G73JH, BIOS, and RMA questions

I HAVE READ THE STICKIES MULTIPLE TIMES

I bought the bestbuy version last year, worked great for a bit and the freezing, overheating, GSOD and all those fun things. Fixed most of everything except the GSOD.

Anyway I have a question.

1. I have held back on updating my BIOS in fear of bricking the computer, however I just can't deal with all the annoying of not being able to update my drivers and the fact no shop is willing to touch my BIOS, so I am thinking of doing it myself, I read up on it and also watched a video made by ASUS. I asked them some questions but they answered none of them and told me how to update my BIOS. They told me this-

"Please update BIOS to version 213 for a try.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download G73Jh

Unzip BIOS file to a removable drive. Plug it into USB port then restart your computer, access BIOS by pressing F2 before system start.
After you getting into the bios screen, please first choose "Advanced" tab, here you can find "Start Easy Flash", select it then enter, then please use arrow key to select the unzipped BIOS file then enter, a pop-up message says "Do you want to update BIOS?", select "Yes" then enter, and BIOS update will start automatically here.

Please make sure that the power not cut during the operation.
After that access bios by pressing F2 while the asus logo appears and load manufacture default, then press F10 save and exit.

If still, please follow the procedure below to send your laptop in to have it repaired.
Please fill-out the online form to request a RMA/Purchase order.
http://vip.asus.com/eservice/usa_rmaserv.aspx
Please include your name, mailing address, telephone number, and the serial number of your product.
You may also give us a call at 888-678-3688 we would gladly assist in gettng you setup with an RMA.
Please have the serial number of your ASUS product handy when you call.

Best Regards,
ASUS Customer Service"

Now, I am not sure but is this process the way to update BIOS, because the way the G73JH problems and solutions thread showed how to do it seemed different. I know many G73JH users here updated their BIOS, but is this the correct way?

2- Can I get ASUS to update the BIOS for me by getting an RMA? Also if I somehow brick my laptop, can I RMA it to get it fixed?

3- This one is important. I am currently residing in the US for the next 3 weeks, and as said before, I got the lap from Bestbuy. I am moving back to Ireland after those 3 weeks. I want to know can I RMA a bestbuy G73JH in Ireland/UK without issue. I also want to know if I can RMA it right now and get it back in time.

I am not as literate with computers as most people are here are, and sorry if I come off dumb, but I was stalling with this out of fear for a long time, but want it over and done with

 

Dref, What BIOS are you on now? i believe 211 or high lowers the fan threshold (for better cooling), so if you are not overheating I would not update the BIOS.
Also updating the BIOS will not cure GSOD as far as I know. UPdating VBIOS is mandatory if you want to or do use the lastest Video drivers and should fix the GSOD issue. I recommend using the VBios from here
G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference
See Betas:
There is also a link there with excellent instructions.
2, If you do RMA I guess they would update the BIOS but I would request that it be done.
3. ???

 

I had throttling issues with 213, for 5-7 seconds the cores on the i7 would be throttled, and it's definitely a bios issue.

Not sure if others get it, but can check for it in your Event Viewer. Click Start, type Event+Enter.

Under Administrative Events, can see Kernel Processor Power warnings, speed of processor # in group # is being limited by system firmware (Bios 213).

Downgrading to 211 solved my problem.

 

So the email has no relevancy to the GSOD issue? Also Hula, what exactly are throttling issues and what is so bad about them?

 

Exactly right, BIOS changes do not affect GSOD issues. I do not even think the updated VBios is availabe on the ASUS site, but there are many threads here and in the other site I linked above about it.
The standard asus response has been to use the orignal ATI driver that came with the computer.
First I would contact BB and see if you need to go through them or deal with ASUS. If they say deal with ASUS , While you are in the USA check this site to see if a repair center is near your location
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Service Center
IF it it close, I would ask to see if you could drop it off this speeding up the process. What version of ATI/ CCC driver are you using now BTW?

 

There are none near me unfortunately, but having one near New York could be hopeful if I want to get it back quick, but each day is a day less to get it done. I also have the drivers the computer came with, so I can actually play SOME games.

 

Throttling means the bios is telling the CPU to slow down in simple terms. This affects performance and not something you want. Not saying this is a confirmed problem with Bios 213, but Bios 213 caused this for me. The Windows 7 Even Log error clearly states this was caused by the bios/firmware. And it stopped once I downgraded to 211.

All it really means is that Asus sucks with Bios/VBios, and can't fix anything right for their high performance notebooks. But they can for their desktop boards for some reason. I think it's just a case of them not caring.

 

It's just a shame the problem is completely dealbreaking and extremely dangerous, which makes other computer repair places not want to touch it. I am probably going to try to send it to some place while in Ireland, but I hope they actually know what to do with it, and not just make me pay 60 Euro for shipping after not doing anything. Might have to call them to make sure they can do it, if they can't I am probably going to deal with it for a year or try to do it myself, possibly breaking it for a year.

If you do brick the laptop though, can you RMA it or are you royally screwed?

 

Even if you did brick it, (very slight chance IMO) there is a method called blind flash http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...lp-i-bricked-my-g73-vbios-19.html#post6766590
This has save more than one RMA I am sure!
I ran on stock Video drivers and Vbios for a good 8 months and all my games ran fine.
Yes you can RMA if it fails -- this is from an ASUS employee
G73Jh GSOD Vbios Update

 

Funny, I have a G73JH that has never throttled, and I am on BIOS 213.

So, what did you change/break to make it do this?

 

Seems like not even service centers want to take this thing. I am going to try to do it myself sooner or later, but I want to have a backup plan if it bricks. So, as I didn't have an answer, can I RMA it if I brick it? If I can't blinflash it of course.