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

Hey,

does anybody know a way, how I can update the Intel graphic card driver without loosing the switching option?

The last one from Acer generates picture errors on flash videos with activated hardware support.

Thanks

 

Yes I have 1 and it works fine

 

OEM's should overclock higher than my i5 540m QS. I'm still impressed with my i5 450m how it can overclock to 169Mhz FSB and handle prime32 6 hours stable around 90 degrees.


I haven't been able to beat its amazing coresmark 2010 score of under 30 secs

 

I am thinking of going this route as well. My 4820 is growing to be my desktop replacement now. I rum VMware vms and I would like the VT-io and, AES on the higher i5-540M+.

Have you considered upgrading up to i7, Bronsky ? Any ideas if the acer heatsink can handle the load of the i7s ? Since the 3820TG has more vents, I am really reluctant to upgrade to i7 with the 4820

 

So far i7 620m's are we think it cannot overclock past 140Mhz stable. So very little room to overclock. I7 620m owners that can overclock haven't come back to us all on what is the max or best overclock. This is why the i5 520m or i5 540m looks the better option if you can o/c.

My i5 450m overclocked showed it outproformed an i7 620 by over 50% in cores mark 2010. My post in lost in here somewhere.

 

@Hendrickson, thanks!!
Then I guess its still worth the wait for the newer i5s and i7s coming out.
Saw your post and scores. Your i5 is a beast.

 

@hendrickson - none of the I7's, nor your I5-540M seem to overclock anywhere near as well as your I5-450M. The only difference I can see in the CPU's that could account for the stablity it shows while overclocking of the I5 is the 4.8GT/sec DMI bus. I wish I didn't have so many business reasons to upgrade to an I5-520M or better. The plan for now is to go with the OEM I5-540M and see what we can do with it if it can OC. If not, at least I have a 540M in there.

Bronsky

 

Thanks.

My 3820TG combines the best of the work world and gaming world. I need a laptop that can:

1. handle my multi-dimensional spreadsheets, presentations, etc.

2. be light in weight and small in form factor (lots of traveling, running through airports, etc.).

3. be capable of handling modern, graphics-intensive games at medium details (first person shooters like BFBC2).

4. look stylish and cool

5. be easy to upgrade and modify as I see fit (the U35jc fails in this, especially if you want to simply upgrade a WiFi card).

My 3820TG does ALL of this.

My thanks again to Bronsky for opening my eyes to the wonder that is the Acer 3820TG.

Be sure to read all the parts of my ongoing review on this miracle of a laptop.

 

Please don't tempt me!

I already just spent $189 for 8 GB of RAM!

Dare I upgrade the CPU now too? LOL!

 

Wow. That really is sad to see. Sorry it had to happen with your laptop.

 

We could add a i7 640m and then the system will not boot as its not supported. A bios update maybe needed....If Acer do plan on a new configuration we might be in luck with added i Core support via an update.

@ Yes my i5 450 is a beast, It maybe going back in Not having too much luck with this i5 540m QS I can't go beyond 150 FSB without tweaking the ram timings. Which is making the system a little unstable. Could be because its an QS/ES..

I guess getting an OEM I5 540m that clocks like this would be nice. But its like a lotto...

Up for the challenge Bronsky if your new motherboard is an O/Cer?

Edit: There is a trend on this 3.9Ghz+ plus overclock. Every user has been on higher timming OCZ 4096MB DDR3 SDRAM PC10600 @ 1,333MHz
Not Hyinx budget ram......

 

I do not think you can at the moment.

I also searched for a way but could not find one.

 

Do you find the Travel AC adapter is substantially lighter than the regular one?

Do you think it recharges the laptop slower than the regular one?

Thanks.

 

I was playing around 12h on it and every time I lost the switching funtion. And every time I looked like the smily.

Thanks for the answer. I will write to Acer and Intel.

 

The recharge time is the same.

 

If I had an OC'able I5-450M, I would leave it alone. The 450M, which is a refreshed arrandale, seems to OC far better than the original designs. I'm considering the 540M for three reasons: (1) I have no idea if my unit will OC even with the new Mobo (stock speed of the 540M is insurance), (2) I need AES protocol to DL a lot of material that I use in my job and (3) I am curious if the OEM CPU will be more stable than the QS/ES CPU.

I would stay put on the CPU for now. If the OEM I5 seems to perform better than the QS/ES, then it might be worth some consideration.

Bronsky

 

Part 9: Battery Discharge Rates

I used BatteryBar to calculate my laptop's discharge rate, maximum capacity, and battery wear. BatteryBar is a great program, as it does all this on the fly in real time. I am using the free version, and there is a pro version that can do more (critical alerts, themes, settings).

Osiris Development - BatteryBar, the most accurate battery meter for Windows

My 3820TG has the standard 6-cell battery (64800 mWh). However, like the other 3820TG 6-cell batteries, it has 1.7% battery wear intentional designed to prolong the longevity of the battery. This intentional battery wear reduces the effective capacity to 63720 mWh.

The lowest, stable, and consistent battery discharge rate I was able to get (so far) was -5227 mW.



To achieve this, I had to:

integrated GPU only.
standard CPU volts (NO undervolting).
standard FSB (no underclocking).
turn off bluetooth.
turn off WiFi.
turn the display brightness all the way down to minimum.

As soon as the discharge rate gets to its lowest level, the HDD kicks on for a few seconds and elevates it to -5443. Then it shuts off and the discharge rate drops again to its lowest level.

When I turn on just the WiFi, BatteryBar reports the full battery life to be 6 hours.




While I don't have an immediate need for it now, I am considering buying the 9-cell battery. This should result in 9 hours of battery life under the aforementioned conditions (assuming standard linear interpolation applies).

 

Thank you Bronsky. You are the voice of reason!

I definitely have no need for AES protocols (didn't even know what it was until I got to this threaad!).

I believe the 8 GB of RAM will help speed things along quite nicely. Once SSD prices drop to a reasonable rate for the capacity I need (~500 GB), this laptop should be a speedster.

Now, about that backlit keyboard mod....!

 

I get a little over 6 hours with this setting. I am using BatteryCare. already at 6.75% battery wear after more than 1 month. It doesn't bother me though.

 

Just got my 3820TG with the 5650 gfx card. Got one question though; is it normal that the temperature reaches 93C when I've clocked it at 600 engine and 870 memory? With stock clocks it reaches temperatures of about 87C running OCCT or Furmark. Can't seem to figure out why it's so high. Reading around the forums I see people getting like 75-80C max stress tested with their cards clocked way over what I have. My CPU (i450M) also reaches over 80C with stock clocks. Any ideas? I feel pretty confused.

 

A few days ago, I ran 3DMark06 on my 3820TG. Stock clocks on the GPU and CPU. I got a score of 7482.

View attachment 54776




I re-ran it tonight. Same stock clocks on the GPU and CPU. I got a higher score: 7604.



Any idea why the score would increase by 125 points without my doing anything?

 

Did you update any drivers? If not, maybe there was some memory tied up in the system when you first ran it, while the second time round there were more resources available since it was right after a reboot? I'm just guessing here though, don't take my word for it, sorry couldn't be any more help

 

I haven't done anything at all to my system.

In fact, my next tests overclocking tests will involve updating the drivers (currently using stock ATI), upgrading my RAM, and then finally, the CPU.

Thanks for your helping though.

 

My idle temps are CPU: 46c; GPU: 52c

When running 3DMark06, my temps are CPU: 84c; GPU: 73c


You might have a problem with how the heatsinks are attached to your GPU or the way the thermal paste was applied.

Hendrickson wasn't too thrilled with how the thermal paste was installed on his 3820TG. I haven't checked mine.

 

The display of my 3820TG has a green cast to it so I've made a calibrated color profile that fixes this. The problem is that when the display is turned on after being turned off, the green cast is back. I then have to manually select another color profile and then select my calibrated profile again to use it.

Have anyone else had this problem?

What should I do to prevent Windows from changing color profile when the display is turned off?

/Tom

 

No problems like that.

I have no idea. Sorry.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Any guides on how I can access my GPU so I can maybe fix the heatsinks and give the card a new layer of thermal paste? How to apply it would also help me out a lot.

 

^ can use this pdf guide...

 

Just replace the unit. If you replace the thermal paste you lost in most countries the waranty.

 

That's one difficult guide :/

 

Hey,

does anybody know, if it possible to switch the graphic cards with ACPI and load the driver on demand? (Windows7)

I'm hate to be forced to use the Acer graphic card driver for the Intel part.

 

The temperature being as high as I've mentioned in the earlier post; is it a valid enough reason to replace the unit for? I'll contact the reseller company I've bought it from and try anyways though.

bankergolfer: what's your card clocked at?

 

Now the IC diamond 7 has past the cure time. These are my idle temps.
Both CPU and GPU have dropped about 4 degrees as low as 41 degrees. Ambient temps are around 30 degrees. (41 outside today!!)


3Dmark06 max temps:

It seems IC Diamond 7 is that good, or the Acer paste used is that bad

 

Hey guys, I'm now the proud owner of a Acer TimelineX 3820TG! I got the model that Staples is currently selling in Canada for $699.99. From briefly browsing through this thread I've noticed that there seems to be quite a few little tweaks to make these little powerhouses run even better. Could you guys give me a brief overview of what are some must-dos now that I have my laptop? A couple things I'm interested in are: how do I check if I got one of the good displays and could someone tell me a power plan that will maximize my battery life (for when I take the laptop to class)?

 

Question for Bronsky or other Incase Macbook Sleeve's owners >
are there any problems with the zipper touching or grinding the laptop lid? I read a few experiences of Macbook users that one of them was complaining that inner zipper scratched the laptop lid. Thanks

 

about the i7-640m upgrade i wrote to a guy on ebay thats what i wrote:

Hi im interested in buying this CPU from you however i havent seen anywhere else it being released. Is this like an enginering sample ? Another question is i currently have an acer 3820tg which supports i3, i5 and i7-620m does it mean 640m will work straight away or does it need a bios update ? thanks

and thats what he replyed:

Hi, it is true that nowhere has released 640m. This i7-640m is an QS version, which has the same feature as the OEM version.
Your laptop can support it, but Bios need to be updated.
Thanks.

// well i guess we'll have to find out and if acer will update bios

 

It is not unusual to run 3DMark06 and have that kind of variability in scores.

Bronsky

@Bydus - that seems to be the big question: when and if?

 

And furmark + prime95 for 2 hours +

Max temps are really good:

Core 1 87, and core 2 84 and GPU 84. Without IC diamond 7 CPU would be in the 90's and GPU 89 I think. Its taken about 5 degrees of the load temps

 

It's not like tying a pair of shoe laces. It's more akin to changing the tire of a car. Not easy, but not impossible either. Just takes patience and work.

 

Really enjoying my Acer 3820TG which I got a week and a half ago. I've put in a Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Hard Drive and 8GB of G.Skill Memory and everything runs smoothly.

Also for those of you who dislike the trackpad, I'd recommend either [1] the twofingerscroll program: two-finger-scroll - Project Hosting on Google Code to control the two-finger scrolling and to add two-finger tapping to do a right click , or even better [2] the new Swiftpoint Mouse: http://www.americas.futuremouse.com/ <-- this thing is absolutely fantastic and since getting it I haven't used the trackpad at all.

 

Those are great temps. -13c on the CPU, -6 on the GPU vs. mine on the 3DMarko6.

I'm in the process of trying to get a 1yr warranty on my 3820TG. Otherwise, I'd be reapplying the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU like you.

FYI - I'm currently using HWInfo32. I hear it's more accurate than HW Monitor when it comes to more modern CPUs and GPUs.

 

The idle was at stock clocks of 100/150 for the ATI Card.

The 3DMark06 was at 710/1100 (overclocked).

 

As much as it pains for me to say it (and probably for you to hear it), it is worth your while to read the entire thread of 400 posts.

There is a lot of good info that is interspersed throughout this thread.

 

I kind of expected that... Cringe.

 

That Swiftpoint mouse looks amazing. I'll need to do some more research before buying it.

I noticed that it was able to remain on a laptop's palmrest while the laptop was tilted at a 45* angle. Is the mouse magnetized?

ANSWER: Found the answer in a review: included in the box is a small adhesive pad with a magnetic area that can keep the mouse in place.

Engadget review of Swiftpoint mouse

Ok. Here are my thoughts on the Swiftpoint mouse. I really like it a lot! However, its main issue is the simple fact that it is designed to occupy and work on the right (or left) palmrest of the laptop. While it sits there, it makes it uncomfortable to type as one of your hands will always be in contact with the mouse.

After watching this video, you tell me if you believe you'll be inconvienced to constantly "park" your mouse while typing or not.

Parking mouse while typing Video

Another issue is that ALL the reviews and video demos show the mouse being used on the large palmrest of a MacBook Pro. Most laptops (especially the 13.3" laptops like the 3820TG) simply don't have that kind of palm rest real estate to use the mouse on. While those laptops have small trackpad surfaces, it is a simpler matter to left one's finger off the trackpad while moving the cursor across the screen, as opposed to lifting the Swiftpoint mouse off the palmrest to accomplish the same task.

Still, I it might be worth getting as it's perfect for FPS or realtime strategy games while on a plane and your desktop space is minimized. Those types of games usually require you to have one hand on a mouse at all times anyway. Whether you would actually want to rapidly drain your laptop's battery while gaming is another issue altogether.

Make that almost perfect for FPS games. Given the nature of its left and right click buttons, it is almost impossible (or highly impractical) to press down both simulataneously. This is necessary to do in some cases (e.g. calling a mortar strike in BFBC2).

 

@hendrickson - temps look great. -5C under load is big with this computer. I think it is a testiment to the crappy job that is normally done at the Acer factory.

Did you see bydus' comments on the 640M. I suspect that the updated bios will be released for all of the refreshed arrandales when the 460M and 370M units are released. The QS I7-640M is for sale at only $30 more than the OEM I5-540M. I keep changing my mind about the CPU upgrade. The I7-640M starts with a .4 ghz advantage over the I5-540M at full turbo (13% increase) and .3ghz advantage on standard clocks (~ 10% increase). That is a lot of ground to make up with OC'ing. Even assuming that the OEM I5-540M OC's much better than the QS I7-640M, it has a long way to go before it outperforms it.

Anyway, I just sent payment for the speaker in Germany and am waiting for the proforma invoice from Shark for the motherboard. Probably the safe move is to assemble the whole unit with new MOBO, speaker and backlit KB switch, determine if the unit is OC'able and then wait on the new arrandales to see if the I7-640M is supported in the new bios. On the other hand, I will already have the motherboard out of the unit ... am I really going to want to do it again?

Here are the speeds w/o OC'ing:

540M 2.53 - 3.06

620M 2.66 - 3.33

640M 2.80 - 3.46

Hmmmmmm.

Bronsky

 

Part 10: Basic Overclocking

I decided to overclock my GPU to see how high of a 3DMark06 score I could get.

To recap, using the ATI GPU's stock clocks of 550/800, I got a maximum score of 7604. The ATI driver was the stock laptop driver version 8713.

View attachment 54807



After numerous iterations, I finally reached my maximum clocks of 710/1100. This achieved a maximum score of 9437. The ATI driver was the stock laptop driver version 8713.





The 3820TG internal cooling system is quite effective at dissipating heat. The maxiumum CPU and GPU temperatures were 85*c and 76*c respectively. Ambient temperature during the time of the tests was 28*c.



With the reapplication of thermal paste (reports are that Acer did an average job with this), others have seen a 5*-7*c drop in CPU and GPU temperatures.



I updated my ATI GPU drivers from stock (8713) to Catalyst 10.7 (8753). Regrettably, updating the drivers did nothing to improve the 3DMark06 scores. This was to be expected, as the drivers optimize gaming performance, but not necessarily hardware performance.

Others have been able to achieve scores of 9697 with clocks of 720/1120. This is due to the variability of GPU chips from laptop to laptop.

 

Won't the i7 CPUs drain the battery faster than the i5 and reduce battery life by 30%?

And the i7 runs hotter than the i5 too, right?

 

No. The incase has internal piping that covers the zipper and protects your notebook.



If it is opened and closed properly, it will not scratch your unit. I really like the level of protection and padding from this sleeve. If I run into someone with a 13" zeroshock, I'll compare the two. But this is a great little sleeve.

If someone scratched their MBP, it is becuase they either didn't put it in right of the MBP doesn't fit as well as the Acer does in here (or because they're a moron). So far, I only have 1 scratch on the cover of the laptop . With all the new models coming out in silver, I like having the charcoal color.

Bronsky

 

The I7 runs hotter but has demonstrated on a number of occasions that it can operate on the threshold of its max temps without skipping a beat. It is a very powerful unit. It just seems not to OC very well. We have seen them typically operate in the 87C-90C range. If that could be civilized with new paste and kept in the 85C-87C range, that would be fine.

There is a small increase in battery use due to the 4MB (Okay Nick?) cache in the I7. It amounts to minutes in a total charge, not 30% overall. Your 8 GB Ram upgrade will increase battery use much more than the I5-I7 cache difference.

Bronsky