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

Damn. Stupid automatic graphics switching.

 

Thinking there needs to be some new drivers out...

This is what I see when I right click the AMD Vision Control Center Icon.

 

Looks like there is no option for the 6750M. Hm. Have you tried the latest, even beta/leaked Catalyst drivers? I think 11.7, correct me if I'm wrong, got leaked.

 

So it looks like it's only using the integrated GPU when CrossFire is off. Interesting.

 

Do you have a link?

It's like that regardless of Xfire being on or off. I just noticed it.

 

Sorry, I was mistaken. Catalyst 11.6 should work though. That was te update supposedly for Dual Graphics, and Llano. Did you try it?

 

I've tried installing the catalyst software a few times. It finishes the install but nothing changes (Driver version, software etc.)

 

Here's a cinebench run on single cpu:

 

sorry for the like, quad post. iPhones stink.

 

Well, with it enabled the graphics score is about 6750m level. The drivers seem to suck right now, though.

 

Dang, even lower than the early benchmarks. Looks like AMD's Turbo Core is all but useless on the 35W parts. As little sense as it makes, it can't even keep one core at that speed. Maybe it can be fixed with a BIOS update but I hope the 45W parts can at least do better.

 

Hmm....I'm usually not one to return products but what would be the difference between what I just ordered

2630qm, 5770m

or

The highest config llano and whatever card comes with that

worth returning? The llano would be about a 100 cheaper

 

I think it's the same as the early benchmarks. Remember, the reviewers got a test machine with Windows, the drivers and not much else. In this case, we have an HP laptop from BestBuy which is practically guaranteed to have a host of processes running in the background. With a clean install, you should get the same results as the reviewers (i.e. 1.88 rather than 1.75 and 0.62 rather than 0.49). It's a bit curious that the single-core performance gets hit harder -- looks like Turbo Core doesn't like it when more than one core is loaded up even if the load on the second core is small.

 

The difference is that you would have a much, much worse CPU and a slightly better GPU when everything works right or a slightly worse GPU when it doesn't. In my opinion, no, it's not worth returning.

 

I removed a lot of the bloatware but I do have a few things running in the background so that is a fair statement.

Honestly the biggest bottleneck of this system is the slllloooowww HD.

 

Ah.

Still, the single-core performance is very surprising and disappointing. If it is really estimating the power draw based on load, there should be enough between that and the TDP to turbo more than it is. What is the power consumption when it is running Cinebench, kinetik? Does is reach 35W?

 

Try these drivers.

Download AMD Catalyst 11.6 Graphics Driver - Softpedia

 

@spyhunter - Did you see the 30% coupon for all notebooks $999+? With it, the dv6z should be closer to $200 cheaper. It really depends on what you want from the notebook. In games, they are going to be pretty similar with the AMD version coming out a little bit ahead, more once/if driver support gets better. In anything processor intensive, the 2630qm is going to destroy though. If you are just using it for games and want to save money, the dv6z isn't a bad choice, though.

 

Lost me on this one. Only thing close to that I see while running Cinebench and CPU-z is 76w

I have them installed now

I suspect there will be new drivers sooner or later. I would really like to be able to overclock the GPU as well!

 

i'm reserving judgment until opengl functionality is assessed. maybe it won't be terrible like the dv6t 61xx.

also, i need to see if amd is being honest about catalyst support on linux for manual switching.

 

Thank you for your info xxkinetikxx. Just curious if you could give me the windows bench mark scores! I know they are not a true comparison. I am just curious. I am also looking at this very same laptop. Just can't get one in my area I will have to order it. It's either this or the DV6-6150us from Officemax.

How do you like it so far?

Tazzboo

 

I'm contemplating picking one of these up soon, but I'll wait for driver support

 

Hmmm I was goin to get the DV6TQE but now tempted to get this even with the concerns of the CPU and drivers the price is great and I only plan to have it for a yr or just over anyway.

 

I'll post the windows score shortly and also the minecraft info someone asked for.


As far as how I like it?

Its a great looking laptop, stays cool regardless of what i'm doing. It's quiet and plays the games I'm looking to play.

If I could change something?

The harddrive is slooooow (I'm used to SSD's) and the DVD tray's button is so tiny its a PITA to open.

Other than that This is a darn good laptop for the money imo!

 

HWMonitor might show how much power is being consumed, I don't know if it supports Llano. If not, BatteryBar or BatteryMon will show the discharge rate of the entire system. When you did the Cinebench benchmark, did you ever see it showing a discharge rate of more than 35W? I know this is a lot to ask. Thanks again for doing all this.

One more question, because while I would like more processing power for the occasional video encoding/rendering but I don't really need it, does it feel snappy when doing normal stuff? Like heavy flash pages ( http://progress.audiusa.com/)

 

Here's the minecraft screenshot (I switched between the GPU and APU, its using the APU)



Here's the windows Bench.

 

How often does the fan run? And what about hi def flash vids, such as on Hulu or Youtube...do they run smooth?

 

I can run hi def flash vids smoothly on my gma 4500....lol

This looks very good so far. If only they could get a bit more power out of the crossfire, then I would be sold - because it appears even the highest llano is still inferior to the dv6t's i7 2630qm and 6770m.

 

Batterymon never showed over 29,300 mw.

Progress.audiusa.com runs flawlessly!

 

Everything seems very snappy. HD vids, multitasking, MS office 2010, etc. Let me be clear for average everyday use this is a GREAT deal for $679.99.

For gaming (At least what I play) this laptop is a steal.

I can't speak to encoding/video editing as I don't do that.

I'm very happy with the purchase.

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned earlier in this thread, but the coupon code SAVE30HP works on this laptop to save $30, just as it works on many other HP laptops.

Take the base config + 6750M + 1920x1080:
HP Official Store — Buy and Customize your dv6 and dv6zqe series PC direct from HP

And add that coupon code, then it comes to $829.

 

How are the temps?

 

um, we have coupons that bring that down to $700

NBP61449 for 30% off

 

That still doesn't make any sense. It should be hitting higher than that.

@Althernai, what is your theory on the low consumption even under heavy load? It should be hitting around 40W, based on the video demo of the A8-3510MX

 

If you max out the cpu, gpu, 9-cell, 640gb 7200rpm, 1080p screen and use the 30% off coupon it comes to $826.69. That's more of steal .

 

I'm not sure. I ran it on single core and multicore. Never got over 29,300.

 

It pisses me off that HP didn't offer a 6770m on this model

They have on the dv6t series so they have the parts in their stockpiles. So why don't they offer it?

 

I haven't ran any temp sensor programs as quite frankly this thing stays very very cool.

Only after a pretty intense session of gaming does the fan even kick on.

 

still don't understand why bluetooth isn't standard

 

I believe you, just thinking out load that it should be more than that under full load. The TDP is rated at 35W and actual max consumption is almost always higher than the TDP, which is basically what it can consume continuously given a cooling system that actually dissipates the that amount and it could consume more given better cooling or a lower ambient temperature. In the Youtube demonstration of Llano that has been around for a few months, the A8-3510MX is consuming about 50W, which is what I would expect due to the 45W TDP. Why the non-MX versions never seem to go past 30W, sometimes even lower, is a mystery to me.

 

so, bottom line:

are the cpu upgrades worth it?

 

Don't know yet. I would have to actually see an MX processor in action. Given what I have seen so far, the A6-3410MX might actually be the better buy than the A8-3500M at this point, at least if you plan on getting discrete graphics with it.

 

The way I look at it, if the cpu is the weakest part then get the max one you can as long as the 30% off is available. If you are more on a budget then I'm sure you can go lower. Just trying to keep it classified as a "performance" laptop. I returned my dv6t-6100 because of the the graphics issue/the 1366x768 screen quality. If I can get the max available amd cpu that is capable of crossfire with the the dgpu with a 1080p screen for less than what I paid for my other one, I am happy. Placing my order tonight .

 

Temps after 20 mins or so of MW2

 

@ xxkinetikxx

A) Can you tell me if soundcard on the laptop is Realtek or IDT?

Control Panel > Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers.

Thanks,

 

Those are pretty nice temps. I was expecting at least 80c or something.

It says 6650 though, is that just HWinfo glitch?

 

IDT

Must be a glitch.

 

Oh and about the speakers, do they have any bass or do they sound a bit tinny?

 

Not much bass. Much better then most laptops I've heard but not on par with my friends M14x.
Good overall fill imo.

 

Those temperatures are amazing. Finally a laptop where I don't have to worry about throttling or shorten lifespan of the motherboard. AMD has a winner here with Llano. Low temperatures, low noise, low energy consumption are the most important factors for me. One of the reasons I hesitate on a sandy bridge is because of temperatures hitting low 90's. I don't care what the specification says, running electronics at near boiling point is not acceptable. To be able to use the laptop for hours without temperature concerns is something I've been searching for a long time. My next laptop will be Llano. Thanks for providing the screenshot.

EDIT: question, are those temperatures 20min after cooling down or 20mins during load? Why is the max cpu utilization so low after 20min?