*HP dv5z (1XXX series) Owners Lounge* **PUMA Goodness**

I have to take back what I said about it not playing Oblivion very well. When I said that, I didn't think about trying first person viewing. I was in third person mode and the speed really slows down in that mode. In first person mode though, I get an average of 40-50 fps when no one is around me. When a few people gather around though, it still gets a little choppy at 17-25 fps. When the gpu core clock is bumped up to 700 MHz it holds close to 30 fps as the minimum rate in first person mode.

 

just wanna share an experience with Best Buy...

I had bought a dv5z (1008CA) more than 2 weeks ago for $799 which I thought was a bit much for the specs (it's quite a low end dv5z, but still good enough for my needs). So Thursday night the flyers roll in and I see on the Best Buy flyer that the same model is on sale for $599... my heart sinks! The Best Buy price match guarantee says that it is only good for 14 days for laptops and I was a few days out of that range. But alas I have to try and get at least something back so I go to the store to see what they'll do for me. Lo and behold I get the full refund back without a fuss! I was shocked , lol. I know people like to bash BB, but I thought what they did was nice Anyways, just wanted to share...

 

Wow! These deals just keep getting better and better!

I just noticed that along with the bump up to 3GB for free, the Blu-Ray upgrade is half off! (only $100 now, or $70 after the 30% off coupon!).

I can't believe just what a bargain the dv5z has become!

(or not...as it appears that the 30% off coupon has expired.)

 

ok everybody,i just skimmed through this thread,i understand this machines are realy good for the student use,i need laptop for my sister.
please help me clear some doubts
1)can igp hd 3200 have hdmi port and can it run x 264 encoded videos?
2)is 3 gb ram worth it for 32 bit vista?
i dont see any potential for me running 64 bit vista for college laptop?
please help me with this .
thanking you.

i am from india so we dont have hp cto option neither student discount nor mail in rebates.

 

1. yes, it has an HDMI port regardless of graphics card, and it will most definitely be able to play back x264
2. yes, 32-bit vista is still a resource hog, so 3GB is a good amount.

 

thanks for quick reply.
then i am getting the following configuration
2 ghz amd puma
hd3200 igp
250 gb hd
dvd writer
2 gb ram (still i will enquire if they have 3 gb and igp system)
fp reader
webcam and 15 inch display @ 1280*800

is this good configuration?

 

That should be a decent enough system. You're better off upgrading to 3 GB of RAM yourself anyway. It should be a bit cheaper doing it yourself.

 

isn't there a free upgrade from 2GB to 3GB RAM promotion going on right now? there's no point in getting only 2GB if you can get another one for free. also remember to add NB3089 at checkout for 5% off.

 

How can I Install Windows XP on my Dv5z ?

 

So I've got a question for those of you who have had their Dv5z longer than me. Is your Overdrive in CCC there by default? Because mine's not there and I can't find any way to enable it or anything.

 

At the moment, no.

And no, Overdrive does not show up for me either. I don't think it ever will since it is a low end card. The only thing we can hope for is that RivaTuner or ATITool will manage to allow driver level overclocking sometime in the future.

 

Odd, I thought I'd seen people talking about how they couldnt overclock it with ati tool yet so they had to use overdrive.

 

Alright, ima thinkin of buying this comp.
Been debating like crazy.
Ill be using it for a decent amount of gaming, mostly WoW and idk..maybe D3 when it comes out.
But was also lookin at WAR.
So I was wondering if this comp would be decent or avg ya know.
Not looking for anything high performance except on WoW since its old.
But ya.
Wondering which gfx card is better? Since everyone is saying its not worth it and the crossfire whatever doesnt work.
So if anyone got anything from experience they could say.
And if getting the Ultra on the processor is worth it.
Thanks.

 

It's got decent performance for the price. I got the ZM-82 Turion Ultra, the HD3450 and the Infinity screen for $650 with coupon and instant rebate and it is definetly worth it in my opinion.

 

Want to share that coupon? hahahaha.
ill be paying like between 780-850 I think.
Unless my uncle gets a discount from his work which ill have to look into.

 

The coupon's not active anymore I'm pretty sure so it wouldn't do you any good.

 

Anyone got cd-driver noisy sound?

when I start my computer, dv5z, I always got sound "N~~N~~, N~~N~~" from my cd-driver, like trying to read disk.

I turned off option 'boot from cd-driver', but problem still.

I asked HP and got replacement, but new one still got this strange sound.

I want know that if everybody here owner of dv5z have this sound ?

I just curious that my old computer, a laptop from lenovo, is prefect silent in cd-driver when start up. Why my new HP dv5z got this silly problem, noising me with cd-driver.

 

Good news. Have you also tried using some of the fps increaser mods out there?

 

No, I didn't know mods out there for that sort of thing. I'll have to look into it and see what kind of increases I can get. Do you have any links to these mods so I can give them a try?

 

Nope, can't say I've had any strange noises with mine since I got it. And just curious... noising me? question mark?

 

Link

This is a compendium of this person's favorite/best mods that I've found very good and useful. Under the section performance enhancers there are a bunch of fps increasing mods. Operation Optimization is by far the crown jewel. Using it on my desktop (which already ran oblivion very well) I was able to bump the sliders up to max on everything and it ran very smoothly in 99% of areas.

 

It might be a while before I get to try it. I registered this morning, and I have yet to get a confirmation e-mail so i can download the Operation Optimization.

EDIT: Finally found a download that didn't require membership. I do notice some increase in the same saves I tested earlier. Where I once got 17-25 fps, I now get 22-35 fps. That's just with the Operation Optimization mod. Definitely makes Oblivion playable on the dv5z!

 

I've been noticing as of late my laptop is getting pretty hot. I did a CPU stress test and they were reaching more than 85 degrees celsius which is ridiculous.

What are some ways to cool down the laptop aside from getting a cooler? I have the ZM-80 which can't be underclocked due to nothing supporting it yet.

 

Do any of you guys know how to disable the volume control touchbar? It has been acting up lately and just won't stop. I know for a fact that it is not a hardware issue as it works flawlessly in my linux partition, but it just won't go away in Vista. I've tried reinstalling the drivers, but that didnt' work.

 

Well its good that you found a download that you didn't need a membership for, but I find it odd that they haven't sent you a confirmation email yet. I got mine within 5 minutes of signing up. Either today or this weekend I'll probably be installing oblivion and testing some of the other optimization mods.

 

Yeah, it is odd indeed. I have yet to get it which kind of sucks. I can't help but think it has something to do with Yahoo's mail servers because this isn't the first site I've had this issue with. In the past, I've had to sign up twice in order to get at least one account activated.

 

Thank you Atin for your information. Yes, question mark there. Sorry.

I think I need change my cd-driver.

 

At long last, the activation e-mail hit my inbox. I'm looking forward to trying these different mods now.

 

lol he just straight disappeared

 

Hello all, this is my first post here, but i've read through every page of this thread. I recently recieved a dv5z CTO as a replacement for my old dv6000 CTO from the HP Case managers because my last one has been out for so many repairs that it was time they replaced it. For those of you that don't have it, get the extended accidental damage plan, because it comes in handy when things keep breaking due to a poor design. Anyways, here are the specs.

• Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Business with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
• AMD Turion(TM) X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-70 (2.0GHz)
• 15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1680 x 1050)
• FREE Upgrade to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) from 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!!
• 256MB ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3450 Graphics
• 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• Webcam Only
• HP Color Matching Keyboard
• 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth
• No Modem
• LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
• No TV Tuner w/remote control
• High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Not bad for being free. Anyways after a while of reading, i took that part number for the 12 cell battery and sucessfuly placed a CSO to swap it with the 6cell, so it should ship tomorrow. Also, I am running a bios revision of F.11, which is higher than the F.08. And for those of you who want to know, there is no crossfire support in that one either. This got me thinking about if there really is 2 video cards in there or not. And since no one posted any, i thought i'd take some highres pics of the board. So here they are with chip numbers clearly visable. Hopefully someone here can do some good with it, cause HP says it's different boards for those with the 3200 vs 3450. Anyways, i was looking to see if there was any bios modding that could be done only to find out that it doesn't apear to be a phoenix bios like the older models were, and i have no knowledge of this new company (Insyde software) that is being used. Anyways enjoy the pics.

 

Thanks for the pics. I hate that HP treats us all like a bunch of idiots. It's clear as physical proof that the IGP is there plus the 3450. We all knew it would be there because the HD3200 is part of the northbridge. And yet they deny it and make excuses like they use two different motherboards. No doubt they do use two motherboards, but I guarantee their PCB is exactly the same minus a few extra I/O devices plus the 3450 that is embedded. After what HP has done to this model, they don't even deserve to advertise this as the Puma platform. For the money I spent, I could've got a last generation Asus with a HD 2600, and it probably would've been the same in battery life as this product. I just feel like an idiot for trusting HP's tech support when they told me that Crossfire was supported by the dv5z before I bought it. It pisses me off even more that I can't sell the thing for close to what I paid for it since HP went and cut the prices not long after I purchased mine.

Also, if you want to know more about InsydeH2O, here's the FAQ portion of their site. http://www.insydesw.com/press/h2o/faq.htm They claim to be "BIOS innovators." Supposedly they are going a different direction of the traditional BIOS so who knows how difficult it may be to hack.

 

Wow, you can clearly see "IGP" printed on one of the chips. I'm curious about what HP has to say to that... "Yes, we printed the wrong thing on the chips just to **** you off even more, and take away the hope you had when you first saw that."

 

Dude, that would be really jacked up. xD I wouldn't put it past them considering their incompetence in customer service. I'm frightened to think a computer manufacturer would rather feign ignorance to the parts they build their computer with rather than just admitting that they purposely aren't allowing features already built in to the computer.

I still believe that Crossfire X would compete too well with their higher end products. AMD's goal with Hybrid Crossfire was to offer halfway decent graphics performance for budget systems. HP obviously disagrees with this reasoning.

 

Just a quick question (my dv5z, with the exact same specs is on its way here), does the CPU look like its upgradable, as in, rotate the screw and pop in an Ultra instead?

Moreover I believe we should all get together and bombard HP with questions bout the IGP, and not just the regualr techs, but the case managers...since they are the only ones that can help here

 

Also, which cooler would be the best bet? I wanna keep the discrete graphics and HDD cool!
does the dv5x run a lil hot?
do these use atheros cards? what model #?

 

Hey, did you have instructions for disassembling the case, or did you just unscrew everything and pull it apart? I've been meaning to disassemble mine so I can put some ArcticSilver on the CPU, but didn't get very far before I wasn't sure what to unscrew next, and didn't find any disassembly manuals yet.

Yeah, I believe it that there are two different motherboards, since the HD3450 variant also has firewire and gigabit ethernet. But that doesn't change the fact that the HD3200 is an integral part of the northbridge... Stupid.

Hm, I see this board is made by Foxconn, I wonder if there are other laptops using the same board or if it's exclusive to HP? If you look in the DMI you'll also see Quanta's name in there.

 

Quanta is the OEM for HP notebooks, thye have a multi-million $ contract with HP for the same. Also, I believe this is a new FOXCONN board

 

Good luck, they quit responding to my messages after like the third one. The last time I tried (last week) I got spammed by auto-replies every couple of hours but no "real" tech support messages.

That's definitely a socketed CPU and if you look closely you can see the screw to release it from the socket. So yes, it should be upgradeable.

 

do the CPU & GPU use the same heatpipe?

 

the picture isn't complete for that portion but it looks like it probably does.

 

The CPU itself is socketable, so it is upgradeable. However i have yet to find people that are selling the chips, cause there was only one site in google shipping that even had an X2 ultra chip listed and they wanted $275 for it.

Who knows about coolers. When the system is idle, mine is running around 60 degrees and when i push it, it runs around 75 - 80. This is from the on baord sensors, and i have fan control set to minimal instead of allways on. I expect this to change once i get my new battery. the 802.11 a/b/g/n card is atheros.

No i didn't have a disasembly guide, but since it's a quanta setup, it's very similar to the dv6000, so you can use that as a general guide. after you remove the screws, the pieces jsut snap together, so start with the speaker cover, then the keyboard, then the case. Some of the inside parts are labled 1 2 3 to show you the order. If memory serves me correctly, the board is a quanta 3606.

yes the cpu and the northbridge use the same headsink, then the heatpipe goes to a second heatsink over the 3450. this all leads to the fan (wich had some bent fins on the heatsink there. i'm pretty sure they came that way seeing this laptop is only a few days old)

Don't bash the case managers too much. They know even less than the tech support about the technical specs, but if you sweet talk them, they are the ones that can pull anything and often send me the parts to do repairs myself so i don't have to send it out.

What we need now is pics of someone's board that only got the 3200 so we can compare. BTW, if anyone can confirm that the backup this thing made of my bios won't change your serial numbers, i'll post my F.11 bios so you folks can upgrade.

 

The difference with AMD's HD3200 and some previous IGPs is that it is actually part of the 780G northbridge chip, not some other soldered on piece of silicon on the motherboard. You cannot remove it physically from the chipset. So there is no question that everyone has the HD3200 and that it is connected, but somehow they disabled it in software.

Do the boards use the same bios? the ones with HD3450 use same one as those with only the IGP?

 

I would assume so. HPs website lists only 1 bios (F.08) which is dated 2 weeks earleir than mine (i almost overwrote it).

 

What do you mean? "IGP" is clearly visible in picture 4 when at full size.

 

Just wanted everyone to know that you guys should install the AMD dual core optimizer 1.1.4 drivers from here http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_14098,00.html
They really made the system more snappy.

Also install the usb filter drivers from HP's website, they really made all my usb devices run quicker. My fringerprint reader, in particular, recognizes my scans faster than before.

Keep in mind that ive had my dv5z for about 3 weeks now, so if you purchased yours recently the usb driver may already be up to date.

Updating all the drivers really made the system run much quicker, making me even more pleased with my purchase.

hope this helps

 

Yeah, but the post you're quoting was in reference to whether the heat pipe covered the GPU and CPU. I probably should've quoted that post but I figured it wasn't necessary since I was responding directly to the post before mine.

 

For what it's worth, I received ACPI snapshots from HD3200 and HD3450 variants, and while they had different ID strings, the rest of their info was identical.

I was also looking at the AMD 690 chipset register reference guide, to try to get some hints about how the 780 works (since there are no public documents on the 780 chipset family yet). One thing I read which worries me is that in addition to software configuration bits to enable/disable the IGP, there is also an "e-fuse" which can disable it. If the same is true on the 780 family, and HP has blown that fuse in their boards, then there may be no way to enable the IGP in software.

I also tried setting all the relevant bits in the PCI config registers to enable the IGP, but saw no effect. (Which could mean a number of things, e.g., the register layout for the 780 may be very different from the 690, so the bits I set were completely wrong... etc...)

 

That's some good stuff. A bit outa my leage for knowing what to do. Where did you find this information from? could help for some extra sets of eyes to pour over it. The service manual was just published and there is a lot of technical data in there at the end, perhaps it can help.
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01550108.pdf

*edit* actualy, the dv4z has a lot more info on irq ports and stuff and it seems to be a very similar board.

 

Oh man, I'm so sorry. I feel stupid now.

 

Ok so i was reading over that parts list and i think i've figured it out. Those with the 3450 have an M770 northbridge, and those with a 3200 have a M780G northbridge. So i guess they are different. now the question is does the m770 have a seperate IGP so that there is a remote possibility of crossfire.