P-6831FX Issues/Problems

Hi, I'm new to the forums and everywhere I go, this seems to be the only place really that has a healthy number of members discussing this laptop.

Anyway, my "problem" is, everytime I run something under heavy load, I hear a slight... "Tick" or a "Click" noise. It could be the hard drive but, it really only ever happens when the computer goes under heavy load.

If anyone else out there with this laptop has the same problem can reply to the thread, that'd be great. I don't know anyone else with this computer so anyone else's experience with this laptop would be great.

Thanks.

 

I have not heard any out of the ordinary "clicking" while running 3DMark 06, BF2, or WoW. What constitutes heavy load for you?

My system came with the Western Digital drive, and I've heard that Seagates are also used in this model. See which model you have under Device Manager. Maybe there is a difference in acoustics between the drives?

 

When you get "Tick" or "Clicking" noise from your hard drive, its a indication that it will soon die.

Most people indicated their notebook harddrive in their FX to be Western Digital, including mine. I suggest go to their website, download WD Diagonstics software and see what it comes out.

Or just save yourself a trouble and return your FX to BestBuy and get new machine.

 

A few guys said their power adapter was clicking under load.

 

I had that very faint slight tick that sounded as if it was coming from the HD area. I ran some diagnostics from WD and there was no issue there. But here is the good part. After the first day when I herd the very slight / faint tick... it went away. No more tick. Im watching the hard drive diligently though.

 

You and me got maybe the same... trait... for our Gateways. The ticks just seem to come and go.

As for everyone else, I've got about 10 days still before my return policy is up from BB (notebook policy is like 2 weeks) so I'm gonna hang onto it until monday and see if it goes away.

When I go into Devive Manager, it's noted as being a WD/WDC HD, which I'll just assume is WD and I'll be running their HD diagnostic as well.

Thanks so far everyone.

 

Yup, WD/WDC means Western Digital I haven't noticed a tick or click noise from mine yet, but I'll keep my ears open for it this weekend.

 

Mine does have a faint tick / click. It's usually when the Hard Drive is initially being accessed from the system being idle for awhile, or when it goes idle.

I've not found it to be a problem.

 

same for mines... OMg wullger ur lucky

 

I found this on another site

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...3RleHQ9Y2xpY2tpbmcgbm9pc2U*&p_li=&p_topview=1


hope this helps.

okiprec

 

The other issue, with the power supply, is my next concern it is making a hissing sound as the laptop draws more power. When I unplug the power supply from the laptop I notice there is no noise coming from the step down transformer.

okiprec

 

I have absolutely no problem like this... at all. To be honest, I'd be quite concerned about something like that too. Has gateway had any PS recalls?

 

Most likely this is because the person is overclocking their GPU. The power supply is about maxed at the base configuration. So unless you move to a 45nm Penryn CPU that has a lower load, I would not OC the GPU because of this powersupply issue. Or you can get a bigger brick

 

Captain Bad did the link I posted help you in any way? I also asked Gateway about the PS problem so I will let everyone know what they say. I am not OC'ing anything the unit is bone stock. The PS has been making this noise from day one. Just wondered if anyone else PS does the same thing. The sound is really faint unless the is no other ambient noise in the room then it can be heard.

Captain you say the drive makes noise under load. What about when it is idle?

okiprec

 

Even when it's idle it makes that odd click noise.

It's really quite hard to duplicate, it just comes and goes as it pleases. I've noticed after I played the Crysis demo all the way through, the hard drive clicked often.

During idle, it'd sometimes click, sometimes it didn't.

I didn't run the WD diagnostic tool simply because it didn't sound like the problem I had. I have the battery unplugged and set everything for maximum performance setting.

Edit: The clicking doesn't get any faster or more intense during heavy load... only when leaving heavy load. Couple times I heard it click while I was playing WoW and it halted the game for a split second.

I'm almost positive it's a hard drive issue and I'm thinking about having it exchanged through Best Buy, only problem is I can't duplicate it on demand to prove it to them.

 

Delete the bootloader and give back to Bestbuy saying it don't work.

Bootloader can be easily fixed by using the OEM Vista DVD under repair, if Bestbuy don't take it back.

Tell them Harddrive was making ticking noise and now computer don't boot up.

 

While great for WD to acknowledge a problem, it seems quite stupid since I can't think of a single laptop in the past many years that's had a floppy drive on it.


*edit*
I went ahead and made a bootable USB drive and went through the process above. All I got for my troubles was "No Drives Need To Be Updated".

Firmware: 01.01A01

Just an FYI to anybody else who may try to update.

 

I just came back from BB just an hour ago. They exchanged it without problems. I just told them the hard drive was making a clicking noise often heard when a HD is about to die then the geek squad guy was like okay. He turned the laptop over to make sure I didn't tamper with/steal the parts and said, you're good, get a new one.

Using it right now... that tic noise is completely gone.

 

Mine is clicking too... Does the optimization utility do anything at all?

If not, I'll just return it for a new one this wednesday...

One question though, if they don't have any in stock, can I just refund it and get one when they get stock?

 

The optimization utility doesn't do anything, at least it didn't for me, since it said my drive is already up to date. I'm living with the occasional "click" since it so far hasn't seemed to hinder performance or be of any problem.

One thing to consider, and it's a problem I've had with Best Buy and returns in the past.. I paid $1250 for this laptop, the price is now $1699, if I were to return it, they'll fight the value of the new one, opposed to what I paid. They'll try to tell me they can't give me a replacement due to the multiple hundred dollar difference in price. It's happened before on purchases there. Or when they don't have something in stock, they'll tell you, "refund or replacement for something of equal value" not equal performance!!

Your milage may vary, but you may have to fight a little bit to get what you want.

 

The price is a different story up here in Canada. Thank god.

 

I had the tick issue. I returned the machine for a new one when my boot sector went really bad and couldnt be repaired nor accept a clean vista install after day 10. I believe the WD hard drives are very very sensitive. I might pick up a SATA Hard Drive that is a bit more robust.

 

You know, i got my laptop today, and it is silly, but i have one complaint -

the scroll pad! Say i start scrolling up - well, it will keep going sometimes to the top/bottom of the page.. i can't find any way to fix it either...

Thankfully, if this is the extent of my "problems", i can live with it..

 

That is a feature and can be turned off in the touchpad settings. It is in there deep.

 

Ah, Dante - you rule. Your post encouraged me to look again, and indeed, the digging turned up the option. Thanks! (For those wondering, the setting is the "Virtual scrolling")

 

I haven't seen too much mentioned about the speakers on the 6831. This is my first laptop, so I'm not too familiar with what laptop speakers generally sound like.

To me, these don't sound all that great, kinda tinny, distortion in spots.

From what I've read, laptop speakers generally aren't that great, so this might be normal and maybe that's why it hasn't been mentioned.

If it is the case, fine, I'm ok using headphones and happy with the price of this beast.

But, for peace of mind, I just wanted to confirm that it isn't just mine that has sub-par speakers before the return period is up. So if anyone thinks their speakers sound really great, please let me know.

Thanks for your input!

 

The speakers aren't great or bad either. They produce mediocore low and high frequencies and ok meds.

Movies sounds fine once you activate the loudness under control panel-sounds. Use the equilizers when viewing movies if must.

Gaming sounds fine like in Crysis, but frequently I find the noise from the FAN distracting as few times I thought some invisible helicopter was tracking me and was running for cover few times. Again, turn on the loudness and crank up the volume and drown out the FAN and play hard.

 

I also hear a tick when my hard-drive is idle. I think this is so common that it really isn't a problem, the likelihood of so many bad hard-drives is kinda slim.

 

I agree. I got a new hdd from gateway, that was totally new and empty, Installed vista on it, and it tics, just like the old one. (But now I have no evidence of Gateway bloatware)

 

Thanks for the reply. Biggest thing I noticed was that the sound from music isn't that great, highs and lows don't really come through all that well like you mentioned.

Games sound much better than music. I installed Crysis today (previously had only played WoW on it). In Crysis I still could hear a bit of distortion when recieving orders, but for the most part it sounds OK.

 

I had the occassional hdd ticking too.
Took this guys advice from this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2974260&highlight=hardware+control#post2974260

and I haven't heard the tick since.

My only issue with Notebook Hardware Control now is that after a restart It drops my display brightness about 4 settings, so I have to use the Fn-up_arrow to get that back up - can't figure out how to set it to stop doing that, but it's nice knowing that there is a way to get rid of the click.

 

go to power settings in control panel and see a couple of options for screen brightness

 

Those are set to 100%. And I have my Windows Power settings to Max Performance.
Notebook Hardware Control is all set to High Performance too.
I even have the LCD Panel Brightness set high in NHC (at 215% just to see if that would do anything).

In NVidia Control Panel I've got my brightness down to 40% and Gamma at 20% to avoid the super-bright washed out look.

Normally, Vista loads and things are bright and a few seconds later, my NVidia settings are applied that drop the brightness & gamma a bit.

What happens now is the same, but a few seconds later when NHC loads, it dims the display. Doesn't seem to change any settings. When I go look in Control Panel -> Power Options my display brightnesses are still at 100%.

The only way I can bring the display back up from dim is 4 or 5 taps of Fn-up_arrow on the keyboard, un-dimming the LCD brightness.

 

You got one fighting the other. Reset your nvida settings back to default.

Set your balanced or screen brightness to what you want.

This screen is BRIGHT at 100%!

 

I think it's actually the Notebook Control program, it takes over your system brightness settings, locking the vista power setting at "balanced" I had the same problem with NHC

 

I'm getting a hissing sound too coming from the AC adapter. talking to customer service right now. i'll let you know what they tell me.

 

I've had my P-6831FX since Monday but have not had a lot of time to play with it yet. In the time I have had to work with it, I've notice a whining noise that comes and goes when the fan(s) kick in. It then stops when the fans(s) shut off. Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?

 

I have this problem too. After a little while of being plugged in i hear a hissing noise as well. My laptop is not overclocked so I am starting to get concerned. Is this just the sound the charger normally makes or should I contact gateway about it? (yes, I know nothing about laptops so that is why I am asking the silly question)

 

I talked to gateway and I just have to fax in my Proof of Purchase and they "will" see if they can send me a replacement.

 

Is that: they " will" send you a replacement or they will " see" if they can send you a replacement if and when they feel like it?(my confidence in customer service is slightly jilted )

 

I should of emphasized "see" I just had to send in my proof of purchase. I'll let you know how that goes. Is there a way to make a poll and see how many of us are experiencing hissing AC adapters.

 

I'll be going home after school today checking for this noise.....I'm going to try and run 3dmark06 and call of duty 4 and see how it stands up to them.

 

I've noticed the hissing sound from the power brick a couple times after playing WoW for a few hours.

Wasn't sure whether it was something to worry about or not. I don't know a whole lot about laptops myself.

 

I see that the Issues/Problem threads are getting scattered hear and yonder so this thread is good.

So,

I noticed my hard drive temperatures have been averaging 43-45C after notebook running for a while.

After Gaming or torturing drive with benchmarks, I have seen as high as 52C. The Max operating temperature for the WD is 60C.

Some of you want to run flavors of RAID. Now you have TWO hot little drives next to each other. I’m curious as to how hot these drives are running in the P6831. The only ventilation, that I can see, is what gets pulled over them when the GPU or CPU fan is running.

I see that the Hitachi have a 55C max operating temp. Anyone seeing cooler temps with the Hitachi’s?

 

well now that a lot more people coming forward about the hissing sound I'm not sure if I should worry about it either. More than likely the next unit the sound me will have a hissing sound as well. In all honesty I don't think I would have noticed it someone had not mentioned this before. The hissing isn't loud at all. I have to put my ear right up next to it to hear it.

 

So has anyone actually had any failures/ real problems with their gateway fx, besides some anal people concerned about clicking and hissing noises. Has anyone ever had these symptoms manifest into a real problem?

 

for desterf0x http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=221248 a guys P-6831 died

yea my adapter screamed during 3dmark06 but not in World in Conflict which i think is because i can only run that game in medium settings.

 

people paid 1200 dollars worth for a product. we expect to last the 1200 dollars worth.

 

Doesn't sound like the problem stemmed from clicking and hissing noise, and just plain bad luck. Or maybe I missed something when I read the threads.

I'm not saying you guys don't deserve a functional gaming laptop for $1200, but maybe a couple of you are being a little too paranoid. I like to make the analogy of people who swap their lcds just cause one 1 or 2 dead pixels.

This early on everything should be covered by warranty, thats why the most important thing to me is a company's warranty.

 

i used mine for about 4 days straight with no issues besides the ticking/clicking... then i booted it up and i had artifacts all over my screen in the bios and the boot process. it even carried over to windows. no overclocking was done or anything... i left it alone for about 6 hours and then called best buy to talk about exchanging it, i decided to boot it up and give it a chance and it works without artifacts... i think i'll still exchange it