New 14 inch G-Series Notebook

I have to agree, good temps (though the 3610qm do tend to at least run cool) and it's the retail stepping at E1 too.

 

Pics of the Motherboard/CPU for those curious. Also note the location of the mSATA slot w/ SDD installed for those curious about that area:

 

Is that the msata? It looks half height (the mounting hole) which is interesting and would mean normal ones wont fit properly.

 

Bodge tape?

 

Well insulating on the underside of the mSATA module too maybe with electrical tape.

Why Asus insists on these wacky decisions though.

 

Aye l agree, thought l heard a rumor of half length mSATA SSD kicking about? SanDisk making a hight capacity 256gb, hopefully when they refresh this monster they will sort out the mSATA side and fit it in a more easy to access region of the mobo, a lot easier on my P170EM.

 

The new standard for these sorts of SSDs will be out next year and allow longer and shorter designs in the same specification

 

Well, had a couple hours this afternoon to check temps; played Planetside 2, Crysis 3 Beta, and X-Plane 10, along with a few 3DMark11 runs and Intel diagnostic/stress tests and all worked great. Here are the temps after all the above, finishing up with about 45 minutes playing Crysis 3 getting completely slaughtered ha. Note, these are with the GPU overclocked a bit just to add more heat for the tests, used Afterburner to bump the core +135 and the mem +150. Max temp GPU reached 71C.



Temps are even across the cores and seem to max right around 80C without throttling issues with 90-100% usage by the above.... surprisingly the cooling system stays really quiet the entire time and is apparently plenty up for the task. Was impressed with Crysis 3 Beta CPU and GPU usage.... it stayed right at 98+% GPU usage and CPU usage was right around 90% on all 8 threads. Performance at native res is great as to be expected.

I'll report back if anything changes or goes a foul, but so far working great. As far as performance, it's definitely smoothed out the framerates, ie where there would be a slight lag/stutter or dip, it's much more consistent. Of course even with the i5 performance is great.

 

It's a surprisingly well thermally balanced systems, when Asus gets that nailed down it becomes obvious why they ship a lot of machines.

 

i am seriously eying this beast and i want to get rid of my M11x R2, but i wanna wait for the higher resolution model. should i get the i5 over the i7? what are the advantages?

And according to ROG forums the higher resolution model have been shipped to some countries. USA not included . i am very sure its because of this best buy exclusive nonsense. sigh!

G46 HD+ display availability info

 

It's similar to MSI limiting the 15.6" models to not having super raid in the US but not in other regions.

The i7 is a quad core so has a bit more processing power behind it for multi tasking and specific games.

It looks like the dual core model has a CPU power phase missing so I would be slightly wary of putting say a 3920xm in that machine.

 

Yeah the mSata slot is definitely not meant for anything out now... its a half size slot but then labeled SSD right by the slot. I isolated the mounting peg from the Crucial drive and then secured in place. Not ideal by any means but this whole process has been a bit of an experiment ha... drive works great though, electrically the slot is fully supported and SATA3 speeds. I'm running the OS on the drive and can't tell a bit of difference from the 2.5" Samsung 840 Pro it replaced.

 

I noticed in your pictures you only have 2 phases of power circuitry to the CPU, did you compare that to the quad core pictures (buried in this thread somewhere i think)?

 

Haven't seen pics of the quad core board, has anyone posted those pics? I know HIDevolution would upgrade this machine to about any i7 you were willing to pay for, believe they still do. Figured a 45w i7 should work out nicely.

 

IIRC, I thought all msata slots were SATAII

 

Nah, there are SATAIII mSata slots, and the g46 has one... I know some other laptops do as well. See the last screenshot I posted, it shows both my drives, with the Crucial 256gb msata running at SATAIII speeds. The second drive is the stock HDD which is SATAII drive... but the slot does support SATAIII as well.

 

MSI super raid machines ship with 2.

It's just a case most are not as intel chipsets only have 2 gen 3 ports to play with and they get assigned to the full size connectors.

 

not sure what you are talking about, but Asus did not insist on any wacky decisons, mini msata is the way to go for the future generation machines. I think within this year they will be all around the place and the electrical tape was done nicely by be77solo adding a normal sized msata, i didn't bother with mine all i did was some clear tape n a screw lol

touch pad is very easy to disable... make sure you have the right drivers installed if you installed window 7, but it is FN plus F9 works on mine even on window 7 and windows 8

well here it is, have fun guys =) Disassemling Asus G46vw Video

 

lol, JwPwns youre here toooo! lol your everywhere man. thanks for the video man.

 

lol i'm here and at the ROG forum, i was using these two forums to find out more about the G46 before i opened mine so I'm just here to return the favor that others have done =)

 

Newer model in with a slightly faster CPU.

Asus - 14" Laptop - 8GB Memory - 750GB Hard Drive - Black

3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i5-3230M processor

Sorry if already posted.

Regards.

C.

N1 fella, good drills.

Regards.

C.

 

I might have to pick up an i7 for this...

 

Well, as a quick follow up, the i7 is performing as expected, no issues.... temps are great, and battery life isn't noticeably different at all. Performance in programs that use the extra cores is improved as expected, cpu is running at it's potential. Games are consistently smoother FPS wise where as with the i5 there were more ups and down. Stock it's a GREAT performer, but does fully support the i7's and performance is improved noticeably when utilized.

 

Sweet

Regards.

C.

 

I really want Win 8 Pro :/

 

Lately I've been noticing that when I am not using the sound, the audio will crackle for a second... it's pretty annoying.


Also, just typing on this thing I accidentally move my hand across the touchpad and it opens up random Win 8 apps... quite frustrating.

 

install Classic Shell or Start8 to get your start button back on the desktop. There's also options within the program that disables the windows 8 gestures. I really hated windows 8 at first but once I installed those programs it made windows 8 a decent OS

 

Curious, are than any programs that will show the current CPU fan speed? I can't find any that will support showing the fans on this Asus.... Temps are read fine but on my Alienware I could manually control the fan and see current speeds with HWinfo, on this machine the option isn't there.... thanks for any info or app that will work!

 

Has anyone popped a key off they keyboard yet?? Is it easy to get back on??

My alt key keeps sticking for some reason

 

Just noticed HIDevolution is now installing the Crucial mSATA SSD's in their G46's they upgrade and resell... great option for those wanting that upgrade without having to do the labor!

Curious Ted, gotta ask, how you are you guys doing the installation with the full sized mSATA cards? We are going McGyver style on ours here, but have to assume you guys came up with a better solution? Would love to hear what ya'll came up with thanks! Also, thanks for the regular updates on the screen options over at rog.asus, good stuff!

 

If you have the touch pad driver installed, right click on it on the tool bar and you can turn off the gestures. I was getting frustrated with it also. Still annoyed with the space bar not wanting to work sometimes.

Also, just typing on this thing I accidentally move my hand across the touchpad and it opens up random Win 8 apps... quite frustrating.[/QUOTE]

 

What is their secret

 

Haven't really been following this thread for awhile so sorry if this has been asked but... any word on when the newer refresh models come out? Even though I got the Y400 I am still very interested in the G46 and I have a friend who might want to take the Y400 off my hands in the near future.

 

Thinking about throwing an SSD into the g46 I just bought (regular, not mSATA), have some questions.

1. Do I need to worry about 7mm vs. 9.5mm drives?
2. Do I need to change any BIOS settings to make sure the drive is recognized?
3. Is there a way I can use my current Windows 8 key to install windows, or would I need to get a new copy?
4. What's the best way to install windows? Via a external DVD drive, or can it be done with USB?
5. How far do I have to disassemble it? I assume from pics I've seen I wouldn't have to remove the motherboard, but is it required to remove the screen to open the keyboard tray?
6. Anything else I should be concerned with?

 

A SSD is a fantastic upgrade, highly recommended over the stock 5400rpm drive... to answer your questions best I can:

1)No, I installed a 7mm drive before I upgraded to mSATA and went back to stock HDD, the caddy screws from the bottom so doesn't matter or require a spacer
2)No, Bios should recognize it upon first bootup
3)It should be possible to clone the original HDD to the new SSD and everything should run fine. Some recommend against cloning to SSD for alignment reasons, but I think with the proper software it works fine. A clean install should be possible as well with the stock key if you can access Windows 8 media, but I don't know for sure as I didn't have a disc and couldn't find a digital copy for 8. I installed Windows 8 Pro Upgrade on mine via USB thumb drive with a new key so wasn't worried about old key. If you do go this route, disable secure boot in bios, as the new uEFI will require original key otherwise. Took me a while to figure this out.
4)Either, depends on what media you have access to Windows 8 on.
5)No, screen removal is not required. All you have to do is pop the keyboard panel loose and the HDD is located in plain sight and easy access under the touchpad.
6)The only issue I've seen a couple of guys have is breaking the connector that hold the ribbon cable on the bottom of the keyboard. It is a normal connector with a flip up tab, but if you force the cable out or aren't gentle it's possible to break the connector. It is possible to swap the HDD for a SSD without removing this connector, but then the keyboard panel must be flipped out of the way and supported properly. I left mine connected the first time, but each time since then I've removed the cable as it's easier for further disassembly.

Good luck, the speed improvement is worth a bit a disassembly if you are patient and experienced with laptops/computer assembly.

 

This is very interesting. At first I was looking to get an extremely high powered laptop. But now I have decided (essentially) to get a high powered desktop and a medium powered, very portable laptop. Desktop is going to be one of Digital Storms bolts. The laptop decision left me with either this or the AW m14x r2. I have weighed both the pro's and cons of each system. The m14x does have some very nice features, such as the customizable back lit keyboard, and it does have an optical drive. But the difference between the GPU's (around 15% or more since the 660 can be OC'd), is to much to ignore. I want skyrim at 60 FPS on med-high on the go! I will be waiting for the screen options and hard drive options to improve though. WTH were they thinking putting a 5400RPM drive in there?

Is Xotic getting them in March?

 

Also do not forget the HD+ resolution vs 720p resolution. Asus will take over once they offer the 900p resolution with its superior quiet dual cooling and lesser weight.

 

I said I am waiting for the g46's resolution to get better before I am buying one.

 

Between the two, without a doubt the cooling on the G46 seals the deal, no questions asked. I've had both, Alienware fan noise drove me nuts!! Asus won the war in my opinion on that front alone. Performance is great, great build quality, has a faster GPU and is cheaper.... wasn't really much of a decision. Higher screen res and better default drive options should have been offered, no idea why Asus handled the release like they have, completely dumb imho.... but, the G46 is a much better machine. And honestly, even the stock screen isn't that bad at this screen size. A good calibration went a long way. Still by no means an excuse for not having better options, but can be better than out of the box. Now the 5400rpm HDD is a annoyance for sure, but a few minutes work solved that problem....

 

hey guys, I have some great news for you all so... earlier when I said i got my hands on some awesome priced I7 3820qm, guess what? My Asus G46 is running it at 40-46c , and the benchmark is here! well.. the I7 3820qm i got is worth every penny since my I5's 3k score to 8k

 

I have never overclocked a graphics card before till yesterday. I used MSI Afterburner and over clocked the clock 135mhz and the memory 350mhz. The clocks are now at 970mhz and under a 98% load the GPU is only 68 degrees and the laptop is quiet as a mouse.

 

Glad to hear! Yeah temps on the 45W cpu's seem to be running great, I've been really happy with mine as well, and from all I can tell it downclocks well enough that battery life isn't changed much if at all .... curious to hear when somebody tries a 55w ha

 

Just to confirm and sate my curiosity: no one has a Thunderbolt G46vw yet, right? They're not available as of yet, and/or the Best Buy model doesn't have it?

 

Lately I've been noticing my screen will get dim and the colors seem to change after I move from one screen to another, or when I'm gaming and I pause or the screen goes dark, it will take a while to start lighting up again. I hope this is not a GPU issue.

 

No, the Best Buy model does not have Thunderbolt. There are additional models being released throughout the world, not sure if any of them have it as an option.

 

Thanks. After seeing the Haswell vs IVB performance similarities, I think Thunderbolt is the only thing holding me back from getting one of these.

 

HI,
I am planning to buy this laptop(G46VW) from you. I have 3 main concerns-
1) Delivery in France- How man days as an estimate? since you include tax wit the final bill, I wouldn't be bothered about for anymore VAT or TAXES later on during delivery?
2) I want a complete quality check before the product is dispatched. IS it possible? Because I don't want any hassles later on about somethings not working.
3) I have seen reviews about your after sales service being bad sometimes. Can you assure me that it wont be a problem, and probably i wouldn't need one?
I hope you understand my concerns and since, getting a delivery from such a long distance has some issues. So, it would be great if you answer such questions.

 

umm i got mine 2 months ago and it has thunderbolt!! but i'm not sure if it works... but it is on the computer left hand side, i didn't get it from bestbuy, i bought it brandnew off ebay from someone won it thru a raffle? umm i have no thunderbolt device to test the port but i believe it should work since... it is there and why would they have a thunderbolt plug mounted to the motherboard if it's just for show lol

 

Are you sure it has a Thunderbolt controller? Thunderbolt and MiniDisplayPort are in fact the same connector. Thunderbolt muxes PCIe and mDP together and requires a chip to be placed within an inch or two of the actual port itself.

I think the easiest way to check is if there is a Thunderbolt logo sticker or etching right above the port itself. It looks like a lightning bolt.

 

I see... i have been googling what the thunderbolt port looks like and it looks exact the same -__- no wonder why... the logo next to the port is a p -__- so i think that's the mini display port, but what the f... why would they do that to confuse people..