*HP dv6t & dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) Owners Lounge*

If you converse with them via on-line chat, at the conclusion, they e-mail you a transcript.

 

i have the same question, why is blu-ray more susceptible to the faulty ports?

how about the theory that if only 0 1 ports are being used HP uses the B2 chips but if others are required maybe they used the B3? i dono im ignorant of these things but any info would be great...

 

The ODD could be on an affected port, but the port being under powered as the ODD would not need full power to run and under powering it would stop the problem.

 

so if im understanding correctly, the fact that i and many others who ordered a blu-ray are then needing two ODD ports, which would need to draw more power? and thats where the problems coming from?

 

From what Ive read the ODD/blu ray could be put on an affected port as long as HP under powers the port a little so it does not degrade over time.

 

The problem is the design pushes too much voltage through some transistors associated with ports 2+. It will wear them out, maybe.... in terms of probability. They can throttle down the voltage at the expense of performance (is my understanding).

Really, I have no huge concerns over this. I figure I need 3 years out of it, and from there, I'll be looking at an i-10 processor in 2014 or so.

 

Hmm, I' don't feel like returning mine when I get it. I don't have blu-ray on my Dv6 and I hardly ever, ever use my ODD. So I feel that everything will be just fine even if the ODD is on an 'affect' under-powered port. The HDD is much more important and a usb 3 external HD can always be used for more storage.

 

and by affected port you mean like "good" or "normal" right, or affected as in "affected by the problem"... thanks for you help by the way and im sorry im not educated as others in this subject.

 

Well that explains that then, the dv6's can all legitimately use the old chips as they will only ever have a maximum of 2 SATA devices. That might explain why they are expanding the 30% off on the dv6 another month while the dv7 discount seems to end tomorrow.

 

By affected I mean affected by the problem, but tbh you will never be able to tell if they underpower/undervolt the port. The port would affect a HDD/SSD but no opticle drive uses the full power of the port so there would be no change in performance.
And your welcome .

 

I think you guys might find this thread regarding Dell and the rev b2/b3 issue relevant.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/560916-dell-send-me-chipset-rev-b2-3.html


Note that there is mention and proof that
1. The BIOS can override the stepping reported to the OS (wmi) and cpuz/hwinfo. This is done for backwards compatibility so that drivers bind correctly with new hardware.

2. A bios update can fix the way it is reported

3. The proper way to check for this issue as described by Anandtech and softpedia is to look for rev5 in the wmid string.

How to Find Out If Your Sandy Bridge Motherboard Is Affected by Intel's SATA Bug - Softpedia

With the pressure HP engineers are under I'm sure they shipped the things out with a compatibility string to avoid re-engineering drivers at the last minute. Fwiw, MacBook reports "5" instead of B2 OR B3 in cpuz

I really dont think there's anything to see here. I'll let you know in MID-APRIL!! when I get mine

 

I agree. But I'm hoping to keep this one for 4 to 5 years and I believe the HDD and ODD will still work just fine when I feel like upgrading in 5 years.

 

okay thats exactly the answer i was looking for! thanks again.. as long as i can use the bluray and the other ODD, and my HDD and they wont effect performance, i see no real problem if they ship me the b2 chipset, but of course im hoping for the b3.

 

I never underestimated it... Check my posts.

 

I think this is you! HAHAH, of course its you... LOL, nice vid.

YouTube - HP Sandybridge dv6 & dv7 Mess


KJ

 

i want to see an unboxing video

 

So far it looks like a decent power saver. I fired up World in Conflict, set the power plan to High Performance, turned on the 6770M and ran the benchmark with Vsync off. The power consumption hovered around 55 watts 90% of the time seen some drops to 25 watts and seen as high as 61 watts. The screen from min to max brightness consumes 4-5 watts. Integrated graphics saves about 5-6 watts during idle. The 6770M was overclocked as well, to 800/900 where it appears very stable. Temperature of the GPU so far has not exceeded 71 celsius in a room where the ambient temperature was 21 celsius. However, I have not had super long gaming sessions. Good news is that under a realistic load, I can't see this laptop pulling more than 90 watts (heavy encoding + playing a game at the same time) and generally will pull less than 65 watts for a typical gaming session. That is good since the adapter supplies 120 watts.

Summary

0-100 brightness = 4-5 watts
Intel HD - 6770M = 5-6 watts (idle)

Idle power consumption with 0 brightness, wifi on and Intel Integrated HDD = 7-8 watts total.

The umber color is very difficult to even tell that it is umber. It looks nearly black... Has to be the right light to even seen the brownish tint. Looks nice.
Keyboard sucks. Massive spring to it on the left hand side. A far cry from my DV5T... That KB was a beauty and this one really is a stinker. But, I am not all that picky.... As long as it works. The click on the mouse pad is really loud. Sounds cheap. But, I almost always use an exernal mouse, so that is not a huge deal. Viewing Angles are 'Meh' average I would say. Screen looks pretty decent over all. They brag about Beats audio, but so far this thing sounds hollow... It really needs some deeper bass. Be interesting to see if some options will be able to make it sound better. Not a huge deal to me, as my laptop is primary used for travel, not for everyday use.


Bloatware sucks. Had to spent the first 30 minutes getting rid of 90% of it... I still have 10% left, but that is the most time consuming part. Uhm... Yeah, that is about all I have for impressions right now. The build quality is definitely a step down from the DV5T of 2008. At least everything except the outer shell, which this laptop appears to be superior. The downside to a metal cover is that it can dent, easily... I don't typically drop things, but I could see these things denting whereas the plastic on the DV5T of 2008 would not. Hinges appear strong. Laptop is heavy and difficult to carry it one hand. I should rephrase, it isn't that heavy, but it is awkward to carry and hold with one hand. Be careful, it might slip out and drop. The 640GB 7200 RPM is speedy enough with 6GB of ram and superfetch. So, although I was initially planning on an SSD upgrade, like my desktops, I find I am satisifed with this hard drive performance.

 

Sorry I forgot, did you get the dv6t or dv7t?

Thanks for the review / thoughts!

 

DV6T - need to make 10 characters before I can post...

 

@Archangel777 Good stuff on the info. Can't wait until I get mine.

 

I ordered on the 13th with an est shipping date of 3/25... Talked to them through chat and my build date has been delayed to 4/5... oohhh welll, i won't be home until 3rd week of april anyways to pick it up

 

You didn't mention the CPU temps. I'm assuming 85+ under load?

 

First time post here, thanks all for the threads. I love reading others thoughts about something I spent serious borrowed time researching before pulling the trigger.

Lucky, THANK YOU for the pics. The cam looks nice, and numeric keypad on a 15" = YESSSSSS!

I've been test driving a DV7 for a little bit and the 17" was just too big to have around for me. But I love, love, love easy pass with all the web accounts I monitor. So this dark color machine is very welcome, and much more professional in front of people than the lighter colored tatooed aluminum. That fingerprint reader eliminated every other machine for me once I was accustomed to using it.

I hope that SB is what it is cracked up to be, video editing with the on-board and 3D design with the discrete. All I need now are some large screens for the office and I'm off.

Here's my build:

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC

* • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* • 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
* • 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
* • 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* • 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* • No Additional Office Software
* • FREE Upgrade to Norton Internet Security(TM) 2011 - 15 Month Subscription (activation required)
* • 50% OFF!! One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
* • 15.6" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)
* • SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
* • HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
* • Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
* • Standard Keyboard
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Yes it can run crysis 2 at gamer settings (in full version they called them 'high' lol) @ native res (13**x7** can't remember it correctly) smootly. And for 99% on advanced(very high in full ver.) near 30fps.
It's not a test. It is approximated by me basing on macbook pro with 6750 benchmarks/videos.

@ ArchAngel - is it silent when @ idle? (because you wrote only about stress)
Is palmrest getting warm while @ idle, @stess?

--
tj

 

A few questions have been asked that I can't really answer yet. When the fan is not spinning the machine is quiet. The problem is that the fan is cycling on and off depending on the task (not including gaming)... Since I have not really ran on Intel Integrated much (for a few mins) I honestly have no idea if the fan would stay off or not, but I tend to think it would. SB is extremely energy effecient.

As for CPU temps, I have never much cared because a CPU can take so much stress without failing and as such has never, ever been a concern of mine. However, I will try and get you some CPU temps under load later.

The left vent fan works pretty well. But if they could have engineered a slightly larger fan to fit, that would have been more ideal. I am not sure what they expect from one of those 40mm fans.

Palm rest? Again, I have not used it enough to give an answer. Is it warmer than, say the right side? Yes, slightly. But without prolonged use of the laptop, it wouldn't be honest to say yes or no at this stage.

 

Sexy, cooler, better battery life, fast, lighter Pavilion DV7tqe

vs.

Ugly patterns-clickpad-wobbly-dented-xtremely hot-heavier-not-that-fast-poor battery life-expensive-delayed Envy 17 3D

.......FIGHT !!!!!!!!

 

Just got mine, ordered on 3/15/11, dv6tqe, came with the FAULTY B2 chipset. Unreal. Back in the box and immediate refund to be demanded.

 

I think they bumped the instant rebates to $250 for the dv7tqe. But the 30% coupon is also still valid, for how long is anyone's guess

 

All these people receiving their dv6's, and no one has received their dv7 yet ? Cmon..there's gotta be someone out there..

 

Im thinking they got the DV6 with B2's out fast and maybe delayed on DV7 with B3's?!

 

Did you check the chipset with CPUid? Apparently that's not a reliable method...
What happens if you try this:

How to Find Out If Your Sandy Bridge Motherboard Is Affected by Intel's SATA Bug - Softpedia

 

If it say rev 9 it's ok it may still say b2 cuz what HP said and intel said that it still does not know it's b3 they will update that and if it does not say 6/c200 family it's good so if mine does not says 6/c200 and rev4 when I get it I'm keeping cuz it's good.if it says H35 I think and Rev9 it mean's it has B3.I don't think HP would be so stupid to put B2 on this new laptops.I hope not.

 

Over the last weekend, I got an e-mail from HP about the chipset issue. They provided this link:

Intel® Chipset Design Issue May Affect Certain HP Desktop and Notebook PCs - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Tha page indicates which serial # ranges are involved.

 

It is 6 series/C200, checking the device id is ...&REV_B4 in device manager. CPU-z (on the "Mainboard" tab) says Rev. 09 B2. I don't need any more proof. This affects the resale value tremendously (who will want to buy one with the faulty chipset) as well as the upgrade-ability in the future. I really find it hard to believe that HP is shipping these chips, thinking that the fix is just to not use the affected SATA ports. You still get a faulty chipset that is prone to failure on any/all ports imo. Got my RMA number and shipping label already. Off to Newegg.

The customer service reps tried to convince me that they wouldn't be shipping these, that my chipset was fine (or operable), i told them I'm looking at the chipset information right here! They must be presuming that most people won't check!

Again I ordered this on the 15th of March with a build date of 3/29, new style outside, same faulty chipset inside.

 

This makes me feel a little better:

3.
Q. When will/did HP begin shipping products that do not have the Intel chipset issue?
A. March 2011.

 

According to softpedia site:
"If this reads “REV_04” as in the provided example, then your motherboard is based on the B2 revision of the Cougar Point chipset and is affected by the SATA 3Gbps bug, otherwise you are in the clear."

So if yours says "REV_B4" then that's clearly != "REV_04" and thus it's NOT the B2 revision?? (I have no clue, I'm just telling you what it says.)

CPUz according to some may not return the correct info.

 

I get mine at 5 today ;-)

 

It says REV_04 in that method, and it is the affected chipset, there is no doubt about it - at all, zero doubt. I know where to look and everywhere i look it screams [B2] stepping revision 04. Unreal they say they aren't shipping them when indeed they are and did. So they got to sit on my grand for a little over a month at least.

 

Not to be negative, but that does not say when they discontinued shipping bad ones.

 

"IF" they are reducing the voltage to the affected ports ... the 3Gb/s ports ... which DOES reduce the bandwidth performance of THOSE ports to < 3 Gb/s .. but there are NO optical drives that use more than about 1.5 Gb/s as of this date. Being a laptop, you are making a moutain of a mole hill. I remember when the first Pentium came out with a floating point defect. People HAVE THE RIGHT to be concerned, but it is just wasted energy

 

It doesn't say when it was written, but check out question #2.
Either they are blatantly lying, or the stuff that's just rolling off the assembly line and shipping in the last week or so is not defective.

2. Q: Is HP still making products with the affected Intel chipset?
A: No. HP has stopped manufacturing products with the Intel technology at issue and has placed a shipment hold on products in HP and channel inventory.

 

Great ! Please let us know what chipset you got... the suspense is killing me and I'm debating returning mine

 

Brand new computer ordered 3/15/11 just received today with FAULTY CHIPSET, see attached. Unbelievable, this is not a fix (not using the affected ports). This nice looking computer with faulty chipset will be RETURNED IMMEDIATELY and I would AVOID HP at all costs is my opinion for trying to ship these.

Proof:

 

To be fair the only people who have reported which chipset version they have are dv6 owners, correct? The current dv6 model has (and only has room for) one hard drive and one optical drive. Ports 0 and 1 can be used for those and the affected port range 2-5 cannot under any circumstances even be used since there is no eSata port on the new dv6 models and there are no additional drive bays.

The only laptop model that could be affected by the older chipset would be the dv7 since it has room for 2 hard drives in addition to the optical drive. That being said wasn't there a delay in shipping out the dv7 models according to what I've seen on this forum? Most people had their dv7 ship date pushed back? I also am pretty sure I read on here someone who inquired about their dv7 ship date being pushed back was told that it was due to a part shortage.

Now this is purely speculation on my part but that would definitely seem to indicate that they are probably using the new chipset revision / or a different sata controller for the dv7 models. Which would explain why the dv6 shipped first as they were able to use the old chipsets since the new models have no need of ports in the affected range.

Has anyone yet received a dv7 specifically to verify what chipset revision it is using and if there is in fact not an additional SATA controller being used?

Also... easy test to verify which SATA ports are being used is to use the Intel Storage utility that comes pre-installed. It will show you what port each I/O device is connected to. My current dv6 shows port 0 for the hard drive, port 4 for optical, and 5 for eSata. My new dv6-6000 was delivered today and when I get home from work I'll check and see which ports are currently being used.

For comparison purposes as well I can post a benchmark comparison between my identical configured dv6-4000 and dv6-6000 for any who are interested.

 

This is a huge letdown. :-(

 

This all makes perfect sense...now if we can just confirm this as soon as someone gets their dv7

 

Using this tool my new dv6tqe with the faulty chipset reports that the optical drive is connected to PORT 5, ?! Not only did they not fix it they didn't even plug the optical drive into the unaffected port, nice one HP.

 

The most sensible thing I've read all day. So why all the hate at HP?

 

because crippling the port used by the optical drive a bit (i.e., reducing bandwidth) makes absolutely NO DIFFERENCE. There is NO eSATA port on the 6000 model.

 

daf323

Thanks for doing the legwork on this. We're all a bit disappointed with this news. I ordered a dv7 with 2 hdds and I'm wondering if it will be the same result. I'm with you on returning the laptop if it comes out to be B2.