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    Anybody tried Undervolting a DV6500?

    Discussion in 'HP' started by wgama, Jun 18, 2007.

  1. wgama

    wgama Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anybody tried Undervolting a DVx500?

    What kind of increased baterry life did you get?

    How did you do it? and what programs did you use?
     
    wgama, Jun 18, 2007
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  2. Duy028

    Duy028 Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    I'm also very interested in any information regarding undervolting the new Santa Rosas.
     
    Duy028, Jun 18, 2007
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  3. telluride36

    telluride36 Newbie

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    are they really that bad? mine will be here tomarrow, i hope i don't have to do that just to make it run a little cooler
     
    telluride36, Jun 18, 2007
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  4. Duy028

    Duy028 Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    They're not bad. It's just I want to maximize my battery life on my 12 cell. I'd love to pull 7 hours.
     
    Duy028, Jun 18, 2007
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  5. marmion

    marmion Notebook Consultant

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    I don't have a Santa Rosa CPU, but I assume you could just use NHC or RMClock to lower the voltage. Its purely trial and error - I've done it on my Pentium M.
    The best way to do it is to lower the voltage by 1 option (using NHC) and test for stability. Lower again etc. untill you freeze. To be safe, increase the voltage 1 option over your last stable voltage, so you've got some breathing room.
    There is no harm in lowering your voltage - the worst that can happen is freezing (don't have any unsaved docs open when finding your lowest voltage!).

    For example, I've undervolted my Pentium M for its lowest multiplier (6x133 = 800Mhz) from 0.988v to .748v and maximum multiplier (13x133 = 1.73Ghz) from 1.308 to 1.132v.

    I've had these volts since I got the laptop, so I don't have any comparison figures for battery life (and my battery now has dead cells), but I think I got an extra 15-30mins (I'm guessing), so when the battery was new, I was getting 4-4.5hrs.

    I'm typing this idling at 35C, no fan, on new carpet (I know, bad!). If I up the voltage to default, then temps go to around 37C, so not much difference there fixed at 800Mhz temperature wise.

    So, in short, try it! (I'm on the edge of buying a new HP 6910p with Santa Rosa T7500 2.2Ghz, so I'm interested to!)
     
    marmion, Jun 18, 2007
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  6. mtor

    mtor Notebook Deity

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    What exactly is undervolting?
     
    mtor, Jun 18, 2007
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  7. Duy028

    Duy028 Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    It's exactly as it sounds. You lower the voltage used by the notebook via software.
     
    Duy028, Jun 18, 2007
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  8. wgama

    wgama Notebook Enthusiast

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    What program do I use to test the Laptop for stability?
     
    wgama, Jun 18, 2007
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  9. Sid1

    Sid1 Notebook Consultant

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    wow..sounds cool. had never heard of the concept. but if its about increasing battery life, i'm all for it.
     
    Sid1, Jun 18, 2007
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  10. marmion

    marmion Notebook Consultant

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    To stress the cpu, use either Orthos/Dual Prime, or the one that comes with NHC, which should be sufficient as long as you up the voltage one option just to be safe its all stable.
     
    marmion, Jun 18, 2007
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  11. David7536

    David7536 Newbie

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    hi guys, have a latitude d630 with santa rosa and want to maximise battery life.have tried newest versions of nhc and rmclock but neither offer voltage change settings(the option isnt available)...any ideas??
     
    David7536, Jun 20, 2007
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