* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

night guys talk to you tomorrow.

 

OCZ Vertex 256 GB, 4 Partitions: 2 for windows, 2 for linux..

I got it a few months back, it was in my desktop. I wanted the Intel X25 160gb for this laptop but I ended up needing more space, so I put the X25 in my desktop and the Vertex in my Laptop..

My personal take on SSD...If you can afford to live with 80 gigs of space, or spring for the Intel X25 160 gb...DO IT NOW!!!! you will wonder how you ever computed without it..

the vertex 256gb @ 750+$ is a little extreme but it cancels out the issue of having no space compared to a HD

 

I want to start an SSD section on the first page. As soon as someone posts a review of a N61 with one I will post it.

 

If anyone wants to help me and run some benchies with the stock HD, I'll run the contrast with the ssd..

 

David, I found the owner who tried putting in a backlit. Here is all her posts on this.

 

why the n61jq is not listed anymore on powernotebooks?

 

I'll wait for that.

 

We are currently sold out, waiting for the next shipment that is due later this week.

The bad news is ASUS raised the MSRP by $100 last Thursday, so when the new shipment comes in it will go back up on our site, but for $100 more

 

Even the stock thermal compound needs some burn in to be really effective?

Sorry guys, this is my second laptop, and I just want to make sure that this thing will last for at least 4-5 years. I couldn't afford to buy another laptop if this thing fries. I had some bad experiences with my old hp - overheating issue and gpu issue. Sorry for being paranoid.

 

I wish I got mine from Powernotebooks or XoticPC. but then, I bought this thing from Jarir Bookstore - Saudi Arabia, and I have no idea of their services. I'm currently here in the Philippines. It'll surely be a headache for me to get some servicing overseas.

 

I want to upgrade my graphics driver. How'd I do that?

 

Yes, all compound needs time to settle in. I have no idea what the stock compound is to be honest. All I can say is that after a month my temps have improved dramitically. If you do some really intense gaming ( 2-3hrs ), there is always a possibility of overheating but that can happen on any system. Remember, while this system is fast it is marketed as a enterntainment system. If you want full on gaming go with the G73 which has the best cooling of any laptop I have ever seen.

 

Donald I have been curious about this. Since Powernotebooks can upgrade the CPU when you order, do you also do upgrades for people who already have the laptop?

 

Here is the link to upgrade the driver
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx
Scias, You are killing me with all your stress about the temps. Just relax and enjoy your N61. And stop playing assasins creed.

 

Scias, I don't think any laptop can promise 4-5 years. And since you already bought it it's to late to worry about having to replace it.
Anyway how did you get this thing in Saudi and how much did it cost?

 

Have to disagree with you there Greg, I have had my Dell E1505 for almost 5 years and it is still running strong, I gave it to my son when I got the N61.

I believe the N61 could last for 4-5 years depending on how well it is taken care of, not to mention the CPU can be upgrade to an i7-920XM

 

Hi David,

The best way for the display driver to work is to uninstall and re-install the display driver is in safe mode. If the uninstall is done under the normal Windows mode, then it will require a reboot. When the computer is booted again, it will then try to install a generic VGA driver, which has to be stopped in the process and this creates lots of problems.

However, under the safe mode the generic driver is loaded, and when the old display driver is uninstalled, it doesn't require reboot and the new display driver can be install right then. After that the machine can be restarted from the safe mode into the normal Windows mode.

This is an old trick from old Windows days to properly install new display drivers. Maybe, you can add it to the first post for those who are having trouble with the installation of the display driver, thus having BSOD. Most BSOD have to do with left over display dlls, which are installed after the reboot from removing the old display driver.

BTW, was a bit disappointed for you not welcoming me to this thread.

 

Laptops here are overpriced. I let my dad buy there since he works there. Saudi prices are almost same with US.

I hope my temps get better after a month. It s been 6 days since I first opened this thing.

What are the temps you get the first week of use?

 

I downloaded it. But nothing happens after I press the Install button. Then a window pops out saying blah blah not installed properly. Something like that. I can't remember.

My short term memory sucks.

 

Whats your temps scias ?

 

Those of you still experiencing BSOD: are you using the newest chipset drivers? Download V9.1.1.1027 here. (Note that the newest download is NOT the newest driver version: this page contains driver uploads for all notebook models, and some may be more behind than others with regards to uploading.)

 

This info is a little dated. The new driver model introduced in Vista changes things a bit. While I still don't totally trust it, Windows introduced a new driver model that allows Windows to load and unload graphics drivers without a reboot. More info here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480220.aspx

While you don't really need to reboot, I still do out of habit. You still need to uninstall the previous ATI drivers before upgrading to the new ones.

 

I don't know if this helps anyone but I have received two blue screens since I've owned this laptop. I saved off the DMP files and finally ran them through WinDbg to see what caused the crash. The first one occurred on boot up and it was caused by a hardware failure from the PCI_Express slot. The second one occurred while shutting down and was caused by an invalid memory access in the USB 3.0 driver. It looks like the new USB 3.0 driver is the primary cause of a lot of blue screens when doing some googling. No display driver issues at least in my case.

 

Im a little late to this BSOD conversation...

Did you guys try moving the ram ( put ram from slot 2 into slot 1)?

 

Nice find Steve. Asus would prob have a lot less returns if ppl could find reliable driver locations for every laptop. Whoever is in charge of webdesign layout type deal....shoud be fired. I guess they pumping resources into producing sweet products which is cool but man its out of control. Dell has very good driver location find type deal....they just never really update any drivers lol. Asus updates them but sometimes you have to find one in Germany....One in France....Korea....USA lol its crazy.

 

I have been using the latest USB 3.0 driver (V1.0.19.0 here) without any problems. It is an upgrade from the original supplied with the laptop, for those who haven't tried it.

 

Currently cpu is hovering between 62-66C. Gpu just the same as cpu. I'm just browsing the net.

Cpu temps go as high as 81C and gpu 86-89C when playing need for speed shift.

 

This was one of the hype of old Vista, that it doesn't require reboot on most of the installation. We all know that Vista was a total failure and people stuck to the good old XP.

Good for you, but once you reboot, the system has no display drivers after removal of the old driver. As soon as the system is rebooted it starts to install generic display driver as there are no drives installed now. The generic driver has to be stopped in the process thus leaving bunch of dlls of the generic driver, and then installing the new driver on top of it, which creates driver conflict and BSOD.

If you read most of the posts, the BSOD is due to display drivers.

 

Luckily I haven't received any bsod yet. I'm not hoping for any. hehe

 

I opened cpuz. To my surprise, my ram is 1333.

 

Do I need to uninstall old driver first?

 

I never uninstall drivers unless the installer specifically instructs me to. It looks like the ASUS installers are good about automatically overwriting drivers. I don't remember if the USB update requires an explicit uninstall, but it will tell you if you need to do it.

I use the same strategy with ATI graphics drivers. I always choose "Custom" install, select the upgrades I want, and allow the installer to replace the files. At the end, if you get the green check mark, you know that everything installed correctly.

 

That is not very bad temps bro. You are good 2 go.

 

Yep...there is no need to uninstall drivers. I never have and have never had problems on any previous computers.

 

You don't have to uninstall most of the old drivers unless they are in use, such as the display drivers which are for sure in use. Just update!

 

Please forgive me but most people just assume the BSOD are the display driver because in XP most of the time it was. I'd say a majority (but not all) of the users that give advice on forums don't know what the hell they are talking about and assume way too much. I won't go into why Vista was a disappointment, but the driver architecture was a huge step in the right direction.

I have a couple of friends that develop display drivers for a living and they tell me how much better the new driver model is not just for the user but for development as well. Windows Vista and 7 both can swap the display driver without a reboot. I've experienced it personally on my last laptop I had the display driver crash and it did not cause a BSOD, where on XP that would have happened.

So far most of the posts I've seen in this thread that talk about the BSOD haven't even confirmed that it's was caused from the display driver. They're just assuming it.

 

Thanks, I'll update my drivers tonight.

 

What's yours?

This thread is extremely helpful. Thank you very much.

 

If you had taken the time and read my post properly, it was suggested by others to remove the old Asus display driver and reboot. And after reboot, then install the new ATI driver v10.3. This required to stop the process of generic drivers being installed on reboot. This creates the conflict.

What I basically recommended is to do this under the safe mode, as no display drivers are loaded in the safe mode, thus bypassing reboot after removing the old drivers and before installing the new display driver.

As I said it is old trick, from way back in Windows v3.1, much, much before the XP.

 

My temps were lower than yours when I had my laptop lol...being repaired right now. I had IC 7 thermal paste.....and a Laptop Cooler which prob. keep my temps lower. But yours are in normal temp range...IMO

 

Windows 3.1 I remember those days. That was when games came in two flavors DOS or Windows. I remember saying who in their right mind would run a game in Windows.

I did read your whole post, I promise. What I was trying to get at in my normal terrible way, is that the driver conflict shouldn't occur. The driver is loaded and unloaded as needed without a reboot. I guess we all have those old habits and we continue them just so we don't have any issues.

 

Thus what I am saying to remove the old display driver and install the new display driver under the safe mode, as the display driver is not loaded in the safe mode.

In the normal Windows mode, once the old display drive is removed, it requires reboot. On reboot since it doesn't find any display driver, it tries to install a generic VGA display driver, which has to be stopped in the middle of being installed. This leaves dlls from the generic driver, and once new display driver is installed, it conflicts with the dlls of the generic driver. Guess what this conflict does?

BSOD!

 

We can be argumentative and what purpose does it serves.

However, those who are having problems with installing the new display drivers and BSOD, what does it hurts them to try this in the safe mode?

 

Gotta say, just updated to the new drivers using the ATI installer. Easy as pie. No uninstall or reboot, watched win7 stop the old driver and switch to the new one. Impressive.

Now will it get me an extra 2FPS in BC2??!!!

Edit: Not meant as a poke at the safe mode method, it's good advice if you run into problems..

 

Hey what's your gpu and cpu temps when gaming and when doing normal tasks?

 

Your right...maybe yall should arm wrestle !

 

Ok the ATI/nVidia DLLs are store in a separate location from the generic VGA display drivers. There should not be any conflict since the DLLs will be loaded an unloaded as needed. Unless the ATI drivers or nVidia drivers are referencing the generic VGA drivers there shouldn't be any issues. The generic VGA drivers are never uninstalled, they always exist on the system and are loaded when needed. The only conflict that could exist is between the old ATI/nVidia drivers and the new ones being installed. I can see how safe mode might help in that situation as the old drivers are never loaded.

I agree there is no harm in doing this, but it is certainly not necessary on Windows 7. I'm not sure about Windows XP since I'm not as familiar with the driver model, but I never needed to do that.

 

I never uninstall old drivers...unless required by the driver. Even in XP.

 

Hi guys!

I just got my notebook a few days ago and really impressed. However, I am having some issues with the touchpad and wondering if anyone else has encountered this. Everything was working fine until I installed a fresh copy of W7 Ultimate. After installing, my touchpad seems to now be acting up- it will not scroll and will right click randomly when I touch the pad. I had to delete the touchpad driver to get it to work normally, but I lose all the cool features of multi touch pad. When I tried to install the drivers again, the same problem occurred. Does anyone know if this is a W7 Ultimate issue or just me?

Any help would be great!

Thanks

 

Sorry double post.