Some Confusion, Vaio Z Fresh Install

I am getting my VPCZ124GX/B tonight, and I will give it a few days to make sure it is what I am looking for (I know it is though ) before I do a fresh Win7 install. But...

1- I see multiple threads on doing a fresh install, they seem different... what to do? The only real important part seems to be the order in which drivers are installed (which maybe it is safe to assume there is not just *1* order that works, but a couple)...

2- My understanding is if I create recovery discs or recovery flash drive using the wizard, I can delete the Sony partitions, and still recover to factory defaults if necessary...

3- Are there any bios upgrades I need to worry about before I get started?

4- I am definitely interested in overclocking the GPU potentially, does that require special drivers or anything?

Thanks

 

Apparently Sony does some cheap shipping options so my choices are to drive an hour to pick it up (makes zero sense, seeing as how there is a FedEx distribution center five minutes from my house) or release liability so they can leave it on the door step.

Oh well, guess I am getting it tomorrow. Just ridiculous though, could not change address to work, could not transfer it to the center nearby, no options, no choices. Lame sauce.

 

1) If you feel inclined to fresh install then yes, follow the order in which sony advises you to install the driver. In reality, you really don't need to reinstall windows. The laptop doesn't ship with that much bloatware anyways and it's faster to just uninstall all the two trialware programs.

2) if you create the recovery disks then yes, you can go ahead and delete the sony partition, but make sure your disks are readable before you do. Some people have problems making the disks

3) Regarding bios upgrades (or upgrades altogether): upon opening and booting your vaio, run Vaio Updater. It'll look for any updates you need. Since you're buying a Pre-config Z12, you're going to have to manually update the graphics driver from the VPCZ1390X driver download page, or if you're feeling adventurous, you can try one of the community ones floating around.

4) OCing requires an additional program. I use EVGA Precision, some people have reported that Nvidia System tools work too... About clock speeds, i run 550/1210/800 fine, as well as 615/1353/800 just as well too. (this is all from stock 475/1045/700). In either case, you must be plugged into the AC adapter before you can OC... I dont know if this is a Hardware lock or Software lock, in any case, I dont think you want to be gaming on battery power either.

p.s. depending on the intensity of the game, your temps can get pretty high (i've gotten mine to 95C+ for both CPU/GPU, but they share the same heat sink so... go figure)

 

Thanks.

Probably the main reason to do a fresh install is to get rid of recovery partition, which is just unnecessary in my opinion. No reason to partition drives, all it does is limit your storage space!

 

JVRR, it looks like you bought VPCZ124 with $500 off promotion?
I just received mine yesterday, too.
Well as far as doing fresh install, I didn't experience anything technically. (I just had to burn the Windows 7 ISO file at slow speed, I had to burn 2 copies.)

As for drivers and such, go to Sony's esupport page and you should be able to navigate thru links to download all the necessary drivers & programs.

It took me 3 DVDs for making recovery disks. Also, Sony made a recovery partition on the Raid0, and I ended up deleting the Raid0 array and re-created Raid0 so I have one single partition without Recovery partition which I don't need as I got recovery disks. (You need to go to BIOS (F2) and change the setting for Raid array config to show the options during booting, by default, it is set to hidden)

As for updating BIOS, I didn't any problems. You can download BIOS from esupport site and just run the .exe from windows. No need to run anything under command prompt.

Anyways, I am not bragging or anything but, I also had problem with delivery date. I opted for expedite shipping (shipping was offered free too) but Sony delayed the shipping and I called them to b1tch about it. At the end, I got another $100 off of my purchase price. So in the end, I ended up buying VPCZ124 for about $1740 ish, after tax and shipping, everything.

Well, I also would like to know more about overclocking the 330M.

Good luck with your fresh install~

 

I might be getting a Vaio too (F series).
So can't I just boot from an OEM Win7 CD, delete all partition, format HD, install my OEM copy of Win7.

The let Win7 find all the drivers online and be done with it?

You know the way I would do on my desktop machine?

 

Hi lap lap,
I am pretty sure you can just pop in the Win7 CD and do all that you mentioned without any problem.
It's just that Vaio Z comes with Raid 0 SSDs and with Win7 CD's partition setup screen, I wasn't able to merge the recovery partition with other partitions. So, that's why I had to rebuild the Raid0 array.
I don't know if Vaio F comes in with Raid0 SSds like Vaio Z though.

 

Just download any overclocking software(EVGA precision, MSI afterburner, Nvidia System Tools, etc.) and then just choose your settings and apply. I use EVGA precision and haven't tested the others, but with EVGA, you can save your profiles and set them to hotkeys.

I think it's find with the F series to let Win 7 find all the drivers (<-- dont quote me on that, maybe try the F series owners thread), but the Z series has to download drivers in order because of the Hybrid graphics, etc. In short, it's a messy thing... (almsot as proprietary as Apple ><)