*HP ENVY 17 & 17 3D (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

regarding gaming on the envy 17...

if youre talking about envy 17-1000 & 2000 series, yes, you can play anything @ mid-high, older games even maxed out @1080p.

but if youre talking about the envy 17-3000, you definitely CANNOT!

see my post in the corresponding thread on the "new" 7000m gpus:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...6770m-hd-7690m-hd-7690m-xt-4.html#post8301695

 

HP Communities - AMD?s Radeon 7600M Graphics for New ENVY Laptops - HP Communities

The guy in this review got pretty good benchmarks from the envy 17 overall. I want all the "Bells and Wistles" dang it! Lol.
This was a prototype though

What about the Radion 7690m XT vs. the Nvidia GT555m 3gb graphics card? Whats stronger?

 

Did you do some actual comparison yourself to be so affirmative?

I've read people running recent games on a 17-3XXX with graphics maxed (or at least medium) and no issue...
Besides in the notebookcheck benchmark list ( Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech) both GPUs aren't really far in the charts, the 7690M is in fact above both the 6850M and the 6770M. I know it doesn't reflect the actual gaming power a GPU can output but it has to mean something.

Anyway I'll be receiving mine soon so I'll be able to compare with my current 17-2XXX myself...

 

I can definitely say you're making things up. I have been playing many games @ 1080P maxed out fine - games like Skyrim and Mass Effect 2. Both run at smooth frame rates with most if not all settings maxed.

You should really check before you scare people off like that.

 

as already posted in the other thread..

neither is mass effect 2 requiring the same specs (ok, 400mhz higher c2d cpu clocks needed here).

i havent tested anything, since i (luckily) dont have an envy 17-3000, but i am pretty confident that i can rely on the raw hardware specs without taking any clocks into account, and neither any architecture attributes, since the architecture is the same between the radeon 5000, 6000 and the so far released mobile 7000 gpus (desktop 7970 is a different story) which say following:

lets take the 6770m vs 7690m xt, which seem to be most similar, bold specs indicating performance-related specs, and besides it the corresponding specs of the 6850m in red, where noticeable difference:

GPU name: Whistler - Whistler
Technology: 40nm - 40nm
Die size: 118mm^2 - 118mm^2
release date: jan 2011 - jan 2011
transistors: 716M - 716M 6850m: 1040M
ROPs: 8 - 8 6850m: 16
BUS interface: PCIe 2.0 - PCIe 2.0
Shaders: 480 - 480 6850m: 800
Pixel fillrate: 5.8GPixel/s - 5.8GPixel/s 6850m: 11.2GPixel/s
Texture Fillrate: 17.4GTexel/s - 17.4GTexel/s 6850m: 28.0GTexel/s
Bus width: 128bit - 128bit
Memory size: 1024MB - 1024MB
Bandwidth: 12.8GB/s - 14.4GB/s 6850m: 70.4GB/s
GPU clock: 725MHz - 725MHz 6850m: 700MHz
Memory clock: 800MHz - 900MHz 6850m: 1100MHz


...indicating that the 6850m is between 30% and 480% superior to the 7690m xt, which itself is just an a bit overclocked 6770.

now please tell me that envy 17-2000 > envy 17-3000 isnt a plain downgrade, gpu-performance wise.

 

Like I said, it does have a weaker GPU - but it has many other features.

Also, please, stop making stupid conclusions based on numbers. You repeatedly state that you haven't even tried it, so you cannot tell me that the games I am playing on the system don't run at the frame-rates I am getting.

Skyrim and Mass Effect 2 are both more demanding than MW3, which almost immediately voids your opinion on it being unable to play said games at high settings. MW3 has lower minimum system requirements than Skyrim - so.. yeah.

At least try the system before you bash it. Numbers don't mean everything.

 

i am talking about playing games maxed ("anything" was the word i was posting against), ie. regarding skyrim this would be with the high resolution pack, 1080p, ultra, and maybe AA.

that you can play lots of games with lots of settings set to high, or even maxed, where applicable, is not something i have doubted. i just wanted to stress that envy 17-2000 > envy 17-3000 is a downgrade gpu-wise, and that you cannot expect the 7690m xt to play "anything" maxed, since neither the 6850m does, which is noticeably stronger than the 7690m xt, which is easily proven by comparing their hardware specs, since their architecture is the same.

 

Well ain't that great?

Then you can leave it at "Envy 17-2000 has a better GPU than the Envy 17-3000" and leave.

It's been stated before, and many people are fine with that fact.

The 7960M XT on the 3000 will play many games maxed, and the ones it doesn't, it plays on high. Just like the 6850 on the 2000. The difference in power is nothing to scream foul about.

 

I don't know what's this talk about the ENVY 17 3000 not being able to play "high-end" games. Skyrim might not be the Crysis of 2011, but it's a new (and somewhat demanding) game which I am able to play it on ULTRA (highest setting) without dropping below 30FPS.

The only time Skyrim drop below 30FPS was when I tried setting shadow detail to Ultra instead of High, in which case it'd drop to 21-25FPS. That was that only setting that wasn't maxed out, and pixelated shadows bother me, but it's not that bad on High.

The only other game I've tried on the Envy is Portal 2, which is even less demanding than Skyrim, so I obviously ran it on max with no problems. I beat Metro 2033 on my ENVY 17 1000 with 5850, and although I haven't tried it on the ENVY 17 3000, I'm sure it'd be able to run it just fine on max, or high at the very least.

My ENVY 17 3D has 2860QM i7 and 16Gb of RAM at 1033MHz.

 

Good to know. I ordered my Envy 17 3d a week ago and since then some of these reviews made me have doubts. I didn't get 16gb of ram i only got 8gb(1600mhz) of ram so do you think that would make much difference or was you just wanting overkill?

BTW I'll be playing games like Diablo 3, Rift, WOW, AION, Guild Wars 2 and other MMO's like that in 3d hopefully, so have you tryed any 3d gameplay? Wander how much the frame rates would drop in it.

 

6850m is a rebranded mobility 5850, ie. the same as with 7690m xt & 6770m, hence 5850 is still stronger, just fyi.

 

@necrophyte: Hold on a sec. I'm really curious where your numbers come from.

Based on:
AMD Radeon HD 6850M - Notebookcheck.net Tech (or even http://www.amd.com/us/products/note...md-radeon-6800m/Pages/amd-radeon-6800m.aspx#3)

most of the numbers you gave are wrong.

Compare them to:
AMD Radeon HD 7690M - Notebookcheck.net Tech (too bad we haven't the specs on AMD website for now)

Doesn't seem like 30% better specs to me...

Like SoulMisaki said, the 17-2XXX might have a slightly better card than the latest refresh, BUT it's definitely not night and day like you suggest. It seems like you're advertising against the latest refresh or something.

 

my numbers are from the 6850m found inside an hp envy 17 3d.

those you posted are suggested reference clocks, which notebook vendors are free to modify, like eg. done with the envy 17-1000s, where the mobility 5850 were heavily downclocked (gpu core to 500 or even less mhz) due to heat issues.

 

Hey guys,

First of all, thanks to all of you for the information that I could read here. Im a guy from Argentina who has a friend in NY coming here on march and I want to buy a good laptop to work (programmer) and also why not use it as multimedia center and gaming. Im going to buy it on USA since in my country they cost the double (if you find it).


Well, I started to look a few months ago and I set my eyes on ASUS N75 and HP Envy 17 NR, I tought that asus had many issues and glossy cover that I didnt like so I decide to buy in the future (now) the 17 2280NR.

I Started to read all kind of reviews and the heat problem and some issues forces me to back off.

Now I see there is a new series, series 3, that, as far as I read, doesnt have the same issues than series 2.

But, it have a smaller video card as I see and the basic confuguration doesnt have 2x500gb. Also it has a built in battery vs the 9 and 6 cell battery of serie 2, that really concern me.



So, I started to build a configuration on hp page, to get the series 3 with I7 proc, 8gb@1600mhz, blue ray, and 2x500gb, but the overall price plus taxes plus a 200$ coupon gave me a total of $1540U$S that is a lot compared to series 2 that newegg selss at 1200U$S.


So I find this PC Notebook Computers | JR.com at $1350 U$S where my friend doesnt need to pay any tax..

or my other option is buy the series 2 at 1200USS.


What do you think? my concern is that as I said Im living on argentina, so I couldnt refound it.. I mean, my friend could check it basically, but once I'll get the laptop I couldnt change it.




My other issues is, if I take option two, I would like to buy another internal ssd on newegg or similar place, I think series 3 has a space for another sata disk but I dont now if it sata 2 or 2, and I dont know the form factor, also I saw that it needs an assemble caddy, where I can get it?

Also I see that in hp page it could has a mSata disk, that is better than normal ssd disk? can I install it without any problem? I think the msata would be a better option.

I really need help on this.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my crappy english. Regards from Buenos Aires.

 

I tend to have several programs opened (such as Photoshop CS5 and Chrome with like 10 tabs up >_>) when I got my game running, so the extra RAM never hurts. You should be more than fine with 8Gbs though.

None of the games you mentioned sound very demanding, except maybe for Diablo 3, and Guild Wars 2, which we have yet to see (and I'm interested in that one as well). I haven't tried to actually play in 3D, but I don't think it should be much of a problem. I shall give it a try though.

And your point is? I don't remember saying otherwise.

 

I agree with you SoulMisaki...

I don't know why necrophyte is coming in here proclaiming that you definitely can't play new games on ultra settings when it is obvious that actual Envy 17-3000 owners can play games just fine.

Regardless of who's graphics card is bigger, the 7690m XT can play BF3 on 1920x1080 on high/ultra, MW3 on 1920x1080 maxed out, SC2 on 1920x1080 maxed out, and any "older" games so far ived tried.

 

That might not turn out well at all, at 1080p.

Metro 2033 is a beast.

 

right.

metro 2033 @ dx9 high and AAA - 16-30fps.
@ dx11 high and AAA - <20fps, ie. unplayable most of the time
everything above - completely unplayable

so the 7690m xt would probably struggle even with dx9 & high.



to all those backing this awesome new 7690m xt, just take a look at the difference in compute performance, if the raw hardware specs dont make a bing..

7690m xt: 696GFlops
6850: 1.12TFlops

and once again, i am not saying that you cannot play any new game maxed out, or at least with high settings, i am just saying that the envy 17-3000 lineup refresh is a downgrade in terms of gpu performance, and that you cannot expect to play anything better than with the envy 17-2000, but actually a bit less, since the gpu is weaker than the 6850m.

 

As far as I can tell, no one is saying that the 7690M XT is better than the 6850M. I seems however that you're determined to make everyone believe that the 7690M is a piece of trash, when in reality, it is not.

 

People like you really - and I mean really - annoy me.

You don't even listen to the other side of the argument - so here it is, again:
We know the GPU is weaker on the ENVY 17-3000, we are fine with that.

It is not a massive difference, and does not stop us from playing new games maxed out. In return for giving up the slightly better GPU, we get better screens, better build quality, better audio controls, better keyboard, better mouse-pad, and better battery life.

I rather have all of those things than a 15% better GPU.

So please - leave. It would be extremely appreciated, since you are not even listening to us.

 

All in all I guess everyone is more or less agreeing on the 6850/7690 debate... let's not focus on this anymore.

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question...but here goes:
With all the hubub about the new GPU vs. the old one in the Envy 17...is it possible to upgrade the GPU that ships with it? Could you go buy the previous RADEON card (Or any other more powerful GPU) and swap it or is there a chipset/MB compatibility issue?

 

Impossible

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/622814-viability-replacing-6850m-hp-envy-17-a.html

its probably the same with the 3000s.
also, mobile gpu chips are very expensive and theyre not in stock in every other store, its really hard to get them.

just wait for a lineup refresh and then youll hopefully have fresh new ivy bridge cpus and "real" 28nm radeon 7000m gpus inside the envy, its only a few months until they both get released.

 

Thanks for the info Necro...what's the latest "leaked" date for the HP lineup refresh?
Just sold my laptop but I can get away with my Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a few months until a better option becomes available.
Also is there a good site for comparing performance of the latest and greatest GPU's...so I can be educated about what I'm buying?

 

There is no confirmed date for the Ivy Bridge Refresh,
As with all tech there will always be something better "just around the corner"

 

ivy bridge probably in april, 7700m/7800m/7900m somewhere in Q2
AMD's new mobile GPUs scheduled for Q2 2012

thats right, but waiting for a new hardware "generation", as it is the case with radeon 6000 > 7000 and intels sandy bridge 1st gen > 2nd gen (ivy bridge), is absolutely worth it, unlike waiting for just a tweaked lineup based on the same architecture as the previous one.

 

Well, for all intents and purposes, there may not be a big difference processor speed wise between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge. For laptops it will be more like way more efficient processors than what we have now and another slight bump in speed. Leading to longer battery life. Others will say it will be a great boost. No one knows for sure until it is released and people will get to play with the processors a bit.

As for the graphics cards, there should be a bigger bump in that regards. Is it worth waiting for? It depends on if you need something now or if you are willing to wait til "the next big thing".

Just remember that the refresh of the graphics cards was supposed to happen in December (the Envy's were supposed to get that) and instead they got a rebranded card. The updated timeline is now April, but there could be a delay again. An example of this is what Samsung is saying about their new (for the US) gaming laptops. They hope to release in April, but all depends on the release of both the new 28mm graphic cards and the Ivy bridge processors. So they haven't officially posted a release date.

 

Muahahaha I love my 3rd Gen envy 17!!

 

speed is not everything.
smaller lithography means denser transistors, which results in more transistors on smaller space, which itself means more compute power with the same frequency.
this, together with even higher frequencies, that become possible due to less power consumption and heat because of the smaller lithography, results in even more power.

this is why a new architecture, which applies to both migrations, intels and amd's (and nvidias with kepler), is a far bigger step than just a refresh below the architecture level.

 

Exactly.. sit around and wait your life away because there will always be a refresh or some kind of update around the corner.... i say get it now cuz you never know if they will delay something another year or have bad defects in the new style. That is unless you have a good enough computer to hold you over.

Also just because the Ivy Bridge is comeing out around April 8th supposedly, doesn't mean they will refresh it then, it could be months and months down the road.

 

Yes but there is such a thing as minor and major changes.

Ivy Bridge is definitely going to be a major change due to the 22nm alone. And if a better graphics card is thrown in there so much the better. I'm still debating the merits of getting a MBP but I feel deep down that there won't be bluray drive and I would rather just deal with one OS and not have to switch to one (Windows) for gaming alone....

 

I'm also loving my new Envy 17! Set up my hard drives/partitions, installed my work files, external monitors, & also doing some gaming. IMO for the money I spent, I'm very happy. Love the screen & the sleek design.

 

I agree. I've never felt that satisfied with any other laptop.

 

Problem: For some of you (especially non english users), changing the control volume direction of the sound wheel in the beats audio control panel does not work (not taken into account) because there is no save button.

Solution: change it in the last tab of beats audio control panel and then go to the second tab ("listen" tab in english I guess). Make a small change so that the save button becomes enabled and save.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...envy-15-feat-ivy-bridge-amd-hd-7750m-1gb.html

hp is quite good in getting the latest hardware as soon as it gets released and equipping their consumer(!) products with it, so imo its very well worth waiting for intel's 22nm "tick" and amd's 28nm gpus, since its just some 2 months away.

 

new to this board and this is my first post, so sorry if it's not in the right area. i recently started having an issue with my trackpad where if i used either of the mouse buttons (left click/right click) it would get stuck almost. i've rebooted several times and finally was able to install some drivers that i found on this site. now it seems they work again, barely though. I've only had mine for maybe 2 weeks now and I can't imagine I broke the actual buttons that quickly. Also I can no longer click and drag at all, not even with the touchpad portion. I used to be able to just double tap and hold on some text and be able to highlight the text. Now I can only double tap on text and it will either select just the word or the entire section.

anybody else have this issue or heard of it before?

EDIT: when using my wireless mouse, I have no issues at all.

 

New Envy in 2 months? Hmm...

 

So close....starting to get excited!

 

Great, now I'm thinking if I should return my Alienware and just wait for the new Envy, if it comes out in April. I hadn't realized how heavy Alienware is and with the amount of traveling I do, this laptop is going to be both my work and play PC. I figured 10 pounds is nothing.

I brought my bag (Slappa laptop bag) with my Alienware m17x inside it to work and my boss and several co-workers tried to lift my bag. They couldn't see how I could take all that stuff with me when I travel, so I either
A. Have to get another/lighter laptop to take for traveling.
B. Get another laptop that can do both for me. Replace my desktop and travel with it.

Decisions, decisions.

 

Not to me..they might announce some new crap when Ivy Bridge comes out then it would just make me wanna wait longer. Besides as long as i can run games at high settings i could care less about some upgrade that i probably wont be able to tell much of a difference in (around 10-15%ish). From what iv'e heard Ivy bridge is not suppose to increase speed performance much and that's all i care about because my laptop will be plugged in 24/7 so i could care less about battery efficacy. This laptop is a beast.. the end, its all i need. Have fun waiting =D.

http://www.techpowerup.com/155720/I...mance-Peek-Any-Faster-Than-Sandy-Bridge-.html
Sorry don't mean to sound like a d**k but iv'e already ordered mine and most of your post just keep discouraging me.I guess ill have to just test it out myself when it gets here and see if it will be up to my expectations. I'm sure you know more about this stuff then i do ;/

 

At least you're honest about it.

Any increase is better than none...and this will be my first laptop in 4-5 years (last one being the HDX 18t). So I'd rather get a product thats just hit market (Ivy Bridge) than the one thats been on the market for a year (and more I believe?). Not to mention the increased battery life and the power efficiency will be very useful to me as a student when I go to classes and/or the library and I forget my charger or something.

Whatever your decision so long as your happy with your Envy thats really all that matters. Those of us who have waited for a while will probably be content to wait a little while longer.....

 

I just sold my laptop but I'm OK with waiting 2 months. My Galaxy Tab and XBox can hold me over for a while. Can't wait...sounds like the Envy is the one for me after looking for a month. Just love the styling and doesn't hurt that I get an EPP deal through my job. Win!!!

 

I am really satisfied with the envy It was the best value in a notebook that I could find. Two year warranty is nice. I don't have anything to complain about at all.

 

Dear All,

I just bought the Star Wars Old Republic after installing everything & when lunch the game there only appears to be a black screen. I see the swtor mouse cursor and hear the background music however I don't see anything else.

I read about some of the solutions & one of them was to update the graphics card drive, can anyone tell me where I can get the drive so I can re-install it ?

Thanks,

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/633054-hp-envy-15-3xxx-series-owners-lounge-91.html
Here more.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/633054-hp-envy-15-3xxx-series-owners-lounge-91.html
hear

 

Thanks, I installed the 12.1 Catalyst & did as they recommended but still it didn't work for me ...

 

I'm not sure if this link will help with the SWTOR issue:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-pavilion-notebooks/631921-swtor-black-screen-updating-6770m-driver.html

 

Thanks, but nothing worked so far ... I'm running it using the Intel graphic card for now ...