Acer Ferrari 3200 review (just a few pics/couple benches) - Page 57

Snorre, is it a requirement to fresh the 3200 BIOS into 3400 if we want to upgrade the cpu to Turion?Have you done that before or anyone else have done it?Refreshing a BIOS into different model may be a risk and I would like to confirm it before doing that.

What's the stepping of 3700+ DTR? Is it also 90nm?

From this link
http://csd.acer.com.tw/SI/Download2....4?OpenDocument

It seems that the 3A28 BIOS is suitable for 3400 also.Does it mean that this BIOS support the 90nm cpu?

hey all,
i was thinking about upgrading my hd on my ferrari 3200 seeing as how am living in lebanon, the top choice for me was Western Digital hardisk 80GB 5400 rpm. i've read that all of u r recommending hitachi travelstar series but theres no way i could get my hands on one...so i was wondering does anyone know if the Western Digital one would be a good choice?

These posts sure are interesting
And Snorre, you're awesome, I love the guide man, it helps out.

I am using the latest Omega Drivers and it appears I can't run 3DMark2005 anymore. Rather odd, it says I don't have Pixel Shader 2.0 support! I was once quite proud of my *high* score of 1805, but strangely I can't even run the program. Anyway I was wondering if any other Ferrari 3200 users out there had this problem. On the Patje-modded cat 5.4s and 5.5s the problem persisted, but on the ancient acer-stock drivers it worked.

It angers me that companies don't pay attention to notebook users! We want updated drivers too! I heard a rumor on Rage3D that ATI is going to be making mobile catalysts-- but that was a while ago and I haven't seen anything.

Anyway, long live the Ferrari, and let's keep a-posting!

(Oh, Snorre, I had a question about the Advancement Program on the Ferrari 3400 thread, didn't realize you had posted it here, too. I figure if anyone knows, it'd be you!)

By the way, the highest Aquamark3 I got without overclocking was 30,192. Oddly enough these new Omega drivers dropped me back down to a little over 29k. Ah well, those benchmarks don't matter that much in the real world anyway. I think I'd love my Ferrari no matter what.

So if anyone knows about that pixel shader 2.0 problem, or what could cause it, I'd be quite thankful.

so the HDD partition will be gone?....has anyone ordered their x64 yet?

anybody knows if we can have a 3400 with 2 swappable HD, one for Windows XP and the other for Linux ?
will it work ok ?

thanks

ahh, & great forum btw

I ordered it on April 26th. Come on Microsoft, pump out those CDs a little bit faster... I KNOW you have the ability! I heard end of May, can't get much closer to the end, and I'm sure they all have Memorial Day off. <begin impatient rant> At this rate it'll be time to upgrade to Longhorn ! <end impatient rant>

Oh well I'm sure it'll be worth it. I just hope there wasn't a difference between Acer's link and ordering it right off Msoft's site. I shall find out, eventually, hopefully

What about winxp home? If not, can I upgrade to Professional, then X64?

hey all,
am about 2 upgrade memory on my 3200 i got 2 corsair 512mb XMS 400mhz and from wat i hear its gonna b awesome i just need 2 no one thing. the module that is on the back of the laptop is easy to handle however 2 reach the other module requires removing the keyboard and etc. would this action (of tampering with the chassis) void my warranty in any way? wat would u advise me 2 do?

Instructions & Rant :)

Upgrading the memory in the slot under the keyboard does not void the warranty in any way. There used to be a guide posted but I couldn't seem to find it. So, I suggest looking at Snorre's handy helpful guide here: Memory/HDD Upgrade Guide

Or to make it easier I'll just quote him

I want to get 2GB running in this thing eventually. We'll see. Besides the fun factor, there isn't much reason. The Ferrari rips through anything I've thrown at it like a hot knife through butter. Heh, even Doom 3 high quality runs fine. Sometimes I wonder what all the fuss is about. As for the Ferrari 4000, I think there is no reason for me to try to get my greedy little hands on that. The Ferrari 3000 was a hot item when it hit the shelves... so I have a hunch there will eventually be a Ferrari 4200 and 4400 when ATI tosses out a new mobile GPU (x850 maybe? derivation of whatever its next chip will be?). Also, I'm not a fan of this wide screen phase... but I have a feeling eventually I'll have to comply. Ah well, sorry this kinda turned into a rant, hehe! Cheers

thx kerith for ur response
i have no difficulty in opening the thing 2 install the chip but i was just afraid that tampering with the chassis in any way would void the warranty am glad it doesnt

i've just read the posts regarding the upgrade to win64 over and over and over again! i was just about to do the transaction wen i kind of got cold feet. do u recommend this update? is there smthn i should no about the change like smthn i should b careful of? r ur laptops working perfectly with everythin that is not 64? i work a lot with grafix and movie oriented programs so will i suffer from anythin?

Well shadinio, I was hoping for some more words from Snorre on this topic. I went ahead and did it, because damn if I'm not curious. Problem is as the saying goes, "curiousity killed the cat." I don't think there'll be any problem because Acer specifically says x64 Prof will work on the Ferrari 3200/3400, so that makes me feel better.

Although, I did it through Microsoft's site, not Acer's-- which has me worried! So I'm hoping that it'll all work out in the end. Although my order has been pending since April 26th!! Come on Microsoft, burn me the stupid CD!

If you want, you can just wait for me to install it, then I'll post to this forum my thoughts/opinions/problems/successes. But, if you have no patience like me go ahead and order

Oh I didn't answer the gfx question. There are 64-bit ATI drivers, so don't worry about that.

I recently had a strange episode with my 3200. Last week it would sometimes start getting very slow and then be busy with a lot of strange hdd activity and then it would either simply freeze, crash or give a bluescreen, reinstalling windows didn't help and the time from boot to a crash kept getting shorter (even after a day of not using it) untill it wouldn't boot into windows.

I got my 3200 about a year ago and some months ago i had to send it back to acer to get the mainboard replaced as it would freeze after cold reboot and finnaly simply wouldn't boot, but the problem seemed different this time.

HOWEVER during the weekend i didn't touch it anymore and just as i was going to call acer on monday morning, i turned on the damn thing to be able to tell them exactly what was hapening, and since then it's been working again.

Although i installed hdtune, because i thought it might be my harddrive this time and my hdd temp when stressed is up to 56 C, isn't that a bit high? What is a normal hdd temp for the 3200? and has anyone had similar problems?

just ordered win xp 64 from Acer's link when i go the MS website and enter my order no. and email it doesn't accept it anybody ordered their copy from Acer's link? i wanna no how to track my order another thing i noticed now all the links r tokin about an upgrade from win xp prof to win xp 64 prof but i got win xp home when i bought my Ferrari 3200 actually all Ferrari's have Home preinstalled i presume does that mean that i'm screwed?! also THEY CHARGED ME 70$ FOR THE WHOLE THING! DAMN! (where does the term "free" upgrade fit in?!)

As i understand it, you are indeed royally screwed. You WILL have to upgrade to XP pro first. Only then can you install XP64

aha very interesting....glad that i could be the guinea pig for all the people to do this step after me!!!! and who cares ...70 bucks?! i cut my hair for 90!
ok enough crying over broken eggs, can i just borrow an XP Pro from a friend install it on my lappy and then upgrade i understand that would b a violation of copyright piracy captain hook thing but am not just about to throw 70$ in the gutter and the idiots at the Acer link very innocently specified that F3200 is eligible (i no its because its AMD64) but the windows that comes with it is Home and NOT Pro DAMMIT! they could have had a warning for that

I'm confused. I never saw a Ferrari 3200 or 3400 for sale with Home. Mine had Professional 32-bit pre-installed. Actually it was even service pack 2, not that that's relevant. I also don't understand the $70. I paid just for shipping & handling. And damnit if it isn't taking forever. I placed the order on April 26th I think...

...

Well I don't know what to say other than somehow you missed out on getting Professional.

Sometimes all of this is craziness.

i dont no if its because of regional issues but i bought my 3200 from Dubai, and at that time SP2 wasn't yet released and i got it with Home. all my friends who got other Acer laptops also have Home pre-installed. i ordered the 64bit from the Acer link not from Microsoft's one and they charged me 70$ for shipping. now i do realize that Lebanon is on the other half of the globe with respect to the US but 70$ for a 100 gram cd?!?!?!?!?!

i also would like to add that in the confirmation mail that was sent to me they said that my product will arrive in 14 days max is that also suspicious?