G1S-A1 replaced with G1Sn-A1

I sent in my G1S-A1 under warranty because the graphics on it finally died. It was under warranty and they have replaced it with a G1Sn-A1 motherboard. My questions are:

- What GPU / Graphics card is it now using? I pull it up in device manager and its just listing it as a "standard vga graphics adapter." This probably means that its also not using its real potential since it doesn't have the correct drivers installed?

- Is this motherboard still only a santa rosa design or is it penryn acceptable? If it is a penryn accepted motherboard, what is the top mHz of the fsb so that I can match it on the ram?

- Is there anything else I need to know about this motherboard?

 

It now uses a 9500M GS, with 512MB of DDR2 memory.

The motherboard is a Santa Rosa refresh and only supports 800MHz Penryns along with other Santa Rosa processors, as did the previous G1S motherboard (my G1S uses a Penryn), it's still the PM965 chipset.

As far as I know the only difference is the video card.

 

What memory was the 8600GT 256 MB on the G1S-A1 originally using? DDR3 or DDR2? With the extra 256MB increase should I expect to see a performance increase even if it went from 3 to 2?

 

The 8600M GT in the G1S has GDDR3 memory.

From what I've seen, the 9500M GS DDR2 runs at lower temperatures and performs a bit worse than the 8600M GT GDDR3.

 

On another note, has anyone that sent their ASUS in for an RMA had it returned with extra problems?

My Windows now claims it needs activation since the OEM code that it comes with says it is no longer valid. No replacement OEM OS Restore disc was included after the mobo was changed.

My right speaker no longer works. (with stereo headphones I can hear the right channel, but not through speakers)

PCI dummy card no longer fits correctly and slides out on its own when the laptop is tilted.


I dread having to send in back in to fix these additional problems for the fear of what they can break next. Not to mention it took a week and a half for them to do a simple mobo swap when I already told them exactly what was wrong with it in the first place.

 

Contact Asus and have them send out a restore disk for your laptop. They should have included it.
But since you mentioned your speaker and expresscard slot is faulty, I fear you may have to send it back for repairs.

 

Well, I decided to take a peek to see if the wires for the speaker might just be loose. Turns out some genius cut right through one of the leads running to the right speaker. There wasn't even anything near it that could have cut it accidentally, like a screw being tightened in through it. Nope, it was just sliced in the middle of a hollow enclosed spot. Thanks Asus Tech Support!

I did a bit more inspecting and noticed that all the plastic tabs that form a grill covering the rear heatsink / fan exhaust have been broken as well. When the covers for the compartments were off, the GPU cooling channel looked like it was foiled together with whatever scraps were left when they pulled the old one out. Hot air was blowing through the case since it wasn't closed off correctly.

I'm more than a little pissed. I babied this laptop for a year now, to send it in for a legitmate repair and get back something that looks like it was used as a frisbee in the park during a lunch break.

 

They included an updated drivers CD, but yea, no system restore disc. It'll be one of the things I mention to them tomorrow.

 

With the motherboard change, the Vista license believes after running through its hardware checks that you're trying to install it on new hardware rather than on the same notebook. This is a known system issue with Vista installs.

Sorry to hear about your other problems -- I recall another thread around here in the past month or so from another member who sent in a G1 for RMA repair and got it back with the heatsink grille all cut out. This is a disturbing trend at Asus NA tech support to see it happen a second time if I understand what you're saying correctly .