Since this laptop is a hotseller I might as well make its own thread to guide

ASUS k40AB specification:

k50AB is similar but it have bigger 15.6" LCD and full sized keyboard with numpad

Regarding heat on this laptop

There are no such thing as heat issue, high heat (60-80C) is normal on laptop because its restricted size and the amount of transistor and speed it have, because the suface area of the laptop and limited space, its hard to put full fledged heatsink on it, so laptop components are designed to handle higher temperature than desktop while at the same time consume as little power as possible

You can change the BIOS setting to just use the HD 4570 instead of switching between the onboard one, change from 'Power Xpress' mode to 'dGPU'

If you have difficulty installing XP, read this guide

Driver download:

Download latest driver for K40AB/K50AB from ASUS here

Download Mobility HD 4570 driver DNA modded driver or ASUS site
DNA is a modded driver to support all Mobility cards, since AMD/ATi doesn't bother with them for no reason
This laptop support advanced PowerXpress, which disables discreet GPU and run the onboard when not gaming
Additionally if you are more advanced user you can opt not to install CCC (Catalyst Control Center) and install ATi Tray Tools. Its much lighter and provides with more setting to play with

The latest mobility modder already support HD4XXX series so you can download normal Catalyst and mod it

If you want to overclock HD4570, use AMD GPU clock tool v0.9.26.0

Download AMD Overdrive here
Overdrive is mainly used for changing memory timings, since it can't allow to overclock on k40AB

Download k10stats from here
k10 stats is used for downclock or downvolt your CPU to get the most from its batteries and reducing temperature when you just browsing
Some k10stat setting:
For idle I suggest reduce the voltage to 0.9V, I get under 50C when browsing with it
For load 1.05V is good, I'll try to test at lower voltage, but your result may vary (I can reach 1.0375V)

How to use k10stats

Download AMD Fusion from here
Fusion is used to reduce system process when gaming, reducing CPU overhead and freeing up memory so you get the most from your system when gaming

Tweaks:

Tweaking Media Player Classic (K-Lite codec) for video watching here

LCD scaling problem can be minimized by following this guide and DNA driver

k40AB can get pretty toasty when running games, here is the hot spots on it:

Red color is the main heatsink to cool all three major heat source( the CPU, chipset and the discrete GPU) the orange one is the CPU and chipset is located (GPU is under the red area), the slightly dimmer orange on the far left is where the power connector is, this can get warm when you use the power adapter and lastly the yellow area is the harddisk, rather warm

SRS Premium Sound tweaks:
Put the 'Content' to music, 'Output' to Notebook Speaker, predefined audio to SRS Premium, click Options > Advanced control and adjust to these:

SRS Definition: 10% (mids brightness)
SRS TruBass: 50%
SRS TruBass Speaker Size: Small
SRS 3D Center: 75% (vocal)
SRS 3D Space: 100% (instruments, soundstage)
SRS Focus: 25% (sound focus)

Battery life: 2 hours 10 minutes in normal situation, if you undervolt to 0.9V using k10stats and force it to run 1.05GHz, it will squeeze 25 minutes more battery, plus the reduction of temperature around 8-10C *tested by hanz08*

Benchmarks/games experience:

3DMark06 default score: 3047 3DMarks (Catalyst 9.7 )
Command and Conquer Kane's Wrath: playable at 1366x768 everyting on High detail
Call of Duty 2: Playable at 1366x768 2xAA with High detail (no shadows)

*If the games you play feels sluggish, reducing shadows will give HUGE boost in performance*

Recommended resolution to play games is 1024x600, 1280x720 or 1280x768, 1366x768 is too high and this GPU is too slow for it. Overclocking can give a boost in framerate

Crysis/ Warhead is hard to run on ANY system, I found it performs well at Mainstream/ Medium detail at 1280x720 or 1280x768

Here is one of my custom config that playable at 1280x768 (set it everything to Low/Minimum before putting this (make a new text documents, paste it and rename autoexec.cfg)

My reviews on it:

Windows 7 Windows Experience Index:
CPU: 4.7
RAM: 5.0 (1x2GB RAM) or 5.2 (3GB)
Graphics: 4.2 (4.5 when overclock 720/615)
Game Graphics : 4.5 (5.4 when overclock 720/615)
HDD: 5.3

This post has been edited by Najmods: Oct 11 2009, 03:14 AM

Screenshot from games:

Crysis Warhead 1366x768 custom setting (framerate is low, but at 1280x720 give slight boost)


Tom Clancy: H.A.W.X 1366x768 (FRAPS doesn't seem to capture full detail)




This post has been edited by Najmods: Jul 18 2009, 01:45 PM

wow...new asus thread? 1st here? congraz!
actually im more interested vit k50

This post has been edited by nothing_nth: Jul 17 2009, 06:33 PM

Wow...Asus K40Ab own thread...

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Added on July 17, 2009, 6:59 pm@najmods...give reviews for games too, max load the GPU

This post has been edited by miahahaha: Jul 17 2009, 06:59 PM

the cpu can keep up with gpu performance?
no bottleneck?

nice thread . this model pawned compaq cq40series in term of price/ performance ratio .

u sure da temp reaching 70C.. if it true, den ppl sure mati pucuk if playing games in their lap

LOL i heard put hp in pocket also mati pucuk

that is consider ok compared to CQ40 which can be as high as 100C

do u know how hot is 70C.. try put a cup of hot coffee in your lap, and if ur can stand the heat den ok lor... but for me sure big NO NO

btw 4570 is real tempting.. but i hav to say no to amd proc

I cant run it, it gives me error
The name laptop doesn't mean it have to put it on your lap to use it And why you say no to AMD CPU?

Thats y some k40ab users DIY open up the back cover when gaming. Get better air flow. lol..

Yup...if open up the back cover & lift it up so that the air will flow freely...any laptop will cooled down way fast...

back cover opened, much more easier to clean ma...

Still the same, even compatibility mode to Vista or XP won't work. What with this Wprime thing anyway?

To tell you the truth I never bother with the prime thing, it never reflect the real world performance

Crysis config file added, it still needs some tweaking but it still playable enough

Yea, nice thread ~ I am sooner to get a Asus K50AB for my brother....hope can tweak for him before pass the lappy to him~

nice thread bro. you actually made one!

Yeah, I hope it can guide people who wanted to tweak this laptop. It can also be applied to similar laptop like CQ-40 401AX too, everything is similar only a few things are different

BTW do i have to uninstall CCC before installing Ati Tray Tools? will it be better and user friendly as i'm not too familiar with ccc's configurations and options.

Eh, add a picture of the laptop la

You can run both at the same time. CCC is easy for me if you know what to do, I can't really tell whether it would be better for you, you can try it. Both are similar only the ATT is lighter than CCC (its placed on tray, hence the name), plus it have more (advanced) option too

TS, may i suggest to add K50b to thread as well?

nice thread...i will to buy K40AB

downgrade 2 k40ab?

yeah, new thread for k40ab!!

@TS...if can, please post screenshots of Crysis/Prototype or any games that you play with this baby

Yea, agree Besides, how to post SS ar? Use imagehacks? Cause till now i still dunno how to post SS,

Dumb me,what's the difference between QL64 & RM-74 Proc?

i supposed the dell studio 15 (1555) has the similiar gpu, but only on intel cpu?

this asus sounds hot man!!

it does. It's amd inside, not just sound hot, it feel hot too, duh

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Added on July 18, 2009, 11:04 amAthlon QL-64 clocked at 2.1ghz while Turion Rm74 clocked at 2.2ghz.
Other then that, Athlon have 2 P-state while Turion have 3, which make it benefit more from the amd CnQ technology.

This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 18 2009, 11:04 AM

QL-64 clockspeed is 2.1GHz, support DDR2-667 and don't have virtualization
RM-74 clockspeed 2.2GHz, up to DDR2-800 and have virtualization

Yes Studio 15 have similar GPU, but faster GDDR-3 memory (IIRC) and uses Intel CPU

I'll post some screenies soon, will keep you guys updated

#Najmod: Congrats on your opening of this threads, I'm sure this k40ab WOULD GET VERY HOT here (pun very much intended )

About the fusion part, I bet you wouldn't notice any different in the futuremark score but it did help to achieve better framerates in games and reduce stuttering as well.

I did try to use it, the score went up by.....wait for it.....2. Yes, just 2 . I didn't notice much difference in games too, only the laoding time is shorter

i installed ati tray tools and it worked great! so now about the k10stat, i'm supposed to create 2 profiles right under the p-state tab right? one for on load and one for battery saving? my laptop gave me the BSOD when i set in to 0.95v.

P0 or P1? If you just browsing, click P1 and select both core0 and core1, reduce the Vcore to 0.9V and apply. If you want to run games select P0 and both its core and select apply. This way you can save the power more, since in desktop it would be limited to 1.05GHz no matter what the load is

Screenshot added on 2nd post

i see i see.. so if i decided not to use k10 and wanna it revert to its old stat i'll just have to delete the .exe right?

btw i did what you taught me, waiting to test battery results tonight!

This post has been edited by hanz08: Jul 18 2009, 03:01 PM

Ohh yeah, I do aware that this lappie is quite hot under heavy load, but how about the volume? When idle does the voice emission noticeable, and while under load does the noise become unbearable?


#Hanz, mind telling us how are the battery life b4 and after your tweak? And your heat too

my gosshh
nice spec lappie for RM2500
with the K series, I'm sure asus will stand at the value market.

FIXED

This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 18 2009, 05:01 PM

well before i undervolted the cpu battery life for me was 2 hours and 10 minutes. After undervolting i managed to squeeze another 25 minutes out of it, which is good! (credits to Najmods) and the heat went down too by around 8 to 10 degrees. when under load the voice emission is not noticeable, fan speed is pretty low so yeah, its perfect for classrooms and quiet ebviroments. hope that helps!

This post has been edited by hanz08: Jul 18 2009, 08:47 PM

Great, thanks for your information
The heat doesn't really concern too much to me compare to loud fan noise, as I hv been use to it already on my rig



Out of topic:
Anybody here can clarify whether what this guy say is true or just bull? According to him, it's ok to run your processor at 100'C as long as it's within the thermal specification of the cpu.


This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 18 2009, 06:10 PM

The fan is very quiet when running normally, and it only spin up if it reaches 80C and up IIRC

Regarding the thermals, that guy got a point. CPU are made with different process, different amount of transistor and there is A LOT of variable that we don't know, so it varies between CPU. I'll read more regarding the topic and will post what I found here.

EDIT: From this page the maximum operating temperature is 100C

No problem I'll put that info on the first page for future reference. I never use the battery for more than few minutes because I don't like to use them

This post has been edited by Najmods: Jul 18 2009, 07:41 PM

ive tried to find this laptop but kinda rare and only a few people selling it at lyn. care to share where did u get this awhsum lappy?

Hey TS, is there an ASUS programme to manually set fan speed? and can give WEI score, GPU/CPU temperature screenie.... sorry ah, i ask so much XPP thanks thanks...

Lowyat Plaza of course, hunt around, you'll find it, ask the exact model, if they look puzzled, leave immediately, they don't know it

There are no program to set its fan speed, I'll check again if its in the driver CD, WEI score and temperature on the first post, read it carefully. Maybe others can do the screenies on temperature, I never run the laptop with back cover unless it is really necessary

Hello guys,

I just bought this laptop (ASUS K40AB). Yes the sticker does display ATI RADEON HD 4570.
I've updated with the latest driver.
I checked using GPU-Z, Windows Properties, ATI Catalyst, it says HD 3200.
I've checked using a lot of things but it says my graphics is HD 3200.
What is the problem? Or am I being cheated?

Thanks.

Maybe it's Advancd PowerPlay come into play, try check your CCC and see if you can change to using the discrete card.








#Najmod, can you do me a favour and check how are the 4570 temps in your lappies? does it get as high as the cpu? Sorry for the trouble

This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 19 2009, 01:28 AM

I just got my K40ab from PC City in Kuching last week. Selling price at RM1999 and I add on another 2gb of ram which cost another RM85.

The laptop itself comes with a beg and a mouse other then the laptop and the power cable. PC City was kind enough to throw in a bunch of free gift - notebook cooler, another mouse, lcd protector, lcd cleaner, usb 4-ports hub and keyboard protector. The LCD protector given to me was a 14.4" but can't fit the K40ab cause K40ab screen ratio is 16:9...HD size I suppose. So if you are buying LCD screen protector, do take note of that.




I have a hard time get the HD4570 to show up also, tried a few drivers and it still don't work. CCC 4.5 will make it show up but it some how become extended monitor and I can in no way make it right. But at last I installed driver from ASUS international website and it is working fine. You can switch it with the power express thingy!
ASUS K40ab VGA DRIVER

Hope this little bit does give you some help!

So finally you decide to get this k40ab Congrats on your new lappies!!!
How are the operating temps for you? If you feel it's too hot, you could try to downvolt it, and remebr to enable CnQ as well.
Cheers

Haha, yeah been doing my research on laptop quite long and this is my final decision! haha, what is CnQ? really wanted to downvolt it, but a little scared...grrr...

hey thanks a lot. I'm downloading it now. I'll reply the results later

You welcome! sharing is caring!

CnQ=Cool n Quite, it would downclock your cpu when it's idle, hence use less power and less heat also. Use CPUz and check if your clock speed keep throttling or not.
About the undervolt, a lot of people been doing it and no problem, it's working great for my brisbane too, just be careful and you would be fine.

Haha, I am very lost now. So how should I enable the CnQ? Guide me if you don't mind?

Btw, I just call PC-City recently, and they tell me that k50ab would prolly release after 1-2 weeks or around the PC fair, I"m eagerly waiting for it
Since they give you so many freebies, I would sure *ugut* from them too

This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 19 2009, 02:02 AM

Haha, you should, you should! you from Kuching?

Go to your power setting or something like that, tick the Balanced Power plan, check your cpuz and see if your clock-speed went up and down. If it does, then it's on, then you could tweak the voltage with K10stat or RMclock.

There are no thermal sensor on the GPU

HAha, I'm from KK, can count neighbour also la Borneo
I check and find-out only PC-City is selling ASUS laptop in Sabah, maybe it's branch of the Kuching company gua

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Added on July 19, 2009, 2:21 amEhhhh, Then cham lor, If next time want Oc also dono safe or not

This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 19 2009, 02:21 AM

In Kuching, PC City is the dealer for ASUS. I found out some other shop selling it at a higher price, RM2099. Somemore this modal sorta HOT in Kuching and you actually need to place order, no ready stock because it just finish so fast.

Archangelmc, After I Installed the drivers from the link you gave me, the results are still the same. Can I know what windows you are using? And I cannot locate the power express thingy

Right click on desktop you should see the PowerXpress setting there, or you can go to CCC (Catalyst Control Center). I having problems with PowerXpress too, my only option is to disable the onboard GPU and just use the HD 4570 alone

undervolting is pretty easy and safe! Najmod guided me to undervolt mine and its fine now. u can give it a try there are directions on the 1st page or feel free to ask anyone here.

hurm...this lappy is more interesting than compaq cq40-401ax

why?

Better processor, better graphic card, just Rm100+ exp than cq40, thats why...

when I reinstall the driver and there's no PowerExpress. The previous driver has it but does not detect any 4570. What windows are you using?

RM1999?

Oh no, you must be kidding right???

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Added on July 19, 2009, 1:56 pmAnd can I have a look of that model please?

This post has been edited by deentk_1987: Jul 19 2009, 01:56 PM

...
most of them ad bought tis machine...n u said they joking...plz refer 2 1st page n uncle google

Wow, what an excellent laptop with excellent price. Great.

go get it

yes its RM1999 free dos. no kd dude

what os they use? vista home premium?

Does it available in Lowyat now? My father is interested.

It's stated many times throughout the thread that this is a free dos product.

It should be, but this is quite a hot item and I'm not sure how much stock is available. Best way to find out is to actually go there.

this hot running laptop ... will it crash when we play games ?
like screen freeze or something like that ?

this seems to be very hot model...

still available in market kah??

Windows 7. If you can live without integrated you just disable them in BIOS, select dGPU. It frees up some RAM too

haha.. it just come out market for around 1month++
won't so fast bah ...

pheww my problem is solved. I updated my windows and reinstall the drivers...thanks

Can use onboard graphics only? heh
save up battery life


What's the highest clock speed you manage to get?

No, but you can select between those two

That is the highest I achieve so far, not bothered with anything higher. The limitation is the graphics, not the CPU

I need a laptop with more raw power for virtual machine environment
So the proc speed is matters to me

virtual machine environment? What's that
Anyway if you need a more powerful number-crunching cpu, den get urself a C2D 2.4ghz+
If you aiming for real-life performance, the hdd speed matter more.

hey all sifus, need your help here.

when i press (FN key + F5/F6) to increase and decrease the brightness, it doesn't have any effect.....why leh ??

does it have to do with the installation process? maybe error in the installation ? or caused by the settings ?

i restarted a few times also same.....

this lappy are available in what proc?ZM84 or RM74?

i see some shop show it available in QL-64??

2k is a good bargain but im afraid the machine will overheat after playing games with long run.

It have something to do with ATi driver that doesn't allow you to change that. I'll check out how can I get that thing working again

Define overheat? Do you even have this laptop to begin with? Check out other laptop equivalent to this, and see their temperature is A LOT higher. God I wish I can delete stupid POS like this in my thread

Its only availabe with QL-64 to keep the cost down

Wow, there are so many people with amd phobia here.
If you handle computer hardware long enough you would realize that most of the time, it's other part like psu, mobo, hdd, gpu failure that spoil the system. System failure due to CPU is very very rare from my experience.
Maybe you can name me a notebook that don't heat up during heavy load, I would like to buy 1 myself too.
Don't forget that it's an asus, NOT acer , with 2 years global warranty too.


#Chill TaiKor najmod, relax. Let that guy buy a laptop with Nvidia 8600M for 3k+ then regret after servicing thrice in 6 months.

This post has been edited by InFe_eD: Jul 19 2009, 08:55 PM

im hunting K40ab at upcoming pcfair

Dun say 2k machine will hot, even 10-20k laptop run gaming also will hot...