Gigabyte P34G

I just recently pulled the trigger on the Gigabyte p34g from GentechPC.

Has anyone tried updating the OS to Windows 8.1?
I had some recent issues with the update on my other laptops and was wondering if the update was without ramifications.

 

Anyone have any more info on this?

 

I updated to 8.1 on release day without any issues

 

Just got my p34 a few days ago, and over all it's just what I needed. However, there are a few gripes I have that I haven't seen mentioned on this thread yet (sorry if I missed them):

My left-click button has a weak spring, so it rests a good millimeter below the case, and it is noticeably less responsive than the other.

The "w" key has an extra piece of plastic in the top corner of the key, it looks like the machine that made it was just a little sloppy and made a bad cut. It rubs up against the chassis of the keyboard and can sometimes stick, which is terrible for a gaming laptop.

There was a strange scratching noise coming from the inside of the laptop whenever the fan started up or slowed down completely. I took the back of the laptop off and found it was due to the fan rubbing up against the metal casing. Once it gets going it stops making the noise, so it's not too annoying, but it still bugs the hell out of me.

Overall, I'm NOT impressed with the quality control of Gigabyte. Those 3 problems all seem like things that should have been checked before shipping the laptop out. I'm debating whether or not to send it back, because I know it will take at least a week to get a fresh one, and I'm not convinced the quality of it will be any better.

Anyone else experiencing problems with quality control, or did I just get a bad egg?

 

that's unfortunate, seems like a lot of QC issues cropping up. The only issue I could say for mine is a slight flex in the keyboard tray, just under the space bar I can push it down a bit and I can't find a way to tighten it. I think that may be normal though.

edit: actually, I've just noticed now a very faint clicking noise that seems to come and go. I'm not sure if I haven't noticed it because I use headphones or if it's just appeared. I'm worried that could be the hard drive?

 

Windows 8.1? All good?

Like the wireless.

 

I am running 8.1 with no issues. There are updated drivers. I got the Wireless drivers from Intel instead of the GB ones.

 

you can get rid of it using hdparm. just disable advanced apm for hdd.

 

Yeah it could be the read head parking itself when not in use. Sometimes it makes a soft click noise.

 

If it's the same noise I'm hearing, it's not the hard drive. That was my first assumption too, but then I realized it only happens when the CPU fans starts up or stops (which can happen pretty randomly as I'm sure we've all noticed). I took the back off the laptop and was able to recreate the noise by spinning the fan with my finger. The plastic blades of the fan are covered by a metal case, with less than a millimeter gap in between them. I also noticed by spinning it with my finger that the fan is not firmly secured in place, so if you push down on one side of it, the other side goes up and scrapes agaist the metal cover, creating the noise.

 

We talked about the right clic some pages ago. Sometimes is more pronounced than others, but I don't think it's that bad (there are some pictures).
About the noise, there's is some kind of problem with the intel rapid boot technology, some people have been reporting a 'whining' when it is activated. Just in case you're not sure about the fan.
Haven't noticed anything on the keyboard. MAYBE the texture is not so good and the key travel could be better....but I admit it's just being too perfectionist.

 

Hello everyone,
I'm new of the forum.
I'm really interested in acquiring the P34G but I'm a bit worried about the annoying issues many of you have reported.
If I buy a laptop for 1.400 € I suppose it's well built!
Moreovere I live in Italy and the only way I've found to get the P34G is to acquire it in UK and send it to my brother (he lives in UK) cause I can't find no online shop that sell the P34G and ship to Italy. So in case I'll encounter some issues with the laptop I'll be forced to send it back to UK for assistance with all the relatives costs.

I'm looking for a laptop good for gaming but also suitable for working purpose (I can't go to a customer's office with a green phosphorescent razorblade or a fire red alienware...) and the P34G seems to me the perfect compromise, considering also its weight and heigth.

So, I'm asking all the possessors of the P34G, does it worth the money?
Otherwise I'll probably wait for the new Acer S3 or the Asus UX302, giving up some of my gaming intent.
Thank you!

 

Girottik, I had one of the big issues upfront, the keyboard, but was able to correct that. After owning it for a few weeks, I am actually quite happy with it now and say that while I think it is a little high on the price, there really is nothing that matches it for portability, gaming, good screen, and price at this time.

However this biggest problem is their quality control seems to be hit and miss. If you get a good one it is worth the price, if you get a bad one, or two, then it is frustrating.

 

Sorry johnnymac854, that's painful! Seems to be a fair bit of QC variability. My p34 has no unusual fan noises, no problems with keys, and pretty symmetric buttons. So... you could hope for a better unit. My only QC problem was that the trackpad surface didn't fit perfectly - the lower right corner was jammed into the unit, and actually projected up above the frame! However I was able to tuck it in with a fingernail, and now it is fine. Seems like a simple QC inspection could catch a lot of these problems.

 

Girottik, I would also say this is one of my favorite laptops ever after using it for a few weeks. Like you, I want a gaming laptop I can also use in meetings. The last laptop I enjoyed as much was a Vaio vpc-z1390, and that was a few years ago. Now, if I had experienced quality issues like some others my answer would be different.

 

As for me, Gigabyte's QA doesn't seem to be great. Actually it seems to be really bad.

1) The first laptop: stuck pixel (I think that I didn't see stuck pixels at least since 2000 even though I had access to more than 15 laptops since then...), keyboard flex.
2) The second laptop: "Q" key was just broken and fell off when I started typing, "Space" key doesn't work until I don't hit the center of the key, excessive LCD bleeding, again keyboard flex.

It's not something that I'm expecting from $1400 laptop. And those awful speakers... Seems that Gigabyte just saved $1 per laptop using the most crappiest speakers in the world.

 

Had it for a while now, to report typing on it on has felt great with very few mispressed keys. Touchpad has been working fine and the build quality is still pretty good. Turned off the nvidia gpu as the default and the battery life went up a bit and I don't need it for most of the work I'm doing and if I need it I can right click and open applications with it by force.
Screen seems ideal at 40% brightness and it's all working well on windows8.1.
Impressed so far.

 

I wish I was impressed too...

But now I don't impressed at all waiting for the second RMA... The first RMA-turnaround time took two weeks (though it was handled just great!) and I don't have one more laptop at home...

I wish BestBuy had them in stock...

 

I just realised I had it undervolted -100mV, sorry! Without undervolt I get 90-92`c. So yours is not bad, it could be just the ambient temp.

 

I just picked up BF4, I figured it would be a good test for the P34G, and for $10, can't go wrong. Won't be able to test it until much later tonight. Will post some info on what I get, maybe a video.

Let me know if there are any special requests, FPS, temp, settings etc.

 

$10? Where?

 

Actually I tried undercoating as well. It still hit the 98c mark. It starts throttling get at 96c.

I am comfortable applying thermal paste, but honestly just don't want to mess with potential warranty issues as this is my business laptop.

They, GB, said that this was definitely not within spec or should be doing this and sent me to get an RMA.

 

Company perk
Single, individual copy only.

 

Nice perk!

 

Anyone had a weird problem with the Intel Centrino N-6300 where if Bluetooth is enabled using F11 it won't connect to any network (even though the card has no Bluetooth?)

Turning BT off using F11 is a simple fix sure but it seems to be enabled by default every time I boot.

 

Quick question.

When you guys hit Fan Tweaks and put TURBO, does the fan immediately turn on?

 

Yes, they ramp up immediately.

 

Follow up: Contacted Gentech directly and was told that not only will the thermal paste make a considerable difference, it is also especially easy on this laptop to disassemble the heat pipes and heat sinks from the CPU/GPU.

This also ties in with the fact that some of you consider GB's low quality control, where I am now more confident that GenTech would do a much better job to remove a potentially badly applied OEM compound and apply the higher grade stuff. These guys do it on a per case basis and will pay attention to what their doing rather than slapping it on and be done with it like a mass produced approach that GB would go with.

Still, my initial question is, how much of a difference does the higher grade thermal compound make on this machine? Maybe 3-8 degrees Celsius?

 

Following up on an earlier post, someone suggested this power adapter as a backup/portable, does anyone know if the newer model will also work?

My machine will hopefully be here this week, excited to see what it can do, and hoping I avoid the build quality issues others have been reporting.

 

So a note about those. Both models will work. However the lower wattage ones (60/65) will stop working when the computer is stressed. I'm currently using the 95W model and it's working perfectly.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

 

I've never compared differences between OEM thermal compounds but you might see anywhere from 1-5 degrees celcius at idle and about up to 10 at load. This is from personal experience replacing stock MSI compound with some artic paste I got off of newegg a few years ago. I think it really is just a difference between doing it by hand and having it done by machine. It really does make a huge difference and is something you should always considering when you first receive any laptop since lower temperatures extend the lifespan of your components.

Thermal paste transfers heat so what it's made of matters, but also ease of application also matters. Carbon or metal based ones are typically best while ceramic ones are ok. The trick to pasting is to add enough but not too much and to make sure you're not trapping any air bubbles between the heatsink and your chip or else you get poor heat transfer. It's not overly difficult but it's a good idea to monitor system temperatures before and after to make sure you don't accidentally overheat your system.

 

Thanks for the reply. So I should use this one? Or this one?

 

*if* both were properly applied. I had a graphics card once that ran brutally hot...paste was way too thick and blobbed to one side. Replacing that with good thin stuff dropped temps more than 20 degrees C.

 

Repasting an improperly pasted chip will always make it perform better. You'd probably never actually see a 20 degree C drop between stock thermal paste and stuff you can buy OEM unless you buy the crazy expensive good stuff. 10 degrees at load is reasonable and maybe more if you splurge a little for better stuff.

Every chip has its own range of operation. Some people say that intel chips are designed to be able to run at 100 degrees C but you'd never want to be in a situation where it constantly ran that hot. If the chip hits close to 90 degrees C under load with the stock thermal paste I would definitely repaste ASAP. Again, it's all really about extending the lifespan of the chip.

 

I don't want you giving people a false idea.

Don't ever put an excess amount of thermal paste on a chip. Not only is it going to drip onto the motherboard and make things messy, but it will also significantly increase your temps. Less is better with thermal paste, I recommend a pea size dot in the middle of the heat sink. And if you are paranoid use a business card and spread the pea size dot around.

Also before repasting try undervolting, that decreases temps significantly.

 

Tom's Hardware recently posted a lengthy article comparing various thermal compounds (and some non-traditional stuff for fun like toothpaste). Conspicuously absent from their testing are IC Diamond (or any of IC's products, hmm) and the stock compound applied to Intel stock coolers.

Thermal Paste Comparison, Part Two: 39 Products Get Tested - 39 Thermal Compounds Get Benchmarked And Tested

It's a good read.

The top performing compounds were difficult to apply, expert level liquid metal based ones - which only offered 1-2 degrees better performance under load than the next tier.

 

I remember an article a few years back that tried a bunch of random things like peanut butter. Here it is: You got your peanutbutter on my cpu! You got your cpu in my peanut - Overclocking and Cooling - OverclockersClub Forums

Basically the take home point is that you can use things in a pinch, but don't use peanut butter.

Also this review from 2011 uses IC compound:
Thermal Compound Roundup - November 2011 | Hardware Secrets

Take home point that is don't use chocolate. Although your computer would taste delicious. IC compound also performed just as well as mayonnaise so take from that what you will. Point being brand doesn't matter as much as doing it correctly.

 

I'm surprised chocolate has notable thermal resistance.
I wonder what kind they used.

 

They used regular milk chocolate bits I think.
http://www.clubedohardware.com.br/fullimage.php?image=52062

My guess is that it burnt at 80 degrees C then the char and sugar become insulating. Also none of the makeshift pastes lasted very long for obvious reasons, either drying out or melting under load. It'd be really cool if piezoelectric fans were functional to a point for use in electronics: GE unveils piezoelectric fan replacement technology | bit-tech.net but I think they'll go into tablets and ultrabooks long before they see use in cooling graphic cards.

 

I think either would work. One plugs into the wall and the other is for car or airplane

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi. I have a question regarding the battery life. One guy from GE40 forum posted a long ago ( here) that the nvidia control center was set to use the nvidia card all the time, and that was avoiding his computer to reach the 7h battery life people were talking about. I am trying to decide between those two, as the GE40 now has the same display as the p34g. IMHO p34g is the overall winer, but the battery life is something that can make me go for the GE40, since I can't find a place where a could compare them side by side. Thank you guys.

 

Here's a movie capture of roughly 30 seconds of multiplayer footage of Battlefield 4 at 1080p on Highest settings with the P34G:

Battlefield 4 BF4 on P34G 1080p Multiplayer HD - YouTube

Average framerate was around 35-45 fps for the most part, uncommon low range would be around 20-25 fps.

Kinda hard to remember to screen capture when you're struggling to survive... and although it is much more difficult, I prefer using a game controller... ps3 in this case.

First 6 min or so of Campaign mode, seems to be capped around 30fps:

Battlefield 4 BF4 on P34G 1080p Campaign Beginning HD - YouTube

 

I also tried BF4. CPU always stays at 3.2Ghz while playing (seems that BF4 uses CPU a lot). GPU is overclocked +135/+1050. CPU temperature is 85C at max, GPU termperature is 70C at max. The laptop stays cool from the outside. The game is very playable at 1920x1080 with ultra settings.

But the most interesting part is that no throttling was observed at all both for CPU and GPU

 

The GE40 has a far inferior screen as compared to the P34G.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

 

Finally got my laptop and got to mess around with it yesterday

I'm having the same fan problems as others have posted, has anyone found a fix for this yet? I disabled the Nvidia card(or I think I did), but it still ramps up while browsing/installing updates.

 

Is BF4 single player like killing your FPS?

Im getting 75FPS online

50 FPS in campaign (15 fps when you crash into the water)

 

How cool on the outside are you talking? When I play games like Civilization 5 if I put my hand on the bottom just over the RAM compartment, it can be HOT. Although everywhere else seems cool.

 

No, it doesn't. You should comment on the old display option, but not on the new one. The model is GE40 2OC-245. It's better to double check before spreading misinformation... The panel is the AUO B140HAN01.1. You can confirm this here. On the same page a seller confirmed this.

 

My apologies for the misinformation. In that case it really just comes down to weight, cooling and battery life.

The GE40 seems to have slightly better battery life at the expense of weight and the P34G seems to perform better in cooling.

 

There is no fix yet. My one year old Gigabyte u2442n had the same problems and I could only fix it using the Notebook Fan Control program, setting the temperature the fans start spinning up drom 50° to 60°. Problem is you need to find out the registers the fan is controlled. Some pages ago someone tried to find them, but wasn't very sucessful.