*Official ASUS W90Vp Owners' Lounge*

why you want to test it out?

 

Cheers,

Great set of links there. Have grabbed setFSB and have been testing any adjustments to the CPU by running tests with WPrime you have linked. Got o admit, the W90 seems to be a nice machine to overclock reliably.

After running Viscious' guide on how to update the GFX drivers, I chose to stick with the original drivers as opposed to the overclocking ones. However, will I still be able to marginally OC the GFX cards via the ATI control panel regardless ?

 

Does the new 9.9 Mobility driver for Win 7 work??

http://support.amd.com/de/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx

 

DPi, AFAIK there are no performance improvements gained by updating the video drivers, and I haven't had any glitches in games suggesting the drivers needed updating.

The ATI control panel lets you enable overclocking, and it does help. My sig has the result of CPU/GPU overlocking to the Max the Asus/ATI tools allow for the W90vp-X1 3Dmark06: 15429

 

Actually, if you can get modern drivers, there are a lot of performance updates; they wont fix each and every game, but to say drivers dont bring improvements is a little stupid; it's why so many people were trying to update. Going for the original (8.6 -> 9.4?) will still bring improvements, and better crossfire profiles; even if not every game will benefit.
As an example with Cat9.7 my 4850s went from 30fps average to 60fps average with 9.9 drivers and the DX10 RE5 benchmark. If thats not a sign of better crossfire profiles, and driver update/optimisation I dont know what is

 

If i can get one i may test it.....Is is also MXM 2.1 Type III? or already MXM 3.0?

 

Alexrose1uk, glad to hear your 4850 benefited from a video driver update. Most of my other video cards, in other PC/laptop's have also benefited from video driver updates, most of the time.

I was specifically referring to improvements from updating the W90vp video drivers, using the hack the video card firmware / hack the video driver updates put together for the W90vp.

If I saw anyone claiming useful benchmark improvements, or specific game improvements, I might have also updated. But, I haven't seen anyone claim significant improvements.

At the frame rates I am getting in the games I am playing, I have no reason to long for an update.

Have you seen any improvements updating your W90vp with the hacked video firmware/drivers? Which games/benchmarks, and how much of an improvement? Was it worth the hassle of flashing the video cards and munging the drivers?

Any improvements in the 3Dmark06 score? - What did you get before / after the update?

 

it is 2.1b i believe. it's the same socket as the 9800m gtx in my np9262. so it should fit yours no problem.

 

Nope no go, Error Code 43 on 2nd card, this is in a master/slave config, someone wanna try a master/master config ?

 

I've got a W90 question:

Which CPU is better, the Core 2 Quad Q9000 2 GHz or the Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz? Specifically for gaming.

 

I would think for the majority of games, the latter would be better. I would think for a minority of games such as GTA4, a quad-core processor would be better, even if lower clocked.

I am wondering if there will be a refresh of the W90 with the mobile i7 processors and next year, a mobility HD5870X2? Sounds very sweet if true.

 

Okay, thanks.

 

Sorry mate I meant 4850ms in my M17, really hate how ASUS has screwed such a potentially awesome machine by not offering a faster processor or driver updates. Regards improvements going from AW stock to 9.9s I did see improvements, not particularly in 3dmark though, general performance up across the board in games, with some titles noticeably smoother with new stuff, RE5 running twice as fast in some places for example. As a comparison though AW stock are 8.12/9.1, whereas I couldnt exactly say how much 8.6 to 9.4 should yield, wish you could join me on 9.9

 

Alexrose1uk, I feel fortunate to have gotten a T9600 2.8Ghz / 3.289Ghz OC (35W Max TDP), vs a 2.0Ghz Quad (45W Max TDP). Asus only offered the higher clocked CPU a short time. There was no reason (that I know of) not to offer a "faster" CPU of the same TDP. The 2.0Ghz Quad, while a fine processor, only offers certain apps a benefit right now, at 10w higher TDP. The higher clock speed per thread for 1/2 threads is more noticeably useful with more apps/games.

Would be nice to know the difference on the W90 for video drivers, but so far no problems I can see requiring updating the video driver.

 

Crossfire 1G mobility 4870 is now available on M17x. It's even more expansive than GTX280M SLI(add $100), so maybe it's the GDDR5 version

 

Think I found a bag for this beast....

http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/The-North-Face-Off-Site-Laptop-Bag-2075cu-in/TNF2043M.html

 

I have been looking for a different bag as well. I like the looks of that bag but I don't think that one will fit the W90.

 

it won't be long till the 4870 drivers are on dell's webpage. hope it can help you guys out when i does get release.

 

Well, I was in a chat with a Sales Rep and posted the dimensions of the laptop (from ASUS's site) and was assured it would, but if not it comes with a lifetime, unconditional warentee.

So, I have ordered it, should be here in 2 days, will let ya know, hell, I may even post a pic or two.

 

That would be great, looking forward to seeing it.

 

Still want a real pic of the 4870.... Aynone has ever take is out of the NB?

 

They say its GDDR3 over at the alienware area here....so essentially the same card as us right? Seems like good news to me, hopefully we will get new working drivers now and more regularly.

 

Cant wait for the release of the new drivers. Hopefully sheds some light on our situation. Now im getting to the edge of my nerve for a voltage bump on this beast.... Who would i go about talking to thats knowledgeable on pin modding round here?

 

Here is the bag I have been using. It is an Oakley Kitchen Sink (black).

http://www.oakley.com/catalog/products/kitchen-sink-backpack

The laptop area is just a tad too small to fit the W90vp-x1, but the main area has plenty of room. I use the laptop area for notebook / papers / Razor Mouse pad.

The top "sunglasses" area is solid / crush resistant, and I put the delicate stuff in there (EVDO usb, mini USB hub, small cables, USB flash drives, etc).

The side pockets are the right size to carry the W90vp-x1 power supply/cable. And, I use the other side for other heavy adapters to balance it.

The lower front area holds the rest of the stuff, and there are holders for glasses, air blower (dust), pens, lights, etc. The bottom even drops out into a large holding area for temporary storage for large things (about the size of a loaf of bread, or a pair of shoes).

The backpack is light by itself, but sturdy, and folds up small when not loaded with stuff.

The main reason I purchased this one is that the straps are really reinforced. This backpack should last a long time!

 

Dont get your hopes up too much, AW arent good for drivers . My hope is the 4870m in the AW support mobility modder, but are BIOS compatible with your cards so you guys could flash to a newer, more compatible AW vbios, will depend on whether they confirm GDDR3 or 5 though

 

Well, it is "Crossfire dual mobility 4870" rather than "mobility 4870 X2". That means the bios of the two card are the same but something will be different from ours I think. Actually I suspect ASUS did some tricks on the motherboard of W90VP to keep us from DIY it ,for example, change driver from that of ASUS, replace with more powerful cards like mobility 5870,etc, which with simliar with the warranty tab on the CPU heat sink. Though we can use modified driver, it still has lots of bugs and we cannot expect E-wracked do anything more for us more(he has been banned)

 

HEY ALL!

Well I was bad...... I could not help myself today........

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5342499&postcount=1336

Yes, the M17x now comes with 4870XT cards...... GDDR5, and 1GB GDDR5 each!

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=dkcwqt1&s=dhs&~lt=alienware click 'Video Card'......

ENJOY!

 

I think the real driver problem for the W90, lies in the X38 chipset. This will not be an issue with he new 4870 cards being supplied by Dell/Alienware, and ATI will be consistently updating the drivers for WIN 7, from here on out.

http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=525X832&url=http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

 

Awesome! With the CPU/Memory upgrade that M17x should scream!

Configured with AW/Dell CPU/memory (T9800 / 6GB-1333 / etc ) came out to $4252.

Let us know what benchmarks you see when you have it all together.

 

LOL! Did you read the footnote of my post?

Thanks Bro!

 

Problem is we have no idea if the mxm boards use gddr5 yet, AW america tech support dont know and its not been confirmed, in fact moo seemed to indicate he was told gddr3, that listing youve got is the only thing that does so pinch of salt. If they are GDDR 5 great, but I wouldnt get hopes up. Also as a sidenote ATI dont use terms like XT anymore, they use pure model number schemes, if anyone mentions xt its only likely a company codename.

Good luck, if it IS the long awaited GDDR5 model it should fly in crossfire with a decent CPU, if my 4850 tests were an indicator (raw gpu utilisation and grunt rose about 15% or so even in non-cpu limited scenarios) going from a p8400 to an x9100

 

Hi

Been working now for a few months with the w90vp and are still happy although new drivers are not available (yet) but as win7 is coming up I want to move to ssd. I've seen configs here hat use ssd's but as they are already more than one or thwo months old they might not be apliccable as the ssd developments are moving fast. Anyone here using an ssd or has a good suggestion for one?
Is it really as easy as plug and reinstall ?

 

He already got his build sheet which states GDDR5 .

 

Yeah I saw, and I hope like hell its true, Im just a little 'pinch of salt' over trusting Alienware right now, especially when there own techs haven't been provided the info, with my experience with AW Europe, Im sure you can understand why.

I really hope they ARE the real 4870s though, if the scaling of the desktop counterparts are a good example, we're probably looking 20-30% performance over the 4850m, which means 10-20% performance boost over the GTX280M (given the 4850m is a little faster than the 260M).
Rather nice really for a non-next-generational part

Even if my M17 goes back though I wouldnt be able to justifiably afford them with how much AW overcharge for the M17x here though () [see other thread for the levels!].

 

I think that just might be the fanciest backpack I have ever seen.

 

This is actually my 2nd choice if the one I am recieving today does not work out.

 

Great now i need to find $200 for that backpack.

 

Hi guys I know this has possibly been looked at but your cards are basically clocked 4850s as I understand, Ichime tried to flash my BIOS iirc but couldnt because of a different hardware ID. Is it possible that you could modify the AW bios to asus volts and clocks, and then use one of the dos utilities to force flash the bios, ignoring the hardware ID lock, I had to do a similar thing with my old desktop 4870 to be able to use an ASUS Top bios with a better fan profile. If this worked then you would retain faster clocks whilst unlocking driver support.
Just a thought as the AW 4870s are not looking to be bios compatible, using GDDR5 and all.

 

Well, you were right, it doesnt fit, got a RMA and refund comming. Guess I am goin with this http://www.oakley.com/catalog/products/kitchen-sink-backpack as was mentioned later in the thread

 

wwoods, if you have a local Oakley store, give them a ring to confirm they have stock in the store, and you can check out the fit for yourself in person (with the W90) against all their in store bags. That is what I did when I was looking for W90 fitting packs.

Oakley also had a larger satchel at the time, like this beauty, but it didn't carry enough stuff over and above the W90. It looks like this one only fits a 15" now :-(

http://www.oakley.com/catalog/products/oakley-computer-bag-2-0

I tried a number of the bags at Oakley for fit, but the Kitchen Sink ended up being the one.

The last tough decision was whether to get the Silver or Black

 

Sorry it didn't work out, but on the other hand that Oakley Kitchen Sink looks amazing. I have the W90 and a T400 to lug around so that might be a good fit for me as well.

 

Almost makes me want to try down flashing to 4850s maybe better driver support for those cards >.<

 

Well if you altered the clocks and voltages provided by the VBIOS you wouldnt really be downgrading; as you have GDDR3 it seems you guys probably just have slightly faster default 3d clocks, with the GPUs running slightly higher voltage and perhaps slightly better RAM; (your laptop has better cooling IIRC than the M17 so that doesnt strike me as impossible) the idea was just born out of a thought of better possible driver support for yourselves. So far the AW BIOS and hardware strings have been completely compatible with the latest mobility modder (1.2.1.0) so I believe the issue you guys have is probably more VBIOS/Setup related than anything else with that second card not being picked up properly.

As a quick query, do your 4850/70 cards use a crossfire cable between the two cards, or is it purely via the motherboard? (and if you dont, is there a connector for one?)

 

Theres a connector if i remember correctly but its kind of buried under the cards. At least thats the conclusion i remember of people taking this laptop apart. If i have time at work today ill investigate.

 

If you have the connector might be worth getting the cable, incase that has something to do with modded drivers and the second card failing to work? ATI may have dropped motherboard crossfire support after 9.4 which causes the second card to not initialise and sync with the main card?

 

If I remember right, from people who have looked at the card, there is a cable connecting the two cards. I have not personally looked, but I believe others said there was a cable.

 

.....there is a cross fire connecting both cards , tore the lappy apart to many times already......

 

I can also confirm this.. there is DEFINITELY a cable.

 

Hey mkinasz, how are you liking your 120g vertex drive? Been debating pulling the trigger for a while now. Also hows the quad treating you? tried ocing it much?

 

Agreed...
In fact I'm pretty sure I posted pictures way back in this thread which shows the two cards and the crossfire cable attached between them.

{EDIT}
Here's the pics:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4786258&postcount=5436

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4783900&postcount=5366