300 dollar (US) CQ60-419WM impressions

For those who were wondering about the WalMart Special (as of June 26) Compaq AMD machine that went on sale for approx 300.00 US, since I ended up setting up three of them (for various family members) I thought I'd offer a more accurate "review" than those I've seen in the press where everyone is pretty much trashing the unit. Bottom line, they are dead wrong.

Here's the *real* deal. For the money, its a steal. Keyboard is well made, not the best, far from the worst, well positioned with the hand rests and very comfortable to type on. NO HEAT SPOTS AT ALL. The unit comes with the Sempron S1-42 clocked at 2100. It's a single core yada yada yada..HOWEVER...in normal daytime use, its just fine. What they havn't told you is that it overclocks like a banshee in this laptop, in a few minutes, using readily available tools. Same can be said for the 8200m on board video. Sure it won't run Crysis HOWEVER, the one i'm typing on now runs two instances of WOW in windows (for those taking advantage of the Recruit a Friend program) just fine.

With Wow econ, Carbonite, and the snazzy dual box utility out there running, you can rock and roll and level like crazy, and unlike with a netbook, or ultra portable, you can actually see what you are doing on the 1366x 768 or whatever it is screen, which is sharp, clear, and colorful. Solo play I see between 37 and 78fps in game, high 30's to 50's in major cities...

The computer is also VERY VERY quiet, on this box running the cpu at 2.4ghz and the gpu at 450/900 (conservative values) I get between 48 and 53 C on the gpu (ambient temp about 76) and 44 to 47 on the cpu.

The other really nice thing is that it doesn't get hot underneath on your legs. drive temp on the WD Scorpio Blue is 39 to 40C (the box comes with a variety of 160gig hd's , the seagate is slightly slower performance wise, but also runs a few degrees cooler.)

The memory is supposedly 667 however a check of the samsung mem in this box shows spd timings for 800mghz which could explain the stability i'm seeing at much higher overclocks.

Couple of more things. The box is setup for EASY access to drive, mem and the wifi card which is EASILY swappable if you want to put in one of the 15 to 25 dollar draft n /blue tooth modules out there on the net. (only wifi g is std)
Wifi reception is average for this size box (antennae in the lid but reliable and steady.

There is no camera on the box but with the rapid advancements in camera design occurring on a monthly basis, that's no problem. The onboard mic is terrific as amazingly are the on board Altec/Lansing speakers with are very configurable (all sorts of effects to tailor sound to your liking are available on chip and you can really get a nice sound for a lappie out of this thing). Much better in fact than my 2500 gaming rig ..go figure..(tho with the gaming rigs on board 7.1 optical out...well, no contest there lol_)

Couple of things i REALLY like are the nice placement of the wifi on/off button and indicator led...and especially the nifty little almost hidden button just above the touchpad for quickly enabling/disabling the thing when you are using a mouse and want to avoid those accidental screen skips that can drive you nuts or more often in a game, get you killed.

Overclocking...ok, the construction of this thing isn't at all bad for a plastic lappie. It's fairly thick, very well engineered (lots of cross hatching/ stress riser supports etc.) Tons of screws in this thing, everything ties into everything else. Solid keyboard support, solid screen lid, good hinges and anchor points. Thoughtful attention to wiring runs (better than I've seen on a LOT of far more expensive boxxes),..all is peaching keen UNTIL, you go looking to replace or reset the processor LOL. Essentially you're looking at a complete disassembly of the unit to get the heat sink/spreader/pipe off the cpu and gpu (single assembly covers both parts). This is a tedious process and you will NOT want to just swap cpu's in and out LOL. Not to say its impossible, but pick out a clean spot (white sheet on the floor works good and remember "gravity works" all the time on each and every part and screw you remove lol. Also, i'd diagram where each screw comes out as you dissassemble as there are lots of different sizes and you do NOT want to strip anything by trying to put in the wrong screw on reassembly. Time spent in preparation here is more than saved during reassembly. When you DO get down to the mboard, the spreader is easy to remove, you can even upgrade the std size fan if you want (tho I see no specific need for it) and clean out the crap they use on the cpu and gpu. You will most likely want to shim the gpu, when you get it off you'll see why. Lots of options there, especially if you have access to copper sheet metal, but in a pinch you can use heavyweight folded and cut aluminum foil to shim the gpu. Almost anything is better than those rubbery pads. Use Arctic silver or similar and DON'T OVER DO IT!!!

I see more screwed up/blown chips from people that just gob it on there. Think "THIN TO WIN" , and when you tighten down the sink, make SURE you get it even and flat. TAKE YOUR TIME!!! this stuff is the FUN PART!! and it will be a royal pain if you screw it up and have to come back to correct it. Please note the socket is not just an S1, its the S1 g2 (generation 2). This presumably has to do with the additional power planes of the newest chips but not having one, I can't confirm whether the 303C will run them or not. Best call and get a knowledgeable TECH!! not some doofus reading off a cheat sheet at a call center in who knows where. Ask specifically what cpu's the mboard will handle. I *know* it will handle the dual core Q series as the Wistron 303C mboard is listed in parts as the mboard for the CQ60 variant using those chips. I cannot confirm RM or ZM usage as I can't find either of those for a reasonable cost (ergo the delving into overclocking).

Now, as to overclocking the sempron. Couple of things. This case is very good at dissipating heat. I note the same chassis is used for about 30 models or more of CQ and HP lappies ranging up to pretty powerful cpu's and dedicated graphics chips soooooo, that would explain the ease with which it handles the sempron/8200g combo. You will be surprised at how little a cooling pad lowers the std temps (tho it might help more at full load). Further, its worth cleaning up that rubber crap they use for heat pads as the overclocked box (2500) 450/900 i'm writing this on is sitting next to a stock 2100 400/800 box and except for the drive temp (this has the hotter WD) its running about 7C below the stock box , both cpu and gpu- WHICH IS AT IDLE!

Frankly i don't know how much headroom there is on these Sempron 42's but I've seen dead solid 2.6 with only a few degrees increase under full load, but since its not my lappie, I'm not at liberty to push the whole thing to the limit, but I can tell you, for 300.00 this thing offers a lot of smiles per buck
If you're NOT the kind of guy that has to have intel, and/or 20 windows open, downloading in background, SIMS in a window, and skype and msn/aim up all at the same time, this thing can cover a lot of needs for a lot of people for very little money. Makes the netbook alternative look pretty laughable for everything but batt life which I havn't looked at. Given the ubiquitous auto 110 cigarette lighter chargers available everywhere, the estimated 2-2.5 hour bat works for me and no doubt if you played with undervolting and downclocking (easy) no doubt you could stretch that out quite a bit. The Nvidia chipset works with
System tools and you can set up all sorts of profiles for everything from all out WOW battle grounds, to ebook reading in a dark room, and have them all activate pretty much automatically.

I give the CQ60 419WM a strong *thumbs up* for value and fun, and now that i've finished this, I think I'll go find one of my own (if there's any still out there) and see just what this thing can really do

Anyway, there you have it from someone who has actually had his hands on one, er 3

Seer

PS. In wow under heavy cpu usage I see max temps of 69C gpu and low 60's on cpu. not bad for peanut one legged sempron

 

word up son

 

Not sure what you mean, but you must be quite ancient to call me 'son' lol. I cut my teeth on CDC in fortran and cobol, punch cards and all.
Oh, btw I found one report that someone had successfully run a Turion X2 RM70 on a Wistron 303C.

seer

 

not to burst your bubble topic starter, but yes of course you can upgrade the cpu in these, goto hp.com search for compaq notebooks, pick the cq60 model and go to build, hp shows you what cpus you can use that are safe with this system/mobo. ALSO with the better dual core cpu, you get more cache, faster HT BUS and NB BUS speeds and a ddr2-800 mem controller built into better cpu which would be huge performance boost for this little machine.

then when you overclock the gpu you be getting 2000-3000 3dmark06 scores

not bad for cheapo system..

im throwin in a blu ray, 4 gigs of ram, 500gb hd and upgrade the cpu! just need to figure out how to get windows xp on it!

 

welllllll...maybe yes, maybe no. just because you can choose a build with different processors does NOT mean the dependent parts to support that processor aren't changing also. There are a lot of different mobos listed in the parts department for the various HP/CQ 60 type models...many of which use entirely different chipsets...soooo, just because its on the menu doesn't mean the specific model I'm discussing will accept the new chip with its current internals.

For instance if you cross check part numbers on the HP site you will find a lot of the internals change between models...therefore without actually putting one of the ZM chips in it and starting it up...I can't swear that it will work on the 419WM variant. As I said, I was posting things I KNOW to be true. One of the real disservices of these kinds of boards is people posting information they've heard or guessed or deduced as if it were gospel which is of no use to anyone, especially the guy ponying up the money to buy the unit. I DID find a reference on another board where a guy claimed to be running an RM70 on a 303C Wistron board...but like I said, "I" havn't seen it, and therefore won't report it as absolutely 'true", further other comments made in his post indicate to me that he doesn't know wth he's talking about in general soooo
Far more reliable to get a knowledgeable Compaq/HP Tech on the line and ask him, or even more sure, to put the chip in yourself and see if it works ....

Once the ZM chips are more available, at lower price points, I'll pop one in and see what happens. In the meantime, the overclocked unit more than satisfies.
seer

 

With AMD, chipset and socket designs tend to last a long time. Now, whether HP's BIOS will support the newest CPU core steppings or not, THAT can be a problem. Flash in the latest BIOS before attempting a CPU swap. Finding a modern Turion CPU at a tolerable price can be tricky too.

HP locks out "unapproved" internal WiFi cards in the BIOS. There are ways to patch the BIOS to work around that but it's not something I can recommend to the average user.

I've upgraded AMD CPUs in a couple of different HP and Compaq notebooks. Nothing recent though. When your notebook is out of warranty and there are faster chips available cheap on eBay, hey, why not?

Nice review.

 

Here's some updated numbers after fooling around a bit with the cpu speed, the memory speed, and the core, mem , and shader speeds. Very little difference in temps, but still I'd monitor them. But using the built in vista performance guide, I'm now dead stable etc. showing proc speed of 4.3, Memory Operations at 4.8, Desktop performance For Windows Aero of 3.8, 3d business gaming graphics at 4.2, and Disk data transfer rate using the WD Scorpio Blue that came with the unit, 5. 4/5.3 seems right on the edge and switches every few runs between the two.

I could goose up the windows aero rating by artificially manipulating some things, but wouldn't tell the real story which is the business/gaming graphics of 4.2.

Those of you running some variant of Vista can easily compare to your own units by checking the performance entry in your control panel. All in all not too bad for 300 in US pesos....(that's a joke for those economists out there wondering how long this admin can just create money out of thin air until someone else notices....

 

I overclocked mine to 2.448 GHz and the 8200M to 500 core and 1400 shaders!

Perfectly stable!

 

Interesting stuff here. I havn't pushed the 8200mg any where near those numbers but some interesting observations One of the lappies is bone stock about ten percent faster than the other two and I can't figure out why LOL. Something set differently in the bios I assume (bios tells you jack on this model), but all my analysis tools show same specs for proc, mem, HT speeds etc. so go figure. Further, let me illustrate what I was saying about the bad rap this box is getting. I notice today that this site's editors are gushing over the 950.00 Toshiba U505, how they "love" it and how it has very good performandce....." Well our little compaq here, comfortably clocked at 2494mghz with 8200m timings of 472, and 944 (very very conservative btw, I havn't begun to push the graphics chip yet); blows the over three times more expensive Toshiba AWAY!!!....I mean..c'mon. U505 944 3dmark06. The box I'm typing on now is clocking just under 1100!!. and that's with a single core Sempron vs. the Toshiba's P7350!!!!. Since 3dmark06 is a combined score between gpu and cpu...with a dual core RM or XM, the Compaq would simply destroy the Toshiba....

I'm beginning to really look forward to getting my hands on one of those chips.

seer

 

That sounds like a nice machine, but lucky me got something a lot better for that $300. Honestly, they were very smart to drop a 8200m in there. I don't know if you can even find such a notebook here, all of the cheap ones have the rubbish Intel video, or SiS which is only marginally better. I thought SiS went out of business in the Athlon XP days but i seem to be wrong.

Anyway, a few observations on what you said - replacing the CPU requires complete disassembly on all HP models i've seen. But if you didn't know, they have free service manuals on their website and that helps greatly. Also the Altec Lansing speakers are pretty much a standard for HP notebooks, and indeed, they are pretty decent for how tiny they are. I find 9db of bass boost at 225Hz or 250Hz makes them really shine, sure it lowers their overall loudness to prevent clipping, but rather than loud ear-piercing treble i'd rather have lower volume with a little bass. The volume is still enough for listening in a room.

 

Th3 in complete agreement here on sound. Frank Sinatra once told me that "volume is no subsitute for quality" and tho he was speaking about singers, I think the sentiment carries over to all but the heavy metal 140db crowd, who'll all be deaf soon anyway LOL.

And jesus, where did you get a DV9700 for 300 bux? with 12 cell no less? whew...
Seer

Oh, btw I checked again and all the samsung /hynix ram in the three boxes I setup ALL had 800 capable memory..so I'll start playing with mem timings next.

 

I have a slightly different vision on that - volume is no substitute for BASS. Music, movies, games, anything, without bass it's nothing but a screaming mess. I have built both my subwoofer enclosure and amplifier, i have a 12" sub of a brand i bet you haven't heard before, but it's got 96db sensitivity so it can get very loud with little power. I have some old Tesla bookshelf speakers (6" woofer, 4" mid/tweeter) as my sats. Beats the hell out of anything Logitech at a quarter of the price. Plastic satellites with 4-inch drivers? No thanks.

Now that we speak of nice sound, someone just dropped me an old JVC boombox to fix, the one with the biphonic sound processor. Man this thing sounds good. I remember my grandfather used to have one when i was like 3. There was a time when boomboxes actually sounded damn nice, and very high sensitivity speakers meant that those puny 10W amps rocked the place. I was born in 1991, but i got to see some of 80s technology fortunately. Now you can't find a half-decent portable stereo anywhere.

But back on topic. You'll see how i got my dv9700 if you follow the link in my sig. Mine has 667MHz Nanya btw, but i was able to tweak the timings pretty far even so.

 

The only thing I don't understand is exactly HOW you manage to overclock one of these proprietary machines. There is certainly nothing in the Bios that lets you do this. How did you accomplish it?

 

Also, another couple of questions, to those of you that know much more than I do. I installed Windows 7 64 bit and it runs like a banshee. Don't know how much faster than Vista because I never even booted to vista, just wiped the drive and started over. But here are my questions:

1. It doesn't seem to work on ANY mousepad drivers supplied by HP or the pad manufacturer. It works fine with the standard windows mouse driver (PS/2 port, already) but of course without any advanced functions.

2. Can't seem to get the DVD to read a standard DVD video. Windows XP on another laptop reads it fine, but this thingie just cranks up the DVD to about 10,000 RPM, then slows down, then recycles forever, with nothing in "Computer" about a disk being recognized. Reads data disks fine though. Especially Windows 7.

3. Does the VGA connector have TV out? Is there any way to get it to display on a TV that doesn't have a VGA input?

4. You brave guys that reduced it to pieces, is there an internal USB port to hook a webcam to? Specifically, could you drill a hole in the screen bezel and install a webcam?

 

About overclocking, just install the nVidia Performance tool and prepare to be amazed.

The pad works for me with the Synaptics drivers from their site (then again, i have a different model). Some models are known to have an ALPS touchpad, maybe you can try drivers from them?

As for the DVD issue i think the drive hates your movies. No solution besides getting another one...

There's plenty of adapters and converter boxes for VGA...

There most definitely is an USB port you can hook to (if anything you can sacrifice one of the external ones), but first you'll have to find a webcam small enough to fit behind the bezel. Too much of a hassle i'd say.

 

I tried to OC it but when i click apply to apply the OC it gives me this message "FSB Bus Modification: Failed. Restored to original setting". ...

Remember I am running Windows 7 64 bit.

 

It seems to me that I could get a replacement webcam for practically any laptop (as long as I could find drivers) and install that behind the bezel. Question is, how much trouble is it to take apart the bezel and case to get to the USB ports

 

I am running the same and it works. Are you sure you have installed the latest chipset drivers from nVidia? Everest should tell you the nForce chipset model, or at least the mobo model, and you can google from there.

I haven't taken apart the bezel on HPs but from my experience with Toshibas you have to be very careful when you do that because it is very very flimsy, and you can easily bend it enough to make it look like crap. As for the case, with patience, it's not too hard. HP offers free service manuals on their site, you can take a look there. I had to take both of my laptops apart and it wasn't all that hard.

 

I had to back down on the shaders on my overclock to 1200, but it let me up the core to 600. It was stable in 3dMark at 500/1400, but not in certain games. I think the core speed gave a better performance boost, anyways.

What's REALLY holding my 3D performance back is the memory speed... how can I bump it up to 800 without pushing the CPU too far?!

 

I believe the 8200 has a 64-bit bus - in that case the graphics card memory has the most influence on performance. Overclocking the core is only going to cause extra heat. Try to get the shaders as high as you can, on the 8200 they are few and slow, so any increase in speed is always welcome. But the core isn't really worth messing with.

With that GPU, the laptop's memory has next to nothing to do with performance. Unfortunately, unlike a custom desktop computer, overclocking options on laptops are severely limited. Even if you could hack the BIOS to unlock any hidden overclocking settings, i doubt the motherboard even supports 800MHz memory. If you have nVidia Performance working you can try tightening the timings, but apart from that there's not much to do.

 

Hi guys,
Sorry been busy, but I've explored pretty much the extent of the box now and can fill you in with what i've found.
Using the 190 series Nvidia vid drivers, I'm currently running 2.5 ghz on the cpu, 500, 800, 1500 on the 8200, and holding at a steady mid 40's C on the cpu core, gpu core and mcp. System is dead stable, quiet, cool and just plain destroys anything else out there for less than 500.00 US which is the price for the Gateway at Best Buy with the dual core Q series AMD cpu at 2.1 and the AMD HD3200. As compared to the Intel based nearly identical system but 80 dollars more my CQ60-419WM clocks a roughly 1050 in 3dmark06 vs. The Intel 4200/HD4550 box at 969.....



When running two instances of WOW, my max core temps get up to mid 70's which is acceptable to me as the chips are rated to 100C.

I run a cooler underneath with the fans blowing up into the vents on the bottom of the computer, and MAKE SURE THE REAR EXHAUST IS NOT IMPEDED. Dunno why they did this, but the exhaust blows partially downward and is easily restricted.

To do this you want the latest Nvidia System Tools installed, and set up your rules so that you only have the extra power when you need it. It will push the specs up or down according to rules that you set.

One last thing, for some reason I have far lower temps when the power is set at Max Performance, than at Balanced. I suspect some undisclosed internal fan settings are changed so they ramp up earlier and stay on longer.

I've had a lot of fun with the box. Have Win7 64 on it now and it just simply *works*.

Was the best 300 I've spent in some time

Seer

 

The air intakes/exhausts are on the bottom on all DV series, CQ60 and CQ45. It isn't the smartest cooling design indeed, but it's just the way they did it. My old Toshi Portege had the fan blowing out sideways.

 

Well, on this model the exhaust for the heatpipe goes out the left rear of the box, BUT it is directed partly downwards...the intake is just slightly in front of the exhaust on the bottom. Therefore, I'm using a cooling pad with two 70mm Fans that blow up into the bottom of the laptop. I use weatherstripping to seal the area so that it builds up positive pressure which assists the exhaust fan, thus the fan in the unit doesn't spool up at all during normal use.

Lastly, another unit came my way for setup. Just so you know what kind of difference disassembly, removal of the heat pads, shimming up and a judicious application of Arctic Silver 5 can do...this stock unit showed stock temps of 60C gpu core, 54C cpu core, and mcp at 57C. After the aforementioned mod, I'm looking at an overclocked unit running 2520mghz on the cpu, 500 on the gpu core, gpu memory at 750, gpu at 1200mghz.

Temps are 48 on the gpu, 48 on the mcp, and 47 on the cpu diode.

Go thou and do likewise oh, and for those who were wondering, 32 Vista gives about 20 to 30 more 3dmark06 marks than Win7 64...RTM using the latest and greatest Nvidia 190 series drivers.
so for all those MS monkeys all agog about the "NEW IMPROVED< GREATEST EVER WINDOWS"....lay off the KoolAid and read a few of the anti trust charges filed against MS around the world before you go panting out to pay another 150 to 300.00 for the "Emperors new clothes" which alas...underneath appears to be the same old windows wrapped in some new eyecandy...
whoopee...hold me back......

Seer

PS> I'm old so I get cranky every now and then

 

well, just when you think you've wrung everything out of this lappie, come to find out the new 186.81 64 bit Win7/Vista laptop drivers from Nvidia are faster.

1172 3dmarks in 3dmarko6. Big improvement in the shader scores account for the increase. Remember, this box *stock* runs about 760'ish soooo, that's a pretty satisfying 54 percent increase

seer

 

Sorry to necro this thread, I just registered today to confirm the OP's post and also to mention that the ZM-80 variant of this processor does work in the Wistron 303c board. However, the default cooling options on the laptop here aren't enough for the monster I have unleashed on my system. The ZM-80 gets VERY hot.

In my system I have seen temps under load going up to 60C - 70C doing some video encoding as a CPU capability test. It idles at around 46C and in Windows 7 I have to keep everything in power saver mode to keep the clock down and heat down. I may have overlooked something as the OP said when reattaching the single heatsink assembly but I doubt it. I was very thorough during reassembly to get everything right. Speaking of the assembly, did anyone else notice corrosion on the copper plate over the processor? I had to take out my dremel and re polish the copper plate to make it smooth.

I didn't have access to any copper sheet metal during the shimming GPU process but, I did try to rig something together with aluminum foil, but I really doubt this had much effect because I have seen my video card get upwards to 85C during load. I think this is an indicator that I need to go back and redo the job. (*sigh*) I might hunt down a copper penny to use as a shim and polish it down with my dremel to make it nice and smooth. I think the content of the pennies will be more than sufficient to transfer heat well (Pre-1983). I think they were about 97% copper. Either that or I might stop by a hardware store and see if they have any copper sheets.

I just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with this lovely little 300 dollar wonder.


Thanks and again sorry to necro.

 

If you think your CPU runs hot, you have never seen a DV5. And there's always undervolting.

 

I just bought one of these laptops and did some tests I think will help some others.
I thought that if I upgraded from the 3GB of RAM to 4GB that this would enable dual channel ram and increase performance. Wrong.
The Windows Experience Index didn't move at all. I get 4.5 for the RAM, Aero is still 3.5 and Gaming is still at 4.0. No improvement at all.
Also, CPU-Z has Dual Channel grayed out. SiSoft reports the same memory bandwidth.
I also ran 3DMark 2006 with the 3GB and also 4GB. With 3GB I got 853 and with 4 GB I got 888. So nothing big there either.

The bottom line is that moving to 2 x 2GB offers no real boost in performance at all. If you decide to run a 64 bit OS and want the extra 1GB of RAM, well then go for it, but otherwise there is no real reason to spend any money on a RAM update.

Here is the RAM I used:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211200
It's AData DDR2 667

Did anyone else try a ram update?
If so, did you notice the same as me?
Note I am running the latest F54 bios from the HP/Compaq website and I have the latest Nvidia chipset drivers and graphics drivers.

 

gaster, I noticed the same thing as you. I believe they crippled the chipset to lock it out of dual channel mode. My analysis toolkit describes the memory as "unganged" which I understood once, but have now forgotten LOL.
As for vista scoring , my scores on the overclocked settings I'm now using are:

Processor=4.3
Memory =4.8
Graphics =3.8
Gaming Graphics=4.3
Primary HD =5.4

seer

 

Nero,
copper is definitely the way to go if you can find some. I can't recall the exact numbers but I think the btu transfer of similarly sized copper is about twice that of aluminum. The trick on this pos heatsink is to make sure its level and yes, I forgot to mention that I found some corrosion also on my heatsink face, fortunately it was NOT in the contact area. Remember amd processors and nvidia gpu's run HOT, and if you are used to seeing intel numbers, can be a bit shocking. If I remember right, the amd processor will start to clock down at between 95 and 100C and I think the gpu is about the same.

These are not really the problem however, what will kill the board is prolonged exposure of the other parts of the sytem to these kind of temps. Anything you can do to increase airflow thru the chassis will help.

As for ram, what you CAN do with that extra ram is increase the system cache substantially. The more of your programs that can remain cached in ram, the faster your machine will go.
seer

oh, and he was correct. it is possible to undervolt this system also, use "K10STAT".

seer

 

Seeratlas, which Nvidia system tools version did you use for overclocking?
I have 6.05 installed, but it seems to be a mess.

In the Nvidia Control Panel, under Device Settings, then CPU, it says my CPU is running at 2,900 Mhz and that the multiplier is 14.5, which of course doesn't match CPU-Z or any specs for this laptop, so the software must be wrong.
It seems you can change the HT bus under CPU and/or Motherboard. Do you change both or just one? If one, which one?
And I would rather not run the pci bus out of spec, or my memory, and I have one stick that is 667. What bus speed would you recommend I try?

Under View System Information the max CPU speed correct, but the HT, HTT, and multiplier are all wrong, or I think they are wrong.
If I click on the Memory nothing shows up.

The System Monitor will not even start, it always crashes. Is that normal?

Sorry for the million questions, but this software is confusing and I'm not familiar with overclocking AMD cpus.

 

Nvidia System Monitor crashes out. I do not use it.
I use NvProfile and Performance, (which is under the Nvidia Control Panel.
NCP id is 2.7.130.18.

disregard the numbers you see in Control Panel 14.5, 2900 etc. are wrong The software was NOT intended to work on our systems, but the important parts do

Makes no difference which page's slider you use, whether cpu or mboard, it will effect the change.

The option there is for the pci-e bus and it is not necessary to change it. Since the mem controller is onboard the amd chip, mem will be clocked up along with the processor, and is in fact most likely the factor limiting the overclocking of the chip. On my el cheapo system, it actually came with ddr800 mem installed so it clocks right up.

ALSO, remember that under the GPU section, you have the ability to change the dedicated memory for the gpu. When you get that setting *right* (remember this is a part dedicated, part shared gpu memory system) you will see a marked jump in gpu performance. With all else being equal my system jumped from 1085 to just under 1200 in 3dmark06.

Lastly, when you get what you think are your best numbers, b sure and try K10stat to undervolt the system. If you are *lucky* you will be able to save 6 to 10 C under full load , VERY important for anyone plopping in a dual core.
For a guide on how to do THAT check out Weinter's blog (pretty knowledgeable AMD blogger) here :

http://aspiregemstone.blogspot.com/2009/06/k10stat-amd-griffin-processor.html

gluck

seer

 

Seeratlas, thanks for the reply. I will play around a bit and see how it goes.

 

Another thing that works is the AMD Fusion Utility. This is a great utility because with the single click you can turn off all the junk in vista etc. you don't want running when you're doing something specific. For instance there are pre set configurations for both online and off line gaming. Freeing up these extra resources without having to manually go into task manager and turn things off one by one is a very useful tool
recommended

Seer

Btw, the more I' use all my laptops the more time I find myself using the CQ than any of the others. Especially for lounging in bed, the CQ is the best combination of size, weight and screen visibility. Funny as some of my units cost well over 2k LOL.

With my current WOW settings, I'm getting between 40 and 75 fps with the important settings (distance view and resolution) turned way up. Couldn't be happier If and when the dual core cpu's come down, I may consider sticking one in but in the meantime, when o'clocked , it handles Wow VERY WELL, and underclocked, it provides plenty of webrowsing time on batt.

 

Update:

Sorry I haven't checked back here in a bit, I have been rather busy at work. I did end up having to take it apart again I found some copper flashing (fleshing?) at Lowes and made myself a copper shim. Took it apart cleaned everything again and polished out the corrosion on the contact plate above the CPU heatsink. After reassembly I am able to get some impressive stock numbers without OC I have 45-47 C readings across the board. Usually during overclock (CPU to 2497 (stock 2.1)) I get upwards of 80C under load with WoW running. Since I upgraded the processor it opened up the bandwidth a bit bringing the 400 Mhz DDR2 availability to the front. As mentioned earlier in this thread however, dual channel mode is crippled. Been looking for a way to unlock this but given the performance boost I gained just replacing the CPU, RAM, and shimming the GPU I am honestly not to worried about it.

Win 7 64 bit test results:
Processor : 4.9
Ram : 5.9
Graphics : 4.3
Gaming Graphics : 5.1
Primary HDD : 5.3

Increasing the bandwith capacity of the memory seems to have given the biggest boost to gaming graphics as I was able to nab 4.6 before. Making memory faster causes the graphics card to be a bit faster due to the fact that the video card reaches in to get chunks of ram for use in video rendering every so often. Makes it hurt me a little that dual channel mode is crippled but cest la vie.

If anyone can think of a way to get it unlocked I am all ears though. For now, I am more than satisfied with the results.

 

I think that dual channel may really be working on your laptop.
Mine is still running completely stock and my RAM score is 4.5 where yours is now 5.9. That is a huge increase. I have the stock 3GB and the 1GB stick is 667, so I'm stuck at that speed.

At one point I even upgraded to 4 GB of DDR2 667 and still was stuck with the 4.5 score for RAM. I thought 2 matched sticks would help, but it didn't.

I'm not sure what helped you the most, the new dual channel RAM running at 800 or the new CPU. Maybe it was a bit of both.
The memory controller is supposed to be built into the AMD CPUs now so the new CPU could have had an affect.

Anyway, nice numbers and thanks for posting with an update. Now we all know what is possible with some upgrades.

 

Sorry to revive this thread, but I just picked up a used CQ60-419wm off Craigslist.

When I met the girl, i booted it up, and it worked fine (Windows Vista). So I took it. I got home and wiped out the HD with DBAN to put Win7 on it. I noticed that when the windows would pop up, they would appear/disappear from top to bottom, kinda like the animations between slides in a powerpoint presentation. (Also like the old days of Win95/98 when it was bogged down)

I didn't think anything of it until it came time to reboot during installation. It would reboot to a black screen (screen not on). If I turn it off and let it cool down for a few minutes or so, it would boot up. The laptop doesn't seem to be getting hot, but I'm not sure about the CPU and stuff.

Someone in another forum mentioned that the Semptron chips are suspect to overheating, causing bad solder joints. Hence when I booted it up when I was testing it, it was cold, and after I was loading windows and everything, it got hot, and won't reboot and is slow.

Does anyone have any ideas? Should I try swapping out hard drives to narrow down the problem? I also tried loading XP, and it did the same thing. After windows is booted, moving the mouse around, it jumps, and it seems to be a task.

I am very fairly competent in electronics and soldering, but if I open up this laptop, is there anything I should look for? Anyone have any ideas?

 

If it still powers up and runs i'm quite sure it is not a hardware problem. Are you sure you got the right graphics driver? Run DPC Latency Checker and see if you got any red spikes.

 

Update:

I contacted HP support via chat, and they advised me to update the bios and discharge the motherboard of static by disconnecting the battery and power cord and holding the power button for 30 seconds.

Now if the laptop boots when cold, it seems fine. I have Win7 loaded on it, and it works ok.

DPC Latency Checker shows the machine to be fine. I'm going to leave the computer on, play a DVD, and see how it holds up. However, when restarting, it still boots up to a black screen (I don't even get the initial Compaq Bios screen).

Then if I let it "cool down" for say 5-10 minutes, it will boot up, and System checker pops up asking me if I want to check for errors. I did notice that when this screen loads, it loads from top to bottom, again like the powerpoint slide transition....however once it boots up it appears ok.

All drivers are good. Win7 installed most of them, and the video and others I got off the HP website.

Any ideas? The chat tech said it was still under warranty, but it's unclear as to if I would qualify since I'm not the original owner. Id like to have this fixed as it's a Christmas present.

Thanks

EDIT: I just started to play a DVD, and the computer restarted on me not even 1 minute in. This time the Windows logo did pop up and it looked like it was going to reboot fine, but I have a dark screen again.

 

well, first off, get a temp monitor and check your component temperatures. I've heard instances of the Nvidia chip overheating which would cause the results you are seeing. If it will run the dvd when cold but fails as it warms up, the only thing you can do is rma that puppy. If, it does the same thing whether cold or hot, I'd be completely uninstalling the vid drivers, clean the residuals using one of the various proggies around for that purpose, then installing the latest nvidia set.
seer
(btw, all three i worked on are running just fine.

 

The GPU temp was 88deg....and got close to 100deg according to hmonitor.com!!! There is the problem. What causes the GPU to overheat? Crappy fan? Bad solder connections? I used to do lots of stuff to old gateway and dell laptops, but these newer cheapy ones I don't know. I guess I'll see if HP can warrant it, but this was to be a Christmas present, and I don't know if HP will take care of it because although it is technically still under warranty, I'm not the original owner, nor do I have a receipt.

Thanks

 

In HPs it's usually bad thermal transfer between GPU and heatsink.

The thermal material they use is a crappy little pad that would be barely able to transfer a chip of RAM worth of heat let alone a graphics processor. The fact that the pad is quite thick because the copper heatsink is mounted about 2mm higher than the GPU doesn't help either. Replacing it with copper + thermal paste will fix the problem.

 

Listen to this guy he's right. DON"T run the lappie any more until you do this. You'll need a couple of pieces of different thickness copper sheet, some Arctic Silver 5 or 7 and a lot of patience. Actually, if you've got a feeler gauge from an auto store or mechanic that will help also. You need to make sure you bridge the gaps and make sure when the heatpipe is fastened down you have contact pressure on all mating surfaces. Take your time and get it right first time.
I've had no problems whatsoever with my 419, even when o'clocked to 2500mghz (which is what I run it at when playing wow). Get a good cooling pad etc.

seer

 

But you're still only left with the Nvidia 8200M,but no doubt better than the Intel 4500MHD sometimes.
EDIT- the mobo in this little laptop allows overclocking?
Wow!

 

Yeah, but in fact the 8200 substantially whacks the 4500HD, especially when overclocked. yes, you can overclock both the processor AND you can overclock both the gpu core clock AND the gpu mem clock by a bunch which kicks your graphics ability up substantially.

plenty strong enough to run WOW, but not much more.

seer

 

Where can I get a new copper pad and what size should I get? I have a Frys electronics near me, so I know I can get good thermal paste there.

Is it hard to get to in this machine? I think I can do it.

Thanks

 

Replace thick pads with a copper (pre-1983) penny. For thin pads, the ones that disintegrate when you try to remove them, there's a guy on eBay selling copper shims for cheap. I used one on an 8400GS.

 

I did some more trial and error work on my laptop to investigate this single vs. dual channel issue.
Just to summarize, my laptop is stock with 3 GB of RAM. It has a 2 Gb stick, and a 1 GB stick.
I previously pulled all of this out and replaced it with a 4 GB dual channel kit, (2 x 2GB). This did not run in dual channel at all. There was no change in the Windows Experience Index.
So, I changed back to the stock 3 GB.

Yesterday I got a new stick of memory, 1 GB, and it matched the 1 GB stick that was already in the laptop. It has the same part number on it, everything. I pulled the 2 GB stick and put this new 1 GB stick in it's place.
The idea was to see if dual channel would work. I would be giving up 1 GB of total system memory, but I thought if it ran dual channel, then at least some operations would be quicker.
Well, it was a failure. Even with these two 1 GB sticks that match, dual channel was NOT enabled.

The memory controller for AMD should be in the CPU, so I can only conclude that the SI-42 has a single channel memory controller, not dual.

The only person in this thread who increased the memory score in the Windows Experience Index changed memory and also the CPU.

In other words if we want dual channel performance we need to swap the cpu and memory, which is an expensive proposition.

 

OK, I think most of what I posted before was wrong. I am still a bit confused as to what is going on.
None of these mobile AMD CPUs seem to have dual channel, even the RM series and ZM series.
The SI-42 has a memory controller that can handle DDR2 667, and the RM-70 for example has a DDR2 800 memory controller, that is why there will be a difference in the WEI scores for memory bandwidth, but it doesn't look like dual channel.

Here is a cut and paste from the AMD site, under the Mobile Sempron section:

Mobile Optimized Memory Controller

Enables dramatic application performance improvements with increased system bandwidth so users get a better PC experience with low latency and long battery life.

* PC2-5300 (DDR2-667), PC2-4200/4300 (DDR2-533) SDRAM unbuffered DIMMs
* Up to 10.7 GB/s memory bandwidth



And here is the section for the Mobile Turion X2 Ultra and Turion X2:

Mobile Optimized Memory Controller

Enables dramatic application performance improvements with increased system bandwidth for a better PC experience with less latency and long battery life.
FEATURES:

* Directly connects processor to memory to optimize memory performance and bandwidth. Improved memory bandwidth and support for DDR2-800 help provide increased memory performance. Power consumption is reduced by operating at a lower voltage and frequency from processor cores.
* PC2-6400 (DDR2-800), PC2-5300 (DDR2-667), PC2-4200/4300 (DDR2-533) SDRAM unbuffered DIMMs
* Support for 64-bit DDR2 SDRAM memory
* Up to 12.8 GB/s memory bandwidth

-----


Neither says Dual Channel, but "Mobile Optimized Memory Controller" instead.
Not really sure what that is supposed to mean.

 

Anyone have any luck with shoving a zm-84 in her? It is compatible with the motherboard but idk if it is compatible with the BIOS. If no one noes I will be the guinea pig in a couple weeks.

 

Flash in the latest BIOS first and it will probably work.