Official Asus G72GX Owners Lounge

Is there any way to get 5.1 sound out of this laptop?
I haven't been able to test the SPDIF output because I don't have that cable, but trying to get 5.1 sound from HDMI has been impossible to me so far.

 

Whats up guys! Im now in Rift!! and im loving it alot! That game is amazing. I have this laptop and have found that the FPS is kinda low! I mean I get around 17-20 in cities?! I have the setting on ultra and have shades off. I would like to see if you guys have this game and are experincing the same thing.

 

I don't think this integrated sound is 5.1, I could be very wrong though. Even if it was you would have to have a software encoder to accomplish such. So you can only get 2 channel output through SPDIF. Is whatever you are connecting have Dolby Digital or DTS? If it's Pro Logic II, you can't go higher than 2 channel since Pro Logic is just an emulator of 5.1.

The game looks very impressive and may deem a very BIG threat to WoW especially with it's one of a kind game mechanic that no other MMO can seem to bring to the table like Rift can supposedly bring. I'd play it, but I'm steering clear of paid subscriptions to MMO's for a while. Played WoW two months after launch, quit three different times and have finally been free from it for over a year now. I'm semi-active in LoTRO at the moment only because of the F2P and it looks better than WoW.

 

You should checkout Champions Online it's now F2P:

Play Champions Online FREE Now

 

I use K-Lite Mega Codec packs, (there is also a smaller non-mega pack version as well). You can get them free at filehippo.com. When installing, there are options for your speaker setup. The following is a word for word of the option window, (approx. 7th option window in Advanced setup):

Speaker configuration
Select the desired channel output for the audio decoders from the pack

2.0 (stereo)
2.1 (stereo + subwoofer)
3.0 (2 front + 1 rear)
3.0 (3 front)
4.0 (quadro)
4.1 (quadro + subwoofer)
5.1 (surround)
6.1 (surround)
7.1 (surround)
same as input

I've never attempted what you're trying but, it might be worth a shot. Good Luck!

 

I was connecting to a Dolby Digital capable system using an HDMI cable.
Of course, my sound source file was also encoded in 5.1.

I'm going to try that, thanks!

 

Hey, has anyone had luck finding instructions on disassembling the G72GX? The lcd cable on mine seems to have a short in it and I'm out of warranty. Previously I could tweak the screen angle and eventually get it to display properly, but lately its been getting much worse, and now the screen is flickering and I can't get it to stop. Everything works perfectly on an external monitor and I'd like to not have to ship it multiple states away to a licensed repair shop that will probably charge me more than it would cost to just buy a new one.

 

@Erioioro I don't have a disassembly guide but there are a couple of fixes for flickering listed here. Good luck.

 

I should have been more descriptive. There are lines running across the screen that continue to display everything but at a different brightness and the screen is distorting vertically but only for fractions of a second at a time ("flickering") I figured out that the screws for the screen are under the feet, but didn't managed to get the bottom off despite unscrewing all screws I could find. I've been told that my issue is actually an issue with the LCD, and that I need to get a new one, but advice couldn't hurt.

Edit: I couldn't take the bottom off the laptop that is.

 

There's a total of 3 screws per hinge that you have to take off, one of which is underneath the hinge cover and holding the ground cable.



On the first picture you will see that one screw on the backside just under the hinge cover and the one screw one the bottom right next to the leg, the one you said you got. Same goes for the other side. The second picture you will see that one lonely screw there holding the ground cable. The one is under the hinge cover, that is very easy to snap if you haven't done so already. That will be your last screw on both sides. If you don't know how to take the hinge off, the pic is below.



Right where my thumb is in the lower middle of the cover, you just push in and up. Once it snaps, close the lid and work it out from the backside. And sorry for the bright pictures, it's dark and there's a blizzard outside. I hate light sometimes.

As for your symptoms, it does sound like you may need a new LCD, BUT a little troubleshooting never hurts, as long as you don't break anything in the process. What you could do though and get some isoprophyl alcohol and a Q-tip and clean every exposed metal piece of the hinge mount and where the hinge sits on the motherboard. Also clean the screw and the ground cable connector top and bottom. You could also clean out the LCD headers on the motherboard as well, but be VERY VERY gentle and make sure to blow in the header in case there's dust and what-not in there. This worked for me in getting rid of the flicker I use to get, nothing like what you have, but this is all you got left. Now ever time I disassemble my laptop I go and clean everything like I just typed before I put it back together and have yet to get the flicker, hopefully never. Good luck and hope you don't have to replace it!

EDIT: Here's the link to the dis-assembly guide if you need it. I think it's a four part video if I remember right. Asus G71GX Disassembly It says G71, but is the same process for the G72.

 

Wow, that's really helpful. Thanks. Looks like all I missed were the screws under the hinge cover. I messed with it some more and reseated all the connectors associated with the screen with no luck, so it looks like this is a good excuse to upgrade to a higher res screen.

 

Hey guys, I just got a seagate go flex pro 1 terabite ultra portable external hdd and it does not seem to detect when i plug it in via the add on sata cable i purchased along with it. although it does work perfectly with the usb dongle. i did some research and to and my dismay it seems that the esata port on the back of my g72 is NOT the type that also carries the needed 12vdc to power the unit. im writing here in hopes that someone can tell me otherwise since there is (from what i can find) very little information pertaining to this issue. Is there i driver i need to install for this to work? or am i up a poo creek without a poo paddle? thanks again

 

ESATA requires power.

You should be able to use this:

Amazon.com: USB to 3.5mm Barrel Jack 5V DC Power Cable: Electronics

I was disappointed about that too, but found out that powered ESATA hasn't come out yet when this laptop was made (at least what I remember)

 

this is the drive i have. unfortunatly it does not have a power jack. at all. anywhere.....it will not take me what i assume atleast three time as long to back up my computer.... any one know the data trasfer rates between usb2 and esata?........and with that said... i thouigh the whole point of esata was forr drives like this....what a bunch of

 

Yeah I was upset too.

USB 2.0, Hi-Speed USB FAQ <-- USB 2 speed

Serial ATA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <-- Depends on the one in the laptop

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-esata.htm

 

The same thing happened to me using my GTX260M OCd to stock, throttling while playing some games (Borderlands, Blur, MW2), but not on others (BFBC2 or Crysis 2). I haven't found a solution to that, even trying with different drivers or disabling Powermizer.

Also, since a month or so, my idle GPU temps have been going up (right now it is @62°C using 266.58), and even using compressed air didn't help much, what else can I do?

I've been thinking about repasting my GPU, but here I can't buy IC diamond 7. I can get Arctic Silver, Arctic Ceramique and Thermaltake TG-2.
What would you recommend?

 

If you can properly apply AS5 I would recommend it. I myself use the ceramique, just because it comes without risk and you can buy it dirt cheap. It seems between the two TIMs there is no huge difference in temps, especially not enough to warrant risk from AS5's capacitive makeup. I would try ICD7, but not sure if $20 is worth it and tests all over the net seem inconclusive to my eyes anyways. By inconclusive, I mean that either the diamond, or silver or even ceramique is on top in different applications and reviewers. I don't know, I'll wait till I deem it to be worth a shot. It would be a good idea to open it up and do the repaste and give it a good cleaning. If you need a good dis-assembly guide, let me know, I just acquired one from ASUS Customer Support today in PDF format! I only got the guide because it seems that they don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for a blueprint or a diagram with dimensions of the Graphics card heatsink, so their answer is sending me the guide - like I needed it! I'm giving them another shot, and hope they can get it right this time. At least they did better through email than over the phone.

As for the GPU clocks and throttling, I wonder if you hard coded the OC stocks clocks in the vBIOS, maybe that will prevent the throttling. I'm just throwing the idea, only because I have mine hard coded to 550/1375/950 (c/s/m). Unfortunately I can't test the games for you, cause I don't have them. It may be worth a shot. The only thing is if you have the TurboGear enhanced VGA driver it will drop it back to ASUS clocks, so you have to get rid of the driver. I see no purpose in that driver anyways.

 

First of all, +rep for you, thanks for helping keep this thread alive with helpful posts!

I just re-cleaned with compressed air and a little lens brush all the heat sinks and the fan. I'll see how that goes and if it doesn't work, I'll try repasting with Ceramique (thanks for the advice). BTW, I'd love to have that disassembly guide from Asus, I'll PM you my email.

Also, I was thinking if there was a way to hard code the standard clocks of the GTX260M into it. Would you explain to me how do it and what programs and files I need?

Cheers!, Kindjal.

Edit: After cleaning the laptop, and restarting with the new drivers, I have achieved to maintain temperatures between 53-55° C, so now I'm really tempted to try to hard code the OC stock clocks in the vBIOS.

 

That's great! It must have been pretty dusty in there I take it, haha.

I already have a ROM file ready to go and flash as the vBIOS. I got this from the ASUS G51 Optimization Guide and changed the clocks to Nvidia's stock clocks and of course the subsystem ID to accommodate for our laptop. I also have edited in here, which was pre-edited the Critical temperature threshold from 108C to 100C. This will tell the card to go to throttle clocks at 100C instead of 108C. It seems to be running perfectly stable after running Furmark for about 30 minutes straight, also running a couple of other games here and there for about a week now with no issues. I decided to use this ROM because of the expanded voltage table in case I wanna drop the clocks and voltages. Anyways, you can use the file I uploaded if you want. If you aren't comfortable with my file, which I don't blame you if you aren't, you can refer to the G51 optimization guide under the editing vBIOS section. It will tell you how to save your original vBios and edit it to what you want. Make sure when you are editing the frequencies to only adjust the Extra row and nothing more, also leave your voltages the same. Flashing the vBios is also in this guide. Make sure to follow the flashing guide step by step. I suggest you read first to get familiar with it, then go ahead and follow it. I must say though that you take the risk in using my file and I can not be held responsible in case you brick your card. I assure you though that this is the exact file I use for my card.


This is the picture to prove what I have as my vBios. If what I have boxed in red matches your original ROM in Nibitor, than the ROM file I have up here should without a doubt work with the card as long as you follow the flashing steps correctly. View attachment NBOC.zip Also make sure to keep your original vBIOS if you are still under warranty, because you'll want to flash back in case you have to send it in for warranty issues.

Go ahead and send me a PM with your email so I can send you the disassembly guide since I can't upload it here because the file size is about 3Megs.

EDIT: If you decided to use my file, please let me know how it went. Also one thing that I have noticed is when you clock the shader to 1375 the sensor in GPU-Z shows it running at 1400. This happens even with a software overclock as well. I even went and did a shader clock to 1374 and the sensor showed it at 1350, hardware and software clock. I don't know if this is a bug in GPU-Z or what the deal is, but I wouldn't be alarmed about it since this vBIOS has been running perfect for me.

 

Ok, I hard coded the stock clocks on my GTX260M successfully and tested for stability with Furmark 1.9.0. I must say that I was a little concerned with temps reaching 102°C, but it stayed there and went down to 101. Anyway, when I bought this lappy and tested it with furmark then, I was getting the same temps, so I'm not concerned. There isn't any game that pushes GPUs as hard as furmark anyway.
I chose to use a personal file instead of yours just for safety measures, and also, I wanted to leave stock underclocking security temps. Not that I don't trust you or anything. If I didn't, I wouldn't have done all this to start with.
Tomorrow (more like today, but later) I'll test some games and tell you how it went, but for now it seems that all is good.

PS: I sent you my mail by PM!

 

Like I said, I completely understand. As for Furmark, I get the same temps as well, although I can't understand why it goes that high, even when I run it with the cover open. Something just isn't right because with the cover open it seems to level off at about 86-87C, then once it gets past that it shoots up to the 100's pretty quick. I'm just boggled about that, and have been for a little bit. Glad it's starting out good for ya though!

 

Thanks for sending me the guide!
So far I have tested Mass Effect without any issues (not that I needed to have my GPU overclocked for that, but anyway, it was for testing purposes only).
Later I'll try Blur, BFBC2 and whatever I feel like playing, lol.

I'm posting new results later!

 

Test some of those games that throttled on you real quick and tell me if it does it now. I'm very curious if this may be one of the things that solves the throttling issue.

 

I have tested MW2, Mass Effect and BFBC2, without any kind of trouble so far.
Max temp 85°C, pretty decent, if I say so myself, lol.
I'll try Blur and report back later.

Edit: Blur ran without any problems. I really hope this good performance streak with no throttling stays for a long time!

 

What were your max temps at when you did have the throttling issues?

 

About 80-83, but only happened with some games, as I already said. For example, it would downclock while playing Borderlands (that was the game that gave me the most trouble), but not with Starcraft 2 or Crysis.
When I tested with furmark to see if this was a temp related issue, it didn't downclock at all, even reaching 102-103°C, so I discarded high temps as a cause for throttling for my laptop.

When I was making my own vBios to hard code the stock frequencies, I noticed that there were 4 kinds of different clockings depending on the use intended for the GPU. I recognized that when the GPU throttled, it got stuck at 3D clocks (383/301/767 c/m/s). I was thinking that maybe if I had some kind of trouble with throttling (I really hope that doesn't happen!), maybe I could hard code the same "extra" clocks on the 3D clocks, so when it throttles, it just goes from 550/950/1375 to 550/950/1375.
I guess that's one kind of solution to the throttling problem.

 

While a good idea that can be very dangerous to the card to adjust throttle to those frequencies. I would be very weary taking that approach. I think if you aren't getting the throttling issues anymore just leave it like it is, but I would suggest dropping the critical temperature threshold to 100C just for safety of the card. Anyways, good to see that it has alleviated the issue with hard coding the clocks. This whole idea to the throttling was all accident, I swear that I haven't seen this anywhere! If it is somewhere before I posted this idea, then I have no intentions of taking credit for it. Haha!

 

Yeah, I know it's quite risky, and I wouldn't try to do it (at least not without any kind of additional refrigeration). I hope this solves the problem for good!

 

I need help to repaste my GTX260M, could someone please tell me how you did it?

 

So I got bored one day and decided to fill the third connector on my Intel 5300 card and had put in an external antenna. Ya, I could have put an internal one in, but I didn't want to fuss around with the LCD panel and figure out where to put it and I honestly don't mind the look of an antenna sticking out of the laptop, so it works for me. Anyways, here's some photos for anyone remotely interested.



All I used was a soldering iron for all the melting. Ya, there's a lot of deformity and destruction, but it works, I can still use a screw in the spot and no one can see it. Melting the screw housing was the only way I could get the connector to into it's hole.

 

Did it improve your signal reception quality?

 

According to Xirrus WiFi Inspector it has improved reception by about 6-8 dBm's in signal strength on the 5GHz band and about 4-6 dBm's on the 2.4GHz band. This is with the external tri-band antenna hooked up to the main connector and the internals hooked up to axillary and the middle connector. Also, the laptop is sitting about 20ft away in line of sight of the router, which is the Asus RT-N56U.

 

Nice results!
BTW, I have kept testing games on my laptop after hard coding stock GPU clocks and it has been pretty stable so far, 85°C top temp while gaming.
I have been thinking a lot about repasting, because I'm afraid that I could damage something while disassembling the laptop (I have done this kind of thing before, but on desktops). I am especially annoyed by not being able to get the GPU out without taking everything apart.
Also, how did you get those thermal pads out?, mine are stuck real hard on the chips, and I really don't want to force them.

 

Hm, it should just come right off. The pad is kind of like a real thick and moist piece of fabric and breaks pretty easy. There should be no reason that you should have trouble with it. Honestly though if you don't feel comfortable with the whole disassembly I don't blame you. I used to be in the same boat as you. Spent 14 years on desktops. It wasn't but about two years ago that I sucked it up and started on laptops. Taken apart a few laptops since then, to include a G73JH, garbage layout on that I tell you what but I think the cooling on it is great once you get it repasted out of the box. Although the G73's layout isn't any worse than HP's. Anyways, I honestly don't think you absolutely need to repaste since it seems that your idle temp and your max are fine. I idle at about 51C and max at 78C in the game Rift. You're not doing too bad at all. It's up to you though, since you seem to be at the very low of idle temp. You might see maybe one or two degree C drop, or none at all on idle, but you may see a five degree C drop on your max. Sometimes there's no telling.

 

My "problem" with temps started when I came back from vacations. I was on a trip for 17 days, and before that, my idle temps were always 55°C (no OC). When I returned and started my computer my idle temps started to raise little by little, getting to 70, then the fan kicked in and lowered the temps to 60 (and mostly stayed there). So, as I was used to have 55° at idle, it started worrying me to have an extra 5°C for nothing. I do have to say that ambient temperature has been quite high (for my standards) for the last 2 months, so maybe it's just that.

 

Ya just a couple of degrees in F for room temps can raise idle temps a couple of degrees in C. That's what I have observed anyways. Kinda of odd, but it is what it is.

 

I've got news guys!
Finally grew a pair (lol) and disassembled my G72 to do a full repaste of CPU, GPU and Northbridge. I tested my lappy with furmark and I got to 101° C completely stable on stock OC for the GTX260M. Idle temps on 55-58°C with OC, 53 without. I'm not using any other kind of cooling whatsoever. I wasn't able to get some copper shims to replace the thermal pads on the chips, but I'm really happy with the results so far.
I'd really want to thank win132001 for all his help. You rock, man!

Cheers, Kindjal

 

So your first laptop! Tell me, was it fun taking it apart and putting it back together again?

 

Oh, yeah, it really was!
I have to admit that I was quite nervous when I started, but when I finished and it booted as if nothing had happened (but with lower temps ^^), it made it all worth it.

 

Hello, I do not know if this would be the correct place to ask this (if it's not someone please point me in the right direction) but I was hoping to play Crysis on this laptop (g72gx-rbbx05) and I was wondering if someone could tell me what settings to use (in-game and out) to get the best looking results while still playing smoothly. sorry i'm a total newb at this, any help would be appreciated.

 

Hi dude!, and welcome to the forums.
I'm guessing you want to play Crysis 1, so I'd recommend to download the latest CUDAATS 2.2.1 mod. Using that you get great graphics and amazing performance (and I didn't even have to overclock my GTX260M to play it).

Here you can download it and also check out how to install it.
I used CUDAATS on level 5 and didn't get any kind of slowdown.
Also, when you install cudaats, you don't have to change the graphics settings on the options menu in game (except for screen resolution).

I hope that helps you!

Cheers, Kindjal

 

Yeah I meant Crysis 1 lol, I forgot 2 just came out. And I will definitely give this a shot then! Thankyou so much dude! Much appreciated!

 

Don't forget to let us know how did it run or if you had any trouble.

 

It worked like a charm. Looks amazing, and I've had no problems so far. Only thing I wasn't sure about was I installed the UltimaRage's TOD, will it affect performance somewhere down the line? Should I keep it or uninstall? Thanks again, you were really helpful!

 

Actually, I installed Crysis a long time ago, and I don't remember if I used UltimaRage's TOD (I think I didn't, because I wanted to play the game as it was meant to be), but if its running smoothly for you, then I'd just play it that way.

 

hmmmm... actually, I've noticed that I have occasional sound bugs were it kinda locks up or freezes for a second and the speakers make this sort of buzzing sound. Do you have any idea what might be causing this? Could it be my drivers? or would it be some sort of hardware issue?

EDIT: stuttering, would be a better way to describe it, the audio stutters at times, I did a little research and it appears some other people have had problems with this, is there any way to fix it?

 

I think I know what you're talking about, but I haven't heard of a fix. I get that sound on two occasions, playing audio and then either unplugging the power cord or maxing out the processors, usually during virus scans. I update my audio drivers whenever an updated version is available. It happens on both the G71 and G72, (I have both). I've also tested this out in Best Buy on a demo model, and pulling the plug while playing audio did cause the buzzing noise.

 

Hey all, I've had my g72gx for over a year now and just found this forum last night. I have a few questions about heating, and a question about upgrading the BIOS.

I noticed a little monitor flickering when I was gaming the other night, and searched for advice...leading me here. I found the posts about heating issues with the GPU. I installed the trial of sensorsview and this is what it gives me when idle:


Is this about where it should be for this laptop? I am running at default settings (no overclocking) and am using a 2-fan laptop chill mat. I went with this one since it was the only one I could find that was big enough: Targus|AWE55CA&ndash;Targus Lap Chill Mat™

I just cleaned out my fan and intake grill (wasn't really dirty). I also upgraded to the 8.17.12.6776 NVIDIA driver last night.

I also saw the posts about updating the BIOS to get rid of the sleep mode bug. What's the best way to flash my BIOS on a laptop? I've read that it's not a good idea to flash from the hard drive. Since we do have a DVD burner with this laptop, should I just do it from there?

I bought my laptop at bestbuy. Would it void my warranty (one year left) if I were to have them pull off the gpu heatsink and replace the manufacturer stuff with arctic silver? I've done this before on desktop computers. In fact, I custom-built my previous rig.
The reasons I went to a laptop now are that I like being able to move my computer from room to room (I HDMI into our lcd TV), and I also now have a limit on the amount of weight I can lift (back problems).

I plan on doing the same thing as Teraclips with the RAM heatsinks. What a great idea btw.

 

Your temps are perfect, I really wouldn't try to repaste (or send it to repaste) with those idle temps. You could also show us your load temps, just to be sure.
The latest BIOS for the G72GX is 602, and I updated it from the bios, from a bios file on my HDD without any problems. I had never heard that it wasn't recommended to flash your bios from your HDD, but I had heard about not doing it from Windows.

I hope that helps you.
Cheers, Kindjal.

 

I just finished playing a (very graphics intensive) game and my highest temperature reached was 83c on the GPU.