Updates from Asus

I do wish he went over with a thumbdrive and pulled the vbios out of their G73's haha

 

IF they had a new vBIOS in them. Ive been wondering if a new vBIOS would solve the high temps issue

 

I was at Quakecon on thursday, i saw 2 other people with their G73 as well. Was a lot of fun, played call of duty all day with no problems other than a sore botton... lol

 

I really doubt it would, since temperatures are directly related to how the paste was applied. No amount of software tweaking can help with temperatures. Sure you can keep your temperature low if you down clock the card. But when you do stress it, it will definitely rise. For example, when i play BC2 my temperatures go up to 95 with clocks 705/1100. But for general stuff, it down clocks to 100/300 keeping my temperature around 44 - 46. So at the very most, they could keep temperatures down during general use, but as for gaming our temperatures are limited due to our own hardware.

 

I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying, but I updated to bios 211 and my temps have been lower by about 6-7 degrees while playing BFBC2 (SP campaign) ever since updating the bios.

I don't understand it either. Other than assuming that upping the fan speed internally even that little bit with the new bios is making that considerable a difference.

My idle temps have dropped from 64 to 62-60 ever since the new bios update as well.

Again, everything in my head and past experience agrees with all you're saying, I'm just reporting the numbers my MSI Afterburner program is reading off my Logitech G13 screen when I game.

I'm curious to know if it's a fluke or not, but I haven't seen anyone else that plays BCBF2 that updated to 211 report back anything.

Peace

 

possible placebo

 

so its not possible to lower temps by fixing the memory timings of the 5870M when using the ATI drivers?

 

I wish I had thought of that. It never crossed my tiny little mind.

 

BREAKING NEWS!!

It has recently been found that computers like human beings suffer from placebo. HWinfo32 and other monitoring software reflect this with false information sent by computers suffering from placebo effects.

Is this a sign of random evolution of artificial intelligence and self awareness?

More news to come.

 

Needs more sugar.

 

whoa! maybe the mobo's made of organic material. Just like in Futurama Season 6 Episode 9, robots (in this case computers) evolve. LOL

 

No. Temperatures from the software side can only be lowered by reducing the voltage or by reducing the clock speed.

Fan threshold on TSS0 for full blast went from 83 to 76 so under BIOS 209 a game would run maybe 80 degrees. The fan didn't go to it's full state because it didn't reach 83. But with BIOS 211 it does go to full blast and takes off a bunch of degrees.

 

i say full blast and take of those degrees! although a fan control application for these rogs would be nice

 

I see. a bunch of people dont recommend with updating to 211. why is that?

 

want the quiet notebook the g73jh was designed and sold to be. but i couldn't care less, always listening to music... if it helps a little then thats good to me

but now after repasting i cant even hit 76 on stock clocks so it doesn't matter

 

I was wondering the same thing.

 

Its a personal choice, to them its taking a step back, because of the fans, but to me, i really don't care. So what if my fan spins at an earlier temperature, i still don't hear it when it spins at full blast. Maybe they just don't like asus haha

 

I dont actually here the fan too when gaming. Ill just have to think about updating, gotta get lower temps

I hope they make some more fixes or atleast provide an app that controls the fan speed without going through a BIOS update

 

any more updates?

 

I hope they release the vBios update very soon and will fix the problems.

 

They will have a new one shortly, tho from what I've read, sean473 will not be getting the new update because of his avatar.

 

LOL

They're cool with the Stay Puft marshmallow man from Ghost Busters, though right?

 

Yes, do you even need to ask....

 

We're all waiting for that update yehey ^^

 

Never had a GSOD in my machine, with Samsung VRam. Been using the 10.6 for about 3 weeks now, and overall experience has been very stable. The only thing that spoils the deal for me are my temps. Furmark reached 106C after 10 mins. I know I need to reapply the thermal paste. While I have built more than a few desktop PCs in my time, opening up this baby seems a little too delicate for my likings.

Ironically, one of the first things I considered when deciding on a gaming laptop was the heating issue. With its huge, exhaust like dual coolers, having to reapply thermal paste was the last thing I thought I'd have to do when I bought the G73. Adequate cooling was one of the major factors that got me to buy the G73.

 

Never underestimate ineptitude on someone's part.

 

My G73 did a thermal shutdown as it reached 110 when running furmark. Is that behaviour a valid reason to RMA it? Would Asus accept that a reason you think?

Every other game i have (BFBC2,SC2) runs just fine.

/LK

 

lol.. but i hope the update is out soon.. because i can't take this anymore

 

It's soooo hard to wait

 

Yeah tell me about it, just want it to work and be done with it.

 

whats taking them long anyway? Not enough working machines to test them on?

 

If they come out with a half hearted job, people complain, if they take more time to do a proper job people also complain. Lets just all be patient and let them do a proper job for once. Its not like we do not have work around at the moment. The only difference i see is that we do not have to over clock our gpu anymore. And that the vbios is official. So lets all just be patient.

 

Overclocking a GPU is a bad idea to begin with. OC clocks=lesser life time

 

Yea but how long do you really expect the gpu to last? We have to ask ourselves, will we change the laptop first? Or will the gpu die first? I would say as a gaming laptop after 3 years this would be obsolete. With the rate technology is improving. Take desktop graphic card for example, most of them are factory overclocked. Some even 100mhz or more higher compared to a reference card. Plus its not like we should be running it at full load with overclocked settings 24/7.

 

If you're only interested in running Furmark then this is the wrong laptop for you.

 

Should be saying any laptop is wrong for him... Sometimes i don't understand why people do this. Why not just play the games and use those as a gauge

 

Honestly, any computer that won't run a cpu stress program for a week straight without having an error isn't a stable system. Same thing goes for a system that won't run a CPU stress program like Furmark for an extended period of time isnt stable either.

Furmark is PERFECT for determining if there is a problem with your graphics subsystem. If it won't run it for an extended period of time without crashing, then I would RMA the unit, plain and simple.

If it reaches 110c before crashing then it is crashing because of thermal paste, and if you are not technically inclined, then RMA the unit.

If people only game and it crashes, who cares, but a lot of us do work and run businesses on our machines, thus stability is paramount REGARDLESS of what I am doing... If I need a break I may leave a coding session running and switch over to a game for a bit. It is a HUGE PITA to have a machine crash and then have to get back to where I was development-wise.

These are not only "gaming computers" they are "desktop replacements" and are expected to be useable as such.

 

I would imagine the answer is something like "just because it doesn't quite *SOD or shutdown during games does *NOT* mean that there is no problem with the unit".

I by no means advocate running any type of benchmark on any notebook type computer. I would expect, however, if I *DID* make such an attempt, that it would run it properly and not error out or shut down. If it shut down, I would consider that an indication that there is either a defect with the notebook, or a problem with the design itself.

Regardless of how anyone feels about stress tests and notebooks, in stock trim they SHOULD be able to successfully run them.

 

Previously someone used engines as an example, when you run a car at its maximum rpm at the red line, do you expect it to be fine after doing that? Sure it will hit the limit but for how long... And were benchmarks such as furmark designed for laptops in the first place? Well, to each his own... I do acknowledge that asus did crap job with the paste... But other then that reason, i don't understand why people do this to their machines...

 

Anyone else have the sneaking suspicion we won't see an official ASUS update for another week or two, best? Having dealt with ASUS over the past years I just cannot imagine one guy (Gary) being able to expedite a chronically absent support network by that much. Good to hear there are positive signs that Gary & AMD may have found a permanent solution to SOD, but I'll believe it when I see the files on the ASUS support site!

 

My definition of stability is never crashing my computer for 6 months using it to my needs. I could care less about benchmarks and stress tests, if I don't ever see an issue in several months of use what good will Furmark do me?

 

Exactly. Every time you red-line a car's engine, or every time you floor it on the freeway, you damage many parts of the car (engine, transmission, stress on the frame) and diminish its lifespan. The same exact thing applies to computers (except a majority of the damage comes from heat, rather than moving parts). If the only test you use to tell if a system is 'stable' is to red-line it for extended periods of time, it doesn't really matter how stable it is. You've already damaged it.

 

I think it may be time for a Furmark b*tch-fest thread to be set up. I am sick and tired of reading the back and forth here in the "Updates from ASUS" topic. Almost EVERY recent 3d program has the ability to MAX our 5870 in some capacity so move on people! Furmark = Metro 2033 = SC2 = Crysis... if not we would be experiencing 250+ FPS all the time.

 

except not even crysis max settings would push my G73 temps over 80C

 

haha i floor my car everywhere i go...

and why not push your comp to the max too. Why buy a g73 ROG ASUS elite lineup gaming computer if not to max it out, benchmark, run games on crazy settings

 

Do you floor your car with the shift in neutral? I don't think so right...

 

no because then its peels out and i have to buy new tires and its way too expensive... i see your point, aaahhhh haha

 

Like!

10char

 

I build high horsepower motors myself (one of my cars is a 1000hp supercharged 383 mill in it, hand built and assembled by myself), and if you build it properly it will last just fine.

The analogy for something purely mechanical (like an engine in a car is) does not apply to electronics. It does not even come CLOSE!!! Electronics do NOT have the same wear-and-tear from thermally cycling a chip as long as it is used in a manner that is prescribed by the manufacturer. Electronics will last MUCH MUCH longer than mechanical items. Look at hard drives vs RAM. Hard drives die on a daily basis at a MUCH MUCH MUCH higher rate than RAM does. Hell, even CPUs have a lower failure rate than RAM if you want to make that comparison.

That analogy was made by someone not wanting RMAs up the A** because thier product is failing because people are stressing the machines to the max.

If proper engineering is applied, then you will have a long life with constant stress applied. If compromises are made, then stressing the parts will expose those flaws.

About the only issue to worry about here is overstressing a bad TIM job from the factory, but that is even accounted for in the BIOS to shutdown the machine before MAX TDP is reached, thus "saving" the chip. The only item that you are causing "wear and tear" on these machines in regards to the CPU/GPU would be the fans. And even those have a much much longer service life than even the warranty on these machines.

So, for ANYONE to say that running Furmark is a bad idea is only because a) they don't understand what they are talking about, b) they don't want failures due to a faulty design/bad engineering, or c) know that there is a problem and don't want it exposed.

If your system can run the software, execute properly, how the hel can someone say it is a "bad program"??? Honestly, do you actually think there is a piece of software that you can run under windows that would stress your hard drive and break it? Only software that woudl talk to the drive on a low-level have any possibility of doing that. Furmark is a OpenGL application, using one of the oldest professional 3D APIs available.

People ing about Furmark and saying only run your games are being nieve and ignorant. Run what will expose the problem and use it to verify stability. That is why people run Prime95, IBT, Furmark, etc... All very well accepted methods of stressing components to the max.

Hell, without running Furmark I wouldn't have been able to determine an incompatibility Asus put into the GTX480 BIOS to keep thier GTX480s playing nice with others brands GTX480s in SLI. The Asus brand would run fine by itself or another Asus GTX480, but with another brand it would jump at least 15c (one card would max at 90c and the Asus at 105c).

Running games wouldn't expose that major issue without a ton more screwing around.

The end resutl here is Furmark is a valid application for what it does and accepted as such. People that try to convince you otherwise are not confident in the hardware they are providing. Thermally stressing components are part of computing. If you wanted to, you should be able to take a G73 out of the box, load up furmark and it should run for months perfectly fine. If not, then thre is a problem with that unit.

And I will add that, YES manufacturers of graphics solutions DO NOT want you to stress thier products like that because it INCREASES RMAs!!! But, it is only causing a faulty product to fail as quickly as possible so the warranty can be used to replace it.

It is no different when building a motor for a client. when you are done building it you install it on a dyno, break it in and tune it, stressing it to the max, then backing off a little for a "safety margin" and then providing it to the customer with that margin in place. you do that and know as long as they don't mess with the tune, they will get an expected service life out of the motor. If you didn't assemble it properly or if there was a faulty part, 9 times out of 10 it will break on the dyno.

Plus, who the hell buys a high-performance vehicle and never maxes it out??? No-one that is a true gearhead and bought the vehicle for the performance it offers.

The car I mentioned at the beginning of this post has over $100k put into as well as over 5000 hours of my own time over the past 10 years, and I have flogged the bejesus out of it including 6-7 hour non-stop (outside of gassing up) spirited cruises, >200mph blasts, drag racing and generally having fun with it. Sure, all the parts utilized are the best of the best parts, or self-engineered and hand fabricated, but in the end it does exactly what I want it to do and does it without breaking down.

For a $1800 laptop, I fully expect my G73 to take any and ALL abuse I give it via software while remaining 100% stable, otherwise I wouldn't have paid that much in the first place.

That is like saying the ratchet I use isn't supposed to be used for 16 hours straight tightening 50 ft/lb nuts constantly, that is why it failed. No-one would be stupid enough to say you mis-used it. If you add a 6ft lever to the ratchet and try to overtorque a bolt and it breaks, that was your own stupidity. Which is exactly like overclocking. And I agree, when you overclock you screw yourself. But in the case of MY G73 I don't overclock at all (as overclocking a laptop is just highly stupid as the thermal control on a laptop is so damn close to the limit as it is, the only margin there is for is because dust will accumulate in a short period of time, thus, thermally, most systems will ahve to handle slightly higher heat levels), thus if I want to run Furmark for 3 months straight I expect the laptop to do it without crashing.

 

Actually, ALL motors should be able to handle a free-rev to redline without issue. What do you think happens when you have to launch certain cars at the dragstrip? That is what a two-step rev-limiter is made for!