ASUS G50VT-X1 with Nvidia 9800M Review and Initial Impression

Put the switch to on and then hit fn+f2 twice. That should get the wifi to go on.

The nvidia ones seem to be working fine on mine. Both the 179.28 as well as the recently released 179.48

The screen stuttering and freezing is in games or even on desktop?

 

Most of the time it happens when I'm in-game. Then after quitting the game, the desktop would freeze as well. It happens on desktop maybe 5% of the time, and 95% in-game.

It first happened when I switched to XP. Then after tons of freezes, I revert it back to Vista (32-bit) but the problem seems to persist.

I'm currently using Dox's 181.20 driver. It still happens from time to time.

 

I used f2 plus fn and it worked

 

Am I the only having this notebook without any problems?? XD

please tell me how MSN thing works with direct console I shut it on but don't receive any message... I asked this 3 times without getting an answer.

 

I do use a lot o photoshop, adobe premiere, autocad and after effects, do you think that using this kind of programs will somehow make me see a big difference? do you use one of this programs?

Tell me, this temperature at "extreme", does 3dmark06 makes the cpu run at 100% of its capacity or just a little? I'm worried about games too, so will 2.5x2.8 make a big or a real difference in games like Crisys, Far Cry 2?

I can't agree more with you about this, I want results not status. So is it possible to leave EXTREME on all the time without a prob? And is it possible inside the setup to leave EXTREME always turned on?

Thanks for the help!

 

Hi everybody. I posted it in similar topic, but maybe not everybody read that one.
I'm choosing gaming laptop and one of primary tasks for it is to perform great in GTA 4.
Did anyone tested G50Vt in this game using FRAPS (or anything else)? How many FPS it does in its native screen resolution with maximal settings? Please indicate resolution of screen on your laptop because it varies on this model.
If there's at least 40 FPS I would definitely buy this thing.
Of course GTA 4 is hungry for video memory and 1GB of GDDR would be better than 512MB for it, but as far as I know there's no G50VTs with such amount of GDDR.
Can GTA 4 use system memory sharing to increase amount of video memory on this laptop? Which amount of video memory GTA 4 reports in its settings?

 

I'll check up a few games again a bit later. Haven't played since I updated to 179.48, tho can confirm that 179.28 worked fine even on games.

I ain't sure why the problem is there if its persists even after shifting back to vista. I am still on the 64bit vista but don't think that shud matter.

give lcdhype a go if u haven't.. u wont be returning to direct console then

 

Has anyone removed the heatsink on this and can tell me if it's at all tricky? Got some thermal compound coming in.

 

GTS flash? how?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=336013&page=6

 

Caution: removing heatsink will void your warranty. Warranty is one of the strong points of ASUS.

 

Not too worried about warranty. It's just the Best Buy one, and I like tinkering anyway.

 

Hey thanks man! Looking forward to the results.

 

Not very hard, if you have steady hands and have no problem removing things very softly and carefully in a CLEAN environment, I say go right ahead.

I keep wishing I posting pics when I took it apart, but I did it late at night and I was too tired to talk.

 

Okay thanks. Mostly I was just wondering if there was anything besides the screws holding it in place, anything annoying.

 

becareful not to yank things too hard because they are usually attached to things

Not too much thermal paste either...

if this is your first time, go look at other laptops, they arn't too different.

 

ca36gtp thanks for the link.

@Daskid
actually haven't had a crash or any problem on the latest one from nvidia either.

 

Hmmm... it might be that the XP and Vista (32-bit) versions are buggy. Then again it might just be my laptop....

I appreciate your help man!

 

My laptop comes on saturday... omg I can't wait to put my hands on it!

 

Quoted for emphasis.

Remember, the point of thermal paste is to minimize the chip->air and heatsink->air heat transfers.

Any time you are lessening the chip->heatsink contact, the thermal paste is not helping its hurting!

 

Does anyone have issues full screening youtube videos and having the touch pad scrolling ability disabled? Any fixes?

 

is there a TV tuner for this laptop?

 

The weirdest thing happened earlier, I was trying to play CoD4 and it quit working once I click "join game" ... I restarted my computer and tried again. No luck. It's obvious that something was wrong though cause everything on the menu screen is blurry in the game >.> any ideas??? I'm reinstalling the game right now see if it will work again. Here is the problem report from Windows:

Product
iw3mp.exe

Problem
Stopped working

Date
2/18/2009 11:30 AM

Status
Report Sent

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: iw3mp.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 4859a219
Fault Module Name: iw3mp.exe
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 4859a219
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 001477da
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: fd00
Additional Information 2: ea6f5fe8924aaa756324d57f87834160
Additional Information 3: fd00
Additional Information 4: ea6f5fe8924aaa756324d57f87834160

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 820749455

 

idk.. still not sure if the os 32bit v 64bit vista shud b a problem in this case..

 

if i m correct it doesnt.. want to know the same thing tho whether to go with an internal or external tuner and which one... one post earlier had someone say theres space for it but no card installed !? dont think it was verified tho..

 

I think the TV Tuner is just for marketing purposes only...

 

I'm starting to agree with you on this!

 

Apparently one can be installed? Like the AverMedia mini PCI-E but isn't the spare slot a total pain to get to, like you have to take out the mobo to install it?

 

Exactly. It would be a pain to install one. So what's the point? LOL!!!

 

Ok then, well I found out what the problem was... apparently my save file got corrupted and couldn't load the game normally -.- how the hell did that happen I wonder...

Is it true that you can run two video cards in this laptop??? That would be so awsome having 2 those run in SLI

 

Nope. The G50 was never designed to run SLI.

 

The TV tuner is not available for the G50 units sold in the US. Other countries may have that option, but North America doesn't. If you really want a TV tuner, I'd suggest getting a USB or expresscard tuner. It's much easier to install that way.

 

Yeah am thinking of getting one. Any suggestions?

 

Since TV tuners tend to run VERY warm, I'd suggest getting a USB TV tuner so that the heat isn't trapped within the notebook. I have used several USB tuners in the past and I find the Asus My Cinema U3100 works the best. The software is written much better compared to the Hauppauge 950 I used in the past and the interface is very user-friendly.

 

Very nice review, I picked this model up a week ago for $949.00 @ Best Buy and have been very happy with it.

 

thnx will give it a look..

 

There is another good USB TV tuner:

eVGA inDTube ATSC/NTSC USB TV Tuner Stick 100-U2-IDTV-A1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815101002&Tpk=EVGA TV tuner

Take a look , it even includes an remote and little bag to store it in... hehe

 

lots of stuff to carry, it seems to me!

 

mine arrived today, omg...

 

ok well this is my 1st post here and I'd like to start by stating the fact that this is the only topic I have read so far on the forum (and a few posts which were given as a refferance from Vicious review on the G50) so if there is anything I am going to ask which has been answered on different topics please just give me the link as for now I am pretty tired tried to read all the topic !


Surprisingly I read less about what I was expecting to be more debated and more about what I was expecting to read less. I got the X1 mode as well (I don't mind for now the "lesser" procesor and think is sufficient for my needs. As for the warranty the only times something broke was becase of me because I bodged at it (that happened in the past btw now I've changed lol)

My questions are : has anyone tried so far changing the conductive paste ? I've heard about AS5 and something similiar which is supposed 2 lower the temperature by up to 10 degreese any guide on how to do that ? I'm thinking about the noise more than power consumption (mostly being used as a desktop replacement)

Could you fit in a usb receiver ? I have one from another laptop which I could umount. Does anyone have a repair / service manual ? I'm guessing that since other G50VTs can use bluetooth it has some kind of slot / socker which would be used by the bluetooth


will be back later for some more feedback

 

ok well read some more on the forum and found part of the answeres , however , has anyone tried "adding" bluetooth to it ?

 

thnx for the link

 

Hey everyone. Great site you all got here. I feel kinda bad saying that I have read every single page on this thread concerning the G50VT-X1 that I have been looking at purchasing. Yes it is down to 949 dollars at BB and runs a 7200rpm (Least thats what you guys have said). My only question is conerning the 64-bit environment that it runs on. Can the 64-Bit environment run old school emulators such as NES, SNES, or even PSX?

Again I appreciate your guy's lengthy discussion of this laptop, it has helped a great deal.

 

First, I am a total idiot in regards to Notebooks/Laptops, that said! I am trying to decide which llaptop is best for the money and which one is best for gaming (mainly MMO's and RTS - Dawn of War 2).

Laptop 1 - ASUS G50VT-X1
Laptop 2 - Gateway P-7805u

Initially I was leaning towards the Gateway but some say it is a much less build up laptop then the ASUS. ASUS is 15.4" screen and gateway is 17". Gateway has DD3 which to me mean crap cause I don't know what that is (DDR2 vs. DDR3). In papaer the Gateway seems better but like I said before, I am a total idiot in laptops and pc terms.

Like I said before I am trying to get a gaming laptop for MMO's and Dawn of War 2 and perhaps a FPS in the future.

Which one do you (experts) recommend?

oh! ASUS is $950 and Gateway is $1150.

 

Well, my previous two gaming laptops where Asus (G1 and G1S) and both where wonderful machines, no problems whatsoever.

I'd say you'll be better with Asus than Gateway, but don't take my word for it. Go to your nearest Best Buy and compare the two.

The Asus is a bit more flashy but it's still nice.

Cheers!
RayanMX

 

and cheaper.

 

can this laptop be upgraded to 8gb of ram in the future?

 

I believe someone here has already done an 8GB RAM upgrade. So it's possible.

 

hi guys,
I decided to purchase the x1 from bb. But because of the exams I will purchase it after 2-3weeks.
Do you guys think that the x1 will finish from the stock?
How long the sale will last?
And what is an outlet item?

I will be thankful for anyone who answers my questions

 

They just launched g50v bak here.... now i thought the g50v were replaced by g50vt..but... neways assuming g50v is still in production and retails at arnd 700 US$
the launch price out here(higher considering all duties/taxes etc) is not 1.5 or 2 but 3 times that cost !!

and to put it in perspective with g50vt.. i got my x1 for less than half of the g50v launch price here