N56vz review and owners lounge - Techno Art

Hey guys, what touchpad drivers do you use? On what settings? Using the touchpad is painful and nerve wrecking I hope its a software thing and not a hardware flaw

 

Well, I succesfully installed the new Intel 4000 driver. From what I read, much better performance in OpenCL (read this test). Already integrated HD4000 is better at decoding 4k than GT650 (Nvidia can't decode 4k60p).
@Retro_UK, you better wait for new Haswell, it will be better in both CPU and graphics. At that time let's hope AMD will bring Temash/Kabini to put pressure on Intel price.
My major complain with N56 (lack of displayport) I doubt it will be resoved soon/this year (it's nonsense/illogical to omit a royalty free standard port).

 

How did you get this right? My Laptop still says I need to get the driver from the original manufacturer. I'm running Windows 8, 64bit. What do you think it could be?

 

I have Windows 7, I downloaded driver from Intel and just installed.
One minor issue, in Chrome scroll did't work after update. I enter in Optimus, change Chrome to use integrated graphics and it's solved. Strange behavior but it's Chrome, happens.

 

Seems there's something going on with the driver signing on win8. Not sure how to get around it, though..

edit: you don't happen to have something like "generic display driver" in the monitor/screen properties somewhere, do you? Basically, if you have that driver installed and somehow validated, win8 will refuse to replace it with another differently titled/signed driver..

@mircav: you can use an unpowered display port to hdmi.. just a conversion joint. Only carries image, and might not play nice always. The card can certainly decode and display 4k resolutions.. Even the hd4000 can do that, if the bitrate is low enough. Or it has "support for" it, like Intel says.. But the frontbuffer is stored on the igp on the n56vz, like it is on a Mac, and any other optimus setup. And this means a few limitations on resolution that are.. mostly driver based, probably having to do with the way the transport is handled. I know it is possible to make custom resoutions and get 2560x.. something resolutions via hdmi, though. But there's a part here that apparently has to do with the hdmi controller being placed on the bridge in such a way that there's a bandwidth issue with higher resolution contexts rendered on the discrete card, and then transported over to the other card, where it's sent to the display, etc.

 

@nipsen, I know that are cheap passive display port to HDMI convertors, but N56VZ has only VGA and HDMI and there are no passive HDMI to DP convertors.
DP is much better for high resolution displays than HDMI, it's cheaper and you can buy passive adapters. Why don't Asus put DP in N56VZ?
Some business laptops like T430 has DP... not without issues however.

 

..technically, shouldn't be a problem going the other way for an uncompressed stream. Hdmi actually can carry higher resolution streams, than display-port, with audio along with it. At cost of lenght of cable, in the sense that you're getting max 10m or so before having slight difficulties on an unisolated cable.

But yeah, I see your point. Wouldn't have hurt to have avoided the coded signal drm claptrap altogether..

 

More connectors, more PCB space on one that is not widely adopted yet. It is much easier to work with than HDMI though.

You sure on the numbers especially with DP1.2 now.

 

Probably not Where are they putting the limit on the bandwith now? 15Gbit/s or something like that..?

 

I believe it doubles it.

 

..so I guess they're going for multiple, separate streams, that sort of thing..? Might be interesting.

 

Hello, have you ever experienced with this N56 when you launch a game, it keeps on using the integrated graphics instead of the dedicated graphics (GT 650M) altough I have chosen the option to run it with the high graphics processor?

I'm having this issue with the game Sleeping Dogs, it just runs at about 15 FPS on 1920x1080 with normal settings

I'm sure that the GT 650M isn't that bad, right?

 

I don't see "generic display driver" anywhere - but I do have my monitor picking up as "generic PnP monitor", which I think is normal.

Here's a screenshot of the message I get when trying to install the original Intel HD4000 Drivers:



Any ideas?

 

Well, according to VESA and wiki
,,DisplayPort has more than twice the bandwidth at 21.6 Gbit/s (17.28 Gbit/s with overhead removed) as opposed to HDMI's 10.2 Gbit/s"
However HD4000 supports only DP1.1, Haswell will add DP 1.2.
A good article about DP vs HDMI is here.

 

..how objective, and so extremely task-oriented. ...

And how extremely unexpected that I can find about three hundred articles insisting on the reasoning that hdmi 1.4 supports the same modes as hdmi 1.3, which is 10.2Gbit/s. And that therefore 1.4 has maximum bandwidth of 10.2Gbit/s, and that any 1.3 compliant device should be able to run 3d and 4k resolutions.

You know what? I don't care. I've read too much stupid today, and I don't care.

 

I've been having the same problem when I try to play GTA IV. I've tried time and time again to default it to the GPU but no luck. I'm getting 16 fps at best. It works with Oblivion so idk what the deal is.

Also, any thoughts on whether the new 650M driver is worth installing?

 

What cable I need (part number) to updrade n56vm with hd screen to full hd screen. i have screen, just no cable...
thanks

 

I usually complain about Asus, so I thought I'd point it out when they do something right as well. On the last nvidia driver they've made available, they've finally changed the driver identification device. So that it actually has the right name and device info:

"nVidia Graphics Driver
If you want to upgrade your OS from Win 7 to Win 8,to prevent software compatibility issue, please uninstall the older version driver before install the newer version driver"

I.e., they've dropped the renamed device they've used in the earlier drivers, that keep causing issues with new profiles (that are automatically downloaded with the control panel), and which keeps interfering with the windows updates to the rendering path for optimus type laptops, etc. And also what keeps preventing you from upgrading the driver in win8, because the new driver uses a different device id compared to the old one.

So there you go. Uninstall the old driver completely. Then install the new one. This will cure the problems when switching graphics to the nvidia card somehow fails to work in win7 as well. Only took them a year

@Ivanox1972: ..usually is a 40-pin connector, I think..? How to install an LVDS 40-pin ribbon extension cable for LED panel (left-to-right connector) | LAPTOP & TABLET SCREEN, LCD panels from $34.99.

..you didn't open it up and find the cable is soldered stuck, or missing, or something like that, I hope..?

 

Off topic but probably next N series with haswell & gt 750m



Asus N550JV - Notebookcheck.pl

 

Hi to all !
I just got an Asus N56vz-S4278H with windows 8 and it also has that "duuur" irritating noise that comes from subwoofer whenever i scroll touchpad or use the keyboard.is there anyone there that can help me?

 

UGH!
Silver keyboard, never like that since it makes letters less visible, either keep it black/dark grey with white letters og white with black letters. Had silver keyboard on my N55SF and that was not good.

 

If typing is important you should be touch typing anyway

 

is there mSATA slot in n56VZ S4329D ??? I already replaced stock RAM with Vengeance 16gb and HDD to Seagate Momentux XT 750gb ..
but still...is lack of speed .. I'm planning to upgrade if this laptop have the mSATA slot...

 

Hi guys, I've had an ASUS N56VZ-DS71 for 10 months now, and one of my USB ports has suddenly stopped working for USB 2.0 devices, but still reads and writes to USB 3.0 devices perfectly fine (and at 3.0 speeds). All my other ports still work for both 2.0 and 3.0 devices, so I think it's a hardware issue, not a software one (all the drivers are up to date). The USB port that is faulty is the port I always connect my USB 2.0 mouse to, and since the USB ports are so tight on this laptop, I always have to wiggle the connection a little to get it back out of the USB port. I'm not sure if that has any relation to that particular port suddenly failing on me (I literally had the mouse working while connected to the port, then suddenly stop responding or drawing power from the port after I let the computer idle for a bit). Has anyone else had any experience with a USB port on their N56VZ failing on them?

 

USB3 does use extra pins, so one of the USB2 related data pins may be damaged.

 

Hmm, sounds like I'll have to send it in for a repair. I purchased it from XoticPC and had them swap out the HDD and do a thermal paste treatment. Does that void the ASUS warranty? Should I get XoticPC or ASUS to service my laptop, since the problem is related to an ASUS hardware component?

 

They should be allowed to make changes as a reseller but contact xotic first.

 

It looks like a new BIOS Update is up! 217, updates EC Firmware. Not sure what that means yet! - N56VZ - Notebooks & Ultrabooks - ASUS

 

EC is "embedded controller" at least.. Suspend/resume signals. what happens with hardware events. Voltage control, that sort of thing.

Specifically, no idea. Anyone around who has amibcp and who can see if there are any differences from this to 216? If a set voltage is now blank, or set to an initially lower state? If ram timing has been undone again, that sort of thing..?

 

Hey guys. I've bought this computer a week ago. It's very good computer, everything is fine except for one thing, palm rest temps! I did a ssd upgrade to main slot and add a caddy for other hdd. When the computer is on idle, palm rest areas unnoticablely warm but when I surfing on internet these areas get warmer. It's not a problem for me if i don't play a game because when I start the game, left side of touchpad gets hot and I can feel that very good. I feel that its above my body temprature. I can rest my palm there for hours maybe but its not feeling good. I have lastest bios driver. What do you guys think? Does your computers do that too? What do you think nipsen?

 

See, don't even have to say my name more than once, and I magically appear.

..No, there are two strange things that happen with this laptop that are there because of the way it's constructed.
1. Bluetooth adapter seems to get hot and will transfer heat to the palmrest area when it is activated.
2. The Hdd or ssd will be stuck directly under the palmrest. If they give off heat and there's contact between the surface of the disk and the aluminum, the palmrest will have the same temp as the hdd/ssd. It leads heat like tinfoil.

But if you have an ssd or an hdd with a reasonable watt-drain, that shouldn't be a problem. And the bluetooth adapter can be turned off.

My holistic debug and support skills suggest that this is probably what's causing your "warming" problem (since it doesn't seem "instant").

Other possible heating problems come from uneven assembly, and a heatpipe that leads heat into the chassis, for example via the mainboard and a particular contact. This can be something that initially doesn't seem too bad, but really is the worst thing you can get, since it will fry the cooling goop and essentially be a complete waste of the extremely good cooling solution on the nx6 series. Since you really should be able to get a completely cold chassis at normal idle loads.

Having said all of that.. on a fresh windows install, it's 99% certain that you're going to install a .net update, which will launch a compile routine of some sort that will run while the computer idles. In practice that means the computer won't actually idle for.. you know.. the first week, if you don't purposely leave it on with the power plugged in. Have seen that a couple of times now. That people think their laptop is broken. But once they disable a few devices they didn't use anyway, and complete the .net "background" assembly, suddenly the temp drops 20 degrees, etc.

 

Thank you for response. Find out that bluetooth is open and I closed it but nothing has changed in terms of heat. I think there might be a contact between surface and disk but not sure of it since when I rest my right palm, it is hot but not hotter than left side. I did a fresh windows 8 install and don't remember anything about .net install. Maybe windows installed .net itself. If this is the problem do you know how to disable background assembly? When I'm writing this my cpu temps are 53-55*C and palm rest areas are warm. Also my samsung 830 ssd's temp is 37*C and hitachi is 38*C. When I play a game CPU and GPU goes up to 81*C. Intel turbo boost is disabled. Could I fix it myself if the issue is surface-disk contact? Thanks again

 

Yeah, just put a piece of folded paper between the back of the disk and the chassis. Or something like that..?

You can complete any queued "idle" threads in the .net package updates by opening a prompt.. run cmd.exe in the start menu, or whatever they're using in win8. Then navigate to c:/windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/[something.. highest number version dir]/ ,,("cd [dir]" to each, or use the path with backslashes)

And then run "ngen.exe executequeueditems".

Probably works to create a shortcut with that command to run in that path as well.

 

Hi All
1 question this is my 4th Asus laptop but the firtst time I can't configure the BIOS to have num lock = ON at startup .... Any help .... Am I overlooking something simple.
Hope you have a good one
IceJoki

 

I have too combination of SSD (830)/HDD (Seagate - in caddy), with bluetooth on I have normal temp. on browsing and not very big temps on working. Maybe you can look in Task Manager to see if is a program that takes too much CPU? Today bloatware applications are usual to take high CPU usage (Adobe reader - I always have to kill it, it didn't close, Windows indexing program, etc). Now my temps are 35/36 for SSD/HDD and 58 for CPU (I have 10-15% CPU usage by system, a sign that I need to look again with ProcessExplorer what the heck happens).
My problem so far is with keyboard (unreliable/

 

Hmm. My cpu temps are also near 55*C when browsing but the thing is left side of touchpad gets warm and people say that it should be completely cool. What about your computer?

 

Hey everyone, I got to play with the Asus N550 for a few days last week and I've put together a video and an article with my findings.

It's the I7-4600HQ version with Nvidia 750M graphics that should be a direct successor of the N56VZ.

If anyone's interested in this, let me know, I'll drop the links (via PM or here, if more of you will ask for that).

 

I think you mean it has the i7-4700HQ.

Mike's review can be found here: Asus N550 / N550JV review - a sleek multimedia notebook

Looking forward to seeing the prices for this on Amazon.

 

It's just slightly warm, not much by any means.
I just remember that the main ,,hidden" system CPU eater is Intel wifi driver, I updated but I will try to reverse to original driver.

 

I forgot to ask the heat of the left palm rest while playing hardcore games Mine gets a bit hot.

 

Any news on what improvements the Latest 217 BIOS makes? Anyone manage to figure out exactly what's changed?

 

Hi,

I'm planning to buy a N76vz or N56vz Asus notebook... but I'm worried by the weird speaker noises problem reported here(it seems to be caused by some power saving feature that turns the speakers on and off, after 10 seconds, when not used). It seems to happen only when the Realtek driver is used, not the windows default driver. So here are my questions:
1) Is this still an issue with newly purchased machines ? whoewer bought one can you please post yes or no?
2) Should I be able to notice it a few days after purchase?
3) Does it get worse in time?
4) Win7 or Win8 specific?
6) Does it happen if the external subwoofer is not plugged in?
7) Does it happen if the headphones are plugged in?
8) I've seen some solution on this thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/670037-asus-n76vz.html#post8804181). It seems to work but obviously its not a good idea to keep a constant 5% processor load in order to fix it.
Did someone try to find some key settings in registry that would allow to deactivate the power saving feature for the device?
(see http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...pping-high-pitched-tone-squeal.html#post76175)
9) Any improvements using the latest drivers?

Greetings, and many thanks everyone, especially Nipsen for the efforts you put in this thread.

 

..It seems to be two different problems going on. The "pop" is when you go from playing a sound or music, etc. And then go to nothing playing, and nothing being associated with the administrator-run sound processing filter. Then the amplifier physically turns off, which gives you a ..popp.. sound once. It gets less obvious over time, but could be pretty annoying if the volume is set very loud, and you're connected to an external amp through the analog out.

The second is a kind of *brrrrrbrrrrrr* sound in the subwoofer. That doesn't turn up every time, but somehow only when you scroll with the mouse. I didn't notice it at first, but it's definitely there, and for everyone. It's also a software issue, not a ground problem. Something happens with the buffer the realtek drivers use. And it really seems like it's the mouse-driver, with how it pushes a sound event every time you make a mouse-roll (it's really a click, etc.), which gives you some interrupt, which triggers a filter or other in the driver, that generates "something" in the buffer.

It's insane, it drives me insane. And it helped me switch to linux permanently, basically. But it's not.. you know.. extremely noticeable. But it's connected to the realtek driver and the way it uses the sound daemon, yes.

Note that.. the realtek thing is something that's going to recur on other brands as well... They use the same hardware (and therefore drivers), after all. But some of the new Clevo shells with 740m cards look pretty solid. Might be worth a look.

 

I haven't experience such a sound problem.. however it turns out that whenever using headphone, do remember to unplug the subwoofer since it disrupt the bass frequency..

 

Well, I've read that the sound from the built-in speakers is very good (by the way, better than for Lenovo IdeaPad Y580? ). I was hoping that if I don't to use the external sub-woofer, the "brr" in the sub-woofer would not be an issue.

Regarding the "popping" sound, would it be heard from whatever device is active: built-in speakers/headphone ? Did I got it correctly?

Anyone looked for some registry key that would deactivate it? (see http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...pping-high-pitched-tone-squeal.html#post76175).

Thanks

 

Anyone had any nonfunctional fan troubles?

I was walking to use my laptop in another room and i dropped it. It didnt mess anything up externally, but now i am noticing 60-75* temps surfing the net. The fan doesn't seem to be working at all. It is making a very quiet high pitched noise, but still no function. It wasn't a really hard drop onto a tile floor, maybe 2.5ft drop tops part of it hit carpet part of it bumped the coffee table.

 

Hi All
I have a Asus N56VJ-DH71 and as far as I can see there is little difference from the N56VZ does anyone know weather it is safe for me to use BIOS upgrades for the N56VZ version ?
THXS in advance for any help
IceJoki

 

No, won't get past the update check.

Also different processor, and different graphics card. So the firmware package for either the intel controls or the nvram won't be the right ones.

 

THXS Nipsen

 

Hey,

what do you guys use to cool this laptop? With it being cooled via keyboard and not sucking the air out of the bottom...