Asus N56VZ-DS71 first impressions

Thank you so much for addressing our small concerns! One last question that I'd like to ask.. How are the GPU/CPU internal temps when listening to music, browsing the web, or doing other low-load tasks?

Another - It seems really easy to access the RAM, hard drive, and videocard, but what about the fan/heatsink? Could you possibly take the rubber feet off of the laptop, exposing screws underneath, to see if unscrewing those would indeed give you access to the fan/heatsink?

Thank you SO MUCH for your information! It helps all of us a LOT.

 

Thanks! Is that the lamp beneath the touchpad or another one?

So, actually I just could skip to burn the recovery disks and just install the stuff on the driver disk?

 

Yeah, you could. I'm still probably going to burn the recovery disks at first boot JUST to be safe and then I'll wipe the laptop, re-install a fresh copy of Windows 7 with the key from the bottom of the laptop, and then re-install what I WANT/need from the driver disc / ASUS driver website after the format. It'll run so much better that way.

 

That's reassuring, but I think I only have to worry about battery life now... It's somewhat below what I would like considering I'm going to college next year. We're talking about around 3 hours of internet use (light stuff, not like gaming) right?

Also, I've always been curious about this: can you disable cores in the BIOS? I figure this might help battery life a lot, wouldn't it? I know you can with normal desktop i5/i7's, but not sure about the mobile kinds.

 

My laptop....83ºC at maximum so far...playing skyrim in high and full hd

 

For temps, I got a maximum of 91 degrees Celsius running Prime for about 20 minutes. Temps just browsing and playing music ranged from 40 degrees celsius to 50 degrees celcius. Idle is about 40 degrees. It runs warm but its very quiet.

 

x2. My CPU usually is at 40ºC and HHD at 35ºC. And it is summer...ambient temperature usually stays at 25ºC but sometimes reaches 30ºC or more and the laptop keeps the temperatures at 40ºC...

 

Interessting. How long did you play on that settings? How was the palm rest, is it still comfortable after a while?

 

So, general consensus seems to be that even though the laptop may get warm subjectively, the temperatures on the CPU and GPU stay reasonable even though the laptop seems warm? That's the more important part to me.

What about throttling? Anybody notice it? Notebookcheck reported some bad throttling, but I don't know if y'all have seen it.

 

4/5 hours lol. I feel warm next to fan but not uncomfortable. Maybe the sensation of how hot is different from person to person.

 

Ok, seems fine. Do you also use a cooling pad?

 

Notebookcheck mentioned bad throttling under maximal load. Doesn't mean that it will throttle while gaming or simillar.

 

That's not the best, but not terrible either. Temperatures depend on a lot of things like ambient temperature, etc..

Thanks for chiming in, I appreciate it!

Thanks!!

I appreciate your comment as well.

Can either of you confirm that you can access the heatsink/fan by unscrewing the hidden screws under the rubber feet of the laptop as shown in this picture:


Thanks!

 

Yeah, but it doesn't mean that it won't, that's why I was wondering if y'all had anything to say about it

Is there any way to force CPU turbo boost and disable GPU turbo? I mainly play SC2 and would much rather have the CPU performance.

 

It's controlled by the BIOS as far as I know. Check out the ThrottleStop guide to see if you can force the turbo even at high load. A 2.3 clock, under load, with a gt 650m, while playing SC2 will be more than enough to max out nearly everything in full HD. There's a reason why the manufactures limit these things during certain conditions.

 

My god, someone with the laptop answer this man's question! This is the third time he has asked

 

Well, I just think that noone tried this before, because that would probably expire the warranty.

 

I doubt it would by just unscrewing it. There are actual tabs on most Asus laptops that say "warranty void if removed." You could open the covers to the CPU/GPU/heatsink area but there are stickers over the heatsink screws at least in the model I'm on now. My laptop comes in tomorrow so I'll just know then.

 

Well maxed SC2 would definitely hurt a 2.3ghz clocked processor lategame. You can have sub30 FPS with basically any stock clocked processor available right now if there are enough units on the map and the quality is high enough. I would rather have a boosting CPU and non boost GPU than the other way around (for SC2 particularly)

 

Hey guys,

I am debating sending my computer back for a refund because I am not sure whether the noises my touchpad makes are correct. They don't sound correct - I think it was on page 21 someone mentioned something similar. Please listen to this video clip and judge.



Video - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

 

Uhm sorry, but I can't hear anything bad with it. I even maxed my volume and couldn't hear anything except the fact that your fingers hit the plastic surface.

I also think that you push that poor touchpad too hard. Don't you think it would be enough when you just slightly tip on it, instead of using your fingers as small sledge?

 

Haha! Well yeah, I have tried seriously being gentle, because I have noticed how incredibly sensitive this touchpad is (sensitive is good, right??) So when I use it with more "awareness" I actually don't make a noise with it. The problem is just, this is the first "luxurious" laptop I have ever bought for myself, the one prior to this was much more worksman.. If you would. It was built to be able to take a beating, so when I used it, maybe I worked up my finger to be exceptionally tough. The thing I portray in the video is how I used my finger before, like, normally - I did not do it to accentuate anything for you. It was just regular use.

Argh.. I am a sledgehammer. But aside from that the machine is just amazing. Seriously, every penny well spent. Awesome power and earlier today I played Max Payne 3 on it :| Absurd!

But to get back to the touchpad - when I use it like I used to, I hear the clack of course from my finger touching the surface, next up is the little vibration - like it jitters, or something.

 

Hmm, so does it jitter like when you slightly hit a button? I have that when I do this with the touchpad click buttons. But here again, I think that is normal as the construction was built like this. Maybe I could be wrong, or I am not as sensitive as you, but overall I like to have a feedback when I press a button.

Though, someone who owns this NB can better judge on this. By the way, you could try to do the same tests with the MacBookPro touchpad and then compare both. If it's the same then I think the Asus thouchpad is well-constructed, as the MBP has a good touchpad imo.

 

It's just that it gives this little clack after the initial impact.. Hrrrmmm....

 

There's nothing wrong with your laptop. Go watch other videos on YouTube of reviewers clicking the touchpad. I'll report in when mine comes today.

 

No, you can get to the hdd and ram under the panel (1 phillips screw). Then there's another screw for the optical drive bay. If you want to get to the fan and the heatsinks, etc, you need to pick apart everything.

Btw, review Enjoy:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...5448-n56vz-review-techno-art.html#post8682825

 

Thanks for letting me know! Oh, yes, a review! Reading it now. Thanks!!

EDIT: I encourage everyone to migrate over to his review/thread since it is located in the owners' lounge. It's about time we had an official owner's lounge thread for this laptop in my opinion.

 

It typically drops down to 1.2Ghz. Then there's another state at 2.2, and the boost at 3.2. It seems that on the first bios-update, the laptop would favour the 2.2Ghz state, and not bring up the speed unless all the cores were active. (edit: So single-core load would not automatically bring up the boost-state - hence comments on Notebookcheck, I think). After the 2.04 update, the processor stays at 1.2Ghz for the most part, and one core snaps up to 3.2Ghz more quickly.

I'm not sure - I can't get the monitor programs to run for some reason - but I think that they've unlocked the cores so they can go up independently. This gives us the 3.2Ghz state on one core, which is really what you want for games and so on. This is probably something we'll see once the i5 version comes out as well - that it will have pretty much the same synthetic performance, since what determines the performance is the speed of the first and second core.

Temp while idling is 45 degrees or so near the gpu, the processor stays at 50 while streaming Spotify. On load, the gpu will turn up towards 70, while the processor pretty much instantly goes up to 80, and then stays there.

Like I said, this isn't a problem, simply because the cooling is designed to work under load, so to speak. And actually does keep the chassis cool (even) when the thing runs at full peak. I'm.. very impressed by this, specially since it's not "really" a hyper-expensive "luxury laptop".

Yeah. The row of 5 lights under the edge on the front. Really love that - no lights on top of the plate Looks exclusive, without being flashy. Like a princess swagging beer, I guess is what I'm getting at

Right. I'd recommend finding an OEM install, wiping the disc, and then installing it fresh. You'll lose the UEFI and so on, but it'll be easier with dual-booting for linux or OSX later.

...is anyone interested in a guide of some sort, for a fresh install + a dual-booting linux setup?

 

I have heard varying reports as to the quality of the screen. Has anyone ordered the 95% matte screen upgrade, or is the stock screen sufficient for normal use?

 

Well, the screen xotic offers better be really good if it's sold as an upgrade over the standard kit.

..might be worth it if it's sold with a better/separate warranty. Since the screen doesn't have a cover on the inside, etc. Might not survive crushing down the lid on top of a pencil, that kind of thing.

 

Hi

my first post here.

I bought my n56vz 2 days ago here in denmark. It is a great machine, but i have also problems with this crackling sound. It is really disgusting. So should i retun it or wait and hope for an update.

I tried the registry thing and muted the microphone witout success. What else can i do any suggestions?

thanks

 

Think it's some sort of hardware switch when the speakers turn on and off. ..they kind of do draw a bit of power, and you will only hear the crackle when it turns off completely. If you play music in the background, and then play a sound, etc, there's no crackling. So not sure if you could say it's a bug or a feature

I hope they don't change it, to be honest. Only thing worse than crackling is.. delayed crackling. Or else extra power-draw overall, because people complain to support..

But you get a great impression of the entire thing at the beginning of course, since the default sound scheme in windows has these tiny clicks for everything you do. So every time you hit a folder or start a program, you get the turn on and then turn off crackle.

 

just picked this up yesterday for $999

ASUS N56VZ-RB71 Core i7-3610QM, 8GB DDR3, GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 750 GB 7200RPM HDD, Blu-ray $999 @ Microcenter - Slickdeals.net

gotta say its pretty much a perfect lappy, at least for me!

the speaker farting has gotta go tho

 

It is a delayed crackling ca. 10s after the sound is off you hear it. Yes you are right, windows makes here a sound there a sound and you hear it very often.

So what i want to know is, whether it is a driver problem or a hardware problem.
You don`t have the problem, is that right, and we have the same hardware and drivers, so why do I have this problem > hardware ??

I am a noob in this field so I want to know what to do.

thanks

 

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Maybe this could help you with the crackling sound: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...k-sound-popping-high-pitched-tone-squeal.html

 

So that's what it is. Great nothing needs to be changed in the bios.

 

Hi everyone,

after reading so many positive comments on N56 i'm so tempted to buy one. But sadly my country only have 1366x768 instead of the full HD. 1980 x 1080.

Can anyone here advise if there will be any huge difference in the display? I don't worry on watching movies because i will be connecting it to my TV at home which support 1980 x 1080. My concern is gaming and general usage. And actually i don't really understand what does a full HD 1980x1080 does. Does it means i can squeeze more windows into my laptop screen etc? Please enlighten.

Thanks!

 

hi nipsen

do you have this path in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Realtek\RAVCpl64\PowerMgnt.

I didnt have it and added it with Hodors link, unfortunately it doesnt help, so I think that I will return the notebook.

 

@LexLex: So you can watch your forum-friendly named movies in high res.

Also, same resolution on the screen the external monitor when mirroring the desktop. More screen space for more objects (or scaled objects for easier reading). You also notice less artefacts and pixels on corners, etc.

No, don't have it either.

I hadn't really noticed it as a problem, I guess, because I always have something using the sound-card (or running with an open connection to the sound-server/component).. media-player of some sort. And that stops the card from "turning off".

Also have all the desktop effects turned off, so I'm not getting the extra crackle when nothing else happens.

 

So I'm getting this laptop in a few days from now and have been reading posts about this notebook. I'm actually leaning on doing a complete clean install of windows 7. Are the guides/steps on doing a clean install on this machine? Coz I've been away for windows since I started using Mac. I saw a guide but it's for a different notebook. Thank you in advance

 

Could some owner confirm that option "UEFI disable" has been REMOVED into the latest 204 BIOS?
I suppose that the option (that was present in 202 BIOS) could be important to install OSes other than Windows (eg. Linux) or for any other reason that requires a legacy BIOS boot.
Or has it just been moved to a less visible (or hidden) place in new BIOS menu?
Thanks.

 

Today i played skyrim on n56vz for 2 hours. Medium-high details and overclocked GPU (970/1050).
Ambient 27C. GPU never passed 70C. Fan stays nicely quiet.

 

Guys when you press the rubber-thing on the left side of the computer's panel, can you make the computer click then as well? I am debating turning my PC in tommorow for a replacement. Here are the faults I have seen so far:


1) I can make the panel click by doing the aforementioned. Note I only use a little bit of force, I don't -squeeze- it, it's just like pusing a button on the keyboard.


2) The touchpad - I posted a video earlier - it does click. I don't think it's just me being wonky. Sure I can be gentle with it but it feels like it is sort of bend up from a surface, the click doesn't feel smooth, it feels like it bends down and touches something underneath. Like, not a flat surface, but it gives - kind of.


3) the plastic was not properly glued to my CD drive - like it had gotten a bruise or something in transport.



These three things makes me want to replace it - let mek now if you have experienced something similar.

 

No, never.

 

It's going to be pretty much the same, and it's not very complicated.

But I can write a guide for a win7/linux dual boot, along with directions for a clean win7 install - if there's any interest.

 

Got my N56VZ-DS71 recently. Reformatted to a new copy of Windows 7 Professional, but I'm noticing that for some reason the Gigabit Ethernet port takes 1m30s to 3m before it will start communicating with the router. This will happen on computer bootup, from resume, or if a change is made to the adapter which necessitates disabling and enabling the device (e.g., reinstalling the driver, changing Jumbo Frame properties, etc.). This problem's been bugging me for quite some time now.

Other than that, the laptop has been working so far.

If anyone is curious, the adapter is a "Atheros AR8161/8165 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20)". Driver version is 2.0.12.13, dated 1/16/2012. This is the latest downloaded from the ASUS support site as of 7/9/2012.

EDIT: Turns out this was a software issue, everything's good now.

 

Asus N56VA-DS71

Hello I have been doing some research on the Asus N56VA-DS71 for quite some time now and it seems more and more from what I have been looking at, the laptop for me.

I have been watching this thread for quite some time and it seems there is a lot of chatter and a lot of helpful people here which is nice.
I just have a few questions before I go ahead with my purchase to be 100% sure, hope someone can help.

1) I am so use to building my own desktop PC's that I have always just installed a fresh copy of windows on computers in the past. So my plan is to get this Asus N56VA-DS71, open the box, format it , and install my copy of Windows 7 x64 Ultimate. Are there any hick-ups doing that from out of the box ? Do all the Asus drivers (as posted on their website) actually work without fault and allow for a CLEAN device manager.

1-1) Should I actually boot the PC first once and make the backup DVDs just to have a FACTORY fall back ??? (I assume those DVDs in turn would be bootable if say you wanted to return to factory?

2) I see none of the models come with SSD hard drives. I plan just to use the stock hard drive for the first few months and then upgrade to an SSD. Should i be purchasing a SATA 2 SSD or a SATA3 ssd ? And are their any issues with SSD and this laptop (I like corsair SSDs)

3) Are there any heat issues with this laptop. Heat is a big concern to me and if need be I would buy a laptop cooler for the laptop just to keep the heat levels down. Heat causes i am sure you are all aware malfunctioning hardware, so it was a concern to me

4) I have been searching the web and have not found anything on disassembly, are there any complete disassembly guides for this laptop, as in years to come I would like to pop it open and give it a cleaning (dust, new thermal paste, etc) I have experiences with computers for years (desktops anyways) sometimes laptops are tricky with their little plastic tabs and crap making it tough to get into.

5) I plan on just making a complete driver disc or flash drive with drivers on it (for fresh installs of Windows) has anyone already beat me to the punch?

6) how is the webcam, I plan to be doing a lot of Skype while I am on the road back home with family (I am sure it is as good as webcams get these days) but just thought I'd ask.

It seems like most people here are happy with their purchase of this laptop. I will not be doing any gaming but it is nice to have a laptop with some extra power when you need it.

Thank you for your time and help, I appreciate it, since this was the only decent website I could find, talking about anything on this laptop.

 

Unibombz - a few comments in response to your post:

1 - making an initial disk image using windows is always a good plan in my view. I would steer clear of the Asus backup utility though (which crashed when I tried to use it).

2 - it is definitely worth upgrading to an ssd with this machine. it is easily accessible, and any ssd should fit in the stock hd bracket without the need for a "laptop kit". the one complication is that some ssd's (i.e. my samsung 830 series, among others) have incompatibilities with uefi enabled in the bios. at the time that you install your ssd, I would recommend that you simply disable this bios option to avoid the stability issues I had with mine. see my past posts on this issue: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/664468-asus-n56vz-ds71-first-impressions-23.html - since then, my n56 and ssd have functioned flawlessly, and the pc boots in about 7 seconds.

3 - online drivers all worked for me. just make sure you pickup the wifi driver in advance to drop on a flash drive if you don't have a cable net connection handy.

 

I for one would be interested in directions for a clean Windows 7 installation, if it isn't too much trouble. It's always nice to see how someone who knows what they are doing would go about it.

If switching to an SSD later, should it be as simple as using something like Norton Ghost to handle the transfer, assuming the SSD is large enough?

 

unibombz-
3- I have only heard good things about the heating, according to most everything stays cool even when stressing the machine. There are a few people who took heat measurements as well if you search around this forum/the internet.