*HP dv6z AMD Llano (6XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I had a TL-58 (1.8 Ghz x2 Turion) and it wouldn't let me overclock, only undervolt and underclock... which is not too bad but not as much freedom as with this laptop.

 

Talk about the way back machine. I've since loaned out my old TL58 Acer 5517 to my neighbors since it's not much use to me anymore. Still going strong.

 

I've only had frozen screen problems with Fallout 3, in some indoor areas of the Point Lookout storyline...Ctrl-Alt-Del and Task Manager still worked so it seems to be only a game engine problem. Well, Crysis had bad memory leaks on the carrier boss fight too....no desktop freezes or unexpected sleep/hard freeze.

hypertek: You could also use the HDMi digital surround audio output. Just a checkbox in Beats, but it would probably switch automatically. I guess it depends it your speaker setup has HDMi audio input.

 

So, my laptop dgpu died and prevented my laptop from starting up. I sent it in to HP and it arrived last Friday morning. I got an email Saturday night saying it was repaired and was being shipped out. I thought great, they either didn't fix it or they just re-installed OS and mailed back. The computer got here on Wednesday and I was expecting the worst. I opened the box and grabbed the paperwork. To my surprise, they had replaced the motherboard, heat sink, and both ram modules. That is the craziest turnaround on an rma that i have ever seen. With the new motherboard comes a new cpu though, so I get to spend another 6 hours tuning. No matter I guess, I've done 2 p-states so far and it takes a lot less juice than the old one. After the few horror stories I've read, I'm just glad this situation was resolved quickly and correctly.

 

Dreamonic:
The Ultimate Sleeper – Saab 99 Quattro Turbo
VIDEO: 700-HP Saab 99 Quattro Turbo is like missing Koenigsegg ancestor
They took apart a '69 Saab and rebuilt its "B" motor, then mated it to a replacement AWD (Audi Quattro 80 I believe). Wonder how much you need to reinforce an 85hp car's frame when the stock engine has been modded to 700hp...

Their blocks have always been crazy, from classic two-stroke through their work on Ecopower/Biopower under GM. There's also this:
"1986 On 7 October, three Saab 9000 Turbo 16s, in guaranteed standard condition, get off the mark on the world's fastest race-track, the Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, U.S.A. 31 drivers take turns at the controls of the three cars, with stops only for refuelling and service. In nearly twenty days of uninterrupted driving they break two world records and 21 international speed records. The fastest car covers 100,000 km at a mean speed of 213 '299 kph, the other two average around 210 and 208 kph.


1996 Ten years later Saab returns to Talladega, this time with six Saab 900s, absolutely standard cars, powered by different engines: a 2-litre turbo, a 2.5-litre V6 and a 2-litre injection engine. They clock up 40 new international speed records. The fastest car, a 900 Turbo, turns in an average speed of 226.450 kph."

If I had the bucks, I would scrape for parts to build up a Saab power classic. Some of the Trollspeed-modded cars from the '80s are still on the road, including a modded 600hp daily driver that's made over 300,000km!

 

Glad to hear it!

 

Did you get a 7690m? or your old come with 7690m?

I send mine in once and they only replaced HDD, I feel so sad ~~
I thought i can get a 7690m or a better CPU

I must admit their repair is pretty quick, I didnt call them.
Just 2 email and they ship me the box

 

All the hardware was the same, a8-3500m cpu and 6750m gpu.

 

Wow, that's...really good service! I'm so used to horror stories (for any company) LOL

 

Overall HP seems to be really supporting the hardware pretty well, and it's put severe pressure on the Intel laptops. Just found out there was a $450 coupon for 't' series recently, but it already expired a couple days ago...on the other hand HP has backed off the 'z' series coupons, almost completely in fact.

EVERYONE: Look at Dreamonic's updated sig!!

Man how are you holding up? I just had a close call with my father's health recently...but that is....wow. Hoping there's good people nearby to help you through this....take care of yourself.

 

I don't even know what to say. Definitely hope you have close friends and/or family nearby to help you deal with this. How horrific. My thoughts and prayers go out to you...

 

Dreamonic, my thoughts also go with you, if anything... we're here.

 

Dreamonic, I'm not a regular, but my heart goes out to you and your family.

 

I saw that earlier, I was going to reply but really didn't know what to write, Dreamonic I am sorry to hear about your lose. And we where just talking about cars too =(

 

I'm so sorry Dreamonic. I will pray for you and your family. May God be with you during this hard time.

 

Thank you everyone for your condolences. I really appreciate it all.



I'm still in disbelief about it... I miss them all so much....




Take care modders.

 

I hear you. It's surreal. I've lost my wife a and a good friend's wife with her unborn child in a similar fashion. It never seems real at first. It just seems like it never happened. Eventually you feel like life should stop, but everyone else's keeps on moving. Take care, and don't be afraid to talk to a close friend/family member about it even counselor over time. I don't know what else to say. The road isn't easy. Just mourn how you mourn and deal with it as you see fit. You really are in my thoughts and prayers. I wouldn't wish that on anyone...

 

dreamonic, I really dont know what to say, but here is my thought. hope you get what I mean as I am not a native speaker.

Be strong and positive, keep them in your heart as life must goes on. They would not hope to have you suffer.

 

You guys are quite strong just for sharing your experiences here and still going on. My full respects to everyone who has felt a similar situation. Godspeed.

 

Dreamonic,

I lost my daughter a few years ago.

The best thing I can give is just to let you know that you're entitled to feel any way you feel. Don't pressure yourself, and don't listen to others' stupid advice. They can't possibly know what you're going through. It's different for us all.

Absolute best wishes from me.

 

Well, having played with the saab turbo 4banger myself, I can offer one piece of advice...make sure you find and fit the electric oil pump and delay switch on the turbo. You need to continue to pump fresh oil thru that thing for at least 5 or 6 minutes after you shut the engine down, or the bearings superheat and fry....trust me LOL

While mine was relatively mild by comparison, (around 275-300 hp at the wheel depending on ambient air quality and humidity) I used to go out 'hunting' for BMW's and stock porsche's ' to administer a few "HOLY CHIT!!!" WHAT WAS THAT!!!!" smack downs in the hills around Los Angeles It was an amazingly fun little car to drive.

seer

Dream..just saw the rest of the posts following yours. Unfortunately, your experience is not unique, seems to happen all too frequently. I lost my first wife (the love of my life), and unborn son to a drunk driver as she was returning home with my birthday present, many many many years ago. I was blessed for having even the little time we shared together. Hold onto your memories, but live your life 'forward'. Seek out and find new "memories", for in the end, memory of those who you care for, and those who cared for you, are all you have, all that you will take with you from this world, and all that is worth having. I wish u well.

seer

 

Is it just me or does the system/palm rest get alot hotter from being fixed?

 

That should be the case since you're using the 6750m GDDR5 modules, just below the left palmrest.

 

I thought the hard drive was beneath the palm rest. Its temperature can rise by 20C under sustained use. I thought the video ram was near the GPU under the keyboard...?

EDIT
Got the two mixed up! The GPU is on low-left. There are two RAM chips under keyboard behind the HDMi and Ethernet sockets. (edge of that little vent) Two more RAM chips are just beneath the keyboard behind the USB 3.0 ports. At the upper edge of the palm deck on the left. Those lower chips do not receive much airflow, and none of the chips have a heatpipe. If you combine fixed mode with disabled ULPS everything on that corner should be running full speed all the time. But the BIOS overclock should mean that you CAN run with ULPS enabled...? And the HDD is more under the touchpad.

I also am thinking again about a prior observation: Instead of cutting holes and sitting the laptop on a frame which pushes air upward into it, what about an evacuation cooling system? Set a cheap vacuum cleaner in the next room and poke a hose through the wall. Fasten it to an open wood or plastic box, and have it suck large volumes of air in through the whole laptop and out through the pair of heatsinks. This would provide additional cooling without any modification to the laptop's outer appearance. (because I'd prefer not to frighten the customers I meet with)

 

So is fixed still buggy for others or working perfectly??
When i play a game of badcompany2 or saintsrow3, after exiting the game, when it is suppose to swap to desktop. still black screen, then i hit sleep and wake up and it freezes..

 

I got wake up and freeze problem today, but I found out it is cause by disabling CnQ. Now,it seem alright after reset bios setting to default then messing with the options again.

I haven't game after getting to fixed though.

CCC switching from dGPU to iGPU(vice versa) may fail and require a reboot.

 

It helps to know there is a lot of people here and out there that have gone through something as hard as this. It's not something you think about a lot until it happens to you. I am deeply moved by your abilities to go though such tragic stories of your own and rehashing memories to help me cope with mine.

Thank-you.



@calc_yolatuh

The problem doesn't lie with evacuating the heat out quicker, it has to do with the current heatpipes size, length and fan speed thermal set outputs (but only noticeable when you overclock.)

I would find a vacuum cleaner more frightening than a modified bottom end of a laptop. You can make it look really good and function better if you have the patience to do it right. You also have to remember that vacuum's drawing large amount of air into a tinier space, creates a lot of heat. So extended use of it running will destroy it if not cause a fire.

I find because most of our chips can really only reach a little over 3Ghz stable with some of the limited voltages some are locked with, a heavy modification in cooling wouldn't really be required. There are just SOME things that need addressing if you want to make it run at 3Ghz with adequate cooling. Remember, notebook coolers aren't just meant for gamers, it's meant for laptops that are running for long periods of time. In my case without a cooler my HDD gets as high as 50°C, but with one it never reaches over 35°C. So airflow is important, but so is portability and the supporting mods. Honestly the best way to reduce temps in this laptop is to re-design the heat pipe and construct one with actual hollow pipes that are filled with fluid and that are sealed on both ends, coupled with a faster spinning fan which will sound like a jet taking off - you gotta compromise somewhere down the middle. And now because of the Camolil's bios, CnQ and thermal off, good airflow is all you need with this system now. If we didn't have those options before, keeping the temps down before thermal throttling happened would be a priority. With 2.8Ghz at 1.25v or 1.18v (depending on model) you can keep them below 77°C all the time.

Maybe you wish to not take this thing apart. In that case, turn the heat off in the room your laptop is used in. But I think bundling inside for laptop use is stretching a bit too far past looney bin.

@hypertek

Fixed mode doesn't run hotter for me or lock up for me at all. And it's been running max clocks for over 4 days now.
What I have noticed is if you update the processor driver under device manager with the generic one to all 4, it seems to hold clocks better. Original ones were AMD processor. This also has something to do with CnQ and BIOS configurations.


How is every ones system setup? Running any modified shells under Win7 X64 Ultimate? Have you disabled enhancements under Win7 sound properties? I find audiodg uses 15-20% (additional) with any sound enhancements on, during any audio use.

I've spent years finding the best tweaks and customized options that even with Rainmeter, bblean, AIDA64, ESET, Razer and Adobe start ups, I get 1% fluc. every now and then during idle or medium use, and I have a heavily modified desktop running a lot of background services all the time. How is everyone's here?

 

So the thought is that turning off CnQ is the culprit for the lockups? So far it's been stable for me now (knock on wood). If I get lockups again though, I'll set the AMD CPU driver to the generic ones as suggested by dreamonic.

 

It was just a thought for at home. I do grasp that the vacuum would need adequate intake, that was one of the concerns. I don't need that last couple hundred MHz, just have time and tools so.....

 

I wasn't trying to attack your idea, apologies if that's how it came across.

I think even using a way to get cooler air blown into it using some water in a small tub and a cooling fan on a board above it would help a lot, but the duration of efficiency would be short.


Have you raised the laptop a few inches? I put new footings on mine, works pretty good.

 

Hey guys who have the Dv6z QE,

In the market for a laptop in the 800$ range.Had narrowed it down to the dv6t QE

On hindsight,I was reading about the new processor units announced by AMD and this config for the dv6z edition

Quote:
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
AMD Quad-Core A8-3550MX Accelerated Processor (2.7GHz/2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
FREE UPGRADE to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
FREE UPGRADE to 640GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
No additional security software
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
15.6" Full HD HP Anti-glare LED (1920 x 1080)
Ordinary DVD Drive.

with a 50$ coupon comes to around 800$ !

Will the gaming performance be affected(as its the most resource intensive activity I ll be doing) ? I know gaming on a laptop is a flawed concept.Just a casual gamer though.the current gen games in med-high settings would be nice Smile

Or,is the latest i7 available the way to go(I have to let go of the FHD screen though) ??

Specs:
Quote:

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz
2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
No additional security software
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
15.6" High Definition HP LED Brightview (1366x768)
FREE UPGRADE to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner

Price after coupon: 825$

Any suggestions ?

I know I am kinda barging in here but I am kinda desperate as the coupons may run out anytime soon

Also,I would like to know
the performance of the Dv6z system WITHOUT any sorta overclocking done on it ?! As in without OC would it be comparable to an i5 or something ?

Also,will the FHD screen be affected by the processor at all ?

Thanx in advance

 

I like the power of i7's. They are a powerhouse of a processor.

Desktop replacement choice, this would be it for that price.

As for the 3550mx, it won't be much faster than what a 3530mx was. Plus a high overclock would meet an i5, but not stock - stock would be lower of i3. Being as they have both have the same dGPU's... the i7 won't be the bottleneck like our AMD chips are. You'd probably gain additional 10-15fps more than us because of that CPU.

 

Raw processor power is less than i7, but battery life is better and AMD picture quality is better than Intel graphics (DXVA is more accurate). The 1080p screen has better viewing angles and a wider color range, so your videos and games will definitely look better on the AMD side. In fairness there has been pressure against Intel, a recent coupon would have taken off $450(!!) but it expired last week. 7690M doesn't seem to be fast enough to benefit from the 2nd GB of video RAM in most games.

I am happy with my stock 6-cell battery but upgrading is very cheap when ordering, and the benefit is large.

 

I would edit but that doesn't work in my phone browser.

The 6GB has been fine for me, but 8GB kits can be found as cheap as $20-30 if you catch a sale or rebate.

As HT and others said before, 1080p works in some games and upscaling from 720p to 1080p looks better than antialiased native 1366x768 (with less load on the GPU). I had a chance to try that with external screen recently. But my refurb cost $550 including 6750M and bluray so that balances out.

So yeah, if you find a good coupon the Intel choice becomes compelling. But if you can't wait and games are bigger than heavy computing, AMD all the way. Integrated graphics aren't an embarrassment and battery will last long enough to use them, gaming on dedicated graphics will be basically the same but you will have the nicer screen.

 

Indeed,unanimous opinions as far as that goes.

A 24+ inch monitor in the immediate future?Not very certain.i might be lugging around my laptop for awhile(Work related)

Yes.i7+Intel HD 3000 vs Quad Core A8+6620g + 7690m(rebranded 6770m ofc)

Thank you all for the suggestions.Just a few thoughts from my end.

1. I am NOT looking to OC the APU/GPU cosidering the fact that it's already an AMD A8 3550Mx and also any damage to the system would be quite bad(I am a noob as far as OC/tweaking is concerned) coz' replacements are quite hard to come by where I live.

2.I am NOT looking for a laptop which can give me ultra for all modern/recent games.Anything in the med-High range with 1366*768 resolution would do.(35+ fps would be good I guess ? )

3.Will the FHD screen make much of a difference if downscaled to handle these games(Skyrim,Arkham City,Metro 2033,Crysis 2) or will these games not be playable on the system WITHOUT OC.

4.I watch a lot of movies but almost 90% of it is in the 720p range or lesser resolution.Would a 1080p screen be appropriate or just an over kill ?

5.Simply put, i7+720p screen or AMD A8 3550m+1080p screen.What would you choose ?

 

There are several usb plug evacuation air suckers that you can buy for ten bux or so that hook onto the exhaust grill for the laptop system fan. As they come from the mfg, they aren't too effective, the reason being they get a lousy seal against the grill. However, it is trivial to cut up a piece of neoprene so as to make a form fitting gasket which improves the efficiency a great deal. The best one I have is called the "Rhino".

seer

 

IMHO,

A laptop that supports 1080p screen is great. Especially if it's used for work.
Hands down.

And regarding the processors... if all you want is to play some games now and then with medium/high settings... the 3550mx is more than enough to meet those expectations.

There is a wide range of support for AMD chips and mods that if you decide to do later, can do.

And down scaling resolutions on a 1080p, I have to do in games myself but if I do, I find 1440x900 is a perfect blend of full scale picture and performance.

You can play all those games at 1080p with some lower graphic options and tweaks.. but like I said, @ 1440x900, you'll find it's pretty good. Especially on a 15.6" anyway.


1080p isn't overkill, it's what I'd recommend over a faster CPU, especially with what you are using it for. Plus upgrading to 8GB ram is little to no extra cost.


AMD.

 

ARogan: Rhino Ferret NB-05 Notebook Cooler

You are referring to something such as this? How well does this work compared to without?

 

Thank you ! Will definitely keep these in mind when I make a choice (Which has to be pretty soon if I have to make use of those coupons )

 

There were 2 type of lock up i expereniced.

1. Camolil OC'd bios + fixed mode

2. CnQ off + mixed bag of software setting* + any mode(dynamic or fixed didnt matter for me) = wake from sleep lock up

I was getting the wake from sleep lock up, enable CnQ and not anymore.
Did a system restore to random restore point(yea i know -.-) , Set default option in bios then proceed to change it again. and now no lock up.

*software setting that "may" have influence (Stuff that is gone/changed between lock up and no lock up(type 2 as i mentioned above), no promise as IDK which 1, maybe it is not even software related)
fusiontweaker service (removed)
registry setting for processor/intelppm (back to default)
hibernation on/off ( It turn itself on for some unknown reason)
antivirus (avast in my case) removed

 

It's personal preference. The 1080p screen is nice. Lots of room for managing windows, and it's a superior screen to the 1366x768 one in every respect. You will need to overclock the CPU and GPU both slightly most likely to get most benefit out of your games. And would highly recommend tuning your CPU anyhow since you can greatly reduce voltage even if you don't overclock by much.

 

I always been an Intel guy, always bought Intel CPUs and Nvidia, this being my first amd anything, Ill admit this is fun, and I really like AMD now, great bang for the buck.

 

If you're not going to OC then you should get an i5+7690+1080p. You get much better cpu performance than a stock a8-3550mx and you still have money for a 1080p screen.

 

That is close to accurate. Although at that point it kinda becomes a tossup. Either one makes more sense than i7. But I figure Intel is making enough money, so AMD should get a few bucks for a product that works or we'll be down to x86(Intel) vs ARM alternatives.

 

On powerdvd, the 3d option, can I just buy some cheapo 3d glasses and be good?

Re-useable Plastic Frame Resin Lens Anaglyphic Blue + Red 3D Glasses - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

 

mate that is a great suggestion !!

Went through the site and managed to get this config done:
HP DV6t SE

•dark umber
•Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
•2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M Processor (2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz)
•2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
•FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
•750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
•Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
•No additional security software
•6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
•15.6" Full HD HP Anti-glare LED (1920 x 1080)

price= 800$(After coupon)

Good enough for gaming at med/high (BF3,MW3,Arkham City,Skyrim and so on ?)

Will the 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M Processor (2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz) be able to drive the 1080p screen ? The only reason I am not leaning towards the AMD is that i WILL NOT be OC'ing or Undervolting it !

 

I personally would NOT get anything right now with an Intel CPU + AMD GPU because of driver weirdness.

And the CPU has nothing to do with driving that resolution, that's the GPU. For Windows desktop stuff, sure, that's fine. For games, no, absolutely not. If you want to run most games at 1080p you'd want at least a Geforce GTX 560, and preferably a 580 (or two), and even then you'd want to disable AA and may need to dial back some settings depending on the game.

Not to say that 7690M is bad at all, it's just not going to run everything at 1080p.

 

Attention all you modders out there!

Walmart is selling the Dremel 3000 for $50

Dremel 3000 Rotary Tool - Walmart.com

 

I agree with that to a point. I guess if you're not going to OC and gaming is important to you then 1080p might not be the best choice. Although I can run BF3 at 1080p on my 6750m with 750/850 (stock is 600/800) with mix of low/medium at > 30fps, and that's probably the most demanding game out at the moment. At stock speeds, it's borderline playable, with dips to 15fps, averaging more like 25fps instead of 30. And truthfully overclocking the GPU takes all of 20 minutes, and once you get it set, you're done. I would say you can safely start at 700/850 and gain 10-15% fps increase in general.

 

I am not gonna be gaming at 1080p everytime !! Even something like 1440*900 at Med/high with reasonable framerates would suit my purpose !