The 7738G Club

Hey guys, i've searched this forum and haven't found many topics related to this model so i thought i'd have a go. Bought myself an Acer Aspire 7738G back in october, really happy about it, came with vista H P 32bit specs core 2 quad Q9000 2.0 GHz with 6 mb L2, 4 gigs DDR3 and a surprisingly great performance 240M GT GPU that has 1024 mb dedicated graphics memory. Bought it as a replacement for my desktop which was slightly old(Pentium D 3.0GHz, 2GB DDR2, Asus 9800 GT HYBRID POWER). So my main tasks are my college applications but this notebook is a great gaming platform as well. So far I've bought Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars, Frontlines Fuel of War, Unreal Tournament III, Crysis and Aion. Now except for Crysis this piece of hardware maxed out all of the games and made them run smoothly. Crysis requiered a lowering in the antialiasing and resolution department but still ran good on high details and 1280x720 with no AA. The display is an absolute delight, the wide 17.3" led 1600x900 native res has a great angle of view and the brightness and colors will not dissapoint. The complaints i have are related to something rather stupid involving Acer's online driver support, you see i've switched my OS to win7 64bit professional and when i reinstalled the drivers everything worked fine except for the launch manager application (the media buttons driver) which had installed but did not work properly. All the media buttons work except for the volume bar. It has no effect (would be very thankful for some help btw).
The only other downside i can think of is the 5.4k rpm 500GB hdd that is kinda sluggish (bought the one that has a single hdd and no bluray optical device) and perhaps even the fact that this laptop is not fingerprint friendly since i have to clean it once every day.
Other than that I still have to mention the exquisite quality of the sound thanks to the integrated tuba cinebass woofer, the awesome design with the blue gemstone color, blue lights and media touch panel, the low heating emissions (RealTemp never indicated more than 67C degrees CPU and 75C degrees GPU temperature while gaming) and still the pretty good mobile standards. I mean it has a 17.3" display but weighs slightly under 3 kilos, that's pretty great.
So that's me hope I'm not alone here and I'm looking forward to hearing from other happy 7738 owners that could maybe share some thoughts

 

Are you telling me no one here owns this model?

 

I have been considering this laptop. Seen it for a great price in the UK.
Could you please comment on:

Speakers
External temps (ie does it get hot on the touchpad/keyboard/underneath)
Noise (whilst idle and whilst gaming)

Thanks in advance

 

hello first of all i wanna highlight the fact that this notebook has a great quality over price ratio and it has a solid configuration with great overall performance for it's price range. Now to answer your questions.
The integrated speakers are simply magnificent because of its integrated cinebass subwoofer, offering lovely 5.1 sound effects.
Concerning the temp, it tends to get a little hot if you use it while laying in bed or sitting on a couch, especially in the gpu area. If u use it on your desk it doesn't overheat and the keyboard and touchpad remain cool even when gaming (temps reaching 65-68C deg/cpu and ~70C GPU in the far out conditions). What I really like about this laptop is the fact that it has really low noise emissions. When you start the computer you barely realize it's turned on and it stays that way until it reaches about 40~45 degrees. When the fan kicks in it still remains silent because there is no requirement for extra usage of the cooling system for it is a large notebook and has a lot of room to cool off(it's a con if you are looking for extra mobility, yes it is quite large and quite heavy).
Hope this helped, good look with your future purchase

 

Thanks so much for your reply. Temperature is a big concern for me as the studio xps 16 I had got so hot it was uncomfortable to use (the touchpad/palm rest/wasd keys got so hot during gaming I would have to stop gaming every half hour to let it cool down). When you say it gets hot on bed or lap do you mean the underside or top of the laptop?

Great news that it remains cool on a desk.

I currently use a Sony CW which is a fantastic compact 14" and runs so cool even on a bed you hardly know its on. The only downside is the speakers and screen viewing angles are really poor. I am looking to keep the CW for mobility and use the 7738g for home gaming/movies/music

 

The 7738G is a great piece of hardware entertainment-wise because of it's large screen and colorful display. I hook it up to my 32" Panasonic LCD when gaming and viewing movies and it's just an outstanding home entertainment experience. When using it sitting on a chair, unfortunately it overheats beneath and may cause some disconforts on the left leg but it remains cool on the topside thus the keyboard/touchpad usage remain unaffected. One more disadvantage regarding the lid this time as it is not as mobile as other notebooks, it is limited to about 45 degrees deviation on the horizontal viewing surface, nonetheless it offers great quality regardless of the angle of view.

 

Did you try resetting the media panel? Unplug the machine and remove the battery for a few seconds.

 

It seems it's a driver problem that appears on the 64bit OS versions. I will attempt to write a mail to the support people over at acer and see if they can help with the touchpanel

 

I've been searching for a 7738g portal since I got the comp Glad that I found one.

Bought mine in dec -09, with the following specs: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6600¨
2.2Ghz, GeForce GT 240m 1GB CUDA.

Though I wouldn't recomend buying this system today, it's a solid setup that manage Borderlands, Dragon Age origins, Call of duty mwf2, Mass Effect 2, with very high settings. Aspire 7740g is out with the new Intel i processors and the new high end ATI cards for the same price, and the option the upgrade ram to 8gb.

 

i've heard that single core requiring proccesses(such as some games) run the same on the quad q9000 and the t6600. have u benchmarked ur notebook? how does it perform?

 

Pretty Good I get 24-28 FPS in Dragon Age everything maxed, Borderlands 30-38 FPS maxed. In 3dMark Vantage I got 3132 Points. My conclusion is that the 7738g performs better then all other laptops view similar specs because of the large chassi = good air flow.
A tip is to dl the newest nvidia drivers from theres website, but only replace the drivers and not the control panel to keep the energy hybernation mode.

Have in mind that I use a dockingstation with a powered chilling flence. That said, yes I have played around with the bios and clocked the poor t6600 from 2.2 to 2.6 GHz.

 

Actually i got very dazzled last night when i finally got my hands on the beta and a key for bad company 2 and got to play it for about 2 hrs. Even though it performed admirably it overheated the heck out of my machine, gpu temps reaching even 78 degrees C and 79-80 on my 4 cpus. This game really pushes the hardware to its furthest limits and it proves that a big chassis doesen't necessarily mean a cool and stable system.

 

Gentlemen,

I've got a question for you all. I bought my 7738G yesterday and could not be happier with it.

However, I went to install a hard drive in the secondary bay, and there was not a traditional socket (as on other laptops). It appears an adapter or cradle or something is required. Acer support was of no help (kept transferring me around, saying that wasn't their department, and they finally hung up on me). I haven't been able to find any information on this topic. Please help.

 

i haven't tried installing a secondary hdd, i use an external usb one so i really don't have a clue about the means of installing another disk in the secondary bay. However I will speak to someone over my hardware provider and will post back with info.

LaterEdit: It seems that installing a secondary hdd requires an extra bay, extra cover and a sata connector and reading all the articles i've searched on google makes me suggest you not to use acer services. Many people have tried installing a secondary drive and required support from acer and all they did was charge their customers extra money and provide them poor or no service whatsoever. You have to find the extra missing components yourself or in worst case try buying from the acer website here: http://www.acerspareparts.co.uk/ If you manage to make things work let us know how u did it. Good luck.

 

Thank you. I'm eagerly awaiting your reply.

 

Acer tech support says there's nothing missing, that you should be able to just plug the hard drive in. They stuck to this for a while. I finally got them to admit that you need a case for it, but they assured me that the cases are standard and there's nothing proprietary involved. Turns out there's a very specific case and adapter PLUS you have to buy a different cover for the bay, as the hard drive won't fit in the one as is. Does acer provide or sell these items? No. Can you get them anywhere in the US? No. My only option here is to pay $47 plus shipping and whatnot to get it from England.


Bah.

 

Actually you could try contacting Capital Data Inc. as I've read they are capable of solving this problem and are american.

 

i have the 7738 g with Q9000 and with gforce 240m , and i was wondering if you have bluetooth on it ? because i have the bluetooth button on the left , under the wireless button but it doesn't work ...

 

I've searched for the driver, installed it and then a window popped that said that the specific hardware doesn't exist. Some distributing sites say it has bluetooth other ones don't specify such thing. To this day I am not sure if my notebook has or has not a bluetooth adapter. Weird. U've reignited this issue and will search some more(as I've never had interest in this device before) and I will post back if I find something new.

 

the same thing happened to me too and i've tried contacting the acer service and they didn't answer back ...
and one more problem that i have with this laptop is the keyboard , in fifa 2010 i have keyboard ghosting issues but only in fifa 2010 , in other games it runs smoothly , do you have problems with the keyboard ?

 

also in windows vista the launch manager application refuses to start sometimes , are you satisfied with the windows 7 ?.

 

regarding the keyboard i've never had any issues but the media touchpanel on the other hand has been quite a pain. I run a 64bit OS (win7) and even though the media buttons work, the volume bar is faulty. The volume doesn't change according to the mediabar. It might be a driver problem since it's a 64bit version and it is known that certain issues occur on this version or it's just a matter of acer not being capable to implement it's software on the hardware. When i had vista home premium 32 bit the touchpanel worked brilliantly. Overall windows7 was a great improvement and I'm not sorry for purchasing it although acer could try offering better support and drivers on their website.

 

acum am vazut ca esti din cluj , vroiam sa te intreb daca stii se scoate tastatura , si daca poti sa`mi lasi un id in pm.

 

Messenger ID in the signature. geocioncan also u might want to check the box that says "allow receiving private messages"

 

Hi all..New to the site and owner of a Acer 7738G (P7350, GT130M)..I thinking of upgrading the cpu.. Any suggestions?? I assume that P8800 is the best candidate but is it possible to install a Q9000 or sth similar? many thanks in advance

 

As far as I can tell all the motherboards are the same, if you got the correct cooler you could get a q9000 and know it would work.

The fastest dual core would be the x9100 which would be overclockable.

I have seen others with the x9100 and the service manual lists extreme edition support.

 

Thanks for your reply Meaker.

a quick clarification...I can upgrade the P7350 with any mobile cpu that fits into Socket P478,has FSB at 1066MHz and has a 25Watt TDP? are these the third requirements or is there sth more I should note??

 

Any 1066mhz FSB Socket P dual core processor (800mhz ones will actually work too but would be a little silly).

If you update your heatsink to the quad core version then the Q9000.

 

ORB - Compare



You'll need the 120W power brick too.

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/Meaks/insides.jpg

 

Hi, I have had the 7738g for a year now and I am very satisfied with it, but I am having some problems when gaming lately.
For example when I've been playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 my Acer has been working fine on almost high settings, then suddenly it the framerate goes down to 1-3 fps suddenly after a while. Even when setting the settings to minimum it happens, but not so often as before. At first I wondered if it was my gpu or ram that was causing it but after checking my pc after it happens, I've discovered that my cpu-usage goes up to 100%.
Lately, when gaming, I've been placing my pc on random objects to elevate it, and that alone makes me able to play at high settings almost without any problems. I was wondering if any of you had any tips of good laptop coolers or any other tips?

-Siemen

 

Clean out the heatsink with a can of compressed air. Sounds like the CPU is overheating and slowing down.

 

How do I do that?

 

Put the nozzle a few CM away from the vent and press the button?

 

Ever checked the processes? Maybe your OS is to blame.

Has anyone here tried OCing the Q9000? How did you do it? What were the results(performance and heat-wise)?

 

The only way to OC a Q9000 in this machine is to use the IDA mode trick to get it to 2.26ghz, I ran it at 1.05v at that speed and it hummed along nicely and gave only 65C in prime95 blend!

I have ordered a Q9200 and will see if it works.

I will claim the title of the most modified 7738G if it works for sure lol.

 

Original spec - New spec

1600x900 LED LCD - 1920x1080 LED LCD
Q9000 2ghz - Q9200 2.4ghz unlocked
4GB DDR3 533mhz 7-7-7-21 - 4GB DDR3 533mhz 5-5-5-15
GT240M 1GB DDR3 - Either HD5650 if it works, GTS250M if not
Intel 5100 Wireless - Intel 6300 wireless (third antanae installed)
No bluetooth - Bluetooth
2x 500GB 5400RPM HDD - 1x 60GB Vertex 2E + 1x 500GB 5400rpm HDD
DVD-RW - Blueray/DVD-RW combo

 

investment? time spent on improving? any failures? heat spectrum?

 

Well the upgrades were:

£155 CPU
£30 wireless + Bluetooth
£30 Blueray drive
£65 Ram
£80 screen

However I sold my desktop monitor, X9100 CPU, Ram (in another machine) which mostly made up the value.

Heat is fine so long as you don't block the vent while running anything intensive (duh).

The 5650 is proving the trickiest thing atm to get working.

 

Just to say I punched through the second set of grill holes around the fan.

They use some sort of treated plastic in the final layer but I managed to get through without too much debris and it seems to of helped cooling =)

 

Guys, anyone tried the 1.13 modded BIOS?

I have upgraded the CPU to Core 2 Duo P9600 @ 2.66 , it has EIST and VT so i would like to try the modded bios, but i'm kind of scared
Do you know if Crisdisk is working for 7738g and is there a way to reset the bios / i have opened the laptop like 4 times, but don't remeber if the battery was soldered or not and where it is /

Thanks guys.

 

battery is in a holder, bios works.

 

Thanks!
BIOS works.

Notebook :
7738G with upgraded CPU to P9600 @ 2.66Ghz
All other is stock : 4Gb RAM; 2*500Gb HDD; Nvidia 240

What is set in CPU control Sub-Menu :
-------------------------------------------------------
Intel SpeedStep : enabled
CX states : enabled
Enhanced C-states : enabled
Deep C4 : enabled
Hard C4 : disabled
C6 : enabled
No Execute Mode Mem Prot : enabled
Intel Virtualization Tech : enabled
T states : enabled
Thermal Control Circuit : TM1 and TM2
PROCHOT# Enable : enabled

I'll test it a bit and write back if it's stable and such...

Meaker - you are the 7738G grand modder you changed everything .. have you increased the voltage ? If so, how you managed to do it?

 

I have decreased my CPU voltage, though the program I use (throttlestop) is also capable of raising the voltage.

Bear in mind that I can overclock the CPU because it is a engineering sample and behaves like an extreme edition with an unlocked multiplier.

The only way to overclock your CPU is to lock it into the single core dual IDA mode (again throttlestop can do this).

This will have a high voltage so you can likely reduce that quite a bit. It's likely to give you 2.8ghz.

 

Do you know if there is a better cooling solution that can fit in 7738G, have you changed yours or still using stock? I'm having hi temp like 45-50 C in IDLE / load up to 30% / It's actually my fault because the last time i've opened the notebook i used generic thermal compound, i'll buy something better and re-apply soon.

 

Nope, stock cooler, with some IC diamond.

 

Where can I find this modded bios?

I have seen bios instructions for other models, but not the 7738.
My model is an older stock model from May 2009, without the G.

Thanks,
Bartels.

 

In the modified bios thread.

 

Thanks, I am a useless newbie when it comes to bios, but I found Kizwan's post you refer to, and also the bios link.

I created two crisis usb sticks, one of which received the modded and renamed bios and became my upgrade stick.
After inserting the upgrade stick I ran the Fn Esc sequence; the usb light came as expected, but the screen remained black for half an hour.
I was afraid that I had broken my bios, so I inserted the rescue stick and repeated the Fn Esc sequence. Same effects: blinking usb lights, blank screen, no reboot.
Then I used the power switch and found the machine rebooting as usual.

Funny thing is that I am not sure if either bios action did anything at all.

Here are the contents of my upgrade stick:


-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4203090 May 4 2010 BIOS.WPH
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2106442 Jan 7 2011 JM70113.FD
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2832 Dec 31 2008 MINIDOS.SYS
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 154213 Sep 7 2009 PHLASH16.EXE

85b991597f52b2d0e7ce13bf6acd2703 BIOS.WPH
14d535aea617f0242fab2da2b6482cb6 JM70113.FD
a970de2f71fedd4c61db338bceaeb67f MINIDOS.SYS
c5b1a0deada5d4fe46bf6729b11ef143 PHLASH16.EXE


Can anybody check and tell me if I am using the right stuff here?

Thanks,
Bartels.

 

Hey there, why did you use the crisis recovery method to update your bios?