laptop has a 14" display. It's not a 3820TG. There is a new 14" model with a 420M that has shown up in Asia. I forget the ID ATM.

Acer is ending the TimelineX series. They would not redesign a new motherboard at this time. That is not a 3820TG.

Bronsky

 

a product with a wrong specs that is currently the Top selling item?

this is realll oddball... lol

 

Here is the model with the HD 5650, but it's $100 more than the 420M model from the website. hmmm....
Acer Aspire 3820TG-5464G75n (The all new Aspire Timeline X) - Netbooks.com.sg

 

GT420M is a fair bit weaker than the 5650 just so you guys know.

 

We all know. We are just curious on why that specific 3820TG has a GT 420M graphics card instead of a HD 5650. Maybe, it is a refreshed model or an error on the website?

 

Based on #2 of this previous post, should someone tell Hendrickson to change the first page of his thread here where he says to install the Intel VGA driver (in his "Common Issues and Solutions" section?

 

Maybe, Hendrickson and several owners were able to install the new Intel drivers. I was able to install the newest Intel drivers on my friend's laptop after 5-6 tries (installing/uninstalling, older/newer drivers until it allowed me to install the newest drivers without a warning screen), but I wasn't able to duplicate this process on my 4820TG.

It seems to be sheer luck to get the Intel drivers to install.

 

Hey how can I stop the GPU switching automatically when i unplug?

 

My guess would be that it is a mislabeled Acer 4738 which is a new 14" unit released in December with an I3/I5 and a GT 420M GPU. Acer Aspire 5742 And Aspire 4738 Notebooks – Review, Specifications And Price | Review Unit They are only available in Asia so far. I hope these are not intended to replace the 4820TG when the timelinesX production stops.

Bronsky

@aristar - you can run a program in the background.

 

Okey.. I have the i7 460m cpu..
The clockgen should be in the same place on mine.. I will take it apart again, is it thermal paste or just pads on the cpu/gpu ?

Yes, I can click on the Set FSB on several clockgens without any errors but I can´t see any difference on the cpu speed in cpu-z because the cpu steps down to 1,4GHz and has a max boost of 3,2GHz when running prime 95.

 

I would not take it apart until you know exactly where the clockgen is. Someone should be able to tell you in the 4820TG thread. The motherboards are quite different.

It sounds like you're underclocking the I7-640M rather than OC'ing it. What kind of multiplyers are you getting when it is running at 3.2ghz. Does it run at 3.46 without SetFSB?

I will tell you that we have found the I7s do not OC very well at all. It is rare to see a stable OC over 5-7%.

Bronsky

 

Here´s a pic of the mobo.. I think the clockgen is up to the left ?!


underclocking? Don´t thing so.. the frequense is 1,4GHz when the cpu is in idle and 3,2GHz under load.. doesn´t matter if I change the fsb thing or not so I think I´m using wrong clockgen.. I will take the laptop apart again and see what I have, also change to artic silver thermal paste since the original stuff is crap!

well, it´s fun to clock anyway doesn´t matter if I can get 1 or 20% oc, still OC´d

 

any guides on how to update my bios? my bios version is 1.13
also, i've been getting about 15W discharge with brightness setting at the 3rd click, wifi on, balance profile setting.. any way to lower that? im getting about 4-5 hours of battery life with internet browsing.. thanks!

 

Your I7-640M should run at 3.46ghz under load, not 3.2ghz. If you have a clockgen that is working, the QPI Link in CPUz should read 2.8ghz or higher. It would be easier if you would run CPUz and take a screen shot of the CPUz and SetFSB settings together and post them.

On another note:

The new Sandybridge Sony 13" SA looks great. I5/I7, HD 6630 GPU, 6 hour battery, 3.5lbs, $1,250 base price. If Acer doesn't replace the 3820TG, this bad-boy might be the new boss in town. The new Lenovo E220 looks interesting as well. A thinkpad with an HD 6630 GPU. Some interesting stuff out there.

Bronsky

 

I'm looking into going up to 8GB of RAM but not sure which to go with. Has anybody gotten 2x4GB sticks and not had any problems? The two I'm looking at after a short search are

G Skill

Corsair

Anybody have any comments on those working or not working in this laptop?

 

Thanks to jerg's help I was able to order a 3820TG from Visions Electronics. I was able to get it at the boxing day sale price which a few days later was raised back to normal. I never got an "order shipped" confirmation e-mail but called today to check the status and (more likely) be told they were out of stock but was told the order has shipped.

Very relieved and excited... Over a laptop... How weird...

 

Oh, dib, if you don't find a buyer I will buy the keyboard from you.

 

Hey guys i got a problem or not sure exactly whats going on with my 3820tg.

Mine has an i3-370m processor and same old 4gb, 5650 etc...
My battery only seem to last for 3 hours and less.
I was hoping for 6 hours of just browsing the internet etc...
I tried with the lowest brightness etc... and still did not improve at all.
I checked the gpu and it's running the intel hd base from what it says on the video configuration.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

 

Did you use batterybar, what's your discharge rate?

 

Hi there, no I didn't use batterybar which I'm guessing an app right?

I adjusted a few more settings which I thought I did and made sure it was running on power saver mode and it seemed to last a little bit longer and the charge seems to be holding way better compared before.

I'll fully empty the battery and fully charge it again and do one final test.

I'll check out batterybar as well.

Thanks.

 

Ok I downloaded the batterybar and my discharge rate seems to fluctuate from 16,xxx mW - 17,xxx mW.

 

that is lower than mine actually... then again i have a HTC Desire phone tethered and a optical mouse... ~18k-19k mW.

brightness at 2 increase from dimmest. (sorry i can only count by presses. )

58% battery
2hr 08min run time left
6 cell

a bit low.
i have encountered 1hr / 20% before.

what is your battery wear level and capacity?

 

intel HD graphics
Power Saver plan
Screen brightness 3 (scale of dimmest 1 to 10 brightest)

removed sidebar items,
unplugged optical mouse
unplugged USB tethering
turn ON wifi for internet




this works out to about 5.2hrs on a 100% full charge surfing net with FF.

i can get as low as 10k mW if i stop and read very long or doing absolutely nothing. that got me 3hr on 38% charge just now.

i have absolutely nooooo idea how the guys can get 7hrs per charge with use! Tips people????

 

im going to drain the battery and do a full charge and test it again.


at the moment at 12% battery left
battery wear is 1.7% of 64,800 mW
full lifetime is 4 hours it says.
discharge rate is 15,757 mW

 

try zero attachment to the laptop.
Bluetooth off
Wifi internet

let us know your screen brightness too. the LCD screen is one of the major drinker of power

the sites surfed matters too... i'm at 44%/2hr49min at the moment. pretty damn impressive compared to my other 9cell T61.

but then again... i want my mouse back~ lol...

 

Hello all,

My harddisk is making these weird noises. I remember reading about this earlier. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks

 

The broadcom doesn't support the 5GHz band.
It is only supporting the 2,4GHz band with a 40MHz channel.

Best regards

 

I asked earlier about whether the S/PDIF-input supports optical cables or not, and recived both yes and no. Who's right?

 

Have taken the laptop apart again.
The IC up on the left from the gpu is labeled: ISL887 31AHRZ H022B87 - does anyone know what clockgen that is??

 

It is very nice IC but not your clockgen.

The IC controls the battery charging.

 

The 3.5 mm jack where you connect your headphones/speakers is also optical. So you can connect a 3.5 mm optical cable to listen to audio but you can't record AFAIK since it's audio output, not input.

 

Very well. My only need is to listen to audio with my new z-5500. Thank you.

 

okey :s but where the hell is the clockgen ic then??

here´s a pic on the mobo:

 

I don't mean to be a pain but if that's your only need and you "already" have the (very nice z-5500, why didn't you just test it yourself?

 

Try a look near the chipset or mail abo a screenshot oft the Setfsb diagnose screen.

Best regards

 

could not find anything
I´ll send him a mail and see what he says.

 

get a USB external soundcard

 

I'm currently using the jack, but I've heard that an optical cable is much better sound-wise. Since I've not got any optical cable, I had to ask before I bought any.

Or did I completely misinterpret your question?

 

Sir Bronsky,

Where do you get all this useful info from? Gizmodo and Engadget are slacking with CES info..

Also, can you link me to this "new Sandybridge Sony 13 inch"?

 

No, you didn't misinterpret at all. I just tend to do things a little differently. If I was in your shoes I would have just went and bought the cable and if it didn't work I would have returned it. For small things like cables and adapters retailers usually accept returns for full refunds with no questions asked. It's very common to go and buy the wrong cable or adapter. Usually they will give you a refund then try and help by asking what you have or what you are trying to do.

 

Here is a piece on the new Sony model.

Sony VAIO Y picks up AMD Fusion, S Series gets some Intel cores -- Engadget

Bronsky