I have mentioned regarding the updates which I have managed to do on the TimelineX 3820TZ. It is no longer fit to call it the 3820TZ. In fact, it could be a 3820TG as I have fitted a Core i5 520M on it! Besides that, it comes with bluetooth and wi-fi (N) so it is one ste ahead of the 3820TG!
However, it is not bed of roses though. I have experienced hiccups (freezing) coming from the laptop. I do not have a clue as to the reasons why. It could be some of the programmes which I am using but I think it could be down to the Core i5 520M which I have fitted on the TimeLineX 3820TZ. Perhaps I should have changed the fan to accomodate a better cpu like the i5 520M.
Finally, after many crashing of the hard drive later, I have decided that enough is enough. Therefore, I have removed the Core i5 520M and have replaced it with the original Pentium 6100 cpu. I think it is much better this way as the battery will last longer on a single charge. Well, it is just an Acer and unlike a MacBook Pro. I think the Petium 6100 will be just fine. I had to replace the Core i5 520M with the Pentium 6100 as the TimelineX's chipset does not support advanced features which will be useful when the core i5 520M is instead as it comes with an Intel HM55 chipset and not HM57. Sad...
After looking through some reputable websites, I have gather that the 3820TZ and 3820TG shared the same chipset! That is just crazy! There are not much of differences between the TZ and the TG model. In the TG model, you have a Core i5 520M and it comes with an ATI HD 5650 GPU and it is switchable between Intel HD graphics and the ATI HD graphics. On the TZ model, you will lose the extra PCI-E slot for bluetooth where else there's one extra for bluetooth on the TG model. In that case, I think I'm going to reinstall the Core i5 520M cpu and slap on some good thermal paste on the cpu.
I think Acer needs to redesign their TimelineX series to include one more fan to cool the motherboard.
Wish me luck!
Update:
23 April 2011 - I have finally received a small tube of IC7 Diamond Thermal Paste. Armed with the thermal paste, I removed the Pentium 6100 and replaced it with a Core i5-520M. With the memory bump up to 8GB, I am quite satisfied that the laptop is almost silent and the battery could last around 11 hours under light load (word processing). I am happy right now. I am thinking of changing the keyboard to a 3810T backlit keyboard. I am wondering whether it is possible to do so as such backlit keyboard is widely available on ebay.
Any thoughts?
6 comments:
Just noticed that while under heavy load, the motherboard showed a temperature of more than 59c... Not really good, isn't it? I don't think there's any problem with the Intel Core i5 520M cpu as it is showing 45c during load.
In addition to that, I have also uninstalled Acer epower management. Don't like it as it might just crash the Windows 7.
I am giving up on the Acer TimelineX 3820TZ. It overheats after ten minutes into surfing the internet and I have already change the cpu back to Pentium 6100. I am abandoning ship! I think I will avoid buying an Acer next time.
The 3820tz comes with a 9 cell battery that sticks out of the bottom, unlike the 6 cell in the TG version.
Do you know if the 6cell battery will work ok in the TZ model?
Yes, you can use it on the TZ model. I would prefer the 9 cell battery as it will last around 11 hours now after some modification of my own, i.e. replacing the Pentium 6100 with Core i5-520M cpu and 8GB memory. I have used IC Diamond Thermal Paste and it is working so much better right now. The temperature hovers around 30-45c under normal usage and around 68c if I were to play some 2D games.
Just to give you an update, I have not experienced any shutdown after upgrading the cpu to Core i5-520M. It is marvellous!
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