* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

My next upgrade for this machine will be an SSD of some sort. $100 is still a little shy for what you probably need/want, but from what I hear, the improvement is incredible. I'd look at how much disk space you're using now for windows and programs, and see I could get an SSD that would fit that install. Put my data (photos and music) on the original hardrive, mount the SSD in the optical drive, with windows and games on it.

 

GO with SSD upgrade. You will not regret it and your machine will be a beast. i'd suggest you to get a 120gb SSD but you will only get 111gb of space + you have to leave some empty space for it to let the SSD to work efficiently.

With a 120 gb SSD I still have about 47gb space left with Win7, Photoshop5 extended, Office 2010, 5 games installed, and other usual softwares such as msn, aim, skype etc.

I get into Win7 in less than 30 secs to a full working desktop & shutdown takes about 10secs or less. Loading games & all other stuffs are blazing FAST. My Read/Write speeds are close to 300 mbps.

I'd suggest you do some research about upgrading SSD & transferring your current settings/files/setup to SSD but I installed a fresh Win7 (HIGHLY Recommended & read about Win7 activation using your original key) & started all over again.

Happy upgrading. The hardware installation is easy (including caddy) just the software & setting up might cause you some minor headaches.

 

I've got to agree here, i've never USED an SSD..
But from what the guy at my local Comp shop says it's worth it!
And what i've seen here.. Etc
Basically anyone that's used one had said they will never go back to a normal HDD

 

What the guy said at your local computer store is absolutely true

 

Guys, just had to format my notebook but didn't install from restore [don't want the bloatware but didn't delete the restore partition, just in case ]. After a bit of a pickle with the bluetooth drivers I finally got the damn thing running. Now all is good with the world except... when I used to plug in my monitor back home to the D-Sub port on the left, the notebook would "automagically" switch to it (turning off my notebook lcd). This was great since I use it as a media center when I am there so I'd just plug it in, close the lid and put it away next to the monitor. But since format, it doesn't switch automatically anymore. What am I missing? Latest Catalyst in there, so guessing it's some other soft or config I'm missing.

Help appreciated!

Btw... anyone know if this NB supports 2 internal HDD's? Was considering adding a SSD as boot / work drive and using the original as storage.

 

thanks for the advice guys, i will defo give wubi another go. just didnt want to go through all the hassle of partitioning my drive.

is there any news of a backlit keyboard or has someone managed to put a backlit keyboard to the asus yet? its the only thing missing from this power house (and less keyboard flex would be nice as well).

 

nmgmarques:
Try pressing Fn+F8 to cycle through the monitor switch. It sounds like you had yours on external only.

And yes, the computer supports two internal HDDs, but in order to do it, you need to get rid of the optical drive and install one of the HDDs in the optical bay. It's what my plan is for an upgrade, since I don't use the optical very much, and the performance boost from SSD is so great.

 

Thanks for the reply. As for the SSD, I'll most def have to give that some consideration. Are there side covers for the drive bay or fittings?

As for the monitor, I am sure I had it set to LCD. I never had to press Fn+F8 to cycle. It would just detect I had connected the monitor and power down the LCD and power on the monitor as main display with correct resolution. This also happened when hooking it up to a 42 inch LED TV at work via the d-sub -> DVI cable and when connecting to the datashow at our company. Today was the first time in 4 months I ever needed to switch it manually. So I am pretty sure there has to be some way.

 

Hey guys - if you don't mind can a couple of you post your hard drive temps after a few hours of use? Mine has been on for about an hour now and it's already around 36C... Should I be worried? When is it unsafe for a hard drive? Thanks!

 

36c is VERY good tbh..
It's cold here and mines running at 33c.. That's quite a good temp. No need to worry..

 

Alright, great. Thanks. If I'm gaming, the whole laptop warms up - which also warms the HD. I've seen it get to 40C before. It just seems awful warm for a hard drive. I guess I won't worry, I'll just enjoy the laptop haha.

 

I idle at 55C and can get up to 70-80C and my laptop's about 4 months old. I'm surprised the N61 can even go as low as 40C. Where do you live?

 

Are you talking about the Hard Drive or Processor? I was talking about the Hard Drive. My CPU gets in the high 60's and low 70's when gaming. I hate this laptop because of the heat. I really do. I live in USA/Alabama. I'm just going to use it till it burns out, and buy one that doesn't have a friggin' quad core processor next time.

 

you will have to use your original dvd/bluray drive cover but mine is not on the caddy itself. looks alright to me so i left it as it is.

i got mine from here 2nd HDD / SSD Caddy, ASUS N43, N53, N61, N71, N81, N82 [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-BU] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Fits perfectly and their customer service is really good too.

as for hdd temps, on my 2nd hdd most of the time it hangs around 30 deg C

and CPU temps on idle is at 61 deg C used to be lower but i guessed it went up cos i tweaked the CPU performance using regedit to get the extra features under power options.

Go for SSD & you'll never look back !

i tried plugging in external monitor on my 42" Sony LCD TV using d-sub yes you can use the FN +F8 to cycle, works fine for me.

Happy modding ))

can someone update on the KB backlite ? that's the only thing missing for me rite now

 

Thanks for the info about the optical drive caddy. That's really a cool idea. I'm going to look into it. Good idea. What are you talking about regarding extra power options? Link? Thanks!

 

We were talking about hard drive temps..
But yes i have had my Processor idling at 45 before ;D

 

you're most welcome. get the caddy from them and it fits perfectly

here is the link for the power options & most likely will be useful for those who has plans for SSD upgrade in the future.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/517917-how-improve-ssd-performance-intel-series-4-5-965-chipsets-jjb-tweak.html

happy modding.

 

my temps have crossed 91C today, playing modern warfare 2 online.

i have a question, is there any simple software that will help me control the fan speeds?

 

I have tried speedfan and MSI Afterburner, but they seem powerless against the fan. Speedfan doesn't detect my fan and MSI afterburner doesn't control it ( if I increase or decrease, there is no change ). I guess the fan is only controlled with the BIOS, so you will need to control it from there.

 

I was just recently wondering if the soundcard on the N61Jq is replaceable for a much better sound card better suited for say 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. I'd love to one day be able to have a mobile laptop but also with very nice home entertainment possibilities.

If it is replaceable, would anyone know of any good soundcards to purchase and where?

 

You could always go for a usb sound card... Assuming that you dont pack your home theatre system where ever you go. lol

 

True, but I'm looking for something internal just to reduce the clutter outside of my laptop.

 

It's my understanding the sound card supports 5.1 through S/PDIF optical out (TOSLink) out of the headphone jack. You just need the right connectors.

Not to mention you can pull 5.1 through the HDMI out as well.

 

How would I go about doing this? I ignored a good deal on a 5.1 speaker system a few days ago because I didn't think I could support it.

 

You will really have to look into it..
But for convince you would be better off with a USB Sound card, simply because you can swap it between computers in any case that you are using another laptop... or desktop. Plus it's easier and the speakers would be cheaper...
But that COULD be an approach. ;P

 

Could go with express audio cards expresscard sound card - Google Search

So save up USB ports for external devices. Despite N61 has 3 USB ports only.

 

TOSLINK to Mini Optical for S/PDIF out of headphone jack:

Amazon.com: StarTech.com 6FT THIN TOSLINK TO MINIPLUG ( THINTOSMIN6 ): Electronics

Amazon.com: Toslink To Optical Mini Adapter: Electronics

 

Just asking, since i don't have access to my N61 right now but i'm concern about turning HyperThreading off. Is it possible?

I read articles that if users never need HT can simply turn it off for reduce heat and power consumption.

EDIT: Bit sad to read, people running desktop 2600k OC'd @ 5.2GHz for only 68c, and look at the temp where we're at...

 

Hey guys I am wondering if anybody knows the answer to this.

I would like to do a fresh install of Windows on my N61JQ in order to remove all preloaded software and start fresh.

I am wondering if anybody knows the minimum number of Asus specific programs and/or drivers I will need for all the extra keyboard buttons and hardware on the laptop to function.

I don't care about any 3D effects or anything like that. I just want all the hardware to function the way it is supposed to and thats it. Anybody know what I will need to install for this?

 

Well, laptops are much smaller, and the cooling isn't as good as desktops, so it's obvious

 

Whats been happening guys hope everyone's laptop is still running good! Mine has been running great !

 

Just check though, because maybe this is available only on the 17" model through the headphone jack.

 

Im selling mine xD, just cause I want SandyBridge sooo badly ;__;

Besides that, its been the best laptop I've ever used: pretty low temps, not noisy at all.. amazing && OC'able GPU... but I hate so much the dust in the screen ;[

 

My system is running wicked slow. Searches and windows are taking long to come up. The last thing I remember doing was installing the latest Intel Chipset Drivers from the drivers' thread. I did a system restore to revert back to the previous drivers but the system is still running slow in normal mode (in safe mode it is running fine).

What could be the issue here? It is proving to be very annoying.

 

What's up? Long time you've been off! And by now, I've racked more posts than you

Well... Maybe the new chipset driver screwed something up? Or it's over heating? Or the HDD is dying?

 

Hey guys
Anyone know if they will be putting sandybridge into the n61 like they are with the other N and G series?

 

I don't think so... There is no info on a N61 series refresh, so I guess not.

 

I did a SD24 firmware update I hope the problem is done because its a shame, this drive is a shame

Thanks stevedog, I did not upgrade my USB to 3.0.0.27 so I already have 3.0.2.5 installed.

I really think the trouble come from the HD firmware, Seagate make SD24 and this correct the freezing Momentus XT problem... I hope because its a shame, this Momentus XT hybrid HD is a shame

 

It's not a shame, it's a complete and utter fail to be honest..
and don't get the Expresscard soundcard, i belive the N61 has a SPDIF built into the headphone jack, if you look at the site i think i can remember it..
Plus it sometimes goes red (isn't that spdif?) Like there's a laser or something

I'm not really into sound all that much, but i do know a bit

 

I'd run msconfig and kill everything in the startup tab ("disable all"). Reboot the system and see if it runs faster. If so, enable half of the things. Repeat until it slows again, then disable half of those, etc. until you track down the process (if it's a process).

If it's the chipset driver, it's possible that the system restore didn't revert it. You could try installing an older driver on top of yours. I am running V9.2.0.1021, and my system is as fast as it ever was.

 

I was poking around CPU-Z and apparently my RAM is at a frequency of 667MHz. This is considerably lower than the listed 1066MHz, and I was wondering if purchasing RAM at 1333MHz would affect performance at all. Currently, I only hit 80% RAM usage when gaming and usually about 35% doing daily tasks, so the amount of memory isn't a problem--I'm just curious if essentially doubling the frequency of my RAM would boost my computer in any way.

Thanks.

 

iluvfuz: the 667 reported by CPU-Z is actually 1333 MHz RAM, off by a factor of .5. Many of the N61s (including mine) came with 1333 RAM installed instead of the1066 MHz spec'd.

 

It seems as though when I went to msconfig and I told myself let me take a look at the maximum memory and cpu options, it was ticked and set to 0

I'm surprised the computer even came on. I will keep the latest chipset drivers installed and do a thorough virus scan.

Do you have the latest catalyst driver installed as well?

 

For all of you are planning to upgrade to windows 7 ultimate, there is a serious bug in certain releases of the retail DVD that prevents you from proceeding the setup after clicking the "Install Now" button. install windows 7 cd dvd driver missing) - Google Search. The problem with this error is that this is kind of a "generic" setup error and isn't necessarily related to the dvd drive (the setup was loaded from it :/ ).

There are many solutions for this error and most of them are hardware dependent. So for a n61jq (possibly other models with ~ specs) the problem lies in the USB 3.0 controller. Simply go to the bios (Press F2 at the ASUS logo) In the second tab, you will find an option to set the mode of the USB controller, change it to EHCI. Save the settings and re-run the setup.
Something additional : If the setup still fails you might want to go back to bios and switch the SATA settings as well. (depends on the hard-drive/cdrom model )

I posted this because there isn't a clear answer specific to this issue for N61Jq's. Hope this saves anyone who is trying to upgrade a lot of frustration and googling.

NOTE : After the installation you CANNOT revert the settings, it will result in a BOSD when booting. I guess there should be a proper fix but this workaround seems easy and well, it does the job.

 

Is this normal for the hard drive?

Or should I be concerned at the minimum transfer rate?

 

Hey, thanks! I wasn't aware of that, but it's interesting nonetheless. I should have taken into account what the acronym of DDR meant before posting!

 

LOL! I can't for the life of me think of any reason why that would be ticked. Those should definitely not be ticked. And yes, I do have 11.2 installed.

 

Well...it happened to me. Tried to flash the BIOS and - DOWN she went. Was told by ASUS that I would have to pay for the MB replacement since you flash BIOS "at your own risk". Gimme a break! Anyway, was able to find an authorized svc center that did the work for me and my baby is back with me...no reformat, no reset to factory defaults, nothing...for reasons that baffle me the Win 7 Pro installation was just fine with a MB replacement. I sure figured it would choke and require reformatting...am sure thrilled that's not the case.

Anyway, just sharing my 3-week woes....I am still recommending Asus to those that ask for my advice on a system to purchase. I guess this problem is unique to this model. Hey, no one can make a perfect product all the time!

 

@andy5224 next time flash from the BIOS in easy flash with the ROM image on a FAT-formatted usb memory stick, there are known issues flashing from the internal drive or an NTFS partition.

Also, flashing the bios has never voided the warranty, if you are told that ask for a supervisor or call back and talk to someone else, it's just wrong.

 

I have just run Vantage and 3DMark 11, and I got MAJOR improvements over what I had b4 and what is told im notebookcheck. The N61Jq is better than I thought

3DMark 11 = P1210; GPU = 1080; CPU = 4010; Combined score = 1065

3DMark Vantage = P4098; GPU = 3418; CPU = 10018