***ENVY 14 Gaming Lounge***

That sucks. Acer users have OC'ed up to 670Mhz core on their 5650. I'd like to think this will be possible on the Envy. Hopefully the AMD GPU Clock tool will work after a driver update in the future.

 

This really turns me off. Downclocking the GPU? Come on, HP, you should know better. What's sad is that Envy users are now overclocking just to reach 7500ish 3dMark06 scores, which are standard on the 3820TG at normal clocks (although I am not sure if the higher resolution on the Envy skews this).

 

yeah it is a drag.

I think we may be undervolted too like the sony.


I can't find any info about voltage at all on my gpu though

 

3dmark06 score of 7546 OC'd at 550/800 with catalyst 10.6 release jury-rigged onto the envy thanks to the catalyst 10.6 alpha

 

I admit I don't know enough about clock speeds, but is this a hardware related issue or is this something that is hard coded that could be fixed via update.

IE... complain enough to HP to get a fix to 650/800

 

it's a hardware and/or video card bios issue I think.

not sure

 

Serious deal breaker. With 450 mhz stock clocks, it seems like it would be very tough to OC to 550 stable, let alone anything approaching 650.

I guess that's why you don't buy a laptop to game, but it's still disappointing.

 

Hey guys, I'm using MSI afterburner, but the clocks will not "stick." I set it higher but it just goes back to 450Mhz when I click "Apply". I'm on stock drivers. Am I missing something?

 

*shrugs* I dunno about lith

but I was stable in furmark at 585/885.


temps were up to 76ish I think.

 

Some video bios editing may be in order. Is there anything like nibitor for ATI? As long as I can quickly and easily and stably run at 550/800 I'll be fine. If I get a little extra I'll be a happy camper.

 

change that setting in the MSIAfterburner.cfg

 

can we even see the video bios.


GPU-Z can't determine what it is.

 

I dunno, can't wait to get my Envy 14 so I can play around. So what program have you been using so far? 10.6 Alpha, the 10.6 drivers on top of that, then some MSI program? Do you have to manually upclock it every time you need it or can you "set it and forget it" as long as the program boots with Windows?

 

MSI Afterburner is kinda useful.

It can boot at the start and you can give it profiles.

I don't believe the profiles auto-boot at start but you can set the profiles to hotkeys (like ctrl+shift+K or something) and it'll use that profile and apply it.

you need to do that since when it OCs it won't use powerplay anymore (it'll be going full speed at the OC speed, won't ever drop down to 100/150, etc)


also I went 10.3 ---> 10.6 alpha (oh god oh god my screen is go-windows is still working, gonna take a walk and hard boot later) ---> 10.6 release (holy crap it actually worked).


lith was OCin on 10.3 but his was crashing.

bucknasty or someone was also OCing on 10.3 and his was NOT crashing. so...just depends on what sorta stuff you got in your card

 

Thanks for all that info. I'll see if I can contribute something when I get mine. I love toying around with that stuff, at least when its not my sole laptop. I have a desktop and my other laptop for the time being anyhow until (if) I get it up and running decently.

 

alright.


I noticed on the asus boards they've been doing vBIOS stuff with the G73 (in an attempt to avoid the GSODs when they update the catalyst drivers from 10.1 to 10.5/6)


guess you CAN flash the vBIOS of radeon cards. Not sure how they got the dump or how they modified it though.

 

where's that info? Link pls?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/488683-g73-cat-10-5-gsod-debug-thread.html

also I hit 77 temps overall at 550/800 while playing SC2.

averaged around 60 fps with everything on high except shadows at low (not sure this is possible anymore since you could only do that in the first build of the beta)

so...SC2 heats stuff up good (was just using the ai crack)

also it played fine until it started stuttering a bit when the mothership showed up. that guy's cloak messes with things

 

hopefully my Envy 14 will arrive tomorrow. I am going to have a hack around with the gfx drivers and also compare them to the acer 3820tg drivers. I cant understand why they can use amdgpu tool but we cant!

 

20 bucks on a screwy bios

 

Magus, how much more noticable is the heat difference from the 450 (which isn't that around 59-60 degree area) to the 550 in the 70-ish degree area?

Like "hmm... that is a little bit warmer" or "It feels like i'm touching fire!"?

 

heat isnt a problem at all with this laptop so i dont think it matters really.

 

it felt the same for the most part.

i mean full load the back middle is hot (hey vent, you're venting up 'cause fo the screen) and the top right was hot (oh hey, other vent).

some of the keys felt a little warm on the right side (well that's where the gpu is at)


left side was fine and if you're fpsing or something that's good. since you're using a mouse and wasd and stuff. Just keep the mouse a bit away from the right vent and you don't feel anything.

 

btw I remember ppl were asking about raids in WoW. I just did a VoA 25man raid and from going through the fight I never went below 60 fps all ultra settings and medium shadows.

 

standard clock skhope? nice

 

thank you! i was wondering about that

 

Awesome, thanks Magus.

 

oh right. the bottom right was a bit hot (hey hdd you're working hard and aren't a ssd) but well...it's a 7200 rpm hdd. can't help that


or well it was warmer than when not gaming. But I think that happens period.

 

I was under the impression that the 5650m was capable of 725/850 without too much effort? Is something different with the version in the envy?

 

Possible bios or hardware level underclocking by HP

 

Check this post here for what HP set it at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6492788-post259.html

 

According to AMD/ATi (DAAMIT, whatever):

ATI Mobility Radeon? HD 5650 GPU Specifications

GPU can be anywhere from 450MHz to 650MHz.

 

it also may not be the same 5650.

it sounds like there are two different versions of it. run that's stock at 450, one that's stock at 550.


seems like the envy has the 450 version or something

 

So of course Blizzard sent me the beta invite on Saturday, and I just got around to checking my email today...

So it looks like the first I'll get to game on my Envy is when SC2 finally comes out.

 

Any possible solutions / overrides out there? I have to imagine all 5650's are the same chip, set differently.

 

Has anyone contacted anyone at HP about this? If not, I might as well start a ticket to see what they have. There has to be at least 1 Senior Tech Rep that can provide some insight.

Edit:
I be impatient, hopefully by the time I get to some who knows what they are talking about I'll have my ENVY

 

I played Bad Company 2 last night at 500/800, and crashed after an hour of playing. My temps werent bad either, around 70 for gpu and cpu. Why'd I crash?

Also, why DO graphics cards crash? Other then heat, there must be some other reason, because my envy is staying perfectly cool.

 

bad drivers maybe.

I'm not sure

 

I just read that catalyst 10.7 got delayed too - Gotta love ati.

 

HP Tech Response:

"I would like to inform you that Engine clock speed of ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 is 450-650MHz. The ability belongs to the card and the variation is from 450 hence when you performed the test it must have showed 450. There is no variation of the card, it depends on the requirement by the system that is the reason the count goes from 450-650 MHz otherwise that card would have a fixed MHz."

I'll give them this much, at least based on the grammatical errors at least it wasn't a canned response.

 

Was it just that one time or does it keep happening? (or have you not been playing enough? MORE GAME PLAYING !!!)


On a side note on the card clocks, technically 450 is not underclocked but it sure does seem low based on the range of clocks the 5650 is expected to run in.


I wonder if the hp got a deal on these 5650s at a lower price due to them being lower binned versions of a 5650, still capable of the base clocks, but less high grade to get to the top levels.

I guess we'll know when we get more results from people who clock their cards higher, the sample size so far is very small.

 

What did the CSR just say? LOL. "it depends on the requirement by the system"

WRONG!

It depends on the penny grubbing accountants. It's a design decision based on cost I guarantee it.

 

And that's why I went from being extremely close to ordering an Envy 14 to not even wanting one at all. That's despicable to downclock the GPU. It's false advertising.

 

Lol, that was my first thought as well. It took me a few read throughs before I think they were try to say:

If video card is not performing any tasks it remains at a 450 clock speed. While under load it will vary, but will not go above 650. Test clock speeds again while performing tasks that rely on the video card.

I'm up for more information before I call this guy out on it.

 

That kind of makes sense besides the fact that you can increase 3dmark06 scores by increasing the clock speed via msi afterburner.

a 3dmark06 of 7500 when OC'd to 580 clock speed, and 6800 with no OC means that the card isn't going above something like 500 even under 3d stress.


from a broader perspective though, this is all meaningless.

The right combination of software will OC this thing to 670 easily, and make it superfreak fast

Hopefully CCC 10.7 helps with this.

 

I think it is just perception of HP is marketing this as a Premium Laptop and finding out that you've been throttled down to a lower speed than a competetors "better than average" laptop.

Don't get me wrong this is a very small detail (very small compared to the battery claims) that I probably wouldn't have even noticed had someone not mentioned it... and still feel confident in my purchase.

If anything can be done by HP great. If not, no worries. This is a laptop. I need it for when I don't have my desktop (which is where most of my gaming is done).

 

Overclocking is kind of pointless since the only real method is already crippled.

You have to use AMD Clock Tool (5870 version) but you'll note that the voltage is normally .9 - 1.0 but AMD Clock tool only allows one setting which is .95v so the reason everyone is hitting a cap is because were basically undervolting the gpu while increasing the clocks. If you have Win7 then you can download the GPU Observer gadget to observe real time clock speed and voltage info. I discovered this back when I orginally discovered how to overclock the ATI gpus back when the ENVY 15 G1 first was shipping which everyone uses now.

 

Hey so I just got BF:BC2, and have done a few benchmarks from single player mode. Benches were recorded in 4 minute intervals
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Resolution: 1920x1080 external monitor (dual screen enabled)
Settings: Low

System info: i5-450m; 160gb SSD, 5650 stock drivers and clock, clean installed
--------------------------------------------------------------------
from the first level, going through the trenches about 2 minutes in:
min: 21
max: 36
average: 28.263

later on in the first level, starting from where the vehicle explodes while you are hiding in the grass:
min: 5 (during tank explosion nearby)
max: 44
average: 24.779

In the second zone (icy), I have so far gotten a decent average from 12 minutes playtime:
average: 32.4

 

Could you play on medium settings @ 1600x900 resolution and tell me your average FPS? Thanks.

 

The gaming performance of ANY laptop is going to be lacklustre for someone used to a desktop.

That said, it just smacks of deception for HP to clock their GPU slower than competitors. They advertise it being identical, when they know it to be inferior. Feels like false advertising to me.

Is anyone else thinking about waiting for rev. 2?