Inactive 4500MHD inside the Acer Aspire 5738G

Hi there guys. It's been a while since I wrote here.
I have bought the Aspire 5738G over half a year ago and it was just a couple of days back from now, when Everest showed me a hardware report about an integrated Intel 4500MHD onboard, which is inactive.
I couldn't find any info on this matter online, so I thought that with your help and my readiness to disassemble my laptop, we could figure out a way to make use of this integrated chip, which would result in serious power savings when running on battery.
I am thinking that maybe there is some place in the circuitry that was cut in order to disable the chip or something, or that it has no access to the LCD and HDMI ports.
Also, I downloaded a Service Manual for my model and I couldn't find my 5738G specification in it.

So, guys, do you have any suggestions where I should start looking to find out if the 4500MHD is useable?

 

Good news bad news situation. Good news is Intel GPU has all the required connections and so on because it's integrated into the chipset. Bad news is that it isn't enabled in BIOS so it's not gonna work unless Acer decides to enable it (yeah right...) or someone modifies the BIOS accordingly.
Another words don't count on it.

 

Darn it!!!

I have heard about BIOS modding to unhide hidden options in the BIOS menu. Is this as stupid to do as it sounds?

 

It seems pretty complicated to me- I've read part of this thread and it is very interesting but there are several problems with enabling Intel graphics in your laptop.
It's one thing to enable something and quite the other thing to manage it. What happens when you do enable Intel graphics? How is the switching between them gonna work? Which one is going to be default one- the one that computer boots with?
What about drivers- ATI states explicitly that their notebook drivers will not install on notebooks with ATI and Intel graphics.
It may be tempting but it has a lot of variables to it and is likely to cause a lot of troubles.
Last but not least- you can un-hide options in BIOS only if these settings are available but hidden, however if Acer never intended for both cards to be used there may not be such an option nor any other that follow (like switching between the cards)

 

I have no idea what do are you guys talking about, the intel PM45 in the 5738G is the only MB in the cantiga family that doesn't have an integrated GPU

Products (Formerly Cantiga)

So I think Everest was wrong

 

Makes a lot of sense.

One more thing that comes to my mind is opening up the machine, pulling out the ATI just to see if the BIOS will default to the integrated chip...

I have also come across some modding tools that can open ROM and BIN files in the BIOS updates released on Acer's website. This should show whether or not the options exist and are hidden.

Oh, and about ATI drivers not installing when Intel is present doesn't sound like a problem since the recently released Timeline X 4820TG makes use of both an integrated solution by Intel and a discrete ATI 5650.

Another thing I have on my mind is if I can install DDR3 memory modules. The laptop came with 4 gigs of DDR2-800, but Everest shows DDR3 compatibility and a maximum of 8 gigs. Is it possible that Acer produced a motherboard with DDR3 and backwards DDR2 compatibility? Also, the system block diagram in the Service manual shows DDR3 800/1066 slots. It also shows the Cantiga chipset (codename for the GM45/4500MHD) and the PCI-E for external graphics.

There must be a way to make use of all these!...

 

No, DDR3 is not possible if you have DDR2, and neither is using integrated graphics.

All everest is doing is looking at what chipset you have and listing all of its features, not what is actually used or possible to use on your computer. On top of that, saying that you have a GM45 is probably wrong as your laptop with discrete graphics is listed as having PM45 and it is doubtful the manufacturer would use the more expensive GM45 chip. Cantiga is also codename for the PM45. GM45 and PM45 are the same silicon, just one has the graphics disabled.

 

Yeah DDR3 is not possible. As for GM45/PM45- I didn’t check it but I don't think it would be possible either way.

@de3pkeeper The Timeline X 4820TG uses different chipset and Core i5 that has an integrated graphics on the CPU- it's completely different story.

 

Yeah, I knew about the memory but I guess I was hoping for some biga*s miracle.

Funny thing is that 3 different sysinfo tools show the chipset as GM45 - Everest, SIW and HWiNFO32.

@ Trottel: It's true that 5738 has the PM45 but my model specification is not listed anywhere. The barcode sticker on the bottom says Aspire 5738G 654G50Mn. This specification is not listed in the service manual and googling the specification would not yield results about a configuration with the same parameters. I am not really sure what kind of laptop I have anymore...

Unfortunately Phoenix BIOS is unlockable and there is no way to have a peek if there are any hidden options available...

I think I will disassemble the entire notebook and look at the part numbers. Yeah, unfortunately in order to see your GPU, CPU and other vital components, you have to disassemble the entire thing. There is no grate that you can remove to look at the MB like there used to be.

 

You may have to dissemble the laptop to physically check if the GPU is there.
A real story of feature cripple is the Aspire 4740G it has Intel HD Graphics onboard the CPU die physically (and the Intel VGA ROM exist in the BIOS) but no way to enable it.

 

The ATI in the 5738G aint MXM, it is built in the board so removing it is not an option im afraid & as for the DDR3 thing actually some 5738Gs come with 4 gigs of DDR3 but ur RAM speed will be limited by your processor FSB which in that case the T6600 with 800 fsb so the DDR3 will downclock to the DDR2 speeds so it is pointless

actually I loled at "I dont know what laptop I have anymore" the 5738G has 2 generations one with a Nvidia G105 & another which is ours with a HD4570 check the Middle East section on Acer website because it has the one with ur specs with a PM45 like mine