Official Sony VAIO F Series i5/i7 owners thread *part 4*

I have a few questions regarding the F series -

1 - What is it like for design work and photography editing?
2 - How long would you say the battery life is for photo editing, or using it teathered to the camera so having it load the shots in Lightroom as I take them
3 - I hear that that the two models available here are different in that the F (X) has a better screen and the leather grip - https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/shop/VAIO-Laptop-PCs/F-Series-16-4?config=x&csint=14003207

The model I have seen on play.com is the Sony VAIO F12 S1E/B, but I can't find anywhere whether this is the one with a leather grip and better screen!

Also, what kind of price would the F13 be when released in the UK?

 

If a game does not provide a way to show FRAPS, what software to you guys recommend? This one? FRAPS show fps, record video game movies, screen capture software

Edit: And by recording FRAPS you get less performance- correct?

 

I've tried searching this and past threads regarding updating the 330 driver and could not find the answer. I know awhile back somebody edited the inf file so a new version of the nvidia driver would work, but the most recent comments don't mention editing the inf with the newest beta driver. Is there a more recent driver that can be installed besides the beta and does it require editing the inf still?

 

You do not need to modify anything, get it straight direcectly from NVIDIA's site. ForceWare 258.96, be sure to select Windows 7 64-bit

It works perfectly without any problems, 1-5 fps performance gain. As you can see, I have that driver installed on the screenshot on top

Heres the link if you are lazy
NVIDIA DRIVERS 258.96 WHQL

 

Is the shader clock synonymous with graphics clock? I found this bit of info to help understand but I still have this basic question.

There are three "clocks" on an Nvidia card. The first isn't a part of your question, but it is a clock. Its the memory clock, and its how fast the memory on the card runs. Just like with a CPU, the "CPU" (actually called a GPU) and the memory clocks are different. Also just like a CPU, there are different things inside the GPU/Core. There are the shaders which do all the work, and everything else. There are two frequencies, the Core frequency and the shader frequency. Nvidia has them unlinked, while AMD has them linked. (meaning AMD cards use the same frequency for the core and the shaders.) There aren't two cards in it, just something run at different speeds

Nividia control panel does not offer 'shader' adjustments- or am I missing something?

 

Shader can either be linked or unlinked to the core, it is your choice.
Faster shader = Higher texture fill rate (Gigatexel/s)
Faster core = Higher pixel fill rate (Gigapixel/s)

Stock: (Notice the pixel fill rate at 4.6 GTexel/s and texture fill rate at 9.2)
If you increase the core while it is set to link with the shader, it will always go up together in a 4.6:9.2 ratio, the core can be higher than shader in terms of ratio but shader cannot be higher than core.


Overclocked:

Notice how the Core and Shader speed directly influences the Texture and Pixel fill rate?

As for the memory clock, it widens the bandwidth, OCed memory at 905 MHz = 29.0 Gigabytes per second, however at stock (790 MHz) it is 25.3 Gigabytes per second, so memory directly influences bandwidth speed too

Have fun OCing the 330M, I wanna push every drop of power out of this GPU. However the exact same model of NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M's on different VAIO Fs can have different max overclock using the same voltage (0.95V) I can only hit 705 core linked to shader, but however other F owners reported getting to 720 Core stable, which I can't (I crash)
So it's simply luck on how good your chips overclock. Even the motherboard affects it. I'm sure you can hit 650 core easily regardless.

Edit: Btw don't use NVIDIA system tools, it doesn't seem to work well for laptops, use MSI Afterburner, more functional too

 

What you might be referring to is the mod I made for someone so he could get the driver to work on Win XP. No mods necessary for Win7.

There's a newer beta driver out 260 something. It's linked in my sig if you want to try it out.

 

Is it possible to configure the silver VAIO button to control something. I did a fresh install and all it does is mute or unmute the volume.

 

Nobody has been successful in configuring otherwise. I really like to have the one button mute function. Works for me.

 

Thanks Joe. ATI's Eyefinity looks awesome, but I guess I'll have to put up with Sony's lower end gpu and use other methods if I really do need that 3rd monitor. I went ahead and ordered the f13 now I can't wait to get it.

 

yes, me too, I have a mute/unmute button on my Vaio vgn-a290. I'm actually glad to hear the vaio button functions like one on a fresh install. Also, I know I will like the display off button on the F series. These one function buttons sure comes in handy.

 

1 - Many posters here use the F for photo editing and design work as that's it's primary target user .
2 - Can't comment as I don't know how much of a load lightroom is I'd let a photographer answer, maybe 70-80 minutes not sure I might be way off.
3 - Answering on my phone so can't remember the leather effect palm rest is called premium black, so the F(X) has it I remember not sure about the F(V) but the V is i5 from memory so for photo editing etc the F(X) with the quad core i7 would be better for you, although worse for battery life.

The F12S1E is the middle spec consumer model of the F in the UK, it has the premium screen but has the normal black finish, so plastic palm rest and the dark kind of charcoal colour they call black for some reason.

The F13 as a guess from the pricing they had but removed will be the similar for the top and bottom spec choices but the middle has a new higher priced F13S0E which is £1399, £100 more than the same spec F12S1E, and the F13S1E didn't have price info but also didn't have a blu ray reader just a DVD/RW drive not sure of any other difference. Sony may have changed prices since they removed them so they may come in higher but for an indication on price try the config page for the F(X). I put the specs of the F13S0E in and came to £1479 just below the price Sony had for it a few days ago when they were up. My advice, allow for a possible £100 more than F12 prices as a guess and make a choice. If the price on release is lower than your guess then you'll be happy.

 

Just installed and this version adds 3D Vision game profiles for Fallout: New Vegas. Weewee. We shall see...

http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-260.63-beta-driver.html

* Supports the new GPU-accelerated features in Adobe Photoshop CS5.
* Supports GPU-acceleration for smoother online HD videos with Adobe Flash 10.1

 

I have been using this driver for a couple of weeks. It has been rock solid at base settings and I have had no glitches whatsoever. My only complaint is that I can not use Nvidia tools to overclock it. My guess is that I can't OC a BETA release???

 

Driver Sweeper for removing driver leftovers from your system.

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

Remove the old before installing the new. Don't do a cleanup after the update.

 

Me too. When I click to 'apply' it defaults back to the original settings. I'm going to try danielh97's recommendation of MSI afterburner. He states:Btw don't use NVIDIA system tools, it doesn't seem to work well for laptops, use MSI Afterburner, more functional too

 

TweakGuides.com - Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide

Within the guide is the update for The Microsoft DirectX® End-User Runtime provides updates to 9.0c and previous versions of DirectX — the core Windows® technology that drives high-speed multimedia and games on the PC. Just updated mine.

Version:
9.29.1962
Updated on 6/8/10

Also, great information on the graphics process here.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_1.html

 

Couldn't say unfortunately. I use mine for music production mainly and the thing about music production is that cpu and memory resources are only half the equation. The other half is efficient work habits. Its very easy for anyone to squander all your RAM and 100% load down all 4x cores with poor work habits.

Battery life is abysmal and is amongst the worst in the multimedia class. This is a notebook that you are going to want to be close to a wall socket at all times if possible.

The one with the leather camera grip is F12 Z1E/B. The good screen is the EU VAIO Display Premium 1080P. If the description is missing Premium and 1080p and you don't live in the EU then its probably not a very good screen.

Its already released and the F(X) base price is £ 1,329.01 inc. VAT which is sadly alot more expensive than the F12 which had a base price of around £ 1,089.00 inc. VAT or thereabouts. Right now, Sonystyle.co.uk is not offering any promotions so I would wait until they do a good promo like free blu ray upgrade or half price memory upgrade. That or look into buying an F12 or F11 if you want to save money.

The notebookcheck review of the F12 is very accurate and I find all of their points (both good and bad) very agreeable. There are only 2x major flaws and that is the restless fan noise and the poor battery life. If you can deal with these then you'll find theres alot to like in the F Series.

 

what do you all recommend and use to clean the sony F monitor?

 

I'm able to OC my beta drivers using NVIDIA Tools (NVIDIA Control Panel - Performance Tab). Need to create an OC'd profile and then load it. Clicking apply doesn't really make the settings keep.

 

OH NO, i was going to get F12, but now the F13 is out. Guys when did the F13 come out and how much more improved is it. I was in hospital for last month so had no idea.

 

I'm sorry you were in the hospital and hope you're doing much better now.

Please read back the past 10 pages for posts on the differences of the F13. It will be replaced soon enough with a newer model just like the F12 before it.

 

Omaroooooooooooooooo! Helloooooooooooooo! I hope you are well.

Hey guys I need your help. Just got my external hard drive and it shows in device manager and Intel Rapid Storage showing on port 5. Does not show in Computer/ Devices with Removable Storage. E,F,G shows. Already rebooted too. I feel like a noob but Googling this appears others are having problems with Win7 detecting external hard drives-esata. Help please.

 

USB or eSATA? I have no issues with eSATAp, but my 7200rpm using USB/eSATA had issues. I didn't research them though. My only other external is currently a clone of my 2nd HDD. Safest way for me to backup since my SSD and OS are dependant on my HDD. Eventually going to get larger HDD or a different external for movies and photos.

 

Start > search: Disk Management > right click & mark as active, simple partition & format.

It's connected via eSATA if it shows in Intel Rapid Storage, right?

 

Power over esata. Not another computer in this whole office that has esata port to test on. Does show in Intel Rapid Storage and in device manager. Now shows online going into Disk Management. Still not showing at the moment in C- I will reboot.

 

Yeah, what he said.

 

In Disk Managemet it shows as disc 1 basic not removable. Where do I mark as active?

 

Format it if you haven't already. You need to do this in disc management , right clck on the relevant drive as I recall.

 

Tutorial: How to Mark a Partition as Active in Windows 7

*****

 

It shows up as disk one not on disk zero. Cannot mark partition here. I can see where to mark partitions on disk zero.

 

Disk 0 is your main drive, don't touch that unless you want to shrink, partition, etc. Disk 1 is your new drive. Right click on Unallocated.

 

Had to go to 'new volume' first and from there I marked partition as active. Got it and thanks so much!

 

Does anyone here use "Windows 7 GodMode" or does it just seem useful for relatively non-techie types like me? Any opinions would be appreciated?

Understanding Windows 7's 'GodMode' | Beyond Binary - CNET News

 

I have just purchased an F1390. i7-740, 500gb hard drive, 8gb ram. However, I am not familiar with any of the Vaio applications on the computer. Are any of them worthwhile? I would have chosen the Fresh Start option but I would have lost the free Adobe software. Can't believe I got 8gig of ram for such a cheap price and they threw in Adobe Standard and Photoshop.
I assume the best thing to do is just remove most of the Vaio software, but not sure.

Thanks.

 

I, personally, didn't find any use for it. I prefer to press the Windows key and type what I want to access. I think it's a good thing for people who want to know ALL of the options, but don't know what they're called or where to find them. For that reason, I think it's extremely useful.

 

A lot of the software isn't really necessary. Here's what I like:

VAIO Care (definitely keep) - ASSIST Button
VAIO Event Service (keep) - makes Fn keys, ASSIST and S1 work
VAIO Control Center (keep) - S1 key
Settings Utility Service (keep) - options w/in VAIO Control Center
VAIO Help and Support (optional, recommeded)
VAIO Power Management (optional, recommended)
VAIO Update (optional, recommended)

Nothing else is essential to daily function. You can also look into doing a clean install using your recovery discs that will truly give you a fresh start. Then, you can install only the VAIO programs that are necessary and that you want.

 

Question for the Motion Eye of F12.

How many Megapixels is this camera? Is it 1.3 or just 0.3?

 

What do you all use to clean the F12 screen?

 

With Fresh Start theres not much to remove. You'll probably want to turn off VAIO Gate since I not only found it useless when you have Windows 7 quicklaunch but the overlay prevents google chrome tabs from being moved around. It makes all tabs undock into new windows every time you try to reorder them.

Its 0.3. The image is not very big.

 

Great news guys i have finally got the F12, even though the F13 is out, is costs much more, but im happy i got this great laptop today. Anyway i wanted to ask a few questions.

1. How do i download all the drivers for the computer.
2. Where do i get a recovery disk in order to do a fresh install

 

... erm congrats. See the unification post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/5992644-post554.html


You need to burn your own recovery discs. Open Vaio Care and go to recover and restore, youe will need 2 dvd's.

 

Use a microfiber cloth and I use an optical lens cleaner which is ammonia and alcohol free.

 

Omaroo, I never thought you would pull the trigger. Congrats. Now do your best and go back into the 4 parts of this thread for all the gems provided. I often find the search feature within this thread ineffective. Try Googling your question and adding 'lounge' to the search query. This method does a better job at finding what you are looking for within these four parts of this thread. Do your best at researching first, then ask. Looking forward to your experiences and comments about your new F. Enjoy.

 

Thanks Fishon, had to get it, its a great laptop so far. So far the fan is really quiet, not proper loud YET. Man all 4 parts of the F series to look at, that is long, what do you mean by searching in google.

Regarding the battery it aint that gd, but problem is it does not fully charge to 100%, anyone know why. Also is it possible to get over 2 hours battery on normal settings

 

Go to Google and type whatever you want to research (drivers, external hard drive- whatever) then add 'Sony F lounge' to the query. You'll usually get four different pages from different parts of the lounge where you can start your research from. Often provides an area where this topic was discussed and replied upon.

Go to Vaio Care/ Power Management/ Battery Care and uncheck the Enable Battery Care Function. I use this function to keep my battery from degrading. I uncheck when I know I will be needing max battery life. This is a good example of what I am talking about above. In Google type in 'battery care sony f lounge' and lo and behold you will see where this topic has already been answered.

 

Depends what normal is. If you turn off wireless, turn the brightness down to minimum and don't do anything that makes the gpu and cpu step up or the optical drive spin up then you can get over 2 hours. But I wouldn't say thats a normal usage pattern for most people with a multimedia notebook.

Battery life and fan noise are the achilles heel of the F series.

 

i will try to do that mate, but could you help me with my battery issue.

 

I do keep this on my desktop. For most of my major functions I do what anseio does and type in startup and keep my most used pined to the start menu. But for some of the rarely used stuff like file associations, or where I may have forgotten what to even type, I find this categorization useful.