x205-sli1

So ive had my sli1 for about three months so far, and ive been retelvely pleased, but I had a question for all of you that own one of these comps. How pleased are you lot on the gaming preformance with this system. Also what kina of games do you think you can run (preferably with out overclocking). Also do you guys have any sugestions for really good games (new or old. Idealy with great single player stories etc) that my baby can run? Thank you all so much.

 

I run fear, bioshock, the witcher, COD 4 without to many problems. Not full graphics with AA and AF turned up all the way. still looks good

 

I am very happy with mine, what you get for the price is well worth it.I have played FEAR, Bioshock, COD4, Gears of War, Crisys and all play very smooth with most settings maxed at 1280x800 the only thing I leave off is AA, but FEAR I play at 1440x900 with everything maxed and I just leave AA and soft shadows off and I average 133 frames per second with these settings.

 

do you think that my processor and ram will hurt my performance?

 

No, I would leave the processor and memory alone. I only upgraded my cpu cause I already had it and I am kinda crazy, so I put it in. LOL!

 

Ha, haven't heard truer words spoken lol.... as I sit here, about to tear this thing down to swap out my 7250 for the T9300 sittin beside me... for a difference that most of the computing world would never even be noticed ha!
Wish me luck!

 

Hey good luck!!!, I want to see how much faster than my T7700 that will be, and also while you are in there I would recommend you put Arctic Silver on the cpu, north bridge, and on the two gpu coolers as well and maybe put ceramique on the gpu memory coolers that should help lower the temps a bit, anyway that is what I did on both my laptops when I tore them apart.

 

make sure you put put your mobo all the way down. cause if it touches the distribution block were the ac adapter connects in you will get a POOF!!! the magic smoking laptop like i did mine oops.

 

its times like this i wish i didnt get that extended warrenty.
Ah well im saving up to build a decent desk top.

 

Ouch!!! that is too bad to hear man. But I have been so bored from laying around waiting for my broken ankle to heal from my surgery 3 weeks ago that last night I took mine apart again just to put the black sheet of plastic on the cpu vent on the bottom of the laptop and I did the whole process in 30 minutes!!, I guess really got good at working on this laptops. LOL!!

 

WOW! 30 minutes? Took me atleast 3 hours ha! Took me forever to figure out how to actually get the motherboard out with all the connectors on the side and bottom! Anyway, gonna post the results in a new topic, but worked out good!

 

Yeah, you need to tug and pull on it gently to the right and back and up at the same time it is tricky but after so many time I got this down like clockwork.

 

Oh congrads Be77solo on the installation. I had a few questions about squeezing some more performance out of my Lappy. What programs did you lot deleate from your systems, because i have heard of some significant compatibility issues when uninstalling some programs. Also be77solo I was wondering what your 3Dmark06 scores were before you upgraded your processor. I got a 6793 if im not mistaken. Finally would you guys advise upgrading to 4 gigs of ram, and if so which brand. Congrads again on you upgrade.

 

mauddib87 - be77solo did what I did on mine and installed a clean copy of Windows XP, I believe he got a score of around 7200 before upgrading. Unless your are planning on installing 64bit version of XP or Vista upgrading the memory will not give any performance improvements at all, with Vista 32bit you could install a single 2Gig memory stick after removing one of the 1Gig memory sticks to make it 3Gigs and reduce the hard drive access by Vista a bit that can get to be annoying. I got buffalo brand memory sticks that cost me around $80, but upgrading is you choice and not really needed.

 

Yep, pretty much what Jesse said.... With a clean Vista install (which I highly recommend as opposed to just trying to clean up the factory Toshiba install) and the latest drivers, I was getting around 7000-7200 at stock speeds, and with my XP install I was getting 7200-7400 at stock speeds depending on the video driver I was using. Either case, a clean install with the latest drivers is the way to go, as for Vista or XP, I liked Vista and didn't really have any problems once I got it tweaked a bit, but some of my slightly older applications weren't compatible, so i switched back to XP.... If you don't have anything that is having issues with Vista, then I'd just stay with it after a clean reinstall, but XP runs great on these machines too once you track down all the drivers and updates.

As for ram, I did upgrade to 4GB, but like Jesse said, only 3GB is actually used at this point.... If I ever switch to a 64bit OS I can use it all, but for right now there's really no advantage to going over 3GB except for the slight possible improvement having matching sticks might offer with Dual Channel mode, but even that's debatable. I do feel that going to atleast 3 is a good move though, especially if you are gonna run Vista, as it uses quite a bit even after a fresh restart. And pretty much any brand should be decent, I'm using some sticks I picked up from CompUSA when they were on sale a while back.

Anyway, hope that helps, good luck!

 

I know this may be a stupid question, but how did you do the clean install of vista, because if im not mestaken toshiba's recovery disk is not a clean install. Oh btw I just ran 3Dmark06 and got 6572 is that normal? (btw im running the 169.04 drivers) Thank you so much for the help btw. Sorry im such a notbook noob.

 

wow sorry about the poor spelling there. I also had a question, I like the speakers on this system, but the sound quality is kina sucky, I think thats due to the sound driver, are there any better ones?

 

What I did is to follow the clean install guide found here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144783
and used the ABR utility to backup the activation certificate and it also creates a text file with your Vista CD Installation Key and you also use this utility to restore the activation certificate after the installation (most oem manufacturers include this activation certificate so you don't have to contact microsoft after restoring the operating system), Important!! backup all your files before you start the installation. I did a clean format of my HDD and install with a vista anytime install dvd that came with my X205-S9349 laptop, installed all the drivers which I got from toshiba's web site before I started the installation and then restored the activation certificate with the ABR utility, then just install your appz and games and you are done.

 

Yeah, the key is a Vista Anytime Upgrade Disc (Has all the Vista versions, pick the one that came with your laptop), then you can just install it and use your key from the bottom sticker on your laptop.... You will have to call Microsoft to then activate, but it's a short easy process, or you can do what Jesse said and then you won't even have to call them.... I did it the first time though before I found that guide, so I didn't back up my activation.

As for sound drivers, there is a newer driver that you can find on the Realtek site, this should be the link, tried to find it real fast for ya
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Sound quality is definately one of this machines strong points

 

be77solo - ou know when I found the guide I just backed up the activation certificate of my 3 laptops, the 2 toshiba's and the Sony FZ180E and saved them on a hard drive I only turn on when I use it to backup stuff and for XP and Vista Ultimate I used Acronis True Image to backup my system so I simply restore from the backup and this way I never have to reinstall driver or call MS to activate vista if and when I decide to use that again. Hey I am so glad my ankle is feeling better to the point that I can use my sli1 while I lay in bed without hurting my leg, this how I am typing this right now on my sli1.

 

You know in XP the Vista driver work and give you the EQ function and I found the speakers sound much better in XP than Vista I am not sure if be77solo noticed this but I have fine tuned the speakers with the EQ in XP to were they sound a lot better than they ever did in Vista.

 

6500 is normal, i got around 6500-6700 with Toshibas Stock Drivers, I still havent installed the 169.09 Drivers yet, I think i shud b gettin an increase upto around 7100 maybe? (T7500 processor)

 

no that score i got with the 169.04 drivers.
Edit: sorry forgot I already said which driver I was using.

 

I was wondering what GPU temps would dangerious for the cards. Im ideling between 58-62. Are we still safe?

 

I would worry when you to 85c and above, I noticed my 2 cards went to 88c when I had them oveclocked to 650/900 and played FEAR for about half and hour so I took them back to stock since I was just testing to see how fast and how hot the cards got, it was a bit faster but too hot for my taste.

 

Its weird all of a sudden, the gpus which used to idle at like 56-58 are at 60-63. Im kind of worried, but I haven't done anything to cause it. Im at a loss.

 

Mine idle at between 56c and 62c depending on the ambient temperature, so those temps are what we are all getting and is normal and I would not worry about it.

 

I've actually read that GPU's are designed to be safe to hotter temps, and aren't actually in significant danger until 120C, the 8600mGT included... supposedly they are made to handle higher temps than CPUs, which shouldn't go much hotter than the upper 80's regularly according to the same article. Some laptops, a few of the Asus's i hear actually run in 8600mGT's in 90's regularly and they were made that way, and mine idle in the low 60's and get into the 80's regularly, and when playing Crysis I've seen low 90's. overclocking warms them up a bit more than stock, but even at stock speeds they run well into the mid to upper 80's when I'm running a demanding game. I struggle to believe that running in the 80's will hurt anything if that's how it runs out of the box straight from Toshiba on a mass produced machine, and you can't tell me they didn't leave a bit of headroom for the guy that will sit the thing on a bed for a while, etc., and not have it instantly fry in that case, otherwise they'd have kept them cooler somehow.... or atleast that's my thoughts, and we sure don't hear many reports of X205's GPU's dying from overheating. But, I really don't know for sure, this is all based on what I've read and my own interpretation.... personally, as long I'm under 100, preferably in the 80's but I'll accept low 90's, then I'm not gonna stop playing. And so far with or without an overclock, I haven't exceeded that. But, your mileage may vary, but I sure wouldn't worry about anything in the 60's or 70's

 

do you know if there would be any explanation for such a sudden jump in the temps. I mean two days ago they idled at 55-57 and now their up to 57-66 (most of the time both cards are now are at 64*63). The only changes I made was that I un-installed some bloat ware and installed 3Dmark06.

 

Right now temps are GPU1 66 GPU2 65. Im so confused, I haven't done anything, nor am i running anything, and yet the temps are skyrocketing.

 

Don't worry for that "jump"... The x205-sli temps are really sensitive to the enviroment temp... For example, when i'm in my mom's room (which has air conditioner) the idle temps for the gpu's are around 54-56, but when i go to my room (sadly no air conditioner, soon to install one ) the temps go up to 62-65...