ASUS G51Vx - Info and Upgrades?

Hi There,

I was interested in getting a customized version of this Laptop and I'm wondering, what parts are upgradable? More specifically, is the GTX 260M upgradable or is it soldered onto the board?

Also, anyone know what the heat is like with this notebook? Apparently, the Sager 8662 is superior when it comes to cooling, but ASUS has the superior warranty and everything else is fine with me.

Thanks in advance.

 

The GTX 260M in the G51 is user replaceable with another Asus proprietary format GPU.

The heat out of the box is like the Gobi desert. Whether you want better cooling or a better warranty is up to you. Personally I would go with better cooling.

 

LMAO gobi dessert rofl

 

You can also swap the CPU very easily. As to the 260M GTX, I very much doubt you wouldbe able to run a better card in this computer, considering the current's card temperatures a faster one would simply fry.

When idling, the laptop runs ok, I get 50C for both GPU/ CPU without a cooler.
Only it starts to run hot when gaming, especially when you're playing graphically demanding games - Crysis for instance.

 

Watch out for Gta4, your laptop will become a frying pan.

My cpu idles 32C without a cooler and 26C with.
Gpu idles 53 without a cooler and 46 with.

 

So, as long as the GPU is swappable. I actually want to downgrade a bit to the GTS 260M - it is 40nm compared to 55nm, has fewer SPs and lower clock speed. It's gonna have an SSD as an OS/Apps drive and just a large HDD for storage. The standard CPU is fine, it's the video card that I want to change most, not only to reduce heat but for a longer battery life as well.

 

I don't know if you will be able to swap to a GTS 260M. I doubt Asus will release a BIOS that will support the new architecture. If you want to lower temps, just underclock and undervolt your GTX 260M across the board. It will still be faster than the GTS 260M. It's as simple as that.

 

Hmm, so if the GTS 260M is not possible, is undervolting/underclocking the GPU on a notebook different from a desktop? This will be my first Laptop, so I'm not as familiar with them as desktops.

 

A GPU is a GPU. You underclock and undervolt them the same way you underclock and undervolt desktop GPU's. I'm assuming you are familiar with desktops, so before I proceed, may I ask how you tinker with desktop GPU's?

 

Normally, I just use free, 3rd party Apps to underclock or overclock the core clock and memory clock. Other than that, I've never really been interested getting more involved than that until now.

 

Okay, fair enough. You can either use Nvidia System Tools to adjust your clocks and voltages, or hard mod the GPU by editing the GPU BIOS.

 

Under/overclocking the GPU can be done through software as well.

You'll have to edit and flash a new vBIOS in order to get new voltages, though.


EDIT: DAMMIT SOVIET

 

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Anything else important should I know?

Am I right in assuming flashing a new BIOS has negative effects on warranty?

 

If you bork your computer and fail to flash back, yes, it'll void the warranty. If it fails, and you manage to flash it back, no one's the wiser.

 

I can give you a headstart. These are proven to be rock stable.

3D application: 500/1250/800 @ 0.9v
3D desktop: 400/800/300 @ 0.85v
2D desktop: 300/600/300 @ 0.8v
Idle: 160/320/80 @ 0.75v

 

Speaking of which, any luck with writing a BIOS with 3D voltage between .9 and .95?

 

Nope. I don't know what's wrong with you guys' Asus cards. They just don't like my mods.

 

Oh well. Once I get my copper I might be able to have optimal temperatures without a voltage edit.

 

Users have reported ridiculously high temperatures with this particular laptop (upwards of 89 C). Any truth to that?

 

True and its normal for the G51 actually. Asus engineers apparently designed it that way....

With some undervolting, though, the temps actually drop by alot.

 

And then you can go really crazy, like taping on copper blocks and replacing your thermal paste.

 

Is this a tool in Windows to undervolt the GPU or is it in the BIOS? Also, you say the temps drop by "a lot". What is your definition of a lot? =P. Numbers would be great, if possible.

 

You have to undervolt through vBIOS flashing.

I see temperature drops from 5-8C under load. After undervolting, my max temperatures in gaming has never been above 85C. Running Furmark for an hour straight with everything maxed out gives me a peak of 89C and an average of 86C

 

And that's with Tev's G51. If you get lucky and find one that runs cool (like mine) you'd probably see the GPU temps drop to about 80C under load with FurMark.

Edit: That's with stock clocks. OC'd to the clock in my sig and I top out around 90C depending on room temperature.

 

Just ran something not as intense as FurCube (Far Cry 2) at 1366x768, max settings, max AA at overclocks. 87C was the max.

 

Going from 89C to 85C doesn't seem like much improvement, still very close to frying up up some food for dinner =P. I guess that's why I originally wanted the GTS 260M instead of the GTX 260M, make more of an impact on temps.

 

It isn't much of an improvement because the card will still work just fine all the way up to 108C.

Even then the card will just downclock. I have mine set to go back to the original clocks if it ever manages to hit 100C.

 

I ran Furmark at 1024x768 with no AA and I just got a max temp of 99C while using a laptop cooler.

 

@autobahnen

You need to get that checked out......

@Zayne

I think you misunderstood. Before, GPU temps with GTA IV would go as high as 93C. Now, they're 85C max.

I've never even tried running Furmark for an hour before but I have no doubt that it would probably enter the mid 90s or high 90s after an hour......

You're not going to get a magical 20C drop in temperature.....the temp drops I've been getting from just a 0.05v undervolt have already been very very great.

 

Haha, yeah.

I need to do something about cooling, but there's really not much else I can do without voiding warranty. I'm too cowardly to flash the BIOS or put paste on my GPU for fear of voiding my extended warranty. I shelled out the $60 or so for the NC2000 and that's it.

 

RMA? Take advantage of the warranty? That's kind of a blind luck fix but it worked for me.

 

did you have to upgrade your CPU in order to get GTA iv to stop from freezing?

I have a problem with my game freezing during gameplay and I have to manually reboot.

What patch do you use, what drivers do you have installed?

Can you give me some links to these patches and drivers or maybe point me in the right direction?

I have a brand new G51vx-rx05 and GTA IV is freezing like the Arctic.

 

Sorry to DP. but I just registered my product and found out about the asus specific drivers for the Nvidia 260m, sorry to flip out and run to you guys for help, but I am glad I found this community!

 

Download the latest patch for GTA IV (use google). For drivers, get Dox 185.85

For instructions as to the drivers, go to my guide (look at signature) and find the driver upgrade part and it will walk you through it.

 

I would do that, except I already returned two G51s to Best Buy for previous issues. The first one had a messed up wireless card, the second I returned because the left Ctrl key was having issues. I admit that the second return probably might not have been worth it, but now I'm stuck with the one I have now so I thought I would make the best of it.

I think I'll just use it for a while until I get 100C+ temperatures, then I might have a better case when going back to Best Buy for warranty.

 

I returned a grand total of six G50s to Best Buy, three of which occurred well after the return policy had ended.

And now I have a new G51 to show for it

 

Thanks TevashSzat, I will give you tons of homoerotic felatio if you get this game working proper.

 

Dang, you're a beast. I respect your high score. Maybe I'll consider returning it again now, haha.

 

I'll be doing a copper block mod, like what Soviet did with his Clevo. It doesn't void your warranty. As soon as I get my parts I'll write something.

 

Alright, good luck. I look forward to seeing your guide. If it's not insanely difficult, maybe I could give it a try.

 

The concept is very simple. Cleanse the heatsink. Apply thermal tape to the blocks. Place blocks on heatsink.

If you have to RMA the laptop just remove the blocks.

 

I thought I would try doing a Furmark Stability test without the laptop cooler to see what the temps would be. I believe this screenshot speaks for itself.

Unbelievable. 102C temperatures on the GPU with zero overclocking, undervolting, and stock drivers.
Safe to say I got a lemon? Should I return this one?

 

Why must I always link back to the past? You're insane to push your GPU that far, autobahnen. Terminate the application if your temps are going that high.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5186631&postcount=56

 

Yeah, thanks Soviet. I've read that post before, and in fact, was actually thinking about it when I was running FurMark. I thought I would keep it on a little longer to demonstrate a point, I guess. I'll keep in mind not to do something like that again.

 

102 is waaaaaaay too high. I top out at around 90C in Furmark, and that's with 16xMSAA and 1366x768. In game my max temps are 87C.

 

I can't imagine what reason you may have for sitting infront of your monitor and watching your GPU temps break 95*C, 100*C, and then flatline at 102*C for ~13 minutes. What point were you trying to demonstrate? Stupidity? Even the most seasoned world class desktop overclockers wouldn't go that far. When your GPU starts to die, come back and see me so I can laugh at you.

 

I think he gets the point, Soviet. Maybe he didn't know that the 100C mark was already too high; we don't know how seasoned he is.

But yeah, I agree with the whole sitting and watching point. Shouldn't have done that.

 

I actually wasn't sitting and watching, I was playing a game on my other computer at the time it was running. But yeah, it was pretty dumb.

 

The key detail that he gave here is that he read my post before he executed the stress test. He knew damn well that it's dangerous to stress in the 100's.

Next time, when I take my Corvette to the dyno, I'm going to accellerate it to 6k unattended for 13 minutes and wait in the lobby.