Acer TimelineX 3830/4830/5830 T/G

Yes, the one that came in the laptop...

I definitely agree, the initial install was full of crapware...

 

I've had it about 4 months. I use TS for my CPU temp checks. According to batterycare, my discharge rate is usually 11.5W or so, that's with the lowest screen brightness setting. It shows a 10% wear level, too, after 3 discharge cycles.

 

I tested batterycare, with the clean installation of windows, and the brightness to middle I get a 7.5watt discharge rate! Very good (wear level 2% 0 cycles...) The clicking HDD withought the quiethdd is quite annoying though...
Anyone tested 1.07 Bios about changes in throttling?

 

I believe that the load/unload and the click-click noise that often seems to come every 8 seconds is the WD Intellipark feature. Though, parking the heads every 8 seconds does not seem that intelligent to me...

I haven't tried it myself but supposedly WDs tool, WDIDLE3, that can be used to tweak it on certain desktop drive models, also works on the Scorpio Blue line of notebook drives.

WDIDLE3 is available on the Ultimate Boot CD and can change the park timeout setting permanently.

Hope it helps

References:
WD Green Drives - BUYER BEWARE
How to Stop Excessive Load Cycles on the Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green (WD20EARS) with WDIDLE3
Ultimate Boot CD

 

For some reason I can't seem to view any pictures in the threads linked from the first post. Any chance someone saved the breakdown/inside pictures for the 4830TG?

 

Is this using epowermanagement?

 

Well, my battery drain issue seems to be back again, and that's without re-installing an applications that I had uninstalled and after which my fan finally stopped constantly running. One thing I've noticed is that the fan is running constantly from a cold start. Yesterday, when I had full battery run time back, the fan would run on restart, but stop after about 5 minutes or so after restarting. That got me about 8 hours on battery. Today, with fan constantly running, my battery time is cut by half.

This is a real bummer. I have a few days left before I'm unable to return the laptop, and I'm leaning towards that. Anyone have any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this?

 

I'd do a factory restore and if that doesnt stop it, I'd send it back. Shouldn't be happening and you shouldn't have to spend so long trying to figure it out; it should just work as intended.

 

I already answered that autonomy problem.
Base install is buggy, factory restore won't change anything IMHO.
You need to reinstall, this laptop needs a bit of control over it, if you're not wiling to it may be best to return it..

 

No, I have installed no of all this acer crapware... Just windows and the drivers needed, no software tools... Most times the vendors do very bad work designing software, it is better to stick to default windows. Microsoft knows how to make software, acer knows confused: ) how to make hardware, apple knows both

 

MS makes really good hardware.
Manufacturers must write softwares too, that's part of their job since ages.
Power management is like drivers, this is not some "crapware tools", as launch manager could be for example (I don't think it is)
I don't believe you can achieve the same level of autonomy without those "craps", but hey, if you do so, good for you !

 

It's been tested by several of us (power management that is) and results are mixed- some people see no improvement and others do see some more battery time.
It may also depend on a notebook (this software is available for basically all Acers) and usage pattern.

 

Does anyone get pictures of the Inside AS4830TG or AS4830TG tear down after clicking on the links from the original post? I've got nothing. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

Never mind. I've found the reason. I've to registered to the forums.

 

The problem is that 95% of the time, HW vendors just use existing windows functionality, and APIS and just dress them in a very heavy front end (very ugly too in my opinion), that just does the same as hitting "power saver" mode on windows 7... and just say that its their revolutionary software...

This is not for all the software, but for the most part is like that. I have installed no acer tool, and my laptop has far better functionality than a lot of people there with "stock" windows. The only thing i miss is a functional P button... big deal...

 

What would be the main difference? Sorry for the ignorance. Aren't both done by re-installing windows?

What are the odds that this is software related vs. hardware?

Heck, I wouldn't be trying so hard to figure this out if this machine didn't pack so much bang for the buck!

 

I am considering purchasing a 4830 or 5830 for SW:TOR gaming, is this something I definitely SHOULD NOT do?

Is the throttling issue still a problem with these laptops?

 

Hmm, I tried to register there, but it does not seem to work through google translate and I have no clue as to what goes wrong without google translate. Whats supposed to happen?

 

I am seeing a refresh for some of the Acer lines, using the i5-2450 instead of the i5-2430.

The only difference I am seeing between the two cpus is base clock speed (and i would then assume turbo speed is different). I wonder if this will fix the throttling.

 

It won't fix throttling and it is not intend to do so. It's a standard procedure as CPUs get cheaper Acer uses the best one in the price bracket- these minor upgrades happen in basically all Acer lines.

 

Yea, its fools optimism on my part. Would be nice while they are in there changing stuff that they address the cooling

 

You're right, it would be nice if they cared about their customers. It's a shame that they didn't even try to fix it in newer models.

 

It's likely something you can't fix without a major re-design. Radiator at the end of a heat-pipe would have to be bigger to accumulate heat from both CPU and GPU at the same time and that can't be retrofitted.
So Acer is going to leave it like that and replace the series with new inw with new Intel CPUs and new GPU (I'm guessing AMD/ATI this time) sometime near April 2012.

 

Several 3830TGs in this thread were repaired using a repaste and the coin trick. If Acer would do something similar, it might be enough to end the throttling. They just don't do it.

 

Most people were not able to stop throttling by re-pasting.
There is also a downside to coin-trick. Heatpipe is not a radiator- it's meant to transfer heat to the radiator without heating up the inside of the notebook.

Using coins or small radiators on the heatpipe is adding to the overall radiator capacity but at a cost- while cooling the CPU/GPU it's also heating up the motherboard.
It's not an ingenious solution- if it was all heat-pipes would have been covered in radiators.

The only way to properly fix it would be to increase the bulk of the radiator and that can't be done.

 

I agree. A bigger radiator or a second one would be the best fix.

Acer however, is still not talking of a problem, but telling their customers that throttling is a key feature of their cooling design. They take no responsibility for their faulty design. In my opinion, they should offer a cashback. Well, in my case everything went fine at last. It took me 4 months, but I got my money back some weeks ago.

 

That's true. Somewhere near the begging of this very thread I insisted that this fault is most likely not going to be fixed (it happened before with Gemstone Blue throttling) and advised everyone not to buy the notebook until it does what it should.
I got some heat for that back then but the truth is Acer have done that before and they know that they can get away with something like this.

Main problem with cooling these days is this obsession with slim notebooks- you can have slim and cool...

 

Well, my Macbook is slim AND cool. The cooling system is made very clever, you won't find any fan on the left or right side. However, it does not have geforce graphics. And I think they know why they don't deliver their 13inchers with a dedicated graphics.

Acer however managed to get the 3820TG to work very well. At least Bronsky keeps telling it's a monster machine That's why I do not understand, why the 3830TG does have so many problems.

 

Yeah- GPU pretty much doubles the amount of heat emitted so it makes it a lot harder to cool it down. 3820TG had double fans but to be honest it wasn't the best cooling system on earth- it was just good.
The thing is- ATI cards seem to emit less heat. Although the way it's calculated differs between nVidia and AMD there is a significant difference between 15-19W of HD5650 and 35W of GT540.

 

No throttling issue here on winter but I expect it to happen on summer.

 

i just use a laptop cooler when playing games, haven't had trouble with throttling since

 

Laptop cooler delayed the throttling only for around a minute on my 3830TG.

 

Why don't you try to mod the notebook like this?


Uploaded with ImageShack.us
You will have hybrid cooling and use the liquid one to play.
I'm ispiring to this video and solution
Dell XPS M1330 Notebook watercooling MOD, the little How to - YouTube

 

My 4830TG would occasionally stutter during gaming for a second every couple of minutes. Looking at the CPU logs, both cores run at about 2800 Mhz consistently during the entire gaming session. However, one of the two cores would occasionally drop down to 800 MHz for a second, before returning to 2800 MHz. The core that drops changes with each instance, so it's likely not a faulty CPU.

My question: Is this throttling or something else? Is there a solution?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

"Throttling" means, that your CPU will run for a couple of minutes at 2800 Mhz and then drop to 1200 oder 800 MHz and stay there until you quit your game. Short times of throttling may be considered normal, but you may use ThrottleStop to end this. Please read the ThrottleStop tutorials carefully if you intend to do so.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've read the throttlestop guide about 4 times and I'm still not sure whether or not I fully understand it. Maybe someone else on this forum can clarify for me. Here is the guts of my setup:
I set the multiplier to 24, and left the two 'clock mod' options unchecked. Then I click 'Turn On'.

How does throttlestop prevent throttling? Does it fix the CPU multiplier at the specified value? When I look at the FID column without a CPU intensive program running, I see it oscillating around 11 (even though I set the multiplier to 24).

Also when gaming I still experience the same stuttering.

 

Exactly. If you deselect Powersaving, the multiplier always stays at 2.4 Ghz. Powersaving enables downclocking (if the CPU is not needed).

 

I've got few questions about "upgrading" 3830tg i have a version with one 4gb stick without 3g modem and i would like to add some memory and a hdspa/gps... modem.
Is it possible to add 8gb stick of ram making total of 12GB (cpu seems to be able to handle it)
Does non 3g acer have sim card slot or do i have to look for ones with sim card slot on them?


ps. does the new bios 1.07 disables turbo?

 

There are no 3830TG models with sim card slots so far.

According to this site, the 3830TG can handle a maximum of 2x4gb. More memory may be possible, but is not supported by Acer.

The 1.07 bios isn't doing anything about the throttling. It's just adjusting the bios screen and images to 1024x768. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Guys, does anyone know how I can automatically start bluetooth at startup? i have a bluetooth mouse and i want to be able to use it as soon as my PC boots. right now i have to turn on bluetooth everytime

 

No comments about my solution?

 

Someone would have to have access to some decent hardware and tools to do that, i.e. not me.

 

I'm not a big fan of water cooling in a notebook. This is especially true in something like a Timeline, where the cooling lines would be adjacent to the motherboard and the smallest of leaks could mean total disaster.

It also seems like a lot of work for a simple problem. I think the heat exchangers are the better temporary solution, or better yet, wait for the new Timelines next year to see if Acer corrects the problem.

 

Can anyone comment on the max external resolution supported by the 3830T? Does its HDMI port support more than 1920x1080?

 

Hey guys,

So my 3820TG is unfortunately gone and I need to replace it. What a dismay to see that the 3830TG has so many problems!

So what is the current status regarding throttling on the 3830TG? I read the last 10 pages of the thread, but it is quite long and the "Search Thread" feature seems broken (returns no hits no matter the search query). I use my notebook to game in the train, so any "external" solutions (i.e. laptop cooler) is a no go for me; also I would rather not open it up and void my warranty with heatpipe fixing tricks.

Here are my questions:

1) Is it possible to have the 3830TG's CPU running at full speed for gaming with ThrottleStop, or will it throttle down no matter what because it overheats? I saw people using a multiplier of x18 so the CPU runs at 1.8 GHz; why not use x24 and have the CPU run at its default (non-turbo) speed? Or x30 as a matter of fact?

2) Is it possible to get an hour of battery while intensely gaming on the go? Will the CPU and GPU throttle back when on battery power, like I saw on the Asus N45SF?

3) Should I go for an MSI X460DX instead?


Thanks for your feedback!

 

Without any modification, it will run at 1900 MHz all the time using ThrottleStop. This is enough for most of the games.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

In fact, I was wondering what is the reason for limiting it to 1900 MHz? What happens when selecting a higher multiplier in ThrottleStop (i.e. x24, which would bring the CPU to its normal operation spec of 2.4 GHz)? Is it simply that it then heats too much? Then what happens, the PC reboots?

Thanks!

 

It will constantly heat up to 100°C, then the CPU shuts down your system to prevent damage. Some systems work at 2100 Mhz, others only with 1800 Mhz. 1900 Mhz should be safe for most of them.

 

Ok, I see, thanks a lot for the clear answer.

Cheers!

 

I wonder if Timelines will get the axe next year? Acer to downsize product lines by two-thirds in 2012, says chairman

 

I'm having a lot of trouble with my 5830TG and my video cards. After trying a slew of different drivers (including those on the acer website) I returned to the factory settings but I'm still getting a Code 43 for my GT 540m in the device manager. I also updated to the 2119.0 vbios version (again, using the drivers from the Acer website)

Anyone have any solutions or advice?