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    ASUS G73SW Owners' Lounge

    Discussion in 'ASUS Reviews and Owners' Lounges' started by Gooz, Jan 11, 2011.

  1. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    $1099 and ordered Saturday, paid for UPS 2-day ($22) and received today.
     
  2. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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    Awesome. Kinda late but oh well.

    Was thinking on waiting for dell outlet coupon to come again. Screw that, Im buying this.
     
  3. peteyfresh12

    peteyfresh12 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Does it happen too often or just enough to get by it? It might be the "lag" I was talking about, don't know any other reason.

    Could be an actual problem with HDD so I am in your shoes as well.
     
  4. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    No one ships on the weekend, so it was right on time. Like I said before, I don't like that Tiger didn't put the box inside another box, but oh well. It all worked out very nicely.
     
  5. d2tw4all

    d2tw4all Notebook Guru

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    My touchpad was pretty much unuseable so I upgraded to the latest synaptics reference driver from the synaptics site and the touchpad appears to respond to normal input fine now, however gestures aren't working well, for example dragging 2 fingers up/down to scroll is hit or miss. I'd rather have it the way it is now because at least it responds to my control to move the mouse, but it's really puzzling that the software for the touchpad could be so buggy. Is nobody else experiencing strange touchpad behavior?
     
  6. DoMzuna

    DoMzuna Notebook Geek

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    Hello guys, I have a problem.

    I´ve got G73SW (concrete - G73SW-TZ239D) with i5-2410, GTX460M and 4gigs of RAM. And few days ago, I decided to buy additional RAM (4G). I took a look to the inside and saw, that one RAM slot is missing! I´ve got one with 4GB of RAM, and second slot was just not here. MB version is G73SW so I thought every MB has 4 slots. What I´m supposed to do now? Is this RMA problem?

    Another problem is with my GPU. I OC´ed my 460m to 800/1600/1600 and 850/1700/1600.. playing without problems. But since Battlefield 3 comes up, my system is overheating and shutting down on both OC profiles, getting GPU temps to 90 degrees. Even on stock clocks is GPU on 85 degrees.. Is that usual or RMA again? Thanks for answers!
     
  7. Soulrider

    Soulrider Notebook Guru

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    I'm not familiar with your specific model but depending on the model, some of the RAM slots may be located under the keyboard. Not all slots are usually accessible via the removable panel on the bottom. I have a G373SW-A1 and it has two RAM slots accessed via the removable panel on the bottom but the other two slots are under the keyboard.
     
  8. Soulrider

    Soulrider Notebook Guru

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    Hi all,
    I've got a problem that's been happening on and off for a few weeks now. My G73SW-A1 laptop switches back and forth rapidly between AC Mode and Battery mode by itself with no intervention from me at all. It will switch back and forth very rapidly giving me either the Battery Mode or AC Mode message and icon. My first thought was that my AC adapter cord was loosely plugged in to the laptop but it's firmly plugged in. I then though that perhaps the jack is coming loose from the MOBO but there doesn't seem to be any play what so ever in the jack when plugged in. It will do this without moving the laptop or moving the cable at all. In fact, I can jiggle the AC and I can't make it do it. I would think if the jack was coming loose from the MOBO jiggling the cable would cause the problem to happen.

    Has anyone had or heard of a similar issue and if so what was the solution or does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

    I did find a thread with the same problem in a different section but there was no resolution. Here is a video from that thread on Youtube showing what mine is doing:

    Weird power problem with G73JH - YouTube

    Or, just use this if this at Youtube if this site doesn't allow full URLs:

    watch?v=JUANK9ipfWc

    Edit to add: It does now appear that moving the AC able does cause the problem to occur and/or to fix it. I can be sitting there typing away not moving the laptop at all or moving the AC cable at all and it will start happening. In some cases, the only way I can get it to stop flashing back and forth between AC Mode and Battery Mode is to move the cable around until it stops. I'm more inclined to believe it's the cable than the jack. I certainly "hope" it's the cable and not the jack. I suppose my only option is to invest in a replacement power supply and see if that solves the problem. The problem seems to be getting worse as well.
     
  9. Skywise

    Skywise Notebook Consultant

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    Switch that PSU, stat! A bad power supply/cable can damage things further down the line.
     
  10. Soulrider

    Soulrider Notebook Guru

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    If only it were the cable / power brick I'd be thrilled but at this point I'm pretty sure it's the jack. It's to the point now where only if the cable is held/propped to one side or the other (at the very base of the connector) that it stays powered up from the cable. The jack still feels rock solid. I don't feel any play what so ever in the jack when I plug the cable in yet unless held to one side it switches to battery mode.

    Now I think I'm to the point where I decide whether to spend the money on a replacement power supply/cable on the off chance that it is actually the problem or simply contact ASUS for repair which I really don't want to do. I'd really rather not let ASUS repair get a hold of my laptop if I can avoid it for fear they'll screw something else up on an other wise good machine.

    Edit to Add: Has anyone had to replace their power supply and gotten ASUS to do so under warranty and if so, done so without having to send in the laptop itself? Can anyone suggest where to get a replacement power supply other than the ASUS OEM replacement?
     
  11. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    After five days with it, I can't fault it. I did not do a clean install though I did remove a bunch of bloatware. There wasn't as much as I thought. Since I don't game, I can't comment on game performance. Why did I buy a gaming machine? Much better performance, MUCH better build and components, MUCH better cooling than typical systems.
    I've looked at the high-perf business type systems as well. Liked the procs, but all of them (Sager, ASUS) seemed to compromise on other components and cooling. I'll pay a little more (or not, great price on this box) for the extras I might not use. Photoshop does use some of the GPU and all, so it's not wasted.
    The bloody touchpad is a bit sensitive and that frustrates me a bit, but I'll get used to it. Love this machine. Sold my M1530 for half what this cost me. Woohoo!
     
  12. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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  13. ahl395

    ahl395 Ahlball

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    So after only 4 or 5 months, my G73's finish seems to be rubbing off and showing wear as many people feared in reviews :(

    And as another member said, after a few months my touchpad performance really degraded. It works ok at first and then after some use goes crazy, it scrolls and resizes things instead of just moving normally, and vise versa. Really can be a mess, only restarting the computer fixes it.

    Anyone else having either of these issues?

    Whats the chances I could send it to Asus and get the touchpad replaced and palmrest replaced?


    Most likely the Seagate ST9500420AS. :)
     
  14. Karasuryn

    Karasuryn Newbie

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    Just got my XT1 delivered tonight! Loving it so far!
     
  15. The_Snowman

    The_Snowman Notebook Consultant

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    Is it too hard to open up & see exactly what is in the one you have right there in front of you?

    You may want to go with other brands for more speed, capacity, price, features, capabilities, whatever, up to YOU :)
     
  16. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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    It is hard when u do not have the laptop with you. Was hoping to buy one so that it arrives the same day as the laptop.
     
  17. The_Snowman

    The_Snowman Notebook Consultant

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    OK, sorry if I was blunt then, not knowing the whole situation. If it was me, I would research for suitable drives, buy 2 so that I could keep the original as a backup in case something went wrong. Drives are not so expensive these days and huge capacity with great speed also, unless you want SSD, but don't think they recommended for RAID setup, good luck! :)
     
  18. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    Moleman, you keep talking about buying one from Tiger, but I've seen them go out of stock twice now. You best hurry or you'll be asking what the drive is in the G74 instead!
     
  19. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    I really wish the damn trackpad was not so bloody touchy. Sometimes screens resize or the back button is somehow pushed or... grrr.

    I'm going to disable all the additional functionality on the darn thing and see if that helps. Love the size tho.
     
  20. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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    No offense taken. Ill check out the prices for them. SSD kinda over my league at the moment. Maybe later. Thanks.

    Im trying dude lol... Waiting for my paycheck this Thursday, just blown all my cash for the Samsung Galaxy S2. Keeping my fingers crossed it stays in stock. ><
     
  21. Ras Algethi

    Ras Algethi Notebook Enthusiast

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    Question about upgrading the RAM on my G73sw-a1. First of all, I want to make sure these are the correct specs.

    Amazon.com: Corsair 8 GB DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9: Electronics

    Second, I know that 2 of the slots are located under the keyboard in a very difficult place to reach. I'm planning to just replace the 2 accessible ones under the back panel to bring my system to 12gigs(2x2gb stock+ 2x4gb). I know the system is dual channeled, if I replace the two easily accessible ones on the back will this be okay? I'm reading conflicting reports.
     
  22. d2tw4all

    d2tw4all Notebook Guru

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    I just posted on the last page about touchpad issues the same as yours and I also saw posts about it a while back. There's a little utility on the right click menu for the touchpad in the systray that lets you see what your fingers are doing on the touchpad. Oddly enough, if you watch while you use the touchpad and even when it glitches everything looks correct on the utility. That leads me to believe that the issue may not be hardware related at all since it clearly sees the touching just for some reason it's not responding. I did upgrade to the latest synaptics drivers on the synaptics site, disabled all gestures except 2 finger scrolling, and my touchpad is working a lot better than it was. I also don't understand why it used to work fine and seems to have degraded over time, and why a reboot seems to make it better for a while. I wonder if it has to do with the laptop hanging up on some processes so the touchpad driver has issues and hangs up as well. Either way I can't find ANYTHING on it online, seems like typically touchpads are bulletproof. Let me know if you find anything out...
    Tom


     
  23. Soulrider

    Soulrider Notebook Guru

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    Well, it looks like my problem with my G73SW-A1 is the AC jack and not the adapter as I'd hoped. The machine was cycling back and forth between battery and AC mode and would only stay on AC mode if you held the cable right at the jack in just the right position. I bought a new adapter and while it seemed to work better for a few days it's back to not working virtually at all unless you hold it in just the right spot. I really didn't want to have to send the laptop in to ASUS for repair but it looks like I have no choice now.

    I'm not happy with ASUS quality. I've had several laptop both for work and home and used to work on them. I know DC jacks can be a problem so I'm always extra careful with mine and have never had an issue with a DC jack until now and the unit is less than 6 months old. I suppose it could just be the odd bad one. I'm sort of surprised they haven't come up with a better solution for AC jacks by now.
     
  24. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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    Paycheck came in and the sale was still on! I'll be a proud owner of a G73SW in about 4 days!! wohoo! Cant wait!
     
  25. hyrule4927

    hyrule4927 Notebook Consultant

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    Hello everyone. Haven't been around in a little while because my classes are killing me. But I did have a little bit of time to play around with the overvolting VBIOS from this thread:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...modified-overvolting-vbios-gtx460m-g73sw.html

    Let's just say I'm quite pleased. Managed 860/1720/1580, which netted me 16259 in 3DMark06. Gaming seems stable up to 840/1680/1580 (except for Crysis, which seems to be allergic to OC in general) and I'm sure I could push the VRAM some more, I just don't have the time for that lovely process of slowly increasing and testing at the moment.

    Temps seem to stay under 80 while gaming, but I'm thinking about picking up a cooling pad if I want to keep utilizing this OC. Trying to pick between the following . . .

    Newegg.com - Cooler Master SF-19 Notebook Cooler Model SGA-4000-KKNF1

    Newegg.com - NZXT Black Aluminum Notebook cooler w/ 3 120mm adjustable fans Model CRYO-001B

    Tough choice. The Cooler Master seems to have better fan placement in relation to the G73's air vents, and it also seems better designed for passive cooling when I don't turn the fans on. But it also looks a bit cheap.

    NZXT looks to be far better quality, and although the fans aren't as close to the vents, it seems like they'd focus a lot of air to the back, where the G73 gets the hottest.

    That RAM should be fine, and dual channel should work perfectly if you replace those two. I think I found the same thing on Newegg with a rebate to save you a bit:

    Newegg.com - CORSAIR 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9

    Did you ever figure out your hybrid drive issues? My best guess would be that it is due to the drive's firmware and out of your control.
     
  26. Ras Algethi

    Ras Algethi Notebook Enthusiast

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    ^Hey Hyrule, nice to see you back. No, I've just been putting up with the hard drive. Not sure what to do.

    Ok, I'll go ahead and order the RAM then. I was just worried because I read some conflicting things about the dual channel not working correctly if I just replace the two accessible slots on the back with 4GB each. As far as removing the old sticks, do I just pry them out? Is there anything to remove/unclip, etc? I don't want to damage anything.

    Any drawbacks to overvolting the GPU?
     
  27. Skywise

    Skywise Notebook Consultant

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    Ram slots just use standard side clips. It should be fairly obvious how to remove the sticks.

    As for overvolting disadvantages, it will make the GPU run hotter. Even though it my clock higher initially, the GPU may hit the temperature ceiling earlier and throttle or crash. Overvolting will also make the GPU wear out faster through a phenomenon called electromigration, but for all points and purposes the GPU will probably be obsolete by the time that happens. A more real issue is that the added heat can dry out certain types of heatsink compound over time, making the cooling less efficient, and thus you get overheating again.

    Oh yeah, and more voltage will lead to a shorter battery life, but who cares about that on this laptop, really? :)
     
  28. chompy_the_goat

    chompy_the_goat Newbie

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    hey guys i'm thinking about selling my g73sw xt1. I was wondering, how can i restore the machine to its factory condition so that it deletes everything. Also, i consolidated the hard drive partitions into one so i dunno if this is gonna cause a problem if i try to restore.

    any advice?
     
  29. hyrule4927

    hyrule4927 Notebook Consultant

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    Well, decided to get the Cooler Master SF19 cooling pad. Realized that the NZXT has an AC plug, but is still USB powered, so that pretty much took it off my list, leaving the SF19 as my only option. The last thing I want is cooling dependent on the amount of power my USB ports can output (which doesn't seem to be very much, considering that my mouse stops working when I plug in a flash drive next to it). It isn't the prettiest thing, but it seems to be the only cooler on the market that meets my needs. Anyway, it's coming next week, and I'm pretty excited to see how well it cools during some extensive overvolt testing.

    In other news, less than a month until Skyrim comes out! That game is the main reason I bought this laptop, so I'm pretty pumped. Hopefully the GTX460M will be up to the task, I'll be running as close to max settings as I can get.

    Thanks!

    Looks like your hard drive problems are firmware related:
    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9209863/Users_frustrated_with_Seagate_s_next_gen_hybrid_drive

    It might be worth trying the newest firmware from Seagate, no guarantee of improvement, but you could give it a shot:
    http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=215451

    I haven't replaced my RAM (waiting for a really good deal on 16GB) but I believe you just have to loosen the little clips on the side of the module, tilt it to a 45 degree angle, and pull it out. I'm not 100% sure about the clips though, I'll have to open mine up and take a look (I'm at work right now). :p

    As for overvolting, it increases your overclocking potential at the cost of higher temperatures and decreased system stability. Extended GPU stress will often lead to shutdown, even if your temperatures are in a safe range. I haven't tested long enough to observe this in my system, but there was definitely inconsistent performance. My new max overclock boosted my 3DMark06 score from 14090 on stock clocks to 16259. I tested several games for 10 to 20 minutes each, and during that time Far Cry 2 and Crysis Warhead showed flawless improvement in performance, the original Crysis performed far worse than at stock clocks, and Metro 2033 and a heavily modded copy of Oblivion showed rather insignificant performance improvements. My max gaming GPU temperature also increased from 73C to 79C. So, overvolting results are definitely a mixed bag, and I'll have to keep testing to see if the temps go higher or I get any crashes. I bought the cooler I mentioned earlier because I would rather not run the overvolt and overclock during extended stress without some extra thermal management.

    I wouldn't worry about the partitions (provided it only came with data on one of them), one partition is fine and the buyer can make more if they want. As for restoring to factory settings, hopefully you made recovery disks or your laptop came with them? Otherwise you'll be better off just doing a fresh Windows install, which I'd say is better for the buyer than returning it to factory settings anyway.
     
  30. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    Good deal Moleman! You'll love it! At least I do. All except for the overly sensitive trackpad. I am beginning to realize even that is my problem. My large palms rub against the sides as I type, often causing the problems I have. Also, the full size keyboard I just HAD to have forces my hands off to one side, which also causes me to brush the trackpad. All in learning to use a new box, I guess. But I have zero complaints about the machine itself!
     
  31. Ras Algethi

    Ras Algethi Notebook Enthusiast

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    I wasn't thinking about getting skyrim for the PS3. I can't wait for Diablo 3 though, supposedly its out first quarter 2012.
     
  32. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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    had some issues with tigerdirect regarding my credit card. Bought the A1 model instead. I like the trackpad, more responsive compared to my dell. Will be using the mouse 97% of the time though.

    Laptop came in like 2 hours ago(Thank God no dead pixel). Trying to do a fresh install... if only i can get it to frickin boot through the disc. Burning my second iso now.

    edit
    checking revealed that 3 stickers were removed from the left corner. I have the windows 7, intel and nvidia sticker only. Marks shows 4 stickers were removed. Im not sure why.... hmmmm...
     
  33. NorCalAl

    NorCalAl Notebook Enthusiast

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    That's the only three stickers I had. On the right side, there was some other ASUS sticker, but that's gone. What is the difference between the A1 and XT? I don't see much given the specs you list.
     
  34. moleman4eva

    moleman4eva Notebook Geek

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    almost identical.
    Difference are
    1. Price (obviously lol)
    2. Hard drive ( x2 hybrid hdds)
    3. You get the bag and mouse.

    Nothing else. Would prefered the tigerdirect deal but I had no choice. Oh well.

    btw Im loving this laptop man. Did a clean install. Installed crysis and had some fun. everything maxed and I got 20-36 fps.
     
  35. hyrule4927

    hyrule4927 Notebook Consultant

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    Well, the Cooler Master SF-19 came today. I didn't have time for extensive testing, but I did manage 5 minutes of Furmark without exceeding 70 degrees on the GPU, so I'm pretty impressed. Only problem was the ridiculous amount of vibration exhibited by the cooler at any speed over 30%. Not to be discouraged, I took it apart and used electrical tape to cover any surface that could possibly rattle against another surface and transfer vibration. I'd say this modification cut the noise and vibration of the cooler in half, so now I'm pretty happy with my lovely low temperatures.

    The last thing I need to sort out before I'm completely satisfied with my temperatures will be a CPU repaste. 92 degrees Celsius during the CPU test in 3DMark06 and 100 degrees after mere seconds of Prime 95 calls for more than just a cooling pad. So, I plan on repasting my CPU just as soon as my warranty runs out (or sooner if I get impatient). Of course my CPU might just be screwed up to start with. I've never had noticable performance issues, gaming temperatures usually don't exceed the mid 80's, I idle in the low 40's, but then I'll see 90 degree temps during Windows updates and program installs, very odd.
     
  36. Ras Algethi

    Ras Algethi Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well I got my RAM and installed it. Everything went smoothly. WEI didn't change, as it still shows 7.6 for memory, but I didn't expect it too.
     
  37. Ras Algethi

    Ras Algethi Notebook Enthusiast

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  38. steelblueskies

    steelblueskies Notebook Geek

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    repaste. removing old thermal interface material or TIM, usually an aluminum based grease nowadays in stock setups. intended to fill microscopic air gaps between the heat sink/copper transfer plate/ transfer plate of a phase change copper heat pipe assembly, and the top of the cpu/gpu/ vram/ or whatever the current equivalent of the northbridge+southbridge ic's of yesteryear's plastic /ceramic/metal chip package. this is done to maximize contact area, and improve conduction of thermal energy through the heat sink/ heat pipe to someplace that isn't the chips themselves.

    in the olden p200 days on through the pentium 4 era the tim material was commonly a white paste of zinc oxide( which amusingly is the same main compound in antifungal cream o_O). better stuff for enthusiasts nowadays is either silver or diamond/refined pure carbon. (see arctic silver, or innovative cooling diamond/ icdiamond respectively).

    differing materials in pastes can transfer thermal energy at differing rates, but generally as they are all particulate matter mixed with binder even the best TIM thermal efficiency cannot compare to the thermal conduction of say solid copper. therefore if factories inexpertly glob it on in heaps the TIM can form a crust around the chip die, or a too thick layer between chip and heat spreader - at which point in time it can actually act as an insulator of heat.

    not to mention silver and aluminum are very conductive, and if it is inexpertly globbed on can potentially dry and fragment under heating expansion/cooling contraction cycles over long periods of time and result in chunks or powder of paste shorting things nearby.

    so to achieve a good clean installation, potentially with a better thermally conductive material, some choose to remove old TIM or paste from the factory clean up the area and reapply some on their own. this gives them peace of mind in knowing the state of things with that aspect of their system, and if properly done in place of a poor factory job, can also enhance the cooling systems efficiency resulting in lower temperatures.

    any questions ras?

    and to the rest of you feel free to chime in if that wasn't good enough ;)
     
  39. rexrzer727

    rexrzer727 Notebook Deity

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    With laptops it's best to repaste both CPU and GPU at the same time, and that includes all the sensors and tabs for the sensors both. I generally completely clean out the entire notebook's lower cavity, after carefully removing all the electrical items, heat sinks, CPU and GPU screws and fittings, and storing them safely close by in an anti-static environment.

    I see that key word wasn't mentioned during the last post, so I assure any of you thinking of disassembling this lappy that you need to be grounded, on an anti-static work surface, preferably with an Apple style/XLR8-style/Crucial memory issue grounding strap: these literally have a snap-on/off clip system which you can wear on either wrist, and they terminate into a 3-prong plug which installs into your handy-dandy wall socket or Class III grounding post, like any good quality 4-6-8-prong/outlet extension system has. *Wear a grounding strap like your life depended on it*, as the notebook's life does depend on it 100%!!

    Cleaning substances can be acetyl alcohol (instant evaporation) or denatured alcohol (near-instant evap and 110% pure, no H20 in the mixture), or even something commercial like the things you can buy at Amazon.com, Fry's, or even Newegg.com: cleaners such as Artic's two-container system, one for cleaning and the other for prepping the surfaces for the TIM right before you apply it.

    As for TIM application there are many "theories" and that's all they are other than the universal agreement that "to err on the side of too little is best" when it comes to how much you actually put down on the contact surfaces. I personally do *not* recommend the high-metallic compounds for notebooks', either GPU or CPU surface sensors, the dies, or any other fitting that needs insulation. That is dangerous! It can be done to perfection and if done right is a superior method, with silver or hyper-kinetic thermal metals (carbon, boron, diamond crushed, precious stones or various sorts of metallic conductive spirits and compounds).

    However for the layman, and most shop personnel at tech centers for the various manufacturers we speak about all the time here, it's best to go with tried and true compounds like MX-2-4-5-6, any of the Artic-type non-metallic compounds, there's a dozen or more that offer the basic same benefits: XLNT insulation and heat transference abilities between electronics and copper heat sinks. Plus they are generally easier to operate with for the average Joe who is working on his computer for, perhaps, the 1st time (!), or who will have limited contact doing such things now or forever.

    The "art" of the process comes in when you can actually "SEE" a huge difference between former and post-TIM replacement usage of a notebook, or desktop for that matter, and those results can be dramatic in scope. When I did my last TIM-job on my G51JX-A1 Asus notebook, I measured a solid 10-15-degrees C difference *to the good* (it ran much cooler) across the board, and the notebook just loved it! Cooler temps= better performance, and there's no better way to discuss it than to quantify such findings with accurate measurements before and after TIM-replacement sessions.

    That's all I have to add about the subject, others should continue the discussion from their perspective, and experiences...Rock On, new TIM!

    rexrzer727-- :cool:
     
  40. hyrule4927

    hyrule4927 Notebook Consultant

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    Well, to continue the repaste discussion, I repasted my GPU with IC Diamond about 2 months ago (actually did it twice in two days after stupidly not repasting my VRAM modules the first time around) and have been very happy with my results. Combine the repaste with my new cooling pad, and I was able to play Crysis Warhead for an hour or so while running 840/1680/1580 with .962 V VBIOS and my max GPU temp was 68 degrees C. If I tried that when I first bought my laptop, I guarantee the temperature would have been in the mid 90's. So the results are definitely impressive.

    Probably wasn't as cautious as I should have been when I disassembled my G73, but it luckily hasn't come back to bite me yet. Really wish I had repasted the CPU after going through all that trouble, but the warranty sticker scared me off. Tempted to take care of the CPU next time I get some time home from university though . . .

    Amazing how addicting the hunt for more performance is. Tempted to try upgrading to a 2760QM (since a GPU swap is sadly out of the question), but if I was going to blow $400, I know I'd be better off selling the G73 and putting that money towards something with a 6990M or GTX580M. Hopefully financial responsibility will prevail and prevent me from any such course of action. :p
     
  41. Soulrider

    Soulrider Notebook Guru

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    Well, an update. I had been having intermittent trouble with my power jack on my G73SW-A1. It finally failed all together.

    I called ASUS, explained my problem and got an RMA number. On October 17th I shipped the laptop to ASUS for repair. I got the laptop back today Wednesday the 26th. So, about a week and a half including shipping to get it repaired. The repair was covered by the warranty and ASUS covered the return shipping. I just paid for the shipping to ASUS in CA. The laptop was well packaged for the return shipping. They didn't however return my retail box I had shipped the laptop to them in (inside another box with packing) but oh well. I'll hang on to the box and packing material in case I need any repairs in the future.

    I hope the power jack repair lasts the lifetime of the laptop. I'm very careful with power jacks since I'm aware they are a frequent failure point. I wish they would change the design so the power jacks in general were much more securely attached to the mother boards. I'm thinking of getting one of those 90 degree adapters for the power cord. I think something like that might take some of the stress off the existing power jack. I wish the OEM power cord had a 90 degree connector on it.

    I just had to put back in the Vertex 3 120GB SSD and the Optiarc blu ray writer I had removed for shipping. I had put the OEM HD with stock OS and blu ray combo drive in for shipping just so ASUS wouldn't have any reason to deny the warranty repair. I know those items should have nothing to do with the power jack failing but I didn't want to give them any ideas. Now that those items are back in everything seems to be working fine. I really didn't want to let ASUS repair get their hands on my laptop but I didn't have any choice in the matter. I just hope they didn't mess anything up.
     
  42. d2tw4all

    d2tw4all Notebook Guru

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    I can't say from direct experience, by overall I wouldn't have expected them to "repair" your faulty power jack. Typically for warranty repairs such as this, they simply replace the entire motherboard. I wouldn't expect you to have the same problem recur assuming that is what they did. Generally speaking, it would be very risky on their part to do a warranty repair and actually solder/service the motherboard directly. It's just not worth the time/risk vs. swapping mainboard out and shipping defective mainboard back to where it came from...

    Tom
     
  43. Muzz.ca

    Muzz.ca Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi all - I have a new keyboard cover I've never used as I ended up returning my G73SW-A1 for a '74. Anyone interested in making use of it can drop me a line and I'll mail it out to you n/c.

    ASUS G73SW-XA1 Nano Silver Keyboard Skin Protector

    ____________________________________________________

    edit Nov 7: no takers so I'm donating to a local computer shop
     
  44. ravivarsani

    ravivarsani Notebook Geek

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    In MSI Afterburner ive got my gpu settings at 800/1600/1395, there are no errors occuring, but the 1 hour test does not complete because the temp gets to 85 and it closes after about 17 minutes, is it ok to still keep using these settings?
     
  45. chochanga

    chochanga Notebook Enthusiast

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    how's the latest nvidia drivers working? the 285.62. Anybody had any problems? any suggestion?
     
  46. hyrule4927

    hyrule4927 Notebook Consultant

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    I haven't had any problems exactly, but my benchmark scores dropped a bit, so I reverted to 280.26. Guess I'll see what happens with the next driver. Unfortunately the newer drivers are much more focused on the 500 series GPUs.
     
  47. ahl395

    ahl395 Ahlball

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    I'm using them and played BF3 without any problems. Though I did no comparison testing.

    85 is an acceptable tempuature (you want below 90C), although high for this notebook. I am OC'd to 815/1630/1480 with a max temp of 75C.

    Is your room tempuature high? Also, make sure your vents are all cleaned out :)
     
  48. ravivarsani

    ravivarsani Notebook Geek

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    my room temperature isnt hot or anything, idle gpu temperature is 40 -45 degrees. should i be able to complete the 1 hour test? how much time minimum should i let the test run?
     
  49. auduni

    auduni Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi there! I'm thinking about upgrading the memory on my G73SW-91149V and since I'm not too technical as a person I wanted to ask what is the best type of memory for this pc? Does the motherboard support 1600MHz RAM? And is 16 GB max for this model? Recommendations would be appreciated. Sorry if my questions are noobish, but I've met very helpful people here before so I thought I might give it a go again. ;)

    A
     
  50. ravivarsani

    ravivarsani Notebook Geek

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    can anyone also help me with throttlestop, my multiplier is showing 10 x 99mhz, and when running prime95 or using OCCT cpu test, the core speed doesnt reach anywhere near 2ghz. i have changed the multiplier in throttlestop to "turbo" will this be ok? the processor seems to be running better now, the recommended multiplier is 20 for the 2630qm 2.0ghz model, so should i set it to 20x instead or leave it on turbo?
     
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