New Asus G60 nOOb question

Hey all, just got a Asus G60 from Best Buy for $899, I love it! but I have a bit of a stupid question: What is the round chrome trimmed thing on the bottom, first I thought it was a speaker, or air intake, but now I think its niether of the two. Thanks

 

That plate is basically an "engineering flaw" that looks like Asus originally planned it to be the intake but ended up covering it up to draw air over other components. They probably kept it to avoid a redesign or because it looks flipping huge.

 

I would say it's more of a decorative feature than an engineering flaw. These circular chrome objects were already on the very first G50V series, and to extend this feature to the G60 series suggests that Asus had plenty of time to change the back panel with a cheaper plain version, but didn't.

 

the fact that removing that fake fan grill can decrease the GPU temperatures by 5c+, would heavily weight towards it being an engineering flaw.

 

But at the same time it'll increase temps on the other components.

 

um says who? I've removed my fan grill and both my CPU and northbridge are lower than before. the only increased temperature is my HDD, but it still does not go near 40c, which is well below (by 15c) dangerous levels.

 

If this is indeed an engineering flaw, why are they still using it in the current G 15"/16" series?

 

because they are idiots? I don't really care what anyone says- ask forge, kondor, joker5150, anyone else who has done the mod and seen SEVERE temperature drops.

 

I doubt any ODM/OEM companies will knowingly hire "idiots". If anything, the choice to make or leave the circular chrome feature will be due to cost. However, just because some parts of the back panel is covered, doesn't necessarily mean it's an engineering flaw. I could easily make more intake holes in other laptops and it will also run cooler, but because the manufacture didn't have these intakes, doesn't equate to an engineering flaw.

 

It is when because of said engineering flaw they need to downclock the GPU just to have it within "reason" temperature wise.

 

Again, I have to disagree with the so called "engineering flaw" pertaining to the circular chrome feature. Having enough intakes is only one part of the entire cooling system. Asus could have done other more meaningful things to improve temperatures such as using a copper radiator instead of aluminum, putting in a fan that can move more CFM of air, using better thermal paste, etc. But because it was cheaper to simply use what's available and tailor the specs of the GPU to fit the thermal designations of the cooling system, doesn't make it a flaw.

 

then I guess we'll have to agree to disagree =]

 

Agreed

But we can agree probably that both the aesthetic and functional sides of Asus kind of collided to make a decorative blocked intake.

 

Yeah, either way, the current G 15/16" series is still one heck of a machine for budget gamers. I had fun with my G50V and it was a great system. The variety of ports and the number pad was a huge plus for me.

 

Well, I would call it a flaw, at least on the engineering side, David, though maybe not a business one with the other things you cited. This is a budget system after all, so they have to cut corners everywhere. If they didn't, we'd have things with Clevo-level cooling at a much higher price.

But it has been proven by several of the G5x owners that removal of the fake grill gives much better GPU temperatures with minimal impact on the other parts.

 

I agree with you, Forge regarding the G50/51/60 being a budget system and how removing the circular grill can help with GPU temps, however this doesn't necessarily mean it's a engineering flaw. Like I mentioned previously, I could remove bits and pieces from the back panel of other systems and it could also lower temps. I don't mean to play the devil's advocate here, but unless it can be proven that the circular grill is the sole reason for overheating issues, then I'm having difficulty labeling it as a flaw. If removing the circular grill helps decrease GPU temps means that the grill is a flaw, then the same logic should apply to other components that are equally as important for proper cooling.

 

Well, the problem with that train of thought is that the component in question most affected by the fake grill--the GPU--can get dangerously hot. People with completely stock systems (which also means underclocked GTX 260ms) can see temperatures 95+, and that isn't healthy at all for the GPU.

When the fake grill is removed, however, the fan gets much better airflow, which allows the radiator to be more effective, and the lessened cooling to the other parts--wireless, RAM, HDDs--might be impacted slightly. However, since they still run at "happy" temperatures, I'd trade a few degrees up on other parts for a ridiculously cooler GPU. (But not what the M860ETUs were getting. Heck no.)

I guess "engineering flaw" isn't the best term for it, but the cooling system would have been much more effective for a simple change in the fan intake.

Oh well. Half the fun is modifying it.

 

The design compromises air flow through the system and causes the GPU to run excessively hot, almost near threshold. That is a classic example of engineering flaw. Run furmark + P95 on a stock system and watch it burn.

 

actually, running P95 and furmark at the same time caused me to have lower temperatures because it caused my CPU to heat up, and made my fans kick in earlier.

 

OCCT power supply test

/endsidetopic

 

OCCT powersupply test is the same thing pretty much...

 

hmmm, how much would it cost to keep the backplate on the assembly line just to drill a hole?

 

But you get pretty graphs.

 

What settings did you use? Try the following:

P95 small TFTs with 8 threads
Furmark: 1080p, 16xAA, stability test, xtreme burn, post processing.

That asus will burn no matter how many holes it has. It even pushes my M15x close to 90C on the GPU side after letting it run for about 20 mins (although I run my GPU overclocked at 620+) . And run it with the bottom cover on with at least nvidia ref clocks. Though I think even with the Asus underclocked settings it will easily boil into the 100C range when kept on long enough. I'd especially like to see the results on a standard G60vx with no mods. I had Sach run it and his machine hit about 104C before he shut it down.

 

Furmark was 1080p no aa and extreme burn/post processing. I get lower temperatures if I have any AA. I have no hyperthreading so 8 threads doesn't do jack. The test ran for 20 minutes before my northbridge gave out, as it can't handle the bandwidth apparently. On my stock system, my CPU would get to 65c, this would bring my GPU fans on, and this would happen before my GPU hit its normal peak of 90c, and the fans would keep my GPU at 81-85c, because they'd be at their highest speed constantly. And Sach's machine is zero comparison. His hits 104c in furmark with no prime95 going lolz

 

Does anyone have a link for the tutorial on how to remove the grill? Cant find it on the forum, been looking for a while now.