ENVY 17-32XX Intel Ivy Bridge (AMD 7850M)

Does anyone know why the volume knob and mute button don't work when playing Skyrim? I'll test another game as soon as I have one downloaded, but this is pretty annoying.

The volume and mute status are retained when you start the game, but can't be changed unless you alt-tab out.

 

if u dont plan on OCing, then dont do it haha. the instructions were only for maverick specifically and others who wanted to and were having OC troubles

it does make it faster. its pretty simple to do, the cooling on these envy's are excellent my envy 15 never got anywhere near warm. However, if u do go too much then it causes stability issues so make sure u dont push it too much and throughly test it.

If u are fine with the performance of the 7850m, then i would recommend u dont haha .

as for if its "better" than the m17x, they are marketed toward different people. the m17x has the option for much more powerful components however on the cost of style weight, body. I find alienware ugly and wouldnt be caught dead with one in my hands. The envys are stylish, sleek, cool, powerful, awesome audio etc.. u gotta c what u would rather have

 

The 7850 is a desktop card the 7850m is the notebook

 

the 7850 is the desktop version the 7850m is the notebook

 

Sine the new envy 17 have dynamic graphics, does that mean I can download the latest CCC from AMD...

 

I agree alien ware is ugly but envy 17 is enough to play crysis or any game right? How to you over clock can you copy steps again ? What is sky rim

 

so in the 3200 series (non 3D) envy 17 the graphic switching is smooth, you wont get that blank screen for couple of seconds? or your VLC wont crash in the middle of the movie if you D/C the power and the graphic card switches?

If I dont use the laptop for gaming and just for movies and surffing etc should I even bother with the AMD graphic card, shoulw I just set it on intel graphics unless I need to do some major graphics?

 

Uhm.. I think I can see you're a bit out of your depth here... I suggest you not to try and overclock your system, as it is not generally recommended unless you REALLY know what you're doing. You might end up damaging your PC and I'm pretty sure overclocking isn't covered by the warranty...

Anyways, the Envy should be able to play pretty much any game with high settings, but maybe not with everything maxed out (especially AA or antialiasing, which makes textures in games smoother but usually needs a lot of graphic processing power). If you want a full-on gaming beast, I suggest you go with a Clevo/Sager/Alienware and configure them with a 7970m, but that's gonna easily be over 1500USD. On the other hand the Envy provides very good performance and battery life in a compact shell and costs way less (especially with the recent discounts floating around)

As for Skyrim, it is a very popular game. You can try googling it.

 

The screen should never flicker with the new Envy. And if you're only watching 2d movies, the 7850m is pretty useless as the integrated HD4000 should perform just fine.

 

I just played skyrim on my envy 15 and im getting 30+ fps (no dips below it) on the ultra preset so the 17 should be able to do a whole lot better

 

The cooler master u3 is well reviewed. Thats the one I would get, but I have a u2 that the laptop fits on somewhat, so i'll keep that for now. As for the surge protector, can't help you there.

 

Anyone know what the WEI for the 7850M is every time I refresh the index it says 6.8 but then if I view the detailed performance it says the graphics is the Intel HD 4000. Is there a way to run the WEI with it detecting the 7850M?
Thanks

 

I have the 3d version (for now) and all I can check is the 7850m. The wei score is 7.3 for graphics and 7.3 for gaming graphics. 8 gb of 1600 ram gives a score of 7.8 and my 3720qm has a score of 7.6. I have the triple drives configuration and the 128gb msata has a score of 7.4. it is a shame they do not use the pm830 msata with sata iii; instead they use the pm800 with sata ii.

 

Thanks for answering my question. + rep

 

Does the volume knob work on your Envy 15 while you are playing Skyrim? On my 17, the knob works fine until you're in the game. Then, whatever setting it was on when you started the game sticks and the knob does nothing.

It seems to work in other games-- I just tried Just Cause 2, and the volume knob and mute button work fine there. So far, it's just Skyrim causing the issue.

 

My HDX-16 has the same issue with Skyrim when I play it, have to set the volume before I enter the game. So its the game thats the issue I assume

 

Could anybody post more game fps results? I'm really curious to see how the 7850m handles all my favorite games; I need something to hold me over till mine gets here... Team Fortress 2, Skyrim, Fallout, anything...

 

what does the 7850m score in 3dmark06 3dmark vantage and 3dmark11 and the standard settings.

Anyone have a power consumption meter to show me what happens when you play demanding games like dirt 3 arkham city gta 4 skyrim battlefiekd 3 etc take in terms of watts pushed to its limit. My current laptop takes around 70w when gaming so if a 7850m laptop takes around 100w while playing games and is capable of playing at 1080p it would be a good upgrade.

 

Question here, does the msata interface in the envy 17 is sata iii and if I buy a 128gb msata III what speed should i see and will it be better than an ssd. Because I would like to keep the 2.5" bays for storage

 

Just thought I'd post this for anyone looking for an SSD. This price is pretty much unbeatable anywhere else(512gb for $339.99)... One of the best brands (Crucial M4) you can trust...
Buy.com - Crucial M4 512GB 2.5" SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

nope volume knob doesnt work in skyrim. it also doesnt work with spotify.

my 15 gets around 45 fps dipping to 35 in 16 v 16 intense battles lol in tf2 with everything maxed at stock (full aa/af max all settings at 1080p). On the ultra preset on skyrim im getting 30+ fps depending on the scene including outdoor scenes.

knowing that, the 7850m is like 35-50% more powerful so u can do the numbers

yeah thats a really good deal but im still waiting for prices to drop to .5$/gb im not made of money

 

As long as I'm not the only one. Misery loves company, eh?

I did discover that bringing up the Steam overlay (shift+tab) allows you to adjust the volume in Skyrim. It's not perfect, but it's livable, and volume seems to work in everything else I've tried.

 

Is anyone else experiencing really stiff USB ports? I'm not sure if they just need to be broken in over time, but gosh.... I can't insert the USB for my cooling-pad without fear of damaging the port or connector. Glad my external HDD fits ok. What's weird is that holding them up they are the exact same size.

(No it's not dented or anything like that)

 

yeah mine r stiff too. but i think thats a safegaurd in the long run. if they werent stiff now they would be loose later and falling out. now since they are stiff... when they break in they should be regular

 

Thanks. Pretty promising. Looks to be a nice jump from my 5850m @ 1600x900.

 

Is anyone using this to play Diablo 3 having any problems? I have the game set on high performance on the switchable graphics setting.

I have this strange lag which happens even if I have everything at the lowest settings. When exploring new areas the game has a noticeable lag/freeze for a split second. No one else I know has this issue so it's probably its not a latency issue. Every couple seconds of moving I will get this split second of lag. On explored areas it happens a lot less regardless of the number of mobs on screen. Anyone know what may be causing this? I've tested the game with everything on low/off and it still does the same thing.

 

try turning off coolsense while gaming that seems to be the problem with some peop;e while gaming

 

I don't have any other programs running the background except for microsoft security. I find that if the area is explored it doesn't lag at all but if I'm walking to explore a new path on the map it will lag right when it is being explored. I'm not sure how to identify this problem because it's so situational. The 7850 should have more than enough power to handle d3 on lowest settings but the lag is still occurring for some reason. Not sure if it's a graphics issue maybe something else is bottlenecking it.

 

its not a program its gonna be on the bottom right in the battery section select off for thta

 

I went in and turned it off and the lag is gone! Thank you!!

 

PaKii94 can you run batman arkham city at 1080p on high as well dirt 3 on ultra at 1080p and check fps.

 

I can confirm the msata will function at sata 3 speeds, have it reading 500mbps and reports sata 6gb, not sure if it shares the express lane with anything though

 

this is a just in case. Because i was having the same issue . I dont have an envy yet but on my DV7 i have noticed .. No matter what i do it still wants to use the on board Graphics. So everytime i start it i have to right click and specify which card i want to use. Not sure if the envy is the same way. (if it is when you right click on the icon to start Diablo you will see which card it says is default) But doing so . I seen a big difference in everything .

 

Virgin ports. Usually the case with new laptops, give it time and they will break in.

 

I've had a couple of days to get things up and running, and aside from some minor quirks with the audio in Skyrim, it's been pretty solid. Not a bad machine at all, especially with price taken into consideration.

I can't help but be disappointed, though. This is a solid laptop, but it isn't an Envy. There's nothing wrong, but it's not the unique high-performance machine it was in the last generation. The return of the optical drive is a bizarre choice-- Envy users spent two entire product generations getting used to not having it, and now it's back taking up space at just the time when mainstream users are starting to no longer need it-- let alone the performance market the Envy used to target.

The last-gen Envy 15 had a near-perfect keyboard (although we can all debate the usefulness of a calculator key). This machine has the worst arrow keys I've seen in years.

The new design is okay, but it's nothing special. It looks like an HP. Access to the interior is substantially easier than it was in the previous Envy design, but it and the optical drive come at the price of making the laptop thicker, heavier, and generally less compact.

Pros:

-Easier interior access
-Switchable graphics

Cons:

-Design
-Build Quality
-Size and Weight
-Optical Drive
-Performance sacrifices
-No matte screen option

With the optical drive out of the way, the hardware in the new Envy 17 should be in the Envy 15. The 17 should be a monster. Both should be thinner and lighter than they are. In return, we get an optical drive... but Envy customers are already used to not having one. Putting it back now seems strange, especially as every other manufacturer is scrambling to create machines without them. At least it *is* a tradeoff, though-- we lose performance and portability, but gain the ability to play discs. The shrivelled-up arrow keys don't gain us anything.

HP never seems to know what they have until it's too late, though.

 

eh i like the design. i would aos like no odd and instead the 7850m in the envy 15 :| ah well

 

um i dont got those games man and to get them i gotta download them... if u know what i mean. thats gonna take alittle while

 

Ah, sorry-- I wasn't very clear. I didn't mean the style, I meant the fact that it got fatter and heavier, among other things. It looks pretty reasonable, and it's probably more "office compatible" than the old pointillist-paisley.

 

yeah i def would like it lighter and thinner but eh...

 

yeah i def would like it lighter and thinner but eh... maybe next revision

 

I just placed an order with this spec!

HP ENVY 17t-3200 Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• Radeon(TM) HD 7850M Graphics 1GB GDDR5 Memory [HDMI, DP]
• 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750G 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• FREE 2-year Norton Internet Security subscription (a $99 value). Pre-installed.
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• 720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
• Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 10 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 10
• 2 year limited warranty included
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

I'm coming from dv6t-7000 QE which just died on me 2 days ago.. and I'm pretty happy that I can get Envy with almost the same price as my previous dv6t with $400 off coupon.

I have one question though, how does the battery replacement work on this machine? I'm aware that battery is built in like Macbook and I don't quite like it. Is it covered under limited warranty?

Thanks!

 

Hey guys I posted something last week about trying to get the 7850m to "engage" in steam games (specifically Civ V and Shogun 2) and I don't think I got a response but be that as it may I have a new issue now... has anyone with either the 3d Envy 17 32xx or the non 3d Envy 17 32xx version tried to run three monitors or more yet? I have the non 3d Envy 17 3270nr (quickship) and after spending 3 hours on with Tech Support they finally agreed with me (when the remoted in and actually looked at my catalyst control center) that I DO NOT HAVE AN EYEFINITY OPTION AT ALL anywhere that we can find... obviously the Intel 4000 card only supports two monitors at the same time so that you have to use the discrete 7850m (and eyefinity) to drive three monitors and I don't have it... the support person I worked with is going to call AMD tomorrow but I thought I would post this out there to see if you guys with 3d versions and particular the guys with NON 3d versions would take a quick second to see if you all have an Eyefinity tab somewhere as I right now unless I have some seriously goofed up software install (and yes i have reinstalled the factory drivers from the HP cite about four times now) then I am wondering if AMD changed this software and didnt bother to tell HP... for that matter, once again, why in the heck did HP remove the BIOS setting that allowed you to force the discrete graphics on when plugged in and turn it off when your unplugged... I mean come on how much freakin' simpler was that versus all this software crap!

THANKS GUYS!!!!!!

 

i think its cause hp got its own version of ccc. The regular one has it i just havent been able to get the regular one installed yet

 

How do you figure there is a performance scrifice from previous envies? Unless I am mistaken this current envy has the best hardware to date.

 

I dont have skyrim, but to use the volume knob in spotify, you have to press the beats button to bring up the software. Once it comes up, the knob will work. When you are done adjusting the volume, you press it again to get rid of it. Thats seems like too many unnecessary steps, but at least it works (somewhat).

 

So if i buy the msata iii 128gb will it be fast enough like a ssd

 

Does anyone know how to make windows use the 7850m card for their windows wei score... My score is 6.8 and I know that's with the HD4000 Card

 

Please update us on your findings. Mine is still on HP's site as saying should be shipped days ago but it's not. One main reason I choose the Envy was it's ability to do 3 video outs. By the way, what did you do to achieve the 3 monitors, cable converters, native connections on monitors, other...?

 

Yes I am having the same problem. I wonder how I can get WEI to recognize the 7850m card. I called HP support about it and they had no clue.

Is this the case with all Envy 17s or only the new ones have this issue ?