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

I know for sure that the 1600mhz cas 9 g.skill RAM works in the DV6z. It's cheaper by like $30, but it's 1.5v instead of 1.35v.

 

CAS 9 makes no difference. You would have to run at super tight CAS 5 to show any measurable difference like they showed with 1333 to 1600MHz.

In any case I had to buy 8GB anyhow, so why not 1600MHz, plus bonus of lower voltage.

If gaining a few FPS doesn't matter, then why do we bother overclocking? Going from 23 to 26 or 27fps in a game can make or break it too. We will see.

 

Why not get the A-DATA? Newegg.ca - ADATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model AXDS1600GC4G9-2

 

A-DATA requires Intel XMP, iirc.

 

Yes it does. Pretty much all the CAS9 that I've seen state about requiring XMP support.

 

How can I get the most performance out of a dv6z? I can't even find newer working drivers.

 

Download all from HP website.
Software & Driver Downloads HP Pavilion dv6z-6100 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Then download and install the latest 11.10 pre-release drivers from AMD.
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst1110Previewdriver.aspx

Pretty much all the system device drivers are wrapped up in the "HP Video Drivers". So for USB 3.0, AHCI, etc support download the SP52989.exe driver first, install, but probably already pre-loaded on your machine. Can't hurt to run it and make sure everything is up to snuff. Then install the 11.10 drivers above.

 

Oh wow, stupid XMP. Its not even like they make it a big deal just "Features XMP support". It does not make it sound like a requirement.

The ram we have stock is 1.5V tho, so how much do you think the 0.15V drop from each stick will add to battery life?
Id rather get some 1600 cas 9 1.5V.

 

I would, but I don't want to buy RAM that might or might not work in my machine. I think seeratlas bought the Adata RAM and it only clocked at 1333. The Samsung has JEDEC profile programmed for DDR3 1600. Someone else here stated that they bought some Kingston and it worked, but can't recall which ones. Although I emailed Kingston support and they said all their RAM required XMP to get 1600MHz. So I dunno.

 

My dv6z keeps giving me a error, high memory usage. That programs are closing then after a few minutes it doesn't respond. HALP

 

Well if that is true then i am wrong.
But it is unheard of . I have build computers since 1999 and never heard or got any feedback that a change of RAM speed from 1300 to 1600 would bring 15-20% improvement in game speed.

 

I've been building computers since 1982 and can say I've seen lots of anomalies. There is a good article, I'll post if I can find it, that described the difference between AMD and Intel's architectures and why AMD's are more sensitive to RAM speed. It has everything to do with how the GPU share the system RAM and communicates with the CPU.

 

It's because the iGPU has no dedicated memory so it fights with the CPU for system memory bandwidth.

Higher mhz RAM = more bandwidth. This applies to pretty much any iGPU that uses system RAM.

 

Have fun with it . I've bought my 8GB Patriot 1600MHz for only $30 at Frys. I know yours run 1.35V, but AMD Llano support 1.5V at 1600Mhz and 1.35 at 1333MHz. Altough next time I would go with G.Skill 8GB 1.5V 1600MHz CL9.

 

Thanks. If you find it please do. I'll keep track of this to learn a bit more.

 

I've read mixed comments on various RAM, some it works, some it doesn't. Not sure what voltage has to do with anything, since it's a smaller mfg process, that's how they get the less voltage. If you bought it for your Vostro 3555, are you sure it's running at 1600MHz? I didn't think that they offered the MX CPU with the 3555, and only the MX supports the 1600MHz RAM.

 

anyone else have this problem?

 

Did you confirm all 6GB are registering? Maybe the 4GB is loose?

Otherwise sounds like a memory leak from some program you're using.

 

all 6gb are showing

same error also on my asus k53ta, its really annoying

 

Same software on both? Sounds like a memory leak of some kind. Does your Task Manager show memory actually going that high?

 

Just noticed that explorer.exe and dwm.exe is taking more and more memory by the second

 

Well I have no problem to run the RAMs at 1600MHz and it also brought little performance increase:

A8 3530-mx +8GB DDR3 1333Mhz:
3DMark2001SE:16113
3DMark2003:15360
3DMark2011:804

A8 3530-mx +8GB DDR3 1600Mhz CL11:
3DMark2001SE:16505
3DMark2003:16087
3DMark2011:829

However I have problem to overclocking the CPU speed, It looks Vostro does not yet fully support A8-3530MX (as you said).

 

Oh did you manually update your CPU? I didn't see the option for an MX CPU at the Dell website. Those are meager performance improvements. I guess I'll check actual in-game performance an benchmarks and note any improvements.

You should be able to overclock the CPU with K10stat with no issue afaik.

 

what you gained by the increased ram speed you gave away with the cl11 timings. Optimally you would see the best results with CL8 or at least CL9. Last time I checked, however, I did not see fast timings on the available laptop 1600mz ram, though the desktop world is full of em.

Seer

 

Meh, when I had my CL9 1600mhz g.skill RAM I didn't see much of an improvement either.

I did some testing with Bad Company 2 and it seems that the 6750m performs only 50% better than the 6620g (and less sometimes because performance gets murdered by particles for some reason), so it might might just be because the dGPU is the bottleneck and not the iGPU. Which could also explain why the iGPU usage jumps around so much.

 

Yes, I have changed my A6-3400M to A8-3530MX. I thought it will be major performance jump, but not really because Dell does not fully support this APU. I can change voltages with K10Stat, but changing CPU multipliers do not have effect for performance. Like I can switch my APU to 4GHz (CPU-Z) can verify that, but performance is still as much as before.
I'm thinking to change this Vostro to HP Pavilion DV6z, but that do not has backlit-keyboard... Is possible to take keyboard from DV6t and put to DV6z???

 

The dv6t-6100 does not have a backlit keyboard either. Last years model did, but it isn't compatible with this years.

 

My 6124ca does not have a lite-up HP logo.... maybe I can light up some LEDs somewhere else.....

 

Hi everybody!

I've found update for 6755 dGPU in M$ updates, posted 10/04/2011. Does anybody knows which version is it? Or what would happen if I choose to upgrade it from there?

And one more thing, the 'random' horizontal white lines started their appearance. Duh... I got my Horus for 5 days only. And I'm currently in Bulgaria for awhile, so the Glorious HP Care is no go. Anyway, I read it's either the cable, cable connector, or the inverter (or all together, OMG!). Any more clues por favor?

 

That is sucks... How is possible to sell laptops in 2011 without backlit keyboard?

 

Most companies seem to be shying away from the backlit keyboard. It's an unnecessary expense. However, they should at least offer it as an option. I mean design for it, charge an extra $50 for it and I'm sure it would sell.

 

Hmm. I just replaced my fan and heatsink unit with a new one ordered from HP Parts store. The reason I did this was because cutting that slot in the fan shroud just made the palmrest too darn hot even after taping it up real good, and think it decreased my system fan performance.

Anyhow, obviously my new heatsinks don't have my added copper heatsinks from my other modded one. Well temps are nearly as good now as my modded heatsink/fan. Where I used to run easily into mid 80's I now run low 70's.

This tells me there may be some bad quality control on the heatsink and fan assemblies. I'll probably still stick on some more copper heatsinks again when I get the chance, just didn't feel like sanding the black paint off half the day today!

 

I'm confused; If you add those copper heatsinks you will dissipate more heat inside your laptop. No sense to heat up your case, let the heat dissipate to the fan assemblies and it will take heat outside.

Anyway, how is your 1.35V 1600MHz RAMs doing with LLano?

 

Maybe the copper heatsinks weren't doing much and it was the hole in the case/repaste that led to most of the temperature drops?

I'm thinking of doing a repaste. Is taking it apart just straightforward follow-the-service manual or do some parts need a little finessing to disassemble?

 

No, the copper heatsinks HELPED with the other fan assembly. My temps were upper 80C's or more @ 2.2GHz (Prime95 Large FFT + MSI Kombustor), with the mod, it dropped to about 70C @ 2.4GHz! So adding those copper heatsinks and adding the breathing holes worked. I also reapplied thermal paste several times before I did the mod. Heck just adding thermal paste over the stock OEM crap dropped temps 5C.

Now with this new fan assembly, it runs about 74-75C WITHOUT the copper heatsinks. Also Atom_Anti click the cooling mod in my sig. I have breathing holes on the bottom of my laptop, which alone dropped temps 7-8C, adding the heatsinks dropped another 5-10C. I spent dozens of hours benching and troubleshooting, so it's not just making stuff up and tearing my machine apart for the fun of it. My testing showed that there was little to no air movement in the CPU and GPU compartment. So although it was cooling the heatpipes at the fins at the fan, whatever residual heat coming off the CPU and GPU was just staganant there, heating up over time. Opening it up allowed it to flow at least.

Just got my RAM today, haven't had a chance to do much with it, but it's running 1600MHz @ 1.35V and CAS 11.

 

Hmm, 3DMark doesn't seem to improve a whole heck of a lot, about 5-6% only with the RAM. *HOWEVER* in Bad Company 2 I can actually play at 1080p at 30fps avg, dips to 20fps during lots of smoke and stuff. But runs 25-40fps usually. It is a solid 3-5fps improvement from the 1333MHz RAM. This could be good for Battlefield 3 since Crossfire seems to work rather well with BF3 at least during the beta.

 

HP has released a recommended BIOS update to all dv6-61XX / dv7-61XX AMD owners.

Version: F.21
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp54501-55000/sp54724.exe

Additional information is available in the Pavilion BIOS thread - http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-pavilion-notebooks/595505-updated-hp-pavilion-bios-releases.html

 

Hey thanks justinkw1!

I will just need to convince musho to plug it with my overclocks first!

I did get a random blue screen, not very often, but attributed it to all my hacking on the laptop and overclocking, etc. Maybe it isn't!

 

funny, i just came here to check to see if anyone had hacked the f.21 bios with no NIC whitelist and OC'd GPU ...

Guess i'll check back later

 

I only get blue screens when my voltage cannot handle the overclock frequency O_O, this bios, modded by Musho has been proven one of the best for overclock , Once again thank you Musho... if you still around.

 

HP made a BIOS update and didn't fix the switchable graphics issue??? argh. Can Musho give us a fixed mode?

 

Everyone, I recommend using catalyst profiles for games like Deus Ex, it improved considerably the gameplay using them.

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

 

Am I missing something or do they not sell these with discrete graphics cards anymore? I have tried to configure a dv6z Quad Edition at the HP Store, and the only graphics option given is the "Radeon Discrete Class Graphics". I see switchable graphics mentioned on the first page, but absolutely nothing about an actual discrete graphics card in addition to the IGP.

 

Is there any reason that the DV6 with AMD processor and AMD 6750M graphics has 1GB GDDR3 memory!

I have checked with GPU-Z, AIDA, and HW info. All of which say that my graphics card is has GDDR3

I am wondering if the reported 6750M in the DV6 device manager is incorrect as HWinfo is displaying the card to be a 6650M/6630M Whistler Pro?

The only good the reported 480 Shaders are there, but everything else says 1GB GDDR3 with a terrible 25.6 GB/s bandwidth.

Any other ways I can verify the graphics memory, or is are the above software programs display the 6750M as correct, any other ideas?

 

It has GDDR5. It's being reported wrong. See my Cooling Mod thread in my sig where I verified the GDDR5 physically. (oh heck here you go: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...z-cooling-mod-thread-warning-lots-photos.html )

25.6 MB/s should be correct for bandwidth.

 

That is odd. Can't find dv6z new with a dedicated graphics card anywhere, best buy switched their models out too. I wonder why? Cost? Problems?

 

Cool thanks for the link. Although I still can't be sure DDR5 will be in my laptop as I cannot pull (don't actually want to) it apart, as only brought it today. If I can get a quad CPU in few months then I will open it up.

With the Intel model and 6770M anyone can go into the AMD control panel and check for DDR5, but with the AMD model this is not the case and only see the APU.

With DDR5 the actual bandwidth will be 51.2 GB/s

Could you please do me a favour, and check with CPU-Z if your motherboard is a Hewlett-Packard 3590. Hopefully that is enough to match them.

Reason I asking is, I brought this as a budget pre-built retail store model in another country.

This is a new release here where I am, well sort of, I think the local retail store has only stocked them for about 4 weeks.

It is a HP DV6-6104AX with A4-3300M and 6750M

I have noticed few changes about it, due to being a AMD budget DV6-61XX, HP have done away with the Alloy palm rest and lid, but instead replaced with black plastic. No quad beats audio speakers, it has Altec speakers instead. No finger print reader. No light on the HP logo on the top of the lid. Not sure if the others here have USB3 on their AMD based motherboard but mine has only 4x USB2
That why I wonder even if it has a 6750M with DDR5 it might just have DDR3 instead?

 

I have the DV6-6124ca and which has all of the same model changes that you state (plastic, no beats audio, no fingerprint reader) but I assure you, the 6750m is DDR5. If you check the AMD Vision Engine product summary, it shall report DDR5 with the proper bandwidth. Also, it performs the same in benchmarks as everyone else's 6750m.

Also concerning USB 3.0 ports, they are the ones on the left, HP just decided to not colour them blue. This holds true for all DV6Z models. I do not have anything that uses USB 3.0 though, so I cannot speak from personal experience.

On a side note, The main speakers are the same as any other DV6Z (They all have altec lansing), you just don't get the 2 beats speakers that are at the front.

Hope this clarifies some issues for you.

 

Wow, some great info here! Sad that HP decided to cheap out a bit on the AMD notebooks. I think I may grab a dv6-6135DX refurb from Newegg for $550, though I am really not too excited about refurb products in general. Anyone have any bad experiences with HP refurbs? Here's a link: Newegg.com - Recertified: HP Pavilion dv6-6135DX Refurbished Notebook AMD A-Series A8-3500M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 640GB HDD Blu-Ray Drive AMD Radeon HD 6750M

It will either be that, or an Asus A53TA-XE2 which is a bit slower (3400m / Radeon 6650) and costs $100 more new. Decisions, decisions.

 

Holy crap that is an amazing deal! I got my 6124ca (3530mx, no blu ray) for $690 after taxes, but I got it on sale, and sold the free xbox 360 I am so envious of that aluminium!

I can not speak for HP refurbs, however I bought an Asus G50 refurb, had it for 2 years with no problems, and just sold it still working perfectly. It is worth a shot, just make sure you stress the heck out of it before the return period.

I would prefer that model over my 6124...... you get all the nice options.. ( :'( on the inside)... Im using my lucky 6750s clock of 820/1020 to hold onto my sanity... lol