Gateway LT3101u 11.6" netbook impressions/thoughts/reviews

I am sorry to hear you can't get anything at all. My memory is rock solid at 1.40/280. Do you use the batch file method to slowly get to the higher clocks? I know even with the old memory I could not make large jumps in one shot without a crash............

Edit; Passmark05 1.40/280

Passmark 253.2
CPU 441.4
2D Graphics 189.4
3D Graphics 42.8
Memory 241.9 (yours is better)
Disk 465.6 (yours is better)

PCMark05 1786 (yours is better again but I have the stock HDD right now)

 

Great Passmark numbers! I have tried the ramp-up interval setting, -i15 and -i5; neither worked. Maybe this is because I have no interval FSB settings between the stock, 1197-1200, and1435.8 and 1441.5.

Regardless, all three tests I can run successfully with stock memory and OC'd to 140/280 give a BSOD when the Kingston CL 3 Hyper memory is used.

Thanks for you information and suggestions; I'll just take my system with OC and enjoy it.

I can watch youtube or FilmHill videos in standard def with no problem at all; HD does give some glitches, but if I allow the video to pre-load, then it plays quite well.

Good luck and enjoy....it really is a great little system.

TanWare: I noticed you have the MB=ICS932S421BGLF while I have the ICS9248BF-96. Maybe this is the issue with me not being able to OC with the CL 3 memory stick. I've tried using the interval setting, etc. and nothing will allow OC without a bad OS crash. Oh well, but maybe this info will help someone else.

 

Same here luckynine.

I just received the Kingston memory too. It installed and while I could definitely notice a difference at stock speeds, I could not longer overclock at all.

If I can't get this to overclock, I'd say the memory is gonna have to go back.

As an FYI, I have the same PLL as you Lucky. I'm guessing this is the issue.

 

And I can't with my PLL just jump me to, this memory or stock, 240 without a crash. That sux big time as this memory is awesome to say the least even at stock clocks.

I just put in the 500 GB 7200 from Seagate. Another nice increase in the desktop so far. I did a fresh install so I can place drivers etc fresh. Also got an enclosure for the 250 GB..........

 

PassMark05

1.4/280, 7200.4 500 GB

Passmark 256.4
CPU 442.4
2D Graphics 186.2
3D Graphics 42.6
Memory 242.8 (yours is still better?)
Disk 638.3

 

You don't have to buy another 2gb stick for the timings.I use memset to lower my timings to 5-4-4-12 1T,and it's stable

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/MemSet.shtml

 

Very cool, Cas3 Though, 3-3-3-8 1T, I think is still better but that should be an improvement as well. Any benchmarks showing where that gets you too as far as improvement?

 

dendielie and TanWare....thanks for providing such useful info.

I tried the MemSet method from dendielie and it works GREAT for those of us that have the non-OC'ing with 3,3,3,8 memory. I set the stock memory to 5,4,4,12,1T and re-ran the 3 benchmarks I ran earlier with OC to 140/280.

Definitely an improvement; not only did the sysem just feel snappier it benchmarked better.

PCMark05 previous best=1927..............with MemSet=1997
3D2001 previous best=3512..............with MemSet=3674
Passmark previous best=234.7.............with MemSet=248.6
CPU........................ 375.9................................410.9
2D Graphics ............ 176.1................................184.9
3D Graphics................42.1...................................43.6
Memory.....................246.6...............................244.5
Disk......................... 478.1...............................481.4

I have been running a burnin test for about 6 hours and not one hiccup. I agree, the higher speed memory is likely to be a little faster. But for those of use that can't run with that memory and OC, this is a great option.

I have not run at 1197/1200 with the 5/4/4/12/1T settings, but when I do I'll post that also for people's interest.

Enjoy.....

 

Great to see the memory speed helping out.................

 

I'm looking at getting a netbook in general, and this one caught my eye. I don't plan on doing anything intensive on this, worst games I'll probably play are like Ragnarok Online or other games that run fine on Intel's GMA 950. Though, one of the biggest things I'm looking at doing are watching videos on youtube, anime (most are avi, I watch the latest releases), photoshop, and programming (Java, SQL, Oracle). I've been playing around with one at bestbuy though it wasn't hooked up to the internet. Think this netbook should suffice for me? I would love feedback and opinion (even about other netbooks).

 

I am not familiar with these anime video's but if you provide a few link's I'll take a look and get back to you.

I installed a Seagate 7200.4 500 GB drive in mine. People don't waist your money here. As of yet, other than synthetic benchmarks, I have noticed no real appriciable gains.......... If things change I'll post back..............

 

I have watched several motorcycle racing and auto racing youtube movies and they worked very well. I watch them in standard quality where they play very smooth but high def does have some stops and starts.

I'm not familiar with the specific movies you are referring to, but as Tanware suggested I'll look at them also if you line us.

I don't program so I can't comment on that. I do have Photoshop CS3 running on my system and it works fine. So Does Lightroom 2.4. I only do basic editing, no really heavy rendering of any type. Mainly used as an editing tool for photos, etc. taken while traveling.

Agreed, Tanware on the 7200rpm drive. I installed one also and bencmarks yes, otherwise ??? In my case I had an extra with more storage so it worked out very well for me.

 

For those of u mod-crazy people, I have 2 questions:

1. Is there a problem to OC the CPU using setfsb AND the memory using Memset??
2. Does Memset has a command line to set memspeed at startup?

I have been running my lt with OC to 1.44 without any problems for a while now but I recently applied the Memset with the OC and the system FLIES! but I don't want to screw it! (I have a 2gb stick ready in case thgis one fries) I am using 5-4-4-12 1T with the 1.44 and want to set it up like this automatically always!

Thanks in advance...

 

I can't guarantee that any system won't "fry" under any conditions....so with that said.

I am using setFSB at 140/280/... (1.435) AND memset at 5,4,4,12,1T. The system runs great and I have not had one freeze, BSOD, or hanging episode with this combination.

I also am using HWMonitor to watch temps. Even during consecutive benchmarks or watching movies the temp has never gotten above 60C for the CPU and 44 for the hard disk (and I am runnig a 7200rpm disk).

I have set both setFSB and memset as shortcuts in my startup folder so they automatically start on booting. Takes a few seconds after the desktop appears for them to run, but it works very efficiently.

I have no hesitation to use this combo. That's my two cents worth. Your mileage may vary.

 

I use the Target in the shortcut to OC my CPU

For 1.4
"C:\Program Files (x86)\SETFsb\setfsb.exe" -cg[ICS932S421BGLF] -w0 -s234 -q -i15 -b

For 1.44
"C:\Program Files (x86)\SETFsb\setfsb.exe" -cg[ICS932S421BGLF] -w0 -s240 -q -i15 -b

As you can see from above my PLL is the one that allows for graduaql speed increases.

I agree you can easily fry one of these. Always OC at your own risk. Some systems are more succesfull at it as well. While one will overclock another may not, or worse yet fry at those settings.

I should note too the touchpadd seemed a bit flaky. I've installed Synaptics 10.2.4.0 from Gateways support site as is av ailable for the P79xx series. It seems better now........

 

I have an interesting question :

If you only could do one (for everyday usage), what would you do? overclock or memory timings?

 

It counts on your usage. If you are looking to do general work, browsing and office/student. you may just want the memory timings. especially if alot of the work is done on battery.

if you are trying to game, On Line Flash Video, high bandwidth wireless usage or anything else highly cpu dependent you may want to overclock.

 

Hey guys , I was looking to buy this netbook and the information here has been great. however Newegg.com just got this in

MSI Wind U210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152141

It seems to come with a 1.6ghz verison of the AMD Neo along with a faster FSB and 2 Slots for memory which means dual channel ram and perhaps 8 gigs of it)

I'm wondering if i should jump on the gateway or wait for more info on the wind u210

 

That MSI Wind looks like a nice machine.

It comes downto what you want out of these things and whether the $50 price difference is worth it. The MSI definitely beats the Gateway in base specs. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the real world.

 

For the exrta money I'd get a 1410T...

 

yea but how is the 1410T in gaming ?

 

No netbook is meant for gaming, they just happen to do this. If you want a gaming machine then get a dedicated video card machine capable of doing just that! Now with the 4 gig memory the 4500MHD is bound to be slightly better than the ATI's x1250 in these but not by all too much. I think I saw somewhere someone got 600+ with the 1410t and like 200+ with the LT31 in 3DMark06.........

Notice you have "Gaming Desktops" and "Gaming Laptops" but no "Gaming Netbooks" as a class yet, this isn't to say there one day won't be.........

Personally I'll upgrade later this year when the 1410T comes with either a SU9400 or better yet an SU9600...........

 

I don't need something to play the latest games. I want something that will run half life 2 at native res well or aoc 3 or baulders gate 2

 

While I haven't tried any of those(I do have HL2 installed but haven't run it yet), I have tried WOW and LOTRO on the LT3103. They both are a bit choppy but playable, unless you are in the unsual bog down places like main cities or in a huge pack of people. My machine only OC's to 1.43, so it is a bit choppier than what you see on youtube, since his machine OC's to 1.66.

In regards to the 1410T, the glaring issue I see with that machine is the Intel graphics. If you wanna even think about playing games, I'd look at something that doesn't have Intel graphics(if you read the reviews on this machine on Amazon, a person mentions that HL2 is not quite playable on that machine).

Bottom line is tho, I wouldn't expect much tho, from any netbook, with regards to game playing.

 

Thanks for the info. You haven't perchance played any rpgs like Kotor 1 +2 ?

I'm thinkin the MSI wind 210 with the 1.6ghz neo and dual channel ram might be the way to go. Its a real shame that ati didn't put in something with 4 pipelines instead of the x12x0 with 2 pipelines. Would have made games much more powerful and the ROPs are actually pretty small compared to other parts on the chip

 

No, I haven't played many stand alone RPG's these days, not on this machine anyways.

 

Well the 1.6 GHz neo should run CPU/5 at 320 MHz for the memory. Would have been nice if AMD would have had a CPU/3 and CPU/4 as the 1.2 could then run memory at 400 and the 1.6 could do the same.......

 

If anyone else has noticed the battery is slow to charge. I tried a 90 watt supply I have with the same power tip to see if that would help while running. It didn't seem to get the battery to charge any faster though........

 

This is slightly off topic
But would there be any reason to choose 64 bit windows 7 over 32 bit on this computer?
Would there be any difficulty with drivers or something?

 

Primarily if at a later point you decide to go with a 4 GB stick you are set to begin with. If you have the 32 bit and decide to go 64 bit for over 3 GB access you have to do a full reinstall.

 

What if i never wanted to get 4 gigs of ram
Would there be any noticeable differences between 64 bit and 32 bit
Could any problems arise from having the 64 bit OS on it ?

 

I have never had the 32 bit version on my own systems that I've also run a 64 bit version so I can not attest to a difference. Although off hand I can not think of a problem there always could be one running either a 32 bit or 64 bit OS. Some older programs that don't like Vista or Win7 may also not like 64 bit or like it less than the 32 bit variants.

 

I guess the smartest thing to do, would be to look up all the programs i want to run and see if they have any problem running on 64 bit OS

like diablo 2 for example

 

just picked up one of these, it rocks

 

And the new sound drivers rock too...........

 

diablo 2 works on my windows 7 64bit install. So it should work for you. The athlon has extra registers when in 64bit mode so you'd get more performance out of it when using win 7 64bit and 64bit applications

 

what gadget is on your sig?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=364221

 

whats the typical WEI on these??

 

I have one of the LT31's that is OC'd with the "setfsb.exe -cg[ICS9248BF-96] -w0 -s140 -b -q" string. I opened my machine today with the express purpose of discovering the PLL inside. It is an SLG84605. The data sheet on the PLL is easily available and is found at http://www.datasheetdir.com/SLG84605+Clock-Synthesizers.

Basically, register 0 sets the frequency. With bit 7 set (=1), the low 3 bits set the frequency through software. Default is 111 which sets the CPU at 200 according to the datasheet. I tried all 8 values, only 3 provide results that don't result in a BSOD. These are

010: 1378 GHz
011: 1435 GHz
111: 1198 GHZ - Stock, where we started

Again, all other options are a no go.

Looking at the data sheet, it does imply that if I pull pin 62 low (through say maybe a 10k resistor tied to ground), the machine will boot at a default of 1435 Ghz. I haven't tried this yet, but will.

All other documented registers on the PLL seem to have nothing to do with setting frequencies.

Last things - the default value of control register 0 is F3. Using the SetFSB instructions that are currently available sets it to 9B disabling Spread Spectrum for ATI and for SRC. Usually these are enable. Using the data sheet, a more compatible value is F3 resulting in the 1435 ghz or so that we have become accustom to.

 

So..., in english that means....

 

It means a hardware mod so that at boot the CPU and FSB are overclocked at initialization. This may also mean those who can't use the HyperX memory can as there is no need to increase the speed in one single shot which seems to cause tthe memory to fail when overclocking it.

 

Tanware could you do something for me. My Lt31 will not wake from sleep....nor will it shutdown properly. I have installed Win7 Pro. I am pretty sure it is a software issue. Could you test your sleep function and if it works tell my your settings? Fn F4 will put it to sleep. What mine does is blank the screen but the power button stays green and the fan never shuts off. And then there is no way to get the screen back unless you do a hard reset. I have had the machine sleep and shut down fine when I hade Win7 Ultimate RC installed so I belive it is a Microsoft issue not a gateway issue.

Thanks!

 

do you overclock? I know with mine oc'd I try a reboot and it stays green? I can sleep without an issue OC'd though. I can tell you also when it sleeps it was not overclocked when it woke up! I am Win7 RC still too so not sure my settings will help.

 

Do you guys use your LT31 on battery mode or plugged in most of the time? And will discharging it 100% to 5% everyday reduce the life span drastically?

Secondly, did any one of you have a chance to get one of the unbranded 9 cell batteries (through ebay) which are compatible with both the AAO 751 and the Gateway LT31? What was the improvement in battery life? They have all been sold out with no fresh stock available through any vendor.

Anyone know a good place still selling the 9 cell battery for the AAO 751/ LT31?

 

These have a slow charge rate. This actually helps in battery life. Like anything else though, the more you use it the quicker it will wear out! I even threw a 90 watt brick at it to see if the battery will charge faster and it doesn't seem to.

Without tweaking I get a good 4.5 hours with the machine, with the larger battery it should get close to 7 hours and with some tweaking and RMClock it should get 8 to 9 hours easily.

 

No overclock here. I got it to sleep and awake fine. After a lot of reading and reshearch what worked for me was to make some changes to USB settings in Device Manager.

Thanks

 

hmmm...Best Buy not shipping these anymore, there seems to be limited availability and the red version is completely MIA.

Short supply, I guess.

 

Looks like they have had a very short life span. I'm about to ditch mine too. I'll be giving it to my daughter. I purchaed another seemingly end of life product from BB, a U81a.........

 

Well, I did go ahead with a hardware modification to permanently OC my LT31. I tied pin 62 of the SLG84605 PLL to ground through a 1k resistor. Works like a charm. I have been running the hardware at 1435 GHz for the last 2 days - no problems.

With interest in this netbook waning, let me know if you want more information on the mod. It only works with those LT31's with the SLG84605. I do have pictures that I could link to.

On a similiar note. Kingston HyperX memory is still incompatible at this clock speed. I had hoped that the higher clock speed from startup might force the BIOS into making accomodations for the memory. Didn't. I have a 2gb stick of |Kingston HyperX for sale if anyone wants it.