New G73JH-RBBX05 owner. Serious upgrading goals. Need input.

Hi, I'm new here. I've followed this site for a bit. I came from an Inspiron N5010, that I upgraded from the base model motherboard to the one with the Radeon 5650 graphics card. After seeing the limitations of my customized laptop (customized stock heat sink (borrowed my knowledge of Xbox 360 gpu cooling heatsink mods), 8 gb g-skill, etc) I decided I wanted more options. So I pulled together enough cash to get my ROG. Before I move on, I gotta say I'm not shy with mods (after logical analysis), soldering irons, and shots in the dark. But, I'm new to laptop mods, and I use my resourcefulness and logic to dictate my limitations. Input is greatly appreciated, as some things escape my grasp (for now). Now, on to the good stuff. Chastity, I hope you see this, as you seem to have a wealth of knowledge about ROGs. I want to upgrade the graphics card- I looked at the connection and looked at others online, and I see that they are the same (GTX 560m for example). I see that mine is MXM III, as are cards that I see. I also see that there is MXM III A, and B. Logically, if the pinout is the same, and MXM type is the same, then it should work. Yet, I cannot find any info. I am also considering getting a 1080p screen, and a 940xm processor. I have updated my bios and vbios (OC capable vbios), used a WD tool in DOS to disable parking on my scorpio blue (not that it matters cuz my hybrid drive will be here tomorrow), edited my registry to disable parked cores, etc. I will be soldering ultrabright blue LEDs in place of the white ones in my keyboard, as the color film mod just didnt quite do it. Mainly, I need to know about the graphics upgrade, and any potential tweaks I may be able to apply to milk my 5870m for all it's worth without oc'ing (once I max it on stock mhz, then I will oc). Oddly, after totalling up the upgrade costs of the cpu and gpu, I ask myself if I should just get the g74, or maybe even the g73 motherboard that is sandybridge. But I degress- I read about sandbridge, and am not quite sure if jumping the clarksfield ship is justified yet. So, to anyone with input, advice, or experience with modding and upgrading your own G73JH, please share your knowledge. I'm sorry if there is a thread or section for this- I have been searching this site and ROG site for over a week trying to find my info before posting.
Thanks in advance!
Oh, and I'll post my results withing a week on my keyboard backlight LED mod.

 

I don't think you can install a GTX 560M in place of your 5870 cuz the JH computers have ATi specific bios.
You can get a AUO v5.0 1080p screen if you prefer. Or you could wait and get the new LG 120Hz screens which come with the G74 and with an emitter, you can have 3D.
Again, get the 920xm. It's more vfm than the 940xm. I'm sure Dallers would be more than pleased to help you out in that department.
And yes. Do post your results after the backlight modification. I'm looking forward to a blue backlit keyboard too. ;-)

 

I appreciate your quick reply. I'm confused- what is "vfm"? I thought that the 940xm would be better, as it is clocked higher and ranks higher on benchmark lists. As far as the ATI specific bios, would it be possible to install a better ATI? Say, the 6970m?
Thanks.

 

Hi Fallen,

Firstly welcome to the JH owners list and secondly you dont need a 560M because the ATI is on par with it. Stick with the JH and a few minor upgrades you will be sorted.

As FlyingFalcon mentioned the 920XM is the way to go because if you are planning to upgrade to an XM then you are planning to unlock the mulitpliers and burn it up towards its maximum 4.0ghz, the 920XM and 940XM when unlocked are exactly the same it is only the turbo boost that is different before you unlock them 2.0-3.2 vs 2.13-3.33. The price difference is neglegable and not worth it the 920XM is the way.

Asus choose to reverse engineer their cards and for some reason although changing the card should work it has been met with failure most recently several attemps to put a 6970M into the JH was met with disaster. Substantial testing has been done by Tijo on the subject and his results along with Tudordwolf are here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/584295-upgrade-g73-jh-6970-a.html

Asus also seem to prevent changing the card in most models:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/576937-6970m-g73jw-fail.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...vidia-470m-valid-mxm-structure-not-found.html

The 560M is built into the G74 so you also would not be able to get an Asus version of the card as there is no card that thing is soldered onto the board. Along with some complaints about the sound the G74 is a good model but others have moved from the problems found with the JH to a G74 and have been less than impressed by the overall improvement.

Stick with the 5870M and overclock it and you will reach the power of a 560M with your other upgrades also as Falcon said 1080P screen, RAM, SSD, 920XM just like I have done apart from the screen so far it is a beast and pushes past the current 3Dmark results of the latest models.

Chastity's:

G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference.

For all your drivers and Bios. Recommend upgrading to Vbios .93 if you have not got the latest Vbios and 213 is the latest Bios.

 

+1 to everything Dallers has said. I'd stay with the JH if I were you.

 

Wow. Very interesting. I'll stay away from the G74 then. The main reason I moved on to a gaming laptop is the mxm iii slot. Doesn't make sense that they would build this laptop with a removable graphics card and not allow for upgrade. As far as oc'ing my card goes, I updated to a custom vbios, not sure which one though. I'll go ahead and track the version you mentioned and load it now. I have tinkered with a little oc'ing and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right- do I use the overdrive, or some other utility? I feel I can push my card a bit, temp wise, as I have repasted it with arctic silver. If the temp gets to be too high then I'll just modify the heatsinks. So, is there a better card that I can put in my g73jh that is better? If so, what is the max?
@Dallers- did you get an es 920xm? I'm going to be getting a new processor within a couple weeks, been looking at the es cuz it's way cheaper. I figure if I go with one that is a qualifying sample, same stepping and cpuid, then I should be golden. I just can't justify paying more than $400 just to have the best......probably will anyway, lol. *Sigh* I'm just a lowly cook that loves to peak and tweak my toys. This is a beast of a laptop, and I want to max it just for fun, usability, and future-proofing. I was considering getting the G73sw motherboard and putting it in here, if it will match up (chassis and psu needs). I'm not sure if it's worth the jump though. If it will offer me the opportunity to go farther graphics wise, then maybe. The screen will be ordered within a month (for sure the 1080p, perhaps the 3d if the price is right. Prefer LG anyway). Thanks for the info guys! Keep it coming! I just simply can't afford to do this by trial and error. Additionally- I have considered oc'ig my cpu. Thought about using setfsb. Mostly for education though, as I have been much of a cpu oc'er since the cyrix 300 mhz desktop processor that could be oc'd to 700 mhz. Lol, ahhhh the memories.

 

I think Dallers has the full fledged XM. Not the ES version.

 

Au contraire mon frere, I have the QS model so still an engineering sample but the next step up before retail, but even so the 920XM ES models are not same as the 2920XM they are not lower clocked and allow full access to the overclocking facilities through Throttlestop which is why I stayed away from the sandy's because these 920/940XM's are an absolute beast. I have mine currently running cores 1 and 2 at 3.6-3.8ghz and all 4 cores running at 3.2ghz.

I got mine from Laptop monkey here is the deal. Great seller and fast despatch works exactly the same as an OEM/Retail there is no difference with these chips.

.93 Vbios fixes and prevents the GSOD issues and you can also use the OD2 for better timing on the GPU clocks for battery usage.

213 is the latest and fixes the issue we faced with the touchpad but I still faced some and will recommend an SSD as finally my touchpad issues seem to have been solved by upgrading the HDD and an SSD is a lightning upgrade along with an XM. I can fully boot in around 15 seconds its scary.

No point putting the SW mobo in there because the 5870M is on par or slightly faster than the 460M and as mentioned the Sandy bridge XM ES model is not only clocked lower but so far attempts to implement it have failed. ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...93-g73sw-2920xm-es-model-upgrade-failure.html)

Keep an eye on the thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/584295-upgrade-g73-jh-6970-a-34.htmlfor for future attempts at implementing the 6970M im sure it will be done at some point but to be honest the 5870M is powerful enough IMO.

 

Agreed. I think I will get the 920xm soon. As for the 6970, I think that it's entirely possible. I just finished reading the thread, and I have two theories- one, the rumors of the instability of the card. Two, proper cooling. I have reflowed nearly 100 Xbox 360 gpus, and bga joints are a pain. If you get it too hot too quick, microfractures develop and the safeguard in the xbox shuts it down and you get the red ring of death. I have had them re-red ring after using a set of nylon washers that was less than a milimeter difference in thickness. It took less than a minute. Reflowed, as I thought my reflow job might not have done the trick- same thing. Changed the washers, reflowed again, good as gold. I believe these cards to run hotter, and therefore more sensitive to cooling needs. I feel that if A) the card is good, and doesn't have issues, and B) has the appropriate cooling needed, then it is possible. Also, I feel the voltage handling plays a part. I don't recall the name of them, but the grey blocks that also get cooled. If they overheat, they burn out. Perhaps a voltage modified vbios for the card (made on a laptop that supports it without issue) is in order. Something that automatically runs the card at lowest functional voltage, but also covering the rest of the voltage range and can be change via bios editor, or a clock and voltage tool. Being the budget gaming laptop that it is, I picture throwing a W12 twin turbo engine in a pinto and then hitting the gas for all it's worth. Problems would arise, and a little controlled throttling would be needed to feel it out for its limitations. But I digress, as I don't know about programming and the intricacies of clocking and such. From my perspective though, it appears to be a little much for the bestbuy beast right out the gate, and needs to be volted down, with the option of incremental change, and proper cooling. But, that's just my opinion, and I could be WAY off. But I know this feeling in my gut- it's the same feeling I get when I try some oddball fix or performance tweak, be it mechanical or electrical.
Dallers- What do you use to oc your processor? Setfsb? I've got 2.3.166 and I am having trouble figuring it out, despite tutorials.

 

I'm keeping an eye on this thread fallen thanks for starting it. Good luck to you.

Regarding setFSB, did you donate to get the license to it? If you did, then all you have to do is select the g73jh from the drop down, click "get fsb," then move the slider left or right for under/overclock. Click "setFSB" to change the clock values and you're done. You can see the results using CPU-Z.

My best buy version of the g73jh can safely overclock to 1.8ghz per core, but I think my limitation is the memory. If you have better memory in yours you might be able to push it higher. have fun with it.

 

The 6970M does work it is just problems occuring once it has been running a while and it seems to be either voltage or temperature related but further testing should figure it out and then we can all stick with our JH's into 2012 which will be tidy

As mentioned above you need to pay a small donation to get the JH settings for the 720QM and then you can test to see your highest overclock, there is a movie in my sig that covers everything from overclocking to stress testing and also why you need to apply the W7 timing fix created by unclewebb to sort out the problems with memory timings in windows.

Throttlestop is all you need with an XM and it is a very good upgrade and TS is an excellent program. The cooling in the JH is fine you just need to make sure it is clean inside and if there is a bad paste job which is common then you need to conduct a repaste and your temps will be fine. Although if you plan to run an XM as high as I do expect 70-90oC when under load

The heatsink is a right pain its poorly made and thinner pads help to reduce the clearance to the core. I have had very good temps since my repaste but most recently it would not sit right and this was the result. Repasted again last night, new thinner pads and im loading at extreme burn in around 75oC again. You will hear a lot of people say repasting makes no difference, the type of thermal compound does not make a big difference but repasting itself does. Especially as the majority of the time sections of the core are not conducting with the heatsink similiar to my picture.

 

I like your enthusiasm and faith in our little budget beasts
I paid for the license on setfsb last night, some settings were no longer greyed out. Tweaked them a little (mostly the slider) and got freezes both times. I'm going to try again after I watch your video. I think that a repasting job is very important, and the quality of paste plays a huge part. Like the difference in cooling capabilities of water and air. Water transfers heat far better. Same thing with thermal paste. Additionally, the integrity of the paste- how much heat and time will it endure before breaking down and drying out into a worthless substance? I repaste everything I get my hands on- Even my phoenix gold subwoofer amp >:]
Those look like some good temps for an oc'd extreme. Especially if I'm reading it right, and it's after a burn in. Nice! I'm actually considering getting a 6970m dell version. Before I do, I'll check out that ati bios editor program and see if I can undervolt the bios. Then I can put it on a usb and flash it from boot, that way it never gets a chance to draw too much. I will also be buying copper shims for the ram and power components, that way I can use the thinnest pads I can, and only for pressure control. I don't like the limitations of pads, but I'm not going to just use shims and clamp it down on my ram chips. I'm not THAT daring, lmao! .........anymore
But this is last on my list for now. First the momentus xt hybrid, which should be here today or tomorrow, the leds will be here in a few days, then the 920xm, screen, g-skill ram, etc. When I post my results on my keyboard mod, I'll post pics as well as a tutorial.

 

I just watched your video, Dallers. I really like your widgets that you have set up. I'm gonna have to check into finding some. Your video was very informative, thank you for taking the time to make it. My problem was that I was changing the pll by increments of 10, lol. I'm play with it a bit and see what I can get out of it.

 

Trial and error and all that to find the highest overclock locking up and freezing is all in a days work

I argue that ICD is the best thermal compound and makes a difference others claim it does not, every man and women to their own but personally I have found it works best for me. With my Storm running it can handle 70oC max at extreme burn in and that is what makes such a big difference in the ability to push those clocks a little bit higher and keep the fans running silent.

I would recommend performing a dissassembly and checking the heatsink out before thinking about picking up some shims the heatsink is not well made and the reason why pads have been used, 0.5mm seem to the do the trick nicely. Research the dissassembly before attempting it as the audio cable and keyboard can be tricky. There are some videos on my youtube profile of how to remove them carefully if you need them but there are some good dissassembly movies around. Gentech's is here but you can get the keyboard off without bending it if you take your time.

 

Lmao, where were you the first day I got this? 2 hours after buying it, I took it completely apart and repasted it.......and bent my keyboard....and bent it back. Also wanted to take a look at the cooling system, as I had read up on it before buying the laptop. The only thermal compound I have used is standard issue cheap white stuff, when I was first learning about cooling needs, and Arctic silver 5. What is ICD, and is it better than AC5? I oc'd my cpu to 1.8 ghz with minimal heat increase, seems stable. Been having problems with ATI overdrive since day one. I either get artifacts or freezing. I managed 805 mhz gpu, 1100 mhz gpu ram. Along with the cpu oc I managed 14428 in 3dmark06. Proceeded to run starcraft 2 on ultra- ran smooth at first, 5 minutes later the screen froze then went black with a mouse pointer. Started task manager and disabled overdrive and it came back. I noticed on your gpu oc video you have 825 and 1100. When I ran that, 3dmark06 kept crashing ("card lost" and windows "display driver stopped working"). Tried 825x1050, same 810x1100, same only lasted a little longer, 805x1090 stable until starcraft 2. I am running chastity's vbios, and a clean install of ccc 11.8. Any ideas on why I am having trouble? Also, I noticed a squealing noise (like that of a stressed capacitor, transistor, or resistor) coming from the general area of my graphics card while running 3dmark06, 805 mhz, 1090 mhz memory, 1.8 cpu oc.

 

I also just notice that your 3dmark06 score shows your graphics processor speed and memory speed. Mine never does. I wonder why. Maybe I've done something wrong and something isnt working right and making it crash when I oc my card.

 

@Dallers:

How big is the gap between the CPU and the heatsink? I know with my HP Mini 311 I purchased some copper squares and was able to get that puppy to 2.340 from 1.6. I'm stressing the GPU here at work which is OC'd from 450/1100/1212 to 585/1325/1350. Maybe that would work for this situation as well.

For reference:
http://myhpmini.com/forum/easy-heatsink-mod-**-updated-**-t3466.html

Something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-DV9000-DV600...919?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item336aa6fdb7

 

The gap is not the problem with the heatsink when it comes to shims etc it just does not sit well at all and its not flat like most heatsinks or at least mine isn't. Im pretty sure that is why Asus used such thick pads to fill the gaps, I think I have finally got my heatsink sitting as flat as possible over the core with 0.5mm pad fully compressed. The clearance was definetely a problem because my temps have gone from 105oC+ at stock to ICD + 0.5mm and a ton of fiddling to 75oC max when running extreme burn with max overclock. But I have spent hours on it and its not a simple fix for another that just wants to repaste I fear I cannot attempt another because my screws are near the end of their life and their thread now.

@Fallen always best to research before attempting anything on a laptop that is one of the big differences from a desktop which is very straight forward in the hardware department, although people say laptops are not meant to be opened its more the compact space requires a lot of fiddly components and placement of the hardware which causes problems when dissassembling. The G73 came with its own couple of tricky sections however you can blame Asus for both of them the idiotic double sided tape on the keyboard to hold it in place and the Audio Cable that is smaller than a hamster's, its just cheap of them.

Most see an average overclock of 800/1100 with the exception of some who suffer less and some who are lucky to get more. My stable is 825/1125 and my max for benchmarking is 840/1135 anything above it gets grumpy and ends up in a lock or artifacts session. Complete coverage of the core is important to maintain a healthy overclock but not necessarily the reason why you cant increase it that is held by voltage, heat and the chip itself and how lucky you are in its production. Schockie being one of the very very lucky recipients who has his memory running at an unbelievable 1300 with stock cooling, clearly had his mem controllers made of titanium.

If you plan to go again pick up some ICD and go with the 3mm pea method to get a nice coverage and thinner or at least new thermal pads fully compressed will provide better results but its again trial and error. You might see a difference you might not, or as you saw from my pic on page 1 you might make it worse and have to go back and correct it

 

Dallers, my voltage on my gpu is .950. Thought I read somewhere that with oc'ing the card it was 1.15 or something. BTW- to anyone having touchpad issues still, I found the culprit and came up with the fix. I posted it as a reply to the sticky thread that has touchpad/keyboard issues. Forgive me if someone has beat me to it, I haven't seen any detailed fixes besides drivers, cleaning, and yellow tape moving. So, I shared my fix

 

The GPU will automatically clock up to 1.15v when you are running a game/software that requires 3D clocks. Otherwise it will idle 0.95v at 400/1000 unless you have changed the clocks yourself as I have in the Vbios.

Just so you know that has been tried and tested and it is one of the vast amount of touchpad fixes which work temporarily and do come back I tried your one and about 20 others and strangely what fixed it for me was an SSD. What works for one person may not work for someone else unfortunetely, its a mythical touchpad it seems.

Here is the main thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/514545-g73-touch-pad-issues.html

 

LOL! Mythical indeed. It seems the G73JH is full of mysticism. Alright. Thought I stumble across something and wanted to give back to this awesome community. Thanks for the heads up. Really thought I was going to get my hybrid drive today. It was supposed to be here by the 18th. I paid for expedited shipping last week (from CA) and they havent even shipped it yet. Hopefully tomorrow. After that, next upgrade is the processor, bwahhahhahh!

 

Share and share alike fella if only there was a permanent fix for everyone but sadly it seems some see no problems others suffer until they get fed up and sell up shop. I have suffered for a long time and cannot believe that a simple upgrade like a faster HDD (SSD) has fixed my issues its totally random for some its software for some its hardware the fury of it getting stuck when your sights are set on a head shot or when a tank is ready to be destroyed.

haha

Before you upgrade to the processor test out the 720QM to its limits and stock some results to compare too. Even with mine hitting 2ghz I was shocked by the difference with unlocked cores. Might be an idea to pick up some ICD and new thermal pads for when the XM arrives do an entire overhaul and hit the GPU with the pea method and you should see some better results.

 

Update on the led keyboard mod.
Here is a pic. I have some leftover ultrabright surfacemount leds from my xbox 360 modding days. Two problems- first of all, I need right angle leds. Second, I need some that are rated at a lower voltage. The pic clearly shows that the blue led is much dimmer than the white ones, whereas it should be about 50% brighter. I'm guessing that the power going to the keyboard lights just isnt enough to push the ultrabright ones. I used the same blues leds in Xbox 360 controller and console led mods, and they were MUCH brighter. I have found a few sights that have what I need, but they have different versions (I'm guessing wattage, ampherage, voltage, etc). Anyone know anything to help me sort this out? I'm sure that it will benefit others as well as myself once it is determined which led, and a good seller. It was a pain soldering on that little flimsy ribbon cable. In fact, I broke a small millimeter length off the mounting point of the led that I changed out and I had to scrape away the protective layer of the ribbon and run a solder trace to compensate for the lost millimeter (the led is only 3mm long, so I really needed to regain that mm, lol).
So, to make a long story even longer, I put it back to normal and all is well......until I buy the right leds >:]
One might ask "why not just use the colored film mod?" Well, that is simple. I would, in fact, RATHER use the colored film mod- it's far easier. BUT- the led brightness is already too low for my taste, and when you throw a colored piece of film in the way (Blue on mine), it makes the brightness suffer even more. The solution is to change to a colored led, and while I'm at it, make it an ultrabright led.

 

I found something in my laptop, and I want to know what it is. It is a little connector between the graphics card and the wifi. So, what is it? Any ideas? Sorry about the blurry pic.