Envy 15 2nd Gen Benchmarks

Hey guys, a little problem I had with my friend's 2nd gen Envy......

Whenever I start a game, like Mass Effect 2 or World in Conflict, the mouse cursor will not show on the game. I have to alt tab to the desktop to center cursor, then alt tab back so I can know where the mouse is, even though it's still invisible.

This happens with the Razer Orochi and the trackpad.

Sparknotes - No cursor in games. Help.

Edit - might it have something to do with DX11/video drivers?

 

Hey guys. Some great info here. A lot of benchmarks but how about real life performance? Crysis at 720 performs pretty well. But what about other games? Bioshock 2? Mass Effect 2? Rendering? Compressing? Unzipping? Converting? Etc. Etc.

Just some real life performance results would be really helpful. Thanks again guys.

 

just finished testing out the i7 620m on a i7 720 board.

As i have stated before, the i7 board CAN NOT take the new chip + 4 RAMs. the System will just simply hang at POST.

Here is 2 picture of the extract same system with different CPU, and RAM. The RAM difference is because the CPU can not take more 4 slots of RAM.

i7 720QM scored a 9614 in 3DMark06
i7 620M scored a 9709

Relative speaking, i7 620 is a slightly FASTER than i7 720 due to clock difference, in single/dual processing programs. (95% current programs)

 

Thanks for the update (+rep). I am considering upgrading my i5-540M but don't want to sacrifice battery life for minimal performance gains. Your 3Dmark06 scores seem like they must be OC'd, could you please answer the following:

What clock speeds did you use on the 5830??

Also does does CPUHWmon (or other source) get a reading on maximum wattage under load and at idle?

Your sig mentions a OCZ cooling system, did you install this or use the standard envy heat sink?

EDIT: Forgot the most important question; What speed do you get when on battery with the new CPU ??

 

if you want to upgrade the i5-540 but don't want to go quadcore, check out the i7-620m, its very fast, and runs the same wattage as an i5

 

Okay not sure what I'm doing wrong with my replacement Envy. I'm using the ATIClockTool 9.26 and its letting me change my clocks to 550/1010 just fine but then when I reboot its resetting back to default clocks. I was fairly certain that with my first Gen 2 Envy the clocks stuck after rebooting. Am I mistaken on this or missing some setting or option so the clocks are automatically applied?
Sincere Thanks for any help
Jess

 

*** DELETED *** oops..

 

How did you swap the chip? I thought the new layout of the i5 and the i7 dual core is that they solider the cpu to the board?

HP doesn't offer i7-620m as a configuration option

 

I could of sworn at one point they did for a bit but could be mistaken. The HP store changes whats an available option often it seems.

 

Uh, I know that. You can buy the i7-620m and install it yourself. Not hard.

 

The clock speed for the ATI 5830 is 560/1050 (my max oc is at 570/1075)
Sorry, I don't have CPUHW monitor installed atm, therefore I do not know the exact voltage for the CPU's
As for the OCZ cooling, I'm still using the standard Envy Cooling system. The only thing I have changed is the Thermal Paste. From the stock HP Paste, to the Better OCZ Extreme Pro.

Last but not least, the Battery Life on the new CPU. It last about 20 mins longer than my previous 2 tests

 

Just got my envy 15 quick ship model with the i5-430m
L4D2 runs great at max settings and even with 4xAA and 2xMSAA. I am loving this laptop.

 

Anyone here opt into the Starcraft 2 Beta that just released today? I'd love to buy this laptop to play that game when it comes out and I'd like to know how it performs!

 

I just opted in.

There is no reason not to expect the ENvy to not be able to play it at absolute best settings at 1080p.

 

TEMP AND STABILITY TEST OF ENVY 15 i5 540M

Below is screen shot of results. Ran stability test for 35min with CPU at 100% load on both cores and all 4 threads, this equated to all threads boosting to 2.8Ghz from the 2.53 base clock (as designed). As a reminder the 3.06Ghz full turbo speed is only available when load is less than 100% on both cores.

The CPU temps stabilized after about four minutes to average of 75C. Stopped test because temps, fan speed and chassy temps all were stable after 1st 10minutes.

The computer was amazingly cool to the touch the whole time, even the right side over the CPU and heat sink area, barely above room temp of 68F.

Hope this helps those who keep asking if the Envy's temp issues have been resolved. I would say they have

 

The Envy has no temp issues. the Core i7Quads have temp issues.

 

Agreed. Just wanted to post the results for the i5 versions because of all the newbies asking about if temps are a problem with the Envy's.

 

Does this look right for my CPU or do I have a setting off on my system?

 

mine tops out at around 80-81 degrees, so yes, yours is normal (the diamond carat 7 thermal compound doesn't make much of a difference)

 

Ah thx. I was actually concerned more on whether it was maxing its speed more than temp. For some reason I thought the multiplier was supposed to go higher

 

ATI 10.2 Driver is out.

download the full Driver file (72 mb), extract the files, but cancel on the installation.
Download attached and rename the file from C7_95693.txt to C7_95693.inf

go to your ATI extracted folder (X:\ATI\Support\10-2_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF) and replace C7_95693.inf with attached/renamed C7_95693.inf

Now, go to device manager, and update the driver on the display card by pointing to the C7_95693.inf file.

Device manager>Display adapters>ATI Mobility 5830
Driver>update driver
Browse my computer for driver software>Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer>Have Disk
Now browse to the folder containing the modified inf file. select it, then okay.
pick ATI mobility 5000 series at promp, and install.

After the driver is updated (your screen will refresh a few times), go back to X:\ATI\Support\10-2_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu\ and install the setup file as normal. (this will update your CCC to 10.2)

Once everything is finished, please restart your pc and you are done

NOTE: THIS INF DOESN'T WORK WITH 4800 SERIES, PLEASE DO NOT USE

 

Thx, pre-made inf will make things easy on me at least, kudos +to rep. I think that somehow you got 2 posts mixed together or something tho. For the second part did you mean go to:

X:\ATI\Support\10-2_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu

and run setup.exe, choose custom and select just the CCC option or am I misinterpreting?

EDIT: Opps guess you fixed it while I was typing lol

EDIT 2: Okay did as you said renamed and put the inf file in the folder then browsed to the directory from device manager by choosing update driver and then selecting "have disk". I get 2 options "Mobility 5000 series" and "Mobility 5830 series" When I select the option for 5830 and hit next I get the following mssg:

"Windows encountered an error while attempting to install...The driver selected for this device does not support this version of windows"

Should I be selecting the 5000 one instead or am I doing something wrong? I'm running Win7 x64 Ultimate and used the same drivers downloaded for my desktop with a 5970 card.

Sincere Thanks

Should I select the 5000 series instead?

 

Yes, Inf has been edited again to remove the 5830 specific support.

Now, only 5800 series will be available.

 

Ah thx. So select 5800 and then do I run setup in custom mode for CCC or just run it express? I tried once with selecting 5800 and the driver installed. Then before running setup I launched CCC to look it showed CCC as being 10.2 already. Should I mistrust that?

 

no, as the CCC is still in 9.10. you need to update CCC to 10.2 to fully take advantage of new driver feature.

 

Cool seemed to do the trick

 

Any performance benefits with 10.2?

 

Okay after getting 10.2's installed ran a few tests:
Heaven 1280x720 default clocks FPS 17.1/Score 431 (forgot to check temps, sorry)
Heaven 1280x720 550/1100 clock FPS 20.2/Score 508 Avg. tmp 63.3 Max got to 68

Vantage 550/1100 clock Score P5979 GPU 5197 CPU 10894 Max temp got to 69 on one of the 3 sensors.

Don't have Mark 06 installed right now so I haven't ran it. Thought I had a copy of the Call of prypat bench but can't locate the install so downloading it now and will post results for it and Mark 06, if I can track down my install cd for it. Do I also need to download AMDs Stream SDK for opencl to run it or not?

 

OK I have some questions after installing as per your directions.

I don't understand the CCC 10.2 install -- my 'info' page looks identical to your screen shot and says "Catalyst version 10.2" But if you look at the last line it reads "Catalyst™ Control Center Version 2009.1123.1057.19591"
which is still the original 9.11 version ?? Also I don't see any differences in the CCC panels / options at all so I don't think this is really an updated version of CCC as far as I can tell.

Also your instructions have the file names incorrect at the top where it reads " rename the file from C7_94918.txt to C7_94918.inf ..... " It should be ...C7_95693... to match the file name of your attached download.

Does anyone have the 10.2 version of CCC on a desktop to confirm if there or differences from what you see on this 'updated' version ??

Thanks for posting all this, I'll run 3Dmark06 and post results soon.

+rep

 

Thanks for the instructions, but I am confused

The attachment has a different file name than the instructions. Which one are we supposed to use? 94918 or the attached 95xxx? I renamed txt to inf but should we change the file name as well?

I tried it both ways but when I pointed to the file in device manager Windows claimed the latest version was already installed.

 

OK, I think things are working OK now.

I needed to stick with the original file name (not the name in the instructions).

Also in device manager you can't simply browse to the file (Windows won't select it because it isn't signed). Instead you need to choose, "Let me pick from a list" and ignore the not signed warnings.

 

CCC base format will not update until ATI officially supports mobility chip, but by updating the driver, and CCC configuration files to 10.2 you will see an improvement on a number of programs with mobility 5000 series GPU. This is all due to Program profiling instruction in the new driver configurations.
ie. Heaven benchmark
9.12 driver, Dx11 will score about 300
10.2 driver, Dx11 will score about 450

about the file name, sorry I forgot to update the names. Thanks

As for installation. You have to manually pick the inf from the option. I have update the instruction. please look it over if you have any problems.

 

Raidenfx,

Thanks for posting the file and instructions. Very much appreciated! I think the revised instructions should work well.

 

New 3Dmark06 score of 10,211 with the 10.2 driver. It took a few tries and it seems to be a little less stable than the 8.681 driver. For reference at default clocks / settings the 3Dmark06 run scores 7,987 and default on the old driver was 8,051. Not much of a difference and could be just normal variations...

Screens of new score;

 

I dont know if somebody already posted but here are the games that I tryed
My specs: Core i5-540M, 4gb Ram, 5830 Mobility Radeon (Stock clocks), Low Resolution Screen, I have the 1366X768.. anyways here they are
I tested the games without a fresh reinstall, I just installed the game and play without erasing, adding anything its out of the box play
I will only say if it fully playable or not, I wont say the average fps (for now, maybe later I will update, sorry)

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Fully playable (+30 fps all time) All settings ON, Maxed Out, AA X2 Screen Resolution: 1366X 768

Unreal Tournament 3: Everything Maxed Out 1366X768, Fully Playable too

Devil May Cry 4: Everything Maxed Out 1366X768, 8X AA, on the game benchmarks all the time its above 60-70 fps sometimes go down to 35-40 but never lower than that with that configuration

Need for Speed Shift: Everything Maxed Out 1366X768 OX AA, Around 23-28fps when I'm last place since I see all the cars, but when I'm first or there are not so many cars around I get 30+ fps, Its playable.

Crysis Warhead: Settings on Enthusiast 1366X768 20-25 sometimes go below 20, Not playable (for me), On Gamer settings get 25+ sometimes go more than 30+ fps depends on the place where I'm, the problem its that the first mission its at night so maybe the shadows, lighting settings affect it (I guess), Below that setting its fully playable, I'm playing on Gamer Its ok for me

Thats it for now

 

I tested the new driver last night with Age of Conan as compared to the official driver from HP. My fps under both drivers was nearly identical. Perhaps I'd see bigger improvements if I turned some of my settings down (was playing at the 1920x1080 resolution with almost everything maxed), but I'd hate to lose the quality.

Was hoping to pick up a couple of fps with this new driver, but oh well.

 

Well I gave Mark06 the old college try. Maybe if I kill some background stuff off I could do better but for some reason my Envy just doesn't seem to like 06. The highest clock I've been able to run 06 with background stuff running was 545/1100. I can get Vantage to run at 550/1100 but haven't tried a higher clock yet. Anyway at default mark06 settings I got:

3DMark06 Default clock - 8140
3DMark06 545/1100 clk - 9862

if I set the clock for core to 550 at some point the bench just freezes up the computer, which I'm assuming is the GPU locking. If it was a mem issues that would just cause artifacting, correct? Any suggestions?

 

Is there a "how to" on overclocking the Envy 15? I'm not looking to push the envelope on my system, but I'd like to try to eek out a bit more performance.

 

@Bratboy

I'd try bumping up the core to say 600-625 while keeping the memoery speed lower, say 900 or even at default. This way you can see what your 5830 is capable of, mine seems to not like the 533 to 600 range. I have still never been above 70C on my gpu temps. My memory gets unstable above 1120 and always crashes above 1140...

 

So try a higher core and a lower mem? Silly me I thought if froze that was the limit for the core, didn't realize over doing the mem could cause the freeze as well. Since I've not opened up the system to add mem heatsinks or to switch out the mem for the kingston stuff I picked up yet I reckon that could explain things. I will see what happens if I try a higher core but drop the Mem speed. So maybe try something like 600/1010 and see what happens? Course that means I have to pry my baby out of my other halfs hands LOL.

 

I'd start with memory speed lower than that, as i said in above post. you want to make sure that it doesn't cause problems as you ramp up the core speeds.

 

@JJb
Okay, may play with it some more later. So far definitly think this ones a keeper in general.

As an aside, I have asked a couple times but no ones answered about something. I'd like to be able to use one of several nice headsets I have with my Envy but all of mine have a seperate plug for the Ears/Mic. Have you come across a good adapter? I suppose I could consider a bluetooth type device but that would be a bigger drain when on battery and have no idea what to look for. Any suggestion an a decent BT alternative

 

Has anyone tried Supreme Commander on their Envy? Or a similarly CPU-challenging (or better) game? I am really considering this laptop and this is one of the games I would really like to play on it.

Related questions:

1. Is the i7-720QM worth the extra price, compared to an i5?
2. Are there any games or applications (other than benchmarks) that fully put the 4 cores to use?

 

Anyone tried the 10.3 preview drivers posted by strags? I am wondering if those can be installed by simply running the setup file. My understanding is that 10.3 includes the mobility drivers now? I downloaded the zip but there are two .exe in there.

 

Hummm, just downloaded em and looking at the zip it looks like one file is the driver install & the other is an app for creating profiles, which I had read was coming in some of the ATI forums over at overclock.net.

EDIT: I just asked over in IRC. Supposedly just run the install. I can't test yet as my other half grabed my Envy and won't let go right now LOL

RE-EDIT2: Apprently he decided to look and just said:

<@w0g> yeah I checked, it's compatible. "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 Series" = ati2mtag_Manhattan, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_68A1

apprently he thinks there the best drivers AMD/ATI has done in ages.

 

Okay just ran the install. Went fine and both CCC and drivers updated. Will bench and post results soon.

 

bahh, too many windows open & hit the wrong button.

 

Which version did you download from strags ?? 10.2 or 10.3 ?? your screen shot says 10.2 but I thought you were taliking about 10.3 abaove??

 

Thats the 10.3 preview I downloaded. Just double checked the install files name and its:

ATI_Win7_Vista_Catalyst10.3_Preview.exe

The 10.2 is probably still there as its a preview not final. Just for comparrison here is a screen of the driver info from my desktop which has 10.2 installed. Notice the number differences in the Driver build and CCC build:

 

Thanks for that.

Have the 10.3 loaded, easiest install ever for ATI driver, it actually allowed me to install right from Winzip without even extracting

I am noticing my screen doing some strange 'flickering' during startup and when reloading web pages in IE8, anyone else see this???