*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

Hmm. you should have upgraded the RAM yourself for much cheaper. Also, the SSD's (Intel G2) are more worth it IMO than CPU or RAM upgrades.

 

How much do u think the final price will be for the Super Talent. I'm guessing $2.5/GB which would put a 64GB flash drive at around $160.

It might be worth it if the Drive can be configured like a HD with partitions and all.

 

Thats funny I was just using my MBP and it is way hotter to the touch that my i7 720 envy. so hot that I cannot hold it.

I would say those temps are well within the norms for these processors nothing to fear threre.

 

it gets hotter than that

 

They are upfor sale at a few places already, but the prices are BAD!

$350 and $550 for the 64GB and 128GB respectively. I wont be an early adopter on that right now! sheesh

 

Im sorry, i guess im missing the point here...

I was saying that my USB3 is smoking fast... I have no complaints!

I use the USB3 speed quite heavily. My 500GB External 2.5" drive hums along at over 100MBps via a sinlge cable and cuts my Bluray transfer times into almost a fourth from my usb2 times of past.

I havent tried any updates to my usb3 firmware, because i have yet to have any problem. Maybe i will tho just for the heck of it.

 

Just tried my ac adapter for my work computer:

418873-001 - 90W AC Adapter. No throttling on an i5 540M (23x multiplier).

This thing is about half the size and about 60% of the weight.

 

My protractor says about 115 degrees

 

Unless your hinge is different than the 2 I have you need a new protractor. Just double checked my earlier measurements with a marine navigation square (for plotting precise chart courses) and got 120.4 degrees.

 

Does Throttlestop work with the 65W Slim Travel Adapter and the i7-720qm Model and unlocks the fixed multiplier?

 

Just for my knowledge...are all three of our USB ports 3.0 capable? If not, which ones?

 

What is the new driver number? I didn't do the update and mine is showing the same driver and FW as you just mentioned.

 

All I can tell you is that it works on the 15-540m version. Was able to run 3Dmark06 with OC on GPU with no issues (~9500 score) adapter got fairly warm but not hot.

 

The combo esata/usb2 port is not usb3. The other 2 are.

 

So I managed to get together the three different Watt AC Adapters with a crappy point-and-shoot

120W came with my Envy
model # CT: WASHH0CHHYA7M7

90W my friend recieved as a warrenty replacement for his dv7
model # CT: W97960EA9W2ZL5

65W was original adapter for his DV7 (now busted but confirmed locked milti at 10x)
model # CT: WACLN0BBMWFAU3

I just tried the 90W and I was getting full CPU performance out of it.

I have attached several comparison pictures I took

Rob

 

here are a couple more I couldn't fit in the last post

Rob

 

JJ, are you sure your desk is horizontal? (j/k )

My Gen1 clearly doesn't open 30 degrees past vertical - maybe HP has hacked the hinge in the latest shipping E15s?

And on that subject... Has anyone looked into modding the hinge so it opens more? From what I can tell, the stop is inside the hinge itself - there seems to be room around the hinge for opening at least another 5-10 degrees. My Dremel is a bit restless...

 

I would not worry too much a CPU temperatures, it is the GPU I would be more concerned with as this seems to flake out when it gets excessively warm.

Two days later, and I am still waiting for HP to get back to me over the black screen of death.

 

There seems to have been a problem with the last Microsoft Update, in January. Some users have reported black screen of blue screen sometimes happening. Microsoft's answer is that a small number of users are affected and to wait for the next update.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...bility_update_makes_PCs_unstable_users_report

 

IIRC that was suppose to be cause by some spyware or some other form of malware.

But, I have not seen anyone actually point the finger at a specific culprit as yet.

The more I look into what is happening, I am thinking it is a TDR but instead of recovering, the GPU is shutting down.

 

The stop is the hinge itself, but when I'm examining it, it looks as though opening the hinge further will make the screen lid impact the desk or whatever it's sitting on. I can see why they'd stop it at that angle, given the design they chose for the lid.

I don't think it's spyware or malware. I'm very careful with my machine and I'm reasonably certain I don't have anything nasty installed and the black screen happened to me last night. A hibernate and resume fixed it, which lends credence to your GPU theory. Luckily I have my power button configured to do that.

 

Just got off the phone with HP, i have been getting the black screen of death quite often, seems to happen mainly when the comp gets too hot, (i7 720).

I have to return my computer and had to order a new one, they said i can hold onto my current one until the new one arrives. Such a hassle though, this will be my 3rd envy and cleaning all the bloat off of the computer is getting annoying.

 

I think I'll just reformat the hard drive and install W7 without activating it and send it back to HP that way.

I really don't know how I would get it back to factory settings cause I deleted all the back-up partitions. xD

My new one should be coming on the 16th!

 

It's kind of refreshing to hear I'm not the only one having the issues.

The new one comes in on Thursday, so I'm hoping it works. Otherwise i'm going to build the desktop again.

 

so is this the adapter you want for no throttling?

http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/pr...mpid=in_r329_personalization/browse2/home_PDP

 

I would like to know if this laptop still has the throttle's issue on i7 quad laptops. Does HP provide any solid solution?

Dell has already come up with a solid solution, AC 130W + New Bios.

I dont know this one though

any advices?

 

black screen of death happened to me too.
usually, the solution is to take off ac and battery for 10 secs, then reboot. So far it worked like a charm.

anyways.. I should be receiving my replacement i7 720 with SSD this weekend, and i7 620m cpu as well. I'm going to do some test after I swap the cpu.

from Notebookchecker.net reviews
i7 620 is more energy saving/heating/powerful than i7 720 in most of the benchmarks. so i should be able to see an increase in battery life and decrease in heating with the newer cpu.

 

Where did you order the 620m from and how much was it?

Look forward to any performance info you can provide.

 

So I've had my i5-540 with matte screen for about a week now and performance wise... I like it. Quality wise, I've found a few things wrong with it. So far my list of gripes are as follows:

1: Some imperfections in the body. Mainly a couple rough spots that shouldn't be there.
2: Space bar was stuck when I received it and it even though I was able to get it unstuck, it still sticks randomly. Really annoying.
3: The LCD doesn't close properly, the left side of the screen is flush with the rest of the laptop when I close it but the right side kinda of bends up a little. Imagine putting a warped piece of wood on top of a flat surface.

I'm getting ready to call HP to see what they can do to me. Is there any advice? I ordered the laptop when the $300 coupon was floating around and the base price was $100 less. If I order a replacement and send this one back is there any way I can convince them to apply those discounts to the new system?

 

Not sure what throttle issues you are talking about. so i will respond to both.

1st. Throttle the CPU when on battery. This is by design and you can thank HP engineering for this. to keep the laptop within its size envelope and to use the newest battery tech HP chose lithium polymer batteries (I am paraphrasing earlier posts). These batteries are unable to supply enough power to run everything at full tilt. To keep from causing other issues HP has played it safe and locked us down to the lowest speed. BTW sony does the same thing with the F11 i7 based laptops. also the screen on the F11 is reportedly dim I am not sure since i sent my F11 back without opening it in order to get a full refund.

2nd. Throttle with smaller power adapters. although not as much research has been done on this everyone who has tested has found that the 90w adapter locks the cpu down to a lower multiplier but it is not as bad as the battery you will have to search the thread to see the specific speeds as my adapter is at my office currently.


either way if the throttling is a big deal i would look at something like the lenovo w510 since there are plenty of problems with the dell m6500 too.

good luck with your purchase.

 

Here is what i found out about power throttle.

on 65w original HP travel AC
i7 720QM stuck at 7x multi. AC is still able to charge the battery, ~3-4 hours for a full charge from empty

on 90w original HP dv6t AC
i7 720QM stuck at 11x multi. AC is able to charge the battery, ~2-3 hours for a full charge.

on 120w original HP envy 15 AC
i7 720QM multi unlocked. AC is able to charge the battery, ~2-3 hours for a full charge (depend on the usage.)

Battery Life for i7 720QM/8GB DDR3 RAM/320GB HDD/80% backlight/70% headphone volume/Wifi off/Bluetooth off/Mouse track pad off
Street Fighter 4 running at 1080p with medium/high setting 40-61 FPS
The 6 Cell battery last about 70 minutes (from 100% to 8%)
362mb MKV movie (~30 minutes run time) running at 1080p loop with windows media player 12
The 6 Cell battery last about 95 minutes (from 100% to 8%)

 

Was that MKV properly encoded to take advantage of DXVA? I've got a few high-def movies and some are compatible and others aren't.

 

I think wmp can play h264, vc1 and mpeg2 with dxva. MPC-HC only play h264 with dxva, maybe vc1.

 

While on the 65W travel charger have you tried using Throttlestop to unlcock the multiplier? I'm planning to buy one only if that works.

 

First time into the HP area, I'm from the UK and thinking about the HP Envy 15, last time I looked this was not available in the UK with a 1080p screen like in the US? Also it looks like there has been a recent refresh? There is now two line ups

I7 & I5? Also a new gen with a different gpu? There threads are extemely long just to get the main specs and base information. Can anyone help me out and answer the above or point me in the right direction.

I guess people are going for the i5 for the heat and battery life because my understanding is that the i7 is a fair amount quicker and for what I want, it needs to be as fast as possible.

Thanks

 

I upgraded from an i5-520 to an i7-820qm. Its definitely hotter, but is faster. If you want a cooler laptop that is still about as fast as an i7-720, consider the i7-620m. Its not a quad, but its very fast, and uses less power (like an i5) and therefore less heat.

 

It'll do VC1 for sure, and certain H.264 profiles. It won't accelerate just any H.264 video. I've got H.264 vids that will play with DXVA, and others that won't.

The 620M isn't that much cooler. It's a fair bit hotter and more power hungry than the i5's.

 

Has anyone with an i5 experienced a black screen of death where the computer still operates but just no display?

I am asking this as at the moment, it seems that only those with the i7 are commenting on it.

 

Yes. I did earlier this morning. A hibernate and resume fixed it, so I think it's something to do with the video card drivers or something.

 

Bugger! There goes that theory.

 

Its not related to a configuration i dont think... I do not know what it is.

I can say however that i have used this laptop hard and in every which way and have never had a lockup of any type. Well, if you dont count over-overclocking until it freezes.

Ive also let it sit for a couple hours until the screen turned off, and then when i touched the trackpad the screen came right back. I know some others have reported this issue as well.

 

Is there a way to force hibernate with the keyboard?

Have you tried that on battery?. Every time this has happened to me it has been when left idle on battery with screen open. When I come back, the keyboard responds, there's just no video on the screen. Totally black

 

Humm, I was just looking at the drop/ship models for something to do and noticed this:

With the 6 gig i7 model that has a 4830 it says-
"ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 (M97) with up to 3835MB total graphics memory with 1GB dedicated"

and for the i5 4 gig 5830 edition -
"ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 Graphics with up to 2779MB total graphics memory with 1GB dedicated"

Am just wondering, are they basically saying the cards each have 1 gig dedicated and can also use about 30% of system memory as well if needed or am I misunderstanding something?

 

I was hoping that it was, at least then it would make it easier to pinpoint what is going on exactly.

But, I decided to see what more Google had to say on the topic of x830 heat and black screens, it seems it is not limited to notebook computers.

There are several threads around, and some reviews, point at the increase in power consumed and henceforth heat by the higher end x830 is not being dissipated fast enough.

If these were desktop machines, it would be as simple a jimmying off the HSF and installing a more higher end HSF to compensate, but with a notebook that is not really an option due to real estate.

This might be another one of those things that HP just has no control over, something like the Nvidia 8600/9600 from a couple of years ago.

 

It's a BS "spec sheet checklist" feature called ATI HyperMemory(TM).

It's just used to inflate memory sizes on spec sheets to make the graphics card look more impressive. There is no reason in the world why one would ever want to use system memory while playing a game with the Mobility HD5830... the normal dedicated GDDR3 is slow enough as is, let alone system memory accessed through the PCI Express bus, it'll just slow the graphics card down to a crawl. If there was an explicit way to disable this feature I would, but I can't find any mention of it on the catalyst control center.

However, it may be useful if one wrote a specialized OpenCL program that needed more than 1GB of RAM, but unless you're working on some folding at home like super computer sapping project, you're most probably never going to want to take advantage of the HyperMemory feature.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/ati-hyper-memory/Pages/ati-hyper-memory.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermemory

 

I'm on IRC with the person from Strags.com and he's wanting to know the driver and CCC version on the new Envy's. He said would look into driver updates but he needed to know whats already there. Since I left mine at Fedex a cpl hrs ago could someone open their ATI CCC and post what the driver number and the CCC number are so I can tell him

 

For comparison how much additional battery life does the i5 give over the i7720?

 

pain in the A.

 

It's "strags.com" not "skags.com"... it's nice to get the name of the website correct when you're talking to the dude who put it up.

I don't have the stock drivers anymore because I used the CATALYST 09.12 WHQL display driver (8.681.0.0000) for Mobility Radeon cat files located on his site to update my display drivers to 8.681.

The key string needed is: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_68A1
That's the device ID for the Mobility HD 5830 that's in the Gen 2 Envy 15's.

The CCC version that came with the machine (it's still on mine because the cat file was only for the display drivers) is: 2009.1123.1057.19591

Just one more thing, a kind reminder. Please don't hound him so much that he get frustrated and stops providing the files... your demonstrated OCD-like posting on this forum and relative lack of computer technical knowledge (as shown by the fact that you didn't even know that one of the drivers he posted on his site can already update the Envy 15 2nd Gen) can frustrate people like him. Just remember he's doing us a HUGE FAVOR by posting the driver files, DON'T P*SS HIM OFF.

Edit: According to the inf file the version of the drivers that is provided in the swsetup directory is: 11/29/2009 8.670.5.1000

 

Opps, fixed but in my defense been a long day LOL

I found someones screen shot of CCC and relayed the info and pic to him.

1st off I didn't hound him. I simple logged into IRC and said hello and asked if there was any word on getting the newer drivers working with 5830. He said no not yet and then said, without anything being said on my part, he was going to look into it tho and asked me what version came as default so I came here to ask since my defective unit is on its way back to HP and couldn't just look for myself.

As for knowing about the driver I was aware there was one on his site that would work and was a little newer however I also have a 5970 installed in my desktop. I use the 10.1's with it and was just thinking a mobile version of the same would be nice. Digs on whether I'm computer literate or not are unnecessary.

Anyway that was the total sum of our conversation so I don't think I managed to, as you put it so eloquently "P*SS HIM OFF."