Official C90/C90S/C91/C80 Owners Lounge

@triturbo
Thanks for the link with the CDROM fans!
My heatsink extender is a simplified version of Angel’s heatsink in the ODD bay (don’t remember its exact name). It is made entirely from copper with a copper bridge/pipe to the GPU heatsink. There is one fan that pulls out the air from the laptop over the copper fins.

The word "impossible" is not a part from my dictionary .

You are right that the task is not an easy work and actually requiring extreme precision. In your specific case the difficulty is coming from the way that Acer mounts the video heatsink. The goal is to be filled out the gap between the GPU and the heatsink using a copper or silver (better) shim. The proper thickness of the shim can be achieved using the finest sandpaper ( 600/ 800/ 1200) and constantly measurement and check out the thickness after every 5 moves of the shim over the sandpaper.

Be careful because the required precision is bellow 0.01mm. The good final result is when you put the shim between the heatsink and the GPU and there are no visible gaps between them when watching against the light or a light source. The video card screws must be screwed fully and the shim must be touching the GPU and the heatsink without a pressure. When you achieved that then you will need no TIM. At that point if you want you can use the Liquid Metal to fill in the invisible microscopic gaps. In practice with the LM your GPU temperature will be lower with about 1*C ~ 1.5*C when the laptop is under extreme load for a long period of time.

Something important – one of the shim’s edges should be filed with 0.1mm more to compensate the mounting angle (Acer and Lenovo specific) of the video card ATI 4670.​

 

Because of this mounting angle I said that it's nearly impossible. I got it nearly perfect in the end How's yours going? I'm rather happy with mine and I'm yet to test it with water

 

Lol and here was me thinking I was pedantic with my 0.5mm difference thermal pads The quest for the final degree

 

@triturbo

I was chased by some home equipment failures and my attention was directed to their repair. Now I'm much occupied and haven’t time to finish my favorite laptop mods until the end of the month .​

Congrats for your work :thumbsup:!

 

Yeah ok.. Before the army rolls out the "why are you.." Statements.. Lets go thru the stuff I came here for first.

Is it cost effective to upgrade this ancient relic vs newer models?
If so.. What parts? Who sells them?

Once upon a time a copper heatsink mod was made by someone here.. Is it still possible to get one regardless?

Does anyone know a solution to end cooking the gpu to correct it?
Is the screen going black suddenly a gpu issue or a monitor issue when cooking even a brand new gpu from asus solves one issue.. but issues like partial mosiac screen & using a spare monitor in dual mode gives no mosiac issue? Are both bad? No? Then which ones & why.

Is there any good reason my 90w psu brick has lasted 7 years an a brand new 150w brick died inside 2 years with a built in fan?

Short of duct tape & saudering is there a better way to lock the power pin to the laptop to keep it from falling out?

Say newer laptops are faaar superior.. Word has it there are no more mobile desktops being made anymore like c90s, is that true? If not then is it possible to work around this & if so how?

Who makes reliable led lit replacement screens for this model? Or in general?

If I wanted to get a motherboard of either type reworked for say better resistors or whatever.. Whos decent an reliable for this presently? An do the benefits of such work warrent the pricetags? Also.. Do these places do analysis of why said things fail? Does this apply to gpu's too?

More to come when I'm not on mobile typing.. I think.

 

I believe Clevo still makes some of those "mobile desktop" systems.

As for your current system, the C90S was an experiment for Asus, and one they decided they did not want to continue. It was designed to be upgradeable, but where it falls short of new models is cooling design and general wear and tear. While you said you can fix some of the problems with duct tape, when you talk about making changes in motherboard design, it gets really expensive because that would require a completely custom board to fit in the C90S chassis. Completely custom laptops can cost up to $10,000 and won't perform any better than a $2000-$3000 system. Upgrading to a different system would allow you to save a lot of money and time on repairs, and would allow you to enjoy the benefits of however many years of experience Asus and other manufacturers have had since producing your system and the technologies gained in that time.

 

Your question would be better served in the C90 owners lounge, so I am merging your thread to hopefully get the attention of the right people.

 

I was on mobile an had very little time to work with, but having looked where technology stands now.. ddr5 vs my ddr3 an the whole mb vs gb i can see theres no benefit to trying to mod this too far.. however it was my first laptop.. i won't abandon it if i can prevent it from totally dying on me.

I'd like to find a copper heatsink mod for it, someone was making them along time ago.. idk who.
The video issues remain a constant problem, one way or the other it's a learning experience so I have to fix those somehow. The idea there is to know whats going on if it happens again with another newer laptop for any reason. At least I'll know whats up.

I find it hard to believe there's no one with any ideas to answer some of my questions.. I'm not too keen on my post being filed as a thread into some arcane thread no one prolly reads an will be seen as some ancient bump >.> but who am I to say.. I just got back.. I could be wrong.. we'll see what happens.

 

The biggest issue is the lack of mxm 3 a or b graphics slot. If it had that then sure but without it then you can't put a modern gpu in it.

 

@Corzama
Hey,

There is an article that covers almost everything about C90S. Here it is the link to the Angel’s site:

"C90S Unleashed"​

It isn’t! The price of a decent upgrade is about US$ 250.​

Take a look at “C90S Unleashed”.​

AFAIK unfortunately no one is selling this copper heatsink.
​

Firstly check out the video cable. Also you should replace the crap 8600M – the source of all problems related to the screen.
​

It’s simple – bad construction design. The power surges can destroy any PSU.​

If you mean the laptop’s power socket then the only good solution is its replacement with a new one.​

There is a Canadian company – Eurocom, makes unique models.
​

Some links to who is selling the screen:

Seller #1 (eBay)
Seller #2 (Smart-Micro USA) ​

I don’t know.​

Depends on what is your motivation and goals.​

It's an expensive answer!​

I don’t know.​

 

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum (although I have read almost the entire thread throughout the years).
Recently I obtained a C90P motherboard from aliexpress.
I was having the same issues cyberken described (even saw his youtube video and the behavior was 100% the same).
After testing the machine with different hardware configurations I found the solution to his problem!
The problem is the cpu; I tested it with an E6400 (no boot) E5800 (no boot) E7500 (no boot) E8400 (succesfull boot!)

After some digging on the internet I found a article on a chinese website.
Even though I can't read chinese, I got the following info thanks to google translate:
- 0602/0604 support: e4, e6 (Core 2), e8 (C0 stepping)
- 0704/0803 support: e1, e2, e3, e5, e6 (Pentium Dual Core), e7, e8 (E0 stepping), q8, q9 series CPU.

I know the info isn't 100% accurate (my e6400 definately didn't work) but perhaps this can help some people in the future.

BTW can anyone help me obtain the 0803 bios?
The link on Angel's page is dead

Furthermore, is anyone interested in info on how they can fit in a mxm III card?
I managed to install a radeon mobility 4850 in my C90S/C90P.

 

I Would love to hear how you got your 4850 in there!!

Pretty please!!

 

Hi Guys

I own an original Asus C90s.
My Nvidia 8600GT burned down, as known to be a faulty GPU.
I have acquired a new/used Nvidia identical card.

I want to change the thermal pads, but Asus support or no one can answer me how thick these pads have to be and which ones to use, both for the GPU core and the 4 memory chips.



I have found a partial answer on this thread but this is for a replacement to an HD4670 card, where i still have a nvidia 8600gt:

Asus C90s MXM Upgrade

"Your purchase will include a heatpad for the GPU core (one of our 17W/mK pads) and 4 for the memory chips as the original pads are only paper thin.

When we put the entire thing together, we were lucky that all components on the board did not interfere with the heatsink even though one component passed it with nothing to spare. As the drilling of the holes is a bit rough in terms of positioning you may be as lucky.. or not. In which case some minor 'surgery'on the heatsink might be needed.

In the picture the heatpads.... "

I can choose form this thermal pads form this shop:

Thermal paste ect.


Thermal pads

Hope anyone can help.

Thanks

Reda

 

Hello all.

I'm new to this forums and have problem with my asus c90s.
My 8600GT recently died. It's almost impossible to buy 8600GT now, even on eBay.

So I've read on other topic here that you can swap your old 8600GT with HD3650.
I did buy Mobility HD3650 from eBay.

Swapped my old 8600GT with HD3650 [before I had to drill bigger holes in card to fit the heat sink].

Problem I have now is that when I turn on my c90s screen is blank light grey and it does not load BIOS.

Is there something I've missed?
I have to admit that I'm total noob in this field and any help would be very useful.

Thanks,
Daniel

 

Hey ednevell,

Sorry for my late reply, but here it is:

Below are some pictures of my C90S with a 4850 mobility radeon:



I know my mod isn't as pretty as any of Angel's ASME mods, but it gets the job done.
I had to saw off a piece of the cpu heatsink in order to make the card fit.
Furthermore I used a standard C90P northbridge heatsink and a modified C90P gpu heatsink (had to drill some holes to mount it on the GPU.

The 4850 came out of an MSI GT725 according to the seller.
This card has some major advantages:
-it lacks an HE connector and doesn't need as much power as most MXM III cards
-because it doesn't use much power it doesn't get as hot as most MXM III gpu's
-it works on the internal c90s screen! (unlike king of interns 4850 from an alienware laptop)

disadvantages:
-size!
-it has memory chips on both sides of the card, the chips at the other side have no heatsink
-this is fine at stock clocks, but it's bad for the overclocking potential
-even though 2D and 3D modes work out of the box, the card only supports a single (performance) voltage, this makes the card quite hot in idle mode (65 degrees celcius with bios fan control)

Now to overclocking:



I think anything above 10000 points is quite good for a C90S.
Regarding the temps: I used a cooling pad, but the system fans were bios controlled (so not running @100%)
Oh and the E7500 doesn't exceed 65 degrees on load with the crippled heatsink (prime95 for 30 mins).


But as you can read in my previous post I upgraded my board to the C90P version.
I was able to find the 0803 bios on a chinese website.
After installing it I found out the fans are always running at 100% since it doesn't recognise my gpu...
So if you want a silent notebook and a non-standard gpu don't upgrade to this board!
Since I mostly use this notebook for gaming with a headset this isn't a very big issue for me.
Now that everything else seemed to work I wanted to see if it was possible to fit in a socket 771 xeon in that board with the socket 771 to 775 converter.
I tested it with a x5270, and it booted!
I did get an error code during bios post that my cpu wasn't fully supported and I had to update my bios.
It did boot to windows fortunately. In cpu-z I saw the cpu was running at 3Ghz instead of the 3,5Ghz it was supposed to run.
Therefore I had to modify the bios to add the correct microcode for my cpu.
I did that, and after reflashing the correct values were reported (no bios errors as well)!

The X5270 does run too hot for my crippled heatsink though, so I ordered a Xeon L5430 (2,66 Ghz quadcore with only 50w TDP) for 25 euro.
This cpu is running great, doesn't exceed 62 degrees under prime95!
Becouse of the extremely low voltage this cpu has, it overclocks extremely bad even a 3% overclock isn't fully stable.
Given the fact that my heatsink is crippled to fit in the bigger gpu this is probably the best cpu I can get with this system.


But there is more!
The 0803 bios removed AHCI functionality which I really like to use since I have a SSD.
I posted a request on a bios modders forum if someone could fix this, and got zero response...
Fortunately they fixed this is issue on a lot of other asus motherboards.
After closely studying the differences between the original and their modded bioses I was able to perform the fix myself!
I now have a modified bios which has the following differences compared to the 0803 bios:
-updated microcode for all core2 (duo/quad) cpu's
-added microcode for socket 771 xeons
-added bios boot screen
-unlocked AHCI functionality

Since I created it in september I renamed it to the 0901 bios.
I will try to post this bios here on the forum in a different post with a disclaimer and instructions for anyone who wants to try it.

 

Cool mod and work there, have you considered putting some ramsinks on the VRMs?

 

Hey Meaker,

Thanks for the tip, but it seems I am unable to change the voltage (even modifying it in the bios doesn't seem to change anything).
And since the card didn't have it's VRM's cooled in the original GT725 I don't think I will benefit much from cooling them.
But please correct me if I am missing the bigger picture here

 

As promised here is the C90P modified 0901 bios:

Changes compared to 0803:
-updated microcode core2 duo/quad cpu's
-added microcode for 5100 5200 5300 5400 series socket 771 xeons ( adapter mod required! see LGA 771 to 775 Adapter (MOD) - Run faster Xeon CPUs in a Core 2 Quad motherboard for more info)
-added ASUS bootscreen
-unlocked AHCI mode

Disclaimer: Use this bios at your own risk, I am not responsible for any damage this mod might cause your specific system
This Bios WILL NOT WORK ON A C90S MODEL (C90P ONLY)

A small note: I was not allowed to upload the file as a .rar file. As a .zip file it was too big to add as an attachment... So I zipped the rar file, you have to unpack it twice before you can flash it. (sorry fo this strange way of distributing it, but this forum leaves me no other choice).

Please let me know if you encounter any problems, or if you like it.

 

Thought I would check in! Wow that is impressive! Hats off to you mate! You have finally knocked me off top spot for high performance c90p!!

I am childishly proud that someone has followed in my footsteps! I remember sawing away at the CPU heatsink to accommodate the 4850 and the frustration when it wouldn't work on the internal LCD!

The x3380 worked well in the c90p too I managed to max it out at 3.5ghz! Board limitation.

I recommend you to upgrade the fans too. There is a model above the stock ones that can spin am additional 1500 rpm to 11,000 max speed. At 3.5 ghz the chip never got much above 60c! The wire mesh on the intake vent should also be removed. The main intake along the bottom of the fan module underneath the sinks is the most important. Take care of that and you will have much increased airflow!

Perhaps you should get a qx9650 make a dual psu adaptor box ala mr fox design and clock it up to 4ghz and laugh away!!

This makes me SO miss this laptop!! 10,000 points in 3dmark 06! Mental! I managed 9600 with a 4670M + Q9650 best run. Well done mate! (Yes I tried Q9650,QX9650 and x3380 haha)

PS I agree with meaker! Some decent ramsinks on the VRMs might help the card last longer and even help with OCing.

 

Well it never hurts (so long as you don't short something) but models without them usually have airflow directed over the area so just be careful.

 

Thanks King for the compliments
I'll have a look if I can get some decent ramsinks on those VRM's.
So far it is still running rock-solid.

Too bad AMD has dropped driver support for this card. I am currently using some modified drivers, but they dont really like BF4

I tried getting a Nvidia quadro FX3700m to work in this laptop, but the system wont even post.
I suspect the card isn't getting enough power since the c90 lacks a HE power connector (I am using a 180 watt PSU so that shouldn't be the problem).
A Geforce 280m should theoretically have a lower power draw since it is produced in 55nm instead of 65nm but the ones that are mxm 2.1HE are very hard to obtain on ebay for a reasonable price.

Did anyone else have success using a FX3700m or 280m?

 

Glad to hear this worked for you! I don't think I have tried an 8400 CPU, it obviously has something to do with the BIOS that the C90p has, can you tell us what the BIOS is the C90p shipped with? I never did find out. I see you were you able to get the BIOS flashed and use a CPU like E7500 and so cool you can use a Xeon, I hope my C90p board is still good I will go ahead and get an 8400 and hope it will work. Is an 8400 better then 7500 in a C90s? So if I understand correctly first I need the 803 BIOS to be able to run an 8400 or 87500 correctly? Then I can update to your BIOS 9.1 and run a quad core? Is a pull the only way to get a 4850? Don't they need an unlocked VBIOS chip? I can't find them anywhere, but they seem like they are so much more affordable.

 

Hello all C90s owners I need some help figuring this out. First off I need to tell you I have already modified my C90s case for ventilation and I have a cooling pad, my gpu temps run from 59 idle to 67 non stressed to around 82 stressed and updated BIOS 1002 E7500 cpu temps run cool so the fans only come on when the the GPU is stressed. I have been sucessfully reflowing the 8600m gt with a hair dryer now for at least a couple of months, what I have found is that as long as I don't run GPU intensive programs and the card isn't too stressed it doesn't crap out, I use nvidia ntune I underclock gpu settings around 330 clock and around the same for memory and in win 7 I use MSI afterburner for both settings, I can play some games like MS Flight in high settings with 1600 resolution without issues, but if I play games like GTA or Saints Row 2, it craps out in less than an hour and has to be reflowed again, I'm including screenshots of what happens when it craps out. I realize that it's the GPU and it's no longer stable, but is there anything else I can try to make the card more stable? What about undervoltage? Should I consider flashing the GPU Chip BIOS? I'm going to eventually change to an ATI card when I can find an affordable one that doesn't have a locked VBIOS Chip , also I was reading somewhere that the same 8600m GT card DDR3 not 2 is more stable, but they are impossible to find. I should mention that I have similar problems in the C90s my wife is now using and reflowing that card as well.

 

It's the solder between the GPU die and the GPU package (not between the GPU package and MXM board) so the chip itself could be replaced on the MXM board (Using a BGA soldering machine ideally) and that would repair it.

 

The original bios on the board was 0602 when I received it. The E8400 worked just fine with this bios version. You should be able to update to my bios from any version already installed (it is a modified 0803 bios). Personally I would prefer the E8400 over the E7500 becouse of the higher cache. In theory the E7500 has a better overclocking potential in the C90P where the fsb is limited to 370mhz. You could just try what works best for you.

The 4850 I used was only shipped with 2 laptops of MSI, so they are hard to come by. They don't have a locked bios, they are genuine MXM 2.1 type III cards designed by MSI.

Bear in mind that you will have to do significant modding to the laptop to make a type III card fit! You will have to saw off a small part of the cpu heatsink and also get some way to fit in a cooler on the gpu and memory of the card. I bought the gpu heatsink and northbridge heatsink for the C90P a long time ago. You could fit this on the type III card by only drilling some holes on the correct places for the screws.
I highly doubt the default c90s cooling will be sufficient in cooling a type III gpu.

 

So it was a pretty old BIOS that would definitely not work with the newer CPUs, the wierd thing is that I tried a celeron 1.6 and a E2200 which is what the seller said they tested with, although I think they didn't know what they were talking about, also I'm not sure but I think the last time I tried to get it to work, there was either A. smoke or B. an electrical smell or both and that's not good! The reason I asked about the 8400 is in case it doesn't work on the C90P can it work on the C90S? Also as for the 4850 your saying the only way to obtain one is on of those two MSI laptops and there is no way to find it new? I do understand those mods are necessary before the card can work, as fast those heatsinks are they still available? I'm sure your right the C90s cooling system is not going to work with type III gpu it barely can work with a type II lol.

 

So your saying to solve the problem the BGA would have to be replaced or the card just can take the stress? I think I had found a company in U.K. that replaces the BGAs, for around 5o bucks, the soldering machine is not something that would be cost effective for sure!

 

Here is an old diagram I created:

 

That's interesting because the reflow that sorta works with hair dryers and heat guns is done from the other side of the card and yet it somehow manages to reflow albeit not for long, so then does that mean if you do a professional reflow you would be able to correct the faulty solder under the core? What if you were to focus the dryer or gun just under the core BGA? would that fry the core?

Thanks

 

It's why oven reflows usually work the best but the solder is fundamentally flawed sadly and constant re flowing is not good for it.

 

I just did a heat gun reflow
where you put aluminum and a piece of solder on top, you wait till the solder melts as an indicator as to temperature, heat for another 20 -30 seconds, hopefully that's better than a hair dryer reflow, I don't trust the oven reflow, I think that it's not only heating up the core but all the chips on the card and agree that's not good.

 

Hello all C90s and C90P owners (or the few who remain)

I'm new here,
My config : C90P with Q8200S CPU and MXM NVIDIA 8600GT 512
BIOS : 0803 vith CPU Bios code patch for Q8200S
Os : Windows 8

Yes, constant re flowing is not good for video card (and owen reflow is worst)

Mine seems definitely off (after Five gun reflow)

But, with heat gun reflowing, I got two more years for my old C90P (thanks to all)

But, now, I wish to give a last more life to my old C90P (last chance)
and I replace my broken Nvidia Card by an ATI card extract from an acer Laptop.

It's an ATI HD 4650 DDR2 1GB with (of course) a VBIOS CHIP

My C90P works fine with this card but Fans run at 100% (during POST and Windows (seven ou 8) all the time

CPU and GPU are very cold but my ears are very hot.

I reprogram VBIOS with an ATI VBIOs HD 4650 Mobility MXM DDR2 and try some variants without success.

My SBIOs is up to date (0803 vith CPU Bios code)

I try also with a modded sBIOS (MXM Structure Header copy from an ACER 6530G BIOS)

But no result : FAN always 100%

Does anyone any idea ?

Thanks

 

It's going to be how the card interacts with the EC, so if you can find thermal management parts of the code that's where you need to look.

 

Thanks,

I am going to check this.
GPU-Z and Aida64 report my ATI temperature correctly.
But Furmark and speedfan don't report : speedfan log = "ADL_Overdrive5_Temperature_Get returned -100"

 

Hello everyone

I solved my fan problem (ATI HD 4650) and I share here my experience :

Unlike C90S, C90P Fan Control requires GPU temp (in EC at Offset 0x54)
With Nvidia Card no problem (CPU temp et GPU temp are OK in EC)
With my ATI card : Offset 0x54 is zero and Fans run at max speed

After several tries, I found that setting 0x98 (why ?) at offset 0x76, override EC Offset GPU Temp by the value of CPU Temp

And two others Offsets (0x72 and 0x77) allow to increase ou decrease Fans speeds

My Old C90P just won a few more weeks

 

That's great news!
Did you do a bios mod, vbios mod or software mod to correct the values?
I am still looking for a solution to get fancontrol back with my ATI HD 4850, so if you could tell me how you did it, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

High Limpem

I use Software mod : "Fan control Tools by Pherein" (with RW-Everything)

And I built some C90P'S profiles (files xxx.rw) working with my C90P :

These files modify some EC Offset

- Offset 0x76 (value 0x98) : to force GPU Temp at CPU Temp value (my Bios bugs to report my ATI Temp Value in EC)
- Offset 0x72 : value 0x00 = CPU Fan reduced , 0x01 = nominal CPU Fan speed, 0x05 : CPU Fan enforced
- Offset 0x77 : value 0x00 = GPU Fan reduced , 0x01 = nominal GPU Fan speed, 0x05 : GPU Fan enforced
- Offset 0x76 value 0x9E with Offset 0x77 value 0x05 : GPU Fan High speed

 

On the off chance that anyone will look at this old thread, I am happy to say that I finally tried the E8400 on the C90P board and lo and behold it worked! but I can't update the Bios, I posted in the main Asus forum in hopes that Meaker or some of you other guys might see it.

I'm trying to flash a C90P board with 8400 CPU, here's what happens when I do it from a thumb drive.

It reads the file C90P.ROM which is the one I got off Angels site and it says BIOS Rom ID Incorrect. This is with EZflash, doesn't work with AFUDOS and AFWIN doesn't run on the Windows 7 install,
I ran CMD to find info on Mobo and it says "Asustek Product C90P, Serial Number NB-012345678 Ver 2.2 if that helps, I don't have any idea what version EZflash it is?

Any idea what's wrong?

Thanks for any help.