Benq Joybook 7000 shutting down!

[Dr Z]

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum but was drawn here because the admins are also owners of a Benq 7000.


My Benq ran well for about 7 months in Ireland where i work. On return over here, and after i installed the latest benq bios updates from their site, it begins to slowdown when playing games.
Now this isnt total slowdown, it runs ok, then suddenly i can hear the fan go to a high pitch and the framerate drops to about 10fps!
This lasts for about 7 seconds (an eternity when you're trying to snipe!), and then the framerate goes back to normal.
What's worse is that with games like silent hunter 3 and the sims 2 is that the slowdown is not noticeable, but then the computer will shut down by itself. No warning, just kaput.

Speedfan is showing high temperatures like up to 78 C in one thermometer reading, though the hard drive runs cool at 48 C. I do notice that the fan exhaust port is quite hot, but i've had similar temperatures running in Ireland for hours on end with no such problems.
i've tried running at lower res and lower specs, but even games like HL2 are slowing down where once they were fine.

Incidentally, i only upgraded the ram to 768mb and did return the benq for servicing. they replaced a faulty DVD drive but did nothing about the shutdowns.

Anyone else got a similar problem or any suggestions?

Thanx.
Sorry for long post, i'm a doctor, we tend to ramble on sometimes!

[Adrian Wong]

Hello Dr. Z,

What BIOS version did you upgrade to?

Incidentally, when you mentioned updates, were you also talking about driver updates? If so, what driver updates did you install?

You might want to try using the latest Omega driver from Omegadrivers.net.

[peaz]

Sounds like overheating problem to me. I too encounter such problems. When playing 3D games, the CPU temps can get as high as 90-100 degs. The fans will start to blow like crazy.

And FYI, I've opened up my notebook to check out the interiors before. And it didn't look like the fan was clogged with dust. So.. I guess it's that the notebook just does not have enough fans to keep the notebook cool when it's 100% load both CPU and GPU.

Just like you said. it was ok at Ireland because the ambient temp there is much cooler than here in Malaysia, so that's one factor.

[Dr Z]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, been offline.
And thanx for replying yourselves.

I dloaded the bios files as listed on the Benq website. They are as follows :
Bios 2.04
and all the other drivers


I also used Patje's mobility radeon patch which enables the benq to take advantage of the newest mobility catalyst drivers. The benq ones are sufficient but seemed old and out of date. However, if u dload the generic Mobility Catalyst drivers from ATI without the Patje Patch DHMod tool, then it won't install on the Benq.

I didn't notice any major problems with this when i installed it in Ireland. Since the blackouts, I've reverted to the original Benq ATI drivers with no significant results.
(mind you, i didn't run any benchmark tests to see if the newest drivers conferred any advantage...anyone wanna try?)

Speedfan is listing a normal HD temp rating of about 42C, but the other two sensors which i can only imagine to be CPU and grafix card have hit temps as high as 112C in malaysia after playing heavy games.
I really can't tell if its an ambient temp problem or just the fans and cooling is wearing out after a year of heavy duty use. The benq repairs ppl couldn't find a problem or a cure for the blackouts.

Any ideas? I myself am trying to find the original bios drivers to see if that helps. Also I will return to Ireland to see if things improve in a few weeks time. Finally, will have to consider external notebook cooling aids as a last ditch resort. I have no plans to upgrade to a serious gaming desktop or future laptop right now, and the Benq at full throttle with enough ram can still HL2 easily with good framerate and u can run FEAR in the lower resolutions with a lot of stuff turned off (keep the particle physics on, its lovely!).

thanx

[Adrian Wong]

Have you tried the Omega driver yet?

Hmm.. Sounds like a problem with the heat. 112oC is really high for a notebook. Try investing in a cheap notebook cooler like the Jetart's Xcool series of notebook coolers.

Also, try turning on the air-conditioning.

[Dr Z]

Yup, air con is on full blast!

Yet, i noticed the heat is actually keeping the area around the computer warm! Gonna use my laptop as a space heater in Ireland's winter months...

Omega driver? What that? could u give me a url?

Also, which notebook cooler do you recommend? And will i find in in Midvalley or Sungai Wang?

thanx!

[peaz]

http://www.omegadrivers.net/. In fact, i myself should hop over there and get the latest catalyst drivers installed as well.

Hmmm definately heat-related problem. What I do sometimes is to limit the maximum multiplier to 14x instead of 16x. That makes the notebook to run at a maximum of 1400MHz only. Downclocking it in a way, helps with heat issues sometimes.
Also, I do underclock the GPU as well. You can do this using the Notebook Hardware Control Utility. - http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm

[Adrian Wong]

Hmm.. I don't underclock but my CPU temp maxes out at about 83oC.

Of course, I use a laptop cooler and I do use air-conditioning...

[peaz]

83oC? that's pertty darn good. I get 90-100oC at 1.6GHz full load and GPU full load too.

That's on a laptop cooler but no air-conditioning (ambient temps at 30-31oC)

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by peaz

83oC? that's pertty darn good. I get 90-100oC at 1.6GHz full load and GPU full load too.

That's on a laptop cooler but no air-conditioning (ambient temps at 30-31oC)

Oh? Weird.. Without air-conditioning, I think I've reached 87oC but that's about it, I think...

Of course, I always have my laptop cooler turned up to max speed.