Bdtry wrote:
Thank you for any help.
(sorry, had to drop the questions text as I hit the 10k limit, I also used pointers to other posts to save text space here)
All good questions, noone has built a comprehensive coverage thread of the problems / solutions because these laptops are too new, and most of the problems are being solved quickly with updates and work arounds. I am sure someone will follow through with one somewhere down the road.
That is a nice model, but you will want to drop both HD's, put them in an external USB 3.0 case, and get a nice sized SSD 512GB - 1TB to take over for them. This will allow you to get around any latency from HD access, remove heat / power draw from the laptop.
Some use Asus Backtracker, I think that is a good way to go. I am more comfortable with preserving the original boot drive by cloning it to an SSD and put the original drive aside in case I need to recover from a drive failure, blown OS, or need to put it back in the laptop to send in to Asus for service.
Asus requires all original components be installed in their original configuration for service.
I do this first thing before configuring / uninstalling / installing software - but it is a matter of preference. You could configure everything you want and then clone it. Or keep the original config intact and clone the final config you want to another drive as an image backup.
I use Macrium Reflect for cloning, it is free and completely functional for non-commercial use:
http://www.macrium.com/
Asus has a number of apps that they install with the laptop, there are problems with Splendid - it does nothing for me and seems to make some LCD's show lines. Most have solved the lines problem by removing Splendid and upping the LCD refresh rate higher - some say 80hz works for them, some higher, I run at 100hz - the top frequency that is stable for my LCD.
With the recent BIOS update that improves the CPU speed while on battery the Power4Gear Power plans are causing some people issues - uninstalling and using Balanced works ok for now - until Asus updates the Power4Gear plans and/or a new BIOS comes out.
I don't use the rest of the Asus apps, but I do leave them installed - I disabled start up for all of the Asus apps that have Windows start up entries.
The only driver to watch out for right now is the Realtek driver, you want to update to the newest one, not currently in the G750 download areas, here is the link to the Notebook Audio section that tracks audio drivers for some of the Asus audio chipsets:
http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Audio&p=3&s=111
Version V6.0.1.7016
Description Realtek Audio Driver
File Size 103.76 (MBytes) 2013/09/27 update
Make sure you remove rtkhdaud.dat from c:\windows\system32\Drivers, you might want to search C:\windows for rtkhdaud.dat to be certain, then reboot, uninstall the old Realtek driver, reboot, install the latest Realtek driver from the above link, reboot, and you are updated.
For the rest of the drivers you can download the latest ones from the G750 download areas, and use the latest one. Uninstall the old driver, reboot, install the new driver - and reboot if requested.
If you want to get fancy you can find the bluetooth and wireless drivers for your card version elsewhere in the Asus support pages, starting here to search:
http://support.asus.com/Download/Options.aspx?SLanguage=en&type=1
You came at a good time, there is now a Release WHQL Nvidia driver 327.23, and a Beta Nvidia driver available directly from Nvidia that install on the G750 - the Asus Nvidia drviers are a bit old, but workable.
Go here and enter your card/os info into Manual Search:
http://www.geforce.com/drivers
These are the current latest drivers that are reported to work ok:
GeForce 331.40 Driver - Beta
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/67382
GeForce 327.23 Driver - WHQL Release
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/66702
I actively check the download areas for all models of G750 for updated drivers as they are interchangeable. Asus doesn't always update all related laptops when new drivers come out . The G750 BIOS's aren't interchangeable and even within the same model line there are now "..A" models, the JXA and JHA, and perhaps JWA
1. For the JW / JX cooling is awesome, but so quiet it sounds like it isn't working, it is 🙂
2. The BIOS of the laptop and video card are locked to limited OC potential, but we can use Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) to max out the core/cache multipliers, drop the Vcore/Vcache by -50Mv up to -100Mv (some say -125Mv works) to reduce heat load, and use the Asus GPU Tweak Tool to max out the GPU to the vBios limit and find the memory speed that is stable for your card.
Intel Extreme Tuning Utility XTU
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-boards-software-ext...
Assu GPU Tweak tool
http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=gpu%20tweak&os=30
3. Make sure any network issues you have on wireless are solved by going to ethernet before debugging a wireless problem. As with all wireless routers / laptop cards there are combinations that require tweaking on both sides to get the best performance - or get another compatible router or MicroPCIE adapter for the laptop.
4. There seems to be a quirk with the new JHA, JXA, JWA(?) models, they have a new touchy / notchy fan profile. The symptom is the fan is off when the laptop is idle, but if you do anything at all the fan whooshes up and then down between CPU activity.
The original JW/JX fans don't kick in for quite a while, letting things heat up, before making noise with the fan - which as it turns out is pretty cool, pardon the pun.
A BIOS fix from Asus could change the fan profile, until then you could find something to run in the background to keep the heat up and the fan on (which is quiet when running at low speed) so as to avoid the whooshing on/off action. I run BOINC and FHA, but not for the same reason. Both of these can be tuned for limited / specific background load.
5. Some complain about headphone jack based noise; the noise floor is higher for low Ohm headphones. Get / use headphones higher in impedance.
It is a pretty clean sounding amplifier when running, but at idle - when there is no sound to amplify - the amplifier goes into power saving mode - which for some creates crackles from the headphone jack. I found the fix early and haven't heard the crackle. I do hear the sound floor between input passages, but when the source has exited the silence returns.
Here are the registry settings to turn off the power saving mode while plugged in
Details for audio driver and registry locations in post #13
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?37273-ASUS-G750JX-headphone-sound-problem./page2
6. There are complaints from some about quality control problems, they seem to be regional (other countries), but carefully check the fit and finish to make sure you are happy before the return options expire. The JW and JX I have used have been first rate builds.
7. When you remove the back panel to access the drive bays and 2 of the 4 memory slots, pop the tabs carefully - I push them down and pull them away rather than pop them. None of mine have broken and I have been in and out a dozen times on both laptops.
8. From my experience with past heavy / large laptops like this, invest the $ in a good study well fitting case. The first thing to go is the shoulder strap - I have several now useless bags because the right shoulder strap has collapsed from the constant weight. The only one that has survived is an Oakley Kitchen Sink bag, here are several different color/style variations, and mine is like new after 4 years. Everki looks good too.
>>>> And lastly, any tips, tricks, or helpful hints for somebody that has never used Windows 8?
Be happy Windows 8.1 is right around the corner 🙂
I always disable VM, setting the pagefile to size=0 on all computers I can get 8GB RAM or more. For Windows 8 is appears to be more important, people are seeing HD related lag in games in circumstances where the game as paged out to disk and is re-entered.
With an SSD you don't want the pagefile to be there at all, on HD's it is a waste of disk accesses - again only if you have more than enough memory to handle your work - and you don't need to debug driver issues causing OS crashes - I re-enable VM with an 800mb pagefile for kernel debugging.
If you miss Windows 7 anachronisms you can get back the Start Menu with a couple of apps, I use this free one:
Classic Shell
http://www.classicshell.net/
I configure it to remove hot corners, and to skip the Start Screen and go directly in to the Desktop. Not sure I am going to keep this, as now to get to the Start Screen I have a link the frequently used apps list. Kinda got used to Windows 8 weirdness - but with 8.1 it will change again.
If you liked gadgets, here is 8gadgetPack to restore desktop app functionality and has a nice collection of gadgets:
8GadgetPack
http://8gadgetpack.net/
I have a lot of postings on G750 releted stuff, as do many others, you might want to spend a few days reading through the history of postings to dig out the gems.
>>>> Thank you for any help.
You are welcome! We look forward to your posts with your helpful tips too! There is nothing like the perspective of someone seeing all this for the first time to help others seeing things for the first time too - it is a valuable perspective that disappears quickly 🙂
Have fun!
Bdtry wrote:
Holy mother of all replies! 😛
...Will report back later.
bdtry, I guess a lot of stuff has accumulated about the G750 🙂
Take your time with the SSD, I saved about $100 on a spur of the moment sale at one of the local component superstores. Walked in for one thing came out with a 512GB Samsung 840 Pro I had been waiting to go on sale.
I find all laptop keyboards a bit oddly laid out compared to the keyboards I use for desktops, so I use an external keyboard / mouse when I can, which is most of the time. I carry a small wireless keyboard/trackpad with me too, Logitech k400r. Nice side effect is the laptop doesn't get all crumbed/greased up like a keyboard, and I can sit back and be comfortable away from the screen with a wireless keyboard/trackpad.
When you say the fan is running most/all the time, do you mean "loudly" or "noticeably" or "quietly"?
Mine is idle right now, browser open for typing, but nothing else going on, and the AIDA64 System Stability Test monitor graph for fans shows occasional running at 2300rpn, as you can see the graph for fan speed is shorter than the graph for CPU, I am assuming that means the fan isn't running some of the time - haven't found a good program to monitor the fan speed on the G750.
And the CPU usage is also mostly idle.
Your fan shouldn't be noticeably or loudly running all the time, it should be mostly silent. If you monitor the CPU utilization with the Windows Task manager while you think the laptop is idle, do you see any processes running at higher than expected utilization?
There that issue with the Media processes taking up CPU when not using Asus / Cyberlink DVD - uninstalling it and installing the newest version from Cyberlink fixes that problem.
Let us know what you find 🙂
