Acer 8371/3810 Owners Thread

[e36Adz]

This thread is for information solely about these 2 model Acer laptops which now quite a few of us own.

Acer TravelMate 8371:

Intel® ULV Core 2 Duo 1.4Ghz (ULV SU9400, 3 MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
13.3" (Acer CineCrystal, 1366x768 HD, High Brightness, LED Backlit)
Win Vista Business 32 bit
4GB (DDR3 1066MHZ)
320GB Western Digitial Scorpio Blue 5400rpm
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 with 512MB Dedicated RAM
5-in-1 card reader (SD//MS/MS-Pro/MMC/xD-Picture card™)
3x USB 2.0 ports
Webcam
Bluetooth
Fingerprint Reader
8 Hrs+ Battery Life
1.7Kg

I installed Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit and fitted a 64GB Crucial C300 SSD.

I came across this laptop when searching for a 13.3" machine, and found the Asus UL30 was out of stock. I have owned it now for a few weeks and apart from the rather poor viewing angles and not so good speakers, it is a great laptop which can be had for just under £350.

Pros
Build Quality
Spec
Battery Life
Price
Size (Slim)

Cons
Speakers
Lack of HDMI

Use this thread to post any benchmarks/games you have run to give an idea of performance, and also a general review on how you are finding the laptop, and possibly any comparisons you can make to other models.

 

[e36Adz]

HDD Upgrade:

As the pic above shows, you simply unscrew the bottom right lid on the underside of the laptop, to reveal the HDD. There are 2 small clips holding it in place (far right of the HDD). Takes a few mins to pop it out and replace with a SSD if anyone is thinking about doing so.

Ram Upgrade:

The other compartment, top left in the pic is hiding the Ram. The laptop I think supports upto 8GB DDR3 although personally I have no intention of upgrading this. If anyone does though, let us know how you find it.

Performance:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4330.13973.0.html

3dmark 2006 score: ~2600

Overclocking CPU and Ram:

Hi all.

I also purchased an 8371 recently, and I've found an overclocking tool and a customised bios update that you might be interested in. As with any overclocking tool or modded bios, use at your own risk.

First, the overclocking tool increases the FSB from 200 to 250 MHz, yielding a 25% OC for both CPU and RAM. It seems to have originated on a Chinese forum and the author seems to be anonymous. Simply click OC_RTM875T_250.exe (the other exe will take your fsb down to 167). The OC occurs instantly and remains until the CPU is turned off (either by shutdown or standby; however, the OC will remain if you 'restart'). Here is the link:
http://uploaded.to/file/4hlia5
With the OC my SuperPi 1M comes down to 25.3s and my Win7 experience increases to 5.1/5.7/4.4/5.9/5.5
I've tested the functionality in both Vista 32-bit and Win7 64-bit. I've read it also works for the 3810. If it's stable on your machine, you can set it to run at start-up for a nice boost.
Link to Chinese forum:
http://ideapad.it168.com/viewthread.php?tid=580039&extra=page=1&ordertype=1&page=1


Second, I found a modded bios with advanced options unlocked (inc Hardware Virtualization), lower fan speed when on battery, the ability to select "intel only" graphics options as well as ATI only and switchable, and SLIC2.1. It comes courtesy of dragonuk on notebookreview.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...n-settings-advanced-options-graphics-fix.html
direct link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sdi1sv88b60ieuj

I have downloaded and tested the OC tool Faction has linked us to above and can confirm it works perfectly!!! It is probably the easiest overclock I have ever done, you simply download the file and double click it. It overclocks the cpu from 1.4Ghz to 1.75Ghz, and cpu temps seem to stay around the same in general usage. I tested stability by running prime95 torture test for almost half an hour, and it ran fine with cpu temps hitting a max of around 63C. Some indication of performance at 1.75Ghz for comparison:

I will be leaving it set to 1.75Ghz permanently and will post back in due course if I find battery life or anything else has been affected.

Overclocking GPU:

ATI 4330 450/600 @ 550/750

I tested stability by running furmark which really stresses the gpu, and as expected the gpu runs hot, it was in the high 80s. I managed to hit 575/780 but for safe everyday usage I have set it to 550/750 with no increase to voltage and results are below:

3d mark 2006 scores:
default - 2600
oc'ed - 3200

 

[e36Adz]

Im in!

My CPU speed according to my windows 7 gadget seems to fluctuate, sometimes its "1190" and sometimes its "1401", why would this be? The laptop is running on battery but it is on high power mode :S

That is normal, the cpu runs slightly lower to conserve battery when cpu power is not required. As soon as the cpu is being used it will automatically increase the clockspeed to 1.4Ghz.

 

[e36Adz]

I've played UT3 on mine, I'll make a note of the settings I used and the framerate I got. If anyone else tries any games or benchmarks, post the results so we can see how capable the HD4330 is.

 

[e36Adz]

it doesnt come with any form of laptop sleeze/case does it ?

Unfortunately not, but as BlackCoat2k10 mentioned there is just a basic cloth case which you can use until you buy a proper sleeve case.

 

[e36Adz]

YESSSS TNT lorry just pulled up outside!!!

How long were you stood by the window?

@ Bones - I will double check which ATI drivers I downloaded/installed when I get home later but they were from the Acer website and they worked perfectly fine.

 

[e36Adz]

...thankfully ninite exists for this!...

Wow - good call ! Not come across this, but looks really useful

+1

Thanks for that, first time I have come across it too!

 

[e36Adz]

Struggling to get the ATI drivers to work with win 7 64bit.

Done a fresh install, updated windows, installed the Acer ATI drivers but it doesn't seem to work.

Ok, not sure if you have sorted this yet but just incase it helps, I downloaded the following ATI drivers from the Acer website for Win 7 Ultimate 64:

VGA ATI v8.652.1
224MB

 

[e36Adz]

...

Hi mate, thanks very much for that info, very useful. I am gonna add it to the first page so no one misses it!

Few questions though:

1- How has overclocking the cpu and ram affected the battery life?

2- Have you had any instability issues at all?

3- How do you reverse the overclock and set it back to default?

 

[e36Adz]

I'd also like to ask a favour. I've noticed that while my CPU runs nice and cool in Windows (never much above 40c), the Radeon GPU is always much hotter: sometimes touching 60c and often above 50c. Would you mind downloading gpuz and posting your temperatures? Primarily I'm interested in the temperature idling on the Windows desktop when on AC (mine is 50c). I'm wondering if I should take my notebook apart to check the cooling system.

I have just installed gpuz and it shows the gpu temp as 51C, with some gaming I can see this touching around 60C. My cpu temps are generally in the mid 30s although I have seen it touch 50C sometimes so overall, my temps are the same as yours.

 

[e36Adz]

Thanks Faction, I will probably try the overclock myself.

 

[e36Adz]

Just tried the OC tool that Faction posted, and can report back that it works perfectly. Probably the easiest overclock you will ever do, just a double click and its done. I have just run prime95 torture test for almost half hour and it seems very stable, cpu temps hit around 61-62C.

I will post comparison benchmarks on the first page in a few minutes, but I'll probably be leaving it set to 1.75Ghz now.

 

[e36Adz]

It'll be interesting to see what actually happens when the 3810 is over-clocked since it has a slower processor to start with. Will it aim for the 1.75Ghz that the 8371 processor is hitting or will it try for something eminently more sensible.

Only one way to find out... Just download and double click it and then check the cpu speed - if you wish to go back to default just shutdown and once you start back up again it will be reset.

Is the boost noticeable with the OC, is it safe as i was under the impression laptops shouldnt be overclocked due to cooling!

Normally an overclock requires slight increases in voltage to keep it stable - which in turn would affect the cpu temperature, but in this case the voltage stays the same and from general net browsing the cpu temps looked pretty much the same. I even ran prime95 for almost half an hr and it was stable, I ran it for a similar amount of time last yr on my main system [email protected] and thats been rock solid ever since.

Stability wise at 1.75Ghz its absolutely solid.

 

[e36Adz]

Welcome aboard tmten!

Post back when you receive/test/upgrade/overclock yours and let us know how you get on with it.

I was playing streetfighter III third strike last night with my Sega USB pad connected, runs brilliantly!

 

[e36Adz]

thanks for the warm welcome people.

as for the battery life when overclocked, hopefully it won't make a huge difference, but it will be interesting to find out.
by the way, has anyone dabbled with gpu overclocking, or do you not think it's worth it? there's a guy on notebookreview with a 3810, with his hd 4330 at 540mhz core and 770mhz mem, or ~10%, which doesn't really seem worth it. if you could get to something like 600mhz and 800mhz (desktop 4550) then that would really be something. higher than that and i'd start to get palpitations (ahh, the life of a geek!)

@e36Adz

streetfighter III third strike? nice! i've got that myself, although i still haven't got a sega style pad to play it. i've considered getting a proper (and expensive) arcade stick for that authentic arcade feel, but i was always a pad man at heart and those japanese saturn style pads are fantastic. i might have to get one soon. and i can't wait to do some mobile gaming on this laptop!

I'll probably be tempted just to push it up very very slowly to see where it starts to get artifacts and then budge it down a notch. What tool is best to use when ocing the card?

As for third strike, well it runs perfectly on this machine. I've got a TE arcade stick myself but thats by the 360 for the occasional sf4 session but the saturn style USB pads are indeed fantastic for beat em ups. They are dirt cheap, I think I paid about £7-8 each (I've got 2). The d-pad is bang on for sf, and they are quite small and light so perfect if you take your laptop around with you in a small bag, it should slide in neatly, unlike a huge arcade stick. Plus its perfect for all those snes9x and dgen games.

 

[e36Adz]

im interested in an 8371, but i first need to sell my Inspiron 1370. Wheres the best place to get one? the auction site?

No, you can get them brand new for under £350 online, plenty in stock. I think there is still a 2.5% discount code floating around - if anyone has it can you email Loque with it.

Gonna dl and try msi afterburner in awhile, will report back.

 

[e36Adz]

Ok, I ran msi afterburner and managed to overclock the gpu almost as high as the settings would let me go, without touching the voltage! I managed to get it to 575/780 and furmark runs without any glitches, but to be safe I moved it down a touch.

ATI 4330 450/600 @ 550/750

I tested stability by running furmark which really stresses the gpu, and as expected the gpu runs hot, it was in the high 80s. For safe everyday usage I have set it to 550/750 with no increase to voltage and results are below:

3d mark 2006 scores:
default - 2600
oc'ed - 3200

 

[e36Adz]

I'm sure we'll open the lid to find a tea making facility that needs just a pipe fitting for instant tea goodness

Seriously though, if the 8371 model had a spare hdd slot (like the 3935) and HDMI (like the 3810) and was still under £350, I would rate it at 100%. As it is though, it scores a meagre 95%.

Any chance anyone could email me the overclock file, cant download it at university unfortunately!

Sure thing mate, will email it you in a few mins.

 

[e36Adz]

fantastic work e36Adz. first off I didn't realise that the hd4330 in this machine ran at 450mhz. i knew that that is the official speed, but i'd read somewhere that the version in this ran at 500mhz, which i foolishly believed (looking back now i should've realised that it would've made it a hd 4530!
anyway, glad to see such a nice improvement. those wei scores are amazing (yeah i know it's only wei but still!) and a >20% improvement from the overclock means that for me it is definitely worth doing. hopefully i'll i get it before the weekend

The memory will probably go beyond 780 but thats as far as msi afterburner would let me push it. I have set it to 550/750 which is a fair bit below what I had it running at glitch free, and with no increase in voltage I would say thats a 'safe' oc. Just tested by playing UT3 for 20 mins and then half hr playing SFIII and both ran fine, I even upped the settings in UT3 from low to medium detail, with about 10 bots in the map and it was perfectly playable.

OC Temps - Idle / Load
CPU - 30s / 60s
GPU - 50s / 80s

No games or programs I will be using on here will stress the cpu as much as prime95 or the gpu as much as furmark, so the load temps above will rarely if ever be reached again.

 

[e36Adz]

Just order mine, early Xmas present for me and the wife

Managed to find it £340 next day delivered so well chuffed. Also added an external DVD drive to install Win 7 and now tempted to fork out for an SSD. My original budget was £450 - £500 for a decent lappy, so another £95 still within the target price.

Looking forward to OC'ing it too.

I paid just under £110 for a 64GB Crucial C300 SSD only 2-3 weeks ago - and I think it can be had for around £90 now, I was browsing the HDD section of the forum earlier and a few ppl have mentioned it in there.

HDD > SSD
CPU oc'ed
GPU oc'ed

= WIN