Final destination : A6JA or A8JA :)

Hey guys,

It's been almost a year since I began my quest in searching for a perfect lappy for me, and now I'm planning to end it in one of these two model : a6ja or a8ja. So I post a thread here, hoping you guys can give some suggestion to end this long long quest... I really can't bear it anymore... I open this forum minimal 3 times a day... and spent hours in net searching, googling. Really tired...lol.

This is a very hard decision for me , since I never own notebook before. To be honest.. before I googled this forum and met you guys... I never know Asus made so many kick ass lappy I know, tat's a sin. lol. I almost considering bought Sony before.. even Acer for g*d's sake. LOL. So here I'd like to thank you guys for telling me not to go down to that Acer road. You guys really saved me...

So.. yeah back to topic... I've seen many people's quick review on a8ja and a6ja... and I'm sure you guys know the specs.. but to make things clear...
the specs I'm getting for them here in China are:

A6JA
15.4'' WXGA
Core Duo T2300 1.66Ghz processor
80 gigs 4200 rpm harddisk (Hitachi?)
1x512mb ddr533 memory
X1600 with 256mb memory GPU
Infrared, Card Reader, NO Bluetooth

Battery: 8 Cells

A8JA
14'' WXGA
Core Duo T2300 1.66Ghz processor
80 gigs 4200 rpm harddisk (Hitachi?)
1x512mb ddr533 memory
X1600 with 256mb memory GPU
Infrared, Card Reader, NO Bluetooth

Battery: 6 Cells

I have a friend who sells notebooks here, so I can get both of them at the same low price (about 1250 us$),I already have a 5400rpm 60 gigs Western Digital Harddisk now, so I'm gonna swap it with the original one, and make the 4200 as my external hard drive. I also plan to add an 1 gigs stick memory approx 110 us$(Kingston-that's the best I can get here) . So basically, they have same specs, just screen size difference. a6ja is heavier, about 3kgs without charger etc while a8ja is about 2.5kgs, but since mostly I travel by car, so weight is not a problem at all for me.

Actually , I only saw a small review about a8ja..and it didn't even mention the temperature of cpu and gpu and hd. But there is a lot of a8jm's review that mention temps, and since they had a similar video card and similar notebook casing architecture.. I think a8ja will have the same temps with a8jm,if not lower, since a8ja cpu is only t2300 while a8jm got t2400.

The main things that concern me are:

1.Heat.

I've read many reviews, and according to them... generally, a6ja cpu and harddisk stay at about 60C when doing some intensive stuff, and a8ja/a8jm cpu and harddisk is also stay at about 61C when doing intensive stuff. So basically, their heat should be the same right? But the reviewers also said that in a6ja, the right side of the lappy gets a little bit hot,and under side gets hot, some of them even refers to 'uncomfortable'. But with a8jm/a8ja, all of the reviewers said that it's not hot at all, just warm. So I came to a conclusion, a8ja's parts placement and casing architecture is better than a6ja, so even though they hit the same temps, a8ja won't feel hot in the surface, while a6ja will. Is this conclusion correct?

Since I'll be taking them back to Indonesia, and since the climate in Indonesia is much much more hotter than here in China,basically, I'm gonna go with the coolest lappy.

2.Battery life

I'm planning to use this lappy on the road from home to my workplace. And since I work in a different city with my home, I'll have to travel everyday about... 1-2 hours from home to work. and usually 2-2.5 hours for my way back home, traffic jam... I think squeezing 2.5 hours from a6ja and a8ja is not a problem, but what I'm asking here is... I read somewhere in this forum that a lappy with 14'' will last longer than lappy with 15'' in terms of battery life, right? But the 14'' a8ja only came with 6 cells , while the 15''a6ja came with 8 cells battery. Which one is better? which one will generate much lesser heat, which one will degenerate slower.., and if I decided to buy another spare battery, which one is cheaper, is it 6cells?

Some reviews said that a6ja only managed to get 1.5 hours in gaming, and about 3 hours in office,word etc. While a8ja/a8jm can also get about 3 hours in office, etc. Can anyone who already bought a6ja or a8jm confirm this for me?

So... heat and battery life is the only thing that matters to me, and about the appearance... I never saw a8j series in person.. so I don't know, but I've seen and touched the a6ja, personally, I think a6ja got that 'office' 'formal' thing... but I don't like the lid, and I don't like the color too... wish it was black.. not gray... while a8ja, judging from the picture you guys posted here... It got that 'small' 'sleek' thing.. but I don't quite like it too. Sigh... wish that sexy w3j came to China, I'm surely will buy that beauty...

Yeah... that's about it... Really hoping for some suggestions from you guys... really appreciate it. And sorry about my English... been speaking chinese for the last 3 years... hey... rite now I just realize, i forgot which one is correct... beautifull or beautiful? omg, gonna open my dictionary now.

Thanks,

TJUN

 

i dont think those are the specs for a6ja because even my a6jc (lower model) has a 100gb 5400rpm hd and 1x1gb 533 ram

i think the a6ja is 2ghz duo core, 2x1gb ram, 100gb 5400 hd

 

if size isnt a big issue Go with the 15.4 in screen it will have better viewing angles. if you want something lighter than you know which one.

 

beautiful And I would take A8ja - size is the deal maker

 

No, the specs I can get here in China is the above I've mentioned.... I'm pretty sure of it. I even opened the lid myself to see if it's 4200rpm or not.

 

@ SRD. mastha
About the screen size and the notebook size.... technically, 14'' with WXGA is more beautiful than 15''4 with WXGA rite? I mean... altough things will look more smaller, but it looks better, am I wrong?

And how's it about battery life and heat? can u guys confirm it? since these two things is the main reason of my hesitating.....

Thanks

 

You are right the same rez on a smaller screen woudl make it sharper. but better viewing angles make a big difference as well.

 

Sorry mate, I got only W3 at home

 

wow better viewing angles, sorry didn't saw that... this is the first time I heard about it. I never knew that viewing angles also influenced by the screen size. So is the difference between 15'' and 14'' in viewing angle is much? can you give me some approx. in degrees.

@mastha
w3j is sweet.... I really envy you mastha the only way I can get w3j here is by buying 'unofficial' w3j.... they're pretty cheap, just about 1350 usd$, but I'm scared to buy that.. too paranoid I guess..

Thanks

 

I've got an ASUS A6Ja. When you have it on your lap and only using for office stuff, it doesn't get hot, just a bit warm. When you're playing games, it does get a bit uncomfortable... My A6Ja can live for about 2.5 to 3 hours when just doing office work on it. When I do so, I just put down the brightness of the screen a bit etc., but I'm sure it will stay on while you're in that traffic jam.
I'm not quite sure about the viewing angles, since I haven't got my laptop over here right now. They are fine though!

Joost

 

Thanks Joost ,

So 3 hours is the max you can get by using power gear only? Did you undervolt? If you're not undervolting, then maybe I can expect more 20-30 mins from undervolting a6ja...

And about heat...kind of sad to hear that it get a bit uncomfortable for you in netherland.... somehow, i get the feeling that it may change from uncomfortable to.. unbearable in indonesia's hot climate...

Thanks again ,

TJUN

 

Anybody can confirm about the 8cells in a6ja and 6cells battery in a8ja? really appreciate it.

Thanks

 

I don't undervolt my A6Ja, and I now know I can even get 3 hours and 10 minutes just using Power4Gear.

 

Keep in mind that viewing angles only come into play if you don't plan on looking "head on" at the computer...to me not a major deal (unless it was completely hit or miss)

Don't buy an "unofficial" - it will prob. cost you in the long run (unless it's from a reputable manufacturer - and in the case it's not an Asus anyway).

 

I have an a8ja. So far heat not an issue (i use a lappy cooler =P). Batt is just so so... I love the screen wide and sharp. quite bulky for an 14.1" lappy. The build quality is kinda poor, the cd drive feels weird when closing (try it). Also note the instant-on button of the a8j is not functioning as stated by ASUS. It will load windows to play dvds (confirmed with ASUS Taiwan). I thought a6j batt is 4 celled to reduce its weight. a8j is confirm 6 celled.

 

@Joost. Thanks for the info... really appreciate it Good news, without undervolt and you already hit 3 hour 10 mins. Really happy to hear that.. Anyway, I forgot to ask... did you by the way know how much battery life you'll get while using A6ja in gaming/ high performance?

@The Undertow. Thanks for explaining about viewing angle... yeah, I think it won't bother me too much as long as it's not badder than 14'' lappy.... becoz my GF has an w3z, it's w3 chassis with 14'' and amd processor.... and I think the viewing angle is bad already.... By the way, the w3j I'm talking about is kind of smuggled into China from Taiwan.. so it still got the international warranty and all the original stuff.... and if there's gonna be any prob... i can repair it here in asus china or anywhere in the world... but dunno.. It just hard to pull the trigger.. chinese people here kinda tricky sometimes....

 

Wow... nice to hear that heat isn't an issue for you.. Since I never know somebody who had a8ja.... a8jm only.... By the way, can I ask you something more detailed? What do you mean by batt is just so so? Can you give some estimation in hours? and.... about heat.. did you use any program to see the temperature? If so, can you tell me the temperature of Cpu and hd while gaming/doing intensive stuff? Thanks.... and about the instant-on... I heard somewhere in chinese forum that it's already fixed at the newest bios.. I'm gonna do some research, see if I can find something to help you...

 

Hey Tjun... I'd vote for the A8J As you already know, I got the A8Jm and am quite happy with it so far. I got a laptop cooler, but havne't had to use it so far... it's not that hot, just a bit warm. Oh yeah.. the optical drive does feel a bit weird when trying to close & open it, that I can confirm, but I guess not really a deal breaker. My battery does seem like it only hits about 3 hours or less on office work, surfing net etc.. dunno, maybe I'm using too much brightness though..

And also, I think I read that it's not possible to undervolt core duo's bcoz Intel locked the lowest voltage at 0.95, hence it's either impossible or not as effective as in Centrino models.

Guess we'll see each other in Indo soon and compare our PC's

ps. Haven't seen any new BIOS on the ASUS sites... really would like the InstantON to work... can u check the site again and confirm if they said if it was really fixed?

 

I used speedfan to measure the temp. HD temp is 36, ACPI temp is 52 during gaming (civ 4) without coolers on in air-con room. Batt is around 3 hr (barely) for normal usage with wireless on and goes down to 2++hr when playing mp3s, never tried gaming on batt.

The a8ja i got had a 100gb hitachi hd 4200rpm =( and had a free upgrade to 1gb ram. Also there IS Bluetooth in a8ja.
Be sure to check to touchpad of the a8ja if u're buying it. I had to change my lappy due to a faulty left click button.

I checked the ASUS site, no sign of a new BIOS.

 

I got the A6Ja and didn't read the A8Ja's specs, i agree with Joost on heat. When if your battery is loadd 100% and you set Power4Gear to Battery Saving, cpu will be slowed down to 366 MHz (i own the A6Ja with a 1,66 core duo).

In Office mode you can get 2 hours battery life (And i did alot when i tried that: browsing, irc, winamp playing all the time, anti virus running (background, not scan), IM, and of couse i was connected to the internet via wireless, that takes alot of energy too, i guess).

I also upgraded the bios, if you got 100% battery, power4gear shows me 2 hours 50 minutes left. So if you don't run all these programs and also are not using wireless (which i think you do not if you are on the road) you should battery should last 2 hours 30 minutes

You can underclock the GPU too.

The A6Ja is a very powerful mashine, ..."but the looks are more like toyota than mercedes". quoted from a user here when he just got the lappi.
I agree here Not that its the worst, there are just a few things i dislike like the space from the keyboard to the top, the space at the sides and the space between display and webcam. Other companys are better at designing.

I own it now a few month and i do not regret it considering the price and the power.

If you want to know use the search function, i did write some posts before about this lappi.

 

Can you expand on this, is it only the CD drive that feels weak or is it onther parts.

 

Ok, let me explain. When i first got my a8ja, the touchpad was faulty, the screw above the hard-disk compartment was stuck (unscrewable). The batt was stuck once place into the lappy. After changing the lappy, the above problems were not present, however the space to the left of the touchpad (above HD) makes a cracking sound when pressed against. Maybe its just bad luck, but still after these experiences, I kinda feel the build quality is not as good as expected. Be sure to check a/b points b4 buying.
Should also note that the touchpad is very rough, plasticky, making using the touchpad very frustrating.

 

Nice.. congrats on your a8jm... by the way, how's the build quality? Is it as bad as rumored?
About undervolt... I didn't know that the lowest voltage of duo is 0.95. I'll do some research to see if undervolting is possible..
Yeah, I already searched the Instan-on fix.... I'll tell you if anything comes up

Yeah... lets compare our lappy then... uehuehueh. But learning about a8j's current problems .. and after some guys confirmed that a6ja also CAN hold to 3 hours... same with a8ja.... and the heat isn't that bad while doing office work..... maybe I'll go with a6ja... maybe....

 

Touch pad is plastic? WOw.... So that silver color surely will fade over time right?? About the cracking sound.... i don't know what to say... maybe it's just bad luck.... I feel for you man did anybody using a8j also had the same prob?
Looks like I'm gonna have to sacrifice my lap to bear more heat then... At first I think a8ja will last longer since it's cooler than a6ja.... but if the build quality is really that bad.... dunno

 

Hi relachs.... I read many of your past post today... saw some prob you got with a6ja... found many interesting thing there.....

Neonix said "The problem is, there is absolutely NO air intake for the X1600. When the X1600 reaches 83 celsius (which it does quite fast if you play a heavy game for 30+ minutes) the fan starts blowing at 4800rpm no matter what temperature is on the CPU itself."

Wow.... 83C?!?

and he also said..

"I found a solution to keep the fan from going up to 4800rpm though (at 4800rpm, the fan sounds like a loud hairblower at full speed, seriously) by using the application Speedfan and Rightmark CPU Clock Utility. What i did was use Rightmark CPU Clock Utility to undervolt the CPU to 0.975v (at full speed) so the CPU generates alot less heat than normal. I then used Speedfan to manually set the fan speed to 3500rpm, and after about 1 hour of heavy load to both the graphics chip and the cpu, the cpu has a temperature of about 65 celsius (which is very low, because it is undervolted, at full volt it would atleast be 10 celsius higher in temperature) and the X1600 would be at between 80-83 celsius in temperature."

I'm not talking about the fan.... but.... e said that the temps WITHOUT undervolting will be 75C?? That must be really hot. Even after undervolting, It still 65C..... even the gpu will 80-83.....

Since A8J series have some build quality problem, which I believe a6ja didn't, maybe I'll go with a6ja....but at this high temp... will it be dangerous? do you also get that temps?

Thanks

 

Oh well..., i never checked the temparature in a progam. I can only tell you what i feel. If you do normal office work and stuffsurfing, mp3, browsing it only gets a little warm and you just can't hear the machine, its unbelieveable! This is great The fan rarely starts, i can only remember the fan start when you are in office mode when you boot, wake up from hibernate/sleep/standby (i do not really know whats the difference lol) and if you start the explorer the first time. But even then the fan doesnt rotate long, only 1-3 seconds and not loud.

Now, lets come to your question

If you play games (that you normally do in super performance mode <- That is only available when plugged on energy supply) or high performance mode <- The highest mode available when wireless from energy supply, and play heavy games the fan start rotating very fast, but there are of couse different fan speed modes, that you can see if you start a game like counter strike source (that you can play in "all high" ) It starts rotating on different times when it really consumes power, then it just rotates a little less, then NOT, then a little more... This is not annoying for me since you do not hear the fan all the time (mostly not or NOT full speed), Trust me

The graphic card also uses the air intake from the cpu, there is no extra air intake, thats true, but on the bottom are severy mini holes (not for the graphic card tho).

Because of that it really gets hot, enspecially where the graphic card sits. Above and under. I would not risk having it on my legs when i gaming heavy games for more than 20-30 minutes But you can still work after gaming and touch it

I didnt undervolt cpu or gpu, it worked fine for me the last months. Wjat i didnt expect was when i first opened the box where it came in, the manual says something like "dont use outside if above 35 celsius (not fahrenheit) so... I think it will keep working when the tempature reaches 35 celsius and you are in the shadow, MAYBE if you are not in the shadow and you are playing half life2 or some heavy games for more than 20 minutes it will explode, but i do not care since i could play this game under this tempature not beein gin the shadow hehe That would be horror.

Sorry for writing so much but for myself i rather like to read more and "between the lines" than reading something like "yea it gets really hot, but its ok"

 

@relach

Thanks for replying, your post really makes me wanna jump from my chair and go buy a6ja right now. haha. so we can conclude, office stuff won't have any heat problem... but gaming.. it'll get hot..maybe I can live with that. Buying some lappy fan should lower the heat... maybe the fan will pump some air in from the small holes you mentioned, and cool the gpu a little... but if I used it without any fan... 83c isn't that dangerous for gpu right? I read somewhere that someone's x700 reached 73c afer overclocking.... so i guess it's normal for a x1600 to reach 80c.....

Thanks again, relach.

PS: LOL, in Indonesia, outside temperature ranges from 32-37C.. so I guess I won't be able to use a6ja outside lol. just inside air conditioned room i guess. lol

 

I　sorry guys.. I think I read wrong. Thing fix that I told you guys about a8j's InstantOn .... It's not supposed to enable "instanOn" but it's supposed to delete the FN+F7...... I didn't quite understand what is Fn+F7 is used for.....

But if you guys wanna try the new bios I mentioned above, you can download it at asus' websites.....

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

here's the original statement....
ASUS华硕A8JM笔记本电脑主板最新BIOS 0208AS版（2006年1月18日发布）在InstantON程序下删除Fn+F7的功能

 

Nooo, just put some sun-tan oil on laptop and it will have beauty sunburn like babes from Baywatch Hawaii

 

LOL. Good Idea...

 

No, like i wrote, there are no holes for the gpu. But air might flow to the gpu through the other holes.

 

I'll make a movie of my A6Ja when running battery mode, office mode and super performance (and playing a game).

Cheers! Be patient, I first need enough time to make it

 

Wow! Cool. Thanks a lot Joost
Take your time, I'll be a good boy here waiting. LOL

 

so whats the final verdict on heat only? Will both A8J and A6J be warm during normal use and very hot during gaming?

 

The final verdict , A6J is generally hotter than A8J during gaming and office. A8J will stay about 60C in gaming while A6J is about 70C during gaming.

 

god, now I'm really scared of seeing the build quality of the A8Jm that I'm receiving in a couple days. If the build quality is really that bad, I may have to consider shipping it back and getting a W3J. I'll be putting the thing in my backpack everywhere I go, so the fact that there is some serious doubt in the quality of its build really has me worried. Would you guys put your A8J in your backpack and feel fully comfortable?

 

Buddie... I have A8Jm, and I don't see any problem with build quality whatsoever. Very quiet, screen well built, looks pretty good, doesn't run too hot. Don't really see how people get the impression that it's of bad build at all.

I think many of the A8Jm owners will agree with me in this regards.

 

I've been trying to make a movie, but it would take hundreds of megabytes. I have recorded the sound though. Compare them, this one is when it's on and doing nothing, the other one is when Betty (I called him Betty, yes) has loaded an extensive game > Quake 4. Alas, sound will stay subjective, anyway, I can try eh

Cheers!

 

Thanks for posting that... Betty sure is quiet In a few days I'm gonna ask for a6ja from my friend who sells asus, if she got it... I'll take it.

Thanks for all of you guys that has helped me a lot in deciding between a8ja and a6ja.... hopefully after I got one of them, I'm gonna post a review..

 

Hai Tjun, I'm from indonesia also, the A6JA is work fine for me, for this time being, i only used this lappie for coding, and some office work,i never try using it with full heavy load game, yes indeed the A6JA is a little hot after heavy compiling mode of my developed application, cause i develop some reporting application.
I used this lappie not only in room temprature, but for working in offshore, cause i work in oil company, may be for solving the heat problem you can buy a lappie coller fan, cause it solve my heat problem here.
the A6JA heat problem is better than the Acer 5672, cause this lappie is the first core duo lappie that i buy from acer official. cause of the heat problem very high so i must return itu to the store and ask them for change with the A6JA
at 20 June 2006, my company want to give me a asus lamborghini vx1, cause if you buy in 1000 unit they give a good price ,so all the management level staff get that lappie, but i still use the A6JA, maybe for some gaming

 

Kameking... where do you work? I'm going back to Indonesia soon.. maybe I should apply at your company.. just to get a VX1

 

Hey, kameking, thanks for your suggestion .... and darrick, I've read your review. Nice one, congrats mate by the way, I went to my friend who sells asus the other day.. and I tried to do some test with a a6ja... And during gaming (need for speed most wanted) after 15 mins or so.... the touchpad area and the right bottom area feels so hot. the cpu temps went to 75C, the hd temps went to 60-65C... and during office work, cpu temps went to 65C, hd 54-55C and the right side of keyboard feels hot, kinda uncomfortable if I had to type on it for a long time, after 10-15 mins of typing, my right hand is sweating already..... even when the room is air conditioned... And she said that some buyers here also complained about heat of a6ja...

So the other post above made me wanna go buy a a6ja... but after see it in person, I kinda shocked a little.. I know that it's gonna be that hot in gaming, but didn't expect it to be that hot in the surface, and during office work, i also didn't expect it to be that hot either in the keyboard area.... I don't know if it's just a faulty a6ja I saw, but this experience kinda throw me back in the beggining.. Now I'm torn again between a6ja or a8ja... so sad...

Cinnamonsigh just posted his a8ja review here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1422184

A nice review... and after reading his review, I kinda tempted to buy a8ja.. mainly because it's much cooler.. hd highest 38C, CPU highest was 51C (Expecting it to be 5-10C higher during games, but still around 60C and not 75C...) but I didn't have chance to see a8ja personally coz they don't have a showpiece machine of it yet.... (and didn't expect they will have it soon coz it's just a small city here, demand for notebooks isn't as high as big city such as Shanghai, Beijing etc. )

Aaarrrghh.... feels like I'm going crazy... back to square one again!! OMG!

 

Darrick i work in freeport, but maybe in september i will leave to other company, cause other company give me more facility and high salary also
today the VX1 is delivered to the company, but i'm still in remote area so maybe in last month i will pick it up

 

I own a Asus A6JA with T2400 1.8Ghz Core Duo and 100GB 5400rpm Hitachi drive. built-in bluetooth, no infrared, 1GB nanya 533Mhz DDR2 memory

Battery of my A6JA is 8-cell 4800mAh .. can last up to 3 hours for powergear's "batter saving" mode

I bought it from Singapore PCshow last june 4, 2006. I am now back here in my home country Philippines with almost the same weather as Indonesia

I did run SiSoft Sandra to torture test the CPU. The highest I got is 72C degrees centigrade.. this is really a very hot CPU. I used the Asus NB Probe from FTP site.

The underside of the A6JA really gets warm and not recommended for to put on your lap. I'm planning to buy a laptop cooler or something.

I think the A6JA comes from the Asus A6 family (from 2005) before the Core Duo was officially released. So the chassis design and heat ventilators might be already old hehe

The A8JA model is the new chassis by Asus (2006 model)

So I think all A8 models have better heat dissipation than A6

Here's some of the advantage of A8JA over A6JA (based from singapore specs)
1) PC express card slot
2) with Infrared
3) separate launch key for enable/disable of bluetooth and wifi
4) separate LED for bluetooth and wifi
5) different touchpad (not really sure if A8 is better)
6) Fn+F4 Save to Hard-disk
7) Power key is separate from Launch Keys
8) 5-USB ports placed on rear and on sides
9) more KGrams lighter than A6 (less .5kg i guess)
10) free wireless mouse (corded mouse for A6)
11) A8 might be better on heat dissipation

Advantage of A6JA over A8JA
1) 1.3 megapixel web camera
2) 15.4 LCD screen
3) separate jacks for Line-in and Mic-in
4) air vent is towards the rear


Overall, I like my A6JA and no regrets at all hehe

 

@revogsx, you are not alone in this - a lot of people who have the A6 series laptop complain that it runs very hot.

I dont know how many people use coolers also have you tried undervolting the CPU?

 

revogsx,

thanks for replying... actually I already bought an a8ja few days back... lol. And it was a good choice except for some minor things.. but it's nothing big. Hearing that you got a6ja and it runs hot, lucky I went for a8ja.... Since heat is the main concern for me since I'll be using it on my lap mostly. When doing intensive task like gaming, burning dvd, unraring big files, Max cpu I went is 58-59... never reached 60.... hd mostly stay below 50c.... it's really a cool machine. didn't feel hot at all in the touchpad, palmrest etc.

And for note, a8ja I got here in China didn't come with wireless mouse, just corded mouse. and flexing keyboard lol. and I just installed a keyboard protector, and my keyboar flex is gone.... really recommend it for anybody looking to reduce flex.

Btw, I don't understand what do you mean by Fn+F4 save to harddisk? when I press fn+f4, It just open firefox.

 

radditz,
as of now, I'm not planning to undervolt my A6JA, I think the 75C temperature is still ok with me, if I don't want higher temperature, I think I can use the NHC program to fix the multiplier .. or force set the Asus Powergear to 75% CPU utilisation only.. but I will try that undervolt thing maybe next month hehe..
btw, my normal temp on A6JA is around 55C to 65C (no games)

Tjun,
the official specs of asus.com website tells that FN+F4 should save to harddisk
It's nice to hear that your A8JA doesn't exceed 60C hehe, have you tried the Prime95 software and SiSoft Sandra (CPU burnin) at the same time?

 

Hm... strange.. FN+F4 just open firefox.. saving harddisk, did you mean hibernate? btw I haven't tried Prime95 or sisoft sandra, but if max cpu temp u'r looking for, I've been playing FEAR and Oblivion maxed out for hours and cpu's never reached 60C. Great cooling system this machine had.

Off topic: did you also tried playing those games? I'm wondering how many fps you got in your a6ja? Mine seems so laggy with 20-25 fps during action or crowded scenes, and 30-35 during normal scenes.... kinda dissapointed with x1600. Hm,.... and the 3dmark05 for a8ja with stock driver is about 3850, after I installed newest omega driver, it only went for 3860. ....Just 10 point increase....

 

save to harddisk is also same as hibernate..

running sisoft sanda CPU and prime95 at the same time will torture your CPU and will show the maximum possible temperature

playing FEAR or Oblivion might not be CPU intensive games, maybe these games are using more graphics processor.. but i might also be wrong hehe..

i haven't played those games so I really can't tell.

But as of this moment, the mobile ATI X1600 and mobile Nvidia 7600 graphics processor is the fastest GPU for notebooks that are not that too expensive..

One thing to increase X1600 performance is to use a pair of DDR2 667Mhz SODIMM. I think the the A8JA also has 256MB memory and uses another 256MB memory from system ram. So if the system ram (SODIMM) is slow, it might affect the performance of the X1600. I think a read about this on a review somewhere on the internet, not sure if on anandtech.com or tomshardware.com

Again, I haven't done a complete benchmark on this and maybe some games are not really using graphics memory above 128MB

I also read in another forum if the X1600 uses DDR2 or GDDR3 memory. No idea on this yet.

 

Actually not. The NVIDIA 7600 in the A8ja actually has 512MB of *dedicated* GDDR3 VRAM.