Asus G51VX-X2A help please

Hello all,

I am considering purchasing a G51VX-X2A from newegg.ca and had a couple questions I was hoping some owners of this notebook may be able to help me answer. I just purchased a Dell Studio 16 XPS and it is going back for a refund becuase of some rather serious cooling problems. I would like to know:

1) Assuming I dont block the air intake on the bottom, how is the cooling on this laptop while under full load? Could I loop the latest 3DMark for a couple days non-stop without the notebook deciding to throttle/speed down the CPU or GPU to cope with the heat? This is quite important as it is the reason my Dell Studio 16 XPS is going back for a refund.
2) Does the HDMI output support sound or is it a video only output?
3) Does the HDMI output support video before windows is loaded? For example can you see the BIOS screens or output from a boot to DOS as opposed to having to wait until you enter Windows for the HDMI port to become active.
4) How is the Nvidia card and software at swapping back and forth between the built in display and a external display of different resolutions. For example, if I were to be using the built in display(1920x1080) and attached my monitor(1920x1200) through HDMI and then closed the notebook, would it adjust the resolution accordingly or would it continue to send the lower resolution signal through the HDMI connection?
5) Does the BIOS have any options to power on the laptop using an external USB keyboard or mouse? I see the power switch is on the inside so when I am at home and using it hooked up to an external mouse, keyboard and monitor it would be nice not to have to open it to turn it on. Every desktop I have ever built used Asus motherboard and this was a very standard feature.

I would really appreciate any input from current G51VX-X2A owners. About these issues or anythign else I may not have thought of in terms of cooling or the ability to easily switch between using it docked to an external monitor/mouse/keyboard and on its own when I go out to play.

Thank you,
Twinge

 

1. I personally wouldn't put any laptop through that regardless of heat, but no, you wouldn't want to do it with the G51 as it'll hit 88-91C+ in 3DMark. I personally have never experienced downclocking with the 260m in my X1A besides the one time it downclocked on me while I was trying to OC the hell out of it, even then the temps hadn't broken 77C, it was a lack of power issue.
2. Yes the HDMI output supports sound.
3. No, HDMI does not support video before windows is loaded
4. It really depends on the external display. My X1A hooked to a Toshiba 32" 720P TV, but required manual res change, however my personal LG 720p 42" screen registers and changes my resolution automatically.
5.I do not believe the bios has this option but I could be wrong.

I have an X1A, and would recommend it over the X2A because my P series processor produces less heat even when overclocked to the hilt (3.1GHz from 2.53GHz) compared to the X2A's T series stock at 2.8GHz, and the T series in the X2A seems to be gimped and can't OC very well. (highest I've seen is 3.1GHz, just matching my hard undervolted lower clocked P series)

 

The temps on my T9600 are about the same as the P8700 when they're both at the same clock (3.1 GHz) since I can undervolt it and remain stable. Keep in mind the T9600 also has additional L2 cache which could be beneficial for applications outside of gaming. It's not a straight clock for clock comparison. BTW I've hit 3.25 GHz with mine recently. I was topping out at 3.1 before but that's b/c I wasn't letting it overvolt to 1.3v like it normally does using the Asus OC utility. With that said, I'd still go for the X1A because the minor differences are not worth the $250.

 

Every other T9600 I've seen has been hitting 70-75C when OC'd and ~60-65 stock. I hit 55C stock after 45 minutes of orthos, and 61C when OC'd. Thats a fair bit of difference.

 

Mine doesn't come close to 75C. I top out at 66-67C when OC'd to the max (3.25 [email protected]) and idle in the 30s. I've posted screenshots of this in other threads.

 

Then you got lucky and btw, I can undervolt as well. My OC is only unstable above 3.1GHz because of ram instability, not power hunger.

 

Same, I'm limited by ram and I'm guessing the other T9600 guys are as well. There's a guy that posted a method of underclocking the ram but I haven't tried it yet.

 

I wouldn't want to flash my ram anyways, its on par with flashing GPU bios for me. A bit cheaper/easier to replace but an extra .1GHz or in OCing ability won't do it for me. But yea, back on topic. Unless the extra cache of the T9600 is a necessity for you (i.e if you're using this for video rendering, cad software etc) the A1 would be a better choice for you anyways, and can be bought at a comparable price. If you're going to be doing gaming, the X1A will do fine, and you will save yourself a few 100$

 

Thank you for your reply EIement,

1) I suppose I chose a grossly overexagerated example, I dont *actually* need to put that much load for such a long time. I really want to be able to come home some nights and play a game for 4-5 hours straight with the notebook on a flat table and not have it heat up so much it throttles down or overheats and shuts down or causes applications/windows to produce errors. The current Dell Studio 16 XPS I just got can handle about 45-60 minutes of World of Warcraft raiding before it throttles the CPU and GPU down to the point where I get below 5 FPS (making it unplayable until I shut down for 5-10 mins to allow the system to cool off).
2) Excellent! Comment I read elsewhere led me to beleive it may not have.
3) Annoying for a few things but not a deal breaker. Was very suprised the above mentioned Dell did in fact do that.
4) Intersting the device makes a difference even though both (I am assumeing) support 1280x720 since they are both 720p. To change the res do you need to reboot or just load a NVidia applet/program and make the change?
5) Was a longshot but figured I would try .

I hadn't actually looked at the X1A to compare to the X2A. At a quick glance I cannot see any difference whatsoever except the CPU. Are you aware of any other differences or is it simply a different chip sitting in the socket?

Much thanks,
Twinge

 

iirc, its only the CPU. and all you have to do to change the output is open the nvidia control panel and make the change. some drivers do have trouble outputting the audio out of the box tho. so you will need to go to your sound control panel and change default sound to HDMI.

 

I've got the X1A and have played some of the newest games for hours in a hotel room without any kind of cooling pad. Never saw any slowdowns.

As long as you set the graphics option to use only the external monitor you'll get the higher resolution. My 24" LG supports 1920x1200 but if you enable both external and laptop screens it'll downshift to 1920x1080 to match the laptop. You will need a digital video cable, I use a HDMI to DVI since my LG doesn't have a HDMI port.

I'd also suggest the X1A, use the difference in price to pick up a 2nd 320GB drive and setup RAID 0. Big difference in hard drive performance.

One other thing to consider is sound. I my case I have an older but very nice Altec Lansing 5.1 surround sound speaker set. But it doesn't have the S/PDIF input. I could only run the front speakers from the G51. I bought an external soundblaster USB device and it works great:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...aster&lp=3&type=product&cp=1&id=1216423921440

It's on sale at BestBuy this week for $50.

 

wait, so what is everyone's opinion on the x-fi 5.1? ppl in another thread is was pure crap..is it? i heard there was problems with it. i want one cuz i the ones for express slot are only software emulation. is this one hardware like the pci ones for desktops? if not, then i guess i wont buy one till they make one that works like that....