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

@Seer

I installed the 11.8 beta package then uninstalled the display drivers in the device manager. My resolution is now really small and I install the 11.6a hotfix. But here is the problem...my resolution still remains to be small and there are no drivers for my cards currently..I try install the 11.6 AMD Display Drivers but there is no option for it in the Custom install. Did I just totally do something wrong here?

 

If you already have drivers installed, here's process I used:

Uninstall full Catalyst package through add/remove programs (reboot required)
Install 11.8 beta package
Install HP drivers in SWSetup Folder using Custom option
Before install make sure "Display Drivers" show up as "current version not installed" (or whatever it says) and display drivers checked.
Other devices will install from the HP Catalyst package that isn't normally part of Catalyst (i.e. USB 3.0, AHCI, etc)
Reboot I believe is required
You should be good to go!

Not likely. Primarily because of battery life, and cost. I just can't justify the extra $500 for the Sager when most of what I do these days with a laptop is basic desktop work with occasional gaming. Everything else I do on my desktop. And long battery life is an added convenience that I'd much prefer. If the Sager had 3.5-4 hours battery, I could almost justify the extra $500 though because the laptop build, better CPU and GPU, etc. But at 2-2.5 hours battery, it just doesn't work for me.

 

do you guys get stuttering in hybrid xfire mode?

for me, hybrid xfire reports slightly higher frame rates, but stutters every half second. It's terrible.

 

hello, i was wondering how you guys got the A8 3530MX. i could only find the 3510mx version cpu. thanks

 

It was offered before, but has been taken down since. Just pick up the 3510/3500, as you will essentially get the same speed once you overclock anyway.

 

First try to download and install the Crossfire Profiles: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

Then if that doesn't work, Download 11.8 beta: AMD Catalyst? Control Center / AMD Vision? Engine Control Center 11.8 Driver Preview for Windows 7 64-Bit Edition

Uninstall the full ATI Catalyst suite (I believe there is an option for that).

Install 11.8 full catalyst suite and reboot.

Install the stock HP Catalyst drivers and choose custom install. Make sure the video drivers and other drivers like USB 3.0, ahci, etc are selected. Install and reboot.

Reinstall Crossfire profiles and you should be good to go!

 

Where do you get the stock HP drivers from? I couldn't find them in the SWsetup folder. I tried downloading 11.6 but there is no option to JUST install the Display Drivers...only the other catalyst, usb, and etc. stuff..

 

swsetup/drivers/video_sab I think. My machine is out for replacement due to high temps, so can't say for sure.

Or just download them from here:

AMD High-Definition Graphics Driver HP Pavilion dv6z-6100 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

 

SWEET! got mine in today...i definitely like the finish on it, and like everyone keeps saying, it's really sturdy. I love the extra screen real estate of the 1080p, but i kinda miss the keyboard from my vaio, may she rest in peace...
The touchpad is 10x better though!

What's this USB 2.0 superspeed??? Where is my USB3.0??

 

'superspeed' is HP's marketing name for USB3 - it should be the two ports on the lest side if I'm not mistaken - to be sure, I would check the manual to make sure your model actually comes equipped with USB3 and for the port locations

 

They should be the blue USB ports on the right side by where the power supply plugs in. Also, if you uninstall the AMD catalyst suite you will loose the USB 2.0 poets in the right side, and they won't reinstall from the 11.8 suite. I installed 11.8 then went and used the 11.6 suite from HPs website. It detected everything that was not installed and did not overwrite anything from 11.8.

I was mistaken. Ht is correct.

 

Yes, USB 3.0 are on the left side (when facing the screen) next to the headphone jacks. They aren't blue like they should be though.

 

Yes, I see what you mean, they are definitely not blue, but they are labeled SS...i was copying a 7GB file from my external HD which is USB3.0 and it managed about 60-70 MB/sec... for some reason I was under the impression it would be faster.

 

I think you need a USB 3.0 device to use USB 3.0.

 

They made you send it in?

 

Right, the hard drive is a USB3.0 device

 

AnandTech - USB 3.0 Flash Drive Roundup

A better hard drive can get better transfer rates - but 60/70 MB/sec seems average according to ^

 

Right, in this case it's not USB 3.0 as the bottleneck, it's the speed of the hard drive. If it's a portable 2.5" USB powered drive it's most likely 5400RPM (or slower), and that would be appropriate for the speed of the hard drive.

 

Ok, that makes sense, thanks.

 

Hey guys reporting back and it turns out that I fixed my graphics!

But I am still having this issue where my laptop sleeps after changing the resolution in-game from window mode to fullscreen. I ctrl+alt+delete to get to the menu but then it sleeps immediately afterward. I can't access the taskmanager so I'm stuck in the 1024x768 resolution with my game frozen on my screen. I log off which closes out of the game fixes my resolution. Now I run into this when I try to log back on...

"Your system is running low on resources. You cannot log on" Error

The resolution issue has been happening since the day I got my laptop
How is that even possible...any ideas?

 

@GiftedOne

Assuming you have the stock 6GB RAM? Go to Start Menu, right click Computer, select properties, does it show 6GB RAM? Maybe a RAM stick wasn't installed all the way and is only using one 2GB stick of RAM? I dunno, just a guess.

Low on system resources is an odd error, but to me that say RAM is low.

 

Yes I have 6 gb ram. I guess it was just a weird mishap. But yeah I just tried to log off and log back in again and there was no msg anymore. I just now updated windows so hopefully that will solve the issue.

But the most of my concern is how my laptop keeps sleeping after changing resolutions typically ingame. Although on occasion, the resolution would change fine. But have you ever heard of this problem?

 

"little" questions:

1) Did someone tried to overclock 6620G?
1.1) If yes, what kind of increases?
1.2) If yes, but don't get any good increases, do you suspect that the bottleneck remains at DDR3-1333MHz memos?

2) Did someone tried to overclock 6620G with DDR3-1600Mhz memos?
2.1) Results?

 

So I guess there isn't any interest in modded bioses? There might be far more possibilities than just dGPU overclocking by modding a bios, but I'm not sure I would actually like to spend my time on figuring out modules and then hex-editing them, if there aren't any people willing to test them. I'm aware there are certain risks attached to trying out bios mods, but since Insyde bios has a good recovery mechanism build-in, those risks should be quite low.

If there is any interest, perhaps I could spark your interest by offering a custom bios with your own clocks? Fill in the form below and I'll see what I can do. It shouldn't take too long, as I've already figured out how to mod the clocks of the dGPU inside the bios. Thanks!

1) Which bios version would you like to see modded?: -
2) Which dGPU do you have?: -
3) What would you like it's core clock to be in mhz?: -
4) What would you like it's memory clock to be in mhz?: -

Edit: Figured I might as well relink the F.20 bios in which the 6750 was modded to run at 610/910mhz:
Link: F.20 610-910 fixed.zip
MD5 Hash: MD5 Hash: A358F597EC46890D47161E3905834824
Edit2: If you decide to try it out, unzip the contents and then run the InsydeFlash.exe file.

 

I figure there wouldn't be too much interest in BIOS mods with dGPU clocks, but a HUGE interest in finding and unlocking any memory or bus overclocking capabilities hidden in the BIOS.

 

There should be. There are quite a few advantages. Driver and software independent, no need to "prime" the dGPU by running a high-performance program, you can leave ULPS enabled (resulting in a lower power draw in idle), just to name a few.

But then again, you're right that there is going to be way more interest in overclocking the iGPU and/or the Base Clock (Which will result in higher RAM clocks, iGPU clocks and Core clocks. Except for overclocking the Cores, these things (currently) can't be done in software. But you should note that this platform is new, fusion is new (atleast to me, haven't looked into modding any Zacate/Ontario based platforms) and it will take a huge amount of time to study the bioses to perhaps find a way to do any of the above mentioned stuff. I don't feel like doing that, if I'm not even sure if people are actually willing to try out modded bioses. Atleast not untill I own my own fusion based laptop.

 

I have a 3500m processor. Will is take 1600 memory?

 

AFAIK, only the mx processors support 1600mhz RAM officially. Not sure if you can force the sticks to run at 1600mhz by flashing a custom SPD to your RAM sticks, where it defaults to 1600mhz rather than normal JEDEC specs, but that isn't recommended unless you know what you're doing, and willing to take a risk with your RAM =]

Ofcourse, the RAM should be stable at 1600mhz as well, so if you would like to try it, make sure you flash sticks that are already rated to run at those speeds. Probably too advanced for most users to try, though.

 

This. And removing the whitelist.

 

To be honest I'd love to be able to put in a better network card.

 

I'm not sure if simply removing the whitelist would work, but it would definitely work to edit the whitelist to include the Hardware ID of a wireless card you would like to use. I'll have to look into it and see how it's done in this bios.

 

Do you guys think these laptop are going to run The Old Republic pretty well?

 

my computer sleeps when i try to run benchmarks for 3dmark11

 

Had the same exact problem. Does the power button become unresponsive right after it goes to sleep? Does it also sleep when you try to alt-tab out of an intensive program?

I'm getting an exchange on my laptop, hope the next one doesn't have this problem.

 

Yes...yes and yes...you think i should do the same?

Other than that the computer runs flawlessly..its just this stupid sleeping problem

 

I dunno, what are the system requirements? Last I read Sandy Bridge integrated GPU's were minimum.

 

Well, called tech support and they didn't have a solution and they told me I could send it in for a repair or an exchange.

Since we're the only people who have reported it on the forums so far I think it's a rather rare problem and HP isn't going to spend the time to try to look into it. So unless you want to try to fix it yourself I suggest just getting an exchange.

 

Well if that is the minimum I would bet our laptop should run it pretty well. Did anyone see performance increases in DX9. I remember someone saying they did, but then I heard that Crossfire for Llano wasnt supported with DX9

 

Alright back to bestbuy it is...what a pain

 

Could someone please post the hardware ID of their wireless card in their dv6z? I need that to see if I can mod bioses to accept non-whitelisted wireless cards. Thanks!

Btw, if you don't know how to find your hardware ID, here's a simple to understand guide: How to Check the Hardware ID for a Windows Device | DeviceDriverFinder.com

 

I don't have my dv6z anymore but I had a broadcom card. Not really helpful, I know.

... So I did a little bit of digging. Turns out Broadcom only makes 2 notebook wireless cards with wireless n and bluetooth, and they're the BCM943224HMB and BCM943225HMB (dual band and single band respectively).

Hope that helps.

 

Exchanging it or returning it?

 

Exchanging. I was getting the laptop-randomly-goes-to-sleep problem mentioned on the page before this one.

 

Oh yeah that's right. I hope my replacement is good. I have to return my NP8130 by end of next week, unfortunately probably won't see my DV6z before then. Part of me says to keep the NP8130 but the other part says $500 is a lot of money and for what I need a laptop for the DV6z will satisfy (well except overheating )

 

Well, it depends on your needs. But if you're able to afford both notebooks at once as well as buying and selling the m11x and other Sager beforehand, I don't think the price difference is that big of the deal.

I used to fuss over money but I realized that in the big scheme of things it's better to just buy what I want and be happy, especially on something I'll be using for a couple years.

For me I figure the dv6z has pretty much the best gaming performance in a 15" you can get without having terrible battery life. I wish HP still had the Envy 15 line because of the better build quality and backlit keyboard but other than I've been pretty satisfied with the DV6 line. They are actually very stylish and well designed compared to other HP notebooks in the past, though they still have the great HP quality control as always.

 

Musho, its not that no one is brave enough to try your bios, its just that your bios solves a non existent problem. Once trixx turns off ulps, then it is so easy to set up afterburner (or trixx for that matter) to load at startup, put up a custom fan setup and overclock the hell out of the dgpu WHEN YOU WANT IT, i.e. for games...which is NOT what i'm running 90 percent of the time, therefore no need to be overclocked that 90 percent..(we no longer need the 'prime the pump" application running, at least on my machine.

As the previous response pointed out, to the degree that most of us are interested in bios, it all has to do with increasing the bandwidth, which means increasing the reference clock for the APU. The desktop guys got over 30 percent in some cases!!! and its the lack of bandwidth between the cpu and gpu parts of the APU that is holding us back from really blowing the 't' boys out the door. Practically every mboard for the desktop llano is set up to mod that reference clock. That and getting some good fast 1600 memory (which with the anticipated increase in the base clock is going to get pushed just shy of 1866 stuff, will really put the dv6 over the top.

Seer

 

Have you tried running AMD system monitor when gaming? If the dGPU is maxed out while the iGPU isn't, then adding memory bandwidth might not do anything since the iGPU doesn't need the performance boost anyway.

When I used 1600mhz RAM in my system there wasn't really an overall performance gain so I'm thinking this is the case.

 

Yeah. While I did notice a slight performance increase (like 10% fps improvement) I also noticed the iGPU got barely loaded. This may be due to the CPU's meager performance, therefore consuming most of the resources, leaving nothing left for the iGPU. Games that rely heavily on the CPU like Bad Company 2 may not benefit much from the iGPU.

 

10% boost from what? System monitor or 1600mhz RAM?

 

Sorry, 10% boost in FPS from Crossfire over just dedicated GPU.