K53TA.. The best deal ever... could be!

I just picked up one of these for my brother and it's easily a match for my Acer 4820TG with core i5 460M and 5650M ATI GPU. Gets 2 or 3 fps better in Crysis 2 while running MUCH cooler. My 4820TG runs CPU/GPU temps of 90/85 running Crysis 2, this thing gets 77/78 while outrunning the 4820TG. I'll have to compare some more CPU limited games to really make a judgement, but the cooling system shows that Asus has cooling laptops down to a science. And all that performance with the stock video drivers.

The fact that the keyboard is VERY nice, it's got a VERY solid build, and is typical 15.6" laptop weight is a nice plus for a $450 machine. Once I get the BIOS update to get rid of the banding problem it'll be golden.

 

Just picked one up from Best Buy as well. Excellent A+ performance/price.
Since the A6-3400m features a dual channel memory controller, I popped another 4GB stick inside to maximize memory bandwidth. Very important with these APU's. Now 8GB total, not that I need that muhc RAM.

64GB SSD replaced the stock 500GB 5400rpm stock hdd, with fresh Win7HP. Problem is, can't install latest catalyst Drivers from AMD. (Unidentified display, blah..)

Anyone have success using non-ASUS(direct from AMD) drivers? Thanks.

 

I installed the 11.8 Mobility drivers. No issues so far, except the clock speeds are locked now. I'm only seeing about a 3% increase with them installed, far less than the older ones overclocked. But the performance is still sufficient

ATI Mobility Catalyst Display Driver v 11.8 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit - TechSpot Drivers
here are the drivers

 

You mean it's even locked in K10?

 

thanks but i dont think it worked..
can you show me your software info?

mine:


cat11.8:
[ link ]

 

Guys, a word of caution. I have the HP G4 (A6-3400m), and with K10Stat, I set it back down to 1.8 GHz (P0).

It could easily go above 2.0 GHz, but when running Furmark + 3 threads of Prime95, it was reaching temps in the mid-80s. On a hot day, it might go above 90c, which would be too hot.

The G4 is smaller (14"), so cooling is probably less capable, but I would caution exceeding 2.0 GHz. Make sure to try Furmark + Prime95 and see what temperatures you are really getting. And get ready to pull the plug if it gets too hot, too quickly.

 

I have been running MSI Kombustor with Prime95 which gives the highest realistic temperature. Kombustor is pretty much like Furmark.

I can easily run 2.2GHz with Prime95 4 threads + Furmark or Kombustor at < 85C. I was able to run 2.4GHz with Kombustor but temps were 90-92C which was much too hot for my liking. Bad Company 2 runs <80C, usually 77-78C.

 

HTWingNut, is that using the latest Furmark?

FWIW, running Furmark (1 thread) + Prime 95 (3 threads) at 2.0 GHz, temp. was 84C with room temp. at 27C.

At 1.8 GHz, temp. reached 76C. So, I guess I'm setting it low, but I wanted to save more juice.

 

when i got my first unit, i pegged it at 2.3ghz, and it was running hot after x264 video encoding- up to 90 C.

if you don't need to do any hardcore computing, you should set the clocks more reasonably-
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2600

no need to clock it much higher, because wattage is the product of clock speed x volts. increase either, and you kill battery life and use more electricity

 

You won't kill the battery life because this sucker undervolts like crazy. When running on battery if you set the power profile to min 0% and max 60%, you will only use P-states P6, P5, P4, P3, that's why you can set the lower p-state clocks to some power sipping levels. You can run well past max spec boost clock running at less voltage too. I have high performance set to run up to 100% (P0 + boost) and balanced to run 0% to 60% CPU speed. BatteryBar automatically switches between the two depending on if I'm plugged in or not.

Actually I don't like furmark or OCCT that much because they are absolute extreme cases that your machine will never see. I do like to stress my system to make sure it's stable, but I think furmark is excessively so. I'll check again with furmark though.

 

Has anyone tried running a Linux distribution on this notebook? Does it seem like this notebook could last through years of use? That AnandTech article leaves me with doubts about buying this notebook. I only play League of Legends and Amnesia: Dark Descent, and they aren't a priority. If benchmarks be damned and it performs as well as a Sandy bridge core i3 or i5 then I'll pick one up but if GPU performance withstanding it doesn't hold a candle to a the core line of CPU's then I'll get a different notebook.

 

Someone did mention they were having some issues with LoL specifically and something else earlier in the thread but otherwise everything else was super smooth.

I wish they had said what specific hardware they were using in this demo though I'm sure AMD tweaked the eff out of it.

 

Well not really, the GPU in the Intel is weaksauce compared to the AMD.

 

hypethreading doesnt do well in heavily loaded environments.
cache thrash and all that stuff .. also, intelHD fps may be competitive w/ lowest-end discrete cards but their image quality is hideous.

 

Yeah I'll take four distinct cores over hyperthreading any day even if CPU is a bit underpowered.

 

Great thread

Ive been looking for this info since I got the laptop a few weeks ago, was about to give up.

Just have a few q's. What is the "B0" field for in k10stat ? and you guys mention crossfire, I thought thats when you have multiple GPU's ? Do we want to enable it in the ATI setup program ?

thanks again for all the info Finally happy with the CPU now.

 

B0 is the max boost speed.

Crossfire enables the integrated GPU on the CPU to work with the dedicated GPU. It's called asymmetrical crossfire.

 

FYI, here are some of my A6 observations from last few days (YMMV). I was hoping to post this on a more general AMD thread, but I dunno where.

1) Each 100 MHz increment requires 0.025 volt. Never needed more or less for the entire frequency range (per 100 MHz), which is amazing. Normally, OC'ing a CPU requires more voltage per increment.

2) Turbo (B0) works this way as far as I can tell:
- 1 core active: Turbo mode is used
- 2 cores active: Both cores use turbo
- 3 cores active: 1 core uses turbo, other two use P0
- 4 cores active: All 4 cores use P0

Therefore, the formula for total computational power is:
1 core = B0
2 cores = B0+B0
3 cores = B0+P0+P0
4 cores = P0+P0+P0+P0

IMHO, it is advantageous to use turbo instead of just pushing P0 to its limit. Also, note that depending on how you have set B0 and P0, it is possible (but unlikely) the APU ends up with *less* CPU power when using *more* cores, which is counter-productive.

Please test it out, and see if your results agree (or disagree). Good hunting!

 

It will jump to B0 depending on the load and conditions. It can vary depending on the load given too.

In any case, four cores at half the speed is a lot better than two cores at 20% faster speeds in multithreaded apps.

The point of setting your P0 is that will be your minimum speed under load, anything else to B0 is just added bonus. I'd rather know my minimum and have a little added bump on occasion than set my P0 too low and have a variable top speed.

 

I partially agree and disagree. B0 is a bit unpredictable, but is still a consistent performance boost. I tested with SuperPI, using 1.8 GHz as P0 vs. B0, and the results were within a second of each other (~1:36,1:37 with 2M).

If 4 core performance is more important, I agree - max out P0. In games, I still think turbo is a better use of the APU.

My current settings are: 1.8/2.8 GHz. 4 core performance suffers a bit, but 2.8 GHz turbo actually runs cooler than stock 2.3 GHz turbo (undervolting).

Anything higher than 2.8 GHz has been unstable for me. Or at least, I'm not willing to risk increasing the voltage/heat enough to find out.

In any case, the A6/A8 is simply one heck of a CPU/APU.

 

cool thanks for that info

I seem to have to run higher V's than you guys.. I can only get stable at 2350ghz @ 1.1250v (testing with prime95).

I just had a blue screen at low cpu load now for some reason.. I was just browsing. Might do some more testing at all the P levels.

I havnt been to impressed with the stability of the laptop.. allthough Im not sure if its windows 7 home premium with all the asus crap. Ive had alot of windows explorer crashing or not responding etc etc. Ive done a fresh install with win7 ultimate and minimal asus stuff and seems to have improved.

Anyone else have issues when typing... the mouse cursor jumps around ????? its bloody anoying.. perhaps I am hitting the touchpad or something... hmmm

*edit* could someone tell me which driver they are using for the touchpad please ? I downloaded the asus ones but it rekons i dont have a suitable touchpad.... I remember it had some accidental touch settings, so hopefully I can reinstall.

 

I just used the default touchpad driver that Windows installed. The driver on the Asus website doesn't work.

Above 2.2 or 2.3GHz temps are going to go up quickly, as will required voltage. Honestly I think 2.2 to 2.3 GHz will be a reasonable P0 state, anything else will just cause temperature issues especially when combined with the GPU running since they share the same heatsink. My voltages actually run low, but above 2.2 GHz, my temps are high if you take into account the CPU and GPU simultaneously which is why I run Prime95 + Kombustor to check for temps and stability.

Also if you changed your lower P-state voltages, leave them stock, or as high as you can (has to be same as or lower than the P-state above them) until you test them. I was getting random lockups as well, until I took the time to optimize the voltages at each P-state. 5 minutes with Prime95+Kombustor if it was stable without a lockup, blue screen, or error in Prime95, then I would actually bump up the voltage another notch just to ensure stability.

 

Hi,

I bought the K53TA based on this thread.

Currently I have my laptop hooked up to a 26inch monitor on 1900x1200 resolution so my performance might take a hit.

My LoL was laggy at first but after I installed all the updates and the new 1.18 drivers then LoL was fine. Played "5v5" in all "Very High" settings except shadows was on "low". Small spike when engaged in 5v5 teamfight but its still playable.

Problem - noticed this happened to me twice. After coming out of sleep/hibernate the 2.0 USB on the left side of the notebook stops giving power. Only way I found to fix it was to restart the computer. Anyone else notice this?

 

how did you know?
if its because a device didn't come back, it could be the device. were you able to "turn off" using the safe-remove applet? and on re-attach it did not power up?
if that's a negative, then I'd think a bios rev would come in due time...seems like a hibernate-state [or sleep..] miscue.

 

I knew because my everything I plugged into that USB wouldn't turn on - happened only after coming out of hibernation/sleep

 

Also, has anyone able to get Dual Channel using 2 different brands of ram?

I bought a 4 gb G-Skill, same speed/clocks and CPU-Z doesn't say dual channel.

 

i noticed that too. I closed the lid once, and it hibernated, and both usb ports on the left were unpowered, and didn't even detect usb devices.

However, the weird thing is, it powered back on its own, 5 minutes later.

I disabled and uninstalled hibernate altogether.

I don't have the laptop anymore, but could you test sleep mode and see if the left usb ports turn off after wake ?

You should def email asus about the usb port hibernate problem.
seems they put out an unfinished bios.

It should automatically go into dual channel mode.

but if it doesn't say dual channel, there's another way you can test.

get the trial version of sisoft sandra and run the memory bandwidth test with one ram stick, and then 2 ram sticks, and see if there's a speed increase.

 

Yep! I noticed this exact issue on mine.

 

Yes, this is very irritating...my last laptop was an Acer, and when a mouse was plugged in the touch pad was shut off. With this one, my cursor definitely jumps to where it shouldn't be.

 

What is everyone using to measure the temperature of processor? I'm going to give overclocking a shot on this. Thanks for all the great posts listing how to do it.

 

HWMonitor or HWInfo32 or HWInfo64

 

Can someone tell me what boatware to remove. IM a NOOB.

thanks

 

All of it! Do a clean install! That's what I'd recommend.

But actually not if you're new to this stuff. My system runs a lot better now because of it.

Just go through your add/remove programs in the control panel and uninstall things that are clearly not important.

 

Have you guys tried updating to the latest BIOS. I updated to the latest BIOS to fix that banding issue, and I have had a wireless mouse plugged in the lefthand USB 2.0 port during suspend / resume and it worked fine.

 

Hi guys. I've been watching this thread for a while now, since I bought my Asus k53ta. Awesome laptop! I have a couple of questions though, that i hope someone here might be able to answer:

1. Has anyone here been able to increase the allocated ram memory for the integrated 6520 graphics card?

2. Has anyone updated the drivers on the 6600 series card? I've used the 11.8 preview drivers, but those only update the 6500 series drivers. Device manager says the 6650 is stuck with the factory drivers.

3. Does anyone have issues with HDMI hiccuping when connected to another monitor and playing any sort of media? Mine sometimes blacks out on the top half of the entire screen or starts flickering/distorting. It's pretty unpredictable when it happens, but I think it occurs for both the laptop screen and the tv.

I appreciate the help guys .

 

i was getting upset last night at the fact that crossfire is completely broken and doesnt work right in any game ive tried with out having ether micro stutter or a drop in frame rate... then i though hey wait a second i have a $450 laptop that came with a HD6650! lol

i just cant wait for crossfire to be fixed as enabling it now makes my eyes wanna cry..

 

So what's the general consensus regarding crossfire on this laptop?

On or off?

 

Did you download and install the Crossfire profiles?

 

Yep i have the newest bios installed and still have that USB problem

 

One of the function keys will turn the touchpad off.

Can someone tell me the name of the asus application that controls the touchpad please? or does anyone have the installer or anything for it ?
I want to try get it back to see if it stops the accidental touchs on touchpad thingy.. I did a fresh install so lost most of the asus crap, touchpad thing seems to be only thing i can find/reinstall.

 

The correct driver for the touchpad is Version V8.0.5.1. It is the second one on the list of touchpad drivers on their support site and should have ELAN in the download name NOT sentelic.

 

you can uninstall everything else except the ATK thing, and kbfilter

that's the stuff you need for hotkeys. ATK is required for winflash too.



You really don't need crossfire for this. It won't improve performance.

I observed that when crossfire is disabled, and games are set to high performance in CCC, the 6650m is being used all the time. 6520g doesn't get used.

I tested a few games- batman, resident evil 5.

 

Thanks heaps

 

TOUCHPAD.
Try downloading and installing TouchFreeze.
I use it on everything and it will cure about 80% of the accidentals.

 

I get considerable improvements using crossfire in Bad Company 2, like 5 fps average. May not seem like much but gives me a steady 45 fps with dips no lower than 30.

 

Where could I buy this in the UK? Do BestBuy deliver to the UK. I assume they are reliable as I think I have heard of them ....

 

BestBuy UK don't have it in store yet, not sure on a release date here either. Not to mention it would probably cost £500 rather than the £270 that $450USD equals. My gf is going to Las Vegas in a week and I'm trying to decide if I should get her to pick up one there for me.

 

Does anyone else get high pitched sound coming from their laptop sounds like some sort of processing sound, kind of annoying as my previous laptop did not make these sounds. And it also seems like that my keyboard skips when I type fast.

 

You are lucky. Dammit. I checked and Amazon are selling them but they are £500! I hoped that the $450 price tag would apply over here too. I decided on the Asus A53SV-XE1. Looks nice and only costs £486 I think Google Money. In your case, definately get her to pick one up for you. I am buying from Amazon.com and shipping to the UK from the USA so the shipping charges are probably going to be like £15 or something like that. Do you know much about the A series? Are they reliable? Thanks

 

Could you describe the sound a little better? Like is it a high pitched whine (something with the fan)? A repetitious mechanical noise (one of the drives)? Something else entirely?

I think I read that the keyboard on the K53 line maxes at 4 key recognition so it wouldn't be surprising if it missed a little if you were a very quick typist if that's right.