*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Hi there,

here is another one (from Germany) who bought the HDX (three weeks ago) and found this really interesting thread which I'm now reading from the beginning.

I was looking for a notebook with a screen resolution of 1680x1050, but 17 inch was too much dpi for me.
I discovered the HDX, was astonished that I did not find it earlier und bought one.

It was a HDX 9230 with a T8100-CPU and 2 HDDs with 160 GB each. Now it is equipped with an X9000 ES C0-Stepping and 2 Samsung M6s with 320 GB each.

First step when mounting the HDDs was to install a nearly clean Vista 32.

Next step was replacing the CPU, not necessary, but a nice toy. It is an engeneering sample (C0-Stepping) and is running with the expected results which means a nice speed increase encoding flac to mp3 and without noticeable change in daily work. Only problem with this CPU seems to be the not working temp-sensor of the second core. I was astonished running ortho for 2 hours only giving a max temp of 57 deg C. I use arctic silver ceramique.


Next step would be to find out, how much I can lower the voltage with RMclock.

I tried F.39 but went back to F.35 because of the cpu fan always running. I find a bios-switch, but only for gpu-fan.


It would be nice to do a small overclocking in combination with the voltage change (3 Ghz?).

Because I will have to reopen the case the next weekend (wifi-cable seems to be not at the right place) I could make photos concerning the PLL.
Can anyone give me a hint at what I should look for?

Michael

 

I just finished running 3Dmark and PCmark and here are the results
3dmark vantage:
P3035
PCmark:
3560

I'm not overly impressed with the results, but this is the laptop from Newegg, and keeping in mind it's a laptop with stock drivers, those scores aren't too bad.

 

Can someone help me out real quick with this (I know there are many of you dual booting Vista and XP)? Are there any alternatives to easybcd (with a similar gui)? Thanks in advance!

 

I used HWMonitor (and other tools) and the for the second core, the temp is always constant.

 

usually when I build a dual boot system, I install the XP then install the Vista and let windows do it's thing for the management of the boot menu. But for the laptop I've been running virtual machines instead of multiple boots, less headaches IMO

 

I see it's very much CPU dependent when it comes to the speed of the fan. 2.5ghz with arctic silver 5 runs the fan @ it's lowest possible setting. Only way to tell that it's running is to lick one's finger and place it near the vent to feel a slight cool sensation.

Apparently with the X9000, it doesn't run at all given its inherent low temps.

Also, I find that Arctic Ceramique better for AMD CPU's than Intel since they (AMD) run much hotter. But for Intel CPU's, Arctic Silver 5 seems best.

Hard to describe what it looks like because it could be an old school chip with legs or new school surface mount. It may or may not have the manufacturer's logo. But it shouldn't be any larger than 10mm x 10mm-15mm. Probably silver in color. Could be located on the CPU side of the board (which is face down when you first open the HDX.) If you take photos, take them of the entire circuit board in 15cm x 15 cm squares using the Camera's macro (close up) setting with the CPU heatsink removed. This way, in case there's no manfuacturer logo, we can cross reference chip codes to known PLL codes.

 

Concerning PLL I found this:

On your mobo, probably near the CPU, you should see an oblong crystal (rounded sides, metallic looking chip) about 1cm long. It will have the number 14.3xxx MHz beside it. Near that chip, you'll see a small IC. Look at it very closely. It should have a manufacturer tag or imprint and a series of numbers or alphanumeric codes -- this is your PLL.

But I will take photos from the whole board. I will have to remove the heatsink again, but this will be worth it.

Concerning the fan:

I'm nearly shure it is running at the lowest speed with F.39 (temps writing this post are 28 deg C without a running fan). The HDDs (M6s) are pretty quite and so it may be easier to notice the fan than with other HDDs. But I'm shurely a little bit sensitive in PC-Noise (owned a desktop with custom case, s-flex1200@500 upm and so on where you have to put your ear on it, to hear something).

I used AS5 too and compare it with some other types (only intel cpus, liquid metal was the worst, maybe temps to low for it to work). I had the impression, that after some days of work, ceramique tops the AS5, but not that much.

 

So, I just tried to make my recovery disks and have run into a strange problem: The recovery program tells me that my computer doesn't have a drive creating the disks. I just burned a dvd using Nero 8, so I know that it's working just fine. What's the deal. I don't want to call HP, cause they probably don't know either. Is there any other way of creating recovery disks other than through hp software? Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

 

This problem seems to be cropping up a lot.

I used HP media (DVD-R Lightscribe) and had no problems. You might want to try a different brand and/or type of media. The software is screwby.

Anyway, a few have called HP telling them the problem and asking for free set of recovery media given their situation.

 

AS5 has better thermal conductance: >350,000 w/m2 as compared to Ceramique's > 200,000 w/m2. Almost twice as much.

 

Interesting numbers. So the AS5 should be much better. Maybe I did something wrong during my own tests. Both have been nearly equal.

Theoretically I have some thermal pastes here, but I doubt, I will do it again as during my HTPC researches. It would be easier, if the HDX had less screws . It is the first notebook that I have disassembled.

 

I know what you mean. It's a real project taking this beast apart.

Also, I found Ceramique to be significantly better on my TX2500 with AMD/ATI chipset. The difference was immediate and in the order of no less that 15-20C off the high end. But the Turioun ZM-80 runs hot. During stress tests, I was able to break 90 deg C. Tops out with Ceramique at 95-97 deg C running Wprime 1024m test. Arctic Silver broke 105-107 DegC before even finishing the test... so I stopped.

However, on the HDX, I found that on the CPU, arctic silver was an average of 2 - 4 deg cooler than Ceramique during stress testing.

Though I'm wondering if ceramique would be the better choice on the GPU given the higher operating temps and larger heat spreader.

 

Hi Xanxelian,

It's really too bad about Buy.com. Their price was certainly attractive at $1518 at the time. I wish they had better customer service.

Alas, all the signs that the next HDX might not be in the 20.1" level or be priced back to the 3k-4k levels, then the newegg deal at $1574 is is still a super bargain.

 

These are very high temps. The hottest CPU I ever had was an overclocked Q6600 running at 3,4 - 3,5. It reaches at stress tests 60 - 70 deg C, never had one that comes nearly 100 degC. This would have been a candidate for liquid metal.

When starting the tests I found too, that the AS5 was a little bit better, but after 5 days or so, the ceramique gets better. At idle they were nearly identical, under stress and OC the ceramique runs cooler, this would correspond (I hope this word exists in english too) to Your oberservation.

Just played a little with the voltages, 14x and less than 1,2 Volt should be possible with 2-4 degC less temps.

 

Well, I'm in the process of looking for a pad / lap desk for this beast. Yes I do actually use it on my lap... I have only one potential product that looks like it will work, and want to know if you think it would be an ok choice. Here's a link to the review/specs.Need something, this thing cooks your lap like no other!!

http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-421.html

There was another aluminum one called Lapdawg made in Canada.. But it was only 19 inches wide and that's about what the hdx measures across so I counted that one out.

Thanks!!

 

I thought I was the only one that uses this thing on my lap! (I also flex my thighs with this thing in my lap {stretched out with my feet on a pillow on the coffee table} and get a bit of exercise as well!)
Anyway -- I use a thinnish wooden serving tray that fits PERFECTLY under the HDX. Good airflow being wooden and all, and the best part is I got it for $0.25 at Goodwill. In my case -- Goodwill turned out to be absolutely perfect. Picked up three of my four hubs for $0.95 each there as well (USB1.1, but that's all I needed).

The HDX actually rests on four even-height USB hubs for more height (and thus, airflow).
Looks like a mutant octopus (mouse, two transceiver remote controls and nine serial ports)

But everything works perfectly!

Never underestimate going on the cheap and actually getting something that will suit YOUR needs perfectly. Just saying that because somebody sells it, doesn't mean you have to buy it.
Get an idea of what you ACTUALLY need/want, sketch it out the best you can (I can't draw a straight line, heck, I even screw up a stick-man) -- then look in alternative places for what you need.

 

hello,

bought mine yesterday HD9480eg for 1599€ in mediamarkt storage (germany). For the ones interested the specs given from Vista, 3Dmark06, internet (display) and everest.

Prozessor 5,3
RAM 5,1
Grafik Desktop 5,9
Grafik Games 5,8
Primäre Festplatte 5,5
Gesamt 5,1

Installierter Treiber nvd3dum (7.15.11.6753), nvwgf2um (7.15.11.6753)

Scaling im Nvidia Treiber aus:
3DMark 7788
CPU Score 2162
SM 2.0 3447
SM 3.0 3310

Idle Load Load
3DMark06 Prime
CPU 26-34 42 46
GPU 43-46 63 44
HDD 34 38 37

Produkt HP Pavilion HDX9300 Notebook PC
Anbieter Hewlett-Packard
Version 68DVD Ver. F.35
Freigabedatum 02/25/2008
Größe 1024 KB
Bootunterstützung Floppy Disk, Hard Disk, CD-ROM, LS-120
Fähigkeiten Flash BIOS, Shadow BIOS, Selectable Boot, EDD, BBS, Smart Battery
Unterstützte Standards DMI, ACPI, PnP
Erweiterungen PCI, PCMCIA, USB

Motherboard Eigenschaften:
Hersteller Hewlett-Packard
Produkt 30E2
Version KBC Version 87.0A

Version Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T8300 @ 2.40GHz
Externer Takt 200 MHz
Maximaler Takt 2400 MHz
Aktueller Takt 2400 MHz

CPU Geschwindigkeit:
CPU Takt 2394.14 MHz (Original: 2400 MHz)
CPU Multiplikator 9.5x
CPU FSB 252.01 MHz (Original: 100 MHz, overclock: 152%)
Microcode Update Revision 60C

Speicher Eigenschaften:
Bauform (Form Factor) SODIMM
Details Synchronous
Größe 2048 MB
Geschwindigkeit 667 MHz
Gesamtbreite 64 Bit
Datenbreite 64 Bit
Geräteort DIMM #1 & #2
Hersteller Qimonda

Gerätebeschreibung GeForce 8800M GTS
Adapterserie GeForce 8800M GTS
BIOS Version Version 62.92.23.0.17


Monitor Name PnP-Monitor (Standard) [NoDB] [gemäß Herstellerangaben]
Monitor ID CMO2000
Hersteller N201J4-L01
20.1" CMO N201J4-L01 NOTEBOOK PC
Kontrast 600:1 LVDS
Pixel Pitch 0.225
Helligkeit 300 nits (5p)
Power Consumption 13W
View Angle (U/D/L/R) 70/70/60/60
Herstellungsdatum Woche 9 / 2006
Remarks Slim-dual CCFL, Thin & High Brightness
Seriennummer Keine
Maximale sichtbare Bildschirmgröße 44 cm x 28 cm (20.5")
Bildpunktraster 5:3
Gamma 2.20
DPMS Mode Unterstützung Keine
Gerätetechnologie Rasteranzeige
Auflösung 1920 x 1200
Farbtiefe 32 Bit
Farbebenen 1
Schriftartenauflösung 96 dpi
Pixel Breite / Höhe 36 / 36
Pixel Diagonale 51
Vertikale Wiederholrate 59 Hz

Im Vergleich dazu das 20,1" von LG-Philips
20.1 LG LM201W01 1680X1050 600 250/300 178/178

Im Vergleich dazu das 20,1" von LG-Philips
20.1 AUO M201EW01 V1 1680X1050 800 450 170/170

Gerätebeschreibung TOSHIBA MK3252GSX
Modell ID TOSHIBA MK3252GSX
Revision LV011C
Parameter 620181 Zylinder, 16 Köpfe, 63 Sektoren/Spur, 512 Bytes/Sektor
LBA Sektoren 625142448
Puffer 8 MB
Mehrfachsektoren 16
ECC Bytes 4
Maximaler PIO Übertragungsmodus PIO 4
Maximaler UDMA Übertragungsmodus UDMA 5 (ATA-100)
Aktiver UDMA Übertragungsmodus UDMA 0
Speichergröße unformatiert 305245 MB
S.M.A.R.T. Unterstützt
Sicherheitsmodus Unterstützt
Energieoptionen Unterstützt
Advanced Power Management (APM) Unterstützt
Schreibcache Unterstützt
Host Protected Area Nicht unterstützt
Power-Up In Standby Nicht unterstützt
Automatic Acoustic Management Nicht unterstützt
48-bit LBA Unterstützt
Device Configuration Overlay Unterstützt

Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500A ATA Device

Intel(R) 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller

Intel(R) ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2850

Ricoh Memory Stick Controller

Silicon Image SiI 3531 SATA Controller

Netzwerkkarte Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

Netzwerkkarte Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller

 

Hello HDX users,

what really suprising is that my CPU runs either with 200Mhz x 12 or 252MHz x 9.5. For Prime it is 12x200 for sure.

I like it, its fast and beautiful, but:
Display viewing angles are not the best (CMO display)
320 Toshibas are quite load according internet
Power Supply makes noise under high load.


Does somebody else observe 9.5 x 252Mhz (I dont OC). Even everest mentions it under OC. Strange?

Hope you can help.

Best regards,
Alexander

 

im looking to buy hp hdx.

do u guys think that the hp hdx is affected by the gpu fiasco by nvdia? in the report they said the 8800gts gpu is affected. so if i buy one and it get affected a yr later wot happen?

do u guys tink a new hp hdx with montevina will come out and with 9*** graphic card or ati 4850?

 

Inquirer report is unconfirmed. 8800GTS or any 88xx series card is not shown to be affected. Only 84xx and 86xx cards are. But let's say that a report comes out later than it is affected (low probability), HP will extend your warranty and replace it.

Not likely to be a new HDX with Monetvina or 9800 or ATI 4850/4870. If there is to be one, it won't be out for a good while, will be 18.4" 16:9 screen and cost a bunch more.

 

the possessor series is one that is affected by the defect according to the inquirer. Personally I haven't had any problems with it and I'm running stock BIOS. apparently the newer BIOS enables the GPU fan to an always on which helps from the reports I've read. As for problems, I haven't heard of anyone here having them.

As for the next series of HDXs, as mentioned before the HDX was released as a competitor to the Dell 2010, which was canceled. IF they continue the HDX line, it'll be in a smaller screen most likely and it probably will have the option between an ATI (probably the 4850) and the 9 series Geforce. Whether or not it's going to be the 9800 series is yet to be determined. personally I've ran both ATI and Nvidia, and ATI truly isn't an option, though they have gotten better, Nvidia is still the leader, even with it's chip design flaws.

It really depends on how much you want to spend though. the current HDX costs a little under $1700 (Newegg now has free shipping for it), and I speculate why it keeps getting cheaper is because they're discontinuing it. a new HDX with a 9800GTS, montevina core, DDR3 RAM would easially add $500 to the laptop if not more. not to mention a chassis redesign will add even more. So I pose the question to you as I did to another inquirer, do you want to be leading edge or bleeding edge?

just my $0.02

 

Can we post some temp readings here please. Have followed the BIOS update/fan threads and really don't want to update unless it would really lower temps on GPU. All these readings are at "normal"
Core 0--35
Core 1--36
GPU----59
HDD 0--39
HDD 1--32
GPU seems pretty warm to me. Opinions please....Thanks, David

 

T9300 (2.5ghz)

Core 0 - 31
core 1 - 29
GPU - 47
CPU % - 16
BIOS f.39

*Arctic Silver 5 in use.

 

Interesting warranty extension from DELL for the nvidia GPU. Maybe HP should do the same thing as nvidia seems to be picking up the tab. check it out http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/08/19/dell_gpu_warranty_extension/ David

 

hi,

i dont find 175 nvidia drivers on HP homepage. Can someone help?

 

X9000 (2,8Ghz)
Core0 - 34
Core1 - temp sensor defect
GPU - 39
CPU % - roundabout 25 % (Mail, Browser, Indexing)
Bios F.35

GPU and CPU Arctic ceramique

Surprisingly for me was, that the GPU-Fan is running from time to time at temperatures under 40 degC.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply!! That sounds like a very good idea... I hate to spend a huge amount of money on something to sit this thing on. I was trying to think of something like a piece of wood or something similar that I could use, I just didn't want to get an item that would heat the hdx up too much. I will take your advice and look around for something like that. Thanks again!!

 

my temperature are more or less the same like the ones from mikemike99

 

ARGH!!!! This happens 4 days after I had my order placed... waited forever for this free shipping since juggling whether to buy from Buy.com or Newegg.... grrrr.....

 

Just call up newegg and let them know that it's BS about it and ask them if they can help you out because it was so close to the free shipping when you bought it. Newegg is a cool company about things like that.

 

Thanks! I'll try that. I'd have no problem with the 24 dollars if only I were earning in dollars but Philippine Pesos just dipped in recent weeks by 10% against the dollar. Ouch. Darned rebel wars.

 

Ok, so I am using trillian tonight, and doing a couple other things as well. My HDX has locked up 3 times now with trillian open and I can do nothing except shut it down manually and restart it. I have uninstalled trillian thinking the program itself may be the problem.. But in performance it says free memory out of 4096 is only 1121 with 2064 cached, Is this right?? I don't know what could be hogging all the memory up and causing my brand new HDX to lock up on me . My temps seem to be ok and I just don't have any idea whats going on with it. I usually have about 60 processes open for some reason.. But Im not sure which ones I could get rid of. If you have any ideas I would appreciate it thanks!!


EDIT: Ok, so I installed Msn And Yahoo messengers seperately instead of using a program like Trillian... And haven't had my HDX lockup again since!! I guess it must have been something with that program that just didn't mesh with it??

 

Yes, it was not an original HP-CPU. The Model with X9000 ist not available in Germany, so You have to do it Yourself. The heatsink should be OK so it is more likely, that the CPU has a problem as I can't read out the temps of the second core (HWmonitor and other tools). The stepping itself (C0 in my case) should be the same configuration as the serial production CPU.

 

I'm not sure that trillian has a version for vista yet, did you try running it in compatibility mode? Also may i recommend instead of installing a program on your computer, try using www.meebo.com doesn't use resources and it's just web based. as for the processes, try doing google searches for them, see if they're important, and if not, disable them in startup.

 

You could try using pidgin (formerly gaim) if you require a messenger client that can connect to multiple protocols at once. www.pidgin.im

It's free and opensource, I've been using it with Vista for about a year now without issue. It doesn't have the skinnability that trillian does, but if looks aren't as important it could work for ya.

 

I disassembled my HDX months ago. I don't know if the following picture can do any help.

I have tried ways to overclock HP HDX but failed. Is there anybody could help me?

 

This is exactly why I think the HDX price dropped so drastically & coincidentally within the last months. I hate to be so negative, but it's usually the little guy that gets burned. From what everyone says, it's a great machine at a great price now, but, and I'm sorry to sound so chicken little, but I hope a year from now there won't be a bunch of upset HDX owners. I really hope I'm wrong since I want one myself!
There's no reason this laptop shouldn't last you at least 3 years & with this HP "warranty extension", I can't help but feel that the lifespan of the machine will only last as long as HP wants it too. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

 

Just to add, I think it's too early for problems to start popping up. However, they made it sound like it was inevitable at about the 1-2 year mark.

 

very true, people say that the replacement rate for computers is 3 to 5 years. But that really depends on what you're doing with it? How many gamers haven't replaced their PCs (or parts) in 3 years? as new games come out, the more likely it'll drive your equipment harder to the point the gamer will go "screw this, I need a new (insert part here)" technology is moving at break neck speed and that's a problem with laptops because you can't simply remove the vid card and drop in a new one. So will it's lifespan be 3 years? maybe, if the game industry slows down to a crawl or if you use it for movies and such, but more likely it's outdated before you even get it. But I pose this question, as I have before, are you willing do drop 3 to 5K for a bleeding edge laptop? or is the $1700 laptop good for the resolutions and graphics you want to play your games in?

When it boils down to it, it's all about settling, when you buy a laptop you're set at that hardware in that time, sure it'll be outdated, but hey, the shiny 5K laptop will be 6 months after you bought it.

Will this latop last me 3 years? heck no, I'll be lucky to go 3 months without saying "man I wish it has (insert part/functionality here)" But it's one heck of a system, and it plays latest games beautifully and quickly, sure there's room for improvement, but it is an 8 series Nvidia and they're already at the 280 series. So for a graphics card 3 renditions old, it rocks and with Nvidia keep releasing their updates and unlocking features on it, it'll continue to rock for a long while.

as for problems turning up, there's been a couple, such as the quick function buttons, just stupid crap like that. All we can do is take it as it comes and work as a community to resolve it the best we can.

 

That's it!

ICS9LPRS501PGLF.

Use this program:
http://www13.plala.or.jp/setfsb/

Where on the board did you take this picture? In other words, where was this located?

WARNING to ALL: everyone else should look for their own chip as HP doesn't necessarily have to use the same chip with each motherboard. There could be variations.

(EDIT): Oh well, that particular PLL is not listed in SETFSB. It's the "S" after LPR And "H" where a "P" should be that makes all the difference..

I'll see if in the IDT catalog, it list any equivalents. It's listed here: http://www.idt.com/?genID=9LPRS501

 

Ok guys, I know I'm a broken record about this, but I have 1 more hard drive cage, just ONE more. it busted out to $11 for the cage shipped within the US. about $15 outside the US. if someone is thinking about getting a second hard drive down the line, I got this to sell.

 

Woohoo *does a lil dance* my HDX should be arriving tomorrow from Newegg!

I'm positively giddy with anticipation.

 

I've sent an e-mail to setFSB creator asking for addition of ICS9LPRS501PGLF clock generator

 

Wow, He is fast, look what I've just received

As I don't have my HDX yet, can someone send requested data to abo?

 

FYI, when I select the ICS9LPR501HGLF, my screen goes gray with some flashing on thd lower 1/4, and the HDX is hard locked. Holding the power doesn't power down. I have to pull the AC as well as the battery to get it to power down.

Any other options?

 

Done. Good looking out.

 

Happens the first time. (Did for me.) Subsequent shouldn't be a problem. (As it wasn't for me.)

I think the trick is to hit the diagnosis tab before hitting Get FSB

 

Fifth time -- same thing. Gray screen with the flashing.

Possibly a different PLL?

 

Request for assistance:

I can't seem to find any information on how to do this (unless I'm missing the blatantly obvious, I can't find a 'SEARCH THIS THREAD' option) --

How do I configure VLC to use the HDX remote control? I've got an old USB remote control I used on my old Inspiron 8000 that was a snap to configure. The HDX? I'm just getting nowhere... quick.

 

Possibly. Probably. PLL chip will be whatever the board maker has on hand that falls within the same specs.

Anywya, did you extract the zip file into it's own directory? Needs all those files contained in it, then it saves some info into that folder for next time you run the program.