Acer TimelineX 3830/4830/5830 T/G

Looks like the new LG P330 I5/I7-GT555M has no problem with heat. http://forum.notebookreview.com/lg/636568-lg-p330-review-natadiem.html Its temps are incredible.

 

It's not a hassle once you have it set up. It's pretty easy. You'll have two profiles, one for gaming and one for regular office tasks.

The gaming profile will have your CPU multiplier scaled back to stay within thermal limits. You can test your highest stable in-game multiplier yourself, but if you don't want to test, just stick with a multiplier of 18 in-game, most will be able to handle it. If you crash while playing just reboot and set it to 17 and so forth.

The regular office tasks profile will be set at your max CPU multiplier. Throttling occurs when your CPU and GPU are being used heavily at the same time, when you're only using your CPU mainly you can set it on max, and disable turbo.

As for the battery, it's built in and not user removable without a screwdriver.

Fan noise is almost non-existent when not gaming. When gaming, fan noise is on the loud side, definitely about the same as the other 13 inch laptops with dedicated graphics cards.

@Bronsky And so we have a comparison...

Sony SA

Pros: 2 drive bays(with DVD drive caddy); 2TB of storage/1TB+SSD boot drive
<1 inch all around
backlit keyboard
No throttling

Cons: Lacking Touchpad sentivity IMO
Stiff touchpad buttons

Acer 3830TG

Pros: Low price
Higher graphics performance than the SA on stock clocks

Cons: Throttling means you can't use your cpu's full power in gaming
>1 inch thick at the rear end

LG P330

Pros: Highest graphics performance
No Throttling
Great temps

Cons: Stiff, single bar touchpad buttons
$1600 price?

 

Thanks for the links!!
I did it!!
In fact it was a 'simple' EDID problem... Incompatibility between computer, amplifier and TV caused the computer not to be able to stream HD audio!

 

Another pro and con on the SA is its 1600x900 screen. Great for workstation stuff and having more room to work with on screen. Really poor contrast and color saturation. The average 3820/4820TG screen is better looking, tho some were worse / almost unusably bad.

 

I recently sold my 4830tg and purchased the S3 Ultrabook. Does anyone here own Acer S3? I can't seem to find a dedicated forum for S3 as I'm facing some issues.

 

After weeks of research, I've finally decided to go with the Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830T-6870 over the Sony VAIO SA (with thanks to all those who posted comparisons between the two). I want to upgrade my future 3830, but I've never upgraded a laptop before, so I was hoping to find some help on this forum.

Should I buy RAM that is 1.35V or 1.5V? Crucial's website recommends the 1.35V for the 3830, but I've read that 1.5V RAM runs faster. I don't mind a few degrees increase in temperature if it means I can get faster performance out of my RAM.

Also, it seems like I can save ~$8 by buying 2 single sticks of 4GB RAM at Newegg instead of a paired set of 4GBs. Is there even a slight difference in longevity (I plan to use my Acer for ~5 years) or speed in one setup versus another? I'm wondering why they would price a twin-pack higher than 2 single-packs.

Next, any thoughts on the SATA III SSD with the best overall performance for the 3830? I was thinking of this: Amazon.com: Samsung 830 - Series 2.5 Inch SATA III MLC Internal SSD Laptop Kit with Norton Ghost 15: Electronics (Amazon was the only place I could find that had it in stock), but if it's not fully compatible with the 3830 or there are simply better SSDs out there, please let me know. I'm willing to spend up to $250 for the SSD, would like it to store around 120GB, and I am most interested in speed first, then price, then storage capacity.

Lastly, does anyone have recommendations as to which external DVD+/-RW goes best with the 3830? I was hoping for something slim, light, fast, and without needing more than 1 USB. This ( Newegg.com - LITE-ON USB Black 8X External Top Load DVD/CD Burner Model eTAU208-96 LightScribe Support) comes to mind (I may one day take advantage of the LightScribe, although a drive that takes advantage of the USB 3.0 port available on the 3830 would be nice), but please give me your suggestions as well. Thanks a bunch!

 

Hey Guys, I just picked up the 3830TG Version #6415 with I3-2330M & GT540M 1GB Videocard. Im wondering if the throttling has been fixed in this revision.

Ive read through this thread after I bought the computer and decided I didnt want to deal with the throttling issue and had planned to return it but I thought Id give it a shot.

Anyways Ive been very impressed so far, I loaded throttlestop but put it in "monitoring only" mode I tried a few games and got some really good results:

Played the last mission "all-in" in Starcraft 2 on extreme graphic settings, ran OKAY at around 20FPS with the only slowdown coming when I used the beacon to blow up all the Zerg. Throttlestop Max temperature was 78 degrees. Still way better than expected because I never plan to ran the game at more than medium with this Laptop

Played the first mission in Battlfield Bad Company 2 and a couple matchs of online MP on graphical settings high and it ran flawlessly the whole team. Throttlestop recorded a Max Temperature of 82 degrees

Played about 30 minutes of The Old Republic on all the highest graphical settings including High Shadows and Bloom Effect on. It ran smoothly when I was playing by myself but when I tried to play a Warzone Match it got pretty choppy though I have my doubts this was from throttling as the CPU only got to 73 degrees. In fact im almost certain this was a problem with the game and not my computer

Finally I was starting to get curious about the throttling so I downloaded Just Cause 2, set everything to the highest possible settings and ran the benchmark software in there about 8 times in a row. The Avg FPS was 28 degrees (almost as good as my desktop), it never stuttered and the highest recorded temp was 80 degrees.


Anyone else have any experience with the model 6415? Do I need to play longer for the throttling to take effect? What temperature does the throttling take effect at?

These tests were taking without repasting or turning on throttlestop

 

Did you check at which frequency your cpu was running while gaming ?
That's all you need to do. Throttling is primarily caused by gpu temp.

 

Looks like the Timeline series is going Ultrabook. Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra series hands-on -- Engadget No 13" model. It looks like Acer will rely on the new S5 to compete in that size. Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook hands-on -- Engadget The Timelines will have dedicated graphics. http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/acer-timeline-ultra-laptop-announced-ces-2012/ They are expected to ship in Q1 ... good luck with that. I wonder if these units will throttle? Why not wait for Ivybridge?

 

IIRC, the thermal point at which the computer will shut down is still 85C for the 2330M(If I am mistaken feel free to correct me). If gaming, you will need to reduce your CPU multiplier to avoid shutting down due to exceeding 85C. By reducing your CPU multiplier, you will get a stable multiplier that will eliminate the throttling. If you're not gaming and just doing regular productivity, meaning using primarily the cpu, you can force your max cpu multiplier and not worry about temps.

For gaming, if you get crashing without using throttlestop, you can either test it yourself, manually lowering the multiplier in throttlestop until you're game stable, or you can just set it to 18x, most will be stable there. If it's not, just lower it by 1 until it is. 17-18x is good enough for most games, and most will be stable there.

There is a guide to using throttlestop for the 3830TG here.

@Bronsky, I'm not sure what the dedicated card in the timeline ultra is. I'm guessing it's most likely a 520M though.

 

Ahhh so after playing some more on it, after playing the old republic for like 15 minutes it just shuts off now, checking the log it is hitting that 85 degree point and shutting off.

I turned off throttle stop and the game got pretty choppy after a little while.

I now understand what the fuss is all about and I'll likely be returning this.

Thanks guys.

 

Lenovo has anounced that its Y480 will have an I7/14" FHD display and GTX 660M GPU. When my 3820TG was first released, it was clearly superior to the Y460 but Lenovo has continued to develop its Ideapad gamer and Acer has simply fallen on its face. If you don't mind a little more heft in a 14", the Lenovo is the better notebook by far and with the typical discounts you can get on sale, I would guess it will sell close to the Timelines prices. For an ultralight, the LG looks great, if and when it comes to the US. Acer better step up its game if it is going to compete.

 

^That spec is for Y580, 15''
the 14'' Y480 only HD screen and GT650M..

 

Competing will happen on price IMO. The 540m offerred on the 3830tg at the current price points are 1/2 to 3/4 the price of Sony/LG's machines with similar gpu power.

 

yeah, I know... That's why I decided to try it out because at the price I got it for it couldnt be beat but after playing around with it for a bit and seeing the throttling issues first hand Ive decided id rather pay a little bit extra and get something that works as designed

 

Hmmmm. The article was badly written then ... shame, that would be a great little 14"er.

 

Going slightly back on topic, I ordered a battery replacement battery for my 4830TG from Acer by calling 866.695.2237. The person on the phone told me I wouldn't be able to request a specific brand, but he did place an order and told me I should expect it between 3-8 business days via FedEx. I might see if I can convince the local Micro Center to install the new battery that I get under warranty and while they're at it, to change the thermal paste to IC Diamond.

I hadn't even noticed that the AS4830TG-6450 had a 2 year warranty! That's kinda sweet. =) Given this, would anyone consider dropping the Squaretrade 3 year+accidental warranty?

 

How much is the squaretrade warranty? I was able to purchase a 3 year upgrade to the Acer warranty for my 3820TG and I thought there was an option for accidential damage (I didn't get the Acc. Dmg. coverage because my company has a policy that covers accidential damage to our equipment).

 

Warranty came out to be $142.99 as paid by Amazon to SquareTrade.

I had taken advantage of, err, exploited a Target promo and got a bunch of Amazon gift cards for roughly ~20% below retail value, so I got the laptop and the warranty together for something like $520. I suppose the question is if I can get my money back directly from SquareTrade given I technically paid Amazon for the warranty.

You bring up a good point, I will inquire with Acer and see if it is any cheaper than what I have paid for the SquareTrade one.

 

Your squaretrade warranty is cheaper I think.

 

My Sony SA is now selling for $750 on newegg. That's a core i5 2430M, 6630 GPU, 1600x900 screen, backlit keyboard, intel 6230 wifi and a solid metal chassis. It can run games for hours with the CPU at 90C and GPU at 85 and never throttle once. To me that's a great deal.

 

At that price, I can't imagine why anyone would opt for the Acer. The whole idea of buying the Timeline was that you could not find anything close in price with similar specs. Sadly, Acer has let the market pass them by.

 

Wow, that is a great deal. The lowest I've seen that config was $1000+tax. That's a great machine to be able to take advantage of the turbo with, it's fun to hear it ramp up when you start doing video conversions and such xD

 

Might have been answered indirectly, but just wanted to make sure. Does the 4830TG support SATA3? Considering a fast SSD that supports it, if so.

Edit: Saw this post which claims it is -- http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...ge-aspire-timelinex-as4830t-hm65-chipset.html

I actually got an Intel 320 series 120 GB ( www.bestbuy.com/site/+/2690846.p?id=1218352168347 ) after I returned an overpriced 7200 RPM drive I had bought there a few weeks ago... I can definitely tell the difference in read speed, even though it's a SATA2 drive.

The reliability (86% 5 star reviews on NewEgg) and power consumption won me over against other SSDs:
Power Consumption (Idle): 100 mW Typical
Power Consumption (Active) 150 mW Typical

Edit 2: For anyone looking for a way to drive more than one monitor with their laptops, Targus makes docking stations based on DisplayLink DL-195 (USB 2.0) and DL-3900 (USB 3.0) chips. The older USB2 model -- ACP51USZ is perfectly sufficient to watch a DVD full screen at 1920x1080 and is available for <$50 on eBay new. The newer USB3 model that just came out -- ACP70USZ has dual monitor support and is pricier, cheapest on eBay is $155 now.

 

You should hear it when I crank up handbrake under linux with 4 threads at 100%. But only ever hits low to mid 80s with just the CPU.

 

After moved to SA from 3830TG for months now, I still miss the speaker & battery life of the 3830TG. And the design too, 3830TG is very good looking & eye-catching.

But if they both selling for the same price, I still pick the SA.

I hope the next Timeline Ultra will take over its place like the 3820TG days..

 

Well.. just joined the group.. just bought a refurb'd 3830tg off of amazon shipped for $527 . I'm coming from an Asus Ul30vt with garbage driver support.. last nvidia hybrid drvier released in august of '09.. .. so anyway the 3830gt I got was the i5 2410m with the 540m .. gonna drop my ssd in it from my ul30vt and hopefully be enjoying some swtor. I'm gonna start browsing the pages of posts here but is there anything I need to know.. just noticed the throttling issue.. gonna read more about that.. Also just noticed someone mentioned the Sony a few posts above.. sure the cpu is a bit faster but the radeon is about 25 percent slower than the 540m.. right? Screen quality is probably way better though..

 

What is the on/off switch under the bottom plate for? Just to the left of the memory. Battery disconect?

 

Check your battery wear level over the new few days/weeks. The Panasonic batteries have problems. If your battery is Sanyo you probably won't have problems...

 

Just purchased the 3830T version of this computer. It'll travel with us on our motorcycle trips and help render GoPro video. I've never been a gamer so this should work for our needs. I enjoyed reading these threads prior to purchasing, so thanks for the input.


Frank Jackson
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I was wondering inf anyone has done some testing to see if the Acer PowerSmart Manager really does anything outside of what can be done through the windows power manager. The reason I ask is because it seems that if I update my Nvidia drivers to the latest from Nvidia it breaks the functionality of the "P" button. Also the onscreen battery and leaf icon no longer works.

So I uninstalled the powersmart app because it doesnt seem to be doing anything. In summary I am curious if keeping the old Nvidia drivers for the sake of a functioning powersmart app is worth it? I seem to have decent battery life without it.

I have an Acer 4830TG

 

It adjusts some kind of hidden settings. I wished I knew specifically what it did... I have and can achieve as much as 8 hours when it is on...(powersmart that is)

 

How does the Sony SA screen quality compared to 3830TG, apart from resolution? I find the 3830TG too glossy and reflective and not so contrasty. I heard Sony quality is really quite good

 

Like the poster above, I'm very interested in the screen differences between these two lappys. From what I've gathered, the 3830tg is slightly better than the SA, better res notwithstanding.

 

Contrast Ratio --> 3830TG wins
Resolution --> SA wins

Pick which one is more important for you.

If you often watch movies indoor, then 3830TG's screen is better for you.
If you often work outdoor, then SA's screen is better for you.
But there are some matte screen protectors out there to put on the 3830TG.

If you want the best 13" screen, then nothing beats the screen on the Sony VAIO Z (at 2-4x price of 3830TG & SA).

 

I'm trying to modify the BIOS of my 3830TG to lower the GPU voltage from 0.98 to 0.85.
So far i was able to change the voltage in the BIOS file and reflash this file to my laptop. However, the voltage of the GPU does not seem to be changed after I reboot. GPU-Z, NVIDIA Inspector and NVAPITest all show the original voltage. Also, I changed the Subvendor ID, as to check if the new BIOS is active, and it also didn't change. So apparently the modified VBIOS is not active or was not replaced in the BIOS file.

Ok, here is what I did:
(1) Download the BIOS from the Acer website (1.07)
(2) Use PhoenixTool to modify BIOS file: load RW file, check "No SLIC" and "Allow user modifiication of other modules" under Advanced, click "Go", wait until message comes up, proceed with (3).
(3) Change the respective voltages in the ROM files with NiBiTor. That is, I changed the voltages in all VBIOS files after the modification did not work with just the (seemingly not) rigth file for my system.
(4) Let PhoenixTool finish the modification.
(6) Flash the modified BIOS with the provided Tool for DOS.

Anyone thried this? Any advice?

 

Not a bad idea. My only suggestion is... can you revert to a previous BIOS version and then flash the new modified one? Make sure you know how to revert from a brick in case it happens.

The other idea is using one of the BIOS files that explicitly says that it updates the VBIOS code on the Acer site, for their (very limited) update notes, assuming there are any labeled as such and assuming you can flash an older one in the first place. Keep us in the loop if you're successful (or not, for that matter)

 

You don't need to undervolt the GPU to overclock it, even to very high levels, even here. You can overclock most 540Ms to 550M speeds stably and beyond. It doesn't seem to contribute to heat as much as the CPU does.

 

I don't lower the voltage to increase clock rates. The GPU is fast enough for everything I do and overclocking generally doesn't make a gaphics solution render a game in 30 instead of 20 frames per second. Instead, I hope I can decrease temperatures of the CPU while gaming, since GPU and the CPU share the same cooling system.

Another way to lower the temperatures during gaming ist limiting the framerate through VSYNC to say 30Hz. It's realy all you need and you get rid of banding effects. It works for me.

 

If your GPU hits 75C your CPU will throttle to 1200MHz to cool down the system, at which point you will see a massive decrease in performance. This is the throttling problem.

The solution is to force a constant, but lower, CPU multiplier(16x to 18x depending on the individual system) using Throttlestop so that you can game stably without reaching your CPU's thermal ceiling of 85C(i3) or 100C(i5) at which point your system will shut down to avoid heat damage.

More information here.

 

I bought a used 3830tg-6431 that came without a power plug and brick. The one I ordered off ebay came today and it only has two prongs. Does the original have two or three prongs?

And if it has three does it make a difference if the one I'm using only has two?

I also noticed it is 65W output vs. 90W...

What difference does that make?

 

If you have 3830TG you need 90W PSU.

 

dang.

will the 65w charge it at all?
what if it's off?

TY

(i won't get lappy until this weekend.)

 

It will charge it but it won't be able to keep it on by itself when under load.

 

I have a 65 W that I have used to charge my 3820TG. As long as you use it for charging only, it is fine. If you try to use it on AC power, it will heat up to burning hot.

 

I would love to ask if 5830tg supports SATA3? Because I replaced my 750G HDD with a Crucial M4 128GB but it only operates at SATA2 mode only no matter what I try. Anybody has a clue?

 

After some more fiddling with the BIOS i got the voltage of the GPU down to 0.85V. I don't know exactly what the problem was, though. I will try figuring that out. Also, I didn't do any stability tests yet.

 

Great! If you can post the latest BIOS with that edit, I'd love to try it out. =) Did you have to rollback to a previous version in order for the new edited version to take? Post the modified one here when you're satisfied with the results!

 

Just got my 3830tg on wednesday.. dropped a samsung 830 120gb SSD. This laptop is pretty killer so far.. every game I've thrown at it pretty much plays perfect.. Rage/SWTOR/Skyrim and a couple older games. I'm not sure if I've run into the throttling issue or not.. my 3830tg was advertised on amazon as refurb'd and it ended up coming with a faster i5 cpu.. the 2430 instead of the 2410.. is it possible in the refurb process it was replaced and some better cooling materials.. paste or fan was installed? I played swtor last night for about 3 hours everything on high except for shadows and it seemed to played super fluid other than maybe a few areas where the fps drops enough to notice. I did a 3dmark06 test and got 8900.. and a pcmark cpu and got ~1600. I think the only thing that is odd is loading levels in SWTOR seems to take longer than they should..

 

Throttling occurs when your GPU hits 75C at which point your CPU will be throttled to 1200MHz. The solution is to force a lower CPU multiplier in throttlestop like 17-18x in order to game stably without hitting your CPU's thermal ceiling of 85C(i3) or 100C(i5) at which point your system would automatically shut down.