Acer TimelineX 3820TG Owners Lounge. Info, benchmarks, tweaks, mods and upgrades

[prikolchik]

HOWTO: Acer TimelineX 3820TG/4820TG/5820TG "Intel only" option in BIOS (disable ATI)

Just wanted to let everyone know that in BIOS there is a way to disable ATI and use Intel HD graphics. It would be similar to selecting "Intel only" in Switchable menu if only there was such an option.

This is just a quick guide. I plan on writing an easy-to-follow one when I have some time.

I have confirmed that this indeed does work. ATI dissapears from the Device Manager and, judging from the battery life both on Windows and Linux, ATI is powered off.

EVERYTHING YOU DO IS AT YOUR OWN RISK! Since we are changing only NVRAM, in case you leave your notebook in unbootable state it is possible to bring it back by resetting CMOS settings. To reset CMOS you must take out the CMOS battery.

Here is how to disable ATI graphics in the BIOS:
Step 1. You must unlock hidden Intel menu. Download SYMCMOS.EXE and follow this guide starting at where it says "Update".

Step 2. After unlocking the hidden menu at Step 1, enter BIOS and go to Intel menu. Then go to MCH Control Sub-menu and change Primary Display from Auto to IGD. (NOTE: The Switchable option will dissapear from the BIOS. Nothing to worry about). Press F10 to save settings and restart computer.




If you want to turn the ATI graphics back on, simply change MCH Control Sub-menu->Primary Display back to Auto. Save via F10 and restart.

Step 3. When laptop boots into Windows it will be in VGA mode and will install drivers. If it doesn't do so automatically, download and install Intel drivers from Acer's Support site or from Intel.com.

Step 4. Enjoy!

ATI graphics is gone from Device Manager and there is no longer "Switch graphics" menu.


ATI graphics is also gone in Linux

$ lspci | grep -i graphics
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 12)

[Icyzer]

Originally Posted by raulilha

Low RPM, but it's still turned on. I'm sure it's the gpu and chipset fan, not the HDD spinning.
My laptop came with BIOS 1.19, but my fans never turned off, even on completely idle.
One of the first things I did was to set the cooling policy as passive. I also changed everything to optimize power savings. Thanks for your answer anyway, it's very reasonable.

Same here, same BIOS aswell. It really does bug me that my 2 year old laptop is less noisy when idle..

[Xofel]

Originally Posted by prikolchik

A very nice guide. Seems like you have covered all the basic questions people might have.

Just a few comments:
1. Here is Acer 3820 service guide/repair manual. It is from Acer's website so you can link it directly in your guide.
2. You should upload ebay images to an image hosting website and post links. ebay link usually dies in 3 months so it would be nice to keep information for longer.
3. Perhaps, it is worth mentioning that this mod should also be possible on Acer 4820, 5820?

Edited. Thanks for the note!

[anycolour]

I'm the first poster of the 1,000th page, I win. Congratulations, thank you very much.

EDIT: I fail, lol

[ZooseIII]

@prikolchik

Edit: Thanks for this, too bad that HDMI doesn't work on Intel graphics but this is still nice to know about.

[Wally33]

woo 1000!! so many pages!

[Maurik]

Originally Posted by Maurik

What's the deal with graphics drivers for the 6550 having to go through Acer?

Didnt ATI start including mobility drivers with their Catalyst downloads since 5xxx ?

On an unrelated note: has anybody put OSX on theirs? I guess it could be possible using just the on-board graphics..

Ordering mine tomorrow, next day delivery

Just bumping this.

Anyone?

[Icyzer]

Mmm I ran into another odd thing, in system properties aswell as in dxdiag windows reports 4,00 GB (3,68 GB usable) for ram and that I have an 480 cpu while I have an 460...

[PeterDLai]

Originally Posted by prikolchik

HOWTO: Acer TimelineX 3820TG/4820TG/5820TG "Intel only" option in BIOS (disable ATI)

Just wanted to let everyone know that in BIOS there is a way to disable ATI and use Intel HD graphics. It would be similar to selecting "Intel only" in Switchable menu if only there was such an option.

Are there any benefits to doing this over just switching to integrated graphics while in switchable mode?

[weinter]

Originally Posted by Icyzer

Mmm I ran into another odd thing, in system properties aswell as in dxdiag windows reports 4,00 GB (3,68 GB usable) for ram and that I have an 480 cpu while I have an 460...

For the first part it could be due to 32bit Windows you have installed
For the second part it could be due to the factory image they did for you laptop had a 480 CPU to fix that go device manager uninstall the processor and let it redetect and reinstall the processor.