fostert wrote:
and see this post: http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?2329-ATTENTION-G73-53SW-Owners-CPU-Throttling-to-798mhz-and...
for a link to compatble 180W unit that will work fine with the G74, and run cooler. Getting a 230W is complete overkill, since even upgrading to the i7 2860QM from a 2670QM will only increase the power draw by (3.6GHZ-3.1GHZ)/3.1GHZ = 16%, up to a maximum of 45W. So even in the worst case (i.e. ASUS cut corners and the 150W PSU that comes with the G74 can only handle a 2670QM), going to a 180W is more than enough extra power for the fastest 45W TDP processor that the G74 can take.
Sadly, the link within that thread to the 180w PSU is dead
😞 i actually destroyed the plug on my 150w unit today(i was attempting to extract a piece of an old pin embedded inside of the plug) and probably would have just ordered it.
to add on to this though, there are other things within the system that would cause a 55w EE cpu to run at minimum speed. remember the BD PROCHOT throttling issues? this would come back to that subsystem.
basically, the VRMs that supply power to the cpu, and the internal power supply within the machine that coverts 19.5 to the various internal voltages are *both* not designed for more than
around 150 watts for the entire system. you have 73-75w max for the GPU, and 45w max for the CPU + the bits and bobs of the system. if you have two hard drives, a DVD in the optical drive, and you're playing a demanding game you're probably at the
absolute limit of what it was designed to do. this is basically the difference between the beginning of the red demarcation on a cars tachometer, and the actual redline at which the control systems would cut fuel to decrease RPMs
so at 2.5ghz an extreme edition CPU is drawing 45ish watts. even if it's drawing 30, it goes and *requests* more current from the northbridge/interconnect(i know they killed the NB name with the QPI bus, but whatever the hell they call it now) and it says it's already at the maximum state it can step up to.
you could connect a 400 watt power supply to the machine and it would never run a 55cpu at anything but the absolute minimum speed. i'm honestly amazed it even ran at the full non-turbo speed, i'd expect to see it running at 1200mhz or something.
this stuff, by the way, is the same reason that it was incredibly stupid when people were trying to put 470m's and other 100w or otherwise greater than 75 watt cards in the g73jh/jw/etc.
your best bet would be to either get the highest model of non-extreme edition CPU, or even the highest non extreme ivy bridge CPU which uses the same socket. most checks show that out performs the extreme edition anyways.
as an addendum on my comment about the power supply not mattering though, the stock machine
does push the PSU to the limit. there is a point to upgrading to the 180w model if you can find it, the main point of this comment is that it won't give you any headroom to run hardware beyond the stock ratings within the machine. it will simply cause the power supply to last longer and run at lower temperatures.
and thinking back on it, when both me and my roommate had g73jh's a few years ago one of our power supplies died a fairly quick death from being hot as the sun. on completely stock machines. i think i was running dirt 3 or something that absolutely taxed the machine to the limit when it died. as i've mentioned before, the notebookcheck reviews show that sometimes the machine can draw slightly more than 150w from the brick.
