*Official*P-7811 FX Info Thread

Cant flash..loads utility.. Get error "Cannot find BCP DMI Block in BIOS ROM File Image" .. not meant for 7811fx maybe?

 

That's my guess...

 

Has anyone opened up their p-7811fx for whatever reason? I'd really like to know for sure if there is an internal bluetooth card upgrade option, and if so where the connector is located and/or is there any info anywhere pertaining to adding an internal bluetooth card to the p-7811fx?

I've called gateway and got the run around, they don't even have any specs or docs on it yet. If the machines they sent out for review had fingerprint reader and internal bluetooth, you would think the connector is in there, huh?

The question is where? I've removed bottom panels, hdd cadddies, memory, power button bezel and keyboard and found nothing... Thanks in advance

 

I did a full tear down, there are a couple open ziff connectors. I wasn't looking for a bluetooth installation area. But, The modules aren't all that large..and being there are open connectors inside, it shouldn't be a problem. So, short answer is yes..it should be easily added. Or, just buy an external and save trouble, effort, and time. Costs about the same anyhow.

 

I agree, just buy a very very small BT dongle that are like $14 bucks or so. It's practically invisible cause it's so small. It's a lot better than searching around your laptop and installing the internal BT card.

 

So I opened up the HDD bay to see why the HDD is hot on the 7811. To my surprise, on the bottom of the hard drive sits this piece that I believe is a thermal pad. However, the pad doesn't cover the entire area, just a small part. Also, it is required to have the extra HDD cover (I wanted to remove it in hope of providing more airflow) in order to screw in the screws. Oh, and yes, on the right side that piece is aluminum. Below are some pics to explain it further:

 

Nice pics. The pad is meant for 2 things. One is to reduce the transfer of heat, which I think being suspended in open air would work better.. and the other is to reduce and eliminate any vibrations that may be caused by the HDD. My stock HDD maxed out at 63c installing COD4, and my secondary maxed at 57c. Gateway's website for support(HAH!), says the seagate has an operating temperature of 0-60c. And a non-operating temp of -40 to 70c.
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2008/TempestFX/5509143R/5509143Rsp2.shtml

Anyone else begining to think Gateway took on more than they could handle with this setup? *shrugs*

 

Alright so I replaced the thermal paste with some AS5. I'll post results (good or bad or no improvement) after the paste settles in. I also built a laptop cooler stand with fans. The stand supports up to 15 pounds and is adjusted (see pics) and you can find this at Walmart for $15 bucks in the binder section. It is awesome as it is meshed and well ventilated. Have fun =)





Mini card:


Heatsink:






Cleaned:


Cleaned:






Three Antec 120mm Tricool (it was on sale at Frys from $15 to $6 bucks, I just couldn't pass it up)

 

I'm going shopping with my new WAMU card. Thanks JBN I believe I need to yank my CPU and reapply AS5.. my tzs0 is getting too hot too quick. Anyhow, I also noticed the heatsink in your pic is the same as the previous 7811fx I had. However, the sink in this one looks "cheaper"..I'll try to post a pic tomorrow. Tonight, I sleep.

 

JBN that was cool idea using that. That mesh will keep the whole back nicely vented. Wish i thought of that or you posted it earlier .

I built my own cooler. Used aluminum sheet as base, and TT 80mm fan that runs on 5v dc. Since that's what usb 2.0 have. Thought of going with bigger fan but they require more voltage other wise they run slow .





i left each fan with there controller so i can adjust speed. Also made the back slid able, to adjust height.

Gateway site got some bios upgrade for p 7811 fx. But its not for vista 64, wonder why?. So any one made any progress in unlocking that dam bios?.

 

Are your fans blowing toward or away from the laptop? I heard they'll release all the drivers between Sept 10 to Sept 14. I'm running on an AC adapter although I could use a usb connector. The fans aren't running at max speed though due to low voltage.

 

Both fans are blowing towards the vents.

This is the fan i used: http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile-Fan-External-Cooling/dp/B00080G0BK

i got lucky because, my nearby radio shack had em for 9$.

 

Alright cool. My fans are also blowing toward the vents/underside of the laptop.

 

ok! it's official! i'm getting mine on october! my uncle has already bought it and he will test it out for me this weekend. i have one concern though, is the 9800m gts affected by the ??tectic something issue of nvidia? that might very well be causing all the lockups, ya think?

 

it was a driver issue...download the newest drivers and your good to go

 

ok... i know about the driver from anandtech... think it will solve the issue of overheating?

 

I beat the **** out of this laptop daily with games...you prop up the back 2 inches and you would never over heat.

never had an issue. drivers will usualy not change temps anyway

 

oh ok... thanks... so basically crashes are caused by the drivers?

 

I don't know if that fixes all of the lockup issues, but signs are good that it does. I believe the newer drivers also have some better thermal management as well, though I may be wrong about that.

 

thanks wt.

 

Anytime...

 

Well I've gamed on this for 3 days so far with everything stock, and I have had 0 lockups.

 

good news: everyone with gateway p7811fx

i just find out a way to get rid of all the blue screens and freezes during gaming. i installed vista x64 comes with laptop purchase on 2nd hd, then installed the drivers--only intel wifi driver & nvidia graphics.
TWO hours straight gaming w/o a problem, and comp runs very cool with a 4 inch fan blowing on the left side-gpu side. much cooler than xps1730.
i havent installed any other drivers, but believe its the intel drivers casuing the bsod, pm45 chipset & vga. i couldnt even find those drivers on intel website, dont know how gateway made those drivers for p7811.

 

I'm one of the guys who the lockups. I've tried several fixes with no luck so far. If this continues I'm going to exchange it.

 

What did you try?
Which gpu drivers?
Fresh Vista?
Did you try limited drivers?
E-wrecked solution?
What are your temps?
What are your error messages?

 

I tried E-wrecked's second solution and it didn't work. The 3rd one is basically the same so I highly doubt it would work (and I don't exactly understand how to pull it off)
I get that same old error message...
WMI ID 10
Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.
The thing doesn't go above 65 C in temp. That shouldn't be high enough for it to be a temperature problem. Heck, It froze at like 55 once while playing a 2d game.

Things I'm still going to try:
Different GPU drivers though the ones I tried SHOULD work since they would with others.
I might reinstall Vista but that might be too much of a bother compared to just exchanging the thing.
Anything else that I'm able to do.

 

The third process is simple really. I didnt have msdtc installed in the first place.. but check it out. Boot into safe mode, run computer management and go to services. Stop the WMI process. Go to your system directory that is previously mentioned.. delete the contents of the folder as the instructions read. (Make sure you make a backup of them first-save them somewhere just in case) Then reboot. WMI should restart with the reboot.. if it tells you the files are in use when you try to delete, then WMI isn't diabled so repeat process. I wouldnt worry bout the Msdtc thing unless it gives you errors after your reboot. I would suggest disabling hibernate as well. Hopefully it solves your issues. Oh, and a new video driver wouldn't hurt either. 177.85 by Xfastest is my driver of choice..but it looks like a new driver was just released. I'll let you know how it performs..but for now try 177.85

Try this thread, start reading here and it will walk you thru the process for updating video drivers on the 7811FX, and other users results.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=295830&page=3#28

 

Apologies for the double post - I just posted these questions on a less generalized thread.

Greetings forum,
My trusty Gateway MX7525 (WinXP Pro, AMD64 4000+, 2.6ghz, 2 gig fast RAM) died the other day. I used it for professional audio and multimedia with a pro (RME) audio interface. It just froze and turned off - very sad.

I need to replace the MX7525 (Geek Squad said it needs a new motherboard and wanted $945 for the job.)

I am not so afraid of Vista64SP1, my hardware and apps are compatible. Am looking at the new P-7811FX and hope the forum can help with some info:

a) How does the included P8400 processor compare with the AMD64 4000+. What is important to me is processing power for real-time audio. I do not need much multi-tasking.

b) Would upgrading the processor to the intel P9500 make a substantial difference for my purposes? The ghz speed bump does not seem great, but the L2 cache is larger - what are your informed opinions?

Thanks in advance for speedy replies,
Brontoy

 

to inform u all, the cause of bsod, restart every 30mins is
faulty intel chipset driver.

got a bsod rit after installed this factory default driver.

p8400 2.26 has wprime score of 34.1 second, t9400 2.53 =30.6s, dont know about amd.

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...&cp=1&id=1211587727985#tabbed-customerreviews


great news, vista x32 is much faster than x64.

 

I don't get it. Since the 8400 graphics card is a DirectX 10 card why are you using 3DMark 06 instead of 3DMark Vantage?

Further, how are you getting such fantastic scores on both versions? On 3DMark Vantage, when running at 1920 x 1200 I am getting GPU scores of 1726 and CPU scores of 4457.

Am I missing something and being clueless? Why are people reporting huge scores compared to mine.

By the way I installed Call of Duty 4 and it crashed twice, with no access to CTRL ALT DEL'ing up the Task Manager to get out of it. Had to take the battery out to get back into the computer.

The game insisted on installing DirectX 9 drivers, but I refused to let it do so.

 

the reason is that most users use 3dmark06 so if you want to compare....
vantage scores are completely different than 3dmark06, no comparison can be made. why would refuse allowing it to install ? if you have a newer version then it would skip installation anyway, now you have one more thing to worry about.

 

Okay thanks. I think I was misreading some of those scores as Vantage scores too.

RE COD4, it installed fine. The crashes came when playing. I could go for 5 or 10 minutes only.

 

i would think that he probably run the test at a different resolution than you.
the deafult resolution on 3dmark06 is 1240x1024 (maybe) but if you run on 1920x1200 you will get a completely different score(much lower).

so when comparing make sure what resolution was used.

 

Some of you "old" Gateway veterans: After the 14 day return period, I assume we must deal with Gateway for warranty.

1. How responsive is Gateway on warranty issues?

2. Does Gateway void warranty if the heat sink pads are replaced with different thermal interface material?

For those who have already replaced the TIM on the CPU:
(Someone on Hard claims to have dropped 10C on idle by using Arctic on the CPU only)

1.Has anyone replaced the pad on the NB with Arctic or is there too much gap after the pad has been removed?

2. What TIM does OEM use on the GPU?

 

Sygen unless your machine is running hot in the least bit i wouldnt even touch the CPU nor the north bridge. theres just no reason to ,even if you shave off a few degrees in the process and this is coming from a guy who never leaves stuff alone when he buys it. this time im leaving well enough alone and not going to touch it until and when i decide to buy a new cpu. Now its your machine obviously and you can do what you want but if your just looking for an opinions that was mine and we know what they say about opinions.

 

Quad, I hear you. That's why I haven't even opened it up to peek. It's great now and even though I "know what" I'm doing - HaHa - Stuff happens to the best of us.

I'm sure I won't be able to resist forever because I know I can make it cooler. Just putting out some feelers for later.

 

Yeah, you'd have to be looking for it to find it I think, from the pics gateway has on their site of the bluteooth upgrade it's very similar to dell bluetooth cards so it probably uses the same mini plug/cable setup as dells. The thing is gateway couldn't give me a definitive answer as to if it was for the p-7811fx or not...

If anyone solves the p-7811fx optional internal bluetooth mystery I'd like to know! Thanks in advance

 

Darn, I have one of the dusty looking smudges on a black screen now. Maybe didn't see it before. It is about an inch high and 3-4 inches long. It is a little worrisome. Will it get bigger or worse. It is very light.

Hey, we are all a little spooked by this thing.

 

Syn, dont touch the thermal pad.. AS5 is nothing to add tho. Just don't use alot. VERY little, enough to slick the CPU, and I decided to do a very thin coat on the heat sink. Works perfect. Tried AS5 on Northbridge..bad idea.

 

Question? Using 3dmark-06 can someone tell me what it identifies their system ram as. It sees mine as ddr-2 and sees the front side bus as only 266mhz. My scores are where they should be but I want to make sure there is not a problem with the processor. Could someone else check to see what 3dmark 06 is identifying their system ram as and front side bus as well.Tia....

 

this is known issue with 3dmark 06

 

Thanks, I'm gonna' peek inside soon. Usually I use Ceramique on NB because NB is usually bare and I fear A5's conductivity. If you had bad results on the NB it must not be "contacting" well. Some gap is occurring maybe.

My temps are very good and I may never fool with it. I'll probably have to tie my hands behind my back and have someone else open it. Maybe have Duct Tape over my mouth so I can't hold a screw driver between my teeth.

 

AS5 is not conductive..contrary to popular belief. And yes, the gap was the problem.. i added extra AS5 but the problem I feel was the pad transferred heat better. *OR*, it stopped the transfer of heat. Whatever the case, I recommend the pad for the northbridge, and AS5 for the CPU

 

Yep it is ... look again..

Source: http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm

Is this like being a little bit pregnant?

I'm not pregnant Mom ... I'm just slightly pregnant.

 

and that was the problem with my X7800 overheating, I took the heating pad off the northbridge and that gap caused no heat transfer. I put enough aluminum foil to fill the gap and that fixed my heating problems.

 

Has anyone figured out a workaround for the audio issues on XP with the x64 version?

I have 3 unknown devices in device manager. I assume they are as follows.

1. Conexant HD Smartaudio 221
2. Nvidia HDMI Audio
3. HDAUDIO Soft Data Fax Modem with Smart CP

1 and 2 I am sure about. 3 Im guessing.

I tried to follow the instructions for the XP x86 version and see if I could do my own workaround but no dice. The first step with KB888111 will not apply to XP x64, and when when I google the MS UAA for x64 I get another KB hotfix, but when I try to apply it it says that this hotfix has allready been applied in a previous windows update (I assume SP2...?).

Ive tried everything possible that I can do and still nada.

Anyone have any luck? Suggestions?

Im more of a hardware guy so these intricate software/windows workaround completely evade me.....

Thanks.

 

Yep, Everex XT5000T users stuck a dime in between (which I found too thick) so instead of bending the heat pipe, I applied a thicker layer of Arctic Ceramique and it worked. This was not on NB but on a joint between heat pipes but same gap filling problem. Not a perfect solution but whatever works.

Didn't think of tinfoil but good thinking @narsnail.

 

its still hot, but it doesnt overheat at 2.8, and it heats up alot slower @3.0. I dont think its think enough yet. I am going to try a dime though.

 

I do seem to remember the foil was tried and lacked a little pee-zaz. If you had an old heat sink with copper fins and cut and stacked the copper to fit, maybe. That would leave several surfaces and may be hard to get good contact but copper is soft and flexible.

Pads never work as well as metal to metal and TIM.