Help
cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Do I return my laptop or not: Throttling fix thru BIOS yet?

fostert
Level 12

‎10-18-2011 10:35 AM - last edited on ‎03-05-2024 07:52 PM by Community Admin

A few days back I picked up a G74SX CST1 through a sale that Staples had. I absolutely love everything with it: good 1920x1080 screen, 3G DDR5 GTX-560M, potent CPU, etc. No complaints about the sale price either.

However, I am concerned with two things I've been reading about: the CPU throttling issue when running near full load, and the apparent lack of ASUS willingness to release a BIOS fix for this. I can't use Throttlestop because I run Linux on the G74SX for my work. I plan to run some pretty heavy data processing apps on this system, but in fairness they are single threaded apps. I have only moderate need for the power of the GTX560M, except for the occasional game that I would run in the Windows partition (dual-boot system w/ Linux and Windows); e.g. portal 2.

Now I haven't yet put Linux on the other partition, but I plan to immediately if I keep the laptop. Will I experience throttling there too?

I have until Friday to decided whether or not to return it to Staples, and save my money for a non-throttling laptop that makes full use of the core i7 2630QM?

So: has ASUS released anything yet to fix this other than throttestop? Will they? Do I have a mistaken impression of how this is being handled bu them?

I would really like to know some opinions. Thanks for your help!

tf 🙂
--
G74SX-CST1-CBIL, i7 2630QM 2GHz
32GB DDR3 RAM @1333MHz
GTX560M 3GB DDR5 (192 bit)
17.3" LED 1920x1080
Sentelic TP, BIOS 203
Debian Linux Wheezy (Testing) Kernel 3.2, NVIDIA 295.40
Labels:
3,435 Views
3 REPLIES 3

dkillone
Level 9

‎10-18-2011 03:44 PM

Well, AFAIK, Asus has no plans of getting a fix for this, it has been a few months since I've had any contact with anyone about it. But, the G74 is newer, so I guess it would be more likely that Asus could release an update fixing it for y'all.

However the throttling should only occur when you are maxing 4threads + and maxing the GPU at the same time. So if most of your apps are only single threaded/you dont plan on using the gpu too much at the same time anyways. It might not be that much of a problem for you. I certainly wouldn't hold your breath for a fix from them though. It's pretty sad how even HP addressed their throttling problem within a month while it has been about 5 months now for us. And yet, still no word or sign of them coming up with a bios update to fix.
Current Laptop: MSI GT780 (no longer use the Asus G73SW-XA1)
http://www.asusrog.com/forums/showthread.php?2329-ATTENTION-G73-53SW-Owners-CPU-Throttling-to-798mhz...
0 Kudos

JRd1st
Level 12

‎10-18-2011 03:53 PM

fostert wrote:
A few days back I picked up a G74SX CST1 through a sale that Staples had. I absolutely love everything with it: good 1920x1080 screen, 3G DDR5 GTX-560M, potent CPU, etc. No complaints about the sale price either.

However, I am concerned with two things I've been reading about: the CPU throttling issue when running near full load, and the apparent lack of ASUS willingness to release a BIOS fix for this. I can't use Throttlestop because I run Linux on the G74SX for my work. I plan to run some pretty heavy data processing apps on this system, but in fairness they are single threaded apps. I have only moderate need for the power of the GTX560M, except for the occasional game that I would run in the Windows partition (dual-boot system w/ Linux and Windows); e.g. portal 2.

Now I haven't yet put Linux on the other partition, but I plan to immediately if I keep the laptop. Will I experience throttling there too?

I have until Friday to decided whether or not to return it to Staples, and save my money for a non-throttling laptop that makes full use of the core i7 2630QM?

So: has ASUS released anything yet to fix this other than throttestop? Will they? Do I have a mistaken impression of how this is being handled bu them?

I would really like to know some opinions. Thanks for your help!

tf 🙂


Email gary_key@asus.com and ask him if you should keep or return your new unit. 😉
Read the User's Manual for more info. 😄



G74SX-A1 BIOS 203
Intel 6230 WiFi/BT
LG E2350 LED LCD Monitor
Intel Series 510 120 GB SSD

Drivers, Apps and How To's
Latest nVidia Drivers

JRd1st on DeviantArt.com
0 Kudos

fostert
Level 12
In response to JRd1st

‎10-18-2011 04:14 PM

Thank you both. JRd1st: I will indeed email gary @asus.

I really don't want the hassle of returning the unit, since a) I like it otherwise, and b) not sure if I'll find something as decked out for the price. But the idea of working with a slightly crippled CPU and a hardware problem that the manufacturer is staying silent on I guess is just bugging me.

Chastity: can you weigh in on this issue? Has there been any progress from ASUS to release a BIOS fix for this problem? Would another customer request help do you think?

dkillone: You're probably right that since I wouldn't always use more than 1 thread at a time (my apps are written in Fortran 66....yes, thats a 66 there!) and never stress the GPU at all, I should be able to coax 2.5-2.8 GHZ out of the CPU consistently. Which should blow away my core i7 860 desktop (2.8 GHZ). 😄
--
G74SX-CST1-CBIL, i7 2630QM 2GHz
32GB DDR3 RAM @1333MHz
GTX560M 3GB DDR5 (192 bit)
17.3" LED 1920x1080
Sentelic TP, BIOS 203
Debian Linux Wheezy (Testing) Kernel 3.2, NVIDIA 295.40
0 Kudos