ASUS G73SW Owners' Lounge

I have a similar partition setup with MBR formatting, works fine.
http://d.pr/auEn+
I have managed to move the Program Files, Program files (x86), ProgramData and Users folders to D:, which is my fastest partition (striped and closest to the centre of the platters). It wasn't easy moving those folders (I actually had to make a script that generates a script that does the actual moving correctly), but I'll make a guide soon. Pagefile is also on D:.

 

Now see...we are on the level!!

sarge, yes, I had a go at it with MBR again...seems once the disks are converted to dynamic instead of basic, primary partition constraint laws are thrown out the window - this is good, no.
I chose not to mirror my system drive, lightens the task on my home LAN backup.

One question I have, did you stripe your partition D:\ in order to gain I/O ?
I'm still on the rocks about that...
How about if one could set-up a stripe array and manually - where possible - install any apps to this array right from the get-go instead of C:\?

 

Not sure if this helps, but I found these two guides:

Architecture Intel Sandy Bridge -- Info-Coach
Change the booting style of Windows Vista or 7 x86_64 versions from BIOS-MBR mode to UEFI-GPT mode without formatting or reinstalling - InsanelyMac Forum

 

I also didn't mirror my C:. It's pointless, since if something gets messed up, it's messed up on the mirror as well. I just make backups of C: and D:. Note that if you do it with Acronis True Image, you also need to install the Plus Pack, because the regular version doesn't know how to work with dynamic partitions.

Yes, my D: is striped for performance (it's in the screenshot), that's the whole point. That's why I moved all of the program files folders and the whole Users folder there. I also made junction points so that those folders are also seen on C:, to avoid any problems (again, I had to make a special tool to move everything correctly). After making some registry tweaks, all software installers now default to D: instead of C:.

Unfortunately, you can't stripe the boot partition. But now my C: drive contains ONLY the Windows folder and some other stuff which can't be moved/doesn't impact performance (Recovery, $Recycle.Bin, PerfLogs folders and hiberfil.sys).

I've just uninstalled the X-Fi modified 2.60 driver and installed the 2.62 driver off Realtek's website, and the problem (computer wakes up right after entering sleep/hibernate) went away!

However, I have noticed with both 2.60 and 2.62 that there is an annoying, high-pitched tone in the left channel while using headphones. Does anybody else notice that?
It goes away when you uninstall the driver.

 

Well, transitions from interior to exterior areas in the game are when the issue starts, but my FPS seems to keep stuttering for 5-10 minutes afterwards. And I've been plugged in the whole time. My GPU temps have gotten up to 80C during Oblivion as well. Does this seem like something I should be concerned about?

 

As a rule, 80C is perfectly fine. Although with this laptop, and especially if not overclocked, seems a little high. So its possible something could be a little off...

Also, typically exterior environments are much more detailed and taxing on the GPU. But your saying in the same basic environment it gets normal after 5-10 minutes?

Does it happen in other games as well?

 

Well none of the other games I've played so far really push the system very much (Morrowind, League of Legends, Portal) except for Shogun 2. That game runs fine at max graphics except when I play in fast mode, but according to the benchmarks Anandtech did with that game, max graphics are a bit much for this laptop to handle anyway.

Also, with Morrowind I'm running some major graphical mods, but it always locks in at 60 or 30 FPS depending where I am in the game, except for some rare occasions were it gets stuck at 20 and will not go any higher unless I quit and restart the game.

So, some issues with my Elder Scrolls games, but I don't know if the computer or the game mods I have installed are to blame. I'm on vacation right now, but maybe I should get a copy of Crysis 2 or something when I'm home and see how it runs, and maybe check temps with Furmark as well?

 

Yeah its possible it could be the mods, i would try it without them just to see.

Test with Furmark, monitor temps and GPU Clocks. (You can use HWInfo32 to do this, along with a load of other info it gives you, or GPU-Z of course)

Make sure your clocks are going up to what they should be (although they seem to be, just check to be sure, and that theyre going up fast enough and not fluctuating while testing)

If you do that, you wont need to test with Crysis or anything, Furmark will stress it just as much. (Although i wouldnt suggest against getting Crysis, awesome game )

 

@ahl395 can you tell me whats the meaning of your sig? nVidia GTX 460M (OC to 560M)

 

A 460m overclocked to the same speed as a 560m, I would guess (775 core / 1550 shader / 1250 mem). My 460m is running at 820/1640/1680 at the moment

 

Thanks Skywise,
I had a look at quite lot of websites for info, as well as the first...but, not the second...
Yup, that first URL, you could say I 'studied' it, until I realized that the MB's are different therefore UEFI support too...

I mirrored my C:\Users to another partition on the same drive, now B:\Users. Then I created the junction, perfect without issues...however
Before I mirror the Users-directory, my Windows Experience Index works without issue, but afterwards, WEI gives an error: "The hard disk could not be scanned for performance."

I feel like I could just drop this right about now, because without WEI, I'm screwed in terms of AERO and installing high-demand software?!

sarge, does your Windows Experience Index work properly, such as re-assessing your hardware performance after mirrorring/junctioning your directories from your system to another partition/disk?

 

It seems it doesn't. Says it can't be tested on a software RAID. I had done the performance test before moving the folders, so my laptop is still rated.

That's not the correct way to move the folder. What about all of the file permissions? All of the junctions inside of C:\Users?

 

Yep!

A 560M is just a 460M thats overclocked by Nvidia. So if you overclock the 460M to the same speeds as a 560M, you essentially have a 560M

Unfortunetly i cant go much beyond those clocks.

 

@Mr. Beowulf and sarge;

What, pray tell, is the point of the whole exercise you two are doing to the notebook's two HD's? Performance increase? And what type of performance increase are you getting, if any? Sorry, I am coming into this conversation a little late, although I did read the last 4 pages with some interest...please elucidate me, thanks! :

I've just never ever seen any benefit to breaking up a notebook's HD's into partitions and find the whole thing, even Asus's partition schemes, pretty trivial and worthless. The 1st thing I did to my "D and E" HD's, which was a partitioned 2nd HD in the laptop, was to dismiss the partitions altogether with Paragon's Hard Disk Manager 11 Suite, and make a whole, single partition HD out of it. After that I was comfortable with my notebook's situation, but failed to see any logic or benefit to breaking up the notebook's HD in the first place.

I don't mean any particular criticism of your efforts with partitions and the like, just wonder what the EUFI option is all about considering that a notebook has limited ability to use the whole process, ie there are no notebook HD's that are ++2TB--you know what I mean? Plus there's no RAID proviso with this notebook, unlike some with 2 HD's (Clevo, Sager et al) which *do* have RAID capability.

I am glad you are finding something to *do* with your notebooks which is slightly different than others are doing I guess, but just wonder what this EUFI option is all about, when you get right down to it.

I love my notebook, no doubt, but I suppose I am just a bit conservative when it comes to partitions, EUFI and its use with the notebook, that's all. Thanks for any info you can give me.

rexrzer727

 

Okay, thanks. So, how long should I run Furmark, and what kind if temperatures should I expect, provided everything is running fine?

 

Use the Extreme Burn-In procedure of Furmark for your test, close all other apps and open windows, choose the standard pixels configuration (not full screen), and hit the button "Go"!

What your laptop will do with the Burn-In procedure depends on how well your laptop is functioning, how the fans are working, the sensors for temp et al, and that's the whole point of doing this...ie to see how well the notebook is taking care of itself.

For my notebook, it didn't want to go higher than 85-degrees, even after something like 25 minutes or longer, and even then the fans kicked into "another gear" and brought temps down to 80-degrees very quickly. You should expect the same thing of yours, or better, for a normal G73SW notebook's performance.

That's all there is to it, now go ahead and try it out!

rexrzer727

 

Hello,

I just bought this laptop (and I love it).
However I did encounter an issue with the sound card : I found out that it would always be switched off ~10 seconds after a sound was done being played, and switched on again when another sound needed to be played. The transition between the on/off states would produce an annoying clicking/popping sound.
I figured out it was due to the power management, looked around but didn't find anything relevant on the internet to solve the problem (I did find fixes for ubuntu and other linux distributions, but surprisingly nothing for windows), so I started exploring the registry, and I think I found the keys responsible for this behaviour : under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Realtek\RAVCpl64\PowerMgnt, I had the "OnlyBattery" value set to "0"; switched this value to "1", so that the sound card wouldn't be switched off when plugged in, and it works fine so far.
I haven't read the 100+ pages of this thread, so I don't know if it has been posted already, but hopefully someone will find it useful.
I think I should also add that I'm not a Windows registry specialist, so if you do the modification, you do this at your own risks... Hopefully somebody better qualified than me will approve this modification, but I don't think it can be harmful in any way.

Cheers,
Lunacy

 

Wow. I've been having the exact same problem, and was trying trying to find the solution last night, and did the exact smae things.
I also found the Ubuntu solution, which lead me to searching for power management settings. I looked through the Windows power management registry settings, but did not find any useful setting there. Did not think to check under HKCU\Software\Realtek. Excellent!
In the end, I found another way to fix it: keeping the sound card busy to prevent it sleeping. I did it by enabling the Stereo Mix virtual device in the Realtek control panel, routed it to the speakers and muted it, so that it does nothing, but keeps the sound card active. Your solution is much more elegant though. +Rep

This applies to other laptops as well, so I made a thread with the fix here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...k-sound-popping-high-pitched-tone-squeal.html

 

I'm glad you found it useful, and thanks for having reposted the "fix" on a more general forum Alternatively, another simple workaround is to enable the Microphone Playback Volume and keep it to 0, for anyone not willing to change the registry values.

Cheers,
Lunacy

 

Wheeew...at last!! proud owner of G73SW laptop here too...

Hi Guys, any advice what shall i checked with regards to the laptop? (e.g. benchmarks?) I have only checked the Sandy bridge issue but luckily the version is REV_05 which is issue free (upon reading on the previous thread)..

 

It's for performance and redundancy.

If you have 2 or more HDDs, Windows allows you to make striped (RAID-0) partitions and mirrored (RAID-1) partitions.
A simple explanation of both can be found here: Explanation of the RAID feature in storage devices
or here: Chipset Serial ATA and RAID performance compared - The Tech Report - Page 1

Since my laptop chipset (Intel HM65) does not support Hardware RAID, my only option was Software RAID that is built into Windows.
I have set up my system like this:

Spoiler

Windows does not support striping the boot drive, so C: is a simple partition. The C: drive stores only Windows and the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys), which can't be moved.

D: is a striped (RAID-0) partition. I have moved all of the Program Files, Program Files (x86), ProgramData and Users folders there, for maximum speed.

F: is also a striped partition, just like D:. (However, D: is still a small bit faster, because it is closer to the center of the HDD platters.) I use F: for games and utilities/programs that do not require installation. The reason I keep D: and F: separate is because I only backup C: and D:, which are the most important partitions. If anything goes wrong, I can just restore those two and everything will be fine. The games on F: drive are not important, I can just reinstall them if needed.

G: is a mirrored (RAID-1) partition. This is where I keep my documents, music, backups and other stuff I don't want to lose. If one of my HDDs fails, the data will still be intact on the other HDD.

H: and I: are what's left of the free space on the drives. These are simple partitions. I use these for everything else, like videos and downloads.

UEFI is unrelated to all of this. It is only needed for drives that are more than 2TB.

 

You also need 7 Professional or Ultimate to do that I believe - Home Premium which usually comes with the G73SW does not support dynamic disks.

Personally I'll be using an SSD for boot, and then 2x 1 TB disks in raid 0, maybe a mirrored partition for work files on the 1 TB drives. It's already being backed up to the cloud, but some extra security for like 100 GB wouldn't hurt.

 

I'm gonna wait some time until SSDs drop in price and increase in size. Until then, this is the next best thing.
And yes, you do need Win7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate for this.

Here is the performance difference between a simple partition and a striped one:

 

Now that is terrific stuff sarge, and I appreciate it!

I gave you a +Rep for taking the time to post such things, and give the community here a glimpse as to why to go through all that trouble and stripe the HD's partitions, especially as you explained how specifically you are doing the job.

I guess I am just lazy, and go with the SSD option, and don't worry about my games and storage on the remote volume 'D', which is a single partition in my scheme of things. I have multiple desktops available for my use here in the studio, sometimes they are busy and I am forced to use the laptop for everything but mostly I have a luxury with my desktops that few do, so that shapes my reality with HD's and storage.

As for waiting on the SSD market to change, don't wait too long because it will be years before larger SSD's are affordable. Trouble is that Apple and Samsung and the other tablet and phone makers steal away all the excess NAND from the manufacturers quicker than you can say "Buy it!" That keeps the prices of NAND somewhat artificially high, and then OCZ and the others can justify charging what they currently get for a nice, fast SATA 2 or 3 SSD!

Thanks again for the history less on striping a laptop's partitions, it is appreciated.

rexrzer727

I'm sorry Skywise, but I don't get the content there...how you gonna make 2 x 1TB HD's in a RAID 0, the software way I take it? And how you gonna add yet a 3rd HD to the system in a G73SW-series notebook, when the busses as structured by nVidia and Intel only provide for a 2 HD system? Curious?

Thanks!

rexrzer727

 

You can put a 3rd HDD in place of the optical drive bay.

 

rexrzer727, http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-ssd-hdd-storage-using-optical-bay-caddy.html I already have the caddy - cost me $15 shipped from ebay. An external optical bay enclosure for the original optical drive that uses USB 2 costs about the same. I only use the optical drive for the occasional movie on DVD or Blu-ray, so it makes more sense to swap it out for an extra 1 TB HDD and then hook up the optical drive using USB the few times I actually need it.

One thing to note is that some laptop optical drives pull quite a bit of power, so if you hook it up to one of the USB2 ports on the G73, the laptop may power off due to the power drain. The solution is to use the USB3 port, since that's designed for much higher power requirements.

 

Hello everyone! I will be purchasing a G73SW in July. I am having trouble deciding which model to choose from though; I have been searching and searching but can not seem to find anything more than just seller specs.
The two models that I am looking at are the g73sw-xn2 (or 1, dont remember at this moment.) being sold on Newegg. OR from Fry's electronics the g73sw-xr1
Does anyone have an in-depth spec sheet for both laptops for comparison?

 

Look at the specs listed on each website.

The only real difference in them should be the HDD and/or warranty.

Just make sure you get one with a 1.5GB GPU and not a 1GB GPU.

 

Thank you for the reply, I did notice as I read through this thread the discussion about the 1.5 gb gpu over the 1gb gpu. I will be getting the 1.5.
I was just wondering if there were a more detailed spec sheet available somewhere ( raw numbers ). However based on everything I have read, I believe I will be getting the XR1. Come on July!
Any opinions on bags or useful accessories that compliment this notebook?
Also, I have to thank each one of you for all of your excellent posts, links, and reviews! You guys are the ones that helped me make my notebook decision.
Thank you very much.

 

I am sorry, I sometimes miss the obvious! Hah Hah! I see what you're gonna do crystal clearly thanks, so I guess we've got all the bases covered with respect to multiple HD's in the laptop! That is going to be one awesome machine when you get it, and configure it the way you want to, apparently, so good show there!

I always think of an optical drive being so important for my purposes, as I am using it constantly, especially the BluRay write function as I am archiving data onto a couple BD-RE- 50GB's discs that I own, including a full backup of the SSD's entire contents to write for emergencies, if I were to ever have one like that...just buckle up, hitch the BD-RE disc into the drive, and write the contents back to the SSD or other HD and be off and running!

You guys might note that I dispensed with the OEM Matsusheeeeta BD writer for my favored Sony Optiarc 6X BluRay Burner, which was the easiest thing to install by the way...just one little screw and BAM! Done deal! If anybody with the standard OEM BluRay reader or a DVD+/-RW drive in the Amazon and other editions of this laptop wants to talk me out of the 'Sheeeta drive by all means send me a PM and let's do it! I have no use for it honestly, it will just sit there forever on my bench and do nobody any good, so I'd rather sell it to somebody local if you get my drift, then everybody's happy.

I pray that this post doesn't get censored by anyone we know, Hah! But that's what I'd like to do if anyone's interested...

But yeah, I get you 100% with respect to substituting the optical drive for another HD in the bay, don't know why I didnt' think about it when I posted that info earlier, as it's common for MacBook Pro's to have their laptop optical drive rendered senseless and replaced with an optical bay HD, I just somehow didnt' put 2+2=4 together for this deal of yours, the gonna-be-soon deal that I hope you're lucky enough to get handled anytime soon.

When are you getting that laptop anyway, you never did clue us in about it? Surely pretty soon, yah?

I am on one of my desktop's right now, but there's something of import that is on my mind about my G73SW-3DE but I just can't think about it presently, darn! Does that ever happen to you, it's just sitting there on the tip of yer tongue and you can't think about it?

I will think about it sooner or later, and post it up tonight sometime...but for now all I can think of is how I want to get home to play some WOW or Shogun: Total War on the laptop tuit suite! Or maybe some Slamit Pinball...I dunno what my fancy is tonight, but I've been playin' some Slayer HD PINBALL Live on my iPad2 this afternoon during a meeting at my work, with the headphones on so I wouldn't disturb anyone, and have gotten myself into a gaming mood!

This laptop rocks for games!

rexrzer727

If you splurge and get the G73SW-3DE (3D model) you *get* a very nice Targus backpack that matches the stealth mode of the notebook really KUHL! Also a special Razer ROG gaming mouse with on-the-flY DPI adjustment available comes with the notebook+ a pair of nVidia 3DVision Glasses (ultra Neon Green colored) with code #P854 written on the frames too...it's the works model notebook, and comes with the BluRay burner, 8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM, twin Seagate 500GB XT Hybrid HD's, ie it lacks nothing, it's all there baby!

If you get the 3D model you don't have to buy anything else, it's all included as part of the deal with your purchase, and that's one reason I went for it...also it's exclusivity it goes without saying. These must be specially built at the Asus factory, as mine was literally perfectamundo+++ from the get go, and I even kept the factory OS install as it had no bloatware but Express Gate, which you can just forget about and it's not even there...or you can uninstall it and be done with it completely. The rest of the install was not remarkable and it has no apparent flaws. I think these laptops are basically limited-edition models that are specially taken care of by the Asus factory workers, a bit different from the mass-produced normal G73SW's.

That's just my opinion after owning this model for a month and counting, and doing some limited customizing including the Vertex 3 SSD and a Sony Optiarc 5730S BluRay burner which burns at 6X vs the OEM model's 2X burner.

I am glad I sprung for this model vs the regular version frankly, and highly recommend it to you...it's just a couple hundred $$$'s more and you get the works, nothing else to buy or add with it. Oh, and it does 3D amazingly well!

rexrzer727

 

I believe this is the same package that comes with the A1, albeit without the glasses, and the A1 only has a BD-ROM and not a burner. Am I wrong?

Though it is true that if I had the money, I would probably go for the 3DE as well, if only because the screen is matte. I can't stand glossy screens and it will take some definite getting used to. I have also read that a 120Hz refresh rate is easier on the eyes.

Although with the $100 June rebate for the A1, it's only $1500 to the 3DE's $2000. It's hard to justify that large a price increase only for the screen.

 

Hi,

Can someone, please, tell me if G73 has the same backlit keyboard as G53?

 

It's the LED LCD 120Hz Full HD 3D Display by LG and a lot more under the skin of course, plus the BluRay burner that is the difference between the A1 and the 3DE models. I honestly don't know of all of the under-the-skin diffs between them, but it has to be substantial items because the display is just the tip of the iceberg as far as tech goes, with the 3DE notebook, as I understand it.

I had a little difficulty with my Vertex 3 SSD and it's being replaced as I write this (on the way to me from OCZ already, will be here on Wednesday), so I've had occasion to try out the OEM OS and accessories installation, and I'm amazed at how good this thing really is OEM box stock...there are no glitches and no hesitation typing, like can happen with an OEM OS installation, no bloatware to speak of, just a couple games and the Express Gate option, which I don't care about and have just left alone for now. It can be easily uninstalled with one mouse click, and a restart if necessary, but I don't see that as an issue at this point.

I never keep the OEM installs prior to this notebook, but this one has me scratching my head a little bit! It's smooth, and fluid, and no issues at all with this HP 64-bit installation, so I am impressed with the OEM HD system of the twin Seagate 500GB XT's. Of course it's NOT an SSD by any means, and there's none of the snap and pop of a Vertex 3 in the house, but these are pretty nice HD's for platter HD's, in my estimation.

I haven't done any performance benchmarks with the HD's yet, and probably will pass on that idea as I'll only be using this HD for another day and a half, but for my $$'s Asus has really taken their quality level UP a couple notches into the "very acceptable" range with this OS install here. If I were not using an SSD and was "stuck" with the HD's presently in this thing I'd not flinch or wince an inch, these are that good!

That's my take on this model and the designation, and I would hope that the installs for the rest of the lineup are as good, but I wonder...there are so many here who have Clean Installed the OS and upgraded to Ultimate or Pro in this group, much discriminating tendencies to upgrade the base model and the A1 from my view, but for this 3DE model I don't see that being necessary...the OEM OS install is more than good, it's pretty great really!

I'm usually a heavy critic of Asus handiwork in the OEM OS install dept., but not this time! As for the others I cannot comment as I have never owned them, the base model and the Best Buy and Fry's model of the laptop...that is. I am curious as to why people did the upgrades and the Clean Installs on the laptops in the 1st place if their OS install was as nice as this version is.

OK, enough of that...I simply wanted to update people on my difficulty with the Vertex 3 and its replacement in my stable here, and my impression of the OEM OS installation and how this laptop works overall with the base install intact...that is all that I wanted to write tonight.

This laptop is some 2" larger overall than the G53SW and I haven't seen a G53SW in the new as yet, so I cannot comment except to write that it is backlit nicely, as all Asus keyboards are, but for some critics about the backlight "seepage" of light from under the keys, and I don't have that complaint with my unit, it's fine! This keyboard has NO FLEX at all, it's like a board across the bow! As far as it being a knock off of the G53SW's keyboard I just don't know how that could be dimensionally, but it is possible that Asus used the same parts and pieces for the two laptops...possible, but not probable.

rexrzer727

 

Some of the G73SW configurations include an excellent Asus laptop backpack. Some also include a gaming mouse. Check the specifications thoroughly.

It has exactly the same keyboard.

 

Hey Sarge,
With all you're knowledge about partitions and raid configurations, do you think you could help us rookies with a software based Raid-0 tutorial for the G73's? Can it be done after installing windows or before? I'm thinking about SSD but can save money using Raid-0.

Most of the G73's come with dual 500GB HDD's so I'm sure it would appeal to alot of members. Who like me can't afford a good SSD but would like similar speeds with our default setup from Asus. Its too bad the bios doesn't support Raid natively, but with experts like yourself that's only a challenge. I wonder how fast it would be using the dual Seagate XT Momentus in Raid-0? Is anyone using the Momentus XT in Raid-0?

 

Good day guys. Would anyone have a clue why I keep getting freeze-ups (spinning winwheel) when I perform a simple mouse click. This has happened since day 1 and even if I'm not on the net and opening a tab or program. It doesn't occur often but enough to drive me buggy.

All the Windows updates and drivers have been installed and I've done a sweep with CCleaner, a deep system analysis with System Mechanic and a Windows System maintenace check but it's made no difference. Avast and Malwarebytes find no issues. The freeze usually lasts for a full minute but at times I've had to cut the power and pull the battery in order to reboot. Thankfully with the SSD it only takes 20 seconds or so but that's little consolation when the problem is ongoing.

I just attempted to open up Add and Remove as I remembered I wanted to uninstall Live Update as it keeps popping up with an update I installed days ago. The cursor turned to a hand when I placed it over the Programs tab but then wouldn't open it and I couldn't do anything else until it eventually worked again. Sometimes the cursor turns to an "I" and does nothing as well. (using gaming mouse or touchpad)

The other thing is my scores in 3D Mark Vantage. I don't know how accurate these programs are or if they mean much, but my P8220 score seems well below AnandTech's P8810, especially considering my upgrades. A second and third attempt fared even worse.

According to the site, my 3D Mark 06 of 14392 also indicates my PC is "performing properly" and "comparable" to similar systems. I've seen much higher posted here though some have been OC'd so it's hard to compare. Is it normal for the display to run at only 1 or 2 FPS in Red Valley? NVidia is set for high performance and no other programs were running including Avast.

I noticed the touchpad still operates while the mouse is plugged in. Maybe that's normal and it doesn't disconnect like the laptop speakers do when you plug in headphones? I've been on an XP desktop the past several years so much of this is still new to me.

On an unrelated issue, does anyone have some keys which appear to be slightly worn/faded near the bottom of the key? (Insert, Delete, End, PgDn, PgUp, Home) Perhaps it's just the way the keyboard was manufactured but I'm suspicious this could be a refurbished unit.

I suppose I might to be able to rectify the freeze-ups by reinstalling Windows but it's not something I relish after all the time I've spent setting the unit up the way I want. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

 

Sure, I'll write up a guide in a day or two.



@KellyM, you seriously need to reinstall Windows. Driver guide here.

What's Red Valley?

For the touchpad: http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...e-synaptics-touchpad-usb-mouse-detection.html

As for the keyboard, I have no such issues on mine. The keys should look perfect. Pics?

 

rexrzer, I already have the laptop all set up and ready - just waiting for the Vertex 3 max iops 240 GB drive. It was actually due be delivered earlier this month, but then the news broke about the bugs in the normal V3s, and I guess they delayed shipment of the MI to distributors to either fix it or ensure that it wasn't an issue. Current expected delivery is July 7th.

When I do get the SSD, I'll first connect it using the caddy, and then I'll use Paragon Drive Copy to copy my existing install to it. It supports drives with advanced format thankfully, so alignment won't be an issue. I'll swap the SSD into the primary slot, anytime upgrade to 7 Professional, and then create the dynamic disks necessary to use RAID 0.

 

For all you guys reworking your partitions, did any of you ever get GPT working? This is pretty important to me, as I have some things that need to be run on GPT. If so, what did you need to do to get it working? Thanks!

 

my G73SW running on GPT via UEFI booting

 

Woot. Finally pulled the trigger a few weeks ago and got me the G73SW. Got a good deal on it from Fry's... They had it on sale dropped from $1,600 to $1,300 and when I went to the store to get it they were sold out so they gave me the floor model for $1,100 and added 2 year Fry's waranty in for free (or 1 cent since the register did not allow the manager to change the price to 0.00 .)

gotta say it's a sweet machine. Coming from a Dell Studio XPS 1640 i can see a huge difference.
I did not get the 3D model as I have no use for it and cannot see 3D because of a problem I have with my left eye.

I did move my OCZ Vertex 2 240 GB SSD drive from the XPS to this laptop and installed a fresh windows 7 ultimate on it. Loaded drivers and the power gear software. nothing else.

I did get a optical bay hard drive caddy. and got 2x 1TB samsung hard drives, one for the second bay and one for the optical bay. the laptop did not have a HDD caddy for the second hard drive but i got one from asus parts.

I created a raid 1 (software, via windows 7) on the 2x 1TB hard drives for data storage so if a drive fails I still have my data. I moved mu bluray writer to a USB enclosure so I can use it if I need to write a disk or something. I rarely use the optical drive anyways.

overclocked my GPU to 700/1400 (i don't need it higher). ran Furmark for 30 minutes and GPU temp never went above 82 Celsius.

Overall I am very happy with this machine.

I also removed 2 of the 2GB memory sticks under the hard drive cover and upgraded those to 2x 4GB sticks I had from another dead laptop. now I got 12GB RAM. turned off paging file alltogether and disable hybernate feature alltogether.

 

Are you absolutely sure you want a G73? Because the G74 will be availabe by the time you're buying. Personally, I'm already wishing I had waited just a bit longer to get that far nicer keyboard and 3GB GTX560M.

 

Sounds like you have things well in hand there, congratulations on the new baby boy! I see your model had the BluRay writer also? That means for $1100 plus taxes etc you got a whale of a deal, holy smokes! That is seriously the best deal I've heard of on one of these so far, of any model that is other than the 3DE which isn't a concern with you anyway.

I see you got the idea to turn off the page file also, such as I currently do when I have an SSD in the mix, however there are some here who will rag on you for doing that, fare thee well, you know? I see no harm in doing it since I have so much active RAM, but there's always that chance that something bad will happen, I guess...I've never had it happen but there is a remote chance on having system instability I suppose....very, very remote!

As for the video card, you are underclocking the card a bit, as it easily hits 850/1500 with the appropriate shaders keyed in also, and there's no harm in doing such an overclock, at least that's what I've been doing with mine, which loves a big fat clocking job on it! Try it out a little higher and see what you think in terms of FPS in your faves games.

Skywise wrote:

"rexrzer, I already have the laptop all set up and ready - just waiting for the Vertex 3 max iops 240 GB drive. It was actually due be delivered earlier this month, but then the news broke about the bugs in the normal V3s, and I guess they delayed shipment of the MI to distributors to either fix it or ensure that it wasn't an issue. Current expected delivery is July 7th.

When I do get the SSD, I'll first connect it using the caddy, and then I'll use Paragon Drive Copy to copy my existing install to it. It supports drives with advanced format thankfully, so alignment won't be an issue. I'll swap the SSD into the primary slot, anytime upgrade to 7 Professional, and then create the dynamic disks necessary to use RAID 0."

Yes, it appears that I received one of the "buggy" Vertex 3's that got released a little bit early, it seems. Dang! OCZ is being very expeditious about replacing it, and my shipment is already on its way back to me today, will get it tomorrow they tell me. I see you're partial to Paragon software also...good for you! I never had any luck with Acronis software, and had an especially bad time with their copy product and the one that is supposed to manage GPT volumes also, what's it called...yes, Disk Director 11...had a terrible time with that utility also...I called it "impossible to use" in my review of it at Amazon.com.

OTOH Paragon software has great tech support and uniformly fantastic products in my view, and even when there is an issue there they help you pretty much the same day with detailed written responses in their tech support forum, something I couldn't get from Acronis support...they simply infuriated me and confused me more! So I've stuck with Paragon software for the past 4 years and counting, without regrets of any type. There are those who swear by Acronis but I'm not one of them.

Good luck on getting the MI OCZ drive soon, as it should be well sorted out if they actually withheld shipments because of the issues with V3 SSDs.

rexrzer727

 

For now yes. The video card that comes with it is essentially just an over clocked 460m with an extra 1.5gb vram on it. The notebook itself is still basically the same, I do think it has dual processors in it though; that could just be a rumor. At any rate, I will just OC the gpu and use it that way for now. maybe in a semester or two once people have had their hands on the g74 for a few months I will look into getting one. For now though, I am on a budget and a time frame. The faster I get a new computer the better.
Also, I prefer to wait for a little bit before buying new tech, for some reason new tech is almost always buggy for the first 6 months it is out.
Oh yeah, what makes the keyboard so much better than the g73 key board?

 

The right shift key is full size (actually a little bigger than full size... lol). Also the arrow keys are separate now so you can find them by touch.



From: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming_Powerhouse/G74SX/

 

The G74's keyboard is definitely better for layout, but the rest of the design (the back's shape and vents) i dont like as much, they should have kept the G73's more angled design.

 

meh, im not concerned with that. When I use the notebook at home I will be using separate keyboard and mouse, and my T.V. for a monitor. So the arrow keys are a novelty as far as I am concerned. Still though, that is neat. I am sure that I will more than likely end up with a G74, just not as soon as it comes out. I have that luck with new tech that says it will just be problematic for me, kind of like gardening. I will wait until I get farther along in my networking/programming classes to get a G74. 20 more days till I am officially an owner of an awesome piece of tech. These days are just dragging by...

 

I can't hit 1500 on the video RAM and keep it stable - I think I currently have it set to 1420 or so. Thankfully the 560M uses the same default memory speed, so there's no real loss in comparison.

On a different note, people might want to be aware of this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...uecrypt-sandy-bridge-problem.html#post7551580

 

I found the detailed specs I was looking for on the G73SW-XR1 the page for it is here Micro Center - ASUS G73SW-XR1 Laptop Computer - Black G73SW XR1
The same model is being sold at Fry's Electronics, and it should be noted that it DOES have a back lit keyboard, this page does not specify if it does or not.

 

@sarge Okay I'll give the reinstall a whirl. Red Valley was one of the game segments used in the 3D Mark 06 test. During the other games I was getting 25-50 FPS but when RV came on it slowed to a crawl at 1-2 FPS which seemed odd.

Disregard the keyboard issue as it turns out it was the poor lighting in my basement setting that caused some of the keys to appear faded. Much appreciation for the info and your effort in compiling the guide.