* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

Well it has shipped and should be here tomorrow. Not holding out much hope that they out the Slic back in.

 

lets hope for the best man. Positive vibes all around.

 

At least I won't have to surf the web on my iPhone at home now lol. Although it is the new iPhone 4

 

Watch out. You're holding it wrong!

 

Lol, I have a case

 

SQL and databases in general are limited by the speed of your hard drive not the CPU speed. Move to a faster drive or hook up an external raid through the eSata and you see some performance improvements.

 

A buddy of mine has the iPhone4. He loves it. I don't think it is as nice as my Evo4G but, it is a nice phone.

 

anyone have the Alert icon with the PCI Simple Communications Controller in the Device Manager?

Also, when I check in Your Uninstaller, it seems that the Elan touchpad software is corrupted...I've installed the latest drivers but it still comes out corrupted.

 

just ordered mine today from my local shop, picking it up tomorrow!

 

You are right about the HDD part but there's also a section where it require processing speed. I compared 2 laptops using the same model HDD. But i7 vs C2D result that i have for i7 is kinda disappointing.

PCI Simple Communications is the Intel Management Engine, it can be downloaded from Asus site on 'Others' section or Intel site. It also refer as 'Intel Active Management Technology' as part of the IME.

I find it useless on single HDD computer.

 

Anyone play Modern Warfare 2? Know a good combo of settings for multiplayer mode for good fps?
Also what's max res people play at?

 

May sound strange but after updating all the Intel drivers I got better eSATA performance as my drive stopped dropping into PIO mode. Must have a bad cable or something to keep giving errors. That or a problem with the drive power saving features. Dunno about Windows 7 but XP would sometimes have fits if it couldn't find device drivers, slower boot up. Even if you don't need it I think it's a good move to install the drivers.

There is always the possibility that your configuration or the SQL testing software isn't optimized to take advantage of the i7's strengths as a processor. As the cheapest i7 on the market, it won't beat a midrange Core Duo in pure clockspeed but that's not what it was designed to do. In video applications it's far faster, I don't think any core duo could encode High Quality x.264 streams faster than real-time.

 

Is a good thing it improved the eSATA, 3 year ago i did an experiment with the storage driver and it somewhat reduced the internal HDD performance to notable level, since then i never install RAID driver on single HDD computer.

About the SQL i was running a cmd bat file to install batches of sql files. I don't know if cmd.exe is well optimized. But damn i wished again to have i5

 

Got my laptop back, and from checking with one program so far it appears that the SLIC has been restored!

 

You can play MW2 on 1366 by 768 on highest everything

 

Congrats Risco!

Is there any indication if they changed the mainboard again?
It could be also that the HQ sent them some tool to unhide the SLIC.

 

I think they did send a tool as there was a weird thing come up asking me to reboot on loading it up. Also it seems that I am missing the Asus DVD program and everything has a new install date of this month, rather than February as before. I have 100% confirmed that the slic is defo there after checking with a slic backup tool.

The cynic in me however says to restore the laptop to be 100% sure that everything is ok. I need to be sure before loading it all up with my programs.

 

All installed after restoring from the partition! Defo not got the Asus DVD stuff but not a big deal as it was crap anyway! Besides it boots faster. Got some interesting windows experience scores. Will post them later.

 

Great news Risco! With you and Tony fixed all is well in the N61JQ owners lounge.
Even the thermal dorks have calmed down. Life is good, let the games begin!

 

Oh no you didn't! You are going to unleash the wrath of the apple heads.

 

Well, not yet!

 

Cheers! I have been keeping an eye on this forum. But as you may have noticed my replies had many typos due to using my iPhone as my main source of internet lol.

Currently copying over 250gb of data back to the HDD. Oh joy!

 

Not sharing anymore tips of cooling it down since most people doesn't care anyway.

@Risco Game on!

 

Hi all,

I have finally got my SSD order put in, it was out of stock. I am finding info on how to get it set-up completely and correctly and I was learning how to make a usb bootable drive for my windows 7 ultimate. In the instructions, it says to make sure that your computer can boot from a usb. Does anyone know if it is possible on this laptop? I figured it was when you boot in bios but am a newbie and wanted to confirm with others that were more knowledgeable on the subject. Thanks

 

It is possible with this laptop. Make sure USB is on top of HDD boot priority in BIOS Setup and, i know some USB drive doesn't support boot. Most should work.

 

I downloaded the program just a while ago from here (do you think this will work fine?)

Make Bootable Windows 7 DVD or USB

and I am going to pick up a 4gb flash drive after work. Also from another forum from OCZ they gave me the following instructions when I get my SSD.

Have AHCI enabled in the bios prior to installing the OS. Then on the part of the Win7 install that goes to detect your HD and says "load driver" in the corner, that's where you point it to your USB stick with the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers (9.6.0.1014)....the (F6 on install version not the .exe) and it will then see your SSD and load in the proper drivers for AHCI usage. Which you want AHCI on as it enables NCQ and other functions and generally runs faster than just having the drive in IDE mode in the bios.

Does this mean I need to have two different flash drives? One with the OS and one with the drivers from intel? http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18859&lang=eng

 

You could use that or follow microsoft's way (their guide)

Microsoft Store: Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Help

The red marked guide is simply telling you to install extra driver to make your SSD visible so can install W7 on it. I think you should make W7 bootable USB and then copy the Intel Rapid Storage drivers to USB for later install use. It can be download from intel website.

EDIT: Oh yes i see you got the Rapid Storage driver link already.

 

So you recommend just running the IRST drivers' .exe file after I install w7 and I am up and running?

Also by looking at device manager and seeing our storage controller currently is in ACHI, I won't have to change anything in bios prior to installing my SSD will I?


EDIT: Sorry this is what I just read in the installation readme for the IRST driver.

5.1 General Installation Notes

1. If you are installing the operating system on a system
configured for RAID or AHCI mode, you must pre-install
the Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology driver using the
F6 installation method described in section 5.3.

 

From the red marked guide says, the installation will ask where do you want to install W7 to. There you can see 'Load Driver' link below and select where the Rapid Storage driver is, in which i recommend you copy the driver to the same USB drive so you can load from USB easily.

EDIT: If you see the W7 installation bootup prompts for F6 press it and see if you can install the driver from there.

 

The reason I asked about using two different USBs is because some things I have read says that it will read as a "generic" drive, will I be able to differentiate between the OS usb and the IRST usb? This is from the microsoft site.

If I have other files on the USB flash drive will the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool delete them?
This tool requires the USB flash drive to be completely blank before the Windows 7 files are copied. This helps ensure that the device is bootable after the copying has completed.

 

Yes it will delete em, that is why i suggest you only copy the driver in after you make the Bootable USB with the tool.

And if you wish to load the driver to another USB drive. It should be no problem as well.

 

Awesome. Thanks again for all your help.

 

No worries, ask if you have more questions. Everyone would love to help

 

Great that it all works again.

I have been very less often to the forum in the last weeks.
I am waiting unti the end of month to start the backlight project on my N71JQ.
The Backlit keyboard is there and the QT118 IC has also arrived.
I will also upgrade the HDD to Seagate Momentus XT 500GB.

Last two week, I have been very busy and will be so for the next two.
I have lot of time stress at the moment. I am now writing the final bits of my PhD dissertation and have to finish it in next 10 days. :GEEK:

 

Another quick question. I posted in the ASUS N61 JQ Driver Thread but I figured I would get quicker responses from this thread. Since I will be doing a clean install on my SSD, I will need to go through and get all the drivers from the Driver thread once I am up and running correct?

Also, is the bios the only update you can't just run the .exe file for? I am not going to attempt to update my bios until I need to or I notice something is not working on my pc that the bios firmware fixes, but I wanted to keep the other devices updated.

 

Well basically the BIOS update that depends on personal preference, someone likes to keep up to date and some do not want to do it unless is all necessary. I personally want to get up to latest and all that necessary thing too.

But for general user like you said i only recommend people do it to fix something, but so far the changelog from the BIOS doesn't shows full information, it updates embedded chip ROM that's all. Important? Unknown.

And for the driver, yes must install chipset, graphic, and networks LAN/WiFI after fresh installed Windows. I personally like to ignore install audio drivers and no touchpad drivers. You will also need to update directX if you plan to do alot games on it.

 

Great thanks. directx is not updated when you download the 10.6 catalyst driver?

 

Nope, infact you need to download Catalyst Software Suite that contain the driver, and optional Catalyst Control Panel for adjusting graphic. Note this is 32bits Link, there's 64bits too: ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

DirectX is different, is the 3D engine dynamic link libraries necessary for game engine to take use of the 3D display features and port to graphic driver. (Not exactly accurate but that's roughly how it works) Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime

 

You might be having difficulty distinguishing between the USB guide in the drive and the SSD. Both drives utilize the same kind of flash memory instead of magnetic disks to store data. The drives will appear under different names to your operating system and be clearly distinguishable by size.

Since you are picking up a new flash drive it should be clean. Run the Windows USB install software first then copy the Intel drivers to the drive second. Any other files you might have on the drive could be overwritten when you run the tool, in this order the files will be safe. The 'F6' prompt will open an explorer window where you can browse to the location of the Intel driver files. Place them at the root of the drive where you can easily find them.


Windows 7 has a good collection of driver files already available and can go online during the install to check for updates. Because of this you will have basic functionality of your laptop right after installing Windows. Installing drivers specific to the N61 hardware will provide better functionality. While you can go online to find the driver files after installing Win 7 i think it's still a good idea to save yourself the time and trouble and have them on hand already. You can save them to the USB drive or keep them on the 500gb drive.

 

hey so i just got my laptop today, charged it for a few hours to full charge...but its only giving me like 2 hours worth, is this normal? also the keyboard dips a tiny bit in spots, as well as the top of the laptop (outside part of the screen).

the dipping isnt a huge issue for me, but the battery life seems a little odd...
also is most of the installed asus software ok to let go? im not sure whether a couple of them should stay or not.

thanks
joel

 

Its a 6 cell battery. Two hours is about the best you'll be getting on it. I'm mostly by a plug at most times however I think we all eagerly await the 9 cell battery for this model.

 

haha yeah, the battery life is the only real downside i see for this thing so far, otherwise its fantastic! sorry if this has been asked before but is there any information on when the 9-cell will be available?

 

You can get better power savings if you create a custom power profile in Windows. From what I understand, the Power 4 Gear software that comes with the laptop doesn't do a great job at preserving battery life.

I was messing around with SetFSB but couldn't figure out how to use it. Once I do, I'll look into underclocking/undervolting and what sort of power gains we can expect from it.

 

I haven't look into i7's lowest power state however i set W7 Power Saving with CPU at 50% maximum, ATI Catalyst Power Play to set GPU core and RAM to use less then half of its original clock speed. Lower screen brightness and disable wifi/bluetooth module can decrease the power drain some more

That is as much you can do. A laptop like this size and 6 cells batt can hold up roughly 2 hrs is actually consider normal.

 

Haha I really wish I knew how to do all of that. I don't really want to mess anything up but i suppose its the only way to learn!

 

Any idea how far power play drops the chip? I remember underclocking older cards would introduce artifacts if the speed was too low.

 

Here is a link to the ASUS bloatware guide. http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/380681-asus-utility-bloatware-guide.html
Most people delete a majority if not all of this stuff. Personally I leave most of it since it does not take up much space. Also we have seen some reports of some problems after deleting all of it as some things in the bloatware might be shared with other programs. If you are good at fixing small problems that might arise from deleting all this then you can get rid of most of it.
Don't worry about the keyboard. Many owners obsereved this right away but we have had no reports of problems with the keyboard. This keyboard flexing seems to be the norm in most of the newer laptops now.

 

i found the guide immediately after posting lol, but thank you.

 

There are about 7 power states for this ATI GPU, however there are 4 are the same setting which is also the lowest. 300MHz Core and 333MHz RAM. I'll post more info.

EDIT: Ok got on the N61 and i was wrong about the RAM speed and most of it lol

ATI PowerPlay (BIOS)
State #1 GPU: 650 MHz, Memory: 800 MHz (Boot)
State #2 GPU: 650 MHz, Memory: 800 MHz
State #3 GPU: 550 MHz, Memory: 800 MHz (UVD)
State #4 GPU: 650 MHz, Memory: 800 MHz
State #5 GPU: 300 MHz, Memory: 300 MHz
State #6 GPU: 300 MHz, Memory: 300 MHz
State #7 GPU: 300 MHz, Memory: 300 MHz
State #8 GPU: 375 MHz, Memory: 400 MHz

And no there's no artifacts when using the lowest state. Useful for it to reduce heat and good for less GPU demanding games. I guess only manual tuning the clock speed may cause artifacts.

 

How were you able to obtain this information?