Asus N550JV - user review and owners lounge

Hello all!

I installed win 7 to see if it would solve my problem, wich was not the case. Anyway it's done now and I will use win 7 a bit longer until I now how to put back win 8 (as I don't have a win 8 dvd and formated the HDD. I think I have installed the drivers correctly but I'm not shure.

Is there a place or a link to all the correct Win 7 drivers for this pc? I can't make the keyboard backliting to work (fn + f3-f4), neather the volume (fn + f11-f12). Under win 7 the fans are always working also (he's always making some noise) and I think under win 8 this was not the case... I'm not shure what I'm looking for here.

Thanks on advance. The answer is probably on this forum already but I can't find it.

 

Also what RAM specs can I use if I buy 2x 8GB chips to upgrade to 16GB? Guess maybe that could wait if go for the SSD. Any good SSD lists for this machine? I want 500GB, I think 256 isn't worth it.

 

Received my N550JK yesterday afternoon and been playing with it last night and today and here are my short/quick findings so far.



Model is ASUS N550JK-DS71T and it comes with these spec as default
- Windows 8.1
- FULLHD 1920x1080 IPS Touchscreen model LG Philips LGD0323/LP156WF4-SPB1
- Intel Core i7-4700HQ Haswell
- Geforce GTX 850M DDR3 2GB Maxwell GM107M
- Intel HD Graphics 4600 w/ OPTIMUS
- 8GB DDR3 Hynix brand single stick
- 1TB HDD 5400RPM Seagate ST1000LM024
- Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 AC 2x2 - SURPRISE SURPRISE!!! Comes with the Intel 7260 AC as default instead of that crappy Atheros card that Asus use to put on most of their N and G series machines in the past. About damn time ASUS!!!
- DVD+R DL Optical Drive model MATADVD-RAM UJ8E2 S



OK I haven't tested all benchmarks and some recent games yet since everybody in the house seems to be using the bandwidth for the internet connection but I was able to download my favorite game to benchmark which is the very first Crysis Demo which I've used in the past with other notebooks and 3dmark11. The result will shock you and make your head spin even I couldn't believe it. The Maxwell ddr3 gtx 850m is way way faster than the ddr3 gt 650/750m about 50%-80% faster, about 25% faster than gddr5 750m/755m and about 15% faster than the GTX 760m when I had the Asus N56JR a few months back. The performance is very close to the GTX 765m, maybe the 765m is about 5-10% faster but you have to understand, this is the ddr3 version only of the 850m which is why it's very impressive.


3dmark11 score on two tries was 4,173 and 4,144 - Huge huge performance increased compared to ddr3 750m models which only scored between 2,200-2,600 in 3dmark11. This score is in the gtx 765m territory
- Max CPU temp was 81c and gpu 76c


Now the last one is Crysis Demo. I tested other notebooks in the past with this demo with all settings being the same 1080p/Medium settings standing on the same spot that way the fps is steady and remained there for 20-30 minutes shooting and reloading w/ fraps for frames per sec monitor to check for spiking/dips caused by throttling. I usually do this to check for throttling using gpu-z and msi afterburner graph analyzing the gpu usage, core clock, to see if it is normal or I see some up spike or down spike kinda like an ECG machine for the heart lol and HWinfo32 for temps and cpu clock.


Results
- Avg of 78-83 frames per sec at 1080p/medium settings
- Gpu usage is at 99% for 25 minutes and the graph at 99% gpu usage at a straight line. no spiking. Same with core clock and memory clock
- Max temp of 84c for cpu and 77c for gpu after 25 minutes. Remember the N550JV cpu throttles as soon as it hits 80-82c and goes all the way back down to 800mhz?, this one stayed all four cores at 3.1-3.2ghz and never dipped


Now the reason why I say that the gtx 850m Maxwell ( even it's only ddr3) is so much faster than the ddr3 750m and still faster than the gtx 760m and almost close to a gtx 765m is because I tested it with other laptops with the same condition/location.


- Asus G55VW w/ gtx 660m in 2011, 1080p/Med 58-60fps
- Clevo W230ST w/ gddr5 gtx 765m last year, 1080p/Med 80-84fps
- Razer 14 w/ gddr5 gtx 765m last year, 900p/Med 92-94fps ( obviously it'll be higher compared to W230ST since Razer 14 is only 900p)
- Asus N550JV-DS71 w/ ddr3 gt 750m last year, 1080p/Med 45-50fps
- Acer V7-482PG w/ ddr3 gt 750m last year, 1080p/Med 44-47 fps ( About the same fps as the N550JV but Acer only uses i5-4200u cpu)
- Lenovo Y410p w/ gddr5 gt 755m last year, 900p/Med 75-78fps
- Asus N56JR w/ gddr5 gtx 760m last year, 1080p/Med 75-79fps


I will do some more testing today and will also give you my pros/cons in regards to everything like keyboard, touchpad, audio quality, battery life etc...

 

Congtrats on new laptop ;-)

Will an SSD increase gaming performance for the 750M?

 

No, it will only shorten loading times and maybe reduce minor hickups caused by reading from the hard drive. It will nog increase your framerates.

Impressive scores on the 850M DDR3, I did not expect that at all. And great to see they stopped using those horrible bug ridden Atheros wifi cards.

 

I dunno about increasing frames per sec performance in games but it will make everything snappier from boot up and shut down time, faster loading times of games etc.., snappier opening of programs and general movement, lesser heat, no moving parts so it's more quieter and efficient operation with an SSD.


Here is another 3dmark11 test I just did just now and , the 3dmark11 points increase by 500 LOL, all I did since then was unintalled power4gearhybrid since I like using the default normal windwos power management instead so I dunno if that's the one that caused it but my 3dmark 11 score is even higher now from 4,100 to 4,600 hmmm.....

 

Hey, Laevus? I never heard of anyone getting SATA3 (sata III) for the DVD drive on N550JV. Are you 100% sure there they changed the port to SATA3 for the DVD SATA port on N550JK?

 

Where did this "soldered RAM" info come from? It doesn't make sense on this platform, and we also have information the RAM is not soldered.

 

Mmh. I have bought a SATA-SATA caddy for the ODD of my N550JV.
HDD/SSD adattatore universale - caddy 9.5 mm (SATA: Amazon.it: Elettronica

Could I have understood the question wrongly?

 

Hello from Germany.

I have just a small question. I just got my N550JV and I think the light of the power button isn't working properly.
Or am I wrong?

Hope you can see it on the picture..it is only half illuminated.



Thanks in advance

Tino

 

Previous poster said it was soldered, that is why I asked. Thought would be stupid for them to do that.

 

Yes I think you got it a bit wrong at post #post9622765

To be clear, this info goes for the new ASUS N550JK:

1. Until someone has tested, we assume that the second SATA port (Blu-Ray/DVD) uses a SATA2 interface.

2. There are no soldered RAM modules but two RAM slots, which takes up to 16GB.

Thanks

 

Yeah it seems broken. Mine did sure not look like that.

/SE9

 

Thanks SE9...

So i'll have to return it.

Just wanted to be sure it's not a feature like battery indicator or somewhat else

 

Why does the JK on Amazon say: 17.30 x 10 x 1.10 inches, and the JV says: 15.08" x 10.04" x 1.09", Why would the JK be 2.22" wider?

 

Common sense says those dimensions are wrong. Manufacturer confirms.

 

Anybody nows witch drivers to use for the keyboard to work properly in win 7 (like the keyboard backlight) I can't figure it out.

thx!

 

Well, now I look at my light it seems to be half illuminated... I don't think returning it is worth the trouble

 

I don´t think it worth the trouble too.

It´s a minor bug and if everything else are working well i would keep it,

But it´s ur call!


Anybody knows if they improved or not the TOUCH-PAD in JK version? I heard something about that but couldn't confirm it!

 

I can assume all day long, but those who think they know everything are the ones with no sense. Hence asking.

 

I just looked at my power button, its EXACTLY the same. Thanks for making me notice!

 

You're welcome.

 

Thanks.

Anyone confirm that the JK does NOT have a soldered 8GB SODIMM but it is removable? I hate soldered in RAM (or graphics for that matter, lol). I know it was posted it did, then posted it didnt. I do not see why it would be, but unless the cover is removed and checked who knows.

I was debating on returning my JV and ordering a JK because of the wireless cards. I had so much trouble in the past with the Atheros (or however spelled) card in a previous ASUS and this one has randomly disconnected on me a few times since yesterday and had trouble getting it to connect today.

 

The Intel ac wireless card costs about $20 in Sweden. It should be replaceable?

 

Just buy and change drivers?

 

If the 860M really is that much better than the 750M, I guess I'll be selling my JV to get the JK then. Ahhhhhhh!

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk

 

The problem is that the jk has 850m with ddr3. That's what's making me hesitate. If i was you i would wait a bit and go for maybe the nx500 when it comes.

 

The CPU and Graphic card are soldered but the system RAM sticks are not.

You can simply buy a Intel card and change it. 10 minutes job and the new card will cost you around £15.

 

Still people seem to see 2x the performance of the 750M

Thanks.
sen in another section its reported the JK does not have the Intel card that is reported?

 

Does anyone else have what seems like windows crashes often on the JV? My screen goes black sometimes sometimes not but when it does it, things stop the taskbar goes blank, the DVD drives makes a sound like just booted and things start to come back to normal. No errors come up or anything but has done it right out of the box and is doing it more now.

 

The new Maxwell architecture seems to be using memory bandwidth more efficiently than Kepler.

 

I read that Maxwell is supposed to. If I cannot resolve my issues with my JV before my 30 day return windows is out I might return it and buy the JK.

Can't figure out why it acts like windows explorer crashes or something but no errors pop up, like it resolved the issue. Anywhere it might store logs of this stuff? Any advice is GREATLY appreciated so I can solve this or return it and show them what it was doing as to why I returned it.

How do I know if the Gt 750M is working? I did performance test by passmark and it only shows using the Intel HD 4600. I set in nvidia control panel to use the GT 750M only for passmark software and scores did not change and it still listed as HD4600 in passmark?

 

I just got the replacement notebook.. And it's exactly the same issue here

So i think everybody has this issue...

 

Yes larger cache sizes as more intelligent managing of the memory interface.

 

I don't have the power button issue (talking about the power button light?). Of course mine is a piece of crap anyway, the thing keeps acting like it crashes windows explorer then recovers and never has anything popup about it. About to return it.

 

Try a restore to factory defaults and see if it helps

 

The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk1\DR2.
Log Name: System
Source: disk
Event ID: 11
Level: Error
Keywords: classic

Not sure what all means, but going to post asking for help in another topic maybe? Shows it happen 4 times in 3 minutes. Not sure if that is all of what caused errors or if it even did cause forget times this happened. Going to check logs right after next time and go through more of them. Just looked at more, lots of errors, explorer.exe errors and more have happened.

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.2.9200.16628, time stamp: 0x51a94434
Faulting module name: twinui.dll, version: 6.2.9200.16680, time stamp: 0x51fb45f3
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00000000000fcb06
Faulting process id: 0xae0
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf5a91aa44d1f5
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\twinui.dll
Report Id: ee0fc9ac-c684-11e3-be80-40167e026717
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

 

Hi!

I bought my ASUS N550JV-DB71 a half-year ago.
I'm not really satisfied with the HDD performance, so I'm planning on upgrading to an SSD.

Now, the Optical Drive port is SATA 2, while the HDD port is SATA 3. SSD is worth using only through SATA 3.
So, If I buy a caddy and SSD, would it be possible to shift the HDD to the optical bay(caddy) and use the SSD as the primary drive?
I'm sorry if this has been asked already, but there's too many posts to read through. < If you have a link to a previous answer, post it.
Is there a clear, understandable guide for this procedure? Where can I buy a caddy that'll fit the HDD perfectly?

Thanks!

 

I literally just signed in so that I could make a post about how I've done exactly that.

Since owning this laptop, I've done the following upgrades:

1. Intel 7260 Wireless-AC adapter
2. 16GB 1.35v DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 RAM
3. Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD as boot drive
4. Removed optical drive, installed HDD Caddy (from HDD Caddy - add an extra HDD or SSD into your laptop!, very good quality) with a new HGST Travelstar 7k1000 1TB 7,200 RPM drive. The faceplate isn't fitted correctly, I still need to shave off about 1mm from the far side in order for it to seem flush against the rest of the chassis. I am just using it without the faceplate right now. Also note that the original HDD that comes with the machine was, for me, a 12.5mm form factor, or simply designed a tad too tall, and wouldn't fit into the caddy/drive bay very well, so I needed to buy a newer one (which was ok since I needed a better performing drive anyway).
5. Applied Noctua thermal paste to all components (and somehow managed to keep the void if removed sticker intact and in place).

I also did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 and this machine is basically future proof. I'm currently using it for school, DJing, and A/V editing.

One thing that really pissed me off, though, is a few days ago, while listening to some music, I was twirling my headphones' male adapter piece around inside the audio jack (lol... cyber) and it broke. Now I need to physically press down on the tip for it to bridge a connection to the components inside the audio port. What the hell! Now I have to tear apart the machine and find out what exactly happened. I couldn't have bent anything simply by twirling the headphones around in there, I hope I don't need to solder anything. I am not so skilled. Not entirely sure how I should approach this. I already voided my warranty, technically, by removing the heatsink, but I kept the sticker intact and placed it back like it was originally. Asus may or may not notice, but I wouldn't want to risk it.

Edit: I have the N550JV-DB72T

Edit again: eBandit, I love your avatar. Winning. LOL

 

Thanks lol. ;-)

Did you notice difference after doing the thermal paste?
I want an SSD as well!

 

HELP!!!

I think I know what the problem is but don't fully understand it and wanted to ask for some help. I bought a new Intel 530 SSD and am trying to install a clean copy of windows. I had no problem doing so when I had switched out the original HDD for a 7.2K one I had using DVD media. I've tried both DVD and a USB copy made through Rufus (UEFI/GPT) and get the same error.

I see the option to boot from UFD XXX and UEFI: UFD XXX, to which the latter gets me to an error screen:

File: \windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Error code: 0xc0000221

In BIOS (version 208), I disabled Secure Boot, enabled Launch CSM & Launch PXE OpROM Policy

Am I missing something? I had originally used mmp669's guide and am trying to do the same again. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Update: I was able to install the backup I had made from the original HDD. But I'd still like to be able to do a clean install... thanks!

Update 2: Everything was working from the installation from ASUS Backtracker until I tried updating Windows to 8.1. Now I'm getting the same error as when I had tried a clean install. Please help!

Update 3: I tried using cloning software provided by Intel (Acronis), but I get an error upon installing the SSD. At this point, I tried putting back my old 7.2K HDD and reinstalling windows (screwed it up earlier today) and I can't even do that anymore. I get the same error as with the clean install. Sorry for the constant post editing... just don't know what to do anymore. I'm thinking that it's a BIOS issue, but am not experienced enough to know what the problem is.

 

Thanks for your reply! Very informative

So, you're saying that the original HD won't fit in the optical bay? Darn.
I can't afford both a new HDD + SSD, so I guess that puts my plans on hold for a while...

 

HELP.

I wanted to know if the following problem has occured to anyone else in this thread:
Display turns off(backlight stays on) and I have to turn it off manually with FN+F7 and turn it on again. This occurs when moving the display or just randomly.
I suspect hardware failure when it comes to the wires connecting the display and the laptop.
I have to move the display in another position everytime it happens and sometimes i'm actually adjusting the sreen for like 5 minutes without succes.
Hope anyone knows about this problem or has any tips.

Kind regards

 

The old HD which came with mine fitted perfectly with HDD caddy which I got for 10$ from ebay. Its working perfectly. In place of the HD I installed a 250gb Samsung Evo SSD and the laptop is blazing fast after that.

 

What if you have to warranty it? You wouldn't have the OS on the 1TB drive to put back in it? Can you make a backup on USB drive to put the OS back on if anything happen with the SSD and you needed to warranty it or something?

Asking cause I would love to get the 250GB Samsung 840 Evo and do that with the 1TB so I didn't have to buy a 500GB Samsung Evo. cause if I keep the DVD optical drive then the 500GB is min for me, but rather spend less, lol.

 

@anjistha - Really? That sounds awesome! Exactly what I've wanted to do.
Could you post the hardware specs of the original 1TB HDD (using Speccy or something similar)?
I have a HGST HTS541010A9E680.

@eBandit - Exactly!
I'd also like to know if this is possible for everyone, since apparently some models have slightly different hardware. Can anyone else confirm that this procedure works for them?

 

I have exactly the same hard drive as you have.The specs are below. As for warranty, on the original HDD I made two partitions one for windows and another for storage keeping the windows partition at minimum and the storage part maximum. Then I inserted it in the caddy and reformatted only the storage part only after finishing installing Windows 8 on the SSD through windows disk management . Also i got an external usb case for the dvd drive from ebay for around 10$ so occasionally I can use it. Before doing all this I had contacted Asus Customer Service and they told me that for warranty I have to send it to them exactly the same way they sent it hardware wise. They didn't tell anything for software so I assume that wont be a problem.


Summary
Operating System
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i3/i5/i7 4xxx @ 2.40GHz 46 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 791MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. N550JV (SOCKET 0) 48 °C
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M (ASUStek Computer Inc)
Storage
931GB Hitachi HGST HTS541010A9E680 (SATA) 28 °C
232GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB (SSD) 32 °C
Optical Drives
No optical disk drives detected
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

 

Warranty cannot be lost by removing the OS from the hard drive. As long as you send the product with the original HDD in place and no broken seals, warranty is valid.

 

Yes, they would simply re-image the original factory install to test (which they would anyway).

 

Never tested it with the old compound/gum. I just did it while it was still likely easily removed. The non-conductive Noctua thermal paste is in the gaming rig I built and it made a significant improvement in temps over stock and other lamer pastes. I just do it to most of my devices because it's a cheap way of having your stuff run cooler on average, likely prolonging the lifespan.

Also, the original hard drive WAS 9.5mm but it was SLIGHTLY taller than the new one I bought, and because of this, it was like squeezing into your jeans a couple days after thanksgiving; you'll fit, but it's gonna be uncomfortable. I was scared that it might overheat because all the parts involved were so crammed together. It was this insecurity that gave me a legitimate excuse to upgrade to a much better performing drive (would have opted for another SSD if they still weren't 2-3x HDD prices).