HDX18 as a gaming platform?

I read (most of) the HDX18 owner's thread, so it answered some questions I already had:

1) Why no 4 GB RAM option? (It's here, it's gone, it's here... etc.)
2) Quad core? (same as #1)

So my real questions:

1) Does it seem likely that the 4 GB RAM option and quad core CPU will reappear at some point?

2) HP dumbs down the specs, so I can't tell--is the HDX18 using the newer Montevina platform, rather than the older Santa Rosa one?

3) As per my post title--would the HDX18 make a decent light-gaming platform? By "light", I mean that I'm not a hard-core gamer, but I would like it to run the latest games. Could it do it?

I ask #3 because, I checked out both Alienware's m17x and Dell's XPS 1730. Naive little me, I expected--esp from Alienware--that at a $4K-$5K price point, such a system should be bulletproof. Yet I see that both systems seem to be having problems, they seem to be using the Santa Rosa platform (800 FSB=Santa Rosa, yes?), and a few other things I won't take up space that you can go read yourself.

Some of the comments about Alienware esp surprised me. I've never even bothered to torture myself before by looking at them--I mean, why go to a Ferrari showroom when all you can afford is a Civic--but I did. The m17x is extremely sexy, but I read many comments in the Alienware forum about negative experience. For $5K, my experience should be just a notch below great ***. If I'm going to be treated poorly, it might as well be at less than half the price from HP. End of rant.

Anyway, got kind of diverted there... What's the general opinion? Can the HDX18 run games for me at a decent rate (I know it won't be as fast as a dual SLI setup, but still)?

I'm on the HP configurator right now, and sure enough, max RAM is 3 GB, and max CPU is T9600. Is it everyone's advice to wait a bit, and see if the 4 GB and the quad core come back? How long is a reasonable time to wait?

 

I'm waiting to see if the Quadcore option comes back. I'm guessing that closer to christmas we will see it again. I think HP's inventories are just a little whacked right now. It appears they are running low on a lot of things, such as memory, processors, etc.

They also jacked up the price of the high end processor as well, which tells me they are having supply issues.

 

They most likely ran out of stock for it on the ram and quad core. If not, then i'm not sure about the ram, but for the quad core, they might have made a mistake since the price to get it was only 225$ from base cpu. Now the T9600 is 400$... So they are taking their sweet *** time to get it back.

It uses the Montevina platform, and it can run most of the newer games. Crysis can be ran at med settings if that gives you any clue.

 

When you say "Crysis can be run at med settings", do you mean w/the components available right now? I.e. T9600 CPU, 3 GB RAM, etc.?

I'm asking because I noticed that the discount coupon "NB5748 to save $550 off any $1,299.00+ HP notebook" ends on the 20th, and $550 off a notebook that would probably top out under $2500 is substantial. IOW, is there any good reason to wait for the "good" components to come back? Or should I jump on it now so I can use the coupon? (And maybe do some DIY upgrading from Newegg later.)

 

Yes... purely basing it off the power of the 9600M GT, since that is it's bottleneck.

The discount coupon does not apply to the hdx18t. It only applies to the hdx16t. Also, it's not actually $550, and neither does it stack with the 200$ instant rebate, so I think the most you will "save" is 350$.

 

The 9600M GT can play Crysis at med.

 

I wonder if I might be better off going w/the 16t instead. The 4 GB RAM option is back for it on HP's site, and as you say I can use the coupon. Plus, ahem, I have the HDX "Dragon" that I bought last year, so the 18t might be a bit too close in size.

Do you think the 16t, maxed out on components, would also run games as well as the 18t?

 

Yes... In reality, the dv5t/dv7t/hdx16t/hdx18t all have nearly the same components when maxed out. They either have T9400 or T9600 Core 2 Duo processors, 9600M GT video cards... ram isn't really an issue since it's easily upgradeable yourself. You want the 16t for it's design and it's screen.

 

I finally got it working with most set to gamer and a 4gb readyboost SDHC card.

 

I just ran thru the "purchase" process up to the page where you enter the coupon code--all it takes off is $300. Not that that's so bad, I was just all worked up to see $550 come off. Not quite sure I understand why the coupon info says you get $550 off; not sure what I'm missing. It did drop the $200 "instant savings", like you said, no "stacking", but I'd have thought it would have then done the $550. Oh, well...

 

Use the 15% OFF coupon...

That's stackable with the $200 OFF Instant Rebate...

Still no coupon for the 18t...and no quad processor or 4G option.

I ordered the 16t again with the 4G option. That way the only thing I need to do in the future would be the replace the hard drive.

 

The 15% off will only save you more if you configure higher than 2k, just an fyi.

 

The HDX pavilion is classified as an entertainment notebook not a gaming system. Thats why they dont put hi-powered cards in them.

Previously they only managed to put a 8800m GTS on a 20". How much more space would you want?

Go with a Sager if your going to use the notebook for heavy gaming.

 

everyone seems to be forget getting the point of cpu. you need a fast enough cpu to shunt or tranfer the data to the gpu. 2.5 is good, but alittle higher would be better. this also helps keep the heat down by working faster.
also, keep in mind a cooler. use the money u saved for a decent cooler and not one of those plastic craps at office max or office depot. a dual 70mm fan that blows upward and not suck away air is what u need.

 

Oops! Guess I should have held back my trigger-finger--I ordered before you posted. (I don't see a 15% coupon anyway; where was it?)

Anyway, my credit card's bank did a fraud-decline on my first order attempt. Once I cleared that, I had to call into HP. I told the rep about not getting the full $550--she tried entering a bunch of coupon numbers, most of them available only to the phone reps she said, and anyway I ended up getting a total of $350: the original $200 "instant", plus another $150.

I did configure above $2K, so knowing I could have done a bit better hurts a bit, but I have only my impatient little self to blame.

BTW, if you're interested, here's how I specced it:

Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz)
16.0" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
HP Imprint Finish (Fluid) + Microphone + Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
HP Color Matching Keyboard
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
FREE Upgrade to Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Microsoft(R) Works 9.0


After coupons but before tax, it was $2,083.99.

Not real thrilled w/the 6-cell battery or the 5400 rpm HD, but I suppose if they really hamper my experience, HP will probably offer a larger battery later (for a gouging price, I bet), and like someone else said, I can always upgrade the HD myself.

BTW, I also already have an HP dv6500t, w/the larger battery--I don't suppose the two batteries are interchangeable?

 

now that the hp hd18t offers the 96 gt video card, it can be used for gaming, still need a decent cooler to keep the gut temp down.

like your set up oldcrank, nice alt. to sager gaming system

 

If you don't mind my asking, what is the brand and model # of that SDHC card? (Not all flash memory is Ready-boost capable, I found out during a long conversation w/a tech at Sandisk, so knowing ahead of time so I can order while I wait for the 16 to arrive would be nice). If a relatively cheap addition like a flash card will increase my gaming speed, well that's a no-brainer!

 

Yeah, you know I seriously considered getting the Sager, but they're still using that same old boring case as last year when I looked, plus when I specced it similar to the HDX 16, the Sager actually cost more, like I think it broke the $3K barrier. Plus still using the 17" screen, and a few other things that made me feel like they were long overdue for an update.

I know, I know, if I really just wanted the sheer horsepower, I would have gone for the Sager. And believe me, I seriously considered it. But even before I ordered the HDX 16, I already have 3 HP laptops of varying sizes, and am always pleasantly surprised when I use them that they are so nice to use at such a frugal price point. And now w/the HDX 16, getting Montevina at around $2K w/decent--not mind-blowing, but decent--specs, suits me and my needs. I just want to noodle around w/some games, not be Sheldor the Conqueror and rule the world.

I think HP excels at making decent, pleasant, moderate to the low end of high "entertainment" 'books, that are sort of jack-of-all-trades but master-of-none. If I was 20 instead of... well, I won't say, but a lot older than 20... then I'd probably spend a month's pay on an Alienware or something. But for my puttering habits, I think the HDX 16 will suit just fine.

 

This is what i use now. I will soon be getting the 30MB/s for even faster seek speed. I believe it has to be 15MB/s minimum to ready boost, maybe?

 

Are really sure that card does anything? I know readyboost shouldnt do a thing to gaming yet you claim it does. Do me a favour, run 3dmark06 with and without the card.

 

It helped Crysis noticeably. You can watch the card reader light flash like hell during crysis. When you quit the game and stop working on the pc the light stops flashing. It helps the cpu acting as a add-on 4gb of ram.

Im a little held back with that program. I have a dual core 2.53ghz cpu(5.06GHz of processing power) and it has 0-1 frames a second in the cpu test. 1-3 with readyboost. The best thing about the Nvidia 9600M GT graphics card is it can use up to 2.1GBs of memory if the system has it cached. Im sure if I had 2 4GB sticks of RAM it would work much better than the ready boost. But until the price goes down I'll be "ready-boostin"!!!!

PS I jsut ordered the OCZ DD2 6400 4GB kit since the 4GBs I have are not matching. One Samsung and one with a weird name. I got for $41 with a readyboost enhanced 4GB USB module.

 

OneSickDV7T, people are highly doubting that. If you could provide screenshots of 3dmark benchmarks w/ and w/out the readyboost, that might convince us more. I'm sorry to say, but judging from what info you are giving, it doesn't seem like you know. For example, a core2duo 2.53GHz doesn't necessarily mean 5.06 GHz. It's actual numbers vary and it will be less than 5.06GHz.

About the RAM/readyboost, I don't see how it helps. Unless your using more memory than your supported 4GB of ram, there is no way an upgrade in memory (ram/readyboost) will yield higher performance. I understand the gpu might require some more memory, but crysis only requires only around 550~MB of vram when playing at 1680x1200 (requires less than that if you play at 1280x800). The dedicated 9600M GT already provides 512MB, and since most people won't play at it's most demanding specs on a HP laptop, you probably won't reach that 512MB.

 

You way off from the meter im using. 1600MBs of ram idleing. And 3200MBs of ram while playing crysis. It works for me.

PS. Whenever there is a load on my CPUs it always runs at 2.53GHz. I keep the computer on a Custom power plan mapped from the high-performance preloaded one.

 

does the hd18 or 16 have 2 or 3 fans on the bottom. sagers 9262 has 4. 2 for the cpu and 2 for gpu. to me that makes a big difference in buying a good system. checkout the images.

http://www.pctorque.com/sager-9262-gaming-computers.php#

 

I would have to question it as well since Microsoft themselves have said that Readyboost will provide no performance enhancement for users with more than 2 gigabytes of ram, and it can actually hurt performance in some situations.

 

He's talking about GPU ram, not system ram. You're talking about system ram.

I think what you are seeing from the readyboost is a placebo effect, but if you like it, go for it.

 

to get the best value for the dollar, an HP model (hdx18, dv7t, whichever) is the best choice. sure, even if you had $5,000 to spend, would you spend it on a machine you're going to do light gaming on?

i am sure the graphics on the alienware machine are stellar - no doubt about that - but is it worth it to YOU as a light gamer?

i rarely play games and got a max'd out dv7t . i've played unreal 3 on it at high settings and it performs flawlessly. its slowly getting me back into gaming. l0l.

i would wait for the quadcore and 4gb ram options to come back tho. but if you're itching to get a machine now, get what they offer. get the t9600 (which i have) and get a 4gb ram upgrade from crucial.com or newegg as many people on this board have done.

hth.

 

As stated before, I said VRAM meaning the ram used by the gpu. You still have spare system memory on the ram even while playing crysis, thus you don't need readyboost.

For the CPU, I'm not saying it won't run 2.53GHz core 2 duo, but you don't just simply multiply by 2. Just because there are 2 workers working on the same task doesn't mean they are 2x better. Look up how the C2D work.

 

Nvidia's webstie says the GPU will take system memory and apply it to the gaming card if it's available.

 

Yes, if it needs it. It already has 512MB dedicated ram, which won't be all used unless you play at the highest resolution. Thus, you don't need any extra system memory. That is why dedicated are so much better than integrated, they have their own memory. If dedicated gpu were to take ram from the system memory, it would be slower than it's own dedicated ram.

 

I play at the highest resolution. Or the one that is the next step down. That's a must.

 

There would still be other factors determining if it uses up to or more than 512MB, and if you try to raise it, your GPU still isn't good enough to handle it. You act like ram is all that is needed by your GPU. Also, if your GPU has to access your system memory, it will be much slower than your dedicated GPU ram, so it's kind of useless.

 

It's funny how you make it a point to try and say it doesn't work. It had a Noticeable Difference to what settings I could run Crysis: Warhead with. It wouldn't be there if there was not a reason. Thanks for all the useless info stating it doesn't work. When my two friends and I all noticed the difference. Thanks but no thanks for all the info.

PS To think all this is coming from a guy selling the same 4GB of memory I just ordered for $41 shipped new, including a "readyboost enhanced" 4GB USB card, for $60 used without the usb card! LMAO!!!

PS #2 If you can get a 4GB SDHC, 15MB/s card, for under $20 and stick it in and apply readyboost to "beef up" what you have, why not? I knows it's a hard economy, but DAM!

 

No one else is agreeing with you for a reason, because its not really doing anything unless you are surpassing your available ram. Provide reasonable benchmarks w/ and w/out and maybe we will believe.

 

Well, you're suggesting others to use readyboost, which might lead them to buy an sd card or something that allows it, then it ends up not working for them, thus wasting them money. Just saying, don't give others false hope that it might help without evidence of how it might.

 

Uhhh... ok

 

This Gpu is a 9600m gt and has a 128 bit bus . As a result it can't even exceed more than 256 MB of video RAM. Although the card has 512MB memory it can max use only 256MB of dedicated memory. You need a 256 bit card to utilize 512MB of dedicated video memory.

 

As per Nvidia. It can use up 1024MB/s.

 

OK then stop listening to us and believe in whatever nvidia or hp says. Even 9800m gtx can't utilise 1 GB video memory.

 

First of all, everyone is disagreeing with you. You seem to believe at the limited specs of hp's gpu, you can play it at max resolution and settings by simply upgrading your memory. Ok maybe not max, hut you also think you can change the gpu although it's not upgradeable on the hp, it's soldered on.

Second of all, that was amazingly racist. Don't stereotype just because he's in India. You seem to think you are superior than us, you even dissed me too because I live in San diego, what's your problem?

 

Hey Chango99, let him do whatever he wants. I am sure our suggestions have fallen on deaf ears.

 

PLEASE It wasn't racist. I told my friend, who is Indian, the same joke and he laughed. Get over your BS. The porblem is you think your smarter then everybody here. And yes you can change the card if you want to go through hell. But it can be done. Don't worry im done dealing with you.

 

No, you can't. Many people told you no, its not MXM, you can't. etc. etc. But go ahead, i don't think anyone would care if someone voided their warranty and broke their laptop trying to upgrade an non upgradeable gpu.

No, i don't think i'm smarter than everyone here, in fact, i only know a couple of things compared to some laptop veterans herer, but I know some things, and i know that you are wrong. You just can't accept that you are wrong. If i'm wrong, I accept the fact that I am wrong. That is why i read about things before helping others about it, so I'm not giving wrong information like you are, and makes me look like a dumbass too if i give out wrong info.

And yes it was racist. He is not your friend and he was offended by the remark. Sure it might be funny for a friend, but you don't go up to a random stranger and say it. To bring up an example,you don't go up to a random african american and say, what up my n**, you get the point. Maybe if it was your friend it would be fine, in other case, it's a racist remark.

Why did you delete a couple of your posts then? Just admit you were wrong. We were just trying to help you out, but it's no use getting through to you. You post what you think is right, you get told no, and you still think you can do it. If you want me to find these posts, i'll find them if you want. Unless you already deleted your posts.

Bye to you and enjoy whatever you do to your laptop.

 

I didn't delete them. MODs did. LMAO I apologize to the other guy if it came out that way. Don't worry. At the end of the day the GPU isn't coming out of my DV7T. So you've won your battle.

 

I'm sorry, but you provoked it.

 

It's my nature.

 

+rep to you Chango, every thing you stated was right.

Judging by his username, he is obviously proud to own a dv7t. He is claiming a readyboost card has given his GPU a speed boost without posting any reasonable benchmarks. He has also stated that the dv7t's GPU was upgradable and that a 128bit card could use 2000mb of vRAM despite many "more knowlegable" members clearly saying those claims were false. Then he said that Chango thought he was smarter than everyone else and was racist to an indian member.

You're just being stubborn that you have a mid-range GPU, believed the lies of nVidia about Turbo cache and the claims of Readyboost. Turbo Cache is intended to help IGPs and cards with 128mb of vRAM or less. It is also commonly used by companies as a marketing scheme. And it works, look at the people thinking the Asus M70VM with a 9600GS 1GB vRAM would do better than an Asus G71 with a 9700GT but with "only" 512mb of vRAM. Both those cards would only use 256mb at most, as they are both 128 bit cards. My friend has been fooled by this as he purchased a Dell m1530 following claims by Dell that the 8600GT could "use 2303mb". Those extra mbs dont do anything, maybe 1 more fps.

Readyboost is intended to provide those who can only afford a laptop with 1GB or 2GB RAM and have Microsoft Vista, a boost in speed. It can never truly replace real RAM. It does not do anything if you already have 4GB of RAM. If you have 4GB RAM and a 4GB Readyboost card, YOU DO NOT HAVE 8GB RAM. If you did, why do you think people bothered with buying $1000 8GB RAM if they could use Readyboost? BECAUSE IT DOESNT DO ANYTHING IF YOU ALREADY HAVE 4GB.

Of course, you could make me look like an absolute fool and post 3dmark06 and crysis benches with and without Readyboost enabled.

qaz333

 

So... Now that that's all settled...

Given the specs of my HDX 16 as previously mentioned, and that I would like to do some light gaming (okay, don't laugh you guys, I'm old and out of touch w/the gaming world), what games would you recommend for me? Let's say the top three games that will run on my new 16, at least reasonably well.

How out of touch am I? The last game I played was the original DOOM. No typo, the DOS version of DOOM. (Told you I was old.)

Can I assume that all these modern games will allow you to play the computer? (No way am I getting online right off the bat and prob not even get a chance to press the first button before it's game over for me.)

Can I also assume that they will run on 64-bit Vista, since that's what I got the new laptop configured with? (I did go to Amazon and look at the top selling games--they only say Vista, no specification if it can be 64-bit.)

Anyway, once you guys get done laughing your posteriors off, I'll appreciate the recommendations.

 

Sorry for thread hijack lol. Thanks for rep qaz333, +rep to you too

Anyway, it's your personal preference on what games you want to play. I personally don't really play games like CoD4 or Crysis, I am more simple. In fact, All I have right now is Warcraft 3 and Counter Strike Source. I used to play WoW but quit it, too time consuming .

The HDX16t with a 9600M GT can run pretty much the latest games, maybe not at the highest settings for high-demanding games like Crysis, but for everything else, it probably can run at high settings.

As for 64bit, unless you play really old games from over 10 years ago, you won't have any problems.

I don't know your taste in games so I wouldn't know what to suggest :O.

 

Counter Strike source is all my computer ever needs. I would be in heaven if they made an OS that just booted straight into CSS.