AMD C-50 CPU and 6250 GPU performance(Acer 522 review)

Yeah, I've been looking for this BIOS and can't find it.

 

I have high confidence that we have to try this

 

That's the E-350 not the C-50.

 

Skyrim is running well on my AMD E-350. All programs closed and windows aero disabled beforehand (aerofoil!). 800x600 resolution, high textures, FXAA enabled, draw distances default, all else low. 10-25FPS outdoors, 20-40FPS indoors (depending on size). I think it might just scrape by on a C-60, not sure about the C-50. The E-450 might be able to bump to 1024x600 resolution fine. E2 and above will run it in 720p smooth.

EDIT: forgot to mention
C:\Program Files\The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim\Skyrim\SkyrimPrefs.ini

add "iPresentInterval=0" to the end of the [Display] section to turn off vsync (i did this).
change "bDoDepthOfField=1" to 0 to turn off DoF (did this too)
change "bMouseAcceleration=1" to 0 to turn help lagging mouse control (did this)

Those are all I changed, but there's a TON more settings you can change, should be enough to overcome at least the GPU bottleneck.

 

^ Well done, AMD.

 

did any of you compare directly, head to head, one of these C50/60 units against E-350 units, i.e. the 1215B [lousy] mentioned above, the DM1's, X120e, et al? I'm still wondering what the E-350 brings that is lacking in little sibling?

 

What makes e350 better than c50? Better proc and graphic. You can compare it by yourself, 1ghz with HD 6250 vs 1.6ghz with HD 6310. Not to mention that e450 already out, with 1.66ghz and HD 6320.

For the best netbook for amd fusion, I think x120e/x121e is the best product overall. For the best cheapest, I take 1215b

 

but somehow those paper specs don't seem to be working out for the owners. I've read extensively the very long hp dm1z thread nearby and, while they generally like the notebook ok, there are lots of complaints about video files lagging at 1080p, something that is typically not a problem on a well-tuned c50/60.
There are several decently-done Youtube comparisons between the twain, and there is effectively no fps difference between e350 v. c50 on well-setup rigs. I do agree about the x120e e350 model - its on my shortlist, but then, at that price, why not an i3?. with the approaching holidays I have no doubt whatsoever that good reputable i3 and i5 small notebooks will be below $500, at least for a 'deal'

i would not touch a 1215b personally.. the reviews are not pretty. 522 & 722 far better.

 

1080p video part mostly because the codec and players problem

The reason why we chose amd fusion over i3 and i5 because it's a netbook. Amd fusion amazed us because it capable doing what netbooks normally can't. Sure i3 is better. But some of us prefers small light weighted netbooks over laptops. Also, the fact it have decent graphics, while most intel laptop lacking in their cheaper product.

 

I am so impressed by this little machine. So far it has handled everything I've thrown at it.

I tested out Skyrim tonight...the frame rate was pretty low but that was on medium graphics. I'll be trying it on low some time tomorrow. But...it ran!

 

If skyrim run at least 20 fps on 640x480 low, that's beyond enough for me!

 

Wow, took me about 3 days to get through this thread speed reading. Great work guys.

Ok, now to business.

I recently brought my Asus 1015B. Good little machine. First thing I did was put 4GB of ram in, formatted and installed win 7 64bit ultimate. 1080p vids are working nice and smooth in win media player, though it's still a bit rough stright through youtube but 720p is fine.

I was able to pull around 32 fps in the CS:S vid stress test at the recommended settings. Portal 1 seems to run fine.

The problem I've been having atm is getting Crysis to start. I've seen them vids of the Toshiba NB550 running it which uses the same specs so it should technically work. Atm when I start Crysis (Launched from Steam), it goes to full screen but then crashes back to the desktop. I have also tried to run Entropia Universe as this also uses the Crysis engine, however that also crashes. With that I get a "Can not create direct3d adapter" error and crash to desktop again. Never seen that one in the 10 years I've been gaming. Seeing as they both use the same engine, I'm thinking that it might be the same error, even though Crysis doesn't say so. Also dxdiag says that there is no direct draw available. What the?

So far I've tried updating the AMD drivers, installing the DX9 runtime, running in compatibility mode and admin rights. Still getting the same issue.

I thought I might ask you guys if you've had any luck getting it running or have had this error on the C-50 yet. Seems like the best place to ask since it's the most active (and informative) thread on the net I've found so far.

 

I'm guessing but maybe you need to force some resolution as the netbook has unusual screen resolution I guess.

 

Yeah, tried that. Tried setting the cfg file on both to safe mode too. What puzzled me was what dxdiag was saying about no direct draw support.

 

Try reinstalling DX and catalyst?

 

Yeah, might try that. Maybe install all 3 runtimes, 9, 10 and 11 one after the other.

 

You cannot install dx 10 and 11, 10 is preinstalled on vista, 11 on windows 7, Try installing dx 9, audio/video drivers and reinstall the game then try playing it with the lowest settings.

Stephen

 

Hey folks!

I dont know if this was asked already, but is it possible to run a msata-ssd in the ao522/ao722?

I own a ao722 with the c-60 processor an i thought, that if a ssd would speed up this little thing like it does on my regular pc it should be even more awesome than it is now.

 

i see no reason not to. its what I plan to do with my new-to-me thinkpad x120e . I run a crucial 60gb SSD in my old presario nb [celeron m, xp pro] which has a very early sata controller - works like a beastie. boot time 45 seconds and keeps things very cool under the hood.
You will need to format the ssd and align it in the fashion prescribed for windows 7, and install 'from scratch' using a flash boot drive. someone smarter than I may know a way to do it from a usb dvd but win7 wasn't intended to install that way. imaging-over your current install is not the thing to do with an ssd.

 

I think you got me wrong. A standard sata ssd surely run fine in this netbook, but i meant a M-Sata drive, wich is plugged into the mini pci-e slot, where wifi cards are normally inserted. the question now is, can the 722/522 handle a ssd in a mini pci-e slot.

Has someone tried this yet?

 

Just open it up and see if it fits it will only take you 5/10 minutes to see, Also google "Windows 7 USB Download Tool" official tool from microsoft to install windows 7 from usb.

 

Reinstalled drivers, directx and .net framework just to be sure. Still no joy. At least dxdiag now say it supports direct draw. Funny thing happens when I run the stress test in CS:S. The whole test you are looking at the floor. Never seen that happen before, lol.

So has anyone got Crysis running on their machine?

 

Crysis: Crysis on Acer Aspire One Netbook (streaming) - YouTube

QUESTION for all you 522/722 owners: do games perform better with Windows XP Pro versus under Windows 7?

 

Heres a guy running crysis 2!!! on his acer 522 with the amd c-50

crysis 2 on a netbook acer ao522 - YouTube

 

great news for apu owners...
this amd driver adds morphological antialias , havent tested yet, drivers installed properly will report how it works...
grab it here:
AMD Catalyst 8.93 (Nov. 18) - Guru3D.com Forums

 

cognus, streaming doesn't count. That's not running it on the netbook

 

confirming MLAA is working on apu gpu !!! with that driver...so check it out!!!!
if yu didnt know, MLAA brings revolution in fast , good looking anti alias without performance loose , it works in all aps and games from dx9 up i think

 

hi guys, i have been following the thread for months now and i must say its been a great tool for me to mod my little netbook. you can visit my youtube channel to see some gameplay videos of the c-50 in action monstercameron

 

Hello krishna, I installed the catalyst you linked and unfortunately the MLAA, while it does work and after running Oblivion with it , the new feature slows down and staggers game play. It does work, after switching it back off, I suddenly noticed all of the jagged lines which I was oblivious to before.

I am not sure the MLAA is useful, unless you know of any tweaks? It definitely adds quite a bit of programming information to the load times, bogging down my ssd, whereas Oblivion normally has very fast load times without MLAA. I do like the feature as after activating the MLAA, I saw a very enhanced picture, unfortunately with a price.

On another front, I recommend if using Windows 7 beyond starter, that you turn off Aero. I had read that Aero keeps the gpu as the driving force for powering windows 7 and didn't want to tax the cpu. Well, that was a mistake, as after reverting back to windows classic all of my games and in general snappiness even within the browser engine improved drastically.

I will miss the candy essence of Aero, but then again, I like being able to play Oblivion at 1280x720 with large textures and shadows, good distance view without little hiccups that used to plague higher settings. It's smooth and on the netbook screen, looks better than any present console.

So, thanks again and hopefully this MLAA feature works for someone playing older games perhaps, rather than beastly games such as Oblivion.

Otherwise, I have had no issues with this catalyst install.

Thank you.

 

i didnt test much of games yet...will report how it goes...
oblivion is huge, have yu tested it in other title? and have yu run AA on oblivion before... ?

 

When using windows7 without aero moving windows feels like pain. It looks rly bad in my op.

 

I have an E-350 and I think I'd like to share how I maximize performance without effect elsewhere, I'm sure it'll be helpful to you guys

1. Aerofoil, auto turns off aero features on battery and can be toggled right before you play a game
2. Make a shortcut to w/e executable you're going to use. Go to properties of that shortcut, target, after the path which should be in quotes, add +fullproc after the quotes. This gives huge FPS gains in some games for me, minor in others. And seems to make switching between games and other tasks quicker as well.
3. Close all programs (obviously). If you're above 5% load when sitting with just task manager there's a problem.
4. no vsync, never. You may have to edit config files sometimes to turn it off if the game doesn't let you (Skyrim for example)

Pretty much it, enjoy

 

Can you give me any tips on running Oblivion smoothly? I'm trying to play it on my desktop and when there are a significant number of NPCs on the screen, FPS dips into the 20s and occasionally into the teens. I have several graphics mods installed, but nothing a 6950 shouldn't be able to handle, and no matter how beautiful the scenery, I'm getting 50-60 FPS unless there are NPCs around.

When this happens, it nearly maxes one core of my CPU while the others are barely used. A 4.2 ghz i5 shouldn't be having any issues with a 5 year old game specced for a P4.

 

Try my second suggestion

 

Does everyone else here get mild freezing for a few seconds every so often while playing games, I think its to do with assets loading and the slow cpu not being able to keep up, Can anyone else confirm this, I have noticed it in every game i've played.

 

Hello, Yes, I was getting a mild freezing with Oblivion until I scaled down the viewing distance, inching it back until I didn't have any freezing moments. With most games, it's inching back to find a sweet spot where the game flows. A type of balance and zen between the hardware and the program.

Here are my rough estimate stats for how I have Oblivion.

1280x720
Textures: Large

Tree Fade: 45%
Actor Fade: 45%

Item Fade: 65-70%
Object Fade 65-70%
Grass Distance: OFF (kills grass basically). I don't miss it.

View distance: 65-70%

Distant Land: Off

Int Shadows and Ext Shadows, both 50% Self Shadows: Off
Shadows on grass: off Tree canopy Shadows: Off Shadow Filtering:Low

Specular distance: 50% HDR lighting: on Water detail: Normal
Water Reflections: On Ripples: Off Windows Reflections: On
Blood Decals Off Anti-Aliasing: Off VSYNC: Off

Now, these settings give me a good playing experience, while I am not sure of the FPS as I don't have fraps.

I have windows seven ultimate, bare boned without Aero on. 4Gb of ram, Solid State drive and using the drivers mentioned here in the the prior page.
I will try that suggestion for getting more fps. I hope that works!

Also, windows classic is a little difficult on the netbook screen as the windows bar is slimmer.

 

This +fullproc technique works really well. I noticed improvement. No guessing if there is improvement level improvement. Thank you sir, I will do this to all of my games. C-50 just got even better tonight.

 

+fullproc will have the most effect on single core games like Halo: Combat Evolved btw forgot to say if you wanna go further you could do +highprio as well, but that can have side effects such as the mouse going wonky, just try it and see what happens

 

or just install amd duo core optimizer and yu will have fullproc on everything
and btw. disable aero only while gaming, otherwise its taking cpu usage
and ONE thing about VSYNC...i always put it ON, otherwise more cpu/gpu heat is produced, tearing will occur and you cant get more than 60 fps on that screen...bulxit , TURN VSYNC ON for GODS SAKES

 

good tip about the optimizer, forgot all about that

I'm pretty sure aero takes more usage than basic judging from task manager readings. Overall loading of webpages and whatnot always feels faster in basic as well, and expected battery life goes up for me. if you were referring to aerofoil itself then it really takes nothing to leave open.

as for vsync yes its true a little more heat is produced, but i never notice tearing personally and the added responsiveness of controls with it off is a huge plus for me

 

yup i try some games with mlaa and its slowing down toomuch...so useless now... maybe not enough shader cores or bad optimization on apu

 

agreed...dont know why the morphological AA slowing down everything...
btw somebody know how to make this beast cooler? i've tried undervolt, then use cooling pad..but it still appear fullload temp about 78 C...

 

MW3 on C-60:
Call Of Duty - Modern Warfare 3 Gameplay on Acer Aspire One 522 AMD APU C-60 Radeon HD6290 - YouTube

Lowest set, 640x480

Average 15 fps. For the game that almost has same req with MW2, it's weird.

Anyone have better result?

 

So... it seems like no one has tested an mSATA SSD in one of those Aspire One´s at this point so i decided to order one from Amazon to try it.
And... most of the Note/- Netbooks are not (yet) compatible with the mSATA standard with exception of some Dell and Lenovo books...

It would have been very cool if this was functioning and having 60GB SSD and the stock 300GB HDD but unfortunately it isn´t...
I think i´ll have to put in a regular 2,5" SSD.

Oh, not to forget, the SSD i tried was the following:

ADATA XM13 60GB SSD 6,4 cm mSATA: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör

 

C-60 is really acting weird. Many games that required intense CPU is really bad performance on C-60, like tf2, minecraft 1.0. While most of you wouldn't surprised, but the performance is worse than c-50

I just got my Aspire 722 c-60 today, & I do concerned about this. Fellow C-60 user, does this happen to you?

 

I play WoW on this it runs fine 35-65 fps. I got up all the way to level 40 currently doing dungeon and BG and it's easily more than playable. There's no time where the computer was the issue, usually the internet.

PS: I play on illidan server, hella populated in the city it's laggy but what do you expect

 

c60 can be slower on turbo mode like i suspected from the beginning or maybe yu need better driver...

 

Just got out of half hour of dungeon on WoW, right when I escape it was running at 70 C. I have the 722 probably more room to cool down

 

This is getting weird:
Minecraft Release version 1.0 Gameplay on Acer Aspire One 522 AMD C-60 APU Radeon HD6290 - YouTube

@soulzero Do you have any problems with C-60? Comparing to C-50?

@krishna Have you tried TF2 or Minecraft 1.0? How much FPS you got?

 

In regards to the +fullproc , It really works for Oblivion. This trick gave me increased graphics and not clicking on the oblivion shortcut, I can see the difference. I ask anyone else who has Oblivion installed on their c-50 to confirm.

Beyond that, I would like to hear more about the performance of the c-60 vs c-50.