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

Just note that 4k writes are horribly slow with USB thumb drives. I wouldn't consider it unless you're using to to store large files. Those specs are pretty darn similar to a 7200RPM HDD. Plus you would be saturating your USB bus so if you ever needed to do USB transfers it would be horribly slow.

You honestly would be better off selling your 64GB SSD and putting that money towards a 128GB-160GB SSD. You can get an Intel 160GB SSD for ~ $250 and would be far and above a better option with much faster read/write speeds and more capacity.

Also I would put the SSD internally and the hard drive in the optical drive tray. This way you can always pull the hard drive out and throw in the optical drive if needed, or can swap the storage drive for another if desired.

 

USB 3.0 has its own controller. If anything idk why its showing up with 2 usb3.0 controllers so i guess both ports have full advertised throughput. I would like to test but i dont own anything usb 3.0 yet!
And about the drive caddy: sounds like a plan but the way they designed these things and i havent had my hands on a caddy yet it would need a pull tab. I'm also afraid of tugging on my bluray drive tray XP

 

In any case, imho that money is better spent towards a real SSD than using a USB flash drive. Flash drives don't have the reliability or the wear leveling and TRIM capability of a traditional SSD.

You can find some good deals on Kingston 128GB SSD's for < $160. Just be careful about power consumption though. The newer drives should be pretty power conscious though.

 

Newegg.com

All OCZ Internal SSDs
15% off with promo code "HARDOCP1214D"
Promo Expires on 12/17/11 or while funds last

Plus rebates!

 

Just got my Star Wars : The Old Republic access key. I will let you guys know how it runs on the DV6Z So excited lol.

 

Newegg.com - SABRENT EC-BIDE Black USB 2.0 CD/DVD-RW Slim Notebook Drive Enclosure
You can always just get one of those for your optical drive

 

plenty of Kingston go at $/1GB after rebate.

Regarding SSD, I feel no different between my c300 in my old SATA2 then in this SATA3(I hope dv6z is sata3...right) for real life use.

 

SATA 2 vs SATA 3 is really not noticeable for any average user. I have a WD SiliconEdge Blue 256GB SSD in my HP that I got for $200 on a fire sale. It's not nearly the fastest SSD out there, but it's leaps and bounds better than any HDD. And yeah, I got a Kingston 96GB for $90, and an Intel 120GB X25-M for $150 to go in my netbooks. So deals can be found. Just have to have a little patience.

 

Just read through the manual cause planning to repaste after final done.
I was like WOW, why would any 1 design a laptop like that.

4-5 types of screws. (20+ of them)
need to take off everything for the fan.

I mean how much will it cost to get sum1 open it up and change the fan(most laptop fan fail first), probably like 30 min? for a technician?

When I did thinkpads, those toke like 15 minute to get to the board/fan even if I never open it before. And they have 1 and at most 2 type of screws.....

 

Yes, the main HD slot is sata 3 and the optical one is sata 2

 

I've done it at least a dozen times. FIrst time was like 25-30 mins. Now I can get it apart in 10. I can get it apart, remove fan and repaste and reassemble in less than 30. Not too bad once you've done it once or twice.

 

/\ THIS. Sata 2 deals and "eggbusters" are the cats meow! usb thumbs I havent had any experience with.

 

Anyone with SWTOR crossfire vs high performance non crossfired numbers?

 

I've been thinking about what I can do to my dv6-6135dx in order to improve my computing experience, and have come to some conclusions based upon hours and hours of research (and some of it...years.)

I was pricing parts for a DIY FHD screen upgrade, and found the best bargains, I was about to pull the trigger on my purchases, but something kept nagging at me. Then I remembered something from my human perception class at UCSD about ten years ago. Basically, unless a change overcomes some threshold value, it takes about a 15% change in order for us to perceive a difference. Consequently, I also remembered studying something called the "Inverse Square Law" (with which I won't bore you with the details), but it basically states that twice the distance from a light source, you receive about 1/4 of the light as before. (You'd think something twice as far away would be half as bright...but it's not...it's only about one fourth as bright.)

So, some quick internet searching brought me the graph I needed to see:

"Viewing Distance When Resolution Becomes Important"

http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html

Also:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...alk2_large.jpg

If you look at the first graph, pay particular attention to the red shaded area between the red and green lines. This represents "noticeability". Also look where it converges and ends.

However, since this graph doesn't go down as far as a 15.6" screen, I included the second graph for y'all to notice the convergence of the lines themselves.

If you're like me, the screen is about 2 feet away from your face, and what this means is that the difference between 768 and 1080 @ 2 feet is imperceptible to about 99.99999% of people. If you're not one of us...lucky you...but there's more, and it ain't good.

When we're gaming or watching video, we're also susceptible to another threshold, cycles per second (or frames per second). Our house lights flash at 50 to 60 cycles per second, which is about the minimum threshold where we can't perceive them flashing.

Most gaming enthusiasts agree that about 30 frames per second is the minimum playable frame rate. Video buffs are very familiar with the 24 frame rate per second video standard. Notice that they're both not very far from each other.

From experience, I know I can see the difference between 24 to 30 cycles per second and 60 cycles per second, but my eyes and brain do something called "gestalt", where it fills in the missing details (and my ears do it too...only with sound. Funny how that works.) with the data the brain expects to be there, and especially since I am distracted by "the big picture" (the excitement of the game or the story of the movie), I don't notice.

Since computers, especially laptops, aren't infinite resources, the higher we crank the resolution, the lower the frame rate. Essentially, the computer is still processing the same amount of data, we're just telling it to give us detail as a trade-off from smooth play. In a movie, this usually isn't such a bad deal because the action of the movie (camerawork, scene changes, etc.), along with the predetermined data don't vary that much compared to a detailed high-action videogame with a lot of background math going on.

So, the short version is, for a screen this size, for me (and most of you too) it's not worth getting an increase of unnoticeable pixels at the cost of playability. Save your money.

OK, ok...I know a few of you out there are saying, "BUT I CHANGED MY SCREEN AND I NOTICE A DIFFERENCE!"

For all of you, I put in a quick call to a manufacturing engineer friend who specializes in video, and asked him about this, "When people buy computers with screens of lower resolution, aren't they getting lower quality screens as well, when it comes to detail and color? And don't manufacturers deliberately make many of the lower quality screens a glossy finish and the higher, matte, since reflections lower the perceived quality, but make the laptop pretty when it's off?" He laughed and told me that I pretty much had figured it out. People LIKE the more expensive screens, and just usually chalk it up to the higher resolution, when it's often not resolution at all, because it's usually the most noticeable mental difference easiest for the layman to understand. (And there's yet more for HDTVs, but this is all about the laptop.) Gamut, convergence, contrast, calibration, blah, blah, blah...What we usually hear as consumers is the part about a picture that's about 4 times as sharp due to resolution. But at a certain distance...we can't see it.

It's all about the upsell profit.

So...here's what I am getting instead of the $150 DIY video upgrade (screen and cable):

Spyder3Express - Datacolor - Global Leader in Color Management Solutions

It's not the most professional monitor calibrator...but it's also not the most expensive either, but many pros swear by them. (And with some extra stuff, but not much, you can calibrate HDTVs with them too, and you can bet I will. Might even lead to a new part-time profitable career, but, at $50 a pop, I'll make the money back on calibrating a few laptops for my friends. Yeah, yeah, there are better pro tools out there, but you'll pay out the nose for them! Though I'm also eyeing the X-Rite too)

And, if you STILL want to upgrade your screen after this, well, it's your money and I'd defend to the death your right to spend it as you see fit! (However, you could spend it on RAM and/or an SSD instead, and get a whole lot better and noticeable improvement in other areas that would probably make you a whole lot happier.)

Or...if you're just one of those anal-retentive types that just know it's THERE so IT HAS to be changed...well...the same goes with what I said before, but there's also counseling too! (For about $150 an hour.)

 

Nevermind - dumb question!

 

very well written and persuasive. Thanks you for your honest opinion on the topic about screen resolution. I was on the border of changing mine as well, but it is very costly. I will miss the extra work space of being able to put both excel and word next to each other while working, however, it is something that can be sacrificed and replaced for 24" LED screen . Thanks for your time and effort!

 

You're very welcome.

At home, I've got a 24" monitor; traveling, I use the HDMI to the hotel flatsceen TV. In both cases, I use a wireless keyboard and mouse at the desk or on the bed.

There's no substitute for a bigger screen that involves less eyestrain and gives you the space you need.

 

I honestly haven't thought of changing the screen, with the current resolution is perfect for gaming, for work... well I got a second monitor 1080p for that.

 

Don't have crossfire numbers, just a 6620g and A8-3500m to 2.4Ghz

Anyway game runs okay, definitely playable. Have done Black Talon flashpoint a couple times no problems. The FPS goes anywhere from 10FPS up to 35FPS. You have to tweak the client_settings.ini to turn off AF since no matter low/high it's at 16. Also turn off shadows helps. I'm on all lowest settings possible. There's a handful of FPS difference from 1024x600 to 1280x800. It runs smoothly enough for me to play when at work or on the go, but other than that desktop all the way. The game does use all four cores though.

 

Well, I'm in the midst of testing now. I decided to go with ssjdra's settings, which I'll repaste for reference below:

P0 passed IntelBurn's test and stayed stable, with temperatures raising as high as 86 C. (the low end's supposedly 41). Per a recommendation HT made a few pages back, I'm running Prime95's torture's test (it's been going for about 20 minutes now, peaking at 89). That seems a bit hot, but I'm not sure what's a good point of reference. I'll definitely follow the recommendation to get a cooler or so when gaming.

I'm going to mess around with another p0 state at a lower voltage in another profile I've created.. I'm learning a ton right now, which I suppose is one of the nice things about not having a totally decked out computer that requires some tinkering: You learn quickly (hopefully).

For those who did IntelBurn: Did you use a standard or high test?

Edit: Update -- mid testing, I decided to run 3dMark06 to see what kind of score I'd get. It seems to be using the 6620g, and hit a score of about 8575.

 

Honestly, the only thing that stop me from ordering the screen is the bloody 40+buck cable.

 

Managing slightly lower temps with this..

Some last questions, as I let this Stress test run..

1) If it seems to be stable enough, should I lock in the P-State or not?
2) Which of the control functions, if any, should I bother using?
3) I'm shifting between making K10-Stat run at start-up versus just using fusion tweaker. I've been monitoring it with CPU-Z and K10's new clock speeds SEEM to be running fine..but I can't be 100% sure yet.
4) About how long have people been letting the stress tests run?

 

Honestly everyone debating on the screen upgrade I recommend putting the money elsewhere. I have the 1080 and I got the moms the 13xx screen. I feel the 150 would be a much lqrger improvement via SSD. Imagine not having to worry about your hard drive having a head crash or losing the data. Gains in battery life, game performance, durability, boot times, piece of mind, and marginal weight loss? lol But really I like the lower res screen a lot and think it doesnt justify an upgrade. 1920x1080 at 15" has its down sides too, like everything being tiny and i have to zoom in lol

 

I lock pstate when I play a game. Other than that I dont see the major purpose unless you lock it on battery to save voltage.
I use ganged highest. (if that is what you are asking)
I followed a guide (googled k10stat guide). It had a great way to make k10stat run at startup, loading your profile, setting ganged, an enabling overclocking all in one easy task.
I run msi kombuster dx11 burn in for about 30 minutes, put gpuz on highest temp and then come back. For me I feel like 80's is too high and 70 is a good temp to shoot for (after all i want it to last a while).
I have found the k10stat speed/volt wingnut posted a while back in this thread were great. They are some what lower than yours. Maybe you can compare.

Also i think leaving yourself some headroom on temps is a good idea because games can effect the video card differently despite both being on full load.

 

You shouldn't have to lock P-state. It will bump to that speed on demand. I mainly set it for voltages and speeds and let the default boost take over. Or set it to unganged if you want K10stat to control it.

 

These numbers are just for the 6620g right? What kinds FPS are you getting on the 6750m at 1366x768? My client still has 5.5 gigs of main files to dl

 

With 4xAA (MS) activated I get about 16-43 FPS at 1366x768 (everything max.) near the Jedi Temple. Without AA about 5FPS more...

 

I have a question for those running the "unlocked" bios with all the options from the bios modding forum. AKA HTwingnut. How can you enable permenant discrete graphics? Th eonly setting I see is discrete graphics M92 or Madison or none exsist.

 

Very helpful, thanks!

I'm not messing with the GPU, but that's still worth doing. I have the guide in front of me and it is helpful, I was just wondering if it was better to do K10 or Fusiontweaker.

I'll do a little more testing today; the overly cautious part of me is having a hard time believing it's this easy, and wondering if I missed some crucial steps.

What temps did everyone else get when testing, prior to doing any repaste of the CPU?

 

I have to agree. I have the lower rez screen and if you get used to using the pinch to zoom/shrink you can get all the data on screen you want. Will it be as sharp as the 1080p screen? nope, but will it be good enough? you betcha.

seer

 

I don't think you can enable only the discrete. Madison should actually be Whistler XT, and M92 should be the iGP. But it doesn't seem to work. I think it needs hardware on the motherboard to switch to one or the other primarily.

 

Hi guys! As I said earlier my DV6-6125SL works like a charm. I do have a problem though. I can't use any modded BIOS (Musho's or camiloml with advanced features). The problem is that the system locks up (freeze, not BSOD) whenever HD 6750M kicks in. Sometimes it freezes after logon (with no apps running yet). It doesn't matter which of the Musho's BIOS-em I use. I've tried OCing with AFterburner and went up to 750/950 (tested with Furmark, Unigine Heaven, Aliens vs. Predator, Split Second). It's rock solid but only when OC-ed with Cats 11.6 and Afterburner. With a modded BIOS - no go.

What's happening, step by step:
1. Flashing with Musho's BIOS (720/900 for instance), using Cats 11.6, 11.11 or 11.12
2. Windows Starts > Login >
a. freeze after a while
or
b. loads up correctly but running Unigine Tropics/Heaven for instance = freeze
3. Windows Starts > Login >
a. freeze after a while
or
b. load up correctly
4. Running GPU-Z and then Afterburner
5. Changing Musho's BIOS default 720/900 to (for example) 722 / 902 or 788 / 898 or whatever that's below ~750/950
6. Running Unigine Heaven or Tropics = works like a charm

Ideas? Anyone? With camiloml's BIOS (740/880) I'm having the same problem.

 

The main reason I'm considering upgrading the screen is the increased real estate for work. For games the 768p screen is fine. But many modern user interfaces are being written to run well on higher res screens and a 768p screen is now really cramped for a lot of them.

 

Furmark is OpenGL only and will only stress your integrated GPU. Download MSI Afterburner and use MSI Kombustor that comes with it. You need to choose DX9, DX10, or DX11. That will stress your dedicated GPU, and should be able to find your true overclock speeds.

Also, have you overclocked/undervolted your CPU? And are you sure those are entirely stable?

 

1080 screen also give better HD playback.
I understand that the cable + screen can buy you a nice external, but it is nice if I can view FHD w.o pluging in stuffs.

 

Are you sure the 6125SL have the same spec and use the same bios?

 

OK...I guess if I am going to upgrade this laptop properly, I'll need a modded BIOS.

Two questions:

1. Can someone post the link to the best working version that unlocks the advanced features AND removes the whitelist?

2. Do I need to rename the HP TOOLS folder to do it?

...and anything else that might be helpful? Still not planning to OC...just need access to change to AHCI and possibly add a wireless card of my choice at this point.

I've scoured the entire thread more than once, but am confused with info that appears to conflict.

Thanks in advance!

 

The AHCI option in advanced bios doesnt work, It stay as "IDE to AHCI ID something" after i change and save.
Not sure what the option say now cause i flash another BIOS on top of it. But the option doesnt allow you to make it "AHCI"( It have the "AHCI" option, it just doesnt save)

 

I got a few questions, hoping someone can help me out.

I think this a good deal for one, but let me know
dv6z
AMD A8 3530MX
8GB Memory 2 DIMMS
750GB 7200rpm HDD
Blueray player
1080p screen
AMD 6750 GPU

$774.99

Few questions though besides is this a good deal.

1. Is the 6750 GDDR5 memory and will it run in x-fire with the A8's APU?
2. If it will run in x-fire, will this be a better gaming laptop than the i7 DV6 with a 6770?

Thanks for any help, I need to know by tonight so I can jump on this laptop.

 

Yes, I know but needed to test it with Furmark to exclude iGPU as a source of the problem. I used it after installing Cats 11.11 and flashing modded BIOS.
Yes, I tried with CPU @ stock.

The F.21 BIOS file for 6135DX and 6125SL are the same sp54724.

edit: I think I'm gonna try modded F20 BIOS. Maybe F21 is somehow screwed for my model.

 

Personally I would get a intel for 750+, i believe u can get a i5(myabe i7 not sure) with similar spec at that price range.

x-fire is not stable atm.( case by case)
And if the default HDD is 5400rpm, instead of upgrading to 7200rpm. I would say get a SSD with the money.
If 8GB is not default, drop that as well.

 

I changed over to the modded bios that gives advanced option but the fan isnt kicking in like it should. Is there fan control somewhere everything is getting to hot.

 

Costco (as of yesterday) had the i7 HPDv6T model with the 6770 w a 1337x768 for 749.00. I think it had 8gigs of ram and a 750 hd.

seer

 

x-fire is stable in games that actually make good use of it (Skyrim/Deus Ex/Battlefield)

 

The latest drivers from AMD have made some huge strides in terms of performance both with and without crossfire. And since it's an all AMD solution, you can just download the drivers from the AMD site and go, and the switching etc still work.

Note that you WILL have to overclock an A8 to get it into the 2nd gen core i5 range. Otherwise performance CPU wise is just too low. Luckily, it seems ALL AMD A8 APUs are overclockable to at 2.2GHz easily.

 

Refurb for $699!

Costco - Refurbished HP dv6 Brushed Metal Laptop Intel® Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz Beats? Audio

i7-2670QM
Radeon HD 6770m
1366x768 15.6"
8GB DDR3
1TB 5400RPM
6-cell battery

Just bought one new from HP with i5, 1080p, 9-cell for my dad for $750.

Edit: I am so tempted to buy that Costco one, transfer over my 9-cell battery and 1080p screen and sell my DV6z.

 

Flash a norm bios then remove cmos batter or remove battery+power button 30sec.
Just let it reset then you flash advanced back and keep playing with it.

 

Clock control is a disaster to me -.-

Sometimes fusiontweaker work (the additional option for locking a pstate range is nice),but sometimes it doesnt have full control on clock it seems.(Stay at p4 instead of 6 for instance)

I close it, run K10 , clock jumping fine.

EH !

edit: btw, any 1 know what is the "thermal fan crtl" option is for in bios? Was disabled for default.
30C idle w/o repaste ~~ my room must be cold...

 

I don't have the 6750M although I'm very familiar with the GPU from my 15" MBP. I should amend what I said because I just discovered there's an OFF option for shadows, pair that with 0 AF through the INI file I'm getting very good performance at 1366x768. Well I guess 20-50FPS which is a lot better than before! Very happy after discovering that.

I'm surprised some people have AA enabled. My desktop runs swtor maxed out all over but with AA enabled, even 2x cuts down FPS pretty good. I do have vsync enabled but yeah. Maybe part of it is because since I have max view etc on, it tries to render AA all over.

 

So, what is this hp tools you have to delete or rename to install a modded bios from Musho? I did the F11 minimal install when I got the machine. Does that make a difference?