Gaming on the HP dv2z (turion neo, radeon 3410)

Hi all! I just got my brand new, awesome in every way, so beautiful hp dv2z. I've been looking at buying this computer since my old vostro 1000 broke. This time, I wanted something a little more portable than a business class 15 inch laptop. I was actually looking at netbooks for a while, but I do web work, so I was worried about the very small screens and even more worried about the very meager processing power. I bought this one mainly for it's bigger 12 inch screen and discrete graphics option.

I paid about $850 for this laptop (It can be gotten for $700, but I had someone else buy it for me and there were complications), and it's definitely awesome. I ordered it with the 1.6ghz dual core turion neo processor and the radeon hd 3410 graphics card, hoping to game a little bit on the side, mostly old games.

I am extremely impressed with what this little machine can do with its modest specs... For an ultraportable, this thing it packing.

Out of the box, I booted up Vista (I know, I know....*sigh*), and ran 3dmark03. I got about 3400 3dmarks. I only ran this version because I didn't want to download the newer 3dmark (longer to download).

The second thing I did was run Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. I followed tweaking instructions from tweakguides.com (some of the graphic options don't actually do anything, so i turned those to low.) The game ran surprisingly well. I thought I was going to have play on a smaller resolution than the native 1280x800, but the game was definitely playable at this default, though the fps dropped into the 17-20 range when viewing massive scenery or lots of baddies.



Not bad at all... Alright, I admit it is annoying for the fps to drop below 20 sometimes, but this machine is advertised as being a middle ground between a netbook and an ultraportable, and I think it's graphical capabilities are a much closer match to the second category than the first. BTW, for all purists who dare to say that under 60fps is not playable, I have a shrine in my home dedicated to mocking you.....(Prays to the forum gods that no one takes offense)

My next gaming test was Oblivion. I had tried running this game on my old vostro (integrated graphics), and I couldn't even get past the prison scene it was so awful. After a bit of tweaking, following advice from tweakguides.com, and a mod called "operation optimization", I actually managed to play the game at my native resolution on high (and very pretty) settings, and it was at a playable, though slightly annoying, fps. I even added in some anisotropic filtering from the ati catalyst control center. It hung around 17-23 fps most of the time but dipped down into 11-16 when lots of characters were on the screen.



Now, this frame rate is fine for me, and I'm willing to sacrifice some fps for pretty pictures, but to make the game less stuttery, you can simply reduce the screen resolution to 1024x768 and drop the texture setting down to medium (At that resolution, the drop in texture quality is less noticeable anyways).



Well, that's pretty much all of the gaming I've done so far. I hope this helps the forum some, cause I've always relied on it for computer advice, and it's nice to give back.

trentbg also had a great post and review about this machine with lots of gaming pictures: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=400082

 

Meh...so raining on my parade. Anyways, it's within the return policy, so I guess you could go ahead and direct me to a specific laptop. I'd like it to be an ultraportable though, and nice looking, preferrably under $1000. Build quality means a lot to me.

I've actually been looking dude, combing the whole laptop market. I think I have a pretty good screencap of the market as it is right now, and I wouldn't change my mind... I mean, the timeline series is nice, but battery is not a deciding factor and it lacks the power I'd want...and the xps series is both clunkier and more expensive.

Now, I COULD go for something used or refurbished, but it would be like finding a gay guy at a anti-gay convention... in texas....100 years ago, in other words it would be a one in a million chance to find what I'm looking for without it being flamingo pink or having some downside.

Anyways, that's my rant. I could be wrong, as I only use google, this website, and notebookcheck.net to really look at the laptop world. Please point me and maybe you've found something I haven't.

Edit:....Uhh, where'd your post go?

 

I'm with you dude, I just ordered basically the same one you got and just found out today, to my great surprise, that it's already shipped, 6 days before the estimate build date! I actually ordered a Studio XPS 16 from Dell about a month ago and they screwed my order up so bad (they cancelled it and re-ordered it two days before it was supposed to ship (after two previous delays) and said that my order was going to the back of the line, sorry) that I cancelled it.

I went back to the drawing board and after seriously reevaluating what I needed and spending a lot of time in Best Buy going through the litany of flimsy plastic clunkers I decided on the dv2z and it saved me ~$700. I know I'm not going to get all the Core 2 Duo performance but the mobility, good enough performance, high build quality plus discrete graphics were the deciding factors for me. Plus, I wanted to try something different and give AMD a shot, though it wasn't easy; being a financial analyst who focuses on the semi industry, I know how much Intel usually <STRIKE>beats</STRIKE> annihilates their competition. However, I think AMD may have scored a little 12-18 month window with this product before Intel hammers them again.

Anyways, ~80% of my current computing usage is in a browser window anyway and our software analyst is always talking to me about how everything is going to end up in a cloud (gaming excluded). This means that the need for vast amounts of processing power (and associated power consumption) in the users device may, in the future, be an unneeded waste. While I don't 100% agree with him (it's going to be a while before ubiquitous wireless connectivity is available at speeds fast and affordable enough, plus a number of other challenges) he did convince me that mobility is more important than CPU power, especially for my type of business needs.

I'm hoping that the dual core Turion X2 fixes some of the multi-tasking issues I've heard about with the MV-40 and, from what I've read (please correct me if I'm wrong), Windows 7 should be lighter and more responsive and it comes with the free update.

Anyways, sorry for blabbing, good post! I'll put up something about mine when I get it on Tuesday...

 

Just FYI, this dual core turion neo is performing extremely well. I can't compare it to the athlon, but I can compare it to my old turion tl-60 2.1ghz (or was it 2.2ghz) processor. To be honest, I can't even tell the difference. It seems just as snappy. Boot up is even faster, though that probably has to do with the details of the software configuration. I think, unless you're doing something decidedly processor intensive, the turion neo will performat the same level of noticeable snappiness as just about every other processor on the market.

I can't really tell you about windows7...I heard something about a free upgrade when purchasing, but I didn't get a disc when it arrived. I'm running Vista.

 

You have to apply for the free upgrade program at HP's site and your disc will be shipped when Windows 7 is released (October 22).

 

Very sad:

I have unusual gaming tastes--I hate having to control some anthropomorphic thing using a joypad. So I am not so into first person shooters, which seem to remain playable despite mediocre frame rates when there are lots of bad guys (according to other reviews). Altogether, dropping a good indilinx SSD and doing a clean Win 7 install have turned this tiny beast into a very, very snappy little computer--I use stuff like GIS and photo editing software for a living and this thing seems to compare favorably with my 15 lb Clevo D900C for many tasks, which is nothing less than astounding--also seamless blu-ray under any conditions.

Unfortunately if anybody out there likes racing games, forget it--everything is gorgeous and quick when you are "qualifiying" but as soon as you race against a significant number of AI cars, the tiny processor is pegged, and the framerate (and the ability to control your car) become poop. Even older games chosen specifically to make sure I had enough horsepower TOCA RaceDriver 3) are not playable (with compatibility issues to boot...)

I made my decision to keep the thing when I sanded the chrome off the touchpad, and continue to be astonished by its performance in almost every other respect. But I am very dissappointed that the only games I am interested in playing don't seem to be an option for me...

Anybody else tried some simulation games with similar experiences? Any tweaks I should know about (yes I've already tried turning everything off and going 640x480...)?