HP Omen 15 (5XXX series) Gaming Notebook

Could it be? Is HP reviving the VoodooPc brand?

There are rumors that HP is working on a slim gaming laptop?



The leaked specification had shown us this laptop will pack:

(REMEMBER - This could change due to maxwell release.)

Intel i7-4712HQ (soldered type)
Up to 16GB RAM
256GB SSD
Nvidia GeForce 860M
15.6-inch giving an resolution of 1920x1200.

What I find interesting is the screen resolution that was leaked. Does it mean that this laptop is in 16:10 aspect ratio? Since Maxwell was released and they had proven that they are extremely efficient, so I'm sure that they'll upgrade the 860M to an 970M or maybe 960M (unknown).

That's up to you to decide.

HP's website also shows support for HP Omen 15 as seen:
HP OMEN 15-5000 Notebook PC Support - HP Support Center

 

Holy! I did not think they would revive the Voodoo brand! : O

Envy is dead .. long live the Omen.

This better be on par with the quality they used on the initial Envy machines. Hopefully with better cooling and no switchable graphics!

Also when have they moved from "HP" to Hewlett-Packard ?

 

HP separated their department into two. One for enterprise (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise) and other is HP for PC and printing.

Also, I like the name Hewlett-Packard instead of HP. It makes it look more premium. I hope the construction is good, more importantly...good cooling capabilities...and finally decent battery life.

 

Knowing HP they separate, buy up, cannot digest, rebrand all the time. Not sure if it will hold this time.

Hopefully the materials will also be premium. You are certainly right about the cooling capabilities : )! Would be nice to get 2 heat sinks like on that Razor http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2703491/RzrBlade14_21_verge_super_wide-1.png

I recall the Voodoo Envy 133 made completely out of carbon fiber. A paint job on that sexy thing cost 600$. All paint jobs were done in a specialized Car spraying centre. Shame that it came out in 2008 at the height of the crisis.

 

Laptop Rumors: HP's New Gaming Laptop!
Some old pictures.

 

I wish they would make the "Windows" Button on the keyboard, a Voodoo theme head similar to the Envy 133. Also, I'm struggling if I should get this or not.

I'm in need of a portable high performance computer with decent battery life. I really hope, HP put a 9xx series GPU in their laptop...it'll be more modern.

 

I would honestly wait till a 17inch version or Gen2 shows up with a better GPU like you describe.

Thanks for the pics Jay_D!

The bezel on the bottom is just mind blowing in terms of thickness. Also I might just be picky but the hinges not extending the screen bezel "behind" the laptop also feels like a step backwards if you compare it to the original Envy series.

I am starting to have reservations about this.

Also what if it ends up being a "Dynamic Switching/ Optimus" 9xx series as every OEM has cut down costs by using Intel as the primary GPU and not including a multiplexer with an inbuilt BIOS settings that would let us pick which mode to favor.

Essentially a way around this would be to wait for a model that has a 3D screen since that would need to be routed via a multiplexer directly to the Nvidia.

Too many questions.

 

Cmon people, don't let this brand die again. Please spread the words!

HP finally posted their leak onto their website!

HP Omen HD Gaming Notebook PC with Nvidia Geforce GTX Graphics | HP® Official Site

 

From the looks of it, this seems to be more of a direct successor to the ENVY 15-30XX / 32XX series rather than the ENVY 15 series of late (j/k/q series). The numbering to some extent reflects this as well (albeit with the product brand change).

We'll know more Tuesday...

 

First listing in Germany:
HP OMEN 15-5000ng Gaming Notebook PC mit i7 GTX860M 256 GB SSD 16 GB RAM (HP Notebooks) günstig kaufen im Online-Shop von comtech.de

 

ULV CPU, shame

 

I would say that HP themselfs are letting the brand die before it even has a chance. Where is all the media buzz? At least with the first second and third ENVY devices there was media attention.

I guess too little to late.

In other news:

Founder of Voodoo and maker of the Envy laptops (first few gens) Rahul Sood has left MS to start up his own company. He did try to buy back the rights for voodoo from HP at some point. Maybe this explains why HP is pushing this brand without media fare. Something a long the lines of some half supported attempt by a keen manager at HP who understands the value of it but doesn't get support from the top.

GM of Microsoft Ventures resigns - Neowin

Who knows maybe Rahul will start making laptops again.

Preferably with an ability for eGPUs (personal wish)

On another note: whilst my Envy 17 2xxx 3D is still fit for duty it is becoming ancient. The gimped AMD drivers do not help.

 

I'm glad there are now more options in the market, and so far this laptop seems to be my favorite, apart from the MSI GS60, and Asus GX500 vaporware, though they all have their distinct disadvantages. Wish it came with a 970m instead of an 860m, but at least its doesn't come with a stupid 4K display Can't have it all I guess. I'm concerned with how well it handles heat, not only because of its slim form factor, but because it's an HP! Hopefully when more exhaustive and complete reviews start surfacing we can have an idea of how well this laptop handles gaming and heat. I found what seems to be a poorly done video review here for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaPnz_rxzXg

 

I saw this on engadget earlier today. I like the understated design but it looks like plastic (probably aluminum though). The magnezium hinge looks pretty cool. I have yet to use one of those new HP trackpads but I personally don't think they would fit on a gaming machine. I will certianly have to wait and see how this turns out, seems like its got the specs and is priced competitively for what you get. I would love to see a 1440p option, considering this is a 15.6, 1080p is rather low.

 

I think they changed it now, as HP's website: OMEN 15 Laptops | HP® Official Store

says i7-4710HQ

 

It's aluminium. HP Just Built a Gaming Laptop. Seriously.

 

Given the fact that the Omen has the entire underside filled with holes for ventilation, we expect to see some pretty good temps here. But what about the dust? With that many holes, surely HP didn't overlook the dust problem?

 

For some reason I still doubt that the quality will be anything like we have seen for the first Envy lines minus the overheating issues with the first gens.

Sometimes I wonder why the probook devision just doesn't build these. Is the probook still manufactured in NA?

Maybe the 17inch will have better specs and a 120Hz screen.
Am still not impressed with the raised hinge.

 

There's gonna be a 17 inch version?

 

Looks really nice, but why do they keep designing 15 laptops with no dedicated page-up/page-down keys? It's getting ridiculous. MSI can fit an entire num pad on their 15" laptop and HP can't fit page-up/page-down?

 

I like my keyboard to be clean and this is really clean. I also like the macro keys on the left side. I can use it for Autocad/Inventor for quick-access. I am planning on buying this one with the 256GB PCIe SSD, it's on sale on Newegg for $1599.99

 

They usually travel in packs

Judging by the specs, which have a lot left to be desired. And by the fact that HP is targeting gamers with this, it would be not too drastic to think that they will give this device a bigger brother.

Let's wait and see on what the build quality will be like. Especially the keyboard...

Am sure Envy users are aware of the high failure rate of HPs chiclet keyboards.

 

I was actually eyeing the asus rog g551 for awhile until this came along. I just really wish they offered a non-touch matte display option. I'm also curious about how the keyboard holds. I hope it's not the same as the ones on the envy.

 

I've used HP's business laptops (Elitebooks or something) and TBH, the keyboards are great! I'm using one right now! Very little keyboard flex for mine and very responsive.

 

Flex on the Envy was an issue on the first gen. Responsiveness never a problem.

However the membrane was of such poor quality that after a while keys would just stop working properly.

Either way: probook and hp consumer devices are like 2 different worlds.

 

Anyone have the slightest idea why upgrading to 16gb of RAM forces you to spend an extra $120 on the (16gb ram versions) of the same processor and video card. Try going to hp.com and configuring the laptop for yourself. I've never seen incompatibility issues with RAM and processor/video cards and the extra $120 doesn't actually upgrade anything.

 

They say that this ram is forged on the highest and most mysterious Chinese mountain by an ancient dragon. Fairies then fly to the Foxconn factories and during midnight hour when the moon is highest and the workers are having their 30 min breaks, the fairies pop in that magic ram.

;D hence the high costs.

 

$200 to go from 8gb to 16gb lol total fail right there.

 

I think my plan is to buy the second tier and customize it little bit. I'm planning on getting the 4GB 860M and 256GB SSD PCIe (it's cheaper than buying separately). I'll see if I could phone HP and see if we could make a deal making the price cheaper.

I'll have to discuss with my family relatives on this purchase, if it all goes well. I'll take the risk of being an early adopter and give you all a review. I wasn't sure, It's hard acting right now, but I hope these laptop would have decent resell value...but it's HP.

 

Yeah, sadly HP thoroughly ran the 'ENVY' brand name into the mud, pulled it out and it was turned into an everyday joke! I hope they don't do the same with the 'OMEN'. . . But I can see it being customized with an i3, not that there's anything wrong with an i3, or maybe an i7-4500u, not that there's anything wrong with an i7-4500u, either, and maybe a gt830-840m! Not that there's anything wrong with a gt920-30m! Ha-Ha! My worst nightmare! It's already happened to my saddened 'ENVY'!

 

i posted a thread on the omen in the envy/hdx forum yesterday, since i thought that would be the most suitable subforum for this omen notebook, and didnt find the omen anywhere mentioned in that and the pavillion subforum - my mistake i didnt take a look into the umbrella HP forum, where this thread is.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/765103-hp-omen-gaming-notebook.html

i am really disappointed... looks just like another fail as the envy line became after the 3200 series. details mentioned in my thread.

i am still stuck with my old envy 17 3d 1195ea, which still works amazingly well for every day usage and gaming 2-3+ years old games except the most demanding ones, except that it overheats every 3-6 weeks so i have to repaste the cpu and gpu newly, because the space between the heatsink and the chips is too big, since one cannot apply different pressure using the screws, which makes the thermal paste dry out and crumble away after several weeks of temps above 90°C, which is average while gaming. and as soon as the cpu reaches 100°C and gpu 104°C, they throttle down (didnt experience a shutdown, which occurs at 103°C for the cpu and 107°C for the gpu since ive been repasting it, but before that using stock cooling it was orrible). although when the paste is freshly applied, i can do anything on the notebook except gaming with great temps (for the envy 1000-series) of 75-85°C, gaming between 90 and 96°C, which is ok as well, until it gets higher, when it starts throttling down and needs a repaste again.

does anybody know whether it would be wiser to put in a thermal pad, since it is much thicker? or would it be a good idea to cut an appropriate sized copper plate and put it between the chips and the heatsink, and then apply thermal paste on both sides of it, ie. between it and the chips, as well as between it and the heatsink? this would make the pressure the heatsink is applied to the chips definitely stronger, hence making the space between tinier and hopefully the thermal paste wouldnt crumble away that fast anymore.. btw im using gelid gc extreme, and my notebook is perfectly clean and free of dust, im cleaning it weekly.

now with that omen disappointment and the disgusting envy k/q/j and whatever series, im waiting for the zbooks to get maxwell-based quadros, so i can get back to the HP business line, which is definitely the best i have ever had, even better than lenovo which i have to use for work.

 

Necrophyte,

Am sporting an Envy 17 2xxx 3D.

Am on my 3rd mobo / fan/ heatsink.

We have a pretty detailed thread in the Envy forum on heatsink replacements (since the alcohol inside of them also degrades). I would seriously advise that you have a look.

And yes a copper pad > thermal pad. Just made sure that it is absolutely flat. You will need to sand it etc. One 17 2xxx user tried to put a 3 pipe heatsink on his laptop that had a raised corner. 2 GPUs gone because when the chip expanded it hit the corner.

So the most important part is that it is just the right thickness and smooth as glass! : )

ps .. I share your feelings about the brand name and the current line up (with the business line being from another world).

Rahul Sood started a new company and there might be a chance that he will make Voodoo laptops again etc.

 

Thank you, I will definitely take a look since now it's again time for a repaste due to overheating the last week. You mean the envy 2xxx owners' thread? I thought only the 1xxx series had major heat issues and from 2000 on it became better?

My envy 17 3d 1195ea is still with stock hardware, except for the hdd, ram, display and keyboard, having replaced the latter two after display cracked and keyboard started to stroke some keys constantly and acting weird some 2 years ago (which was the only heat induced damage so far, since mostly the left part was affected where it's hottest). But my mobo, heat sink, fan etc are still stock, and I got the notebook in early 2011, and everything works flawlessly except for the heat issues.

What do you mean by alcohol inside (inside the heatsink? since after each repaste the temps are great, I doubt that the heatsink or fan has to be replaced) and copper pad (to be put between the chip and the heatsink instead of thermal paste?)? And what do you mean by sanding it?

thanks!

 

Whilst the 2xxx is much much cooler it is normal that a heatpipe degrades over time. (as does the artic paste)

But some users liked to get even better temperatures than available ; ).

Sorry I meant the alcohol type solution within the copper "pipe" that connects the heatsink to the fan.

You mention there being space between the heatsink and the GPU and you want to put in a copper plate.
If the copper plate that you want to put in between GPU and heatsink is not smooth and level it might cause the GPU to crack. Under heat the GPU expands in size and if there is an uneven surface it might cause the chip to unevenly press into the copper, leading to a crack.

This is why I advise sanding it down to make sure that it is perfectly even. There are some tutorials online I believe but it is best to check what other users have done for the 17 1xxx.

 

ok thanks!

ive just been reading through numerous posts in the 2xxx owners' thread, and now i know what youre talking about.

well, as i said, i think my heatsink and those copper pipes are ok, since every time i do a repaste job, the temps are great for a while. i am pretty sure my biggest problem is the space between the copper plate at the end of the copper pipes that is screwed onto the die using the 4 (cpu) resp. 3 (gpu) screws on the heatsink. it is just too big, like 0.75mm or so, compared to a desktop one where its maybe 0.1mm when you screw it fully onto each other.

for this reason, the thermal paste, no matter how good it is - and gelid gc extreme is great - has to be applied quite thick to fill this space, and this makes it dry out and crumble away quite fast. so my intention is to somehow fill this gap between the heatsink and the die or try to lower it, although no idea how, since the screws are fixed and there is no way to alter their height except between fully unscrewed and fully screwed, which is still not tight enough :/
if i try to put a copper plate in between, ill surely make sure it is perfectly clean and even to avoid bending etc.

though i wont experiment much anymore now and risk damaging anything, rather do some 2-3 more repaste jobs, since they last for 1-3 months mostly, and i just need to bridge these few more months until the zbooks get some decent new hardware, or a miracle happens and HP manages to make a real gaming 17'' omen w/ a 120hz display and gtx970/980 etc.

 

I'm afraid of waiting too long to purchase my Omen laptop as build and shipping dates on HP's online shop are becoming longer as time goes on, most likely due to the holiday season. It might make better sense to wait until after the new year to get one. It is probably unlikely we'll see new models with further upgrade options within the next 3-4 months unless someone here knows HP's product rhythm?

PS I'm sure there will be an Omen 17 coming out soon. Fingers crossed for those who want a 17" machine.

 

yea i hope they release a 17'' omen as a pendant to my old envy 17 3d - 120hz display, high-end newest gen gpu and cpu (gtx860m is neither, i7-4710hq maybe as the base confg) and several other points mentioned..

btw my old envy is freshly repasted and temps since boot havent exceeded 65°C, which is 20-25°C less than it was 2 hours ago after equal load

 

Congrats!

It is indeed very hard to go back to anything else after the 120 Hz screen. I don't game much on the 6850m these days but it seems like AMD is dropping support soon for the 5xxx and 6xxx series. The newest drivers are somewhat of a mess.

Lets hope someone offers a good replacement even if it won't be an Omen 17. I quite like the idea of an external GPU like that new Alienware.

Shame that alienwares design is still stuck in the 90s. I mean huge plastic aliens heads?!?!? They could do so much with that brand.... But they choose to go down the fisher price route.

Either way a good and powerful Omen 17 with external graphics possibility would be welcome.

 

In your thread, you mention:

The main reason why HP probably made it one CPU option and not others, is probably because they would fry the machine. There's a reason why many thin and light laptops have soldered CPUs w/ 1 or 2 options. If you wanna put a MX CPU, you're insane. The thing would just blow up.

As for the OS, Win 8.1 works better with touchscreens than Win 7 so... Yeah. If you really wanted Win 7, go install it yourself.

The GPU is actually a Maxwell Architecture, if you read their site properly. HP was probably building this before the 900m series came out, so that's why they still have a 860m inside. The main reason why they probably didn't want to change it to an 970m or 980m, is probably:

1) Throttling
2) The price would go up to $1800-2100 range, thus driving quite a bit consumers who don't have that much money to spend on a laptop.

I agree with you on the SSD part, wish they would have an option for an HDD, so that even MOAR people can buy it.

A 860m wouldn't be able to run at high fps with a 3K/4K screen, therefore the best option is for 1080p. As for the touchscreen, some people simply want to do more than game, you know.

 

Do we know this is missing a 2.5" drive bay? I would be very sad if so.

Edit: I just called HP to find out and it does have a standard sized hard drive bay, HOWEVER, it doesn't look like its easy to open up as opposed to the Pavilion and Envy computers with the door to access the components according to the sales rep who sounded like he knew what he was talking about, thank goodness. He was able to actually look at the Omen in person and confirm that for me. Very interesting... He suggested I wait a bit to see if there are any teardown videos that will be posted online just to get a better idea, but he said it seemed like the machine had a snap-on body configuration and no visible screws. This is unfortunate as I may want to upgrade a hard drive or memory in the future, say.

 

According to the service manual it has a M.2 2280 slot for an SSD only. The system memory is soldered to the mainboard as well, so if you want 16GB you will need to order it that way.

 

Thank you very much for the further clarification. This is unfortunate! :/

 

there is a reason i wrote "gaming" in quotes...

if HP suggests the omen is a gaming notebook, then it should be equipped like other true gaming notebooks, and the base i7 mobile quad model just above the ulvs as the only available option is definitely not gaming-like.
if the notebook needs to be thin with hardware that doesnt heat up too much, then name it portable multimedia notebook, but not gaming..
btw apple has been producing mbp mobile workstations with specs that blow the omen since years inside quite thin boxes and not such horrible heat issues as HP's notebooks have, so it wouldnt be a miracle to make a thin gaming notebook without major heat issues, if the competition has done it already.

regarding the touchscreen - again, dont call it gaming notebook, no gamer wants a touch screen on his gaming notebook.

860m is not the "real" maxwell gen everyone is talking about, and the one the 900 series are, it is neither marketed by nvidia as true maxwell. 860m is gm107, 970m is gm204 ( AnandTech | The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Review: Maxwell Mark 2).

and again, for a gaming notebook, throttling shouldnt be a topic since it has to be built to perform and sustain heat properly. the price is another topic that shouldnt be focused on too much on gaming notebooks; if you want a budget-friendly notebook, dont go for a gaming one.. there are still envy j/k/q-crapbooks that have somewhat better hardware than cheap low-ends but are not pricey at all.

regarding 3k/4k - with a 970m/980m, this would be a suitable resolution for the people who want it (i personally wouldnt, but again, the option to have it is better than not offering it a priori).

all i want to say is that HP is like some car maker making a 400hp luxury car and markets it as a super sports car, that needs to compete with 600+hp real super sports cars with a bit less luxury that isnt needed in a sports car anyway..

 

Previous versions of the MSI GS60 houses the i7-4710HQ w/ 860m, therefore by your definition, is the GS60 a "portable multimedia notebook"?

The ASUS G750 series all contain the i7-4700HQ CPUs, but house high end 800m cards. Are they not "gaming-like"? You should refine that definition.

Who said Gamers can't have touchscreens on their notebooks? The touchscreens works very well with Win 8.1. If you don't like it, don't use it. Simple. Just because some gamers don't like touchscreens, doesn't mean all gamers doesn't.

In regards to you "860m isn't TRUE Maxwell", that's wrong. It's still a Maxwell based Architecture, call it "Test Maxwell", if you like. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

The 860m Maxwell is a GM107, while the others, (880m, 870m) is a GK104. But what you're saying is "It's isn't a Maxwell based Architecture, therefore it's a Kepler based Arch." That's wrong. You're saying: "It isn't X there it is Y". You have to show that the 860m is Kepler.

And what you're also saying is that all Gaming Notebooks should be High Priced, or don't game? That's nonsensical. By raising the price of a product, economics shows that there will be less demand for it. Gaming Notebook Companies should aim for a medium price range, 'round $1500, not >$2000, unless they have other products which fills the gap as a Medium Range one.

You either:

1) Make high end, thick as sh*t notebooks which are gigantic bricks and not have to bother with thermals.
2) Medium range, thin and light notebooks which are portable and worry about thermals.

It's very, very hard to put an 980m into a thin and light notebook without it frying up, even with the new improved thermals of the GM204.

 

maybe i have not expressed myself understandably enough - i do not say that the hardware provided is definitely not suitable for a gaming notebook, i am saying that it is the lowest possible resp. regarding the gpu even too old already, where the 900 series are out now (out in notebooks already been available where the omen has been mentioned for the first time, but far from being available), and the main thing i am critisizing is that there are no higher options. of course, one can play lots of games very well with the 4710+860m, but there definitely are limitations, and some people want to minimize these, which they would be able to if the omen offered higher cpu+gpu options. this is my only point..

same with the touchscreen - why dont offer touchscreen as an option out of 2-3 different screens, why forcing each omen buyer to have a touchscreen?

860m is lets say 1st gen maxwell, but when people talk about maxwell now, they almost always mean the 2nd gen, 900 series. i do not say that 860m is kepler.. gM already suggests that it is maxwell and not gK kepler. but there is quite a difference, and people often appreciate improvements within a single architecture more than they do those between 2 architectures (intels tick-tock proved that several times when the tock meant a huge leap forward compared to the tick before that was just a minor one).

if HP didnt have anything to fill the medium-priced gap, this would make sense, but above the pavillions are the newer envy models, which fill the medium-priced range. envy used to be the premium consumer line at about the same price as omen is now, until they graded them down to pavillions after the 3200 series.
so here even more, the omen would be a good series for the medium-high and high price range, if it offered higher hardware options. right now its just one single model (ok 2 because of 8 resp. 16gb ram - another flaw imo that one cannot decide what kind of ram and how much to put in post-purchase) that is fixed somewhere in the medium to medium-high price range above the envy, not customizable at all. since they like brands and product nomenclature so much, put something that suggests premium after omen like omen-X or so, and let this have better cpu and gpu options, if not making them available to the base omen. a zbook 15 packs up to a i7-4910 and high-end quadros in a similar sized box that is just about 1/3 thicker, and this is far away from the almost 5cm thick alienwares etc..

 

I'm an owner of rMBP(late2013) 13 w/ "dual"-code i5 & "iris"(integrated intel 5100) and it sounds like a hair dryer just for streaming flash movies not even for games, and after watching 30 minutes, it becomes an electric cook top. I guess I can make an egg on it. Oh, btw, when it comes to gaming, BL2 is barely playable on it at FHD with lowest setting.
I can't imagine how it can be noisy and hot when it equipped with a quad-core i7 and a (even throttled) geforce. FYI, there's such a configuration for rMBP 15.

I'm wondering which one of Omen 15's competitors has made such a miracle of making "thin" gaming laptops w/o this blushing heat problem.

 

you cant compare integrated graphics with dedicated ones for gaming. dont know about the current models, but i had been using the 17'' mbp w/ i7-2820 back in 2011 for some time, and it wasnt noisy at all, and temps were about 20°C below my envy 17 with an i7-720qm, but almost twice the (non-gaming, because windows always wins with games) benchmark performance..

looks like the cpu has 1, and the gpu 2 heatpipes, but since they are crossed and probably connected to the other heatsink as well, they may share the heat dissipation, which may be very good. well at least each has its own fan... definitely looks far better than the envy inside architecture.

 

Heatsink looks nice.

Reminds me of the Razor laptop which had this kind of setup for a very very long time now.

It also has Rahul Sood on its board of directors....

Hopefully HP wakes up from their slumber party and provides us something that can be customized and offers a "gaming" screen.

Hard to go back to 60Hz after 120Hz :/

Heh I was also thinking of maybe just buying some new type of mobo and upgrading my current 17 2xxx.

 

My only beef with it is the glossy touchscreen. When I game I use an external mouse all of the time, rendering a touchscreen useless. I suppose a Windows 8 "Metro" style game might depend on the touchscreen, but honestly I would only play a game like that on a tablet or phone.

That heatsink design does look nice. I will laugh if the triple heatpipe + dual fan setup lets the processor get over 3Ghz at 100% on all four cores, as not even my Zbook 17 can do that!

 

Great innards! I would have loved to see the method of popping the thing open, though.

The heatsink setup does indeed look good. I'm going to wait just a tad bit more before I make my purchase.