Official Sony VAIO F Series i5/i7 owners thread *Part 5*

Never seen the site before but very interesting. They appear to be very legit along the lines of CDW. SageMax warranty program looks to be comprehensive and reviews are very positive on the internet as well. I will bookmark and look at this site again. Thanks.

 

I used to order from them years ago, when I was buying camera lenses. Amazing prices! They do try to get you on extended warranties though. My thoughts are that if you order from them and do not buy a warranty, you'll receive a call trying to push you into buying one. If you have no problem with that, they are a high volume, reputable seller of goods.

 

Well I finally pulled the trigger on a new SSD drive to replace my 5,400 rpm drive on my F11. I bought a 240gb OCZ Vertex 2 from newegg and it should be here in a few days. Gives me time to read up on the install guides here. Probably will try Joebleau's clean install method.

 

My idle temps are the same, so I wouldn't worry. And the majority of the time I have my CPU at full load (I'm running BOINC) when not doing anything, and my CPU temps only reach 75c when unthrottled.

 

Ok so I have a VPCF116FG, got it in Febuary this year.
The fan seems to be simply too loud. At idle its kind've quiet but still noticable in a quiet room. When playing low demand games like Warcraft 3 it revs up significantly, but when playing high demand games like SC2 it goes insanely loud. Even if i have 2 tabs open in a browser it revs up quiet alot. Is there a way i can determine my laptops temperatures?



Also i spilt milk on it ages ago and some small computer shop was able to replace the keys which they said they thought was the only thing affected. would that complteely void the warranty?

 

wolverine which modded files did you put?the 5 or the 1?Im ready to try this as well i can get the original vaio drivers so im not worried if i screw up....

 

You'll need to do all 5.

 

I think when the nb is with power supply the CPU is "overclocked" and without the power supply it is not
download Intel turbo boost widget and check it out


@genocaust
you need to replaca all 5 files
keep in mind that this "hacked" version of the driver has some issues
-if the sreen saver comes in and the brightness is not max the screen wont turn on, you have to press Fn+F6 until brightness go max (press like 5 times) then press "display off" button twice and screen will turn on
after that you can reduce the brightness

same thing happens when going sleep/hibernate/turn on/and when you turn off the display

btw before you upgrade can you please run FurMark with these options?


thanks

 

i have a question. i tried to restore my laptop to factory default setting and an external hard drive was needed to do that. so i am going to buy one. but i have one question and that is if i do restore my computer to factory settings then would the whole computer be like how i bought it? like only one big single c drive and the bundled software that came with it and nothing else?

I have created another drive called 'D' and downloaded all the applications, files, data and other important stuff that i need.

If i restore my computer to factory setting then would only the 'C' drive be restored or the whole computer? would the D drive and all other important update of vaio gate and windows disappear?

 

u can control the fan speed..press(vaio gate.vaio.vaio control center.power management.power options.silent mode)..thats really decrease the fan loud(check he temperature) ..but the problem will not change ..the fan will change its speed constantly,and with a pitch of whistle(its from the fan),it will be so quite..but u r right,5% CPU usage will not change the fans speed every second!!!,,or may be the fan has EXTREME sensor!! ..i dont know..the sound is not a big deal,,but im just afraid if this issue may cause damage to the fan!!! its so hard to take the laptop to services in USA(im living in egypt)

but i also must say the fan keeps the laptop cool when im gaming,under stress test so all my temperature results r good...

 

Not sure if anyone posted further on this (apologies if this is no longer of interest) but there were once two 1080p screens available for the FW and only one was truly amazing -- and it is not the one that is listed in the comments above. See this earlier post for the part numbers and price comparisons:

[N.B. The super screen below is no longer available from the US Sony sales as it was in April.]

This is apparently the Sharp part number for the Sony FW490 dual-lamp screen: LP164WD1-TLA1. Roweraay's screen part (not sure if it is stamped on his unit as a Sharp; I thought he said it was a generic) is LQ164M1LA4A. Sony wants $1138.50 for the first part listed for the FW490 and $349.99 for what roweraay bought. (From https://servicesales.sel.sony.com/ec.../web/index.jsp)

And yes, I double-checked those figures -- and on another FW490 model as well.

EDIT: Okay, Joe Bleau's Sharp screen number and Roweray's screen number are what were used on the FW390 so, yes, it does seem as though, if roweraay's screen is stamped Sharp, that the old stock for the FW390 is out there. Sony charges $349.99 for either of those. WAY less than for one of those FW490 screens.

But remember: the FW490 FullHD is the one that people thought was matte from its special non-glare coating (on the FW threads), and To no End has also stated it has a different coating from the F's screen. And the test specs for the FW490 dual lamp are better than those of preceding dual-lamp screens on the FW.

So, not all Sony dual-lamp screens are "created" equal, are they?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6154387-post3219.html

 

Anyone ?

 

RayOflightGM - My absolute minimums are keep:

VAIO Event Service
VAIO Care
VAIO Control Center
Settings Utility Series
VAIO Help & Support

Everything else is subject to your needs/preferences.

 

Those were close to my numbers I live in so cal. I had a tech fix my and replace my thermal unit yesterday and it dropped to around 40-50 c idle. Once i started using it I get about 64 c max now while running cinibench.

I was going up to 100c before the tech fixed his mistake. He gave me my old thermal unit, some extra pads and a tube of arctic 5 for the future. The stock thermal paste looks like hard crap once the unit is taken apart and u can see how the crappy sony paste all transcends to the outer rim of the thermal plate/cpu. I think when my warranty is up Ill put better paste on the cpu/gpu underneath the heat sink unit. the fan cools both chips according to him showing me yesterday.

I really wouldn't worry about 67c put it on on a table and see if it drops. I did for me on a wooden table about 10c. The laptop will kill the cpu at 100c for safety and intels chip is designed to stop completely @ 130c according to the I7 tech specs I posted earlier this week.

 

stupid question (i'm new to win 7)
Where can you go in Win 7 to check temperatures of hardware ?

thanks

 

i have AIDA64 Extreme Edition its the newer version of Everest download it

 

It's the top of the taskbar, for sure. You don't notice it on the desktop because it's part of the architecture or environment of what you're used to, but it IS intrusive and a "foreigner" in any fullscreen video. For me the line is present in most players, (On the right side, where I keep the taskbar) but not when playing web video fullscreen such as in YouTube.
Barring more comprehensive information from you Omaroo, that's my best guess.

P.S. my first Youtube upload, my best friend of the last 18 years, it's sad. YouTube - video-2010-11-28-14-24-41

 

melody mate its not the taskbar, its like an invisible line on ALL video players, suprised no one else has noticed it.

 

If it's invisible how come you can see it? Or are you actually talking about hardware? something that's part of the display's construction..

 

Wait for a screenshot/photo.

You can speculate until your brains liquify, but be no closer to a solution until he gives us something to work with.

 

Sony San Diego repair shop told me taking apart the laptop wouldn't void the warranty but I would take that with a grain of salt.They also at the same time ill advise not to do so. I opened mine after the tech screwed it up to look for the obvious and was very tempted to do the heat sink paste myself instead of waiting 3 weeks. I'm glad I waited that way I don't end up with like you said a a voided warranty or a permanently bricked unit.

The tech that came to my house even said that I could open my laptop as long as I didnt trash it. They can only do so much since if they do a repair they have to send your old parts to Sony and they can get into trouble.

I just ordered a Intel Centrino 6200 wi-fi card it will arrive this week and Ill remove IMO the trashy high latency Atheros ar9287 POS card that doesn't do 5ghz freq and I just don't care for it.

To me personally I followed the guide on how to remove and clean the fan removal part. It to me wasn't very difficult to take the lappy apart once I got Rollin so I didn't feel apprehensive doing it. Ive worked on computers(desktops) for many years but a laptop is a whole new animal. Especially when the pricing comes into play and damaging a laptop I dropped 2gs on would break my heart + wallet.

 

After you do this, let me know what you think of that card. I was very shocked not to get 5gHz support as well. I live in an apt with very thin walls and get disconnected from the internet every time my neighbor's phone rings. :-( This was no problem on my old laptop using the 5gHz frequency of course. But this low-end wireless card they put in the F is killing me. One of the folks on here who has a European model said theirs comes with a better wireless card that does support 5gHz.

 

Physically you can. This is according to the on site tech guy who came to my house I asked him this question. He told me 2 things though.

Firstly and obviously the socket must match but being the same family of core I7 it should unless you have a different cpu and Im not sure about going from an I5 upwards.

Secondly and this is the most important! Can the current cooling system which already seems pretty much tapped. Can it handle the load of a much higher clocked cpu. This tech told me he put a 900 I7 series mobile in the vaio which worked with no extra cooling. Now can I trust his word or believe him. Not sure.

Maybe when the prices come down I might buy 1 and give it shot if its worth the performance gain without damaging my unit. Ill let some others try it and see how it turns out before I take the plunge.

 

Ya you got it man ill definitely report back. I know that these cards were and also suppose to come shipped from sony initially. They even have the drivers on their website. There is also a link in the unification post on how to do it.

One Sony support tech told me that the bios is locked down to the hardware it currently has installed but I dont believe that completely. I think he was just trying to prevent me from experimenting.

 

nobody answer my question

 

It may be because fan noise has been discussed recently ad nauseum?

You can get a program called Everest (from Lavalys). You'll have access to all the temps you could ever want on your lappy.

 

Ah, all this time I thought that link was broken because when I click on it, it takes me to the last page of that thread which has nothing to do with the wireless card. But when you said that above, I figured it meant it wasn't broken for you and after much searching, I realized it's because I have my account options set to view 30 posts per page and the way that link is posted, it tries to send me to a page that doesn't exist for me. So, now I've finally found the posts about replacing the wireless card. And also the posts from other people who were quite unhappy that Sony switched cards on them.

 

3500 rpm at idle is that normal?

 

mine was at 4000 last night after doing some tasks. Ive noticed if you make a custom plan in power saver mode it will have the cpu throttled down. From their you can manage the processor state min/ max in advanced settings under power management. Try to set your cpu to max 50% on battery and plugged in and see if your fan throttles down. Mine will go very quiet in with my custom config but in high performance the fan is going to do its job by moving lots of air so mine ramps depending on current task.

If you cant get your fan down to a slower rpm you have perhaps a problem but I would monitor the rpm and the cpu temp together with various different apps to choose from that have posted here.

hw monitor is one of them. I like siw program and I use the intel thermal sidebar gadget for its compactness from windows sidebar gallery just search for intel.

 

A loud fan = cool temps (kinda counter-intuitive, but it makes sense after a while I s'pose). Under load, the core i7 + 330m produce about the same amount of heat as a 60 watt incandescent lightbulb. Basically, you have a ridiculous amount of heat being generated within 1 square inch underneath the top-left of the keyboard. The fan is very loud, but it should keep the temperatures below 80 or 90C under load. 3500 rpm at idle is fine.

Also, the milk: I thnk the spilt milk might void the warranty, but sony is usually pretty lax about its warranty service, meaning that if they keys aren't working, you may still be able to get it serviced (don't tell them you spilled milk on it though ).

 

Does anyone have the model number of the EU screen? Ive been out of the loop for a while. Thanks in advance.

 

i think my problem is in the( FAN sensor is very high) my fan is working great and keep the laptop temperature in range when browsing or gaming,,and its quite when im just browsing on balanced mode,,but it change its speed and sound constantly and this is the problem,the cpu usage is just between1% and 4% so the temp changes from 40 to 42(example) and thats shouldnt make the fan change its speed and sound(quite whistle sound from the fan) every second.

 

Yeah it shouldn't but it does. I think your F is no different than everyone else's and you must live with it. Too bad you do not have a 30 day return policy like we do in the US ( if purchased through Sony). I got used to mine quickly and it never bothers me. Know you have a very powerful machine (especially for the price) and you may wish to relate it to a sports car verses an economy vehicle.

 

(i hope my f is no different than everyone else's!)but i asked many f users and they dont have my fan issue,,,it change its speed and sound constantly when im not using the laptop,browsing,gaming,,in any case...,the sound doesn't bother me ,but sony told me that this issue should be resolved by sony tech and thats wat bothering me ,,,,now i have to send the laptop from egypt to USA its a big problem.
thank u so much for your help

 

I could be getting a monster deal on a F13 with the following specs for £800:

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
RAM - 4GB installed DDR3 RAM
Graphics card NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M GPU
- 1GB dedicated video memory
Screen type Widescreen LCD
Screen resolution 1600 x 900 pixels
Hard drive 500GB SATA
Optical disk drive Blu-ray Disc™ ROM Drive with DVD SuperMulti

I just have one concern, will this spec be able to play GTAIV at decent settings? I realize the CPU's are getting refreshed in Jan but I think for the kinda things that I would do the GPU would be the bottleneck.

So is the combination of the i7 and the 425GT up to some gaming at decent details and resolutions? (this is the 1600x900 lower res screen). Im thinking mainly COD black ops, GTAIV and maybe the new battlefield bad company?

Just not sure whether to pull the trigger tomorrow. Can someone with one with specs like my (potential) laptop reassure me from their experience of its gaming prowess?

 

i have the same specs in your laptop(only different(6g ram) ,i play COD black ops in(1600*900)and every thing high it run smoothly,but PES 2011 is not clear in 1600*900!

 

Mangosango is the gamer extraordinaire here. Look into his past postings and look at his links (he may respond to your specific info as well). Also check into his youtube channel YouTube - MrChowderClam's Channel as well.

 

Wow, that's amazing. I genuinely am grateful he has taken the time to make so many videos! I notice his seems to be a slightly lower spec (f11 vs f13) so I think I will be fine. Thanks to you both!

 

my ram usage is always 2g ram (35% of my ram memory) when im not using any application is that normal?

 

Are you using the bloated ware software installation from sony/retail store or a clean install?

Open task manger and go to performancemonitor/ resource tabs. go to memory tab and see where the resource hog is coming from. right now im @ 1.6 gigs with a few programs open with some sony bloatware too.

 

i dont know witch software exactly im using,,its Bestbuy vesion,,and i did clean install 2day.


i dont know where the resourcehog is coming from?


this is my cpu usage & processes

ram usage 2,2

processes 86

cpu usage is between 0 % to 3%

 

Can you do us a HUGE favor and resize your images to 800 pixels wide or narrower? Lot's of scrolling left/right in order to read any other posts on this page.

I want to see if I understand you corretly. These images are from AFTER the clean install? Is this correct?

If so, then you didn't actually do a clean install, but rather a re-install of the Sony/Best Buy setup. A "clean" install has no bloatware at all. So... none of those Best Buy, BD, and Norton icons on your desktop.

I see that you have 86 processes running at 2.22GB of RAM. At this very moment, I've got 84 processes running at 1.62GB of RAM. This is after I've got everything I like opened up, not before. My machine boots up at about 25% RAM used and climbs from there as I continue to use it.

Give this guide a read through and see if it can help you get a "cleaner" clean install:
Vaio_F Series Windows 7 64-bit Clean Install Guide Using OEM Recovery Discs

 

im SORRY about that Anseio (i deleted them)..

i did a successful complete clean install from the recovery.then i installed about 5 programs.....Best Buy, BD, and Norton icons appeared after the clean install before i install any thing they r default ..i dont know why my ram usaga is 2.22 thats more than normal i think..another thing...i look at the (fan speed )from the (AIDA64 Extreme Edition),,i edited the sensor to 1 second...the fan speed is changing every second.ex in 4 seconds (2300.2460.2570.2320)when im not using the laptop!!!

 

You didn't do a clean install. You probably did a factory recovery. Maybe you didn't do that either, hard for us to know since you don't seem to know what you did, but you definitely did not do a clean install. Those programs would not be installed if you did.

Also, you said you weren't running any applications and had 2 GB mem usage, but during the time your pics were up, it was quite clear you were running several apps, including ones that take up a lot of memory like firefox, msn messenger, etc.

I don't think you're having any problems at all on your computer. I think you just don't understand what you're doing or what is going on your computer. I'm not saying that as an insult. I'm saying it so that you realize that what you are saying is going on is not actually happening. Then you need to decide to either educate yourself about these things or you can simply not be concerned about it.

 

Hi guys,

I'm about to buy the F series from Sonystyle.com and I'm stuck in deciding
whether I should get the 1900X1080 or 1600x900.

I have this 23" 1900x1080 LED monitor that I could connect my laptop to.

Also, if I decided to get the 1600x900, would BD DR be necessary since I would be mainly use the laptop for gaming.

Thanks!

 

Like jpride mentioned, you didn't actually do a clean install. If you just did the factory recovery process, then it was not a clean install.

For a clean install you happen, you have to interrupt the factory install BEFORE any other programs are installed after the installation of the OS and hardware drivers.

When you do a successful clean install things should look like this:

 

Ansio,Jpride..im sorry for my misunderstanding.. i i asked sony esupport how to do clean install,they sent me the steps( http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/documentLink.do?externalId=C1013184 ),,,i restarted my llapotop then i press f10,i restore my compelte system by the recovery,it takes about 1 and half hour or 2 hours,,it restarted many times in this operating,every thing was installing like,bluetooth,wirless,......thats wat i remember..

 

The instructions you were given were for a Factory Restore. Here is how things work...

When you press F10 and Restore Complete System it takes your machine back to the way it was when you first powered it on. This means that EVERY program that was installed when you got your lappy was installed this time too.

A "clean" install is when you install ONLY the OS (Windows 7) and the necessary hardware drivers. A clean install has ZERO additional programs and softwares.

There are two ways to do a clean install. You can get a copy of Windows 7, install it, and manually install all of the hardware drivers (in a very specific order). You'll also need to do a phone activation to activate the copy of Windows you installed, since it wasn't the OEM version.

Or... you can do a clean install like the one I gave you the link for. This version is very simple and installs all of the hardware drivers for you. Read through the guide I gave you.

What will happen is this:
You'll begin the Restore Complete System. The Recovery Center will reinstall the OS and then the hardware drivers. It will then go through a series of restarts. At a specific time in this process (after OS and drivers, but before software), you'll need to abort the recovery. This will prevent all of the extra software from being installed, will cut about an hour from your install time, and is listed how to do in the guide I gave you.

When you complete the clean install you'll definitely notice a difference. A difference in boot time, free RAM, program launch speed, and fan speeds.

 

@abdogeady
take a look here

 

Re compact laptop chargers, I am looking at a TARGUS model APA6922US. Does anyone have one of these chargers?
I have looked on the Targus website and googled for 2 hours - I cannot confirm that this charger has INPUT: 100v - 240v. Nowhere shows this rather critical piece of info. I know it is highly likely that the unit can be used worldwide (differences in plug type/shape notwithstanding of course), but the internal electrical circuitry 100v-240v cannot be confirmed anywhere I looked, including thhe TARGUS website.

If anyone has this unit, appreciate the help.