Buying a 8540w, need help on graphics card decision

Have decided to get a 8540w, but having trouble deciding between the Nvidia 880m and the Firepro m5800. I primarily surf the web, watch videos, play video games (starcraft II, Torchlight, Oblivion, will play Diablo III and Torchlight II), and also will use it for Visual Studio. Which one is a better graphics card for my needs? Is the Nvidia 1800m significally better than both (it is an expensive upgrade)? I have looked at consumer models, but none fit my criteria (Envy 14 with radiance screen was perfect, but now unavailable).

Also, how is the quality of the 1600x900 screen?

Thanks!

 

The ATI gpu's are significantly cheaper than the nvidia's, so unless you specifically need an nvidia card (and it sounds like you don't) you should definitely get the m5800. It should perform around the same as the nvidia 1800m, maybe better in games. You can search the 8540w thread in this forum for more detailed info.

 

M5800 Firepro benchmarks are superior to 880M and 1800M

 

For price per performance, no doubt the ATI M5800 is the current best for your machine.

 

Thanks! I'll get the one with the firepro.

 

I just got a 8540w, the preconfigured XT903UT#ABA with i5-560 and M5800. It seems pretty solid for gaming so far. Here's some quick tests I've done, all are at 1600x900:

Crysis - High: 19, Medium: 30. Auto-detect picks High and it's actually pretty smooth like that most of the time. There are probably a couple settings I could turn down to bring it up to about 25fps.

Just Cause 2 - Optimal: 22, No AA & SSAO off: 29. Optimal sets everything to max with 4xAA and SSAO on High. Numbers are from the built-in benchmark.

Oblivion - Everything maxed and HDR: 40-120fps at the Anvil Lighthouse. Turning off HDR didn't really change the numbers. No mods except an alternate start so I could skip the %&$@# prison.

GTA4 - Auto-Config: 16 in the built-in benchmark. Playable, but I think I'll turn down some settings. Most settings default to high.

Borderlands -: All settings maxed: 24-27.

X3-TC - Max, no AA: 70-100. I could probably crank up the AA without any issues.

Burnout Paradise: Locked at 60fps until you turn on 4xAA, then it dips to 58 once in a while. SSAO will knock it down to 25fps.

So far, the M5800 is able to handle high settings or a little bit below that with most games and with good frame rates. Being a DX11 card it should have driver support for a long time. I would be worried about when Nvidia will cut off support for the DX10 880 and 1800 cards. I've already been through that on a previous laptop.

The 1600x900 screen is fine. Contrast is good, blacks are nice and dark. Viewing angles are just average. It's not a DreamColor or Radiance but it will do the job.

 

Wow, thanks!

 

can you check which screen panel you received?

I was comparing the reviews for the 8540p and 8540w on notebookcheck.net and the 8540p they tested had a solid AUO panel with comparable numbers to the Envy 14 (except sRGB) and better than the 1920x1080 option.
They also mentioned that the HP probook 6540b has a slightly lower grade panel (LG), but turns out my 8540p has the same LG and not the AUO I was hoping for.

Anyway, I just want to get an idea if maybe the W model is getting the AUO panels and the probook and P models are getting the LG, or if its all just luck of the draw.

 

please note that the 8540W and 8740W can have the DC2 screen in it which makes the 8540p and envy screen look like garbage (150% sRGB gamut and 178 degree viewing angles ). but that screen does have a SLIGHTLY slower refresh so you may wind up with a small amount of ghosting in a fast moving FSP game. but for those of us that need the better screen, its by far the best of ANY laptop.

 

PC-Wizard says mine is an AUO panel. I looked at the Notebookcheck.net review of the 8540p. That sounds like a fair assessment of the screen. Color and contrast may be close to the Envy14's Radiance screen but the viewing angles (vertical at least) are not.

 

Thanks... I figured it'd make more sense for hp to put the better quality screen on the w model instead of the p model. That settles it, I'm gonna go for the pre config with ati and 1600x900 and hope I get an quo too. Although the lg on the p is still the best I've had recently.

Last thing though, the things that bugged me most about the 8540p is the squeaky keyboard, loose battery, and crappy button for the trackpoint. Im hoping this is an isolated problem?

 

No squeaky keyboard here.

Loose battery, yes. The clip on the power connector/vga end is solid, the other end not so much. Bad design but it's not like it's going to fall out.

I'm ok with my trackpoint. Someone said you can use thinkpad tips and that made a difference to the accuracy. Kinda wish they had made the buttons more differentiated like on a Thinkpad or Dell. With three identical buttons there's no way to tell them apart by feel. It's easy to click the middle button by mistake. I think I've gotten used to it now, I feel for the groove between the buttons to make sure where I am.

 

Using TP red caps for trackpoint here and am very happy with the maneuverability. Totally agree about the buttons - very easy to press the middle one instead of the right one.

 

8540 uses upgradeable MXM 3.0 A graphics slot.
I have not yet heard of experiences with this and any HP whitelisting.
I also have not heard of any MXM A card better than the firepro m5800.

HOWEVER in the future this could all change, the lower power Fermi cards have to end up in some format... hope for the likes of gt 445m...

 

I am thinking of picking up a 8540w with the same processor and graphics card as yours. I am concerned about heat and poor battery life and would like to hear your feedback.

Does anyone know if the choice of graphics card will have any meaningful impact on the heat output and battery life. I can get a i7-640m with FX880 for $1789 or a I5-560M with M5800 for $1465.

 

If you're at all concerned about battery life and heat, the only way to go is with the i5 and ATI m5800.

ATI has ~26w consumption
Nvidia has ~35w consumption

Regardless, you'll probably be happy either way. I had an i5 540m and Nvidia and it ran cool and could get 4 hours easily.

I have the i5 560m and ATI on order, I'll update if there are any significant differences.

 

Here's what I posted in the battery thread:

Frankly, battery life is about what I would expect for a system with this kind of performance. Actually it's a bit better than I thought it would be. It's certainly not poor at the load levels of the tests above.

Heat hasn't been an issue. I had just been playing Oblivion for the last few hours with the computer in my lap. Didn't even think about the temps until I read your post. I guess it was warmish but not all that noticeable. I had it plugged in so the GPU should have been running on Max Performance at the time.

 

I appreciate your response and please will be looking out for your feedback after you have received your new laptop.

The problem with the ATI, is that HP will only ship them with a 150W adapter while the Nvidi FX880 is shipped with a 120W adapter. Should I take this as a hint?

 

Great feedback, this will go a long way in helping me to make a decision. A battery life of 1hr-10mins playing while gaming on a high setting is excellent. I was only able to get 1hr-10min surfing the web with my Envy with Bluetooth off and processor performance at 75%.

 

Maybe I spoke too soon about battery life and the ATI m5800 since I don't have it in my possession yet (arrives Monday). Those numbers are according to notebookcheck.net. Who knows... maybe the Nvidia has better power saving features. My 8540P with i5 540m and Nvidia NVS 5100m got great battery life (though I only had it for a couple weeks before returning it), I'll see if there's any noticeable difference between that and the 8540W with i5 560m and ATI m5800.

I'm not sure why HP requires the ATI m5800 comes packaged with the 120w power adapter? I think someone answered this earlier in the thread. I think all Nvidia cards come with 90w. The 150w is reserved for ATI w/ Dreamcolor display.

Also, I've been trying to find the site where I read this, but I swear I read an article about the updated arrandale chips (i5 560m/580m) being slightly better with power savings, while performing a bit better.

 

A 120W charger came with mine. I also bought the 90W Smart Combo charger to carry with me. I run my 8450 off it while at work, no issues. Maybe the 120W gives it a little extra power margin when it's under full load.

Wow, that's crazy! What kind of Envy was it? I just got my wife an Envy 14 and she can get about 4-5 hours on the web.

 

It was quad core Envy 17 with a ATI Radeon HD 5850 graphics card, dual hard drive, and 6 cell battery. The heat output was really bad and the fan had to be running continuously, I think the larger Envys will have longevity problems down the road under those conditions.

 

Awaiting your first impression, particularly web surfing with backlight at daytime setting and processor power plan at around 75% - 80%.

 

Actually, you know what... you don't really need to wait on me. Notebookcheck.net just posted up ANOTHER review on the 8540w (plus they have 1 review on the 8540p) with the i5 520m and m5800. I've found that their reviews are the most thorough and detailed. They must REALLY love HP's 8540 line-up (and who could blame them? ), it is currently their highest rated notebook! and they're going to perform a fourth review on a unit with Dreamcolor 2.
Anyhow, maybe I was wrong with my assumptions... from what I've read, the 8540w w/ m5800 did not get better battery life than the 8540p with i5 and nvs5100m. It did beat the 8540w w/ i7 620m and fx880m by an hour in the idle test, but lost by a bit in the under load test.
Regardless, I'll update when my 8540w arrives tomorrow

 

My usage varies from yours, but my initial impressions were positive. Nearly every complaint I had with my 8540p does not exist on the 8540w. That can probably be attributed to the 8540p being a refurb and 8540w is brand new.

Only had it a day so far, but my conditions were...
- wifi on / bluetooth off
- screen at 50% (w/ ambient light sensor on)
- firefox w/ 5 tabs open
- 4-6 microsoft word documents
- 1 powerpoint
- 1 excel
- playing music through headphones

3.5 hours of use and battery bar reported ~45 minutes remaining

My conclusion... the i5 560m w/ ATI m5800 vs. i5 540m w/ NVS 5100m or FX 880m. There is no significant difference in battery life. Without any numbers to prove, the 8540w with ATI seemed to run a fair amount cooler than my 8540p w/ Nvidia.

3dmark06 score (I think 10324x768???)
i5 560m w/ ATI = 8090
i5 540m w/ Nvidia = 6988

WEI score
i5 560m w/ ATI = 6.9, 6.9, 6.7, 7.5
i5 540m w/ Nvidia = 6.6, 6.6, 6.4, 6.4, 7.5

playing Dirt 2
i5 560m w/ ATI ( @1600x900 w/ 2xAA) = 32-34 FPS
i5 540m w/ Nvidia ( @1366x768 w/ 2xAA) = 32 FPS

Just to confirm what we already knew, the ATI is clearly the way to go if you're gonna play games.

 

I appreciate the detailed overview that you have provided on your new unit. It is about to play a big part in my decision to get the i5-560m and ATI graphics card. The $300 saving was also a big factor too.

 

If you frequently use your laptop at ~75% load, you probably won't get more than 2 hours of battery life, even with the 8540.