HP Envy 14 (i7-720QM) - AC problems.

Hello everyone!

I've been lurking around a bit and decided to sign up now that I finally got my Envy 14.

Well, I still haven't actually paid for it, since my company works for HP I got it as a demo for 2 months and then I can decide whether I want to keep it (very heavily discounted).

The "catch" is that I can't choose the exact spec, so the one they sent to me is:

Envy 14 1050es (the es is for Spanish market, where I live)
i7-720QM cpu
1600x900 (I assume radiance due to resolution)
5650 1gb
500Gb 7200 rpm HD

Well, this is my issue:

When I connect the AC adapter I get a message that I need a more powerful one to get all the juice from the CPU (message on my computer is in Spanish so no point in typing it word by word).

I have the stock 90w HP and a Kensington 90w universal one I used before with my Dell XPS. 90w is the most powerful HP makes for the Envy 14 from what I gather so it should be enough.

I've tested it as follows:

Stress test with Prime95 with CPU-Z open:

Stressing all 4 cores / all 8 threads: I get a maximum of 1.75 GHz (now that I updated the bios, before it wouldn't go up from 1.4)

Stressing only 1 core / 1 thread: The max it will go up to is 2.4GHz (2 or so before the bios update)

I would really appreciate if anyone came back to me with ideas regarding this issue. If I had actually bought the laptop in a shop I'd be all over them by now, but seen as this is a courtesy on behalf of HP I prefer to look around myself and then decide whether I will keep it.

I will be perfectly honest and admit I don't really need the proc to go up to those theoretical 2.8GHz that it should be able to achieve when stressing only one core, but I'd still like to know that everything is in order!

As for everything else, I actually took the computer on a two week long business trip with me (right now), loaded it with my stuff and my Steam games, and I can't find any other fault with it - everything runs really nicely, especially since I took out the bloatware and cleaned it up. The only downside is the battery life, which I really never cared about too much, I usually don't spend a long time away from civilisation with my laptop, and I understand that this configuration has to drain the juice. I am lucky if I get 2 hours, which is more than enough for bedtime browsing, the only moment when I'm possibly not going to be plugged in.

Such a huge upgrade from my Dell XPS 1330....and it will be much cheaper too with the discount....if I keep it.

Thanks!

 

Is this is the travel adapter with the USB port of the standard charger? Are you sure nothing is wrong with your power outlet?

 

The HP one is the standard full size 90w one, and the Kensington one is the travel charger with the USB port, also 90w. I tried both at home on my regular outlet and plugged into the UPS of my desktop PC (an overclocked i7 920 with two 5870 GPUs in Crossfire, powered by a 1kW Corsair HX PSU is plugged into that UPS and working perfectly...)- definitely nothing wrong with those outlets, and also on my business trip right now in the hotel I'm staying at and the hotel where my temporary office is, I get the same message everywhere.

I saw a definite improvement when going from the old BIOS (0.2 I think) to the latest one (2.3 or .23, the one that is up as newest on the HP web right now), but it's still nowhere near what it's supposed to be and the message is still appearing....

 

And everything works fine when you're on battery? Do you get different results with prime95 and CPU-Z?

 

Well I haven't tried stressing while only on battery tbh, didn't see the point and I actually think that the i7-720QM is not specced for those speeds on battery, will check and retest just to see what happens. I'll post the results when I get a moment to do it. Thanks for giving this a shot!

 

I had a Dell XPS 14 with i7 740QM and it easily turbo boosted to 2.93ghz on battery, the Envy should be able to do it just fine, especially since the Nvidia 425 already uses more power than the 5650. and if it doesn't work, I think the problem would be with the processor

 

You're not the only one with issues. I can relate pretty well actually (my thread here) but I soon gave up on solving the issue. If you think buying the 120W adapter will help then go ahead and give it a shot since i'll be doing the same within a month and would like to hear your from you

P.S. the envy 14 isn't listed under the compatible section but the envy 15 is....you might want to call tech support before you spend any money

 

Now if I do a benchmark test with P95 it will stress one core to 2.8GHz as expected.... but when I stress all threads and cores it stays at 1.33GHz.... I'll check about that 120w adapter with my contact at HP, thanks for the heads up Kev. I can actually try anything HP makes for free, but I'm away from home for another week or so.

 

I just found out....as the default "high performance" option is hidden in the energy options, and even though if you look at the individual options the "Recommended by HP" when connected to AC power and the "high performance" look like the same, when I get to the standard "high performance" via the computer status gadget and choose that, I immediately get all cores to clock up to 1.8ish at the same time and when one and / or two are stressed they go up to 2.8....I think this is obviously some HP power saving issue. I'll see whether any further BIOS tinkering can clarify and post.

 

i switch between these modes often , depending on my needs (on battery, gaming, etc...)