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

thanks link626
keep up good work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Is K10Stat failing for any of yal after installation of New AMD 12.2 gfx drivers and a change of power source?

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that I have a a8-3500m.

 

no prob in 12.2 at least on 32bit 7

 

after playing around with fixed mode some more, I discovered that you can't switch back and forth between dynamic and fixed more than 3-4 times in one windows session before it freezes and fails to switch, and gets stuck on a black screen, forcing you to manually shutdown by holding the power switch.

so be sure to save your work before you mess with graphics switching.

hard rebooting is the trade-off we have to make to use fixed mode.

still, the good news is that the drivers don't break, and you can always keep it in dynamic or crossfire mode like factory stock.



i wish amd would dedicate manpower to kill the bugs and make this work.

 

Good to know. Does the 3-4 times vary? I thought you said earlier that it always gets locked up if you switch the second time. (eg. Start off in Dynamic--switch to Fixed--and then switch back to Dynamic.) So the example above is ok then? If two times in one session is alright, then I'm fine with it. This whole time I've just been switching it back on the next reboot and changing it only once.

 

I just updated my BIOS but forgot the key and well... I hit f9

Any way out of this loop I'm in with it wanting to recover ?

 

i have talked about two different kinds of lock ups.
one is at reboot/shutdown
the other is at switching, after you've switched 3 or 4 times.

dynamic > fixed> dynamic will switch fine, and then next reboot will hang, forcing you to hold power button 3 seconds.

the 2nd type of lockup I just tested out of curiosity.
dyn>fixed>dyn>fixed> dyn fail/black screen lockup.
hold power button 3 seconds shutdown required.

if you switch it back on next reboot, like the way you've been doing, then you only deal with the less severe hang on reboot.

not really a big problem, since most people will only be switching once.

it keeps looping? you can't access bios by pressing Esc or F2 ?

 

OK great! So I've been doing it right all along. Well, I have no problems, no hangs at all so far. If I want to switch back I just wait until rebooting and all goes perfectly. Hope slowpc figures out his flash problem. There's always a risk when flashing and you have to be extremely careful and never be too hasty.

 

yup, force shut down is the only downside. Sometimes, even it switch no problem, but then it hang at shutdown or sleep. Annoying but owell, not like they gonna fix it though .

 

i had the same problem. only solution that worked for me is reformatting my laptop. pain in the butt.

 

Thank you for the Fixed. Just today switchable graphics kept making me go to power save and kept forcing it back on even when I changed it to high performance so I was getting soooo mad because dynamic is just garbage... I'm actually switching to Nvidia for the physx and better drivers. AMD is powerful but their drivers just blow...

But now I can use fixed and it's working great so far :3

 

So I haven't read this thread in a while but it's great to see that you guys got the bios and video card somewhat fixed.

I understand that there's a newer ati catalyst control center and video driver out, could someone link to the proper one go use for our laptop? Also, are you guys still using the ati ccc and chipset driver package listed on the asus website or are you downloading the chipset driver from the ati website? Could I get a link to that as well?

 

AMD Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

latest is 12.2

BUT I warn you! This driver disables the function to overclock with K10Stat! Unless you know a fix which I haven't seen but w/o overclocking the pc = lame sauce

 

Oh... yeah i didn't know that. I rely pretty heavily on my OC for gaming otherwise this laptop is pretty much useless lol. Everyone has had this issue?

I should rephrase my question; what is generally accepted as "the best" chipset and video drivers to use? The thread is too long to go back and find that info

 

why would graphics driver affect CPU overclocking ?

you mean oc with afterburner and such ?

 

Ive recently been having some problems with my K53ta' AMD Vision engine ever since i updated it (not letting me assign graphics cards and somewhat slow down in performance) , and was just wondering would a clean uninstall of it fix it up? If so how would i go about doing it?

 

Their new driver makes it so you can supposedly overclock your CPU through CCC but this also disables non-official overclocking methods and idk about afterburner but im assuming so as well. Not only that when I tried to run the test thing to be able to OC through CCC it actually made my pc go 1.3ghz instead of 1.4ghz as the standard.... so this driver in my opinion is 10 steps backwards.

Yes uninstall 12.2 and use "Driver sweeper" to get rid of all the files and then install 12.1 again.
VVVVV

I dont think everything above is totally necessary but driver sweeper definitely fixed some issues I had that continued after reinstall.

 

interesting.

i had 12.3 drivers for a few days, and I remember i was still able to oc with k10stat.

i don't keep k10stat running in the tray though. I click ok button, and settings stick after closing k10stat


searched google, and there might be a workaround? .... http://www.overclock.net/t/1226892/fixes-catalyst-drivers-error-oc-eyefinity-general-issues

 

Graphic drivers never disabled my K10stat program for me. It's always run properly. I did notice games weren't running with MSI Afterburner gpu overclocking. So I fixed that problem with the help of this thread: [GUIDE] Enable unofficial overclocking after Catalyst 12.2 - Guru3D.com Forums
(You just need to replace 2 ATI dll files (atipdlxx.dll , atipdl64.dll) and reboot). I can oc CPU and GPU just fine with newest AMD drivers and latest Bios mod!

So no issues with oc cpu with K10stat!

Asus chipset drivers are usually older by 2 or 3 "AMD" updates compared to official AMD drivers, so most of us use newer AMD drivers.
I posted about the latest AMD CCC graphic drivers at the WIKI on SD.
I found 11.12, 12.1, & 12.2 are all good, but 12.2 introduces some AA pixel flashing bugs in Skyrim; Just turn AA off on Skyrim. I'm on 12.2 right now since I'm assuming the new Bios mod with manual selection of dgpu works better with the 12.1 & 12.2 drivers rather than 11.x drivers. I found FPS in some games were faster in 11.12 vs 12.2 but only by +1 FPS (too close so I stuck with newer 12.2 drivers.). If you oc gpu you just need above dll files.

 

So i have the switchable bios.
beta drivers 12.4

And dynamic mode dont work for me, lag so hard with high performance profile setuped for aplication.
Fixed work fine.

Dynamic 10 fps.
Fixed 60+ Fps.
(The same scene in darkness 2)
And im not stucked in low power settings.
Then what im doing wrong? I cant enable crossfire in fixed mode, while this crossfire is adding like +5 fps to BF3.

 

^^ that's weird. If you load amd system monitor, it should show the igp hardly doing any work.

also, if you do crossfire, most likely it will stutter and look like 10fps

 

is there any across the board performance increase for games using the fixed dGPU? The only opengl games I have don't really need any extra performance, but would this help on something like Skyrim as opposed to the normal crossfire?

 

flash it yourself and see if it helps.
if you don't like it, keep it in dynamic mode, and you won't even know you have a modded bios.

i've only tried dx9 games like mass effect 3, and there's no performance increase.

 

Where can i find the 12.1 drivers? i dont want to install the wrong ones (did that once X.X)

 

dunno where to download the 12.1 since amd only shows the download for 12.2 now (unless I just cant find it)... I just used the one on my pc that i still have. I'd upload it but I don't know any host websites that take larger files.


edit: Guru3D has everything and Is a trusted website on my list

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards---ATI-Catalyst-Vista---Win-7_c31.html

 

Dynamic mode still never uses dGPU.
Any idea?

 

which will be better
asus
a6 3400 and 6720g2 with overclock
or
acer 5720
i3 2310 and gt 540m

i do not know whether this should be here
i apologise for any inconvinience

 

I would take the i3 with the 540 personally

 

what game are you playing?
did you run AMD system monitor to confirm dgpu is not running?

with crossfire off, my dynamic mode always uses dgpu when application is set to high performance.

if you do things which can benefit from single thread performance, go with i3.

if you do things that benefit from multithread, go with a6.

an OC'd a6 will beat i3 in multithread only.
Otherwise, at stock speeds, a6 has same multithread performance as i3.

Even overclocked, an A6 will lose to i3 in single thread apps.

Optimus gt540m is a much more polished setup.

that should help you decide.
both products are very close, with differences above.

 

Thinking of picking this up for $357.

Should I go for it?

 

Second that ..... so tempting to push my bro to get 1, just nice deal but not a reseller or anything..

 

Any 1 tried mod bios know if their option to do bios overclock? my not-so tech savvy gamer bro probably too lazy to get afterburner running.

2nd question. Is the odd replaceable with HDD bay? I need to set it perfect before handing it off to my bro.

Edit: hehe still have Ryan stuff to snap in my bro lappy.

 

bios is very bare bones. so no OC options.
only k10stat.

isn't that how the dv6z is too ?

optical is standard tray. should be replaceable with hard drive bay.

 

will trinity be significantly stronger than this laptop cpuwise and gpuwise
in the same price range

i want to get this laptop

thanks for the help in a6 3400 6650m vs i3 2310m gt540m

 

Well trinity is supposed to offer up 13-14" notebooks in $500-$600 price range with IGP only. But the IGP is supposedly 30-50% faster than Llano, which would make it close in performance to the 6650m.

 

and cpuwise for eg a6 4400
how much better is it estimated to be

is this laptop k53ta still a good deal

 

k53ta is still a very good deal at <$450 after taxes, considering what else is on the market right now.

The trinity A6-4400m is dual core chip clocked at 2.6ghz base, 3ghz turbo. Not the right chip to compare.

AMD says trinity may offer 25% better cpu performance and 50% better igp performance, but take this (cpu part) with a grain of salt, since that is marketing speak. Why?

consider what we have now.
25% improvement means that the 1.4ghz llano would be bumped to 1.75ghz at the same power consumption.
A6 can already do much more than 1.75ghz with overclock because there is a lot of headroom.
So "25% cpu improvement" doesn't mean much.
Also, because bulldozer/piledriver have worse ipc (based on recent leaked Trinity benchmarks), a 2ghz trinity will be slower than a 2ghz llano, so they will have to bump the clock speed way up to compensate.
even if mobile trinity turns out to be a good overclocker, you'll have to clock it way higher to achieve the same performance as llano.


The A10-4600m is the flagship quadcore, clocked at 2.3ghz base, 3.2 turbo.
If that's what is needed for a 25% performance boost, you can already see the ipc suckage compared to llano A8 1.5ghz base, 2.4 turbo.
Assuming that is a 25% cpu boost, they had to clock the cpu 50%+ higher to achieve a 25% boost.

Considering that we can't OC our llano a6-3400 much over default 2.3 turbo before turning it into a space heater, you'll likely not be able to OC the trinity 4600m very much over 3.2 turbo without heat problems during full load.

Based on what I've seen lately, it's all smoke and mirrors with Trinity, as AMD is quoting cherry picked benchmarks that emphasize graphics performance to obscure the pitiful cpu performance trinity has.

AMD?s 2nd Generation APU, Codenamed ?Trinity,? Will Enable Superior Multimedia Experience for Our ?Connected? Generation | Fusion

Footnotes state:

Let's breakdown the BS.
We all know that the A8-3500 turbo barely works, so benchmarks are done at 1.5ghz 99% of the time.
A 29% increase over 1.5ghz is a piece of cake to achieve on the current llano. All it takes is OC to 1.9ghz.
Everyone is already hitting that on the llano while undervolting.
So basically, you can have Trinity performance TODAY.

--------------
There is no doubt the igp of trinity will be much better, and it will likely do a little more cpu work at the same wattage.
But still, you can't go wrong with the k53ta or k53tk because you have a capable igp for everyday tasks, and a dgpu (which you can turn off for near-zero power consumption) for heavier tasks.
Plus, we have a cpu that oc's like hell, and beats trinity and bulldozer-based cpu clock for clock.

if you don't care about dgpu, it would probably be better to wait for trinity, as we'll likely see quad core trinitys without dgpu for the same price we see now- $400. But don't count on the igp to match the 6650m for that price, as AMD would not undercut its currently rebadged 6650m, the 7670m.

Also, consider that ivy bridge will also see a 50% igp performance boost. Right now, intel hd3000 more or less matches amd 6480g. HD4000 will surpass it.
not to mention, kickazz ivy bridge cpu performance.
core i3 ivy bridge laptops will also likely be around $400.

 

Agree with Link626 & HTwingnut. I think Trinity and Ivebridge are going to have really nice integrated graphics so gaming is going to be more of a dream come true for everyone. But I predict that this K53TA dual graphics will still beat them in gaming performance by a little bit.

After trying out the AMD 12.2 drivers for a week (@ 1366x768 medium-high settings), I was disappointed by FPS, performance, & benchmarks in games and reinstalled 11.12 since I was happier with those. It produces smoother gameplay maybe by 1-3 FPS and feels more stable and seems more efficient producing cooler temps; However there may have been more tearing in gameplay (or maybe it was the same?). But it felt better overall. The following games were tested: BF3, BatmanAC, SKYRIM, Mass Effect 3, TransformersWFC, LegoSWIII, & Dirt3. Oh, and Manual Selectable Graphics still works fine with older 11 series drivers. Not sure how performance compares with 12.1 drivers since I never tried those. But for my particular games, 12.2 is worse than 11.12. This laptop is really great when I see smooth framerate like this & I still highly recommend it after 7 months owning it!

Update: Finally Laptop with equivalent specs is offered by another company: Lenovo.$500 FreeShip;better external speakers & 6gb ram, 1.5Ghz cpu; but no usb 3.0(esata instead).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246328

 

I have 12.1 and It seems fine to me. I honestly only had 11.12 for a short time so I didn't really test on any heavy duty games that i have now so I cant really say the difference.

I have owned this PC for a few months and considering it can literally play ANY game for the price it's still a steal. (mine was more but that's because it has a 7200rpm HDD.

Games:
Burnout Paradise - Max settings x4 AA (SSAO = off, bad graphics bug) avg FPS = ~50
Battlefield 3 - high/ultra, shadows low, AF x4, SSAO On ~35 fps (outside, multiplayer)
Dota 2 - Max Settings, AA On ~50 fps bottom map and ~56 fps top part of map
Skyrim - Max settings, AA x4, shadows = high ...FPS varied
League of legends - Max settings, shadows = high ~60 FPS (shadows on high for fps drop areas in base that are due to bad game code)
Left 4 Dead 2 - Maxed, AA x4 ~50+ fps (lows in the mid 40's max = 60 fps)
Majesty 2 - Maxed, AA x8 ~54 fps, other maps ~ 35fps (varies)
Path of Exhile - Maxed, AA setting is 3 out of 3 ~50? (areas vary)
Raiderz - Custom High ~30+? avg. (game requires physx which gave me some fps drops in some games so i uninstalled physx and cant play raiderz atm)
Aion - Maxed, AA x4 avg fps = ???? Game has some serious dips which is due to seriously bad coding/engine.
Dead Space 2 - Can be maxed (havent reinstalled it yet)
Tera - Testing next closed beta test (SLOW/HUGE download)
Crysis 2 - Maxed (with better graphics mod), AA off?, dx11 mode ~40 fps? (without gpu overclock), haven't tested in a while and don't feel like reinstalling.

 

Any 1 have service manual( the disassemble one)? I check that they don't have it on the ASUS site.

 

this is not specific to the k53ta. It's more for k53 intel version.

K53disassemble.pdf

but it gives you the general idea.
Just be careful not to pry too hard, because some screw sockets can crack, especially around the hinge areas.

also, the screw near the FN key should not be screwed in too much, because it will warp the palm rest.

 

Thanks, and woot ASUS give real picture with color? Other manufacturer should be shameful.

 

Okay, I was wondering if there was a way to get the Windows version that the laptop came with back. Like with all of the drivers. Because the Asus website doesn't have a few drivers that I liked.

 

Exactly why you should make a recovery disk. What drivers are you specifically looking for because they should have all of them somewhere.

 

Learned this the hard way, as sockets near my left hinge fell apart. Nothing some krazyglue couldn't fix though.

 

thanks to all for help
will be getting this one soon

 

Asus X Series X53TA-SX096D
a6 3400
6650m

Asus X43 Series X43TA-VX052D
a6 3400
6650m

can anyone tell the difference
the second one is 14 inch

which one is better anything else that someone noticed
does the second have any better screen

 

x43 14 inches with 768 vertical pixel(which is better than 15inch 768 v pixel), no num pad
except that everything same as x53
you have to choose between 15inch or 14inch variant

 

is the overclock capacity the same as the normal 15 inch
is the cooling capacity the same

i believe that all variants should have more or less the same cooling capacity and should be overclockable as well
but just confirming

 

Just ordered a extra 4GB samsung memory for Dual Channel!
Also thinking of upgrading the harddrive for a 7200rpm version.

What kind should i take? Or what do you guys suggest?!