Asus N550JV - user review and owners lounge

So has anyone tried the new Realtek sound driver? Asus put a new one up on the 23rd

 

Has anyone tried a high-end game like Battlefield 3/4 or Crysis 3 on one of these? I saw crysis 3 on the 17 inch model on youtube, on medium settings it wasn't break 20 fps. I'm wondering how well it could play games like those in your experience. I am looking into upgrading my laptop and don't want to go with the ideapads because they seem to have big heating issues and Asus is good with those.

 

For those of you who are experiencing the keyboard problem (keys like Z, B, N, Space, Enter, ↓ ,↑ not working for limited periods of time) I'm afraid I found the root cause... and it's not good news because it's hardware related.

Short story:
I seem to have fixed the keyboard problem by changing the keyboard cable position away from the battery (normally it stays under it). It will take some time to tell if this is a real fix or just a random occurrence.

Long story:
After my keyboard started again to behave badly on Friday in what seemed to be the longest period of time those keys worked erratically, I decided to try and do something about it. Since previous owners of Asus 13" Ultrabooks reported problems with the way their keyboard cable was attached to the motherboard, I opened up the laptop and took a look. In order to get to the keyboard cable one needs to remove the battery, which is quite easy - three screws need to be removed.

The cable itself looked in good shape and well attached, but the way the battery pressed on the end of the cable puzzled me a bit. I took the cable out and inserted it back in to make sure the connection is secure. I put the battery back and turned on the unit only to discover the keyboard problem had got worse: the above mentioned keys did not work at all anymore. After a few unsuccessful attempts of improving the connection i tried turning on the unit without the battery inside and surprise... the keys worked. Put the battery back in and the keys stopped working. Mind you, I'm talking only about the selected keys mentioned above, the others worked fine all the time.

This got me pretty convinced there is something wrong with the way the battery is pressing against the cable right near the connector (it presses down on the cable and might to pull it away from the connector), so I placed the battery back with the cable mounted on the connector but pulled out and bent in the opposite direction (over the RAM dimms).

Ever since this mod the keyboard works just fine, but time will tell if it's only some random occurrence or it's an effective fix.

 

Absolutely no problem with Battlefield 3, plus you can optimize the game graphics with NVIdia GeForce Experience (it will set the graphics on medium-low and 1600x900).

 

I have just recently bought 550jv without OS (BIOS 206) and installed Win 8.1.

Everything went fine, I've installed some essential stuff like latest nvidia drivers (331.58), realtek (2013/10/23 from asus), ATK and touchpad. I didn't have to install wifi drivers for the Atheros AR9485, because it worked just ok, until I tried downloading some torrents. It would just repeatedly lose connection after a minute or so under 2MB/s of torrent download speed (but I was able to download content from my NAS at 10MB/s before). I've decided to install the driver from asus (2013.10.12 - it's even in the 8.1 section), but after the installation started I got BSOD citing some gfx issue. After restart there was the legendary 43 code by nvidia 750m. I have tried installing Atheros driver again and it went just fine and I was able to download my daily torrent dosis without any problems. Updating BIOS from 206 to 207 resolved code 43.

A few hours later I wanted to restart my notebook, but it had to install the windows updates (45! but yeah, most of them were related to office 2013), well, ok, why not. But after it went back I couldn't connect to my home network - it didn't even show up in the wifi network selection menu. I thought that the win updates could have broken the driver somehow, so I uninstalled AR9485 and tried installing the drivers from asus site again, but I got the same BSOD as before and nvidia had 43 code. So this can be easily repeated. The most interesting thing is that I still couldn't connect to my netowrk after this driver reinstallation.

DO NOT INSTALL WIFI DRIVER FROM ASUS WIN 8.1 SECTION
I also wouldn't recommend installing 10.0.0.263 from atheros.cz as this is exactly the same verison

Now I am trying to install AR9485 driver from http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS037336

UPD: lenovo driver installed without issues and it connected to my network.
I restored my 750m by reflashing 207 BIOS (you have launch WinFlash with /nodate option)

 

I am playing bf 3 multiplayer with these settings:

Res 1600*900
Anisotropic 2x
Antialiasing post High
Effects Ultra
Graphics Custom
Mesh Low
Shadow Medium
Terrain/Texture low

Fps going from 60 to 30 ... totaly good for my needs ( and that is with base cocks of 1150 / 900 ... with my OC 1250/1100 it will be better )

 

I had no problem with the Atheros drivers in the 8.1 section, although right now I'm using the drivers which come with Windows Update.

There are several cases of people reporting random disconnects and maybe difficulties when connecting, but i have experienced none of these issues my unit - mine too came without OS. The wireless connects instantly and I have yet to see a disconnect.

Could there be some compatibility issue between the Atheros card and some wireless routers?

 

Have you installed them before or after nvidia driver (it was after here)? Why have you reverted back to the windows ones?

I don't thinks so because lenovo driver works flawlessly (5MB/s from torrents, 10 MB/s from NAS without disconnects for hours).

 

I installed it after I read your information but yea, it's a new driver, what do you want to know?
The only thing I could see was that the MaxxAudio is now always installed and you don't have to delete a file so it gets installed.

Apart from that there also new drivers for the touchpad and Asus Console/Splendid/LiveUpdate/InstantKey have got new versions.

 

Ok, I've got a disconnect now. Changing transmit buffers from 512 to 256 seem to have resolved the issue. So some router incompatibility is quite probable.

 

Thanks. If I wanted to play it at medium at full HD 1080p could I keep it above 30 fps? Do you think the same will be true for battlefield 4?

 

After the nvidia driver. I reverted because all I wanted to check was power consumption, I would rather use drivers available via Windows Update unless some clear benefit is presented.

 

Ive been looking at laptops for a month now, had narrowed it down to this one, mostly. I like the look, size and specs. my one gaming concern is that I would like it to run civ 5 at 1080p. I wouldnt have a problem turning down the settings to keep the hd res. Also today i noticed the new dell inspiron 15 7000. It looks really nice as well. The highest configuration gets you i7 4500u, 256g mata ssd, geforce 750m ddr5, 16 gigs ram for 1199. Not available till dec though. Uhg. I still might go with the asus if it fits my civ 5 needs.

 

The new dell is the only laptop i know that carries 750m ddr5 except the lenovos..

 

i think also the new macbook pro will have a 750m ddr5..

 

If Javier or anyone else could comment more on your 1080p gaming experiences on this let me know. I have a newegg gift card expiring soon and might use it on this

 

For playing at 1080p you should aim for the ddr5 version of the 750m. The Inspiron 15 7000 looks really nice but it only comes with a dual core CPU. This should be enough for most FPS games but anything with intensive AI activity might be a problem (Civ5 for example). Even if Dell activates the so called "cTDP up" for the i7 4500U (that is likely but should be checked in reviews) you should still decide if a dual core is enough for your gaming needs. With cTDP up active the CPU will be allowed to work at higher frequencies, making it an effective 3Ghz+ dual core CPU.

I for one am impressed by the new Inspiron 7000 line, but I still believe reviews are mandatory before pulling the trigger. The missing optical drive and medium sized battery (58Wh) should leave enough room for a proper cooling assembly, so early signs are promising.

 

So far the gamming experience is quite good. I have never been a hard core gamer, neither it laptop was bought for this purpouse. For Casual playing basic "university"games such as DOTA 2 , FIFA and so on, you can go full graphic details and FULL HD ressolution. For more demanding games, such as Guild wars 2, Skyrim, you need to take down settings to medium, or res to HD+. Even FPS games like BF3 are running w/o problems on HD+ and medium set ( AVG of 35-40 fps ).

You need to take into account, that this laptop is not meant for gamming. It is a multimedia laptop and it does it´s very good.

So far for scores, it goes for 1800 in Firestrike, and 3050 in 3dmark 11 with +100 OC on core and +200 on memory.

 

With nVidia GeForce Experience I play Skyrim + HD textures + static mesh improvement at 1080p and medium-high details @ 30-40fps. I was surprised too since notebookcheck obtained lesser results during the tests.
BF3 as said before runs well at 900p and medium-low details (settings chosen by nVidia too). I guess it could be possible to push the settings a little more, but I'm good with the default ones.

Concernig the Dell laptop, beware that the processor i7 4200U is a dual-core ultra-low voltage, I wouldn'r recommend it for gaming or heavy computing.

 

The manufacturer can configure an ultra-low voltage CPU to work with a different TDP if enough cooling power is available. For example previous generation Ivy Bridge ULT CPUs had 17W TDP but were also guranteed by Intel for a 33W TDP, with higher operating frequencies. Some details can be found here.

 

Even ULV processor is good enough for gamming. ( Casual , after all gt750m belongs to that segment)

The only fact that matters is, if it can hold up it´s turbo boost. If it can run on stable turbo boost ( 2,5ghz + ), it will be fine. If it won´t use TB while GFX will be under load too, it can be be a huge problem while gaming. But those things can be revealed only in reviews

 

Do you mind trying battlefield 3 at 1080p and see what framerates you get? I have a gift card that expires soon and was thinking about pulling the trigger on this laptop. Battlefield games would be the most intense thing I'd play, otherwise mostly things on steam sales and starcraft 2 which is what I play now

 

1080p wont be a nice experience especially online.

 

The messia is here, Last version of notefancontrol fully working. Config file for N550JV is already included. A little jewel of a software. You can fully control your fan and make it start up with Windows.

[Vorstellung] NoteBook FanControl (NBFC) - ComputerBase Forum

 

I'd like to see someone try seems like it'd be easy enough. I saw some people do it with 650m and it seemed passable if you kept settings low online. So with 750m I'd imagine it couldn't be too bad.

 

Yup, had it for 10 days for testing purposes and it's awesome(I'm active there for some years).
This thing finally goes silent.
Made one profile for real silent use and one so it just shuts up and doesn't spin the fan until the end of days.

 

Ok, I tested 64 players on Seine Crossing.

1080p:
- High: mostly around 24 FPS, you don't want to play like this
- Medium: nearly no gain to 26 FPS

May be better with memclock overclocked.

900p:
- High: 34-40 FPS, playable!

1366x768:
- High: 40-45 FPS!

So yeah that's it.

 

Thanks, I'd appreciate it if you tried it at low as well on 1080p.

 

Thing is, this guy with the inferior asus q550 with an ULV cpu and a 745m is getting above 30 fps on medium and 1080p on caspian border, a huge map Asus Q550LF GTX 745M playing battlefield 3 - YouTube

 

Another thing, which can cause nvidia code 43 is killing XtuService.exe (the first one was Atheros driver for Win 8.1).

Makes no sense to me, but maybe it will help someone.

UPD: I forgot to mention that I've also killed nvxdsync.exe before XtuService.exe, so maybe code 43 is no surprise, but... I would understand some BSOD, but why block the whole device.

BTW, there is some new (2013/10/28) nvidia driver on asus support page. But in fact it's at least two major versions behind and seems to be just a simple copy of C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\...\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\International\Display.Driver, no bonuses added.

 

There is absolutely no need for manufacturer GPU drivers in this notebook's case much like for most of the other drivers.
I have installed the newest Intel and Nvidia drivers from their respective sites and everything is fine.

 

Does the new realtek sound driver still have the static/white noise problem?

 

Morv would you be able to try 1080p at low? Watching a video of someone getting over 30+ on medium at 1080p on a 745m makes me confused as to why 750m can't do it

 

Yes it does. And it's definitely driver problem because I've even tried manually installing the driver without running the installer.

The funniest thing is last night, in a silent room, with the fans turned off... I began hearing static noise from the speakers
This is not related to the realtek driver since it's no longer installed.

 

GDDR5 memory instead of our DDR3 maybe? The memory type and clock is important for resolution stuff.

Though, I just switched the settings in game and took a look on the FPS and I don't know if I maybe need to join the server again because of things that can't be changed in a running mp game maybe? Maybe it needs to reload some things after changing the settings.
I'll look into it later the day, haven't got time now.

 

What about headphones? I don't hear any noise from them without the realtek driver.

 

What about them? The static noise in the speakers was there to begin with, just concealed by the fans.

 

How loud are your guys' hard drives? With my fan off, it sounds like my fans are still running pretty fast because this hard drive is so noisy...and never really turns off either.

 

So, I checked BF3 FullHD on low: mostly over 40 FPS, Caspian Border and Seine Crossing.

Also, has your buddy used the presets or did he tweak the configuration? I only tested the presets.

Can't hear mine and never heard it being louder than the fans.
It's a HGST drive so I guess you have one of another producer.

 

Not really my buddy, just a guy I saw on Youtube Asus Q550LF GTX 745M playing battlefield 3 - YouTube

He used the presets. I'm kind of impressed by his performance, I'm pretty sure the 745m is gddr3 and that's a ULV cpu on it too.

That being said the asus n550 went out of stock on newegg last night and my gift card expires in a few days >_>. Maybe I'll give the q550 a shot if it goes on sale...

 

Has anyone had problems with erratic cursor movements while typing?
I am finding the cursor will jump around weirdly if I am typing fast.

 

I had this problem, but that was because I wasn't used to this big touchpad. It's usually just accidentally touching the touchpad while typing. I think there is a setting somewhere to disable touchpad while typing?

 

Thanks for replying. I just came back to say that I realized that the problem may be that the touchpad sensitivity was set too high. I actually wasn't touching the touchpad; it just sensed the vibrations or something. Anyway, I was able to select an option to 'disable touchpad while typing', and so far that seems to have solved the problem.

 

I removed the Realtek drivers and switched to Intel to see if it would solve the static, but I still get static with the Intel driers. I wanted to switch back to Realtek because when I plug in my line out, my mic gets disabled.

But now, when I install the realtek driers from the Asus site, I don't have the Realtek HD Audio manager any longer. Any know know where I can find it?


Regards

 

Huzzah, another N550 went in stock on newegg, the touchscreen model for not too much more. Why not have a touchscreen anyway... Newegg.com - ASUS N550JV-DB72T Intel Core i7 4700HQ(2.40GHz) 8GB Memory 1TB HDD 15.6" Touchscreen Notebook Windows 8 64-Bit

 

I did a search but couldn't find an answer or any posts regarding my issue. I've recently been having touchpad issues, where the cursor would just move in random motions and registering left and right click when I use the touchpad. This would happen from time to time only and once it happens, it won't stop until I put it to sleep and turning it back on or restarting. Anyone else experiencing this same issue? Also to note, this happened in both Windows 8 and 8.1.

 

For those of you with this laptop, do you recommend going touch? Never had a touch laptop before.

 

I haven't had a laptop for 4 years, I've been using a nexus 7 tablet when not on my desktop. I recently tried a friends 15" laptop to see if i liked the size and found myself touching the screen all of the time. I will be using my next laptop actually on my lap and I hate touchpads, so a touch screen seems a good fit for me, at least for browsing. Plus I prefer glossy screens.
.

 

I just received my laptop. Beautiful screen! I didn't want glossy but it looks amazing. Great touchpad sensitivity (and I came from a Mac) and keyboard. I do have some questions, though.

1. I know people were reporting that they could barely hear their models, but I can always hear my fans in the background. Is this normal?
2. My touchpad is misaligned, which I know is a common complaint. But both my bottom left and right sides of the touchpad don't work. When I press on them, the touchpad bends quite a bit but nothing happens. In fact, the whole bottom half of the touchpad feels kind of flimsy when I put any pressure on it. Do others have this issue to the same extent?
3. The button on the left that is supposed to open the Asus Console opens Windows Media Player instead. I had a new harddrive installed when I ordered my laptop so I figure this is why. Does anyone know how to get the Asus console? And then, how to reassign the key?

I'd really appreciate any feedback!


To answer the question above me: I got the touchscreen model but only because getting the matte version was taking too long and I needed a laptop asap. Funnily enough, I haven't used the touchscreen yet and I haven't felt compelled to. It still feels unnatural to me to be reaching out to my laptop. I don't think touch is essential for Windows 8, just a nice bonus. Also, this laptop is quite large, so I don't think I'll find myself in the position where I lay in bed and feel the need to use the touchscreen too often (which seems to be the most convenient use of touch to me right now lol) but we'll see. I'll play around with it in time and hopefully get back to you!

 

Yes, the fans are audible in a silent room. The common agreement was that while they are always on and audible, their sound signature is quite balanced, meaning one can easily get used to it. However, if you're still using the HDD it came with, some of the noise might come from the drive as well.

The good news is now we have a software fix for the fans. Notebook Fan Control works like a charm and will keep fans turned off while the unit is under low load. Read the forum a few pages back for basic instructions.

Both left and right bottom sides should behave like buttons with a distinct click noise. I'm afraid you touchpad was not properly mounted.

Look for ASUS InstantKey Utility. If it's installed run and configure, if not install from Asus site.