help a newbie please.

i've just bought a hp pavilion 6750en, having Nvidia 8400M GS. i've read the forums but confused regarding benchmarking and DRIVERS updating. i've got 2 main questions:
how do i benchmark my cpu&gpu? like i've read about 3dmark06. what are the standard scores and what should i do to test my lappy?

my notebook comes with vista 32bit, i checked help and support>system information>installed drivers> nvidia video kernel *something* = 156.65

is this 156.65 the version we look fwd to when finding drivers at laptopvideo2go? can any1 spare 5 min for me and find me the best driver for my notebook? i've NO IDEA what to do and how to do. and yes, how do i install them as well? and later, how to check if it has improved the performance or not. i shall be really grateful for all the help. pleaseeeeeee.

 

156.65 is the video driver version that you'd be looking for on laptopvideo2go.

Installing the video drivers is easy, you download the driver, doubeclick on the setup file and it'll install for you. If you need any help with that theres a guide over at laptopvide2go.

Dunno anything about benchmarking though so someone else will have to advise on that.

 

but 156.65 is the current version that shows in my installed drivers list.
shouldn't i be looking for new drivers? :/ and that's what im seeking help for. some1 find me the best drivers for my hp pavilion 6750en, 8400M GS, and how do i install them.

 

Read the sticky on how to update drivers from Lv2go.com . Theres specific instructions on how to do it

For benchmarking, we use 3dmark06 . You can download the basic version from the futuremark website. Its about 500+ mb big though

Yes 156.65 is your current driver version. Try the 169.09 here, i recommend this driver. Make sure you read the instructions on the sticky on how to install them

 

here u go just download and install...they already include the infs and all so all u have to do is just run setup...if u have any more problems just post here

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18049

 

thank you so much.
now flipfire recommended 169.09 and umar referred to 174.74
i'd go for 174.74 at the moment.
but i wonder why doesn't we get such updates through manufacturer's update software or microsoft etc? these aren't even available at hp or nvidia?

@flipfire,
just a quick question, you have 4GB RAM installed, and have another 4GB ready boost. does this ready boost any good? considering you already have 4GB RAM?

 

readyboost is for Laptops with to little ram so if you have 4GB of RAM you have more them enough 2GB is about Average for non-gamers and semi-gamers. Oh if you want to benchmark in game play use Frapps (that will give you better comparison to other setups like yours. )

 

Because the drivers you install from LV2Go are desktop card drivers with modded INFs. nVidia does not offer mobile gpu driver releases, other than those specifically modified by the OEMs.

 

oki, got it.
so right now as suggested by umar, i downloaded the setup and 'i don't need to replace the INF with the modded INF available there'
i'm going for it then.

 

i ran the setup and it says 'could not find any driver compatible with the hardware installed'

 

Then you need to download the INF on that driver page and follow instructions here

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11997

 

oops dunno why on my system i dont have to replace the inf in this driver....i just run the setup and it installed...anyways really Sorry....

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18049

go to this link and clico on "MODDED INF" it will download and then u place the dloaded fole in the folder from where u run the setup from

again really sorry

 

worked like a charm.
thank you so much every1.
now drivers have been updated in device manager but it says it's not digitally signed.
talkin' abt the performance, i played carbon at low settings thou, but it used to lag a bit, and after this update, it has reduced by 90%
are there any recommendations for drivers? some 3d audio drivers are theer as well. shall i go for em?

 

its not digitally signed cuz its a modded inf....so dont worry abt that...best drivers are either 169.09 or 171.74 according to most people

dunno abt the 3D audio drivers though have never checked them out

as for the lag try lowering the resolution

 

This is normal (because of the modded INF). EDIT: Oops, Umar beat me to it.

I'd stick with the HP audio drivers.

 

alright
i'd try 169.09 sometimes as well. most ppl said updating drivers can upgrade our vista scores. like for the AERO and gaming, nothing changed for me anyway.

@R4000
we both have an AMD machine, i have vista home premium as well. i never got sp1 option through windows update. i know we have to install ALL the possible latest hotfixes, drivers etc and i'm done with that. did you get the sp1 option through windows?

 

No, I just used the standalone installer.

 

the 400MB one i guess, right?
it's always a risk unless we get the sp1 option through windows update. atleast that's what i heard. if things went smooth with you, i'll give it a shot as well.

 

Supposedly there is an issue with Conexant sound drivers with SP1, which is why it did not show up on WU for me. After installing SP1, I had no problems though............

 

i got the SP1 update option last month so i did it....thing was that after SP1 my quick touch buttons stooped working...so i did the HP recovery thingy and went back to factory settings and they started working again...
so Ali since u have HP also and if u use the quick touch buttons fror volume, eject etc...dont update to SP1 even if u get the option, wait for a month or so more b4 updating so HP might fix the problem cuz when i contacted (emailed) HP abt the problem the rep said that as the problem was fixed doing a recovery it was probably a corrupted driver/software issue

PS: i haven't gotten the option ever since the first time anyways

 

@R4000
yes, but for the versions 4.32 and earlier
windows update offered me a 4.7 driver version. i was expecting it'd be get me the sp1 option but it didnt.

but Umar's case proves that it's best to wait till windows update enable us to install sp1.

 

My Conexant driver is 4.33 and Quicklaunch driver is 6.40, no noticeable problems from either yet.

 

what SHOULD be the temp. of my HDD, CPU, GPU? i use HD tune to check my HDD temp.
the most it goes upto is 50 c
is there any simple sidebar gadget or application to minotor cpu temp. as well?
what are the ideal temp? and the warning temp.?

 

There is HWMonitor http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php and Core Temp http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

 

awesome. thanks
but you didn't tell the ideal temperatures and the warning temp.?

 

Here is my screencap of HWMonitor after browsing the net for over 40 minutes;




I would say they are "ideal" temps for basic usage. If you are running games or doing any encoding, obviously you will see an increase in temps. My cpu has gone up to the low 70's, and I would not like to see any higher or I would think about a notebook cooler.

As for the hard drive, you want to keep it under 55C (although that appears difficult with HP's consumer models). I've had none fail due to heat, but they do get quite warm.....

 

Ideal temps is 40c-70c for cpu

HDD should be 35-50 . GPU should be 50-80c

The cooler the better

Only the hitachi hd's hit 55c easily. If you get one with a WD drive it will max out around 45c

I have the hitachi 160gb and WD scorpio 250gb, the difference is big all around

 

Then it looks like I have a problem. http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=17189&d=1207318972

 

Yeah my dv2000 with the 160gb hitachi looks like your HDtune results

my other one with 250gb WD scorpio looks like this
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4416/hdtunebenchmarkwdcwd250es2.png

With my notebook cooler i managed to get it as low as 34c idle

 

hhmmm, owing to the fact that i have hitachi too, it does get warm quickly. like reaches 50C after a bit of intense usage. i'm considering buying coolermaster notepal S. hope that does the trick for me.

 

we monitor our GPU performance by frames per second right? how do you guys determine the fps during any game you play? any tiny application for that?
and also, what is the standard fps? how many fps should i be getting to consider my gpu powerful enough?

 

we use 3dmark06 to benchmark gpu's. go to the futuremark website to download it

 

yes i've been told about that
but how do you determine frames per second DURING a game play? i think i've gone through a page elaborating that. there was this tiny application which used to show the fps on the screen during the gameplay.

 

Are you talking about Fraps?

 

theres FRAPS

theres usually a built-in FPS counter for most games, you just need to know the console command

 

yeah, may be
i'll google it then.

 

Ali download FRAPS....it shows the fps on screen...

 

^ yup, i just did. thanks
although it's the unregistered version, i'm tryinna find it's key

anyway, Umar, i'm having a hard time finding a notebook cooler here in pakistan.
galaxy computers had 1, but they've ran outa stock. do you know any place i can seek?

 

hmmm....do they have Jogy's Computers in your city??? cuz in karachi its the plac which has them....if not than i suggest u go to the computer markets and search them..some shop must have them

 

nah
and none of the shops here have em
if you happen to visit jogy's computers, do get me info about the coolers they have.
i'm lookin fwd to cooler master notepal S, which is a stand + cooler