*HP dv6t Select Edition (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

we will all love this laptop when it is winter!

 

I found out the Turbo Boost works without having to manually install the driver after a clean Windows 7 install. I downloaded the Intel Gadget to monitor the turbo boost.

on a side note, i dont know why HP put all this useless software on their laptop. Google Chrome and Firefox kept on crashing. ironically, only IE worked.

 

The amount of useless software is amazing. Bloatware makes sense when they want money from all the promotions and advertising but sticking in-house useless software does nothing but frustrate the customer.

Please make useless in-house software an optional install, just stick actual easy to remove bloatware ala ebay.com icons and so on.

 

What's odd about the temperature is that now it keeps going down for me.

First day: Mid to high 60s
Second day morning: Mid to high 40s
Second day night: Upper 30s to low 40s.

That is all doing internet browsing with MSN and Skype running in the background.

 

I noticed this some what too hawc. First day I had it, it was running hot. Next few days, palm rest not so hot and system generally running cooler. Maybe the thermal material is curing? No clue. I remember just from browsing I'd hit 60's, but now i'm mid 40's.

 

Temps are definitely doing better. When I first got the laptop it idled at 40C while raised on a fanless notebook cooler. Now I'm just dumping it straight on top of my desk and it's idling at 30C. Watching some youtube and browsing jumps it up to 40C.

And now after idling/light browsing on my desk for 2+ hours, the wristpad is barely warm - about lukewarm.

 

Got my laptop a little over a week ago, fresh install of win7, everything is running great. Laptop looks amazing and like im sure many have said, the pictures don't do it justice.


Only real complaint is that the temps are little on the high side while gaming, things practically a space heater.


Min temps were temps at startup, max temps were the temps while i was playing sc2 beta, and the current temps are about a half hour after gaming just browsing, youtube, etc.

(high performance power setting, ati graphics enabled)

 

@Shifter: I thought the $400 coupon was working again.

 

It ended, then came back. No idea if the latest one has ended already or not.

 

Give it a week and see if the thermal paste has been run in which should give better temperatures.

 

My weird guess is that these notebooks are more like a new motorbike,first we have to ride it under a certain speed till its engine gets tuned.So my theory is to reduce the work load on the CPU and GPU for the first week.

 

Just a side note to the Canadians who are thinking about this computer: Shopping for a pre-configured one here in Canada can drive you crazy if you're the type that wants specific components or specs (like dedicated video memory or what chipset is in the computer). If you are the type that's picky on specs, HP US' customized setup may be the best way to buy yours. You really need to compare models closely if you buy a pre-configured model from a store.

In any case, I just bought what seems like a Canadian-ized version of the dv6t Select Edition from Costco (dv6-3073ca):

• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel Core i5-430M processor 2.26GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.53 GHz
• 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics
• 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
• No TouchScreen
• LightScribe SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Intel Wireless-N Card
• Full-size island-style keyboard with HP TrueVision Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
• 6-Cell 62WHr Lithium-Ion Battery
• And Costco's standard 2-year Concierge Warranty

I have yet to still play around with it. Way too many things going on this weekend. I have to admit it's stunning to look at, and a lot lighter than my dv8120ca. From my gut feeling, I think I understand now why you folks love this thing so much. There's a lot of bang-for-the-buck value in this model.

 

Ok so heres another pic, it explains it in the notepad.



Mini Review

Fans:
very nice I can't hear them when playing call of duty but if you do really stress your computer like movie encoding, and playing call of duty then you can hear them but its not overbearing or anything.

Design:
Very nice and sleek. I like the edge to edge glass with the touchscreen.
I sometimes wish there was a way to turn off the logo in the back of the screen for like extra battery if I really needed it.

Power:
Hah the i7-840qm can do anything. And with 8gb of ram and an SSD this thing is so fast I blink and I'm already resuming the game in cod. Installing takes seconds literally. Transfer of files is seamless.

Battery:
I have the low capacity battery or the standard battery and the battery life is about 3.5-4 hours on web browsing and watching hulu.

Will do a more in depth review later.
*Get the ssd and touchscreen its so worth it.

 

Can someone tell me the exact size of the display without the bezel please. I know it's 15.6" Diagonal, but I need to know the width & height. TIA!

 

Do you mean that you can't hear it over the sound of call of duty or just can't hear it while the game is running? Mine just goes raging whenever I play games in performance mode (2.66 ghz clock).

 

I believe I have figured out a way to lower the temps of the i5 core systems without doing much.
Basically the power plans by default don't let your computer under clock itself completely when your not doing anything. If you run the high performance power plan you will always be running at 100% of your clock speed.



In the picture you can see the minimum processor speed when plugged in is 100% so that means it will always be going at 100% of your clock not including turbo boost. So if your 2.4 + turbo boost to 2.66 you'll be running at 2.4 all the time and if turbo boost kicks in then thats a different thing.
So what you need to do is either modify this plan or any other you like. Or create a new one. And set the minimum processor state too 0%. What this will do is automatically under clock your pc. When your not doing anything it will be at it's lowest clock, when you are doing something it will go up to the maximum processor state which is usually 100% unless you set it at something else.

Hope this helps. Ask any questions if you're having trouble. And please report if this lowers your temps.
And to handa the noise can be heard if your in a dead silent room, its a very slight whirring sound. But in my house you can't hear it unless you listen for it. And I don't mean if you have music on.

 

And then it ended again =\

 

How are you getting this to work? Every time I download and install it, it tells me "this may not have installed correctly".

 

Just ignore that and select "This program installed correctly". You may or may not have to restart your computer. What you do next is:

1. Go to the system tray in the bottom-right of the screen (you may have to press the little arrow) and select Synaptics Pointing Device

2. Go to device settings

3. Select the touchpad and click settings

4. Expand "Scrolling" and select "One-finger scrolling". And then click "Enable Verticle Scrolling". Also enable anything else you would like.

 

Hoping to order this computer this weekend. How long is it usually between the order date and arrival date?

Also, for anyone who has an i5 and a standard or high capacity 6 cell battery, whats the average battery life you can get when on the intel graphics and just browsing/ typing things up?

 

Looks like I might be getting my HP dv6t on Monday.

Would it be possible for you guys who've done clean installs of Windows 7 to post the list of drivers you installed so I don't miss anything? I got the Fingerprint Reader option which I read the drivers are tricky, that's why I'm asking and don't want to miss anything. I got the HP Driver support page for the computer, but there's a bunch there and I wasn't sure if I needed every single one.

If you guys could also post a link to creating (or describe the process) the Recovery discs that'd be great as well. Thanks for the help.

 

Thanks for the reply hawc.

Now can someone tell me how to stop windows 7 from bugging me every freaking time I double-click on a program? Jeez louise. Every time I start up CPUID Hardware monitor, for instance, it asks if I want to allow it to make changes. Well obviously that program makes no changes, so I don't know what the hell Windows is on about. Yes I'm a Win7 newb. Is it just because the program insists on running with admin privileges?

 

Don't know about the answer to the second question, but as to the other, I ordered on July 2nd and it got here to Portland OR, USA on the 15th, so under two weeks. Of course I didn't have the customs delay from hell that others had.

 

the thing is, i've already had the notebook for more than a week, which should have been more than enough time for the thermal paste to run in and improve temps.

I made a custom power plan (basically a mix of high performace when plugged in and power saver when on battery, expect i enabled minimum cpu to 0% on both), so I'll see how that works out and post updated temps later.

 

Control Panel > User Accounts > Change User Account Control settings > Never Notify (bottom).

My fan starts to spin like hell when it reaches 65-70*C. If I have the processor state setting to allow 100% clock it will reach around 75-80 (probably around 70*C later when it gets cooler in my room (read winter)) and by then the fan is like a plane. But changing the processor state to around 90% maximum made it go to around 70*C while running BC2 and that made the fan noise pretty okay, still not even close to what you are describing.

Anyone else with a i5-450M that can comment on the fan noise while running it at 2.66 ghz speed and playing BC2 for example so I know if it's my fan or if it's suppose to be like this.

 

does the touch screen make the notebook thicker? if so, do you know by how much thicker? what is the thickness of the monitor with the touch screen feature?

 

That hardware monitoring app shows core 0 consistently at a lower temp than core 1 by a few degrees C. Is that pretty normal? Mine's a Core i5 450M btw.

 

My Core #0 is always 5-10 degrees warmer than Core #1, could you comment on the quote below.

 

Handa, I haven't had a chance to run anything as intense as Bad Company 2 (nor do I own it). The most intensive 3D game I've run so far has been Mount and Blade Warband. I'll see about moving something more recent onto the laptop using my USB drive.

 

Just switched over to 0% minimum CPU usage, so I'm hoping that it'll cool things down a bit during web browsing and other things that don't need 100% usage.

I'm curious though at how long does it take for 100% to kick back in? Am I going to see any studder in games or otherwise when the system is like oh crap I gotta use more CPU power!

 

You won't see any stutter at all. It's a negative feedback system. Where once it gets over the limit it will reduce it. So basically the processor is free to speed up on command with no lag or stutter.

 

The minimum processor speed is 50%, so changing it from 5 to 0 won't do anything
But lowering it from 100% definitely helps.

 

I have a 450m and I have no idea why, but my fan likes to spin up and spin down lol.

Random start up video I made with my ssd. Touch screen on my phone is kind of wonky at times.
YouTube - Dv6t-se start up.

 

I'm also wondering this..

 

Try this link
The HP Laptop Out-Of-The-Box-Guide Windows 7 Edition

Please do Step 1 completely, there are some things that are missing on both the HP Driver website and here at the NBR HP Driver site.

[Drivers] HP dv6 Gen 3 / dv7 Gen 4 / Select Edition / ENVY 17 (INTEL)

You get a faster response there then within this thread.

 

Got bored today and decided to replace the factory TIM with as5. See how that goes.

 

mine already stayed in china for 3 days... shipment exception, i wonder what happened. Estimated arrival on 22nd but i doubt it. Can anyone post a tutorial on how to apply new thermal paste? thanks!

 

I used the service manual from hp's site. Pretty easy stuff except I forgot to connect the speakers lol.

So, here are some temp / benches.
Intel burn Test + firefox / youtube if that matters.


After 5 back to back Furmark benches + 1 stability test.


After 3dmark06 with high performance power plan.


I guess the AS5 helped a little bit? Will have to check on bfbc2 after I get my speakers connected again lol.

 

hmm nice. I think AS5 needs a bit time to settle in. But it definitely helps according to your tests. Did you only apply to the CPU? Is it better to apply to both the CPU and GPU?

 

I did it to both cpu and gpu because both heat pipes connect to the fan so you have to remove both. Also, those tests were probably 10 minutes after applying the TIM. Hope time makes it better ha ha.

 

ok thanks! I will probably apply it after I test it out for a few days and make sure there are no malfunctioning parts.

 

Nice. Were there any pesky warranty void if removed stickers in your way? With results like yours I'm thinking I might want to take the time as well but I don't want my warranty voided.

 

No warranty void stickers, but there were a couple hp part replacement number stickers. A couple meaning 1-2 lol.

Also, I guess this isn't a real world test, but I tried it out anyways.
Furmark + Intel Burn Test


As soon as I closed the programs, laptop returned to mid 40's temps in less than half a minute.

 

nsx do u think heat sink fan can be removed by disassembling the big back cover only ??? or it must be a total disassemble anyway ???

 

Gotta be total disassembly. It's not hard or time consuming at all.

Also, some more fun pictures. This is the factory stuff. I saw a picture in the ASUS section showing gaps in their TIM, so I got really curious and opened mine up.



Palm rest is barely warm now too. Kinda cool. Will have to check through BFBC2 to be sure though.

 

did you have to disassemble the keyboard and display also? and did you use an "antistatic wrist strap"? if so how do you connect it to the ground? im new to this and appreciate all the help! thanks

 

Nsxrrmaniac can you post instructions with pics if possible to how nd where you applied ac5? I guess you removed TIM thermal paste with acholol wipe?

 

hmm, if it requires the complete disassembly as on the HP website, I don't think I will do it right away, since this comp is for school use and the procedures look a little complicated for me... I think buying a cooling pad is a better method for now.

 

Could anyone with an i5 and a 6cell battery comment on how much battery life they get when they are on intel graphics and just web browsing?

 

5-6 hours but I did not test it fully because I felt like gaming. More than 4 hours is enough for me.