Acer TimelineX 3830/4830/5830 T/G

that makes sense. thank you Bronsky, that will spare me some time reading.

 

What the . I'm taking this to be repaired tomorrow. I don't know what's happened but in the past 5 days my laptop's cooling seems to have totally ed itself off. Running 3dmark06 caused my temps to peak at 99C. Normally they would peak at 74C or so. Playing deus ex yesterday my computer also suddenly shut off for the first time ever. When I rebooted the nvidia card wouldn't work until I reinstalled the drivers. Now while it works, it seems to peak at 53% GPU usage in spikes, it seems unable to maintain steady load. My 3dmark06 score is about 9400 which is just a few hundred under what it used to be, but combined with the 10+% battery wear and 3-4 hour battery life and the now critical heat issues I am taking this in during my lunch break tomorrow.

Throttlestop shows this on my temp spikes:

Time Multier CPU GPU
08/28/11 17:38:51 18.11 100.0 100.0 100.0 0 82 62 0.9457 16.4
08/28/11 17:38:52 26.22 88.6 100.0 100.0 0 95 62 1.1459 26.5
08/28/11 17:38:53 17.90 100.0 100.0 100.0 0 82 62 0.9457 16.0
08/28/11 17:38:54 26.16 91.1 100.0 100.0 0 96 62 1.1459 26.9
08/28/11 17:38:55 17.84 94.3 100.0 100.0 0 81 62 0.9457 15.8
08/28/11 17:38:56 26.18 96.7 100.0 100.0 0 96 62 1.1459 27.4
08/28/11 17:38:57 17.45 94.5 100.0 100.0 0 82 62 0.9457 15.4
08/28/11 17:38:58 26.29 97.3 100.0 100.0 0 96 62 1.1459 27.6
08/28/11 17:38:59 17.78 98.6 100.0 100.0 0 80 62 0.9457 15.8
08/28/11 17:39:00 26.51 94.1 100.0 100.0 0 96 62 1.1459 27.4
08/28/11 17:39:01 17.50 88.9 100.0 100.0 0 80 62 0.9407 14.9

This is just a sample, but you can see the temperature will be reasonably low under load when throttlestop will switch back to it's first profile. In that second, the core temperature shoots up dangerously high, then cools down again. Previously when looking at the logs you would see a smooth temperature curve, this doesn't make any sense.

 

When posting log files try using the code html tags like this.

[code*]

copy and paste log file here

[/code*]

Just leave out the * in both of those tags and it will be a lot easier to see the numbers and headings in your log.

Anyway, the cooling solution in these laptops is completely inadequate. When gaming your best bet might be to use a single ThrottleStop profile with Disable Turbo selected. If your laptop has suddenly got a lot worse then it is likely the heatsink has got a little loose.

A CPU reaching 100C is not "dangerously high" for the CPU. The Intel designed thermal shutdown temperature isn't until 130C so you don't have to worry if your CPU hits 100C that it is going to go pop and explode. Laptop manufacturers are over riding the protection that Intel builds into their CPUs and setting the shut down temperature prematurely low to 100C. If your laptop shuts down when gaming, that's annoying but it's at a temperature where the CPU is not going to be permanently damaged.

Acer's opinion is that it is OK to ship a laptop with an inadequate cooling solution that resorts to throttling like crazy to control its temperature. You either have to pull your laptop apart and improve the cooling and use third party software like ThrottleStop to control this mess or send your 3830TG back to Acer and tell them they can have it. A repair shop can not fix a laptop that has a fundamental design flaw. They will just test it without ThrottleStop running and will tell you that everything is operating as designed.

 

has anyone tried the repaste and taking out the grill? how much has it reall improved the cooling while gaming, i ended up getting a Coolermaster s 19 cooling pad since i need some hubs(keyboard, mouse etc,,,) i might take out the grill after my cooling pad get here but yea dont want to if its doesnt improve much or gets too dirty. thx!! love my 3830tg btw

 

Some say, redoing the cooling paste helps alot (20°C), other report of only 5°C. It may void the warranty, if improperly done. Mine is getting back to Acer, it's their job to figure out a solution, not mine

Today I noticed that on one side where the screen is connected to the base, the connecter is not completely even, but hangs down a little bit (when closing the lid and looking at the two connectors from the back side). Are you having the same problems?

 

One comment for everyone that uses throttle stop, I noticed that when i have throttlestop on i get less battery life using a low battery profile low multiplier too. if i turn off throttlestop i get better battery life about 2 hours with P mode enable on the 3830tg. has anyone else tried this? i get8 hours like this

 

Well I'm taking it to an Acer service center. I don't know what my options are, my hope is that they give me a new battery, re-attach the heatsink/fix whatever is causing the temps to go ing crazy, and get me a new GPU if indeed mine is damaged. It's stopping me from playing DX:HR ffs!

Actually, if someone could run EVGA precision and look at their GPU usage when running a game/3dmark it would be quite helpful. Does it spike up and down up from a max of 53% or so, or does it shoot up and stay at a plateau?

 

ThrottleStop is not recommended to be used while on battery power. Drawing power too quickly from a battery is never a good thing.

ThrottleStop is designed to be used with the Windows high performance profile with the Minimum processor state set to 100%. If you use ThrottleStop with any other profile or any other 3rd party power management software, you might end up with two different programs fighting over control of your CPU which could cause increased power consumption.

Using ThrottleStop to monitor your GPU might cause the GPU to stay awake when you are not gaming which will also consume more power.

I have seen a 2820QM consuming 3.9W at idle while ThrottleStop is running. Disabling background apps so the C6 package state percent is a high number is the best way to reduce power consumption. It would be interesting to see some more testing for comparisons.

 

Well right now I'm using throttle stop when i game but i didnt know we had to use high performance profile i have the balance profile which sets min to 5% and max to 100% so i need to change this then? will help lower my temps when i game even more? I wasn't trying to bash this program i actually love it

 

Taking off the grills helps a good bit since it allows for better airflow, just blow through the cover with the grills on and you can tell how much it is hindering air flow.

I haven't done any specific testing but it allows me to play sc2 on forced turbo with throttlestop without overheating. The throttling threshold for i5-2410 is 85c so using throttlestop is a must for gaming. The only way I see playing modern games without throttling (excluding throttlestop) would be removed grills and a good cooling pad (or just elevating your laptop).

Repasting would take off a max of 5c, which paste you use really doesn't make a difference. My desktop had an awful stock intel hsf (i5-760) and I couldn't believe the cooler could be that terrible so I reseated and reapplied paste with no difference, this sparked my interest so I redid it about 5 times using different methods (spreading, dot in middle, line in middle etc), all using AS5 and cleaning thoroughly with rubbing alcohol each time. There was still no difference..

Anyway sorry for the long story, if you are comfortable taking apart the laptop, which while not difficult takes about 30 minutes to take apart and put back together (me anyway) and possibly voiding your warranty then go for it. I think the problem is simply poor case design, measuring temps with only CPU under load and idle the temps are perfectly reasonable. The old 3820tg had a dual fan setup, while this uses a single large fan..

 

When monitoring temps it seems like my i5 gets throttled at 85c since that is the max listed temp before getting throttled back down, I should test again though.

 

Even if you skim the docs and only look at the pictures you should see this section near the top. No worries, I understand. No one reads that junk because they are too busy gaming or on the 3830TG, maybe I should say, trying to game.

Here are the Intel docs showing idle power consumption for a Quad core.



I think if ThrottleStop is set up correctly and Nvidia monitoring is turned off, it shouldn't be too bad on battery run time. Even so, I still recommend turning ThrottleStop completely off when you are not plugged in. The batteries Acer uses are having enough problems without ThrottleStop drawing more power out of them than they were designed to deliver.

 

You mean quitting throttlestop entirely yes?

Took my laptop in to the service center, they say it will probably take a week to repair. I didn't tell them specifically to replace the battery with a Sanyo one, maybe I should have.

 

Whatever happened to heatless, wasn't he the one who placed a quad core in the 3830tg I wonder what happened to that, I see a possible modder's heaven right here New Intel Core i7-2720QM Mobile 8M 2.2Ghz CPU 45W | eBay

 

The new Travelmate TimelineX series suffers from the same throttling. Acer hasn't learned anything, I guess.

 

jeebus, i just paid 485 CAD for the 3830tg with the i3+540m gt in it...i don't think anything comes close to that price...i can deal with the heat with a laptop cooler...acer is really having a hard time selling these huh.

 

Did you buy it from Staples? They are $529.99 in store, and I have a $50 off any laptop over $499.99 coupon, so it's $479.99+tax. Even though I already have a 14" ID49C (i3-350M, GT 330M) I'm getting one anyway because $480 is such a hot price for this laptop.

Anybody try putting a low voltage CPU in? Such as the i7 2629M or i5 2557M? A 25w or 17w chip would surely pump out less heat. Plus I would bet there would be a significant battery life gain from a 17W chip. Are all of the low power Sandy Bridge mobiles embedded though?

 

ya i bought it from staples. but i didn't have a printable $50 coupon.
so i bought it online and stacked a -30, -20, -15 for $65 off. only thing is, the online price is 550, not 530 like in the stores :\
in the end only a diff of 5 bucks and i was able to scavenge the coupons off of rfd

HMMMM, i wonder if i can just walk in when i pick it up, and tell them to price match it...cuz it's a $20 diff. that would bring it down to $465!!!!!

 

AS5 is worse than most pastes when it's not cured after 200 hours of usage. I'm getting much better temps now that I removed the grill and repasted with AS5 (only been using for 1.5 week now)

This is my new temps when playing SC2 at near max (throttlestop at 23x) using a U2 cooler:

CPU- 65C
GPU- 66C

ambient temp is around 23C

 

It's not the number of hours so much as the number of heating cooling cycles with AS5. You could leave your laptop on for 200 hours straight and it won't be as well cooled as if you'd turned it on and off every other hour for a few days.

 

is this grill you guys are talking about?

Gadgets and Hacks: Acer 3830TG-6431 Teardown

I see no grill anywhere in this.

 

Nopes, this is it, imgur: the simple image sharer

more grills that that, i think he took off most but left that one mesh grill on, theres like 3-5 mesh grills

 

How can I get a 5830 with a 540m gpu in the states? Would I have to import it? Also would the warranty be invalid?

I saw em on cdw.ca and ncix but im more curious about the warranty issue

its 826$ delivered. Now can I buy an acer warranty for this notebook or will getting it from canada invalidate it?
Same thing if I need to rma it will it be sent to a US based repair facility?

 

Oh, yeah that, I took that off but it made zero difference. Maybe if you elevate it or use a laptop cooler it matters more.

 

Acer considers Canada and the US a part of the same PanAmerican region. The warranty on a Canadian unit is good in the US. I know this first-hand since my 3820TG is a Canadian unit. Warranty work is done in the Temple Texas depot. Just be sure to register your unit when you get it.

You can also buy an extended warranty if you like. BTW, the Canadian notebooks have a bi-lingual keyboard.

Edit: BTW, I pulled the trigger on the 2 year extended warranty. I will be keeping this Acer as my primary notebook for at least another year. I couldn't pass it up for $106.

 

i hate it so much, only bad thing about my 3830tg, good thing i only have to use it when im at school.

 

I hat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ed it\\\\\\\.\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Can't find any 3830T keyboards on ebay yet. There is this 3830T for sale that appears to be mislabled since it claims to have a GT 540M GPU. **SEALED / OPEN BOX** Acer AS3830T-6412 Laptop | eBay

 

Any recommendations for a cheap sound system to go with these laptops? $50+-?

"Dolby Home Theater v4 Benefits
Brings Dolby 5.1 or 7.1 cinematic surround sound to your PC for all content"

Should I get a 5.1 set?

 

hmm

 

what about glowing keyboard stickers? tacky i know, but a cheap & quick fix?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...tickers&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

 

The layout of the key letters is not the problem. The biggest issue is that the left shift key is half-size and the "\" key is where the right half of the key would be. Every time you go for the shift key, you keep hitting the "\" key. Thus, the joke ...

 

oops, missed that. was thinking about the other models where the \ above the Enter key is also a bit odd. i was also reading something elsewhere about a backlit keyboard hack and mixed the threads up.

 

well it seems i found a "trick",my wear was to 26%,today i use my laptop & let it discharge to 40-50% & i plug it on the AC Adapter & continue to use it during the charge of the battery of the laptop & the wear decrease from 26 to 23% in one cycle (40% => 100%)
anyone who have the panasonic wear,test this & let me know if it work for you

 

>_< for some reason I cant post.


does the 15" Canadian model also have a bilingual keyboard? If someone has could they take a picture out it?

--------------

i smell a refurb

 

Refurb, redistributed or display. Sold for $451 CN. Not much more than an E-350 Fusion notebook.

Here is the bi-lingual keyboard. Death to the Canadian Multilingual (Bilingual) Keyboard Colin Ligertwood – Freelance Web Developer

 

Yeah but id like to see how they are going to mess up the 5830tg since its a chiklet keyboard for the US

:/ im just gona get the US ver and get a free xbox 360 w/ it to make up for the 540m

 

Just picked up an i3-2310m/540m for $508 tax in. I'm thinking I might sand off the black coating on the heatpipes right above the CPU, and then attach some low profile copper BGA heatsinks for extra dissapation that line up with the series of square vents (with mesh removed) on the bottom panel.

I'm going to re-paste as well. If I can find out a way to get this i3 not to throttle without a cooler, I'm going to order a 2620m.

 

Where did you find it if you don't mind me asking?

 

Just repasted and removed meshes (had 2 of them) under the hood.
I lost a few °C on gpu, but I think I made it a bit worse for cpu.
If it persists I'll redo this, seems much better already.

Before, GTA IV, Turbo OFF
1h @ 1.8Ghz : 82cpu - 77gpu
1h @ 2.3Ghz : 92cpu - 86gpu


After, GTA IV, Turbo OFF
1h @ 1.8Ghz : 89cpu - 74gpu
1h @ 2.3Ghz : 93cpu - 81gpu

Also, it's a bit cooler today than it was that other day I tested before, this might play too.

I can also confirm that mine throttles @75° gpu by default.

 

If you can do that, you'll have a lot of folks following suit. Be sure to take pictures of your efforts. BTW, that's a great price, did you find it in the US or Canada?

 

maybe we should look for a replacement fan with bigger or more lamellas...

 

Well I didn't try to dismantle it, but there were 2 screws that seemed to open its thermal case.

 

I got it at my local Staples (staples.ca). They originally had the unit for $629.99 in store ($649.99 online), but it was on sale for $100 off. I was able to find a $50 off any laptop over $499.99 coupon, so ended up getting it for $479.99 + tax. I can kind of see why Acer would need to offer the i3 model for so cheap. It throttles like crazy because of the 85C limit on the i3. Lucky for me I'm very tech savvy and am set on making this thing work with a full speed 2620M.

I think a lack of mass and surface area is the biggest problem with the factory cooling. I pasted three dimes onto the heatpipes above the CPU and noticed a 3C drop in GPU load temp, and it prolonged the amount of time it took to shut down with Furmark + Prime95 running. My cores were hovering around 81-84 at 1.9ghz, no cooler, just sitting on my desk, vents removed. When I took off the dimes they were scorching hot. I think proper heatsinks, attached directly to the heatpipes (which I would sand down and lap with 1000grit), will make at least a 3C difference. The fact that there are vents right there leads me to believe the ramsinks would be effective in dissipating heat outside of the laptop. If you were really serious you could even cut out the vents (only the three small square ones above the CPU), and have the ramsinks stick out from the back cover (but not enough that the laptop rests on them). Now that would really make a difference.

I was going to use these: EnzoTech If I need to sand them down to fit, that's what I'll be doing.

 

Ok so like I said I opened it and checked, mine is rev. B3, so not affected, and was also identified by gigabyte tool as B2.
PCI devices headers were mis-identified as B2 too.

In the end we should just have an identification issue, but no hardware problem, thus no degrading performance on optical drive / 2nd hdd.

 

So here is what I'm talking about. I just used pennies to show the placement of where I plan on placing ramsinks (clearance may be tighter than I thought, but I think its possible with a low enough profile ramsink). I can fit two pennies high in all of the spots and still close the back cover. I have some Zalman ramsinks right now and they are only slightly taller than two pennies. After a quick sand and removing the black coating, I'm certain they will fit. How much a difference it will make, we will find out.





Sorry for the blur, was in a hurry and forgot I was on full manual mode

 

It's a damn good effort no matter what the result. My hat is off to you sir. Rep is called for.

 

Damn that's awesome posse please keep us posted!

 

Tried pasting on more dimes (all the way down the heatpipes) to see what kind of effect it would have before I went to the trouble of ripping everything apart. At 1.9ghz it sticks to 80-82C now with Prime95 + Furmark running, and 71C on the GPU. I think if I let the machine run for more than 10 minutes it would still shut off.

I have a good feeling that after a re-paste with IC Diamond, lapping the contact spots, and adding heatsinks all the way down the stripped heatpipes, I will get rid of throttling without a laptop cooler. I'm going to get a cooler anyway, but I wan't to be able to game on the road as well.

The ramsinks that came with my Gelid Icy Vision VGA cooler (for GTX285) would fit perfect, but I used all 16 on my GTX285.

 

Am I the only one with i5 throttling @75°gpu ?

 

4 Zalman aluminium ramsinks attached to the heatpipes. Back panel off. Factory thermal compound. I could fit 8-10 ramsinks if I had them. Sure there will be some heat gain from putting the back panel back on, but I think adding more ramsinks will reverse that. Ordered some 6mm tall aluminium BGA heatsinks. I plan to remove the black coating and strap them all the down the heatpipes.

CPU does not go over 81C (Prime95 for 10 minutes).