Official Sony Vaio CW Core 2 Duo Series Owner's Thread

RMClock works but if you have the 64bit os you will need to find the sind driver for it (its on the undervolting thread)

 

I'm thinking about to buy a Sony CW! now a Have a Sony Vaio FZ series, but I wanna know, the GeForce 230M GT with that 512MB... some one tell me on native res how many fps you can get with all settings on high and with all settings on low?

 

lol you might want to tell us what games/software you are after performance of

 

Minesweeper and solitare

 

hahaha
I'm asking about L4D2 because I play L4D on low res on my FZ, with a 8400M GT with 128MB... and I can get about 40~50 fps! and I got the new L4D2 now, but it's terrible to play this game on my notebook =(
so... i'm getting a new one! I love Sony Vaio so I don't know if I buy a FW, that is more powerfull ou a CW because has a better looking and LED blacklight screen!
If CW runs this game very well... i'm going to buy a CW! of not... I buy a FW series !

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Lapto…ards.13849.0.html

 

Here is some info on this topic...
Article from Sony's KB:

The battery is not compatible with the computer.
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/..._1_1&dialogID=149065015&stateId=0 0 149053618

Other discussions:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=243325

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=211321

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTjSDM0AjxU

 

Hi everyone,

I have sony vpccw14fx from newegg.

Everything works ok.

I just want to know how to overclock it correctly : Processor t6600 is 2.2ghz (want to overclock to 2.5)
Gpu 230gt. also want to clock to factory clocks.
I read all comments and there is no real explanation for overclocking, founded just that its possible for gpu with nvidia system tools.

Please someone maybe can explain it clearly how to do it.

 

After you did the clean install, were you able to get the function keys to work? If you don't mind, could you list every driver you installed? I also did a clean install of Win7 Pro, but I'm having a few different problems.

Thank you for this information.

 

Dear all,

I am planning to change my laptop.
I would like to choose between a Sony CW1X5E, a Sony SR55X and an Asus U80V.
I mainly use my laptop for office purposes, GIS and image editing.
I do not play games at all.
I travel frequently that's why i would like a lighter laptop with a smaller screen (14")

Can someone help me to choose?
Thank you

 

The main question to overclock cpu? PLL?

 

I wish I knew how to overclock the CPU myself too, but I can help you with the GPU.

Google nvidia system tools, download and install it.

Then goto your nvidia control panel and look on the left for a new section called performance.

Accept the warning that shows,

Then look for device settings, This will show you your current clocks with 3 sliders.

Raise the core clock to 500 then click apply
Raise the memory clock to 750 then click apply
then raise the shader to 1100 then apply

This is only a little overclock to get you started but you should be able to get much more out of it.

I would recommend downloading atitool 0.27b3 to test for artifacts, because this can find errors well before you can see them.

When you exit out of the control panel it asks if you want to save the settings for startup, Just clik yes.

 

Ok, gpu overclocked, the performance increase for cod4 is 4 fps, not a big deal.

Thank, for reply.

Still searching, tried cpufsb ect. nothing works. (PLL?)

Damit how to overclock it, i have NBA 2k10 and its real bad performance from cpu. I had t8300 in older laptop, with 2.4 and was good solid 35 fps on high. with t6600 is 22-25 on high. (stuttering) GPU for 2k10 is more than needed.

 

If i find PLL or other information i'll share with you.
My friend bought with p8700 , nba 2k10 is in high about 40 fps. Hear is real differences between t6600 and p8700. Don't buy with t6600 or lower

 

For me if I wasn't needing the extra Graphics Power, here are my choice suggestions. First let me say I know very little about the Vaio SR...it is probably a nice laptop, but because of the screen, I wouldn't want it...I think the screen is not "Widescreen". It is 1280 x 800 versus 1366 x 768, such as the screen on the 13" HP DM3.

Here are my top choices...

-If you are willing to consider a 11.6" screen, I think the best option out there is the Acer Timeline 1410 (SU2300 Dual Core Processor), 4-6 hours battery life ($399) or Acer Timeline 1810T SU7300 Dual Core Processor, 8 hours of battery life ($599), other than the small screen size, this is a wonderful laptop in everyway, except no DVD drive...but it has a really nice large keyboard, nice mouse pad, nice screen, and only weighs 3 lbs, plenty of power for daily tasks.

-For 13"-14" laptops my first choice is the Vaio CW, but it is a bit on the heavy side at 5.4 lbs and not that great of battery life. Other then that my first consideration would be the HP 5310m...it is only 3.8 lbs, 13" screen and under 1" thick and has a beautiful brushed black metal finish (Lid/palm rests) and has gotten some great reviews...here is an example...HP ProBook 5310m http://www.laptopmag.com/review/reviewsdetail.aspx?id=37514

- For the price I'd consider the Dell Studio 14z (purchasing it from their Outlet Site ( www.delloutlet.com)). Here you can get one for about $500 to $700. This is the lightest weight 14" on the market (in this price range) only 4.2 -4.5 lbs, but no DVD drive. Preferable is if you can find one available that has the 900p HD screen, a backlit keyboard and 8 cell battery. It does include a free Windows 7 upgrade as well. But the 14z does have some hit and miss build quality issues, such as a loose battery, keyboard flex, etc. But they do have a 21 day return policy from invoice date. Plus the 14z doesn't seem to have some of the overheating issues as many other Dell models.

- Asus UL80VT, lots of great features, but some build quality issues...if your lucky maybe yours wouldn't have some of these issues or if it does, Asus does have a strong 2 year warranty included, so you could send it back if build quality issues are found.

That's my input!

 

If my Vaio CW entered production on the 22/11/2009 how long does it normally take before it's dispatched?

P.S. Did everyone else whose orders entered production over the weekend choose regular or express shipping?

 

I'm about to order a T9600 CPU for mine. But just need to ask the person that replaced his CPU with a quad, how easy Is it to replace the CPU in this? Any hidden screws or plastics to prise apart to get into it that I should be aware of?

 

Overclocking is a very good way of reducing the life of components for minimal performance increases. Not good in a desktop machine, but potentially catastrophic in a laptop, where the components are much more difficult to replace.


I would avoid it.

 

I agree, especially given this computer isn't really supposed to be a game machine. Most OCers do it with bigger laptops and are the type who replace their rigs ever 2 years anyways. There is safe and stable OCing of course but its kind of a waste on the CW.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Overclocking voids the warranty as well.

 

well you wrong about warranty, if you overclock just a bit nothing happens. Well i overclocked to nvidia stock clocks and no big differences but it helped for call of duty 4 and modern 2. modern warfare 2, with manufacture stock clocks 30-60 fps. ( full resolution, off anti.., deph of field also off because its not necessary ) overclocked 40-80 fps. temperatures is almost the same 5C is higher. And this card is really cool, for games also, same performance as 9700gt i had before. (just a big difference its 14 inch not crazy heavy 17). I'm not a gamer but i can spend few ours in a week. I Recommend this lapy because its small and its powerful, but battery life is ****, if you don't like games buy with Intel 4500.

 

Yeh I got the problem
Battery checker software is the problem

you have to kill the process ISBMgr.exe
then execute msconfig and unselect the start of the process (or you can rename ISBMgr.exe in C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\ISB Utility so that it can't be loaded by windows on startup)

 

To overclock the CPU, you need to download SetFSB.

Choose SLG8SP513V as the clockgen and move the slider to position 5. This will clock the FSB from 266 to 333, aka 2.13Ghz to 2.6Ghz. YMMV

Obviously there are many pitfalls with such a big jump. CPU and RAM may not be able to take the speed. Also temps are a bit toasty

Will try to find a way to clocking a little less.

 

1/ sorry I didn't try it

2/ I followed a message in this thread to be able to do a clean install.I erased the recovery partition because I don't need it to have only one partition (I don't like partitions but you can have two one for the OS and one for your files if you want).

all FN keys work, instant web doesn't, web button starts the browser, display off button works and vaio button doesn't work (because I didn't install the soft)

You need Sony Firmware Extention Parser to be installed but it should because it s included in microsoft update. you can check its presence in the device manager

After Win7 pro installation and installation of updates by windows update, I installed
1. VAIO Event Service
2. Reboot
3. SONY Shared Library
4. Reboot
5. VAIO Power Management
6. Reboot

then

Chipset Driver
Graphics
Audio
touchpad
bluetooth


Then I had an unknown device in the device manager. It was Ricoh Memory Stick host controller. I have attached to this message a zip file (ms_6.13.02.06w7.zip) you can use to update the device driver (I don't know why, but the one provided by Sony didn't work).

Please do not install battery checker or you will have an error message from sony saying that your battery is not a valid one. If you already did, just follow this

EDIT: I added the driver for ricoh SD reader (SD_6.13.02.06W7.zip). Win7 recognizes a SDA device but you need to update the driver with the file attached. after that, run the .bat in zip file

 

For battery life and price, ASUS UL80Vt
For much better LCD and performance, Sony SR.
I wouldn't recommend Cw if you don't plan to use 3D graphics.

 

Instant lockup to a black screen when doing this. Ive got the same CPU too, need to be a little less OC i think

 

I actually think this laptop has great battery life, considering the hardware thats in it and the dedicated GPU.

I get about 3.5 hours on the standard battery when just browsing and simple tasks.

More than adequate for me.

 

Just curious what you meant about the SR having "much better performance"?

 

Nice, inform for your research latter if you find a stable spot. But don't understand this PLL that you mentioned is correct for our laptops ?

 

And also did you saw performance increase ?

 

Good question.

It certainly felt faster but I'll get some SuperPI going later when it's in front of me.

 

Any luck finding a way to get a smaller increase in FSB instead of the huge jump. Mine crashes instantly when i change it

 

Your processor t6600?

 

Mine crashed too (T6600)

 

We need to confirm the exact PLL that the CW uses but to do this someone has to expose her guts and find the exact chip. For the moment, it appears it's definately using a Silego series PLL as the timings that SetFSB reads back is correct. The PLL registers also confirm the datasheet.

You should have a look at http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=15920 (my other lappy's an A150 )

It should give you relevant instructions on how to achieve a lower clock. I've tried doing the lower one's myself, but the CW locks up (The same thing happens on my A150). The only good news is that they haven't HW locked the PLL.

Concerning the long term safety and life-span of an overclock. Remember that Intel manufacture a single design per processor series and separate them into bins during testing. This means that if the yield on the P series was good, that Intel would possibly 'bin' high achievers into a lower 'bin' to satisfy market demands.

YMMV, since some chips will have manufacturing faults that exhibit themselves when running faster. Prime95 is your friend.

Also the CW is sold with a P8700 (2.5Ghz). This means that the standard HSF is capable of cooling a P8700. I would be surprised if Sony uses different parts depending on CPU. So if you don't bump the volts up and just clock the FSB, the standard cooling should be fine.

 

T6600 = 2.2GHz = 200Mhz x11
P7450 = 2.13GHz = 266Mhz x8

When I moved my SetFSB slider up one it became 333Mhz x8 = 2.6Ghz

I s'pect that when you move your slider it went from 200Mhz to 266Mhz.
So 266Mhz x11 = 2.9Ghz. Even I would be surprised if you got that working.

You should try one of the other SLG PLL in SetFSB, some people on the Aspire One thread have seen good results when doing smaller clocks using them. Like I said earlier, I couldn't get smaller clocks to not hang..

 

well tried all but crashed, maybe when real pll will be i'll try it, at this moment those crashes scary

 

Mines a P7450, Tried the other similar PLLs and all crashed, I dont think its going to play ball this laptop, Shame

 

Thanks very much for your input.
I suppose it was a personal choice to delete the recovery partition. Otherwise it isn't necessary. Also I assume the web and vaio buttons can be working if the corresponding utilities (?) are installed. Do you have a reason not to install these buttons ?!!

In the post you mentioned there is a line you haven't in your process:
SONY DLL Utils (From Utilities Folder)
Is this any different from Sony drivers? Where is the "Utilities" folder anyway?

Did you have a W7 DVD or did you download it and provide the key on the back of the CW?

For my part, I created a D: partition and reduced the C: to the min (60Go) leaving system and recovery partition in place. I did it via the recovery procedure (from recovery partition not the recovery DVD which is slow).

My next step will be a clean install. But I'd like to try first the semi-clean install from the following post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144727

This procedure is written for other vaio series and for Vista but seems to have given good results with other vaio series also and can be considered as a general purpose semi-clean install guide, so i'll give it a try. The advantage of this method as I see it is that W7+Wupdates are installed by the recovery procedure itself. Then, rather than downloading and manually installing each driver, vaio recovery center or something (an admin vaio program) can be used to install them all (no problem to reboot after each driver install).

I also found a program called VAIORecvr.exe (somewhere in ProgramFiles/Sony...) which I suppose should be the equivalent of the program called "Launcher.exe" in the above link, which should be killed after the supposedly end of W7 installation and just before it starts installing those crapwares.

Does anyone tried the semi-clean install procedure and what is the name of the program that must be aborted in the middle of the vaio recovery procedure?

thanks
nalooti

 

I finally pulled the trigger and bought my new CW...I tried to use the Black Friday coupon I found of $150 Off (BLACKFRIDAYCW150) on the Customized CW, but it only applies to a particular preconfigured CW (VPCCW1EFX/W). But my total price still ended up being $50 less than it was yesterday for the same exact configuration, plus they added back the Free Blu-Ray Drive promo. My total was $909 (before tax) for the following config. That is definitely the best price I've seen!!

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT230M GPU (512MB VRAM)
500GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
Blu-ray Disc™ playback
Royal Indigo [VAIO Signature Collection]
Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional 64bit
Fresh Start
Standard Capacity Battery

 

It looks like Sony have added a free upgrade to the GT230 (on the Sony Style site)...that is the $50 saving you are seeing. That said - still a great price!!

Do you think it is worth the extra $150 and go T9600?

 

welcome to the club scottybgood,

almost mine; i should have taken 500GB of HDD with all those recovery partition and GB lost after formatting!

hows the blue?

Would you mind test your WiFi connection speed ? specially the 2.4 GHz g and 5GHz n. What are the connection speed before any traffic and when transferring files ?

 

The only first hand experience I have is my last Dell Studio 14z (which I returned) had a P8600 and I was very happy with the responsiveness of it, so I think I'll be happy with the P8700. I definitely don't have first hand experience with the performance of the T9600. Th two reasons I upgraded to the P8700 from the T4300/T6600 is 1) Because the P8700 supports Intel virtualization for Virtual PC/Win XP Mode and is a fairly good speed upgrade for not too much increase in price 2) The P8700 consumes 25w versus the T6600/T9600 consume 35w, so I'm hoping it is a good bump in performance, while still drawing less power, hopefully helping a little bit with battery life...
the bump in performance is about 200 points going from P8700 to T9600, but that much is not worth the extra expense to me...
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+T9600+@+2.80GHz

 

Thanks, I've been very patient, it is nice to finally make the jump!! I'll be glad to do some testing/reviewing once I receive it, it said on "checkout" that estimated ship date is December 4th...I won't be able to test the "N" Connection speed at this point, being that my router is a couple of years old and doesn't support it...I think I will like the Purple color...someone on here said a while back that the color of the Indigo is a true Purple and not a blue color.

 

Thanks for the info! I'll think overnight, and pull the trigger tomorrow.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has gone for the "Fresh Start" option. I assume it does what it says, and the laptop comes without "any" bloatware? Does that include all the Sony stuff?

 

well, nvidia drivers don't recognize my gt230, well where to find normal drivers, i deleted and trying to find drivers sony page gives me just gt210 drivers. ?

 

Here are some older posts that will hopefully help...

 

Got my cw14 from newegg yesterday. So far, i'm satisfied.
Keyboard is going to take getting used to. mousepad is comfortable, and graphics are GREAT. speed is also good too. With all these great things, i also have a few problems.

Whenever i start the computer, after windows loads, i get the message with a black screen "scanning harddrive NTFS. Check disks for consistency. I think it may be because i created an image ISO with daemon tools. anyone know how to delete and image file, because it shows up as a disk drive, and i can't delete it -.-

Also, whenever i change the screen color settings with nvidia control center, i reboot and the computer atomatically changes to the default. I remember an earlier post showing how to fix this, so can someone link me to that post?

Was hard first setting up wifi, but that was my router's problem...


To scotty, i'm using the 2.4ghz wifi, and its blazing fast! except my downloads are very slow when i first boot the computer

 

Maybe you know witch is the best from laptop2go, all inf from 18... drivers do not showing gt230, acer drivers is with gt 240

 

I'm really confused whether to go for CW now or wait till tomorrow.. Right now sony is offering the graphic card and bluray for free.. Already bluray burner is out of stock.. but the offer is valid till nov 30 (only restriction is stock). The sony chat person advises to wait for a day but again says that stock is moving fast.. Confused!!!!