Acer TimelineX 3830/4830/5830 T/G

There are no speaker at the top of keyboard.

I dismantled it for the first time today, it's pretty easy globally, but I'm having trouble with 2 things :

1- I managed to screw the wifi module screw, and I can't take it out anymore, any idea ?

2- I couldn't remove the screen frame, it seems there are 2 screws holding it at the bottom of the screen, but I can't access them.. see pic

 

I found this post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/7631774-post1378.html
where it specifies that for the profile 2, the multiplier could be 20, however in the first post (updated) http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/553306-acer-timelinex-3830-4830-5830-t-g.html#post7133475 it specifies 17.

Also, I think the throttleStop only could be necessary when you make hard tasks or gaming, otherwise it doesn't have to be activated.. really?

 

I only use it for gaming, with a x20 multiplier and "no-turbo", works fine.
It did shutdown once yesterday while playing outside, so I guess cpu t° increased up to 100° that time.

Here's a few benchs, temps are CPU1 / CPU2 - GPU:


ThrottleStop benchmark
----------------------
32M : 25.332
66 / 59 - 47

1024M : 803.607
78 / 72 - 61 -> fan up


GTA IV, Turbo OFF
-----------------
2min @ default
72 / 65 - 65 -> fan up

10min @ default
82 / 77 - 75 -> throttling

1h @ 1.8Ghz
82 / 77 - 77

1h @ 2.3Ghz
92 / 88 - 86


idle, 4min later @ default
--------------------------
55 / 48 - 50 -> fan down

 

I wouldn't have bought the 3830TG if it wasn't good for gaming or "hard tasks". The 3830T is much cheaper and without ThrottleStop both deliver the same performance. It's if you said "I'm okay with a Ferrari running on half speed, I don't need more than 60 mph"

The ThrottleStop settings depend on how good the cooling of your actual unit is. Mine is very bad, so I use the two profiles x29 Turbo and x17 No-Turbo, which work pretty good.

 

ok! I understand.. thanks for the quick response
Actually I was looking for a laptop with good performance and that could be middling good for eventually games.
so I think this is a product that meet those needs

 

If you use ThrottleStop, you get a 2.1Ghz machine with a Nvidia GT540m, that's not too bad. But it's not the promised 2.3-2.9Ghz either Considering the falling prices, it's worth the money.

 

i oc with msiafterburner and overclocking is basically trial and error. im running at 780/1000 when gaming, 74C max gpu temp 78C cpu.

 

Be careful!
When my 3830TG shut down in 100°C, it enters recovery mode, and failed, and I have to factory-reset it.
In several weeks, the Bluetooth, LAN (wired), and recovery (Alt+F10 when in BIOS) are inaccessible..

Mine's 4.1% wear now..I didn't do any calibration (yet) since last week or something..
got the battery on 7 July, so it's about one and a half month..

If the wear goes linear, then it will be about 32% after a year. and 96% after 3 years. Still abnormal, but remember, I didn't do any calibration recently..

 

did you download it recently? People said it might be an issue with the hardware/drivers of whatever computer you have.

 

i copied it from my external hd. the only error i ever get from hon is if i dont have dx9 installed

 

So i'm not lucky with my battery
how long does it take to acer to change the battery in the laptop & send me back?
edit : see my discharge

 

Hello,

I have the opportunity to buy one Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830TG-6494 now that I'm in Canada cheaper than in Europe. I have read some of the 227 pages of this thread but it is complicated to decide if it is worth it with all the problems that it presents.

The other laptop that I'm considering is ASUS U36SD for 999$ vs this one at 700$.

Is the throttling and heat problem solved or mitigated easily? (without opening it)

Basically, are you happy with your acer? Would you buy it again? Would you buy another one?

Thank you.

 

I'd buy it again.

You really need to remove the stupid mesh thingies to get decent temps though.

Which requires opening the bottom.

 

I removed the mesh in mine after reading that here, it made 0 difference.

 

As far as I know by now, the problem differs from notebook to notebook. I've got really serious problems, as I'm not able to play anything without ThrottleStop. Others report of high temps, but no throttling. The battery is the other problem, particularly the Panasonic ones make trouble.

 

I don't think so, as long as the GPU is concerned.
If you only speak about cpu, yours should be able to achieve high temps without throttling too, or indeed you have serious problems which aren't what we're discussing here IMO.

 

Just some postings above mine, people are reporting of GPU temps of 85°C but no throttling. My device doesn't throttle with pure cpu, but ALWAYS throttles with the GPU involved.

 

i did a calibration again and it's worse than before,i have now 21% wear (18% 2 days ago...) i have no choice to return mine to acer
Panasonic battery damn it !
i expect they will send me a Sanyo

 

This was using throttlestop, or I can't find these posts..
I believe you might even be refering to my post

 

No, I was referring to the postings by aintz:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/7836093-post2223.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7836500-post2232.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7836347-post2226.html

Lifting the laptop results in slower increase of temp, but my machine still throttles after some minutes. The fan also runs 99% of the time, while gaming as well as in idle mode. Idle mode temps on the desk are around 50°C. When using a cooling pad it's around 40°C.

I was thinking that ALL 3830TGs are concerned by the faulty cooling system, but aintz is just reporting the opposite. That's why I think that newer 3830TGs may not have that problem anymore.

First time I sent it in, Acer told me that the throttling is completely normal and part of the cooling design. Now they reconsidered and asked me to send it in again. As I'm in vacation until tomorrow, I wasn't able to do it yet.

 

aintz doesn't have the i5, he has a 2.1 ghz i3

 

His signature says it's a 3830TG. Is there a core i3 version of the 3830TG?

In Germany, the only core i3 is the 3830T.

 

Plus, since the I3 has a lower thermal limit, you would think that the I3 would throttle earlier than the I5. I would assume that the majority of the reports are correct and the 3830TG throttling problem is still persistent.

 

From these posts I can only see that his gpu won't go further 75°, thus no throttling. Doesn't mean his laptop is different.
He's using a cooling pad if I remember well, and he says his ambient temp. is 23°

Here it is more like 35°, and I don't use a cooling pad, so I have no doubt I would get the same results if I was using it the same way he is

Believe me, Acer did NOT fix the problem, because it's not a design flaw, and thus I don't even think they intend to.

 

Does Crysis 2 throttle for people having the 3830TG??

I can test it this evening (i got the last 3830tg version with the SSD) and it it's like 38°C here in France so if it doesn't throttle in this situation, I think we can assume that the probleme is solved with lastest models...

I don't have sc2 so i can't say anything about it. Are there other games which make the computer throttle quickly? (the witcher 2 maybe? CoD MW2 or Black Ops?)

 

yep, it will.
just push the settings on any demanding game and you'll notice in less that 10min.
but, I highly doubt there's been another improved revision.

 

Where's the post on how to enable two finger scrolling? that should be on the front page. If anyone can point me towards that I would appreciate it.

 

Which touchpad do you have? I have Elentech and it was working from beginning(but updating the fdriver add 3finger gestures)

By the way, does anybody manage to change or deactivate the click par one finger tap (just this one, not the two or three finger tap) with the elantech driver, cause i'm always clicking by mistake...
The option cannot be changed by default but maybe ther's a way...

 

How To Enable Macbook-Style Two Finger Scrolling on Windows Laptops - How-To Geek
Hope this helps.

 

if your ambient temp is high you will probably run into throttling issues. throttling begins when cpu temp reaches 85 for 2310m atleast.

my 2310m when underload only gets to 77C max (had multiple 2-3 hour gaming sessions), i do not use a cooling pad but instead i put the laptop ontop of a set of dumbbells to give airflow. (im using this laptop with an external lcd/keyboardmouse you obviously cant do this otherwise)


the throttling issue isnt solved, and wont be solved until acer redesigns the cooling and puts out a new model. if your ambient temp is high and you have a 2410m the chances of getting throttled when gaming is 100%.

 

Even when using the Coolermaster Notepal U2, my laptop still throttles in Crysis 2. It takes two minutes more than without cooling pad, but it does throttle I don't like cooling pads, because it takes space and makes the notebook more unflexible. So I never used it again after making some hard tests on it.

In Germany I have a perfect room for gaming with ambient temps at 25°C. I don't think the ambient temps have any major effect, as the difference between 35 and 90+ should be enough to cool the device.

If I use ThrottleStop without Turbo, but a fixed profile at x23, ALL my temps rise easily above 90°C. When someone's talking about 75°C while gaming this is rather cool. I get 75°C when heavily surfing on the web

Thanks for your answer. So there exist TG models with core i3. However, throttling depends on the temps of the GPU, not the CPU. If the GPU reaches 85°C, the throttling begins.

I just don't expect to use a notebook with external display, keyboard, mouse and placed on dumbbells though. It's the opposite of what a notebook is designed for

 

even though you have the 2410m the difference shouldnt be this big. my guess is the factory mount of the heatpipes or the heatpipes themselves is bad.

theres no reason why ur temps should be that high when just surfing the web, like i said before mine is only 77c after 3 hours of gaming.

im just using this as a desktop replacement atm until bulldozer comes out depending on how fast it is i will build a desktop and use this laptop mainly for school and it wont really be affected by throttling.

 

New owner of the i3 3830tg. Will be installing BC2 shortly to test how bad the throttling is, besides that, the laptop is great so far. Also, what do I use to check battery type?

 

When playing Quake II (yes, two!!), I reached temps of 82°C. Not enough for throttling, but quite near.

Maybe it's the heatpipes, maybe the cooling paste, maybe just one missing fan

BatteryBar Pro (trial) should be fine.

 

use battery care
i hope u don't have Panasonic...

 

meh i have a panasonic used it down to 20% and charged up to full and it said 1.9% wear. now it saids 0% wear..

 

lucky u are,mine got 22% wear (i have it from one week...)

 

What temp do you speak of ?
Throttling starts at 75° for GPU, or +90° (don't know the exact number) for cpu (core i3 starts at 85°)

If your GPU reaches +70° when browsing and 82° when playing quake II, well clearly there's something very wrong with your setup, whatever it is.

 

do a full discharge / charge and your wear will ... disappear
(when I mean full, I mean full, don't let it hibernate at 10 or 5%! )

 

I do 3 calibration but it's worse,the wear increase Day after Day
and discharge a li-ion battery fully will damaged the battery & risk to not work anymore

 

you should read this.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...et-upgrades/91846-notebook-battery-guide.html
your battery may have a problem, but it would worth a try to do a full discharge:
worst thing that can happen: returning your computer to acer, getting a new battery.
Best thing: realizing that the battery was ok.
win win situation

 

i have a panasonic, 0% wear in a week :S
hasn't dipped under 50% yet tho. i sparingly use it when on battery

 

nobody could help regarding the screen and how to dismantle the frame ?

 

i will test the full discharge & full charge it & see what happens
if nothing change i will send it back to acer
edit : "Never discharge your battery to 0% – as this can render your battery useless."
so full discharge 3%? or less

 

So I have a panasonic, came with 5.75% wear. Any recomendations to make it lower? discharge fully, or just a little bit?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/1696318-post4.html

 

To all the members who have battery problems!

Yes, discharging all the way to 0% can damage your battery, but that's what stopped my wear from going up.

I returned a 3830TG because the wear was at 27% after 2 weeks. It was a Panasonic battery.
Now I have the 3830T also with Panasonic battery. And the wear also went up by 2% every day. Once it hit 14% I decided to discharge it to 3% hibernation level and then let it sit there for 3-4 hours until the battery finally reached 0% and turned off. Then I charged all the way up to 100% again. And since that day, it's been going down, and it's now at 6%.

But I've stopped using the battery all the way down to 10-20%...

So try a complete calibration... only once or twice because it can damage your battery

 

does acers warranty cover battery wear?

 

Almost two weeks, but it takes that long because the battery unit was not yet available that day since 3830TG just launched around a month before I send it to ACSC..
Very strange discharge level, you may need to calibrate the battery, but yes, my Panasonic battery that came with the laptop only last around 5 hours. I stated that 5 hours, and I showed the Battery Wear in both BatteryBar and Battery Care, and luckily, they replaced the battery with Sanyo for free.

The only alternative subnotebook that has decent GPU like the 3830TG are Alienware M11x-R3 and Sony VAIO SA-series, you may consider them, but they cost US$300 more than the 3830TG.
If you don't need the GPU (GT540M), get another laptop, there are many choices out there that doesn't have throttling & battery & sound cracking problem.

And for me, as long as AW M11x-R3 and VAIO SA are still pricey, I'll still pick the 3830TG.

I think you will be like me a month ago, just after a week I got almost 40% wear, then I send my 3830TG to the ACSC (Acer Customer Service Center) to complaint about the battery.

I hope Acer will give me a free replacement, just the cooling system or even the whole machine

Really? That's a very good news! I think they already have the solution now!

 

How long did it take for Acer to replace the battery?