HP NC8430 review

I've tried this one now and it looks like it is working (but I haven't tested it in 3Dmark etc).

I have some questions:

1) Have you disabled the PowerPlay function in Catalyst drivers before you underclocked your X1600 via the Ati tray tool?

2) When I go to the Overclocking settings in Ati tray tool, I can't go lower than 341/302 MHz. Is there any additional setting of the limits?

 

Answers:

1) Yes I have, Powerplay is ATi's way of underclocking (...right?)

2) Yes, right-click on ATI Tray Tools (ATT) icon, go to Tools & Options and select General options...

On the Advanced Tab you'll see "Overclocking Configuration"
Set "Downclock limit %" also to 50%

 

Concerning the PowerPlay, shouldn't it stay enabled? Because PowerPlay is controling also voltage if the X1600 when on battery/plugged, while the ATI Tray Tools cannot lower voltage when on battery, right?

What will happen when you unplug your notebook and run on battery?

 

I'm not really sure what Powerplay does, but I'll enable it again.

Hope someone can explain

 

I too see no reason to change the settings. Its not that loud and I only notice it when I am gaming which to me is a good thing to know.

 

Hi,

when I plug in AC power adapter there is message "safely remove hardware" and icon in tray (Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet).

How to fix this ???

 

This came up before I belive in this thread or an earlier one. I belive it was attributed to the system powering off the NIC when on Battery and when the system doesn't have link on the Network Card.

 

I have a couple of questions about this notebook. I am considering the HP NC8430 vs. Samsung X60.

Common characteristics between models:
15.4 WSXGA+ screen
Relatively light 15.4" notebook and high quality construction
1GB RAM at stock
Core Duo processor.
both just under 1100 UK pounds.

Main Differences:
X60 is 2.54kg without adaptor
8430 is 2.7kg without adaptor
X60 has Core 2 Duo 2GHz (4MB cache)
NC8430 has Core Duo 2GHz (2MB cache) (as available currently from etailers in UK)
X60 is silver.
HP is black.

Looking at the above, i'd go with the Samsung, except for the fact that Samsung have focussed all their attention on making a light 15.4" notebook, but forgot about the adaptor, which weighs in at 600g by itelf - taking the entire unit over 3.1kg for lugging around.

Can anyone with an 8430 do the following for me:

**weigh their adaptor and power cable for me together? If its much lighter than the Samsung's it would level the playing field for me.

**confirm whether the NC8430 has a glossy or matt screen.

**does the NC8430 come with 1x 1024MB RAM or 2x 512MB?

**Is the RAM that ships 533MHz DDR2 or 667MHz DDR2?

Thanks!

MavXP

 

The NC8430 has a matte screen. You would have to contact the individual retailer yourself to find out how the ram is setup, but I suspect as with most places I find the ram to be in 2x512 config. As for ram speed, again you'd have to find out yourself. I bought mine from laptopsdirect.co.uk and it is 667MHz

We don't have any scales in the uni halls

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=70405 for a look at the NC8430 screen

 

Hello guys, I have a nc8430 with 1.83GHz C2D and 1GB RAM. I've just tried to do 3DMark05 and I'm getting only 3450 points. I know the CPU is slower, but shouldnt the score be a bit higher? My clock values are the default 425/378, so...

edit: After reading through alll the pages in this thread, I suspect that it might be the fact that I also used the Software setup to install all that HP Manage This&That crap, so now I have about 60 processes running.

 

MavXP:
** Sorry I don't have any scales around
** All have have the matte screen unless you customise it with the 'BrightView' screen, but that implies you're not in the UK anyway
** It ships with 1x1024Mb
** And it's 667Mhz (it makes little difference anyway)

 

For MavXP,

Got this info from the 8430 Quickspecs;

HP 90W Smart AC Adapter
Dimensions 5.24 x 2.28 x 1.1 in (13.3 x 5.8 x 2.9 cm)
Weight 0.86 lb (390 g)
Input 100 to 240 VAC

If you google "NC8430 Quickspecs" the .pdf will pop up,
all the different configs are listed along with the
engineering spec's.

Hope that helps, Regards, don

Edit; I've been seriously looking at this (RB555UA#ABA) one myself, classy rig,
nice docking station etc.

 

Hello NC8430 fans. I have found a pretty good deal on the NC8430 in the U.S. that I don't see mentioned anywhere.
Amuras NC8430

I ordered Sunday, got a confirmation email on Monday. Somebody called on Tuesday to verify, said it would ship Tuesday and should be here Thursday. So far so good.

While on the phone I confirmed that the screen was 1680x1050, the ram was 667mHz (Core 2 Duo ready, in a year or two) and the hard drive was 100GB/7200rpm. The price is $1299. It is Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo.

I'll use this for everything from school notetaking to mixing Protools sessions to gaming. Not much actual buisness, but I appreciate the quality of a business class notebook.

I'll miss my Thinkpad T42, but a pentium M @ 1.7 and r9600 graphics just isn't cutting it anymore. I'll be installing fresh XP, overclocking the GPU, undervolting the CPU...while maintaining 100% stability, of course. Notebook Hardware Control and Prime95 are my friends.

I'll post again in a couple of days after I receive the notebook.

 

Hi Guys,

I've got 2 questions :

1. Did you try to get a clean install without those 63-80 processes running all the time ? They are eating aprox 200 Mb's of RAM ;(

2. Did you try after making recovery CD's or DVD's to get a rid of the recovery partition to aquire it's extra disk space ? Well I did but unfortunatelly without a full success. After deleting this partion from HP Backup&Recovery Software I run Partition Magic from boot to make an additional partition to store my personal data. There was an error in MBR. After a while I figured that there is a mistake left by that recovery partion which I deleted. I corrected that error with a Partition Table Editor and everything worked fine for a few days. Then in My Computer apeared a 3rd partion (Disk Z) with coplete size of the HDD. I cannot delete it or format. In disk manager it's not visible. Any clues? I must say that I'm certain that my changes in MBR were correct. I used my DVD's to get to the manufacture state of the system.
Curently I'm working on one partition (C) with Recovery partition (D) for about 2 weeks and no Z driver apeared :/ ?

Thanks for any clues or input in this case.

Regards

 

The HP's recorvery partition is really a nightmare. First I removed it manually with PartitionMagic, but then some error was shown at every booting. I could get this error out of the system, so I used the recovery DVDs to sert the notebook to the initial state.

Then, I removed the recovery partition with the HP tool, which was OK, but after that I have also "Z" disk in my system, which I cannot delete or anything else. If I look into the properities of this disk, it's size is 0 bytes and I can't look on it.

 

Basically you want to get rid of everything minus the HP credential manager and protect tools stuff

Switch adobe acrobat for foxit pdf reader. AVG Free for Norton (unless you use other paid for solution). Get rid of all the DVD crap and use a better prog like VLC player. Switch ATI CCC for ATI Tools (build 14 to get it to work with X1600)

Or just clean install Warning - you may get sata driver woe. I made a thread on it, and I ended up buying a HP external floppy to get it to work. See the reinstallation guides stickied to see what I'm referring to about the sata driver

Re recovery partition. I used HP tool to delete it and got no problems, no residual drive or anything. Use the HP tool, not an 3rd party partioning software for safety first approach

Finally use 'msconfig' and 'services.msc' in "run" in start menu to find out what is starting up. Stop everything that isn't necessary. Do not stop everything, use google to find out what a process does

 

Can I use any CD with Windows XP Prof SP2 for a clean install ? Or do I need a HP CD because it's SELECT type of licensing and my cd key will simply not fit to any of the installation cds ?

 

I did use Hp tool to delete the recovery partition but after that I had to use third party software to split C partition. It worked really good until Z drive appeared :./

 

Hi everybody! Today I recived my nc8430 (T7200, 1GB, X1600) laptop and I want to format it, but Im newb considering laptops and I dont know where to find all drivers... Are catalysts the same for desktop comps and laptops? Any tips about formating and driver installing very much welcome!

 

Why exactly do you want to format? The initial install is pretty clean.
Anyway, here's a thread that discusses all that - it's sticky too
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=73377

 

Why? In first try I got only 1700points in 3dmark2005, and I thought that it was all the processes in the background (56) that slowed it down, but then i visited Catalyst control panel and realised that card was downclocked or something, so i unticked that and now i get 3922points on default clocks...
Thank you for link btw. very helpful...
One more question... In bios i cant find overclocking options... do you have to press some keys to activate them?

 

so far so good...
Well, my laptop came in as scheduled. This laptop is very stiff and well built. My Thinkpad feels less rigid, in my opinion. The overall texture is very smooth, which was annoying at first, but I'm getting used to it.

I can undervolt my 12 multiplier to 1.0125 volts (from 1.25). The 6 multiplier I can run at 0.95 volts. The other multipliers are spread in between. Prime95 and other various testing has shown no instability with these voltages. I am an avid desktop (and T42) tweaker and there is no need to question "stability" because none of my tweaked computers crash, ever.

The undervolting helps with the heat that this laptop generates. Notebook hardware control reports idle temps between 45 and 55C, with load temps peaking at 70C (it WAS 80C at stock voltage). There doesn't seem to be much "in between" temps though, for example 63C. I don't think the temp probe near the CPU is very accurate or it doesn't get read by NHC very well.

My T42 (1.7 ghz pentium M) idles at 35C and maxes at 50C (undervolting applied), so this HP's temps are a little scary in comparison. Usually a wide range of temps like 45 - 70C means the heatsink/fan is not very good. I may someday break out the Arctic Silver and reapply the TIM to the heatsink. The only problem with these high idle temps is the fan is always on low or higher. My T42 fan is silent until I actually start using the CPU consistently. Typing with Word never makes the fan go on. The HP never feels too warm or hot to the touch though.

I have the GPU overclocked to 465/450 when gaming. It can take more, but the heat that builds up overtime makes the system unstable. When in non-gaming mode I have the GPU at 341/200 which helps with idle temps and battery life, which is 3 hours at best so far running at idle in full power saving mode.

As a comparison, my T42 gets 4.5 hours with the 6 cell and 6+ hours with the 9 cell. I'll be getting another battery for this computer, but not the 12 cell as I need more portability. I've found this battery that I will probably get.

To answer the question about overclocking this computer, you cannot overclock the CPU. You can only undervolt and underclock the CPU.

The computer came with 39 processes (no anti virus) starting at boot up using 250 MB of ram. After a re-format and re-install to my preferred functionality I'm at 27 processes (no antivirus) and 200 MB ram usage at startup. Keep in mind I have no use for bluetooth, biometrics, HP help and support, battery check, HP hot keys, etc so I didn't not re-install them. I really only have the SD card, touchpad and shock protection installed. Other processes adding to my 27 total are NHC, ati tray tools, dot net framework2. I also disabled many Windows services that don't need to be running, including Auto Updates and its 4 required services (after I was updated, of course). I have been tweaking computers for a while now, I can run through the service list in 1 pass nowadays.

I may or may not install antivirus. I won't be spending too much time on the internet and I know how to prevent spyware and viruses from getting on my machines (it's all about where you go, what you click on and what you download, malware doesn't sneak onto your machine, you let it on.) I am also a viruses worst nightmare, I have brought many friend's virus ridden machines back to life.

How I reformatted:
I do all of my undervolting, benchmarking and stability testing with the factory XP install. I try newer drivers, messing with the GPU, stress testing, overheating, etc. This way I don't need to play around with a fresh install, I know where the hardware limits are and if there any incompatibilites with sound/gpu drivers. Then I reformat.

#1 I made restore .iso images and stored them to a portable hard drive so I'd have the restore DVDs if necessary (I have not needed them)

#2 I backed up the SWsetup folder to the same drive, I needed the HDD folder from that

#3 I made an XP pro SP2 OEM install CD using this guide. It works for any XP OEM, just be sure to use the Home folders when making a Home CD and the Pro folders when making a Pro cd.

#4 I gathered all the necessary drivers:
--Chipset - latest from Intel's site
--Wireless - latest from Intel's site
--GPU - mobile Catalyst 6.9's from here and ATI Tray Tools (no control center bloatware for me, thanks)
--SD card, Touchpad, Mobile Protection, Soundmax, LAN, Essential XP updates, TI media card and Interwin from HP's downlaod site
--Sata driver from the SWsetup/hdd folder

#5 I updated the Bios, also found on HP's download page.

#7 With everything on a portable HDD I disabled native SATA and put the XP CD in the drive

#8 deleted existing partitions, made 1 new 35GB C partition.

#9 Formatted NTFS, Windows installed.

#10 installed chipset drivers and HP essential system updates

#11 installed Sata drivers (dev managr > IDE/ATAPI controllers > primary IDE > properties > update driver > no to windows update > install from specific > don't search I will choose > HAVE DISK (if you don't see this option, you are in the wrong place) > point it to the SWsetup/HDD folder > install > restart, but before it restarts > go into bios enable native SATA > restart).

#12 install GPU, soundmax, wireless, lan, touchpad, mobile protection, SDcard drivers.

#13 go to windows update and update.

#14 disk cleanup, run regscrub XP, defrag C drive

#15 tweak services, startup list to get rid of annoying tray tools

#16 now install software like Notebook Hardware Control, Interwin, Acrobat reader, whatever.

#17 disk cleanup (I actually use Cleanup!) , regscrub XP, defrag again.

#17 make an image of the new install with Acronis Trueimage

So here I am, with my new NC8430 finely tuned. My only gripes are that it runs a little hot and the battery life isn't spectacular compared to my 14 inch T42.

I hope this helps someone, I always try to report back on my experience when I get a lot of info from sites like this one. if anyone has questions, just ask.

 

Nice little "intial setup" guide! I've set up plenty a PC, but notebooks are new to me so the NHC tip was nice. I've got it down to 0.9875V at multiplier 12, dual prime95 stable which is pretty good, I think. I also noticed the NHC temp monitor acting weird - it basically flips between 70C and 80C with no in-betweens... quite odd. Haven't tried OCing the X1600 yet, though that's next on the list.

 

djspl: amazing writeup!

It would be nice if we could also:

- undervolt the CPU while on the lowest speed (1GHz). BTW, what tool do you use for undervolting? NHC?

- undervolt the X1600 (or at least control its voltage according to the PowerPlay scheme). Do you know any tool that can control this voltage?

- If you didn't install the Ati Catalyst Control Center, is PowerPlay still working or you need to play with the Ati Tray Tools? I am using this tool to underclock my X1600 to 209/135MHz.

 

I have also a question about the Notebook Hardware Control utility:

If the NHC is running all the time and I choose "Dynamic switching", how is the CPU speed controlled? Is the speed controlled the same way as when the NHC is not running, or is it still controlled by some NHC scheme? I would like to set only voltages in NHC, but let Windows (or BIOS itself?) control the speed switching. Is this possible?

For those, who don't like the fan on the nc8430, the NHC offers also control of the fan. Unfortunatelly, the ACPI profile for the nc8430 is still not very stable, so we have to wait until somebody makes it. You can take a look in this thread and see the progress. Or if anybody knows how to make the ACPI profile, try to help all of us

 

that "temperature jumping" is exactly what I get.

0.9875V is pretty nice for the 12 multi, you have a nice chip. I'm dieing for a hacked BIOS that allows FSB adjustments.

that is exactly what I'm doing with NHC.

just have to flash your GPU with a hacked BIOS (if that's even possible, I'm not going to try).

I don't see Powerplay anywhere in the driver options or in ATI tray tools. I do see it and have the option to check it in NHC. I just switch clocking profiles with ATI tray tools and call it a day. Does Powerplay adjust voltage?

NHC works for me, I can only offer the alternative to NHC...
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread70943.html
















Everybody:
There is a Core Duo/2 Duo patch for NHC on their .

 

The lowest voltage I can set in NHC is 0.95V, which is (if I am not mistaken) default voltage for the lowest speed of CoreDuo?

Unfortunatelly, yes. I write unfortunatelly, because when you connect an external CRT to your nc8430, the PowerPlay automatically sets to the "Balanced" (middle) setting, which means higher voltage and higher clock. I can lower the clock with ATI Tray Tools, but temperature keeps stil high because of the higher voltage. At least I think the voltage is higher, because the temperature doesn't drop much when I underclock the X1600. Anyway, I have no utility to monitor the GPU voltage.

 

It looks a nice laptop. Well built, powerful and light weight.
I am definately going to get a laptop before christmas and looking through this (63 page ) thread i think the sooner i buy it the better because of the problems with LaptopsDirect.co.uk. i am hoping to order it asap but i need to check a few things:

1. is the 1280*800 screen a good enough resolution
2. should i get a zero dead pixel gurantee for £39
3. is the laptop comfy on a lap. My mum has a D510 and the fan vent is exactly where you dont want it. (possibly a underside photo plz)
4. is the finger scanner a lucky dip thing on laptops direct

thanks alot
Michael

 

djspl: Thanks for sharing your experience. Although I previously re-installed my XPP OS 10 weeks ago using Nlite and testing using Virtual PC, I found your information very useful.

Thanks!

 

Just installed ATI Catalyst 6.9 and noticed the 1200x800 setting is GONE! What gives with this?

Is there anyway to get it back other than uninstalling, and re-installing an earlier version? Any idea why ATI did this?

Thanks!

 

I'm still messing around to get the best settings in NHC for my NC8430.
What settings are you using?

Here are mine:

* CPU Speed:
- Dynamic Switching on both
- Enable custom dynamic switching
- Power Scheme: Portable Laptop (Doesn't XP allready do this?)

* CPU Voltage:
- 06 - 0.9500
- 07 - 1.0000
- 08 - 1.0375
- 09 - 1.0375
- 10 - 1.0375
- 11 - 1.0375
- 12 - 1.0375
- 12 - 1.0375 (Why are there two "12" entries?)

* APCI:
- Enabled, but no file loaded.

* Graphics:
- All disabled (Get error when I select "ATI Clock Control"?)

For controlling the ATi X1600, I'm using "ATi Tray Tools"
(because I get that error message when using "ATi Clock Control" in NHC)
and set the Clock values on: 310-279 (Apple Macbook Pro settings).

All this leaves my laptop very quiet when using Windows
(Browsing Internet, etc) and WoW still runs good without lock-ups and
the fan runs at lower speeds

 

Hi

My settings:

- Dynamic switching for all cases, disabled custom dynamic switching (I think it's useful only when you want to limit the maximum/minimum speed or so).

- CPU voltage rising from 0.95V at 6x to 1.05V at 12x, which lowers my temperature from 73C to 60C at full load!

- ACPI: you have to load file named "ACPI-HP-xxxx.zip" located here. This is the one that allows you to change only the fan speed, not the temperature levels. I've been testing this file for several days now and I can say that it really works in all cases (battery, AC, docked, external CRT). The other files mentioned in that thread don't work. Let's hope the guys from NHC will release some update. Concerning the fan speed, I set it this way:

* 1st level: 20% (I increase this lowest speed to 30% when I am docked with external CRT)
* 2nd level: 50%
* 3rd level: 70%
* 4th level: 100%

With this setting, my nc8430 idles at 47C (53C when docked and external CRT) and the fan cannot be heard. This is a big improvement, because default lowest speed of the fan is 55%, which is simply very audible.

- ATI speed setting in the NHC doesn't work for me as well.

- For the X1600, I am using Ati Tray Tools and I set the speed to 209/135MHz in all cases (this is default speed when on battery). This can lower the temeprature several degrees down. You can do the same with setting the PowerPlay to "Optimized battery life" for all cases, with one exception: when you connect an external CRT, the PowerPlay switches automatically to "Balanced" scheme. This causes the X1600 tu run at higher voltage and higher speed. I can lower the speed with Ati Tray Tools, but, unfortunatelly, there is no way how to lower the voltage.

 

Hey Petrv

Can you please list your CPU Voltage settings in detail?
I would like to test with your settings.

I also see you're using really low settings for the X1600,
which makes me wonder if you play any games on it?

Do you also get the error msg if you select the "ATi Clock Control"?

Thx for pointing to the ACPI file, I'll mess around with the fan

 

The best way to test is with your own settings - every CPU is different, so what works for him may crash for you. Best way to test is to use Prime95 - run two copies of it (you have to create a custom shortcut, and alter the affinity so that one runs on each core - it's in the help file), and do a Torture Test (I use the maximum heat and power consumption one - In-place Large FFTs).

So the procedure is: set a target voltage (it's fine to start pretty low) and run the torture tests; if there's any instability it'll detect an error and tell you so. Mine would halt almost right away below 0.9875V (for the 12 multiplier) ... at 0.9875 it ran fine for more than four hours before it detected an error, so I set it at 1.000V and adjusted the rest of them to be evenly spread between 0.95 and 1.

Oh and, the second 12 multiplier you can leave alone - I think it's just there in case you have a proc with a 13 multiplier or something.

 

Thx for the great info Balrog

Have you ever tried the "ATi Clock Control"?
I'm curious if the error is a common one or just happens on mine.

Maybe it's because I'm using Omega's Driverset?

 

"Ati Clock Control" is grayed on my notebook, so I even cannot try to change/use it. I have the original drivers that HP supplied.

YOu say you are using the Omega drivers? Maybe there is not the bug with the external CRT, so I should maybe try it.

 

Omega Drivers: http://www.omegadrivers.net/

And it's grayed out because Powerplay is running on your laptop.
When you disable powerplay you'll be able to select "Ati clock control".

 

start 12 multiplier and stock voltage and and go low from there. Never make big jumps. Run 10 minute prime95 tests to get the system nice and hot because heat will bring processor errors. My rule during initial testing is "5 minutes at maximum temp".

Keep an eye on your CPU temperatures, use Core Temp.exe as it is more accurate than NHC.

Once you get a crash during a 10 minute test, bump up the voltage a notch and test again. Let it run for a couple of hours. I also run 1 instance of Prime95 along with the "ATI Tray tools artifact tester" to get the GPU, CPU and overall laptop nice and warm.

For the most stability, test every multiplier in the same way, especially your lowest.

 

I'm not sure if the PowerPlay should be disabled or not, because IMO the PowerPlay changes also voltage of the GPU. It's only my opinion, because if I set PowerPlay to "Battery optimized", it sets X1600 speed automatically to 209/135MHz. If I set PowerPlay to "Balanced", it sets X1600 speed to 425/378MHz - if I now lower the speed back to 209/135 via Ati Tray Tools, the GPU/CPU temperature keeps higher than during the "Battery optimized" setting. The only explanation is that PowerPlay also changes voltage. If you have disabled PowerPlay on your X1600, it means that the voltage is higher than it needs to be if you run on battery etc.

Another example: If I set the PowerPlay to "Battery optimized" and then I try to set speed to 425/378 via Ati Tray Tools, the GPU crashes. I think it is because it runs on lower voltage and cannot handle such high speed.

That's why I think you should keep using the PowerPlay. Can anybody clarify this?

 

You don't need to test the lowest multiplier, because 0.95V is default from Intel and you cannot set it any lower. On Pentium-M, they can run it at 0.7V, but we can't .

IMO, 0.95V will be usable not only for the lowest multiplier, but also for several higher ones. If you imagine that it could run at 0.7V @ 6x, you should spread the voltage from 0.7 to 1.05V, only limiting to 0.95 as a minimum voltage (since we can't set it any lower).

 

anyone who purchased from Amuras the nc8430, please let me know if the fingerprint reader was included.

 

I test every mulptiplier, even the lowest, even if it's already set at lowest multi/lowest voltage from the factory.

I am an old school overclocker, 100% absolute stability is what I am after and the only way to insure the laptop is capable of running at 6 x .950V is to test it.

I would also not rely the assumption that multiiplers nearest 6 should run at 0.95V, unless I tested them. CPUs, in my experience, are not "linear" in the way they scale voltage and speed. When overclocking a desktop, I usually add speed and add voltage. I may get a lot of speed out of the first adjustments, but soon it will take more voltage to get a similar raise in speed. Also, motherboards are not always accurate in the way they apply voltage.

Voltage reduction and dynamic switching is great, but not if your computer randomly crashes. Stability first, the heat and voltage reduction are a bonus. This is my own method of course, I.S.O.DJSPL9000

 

Don't worry, I tested all the multipliers, because "Stability first" is also my motto. If not, I could buy some Acer and not nc8430

 

Yup - and it takes some time to be perfectly sure... my chip only messed up after four hours of dual prime95, at 0.9875. At 1V it's got no problems.

And what you said earlier about powerplay is correct - it reduces the voltage as well, so I'd say leaving it running is better than underclocking the card yourself.

 

I've tested it for 2.5 hour so far, maybe I should let it run overnight...

Yes, if you set the PowerPlay to "Battery optimized" in all situations (battery, AC), there is no need to underclock. As I said eairlier, there is one exception: extrnal CRT connected to the notebook. In this case, the PowerPlay automatically rises to "Balanced" setting and here the underclocking helps a lot to lower temperature.

 

Thats nice to know Powerplay undervolts the videocard, I'll try to play WoW with powerplay and if it runs smoothly I'll drop Ati Tray Tools. Less programs in mem is always better

Oh, does anybody have a good alternative for HP's Fingerprint reader software?
It's ahog imho and a leightweight version would be great

I allready installed the driver-only version, but it would be nice to actually use the reader

 

If you don't use an external CRT, using PowerPlay is better than Ati Tray Tools. Unfortunatelly, this is not my case...

EDIT: to be honest, Ati Tray Tools gives you a possibility to underclock the GPU even more, but if I remember correctly, it didn't allow me to go much lower than 209/135MHz (which is default for "Battery optimized" PowerPlay setting). I think I could go as low as 150/100 or so, anything lower would crash the system. I didn't notice any temperature drop when going from 209/135 to 150/100 anyway.

 

After reading through this thread I've decided to choose the nc8430 over the W3J and am now looking for a good deal on the system.

HP is currently selling the nc8430 RB55UT for $1799
Processor Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0 GHz 667 MHz 4 MB
Available memory 1 GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM (2x512)
Hard drive 100 GB (5400 rpm) SATA
Optical drive DVD+/-RW SuperMulti with Double Layer
ATI x1600
Display size 15.4 in Wide SXGA+ (1680x1050)

etc.

Are there resellers that offer better discounts than HP? Or that sell a similar model with 1GB x1 DIMM RAM?

 

I think you mean the RB554UT, that's the one I got, and I picked it up for $1670 from CostCentral a little over a week ago - though I just checked and their price seems to have gone up to $1745... try searching pricegrabber for RB554UT, see if you find anything good.

 

to JoPaM:
There is no fingerprint scaner for RE798US#ABA model from Amuras.