HP dv6z-SE User Review

One of the annoyances with the touchpad - the area of integrated buttons that causes the mouse pointer to move when touched - can now be circumvented!

With the new version of the Synaptics driver (15.1.6.64) that you can download from the HP website, you can set the Starting Zone Size under the Palm-Check Enhanced ACM settings to exclude the integrated buttons area. Make sure you set the Filter Activation Time to zero.

 

Hey guys,

I think the guy who commented on Newegg who claimed about overclocking the AMD N930 processor has the internet alias "emaildejan", going to try and contact him ask how he did it.

My Acer has identical specs and chipset as the dv6z-SE, so I'm also keenly interested in any chance of overclocking the CPU.

Has anyone already unlocked the secrets of how that's done? Lol.


Also are any of you gamers experiencing CPU bottlenecking in some games? I'm getting pretty bad bottlenecks in Need for Speed.

 

This utility looks interesting.

It's called K10Stat, have any of you looked into it? I'm a newb at overclocking so a bit afraid to mess around, but it seems to allow for simple adjustments to the CPU clock via 100 MHz increments.

Nevermind, it gets softcapped at 2 GHz, even if I set it over, the max clock just becomes the increment lower than it.

 

Good luck with that and let us know if he responds.

I do not think anyone here has managed to overclock the CPU.

I use K10stat to undervolt the CPU to make it run cooler and consume less energy.

 

How much can you undervolt it safely?

 

It is individual. Mine is stable at 0.725V in the P4 state. I think undervolting has been discussed earlier in this forum.

 

Hm an update on understanding the N930 overclocking.


darnok44 here explained that more or less the chipset that your HP and my Acer uses won't support overclocking on a hardware level because there is no clock generator (pll and all that fuzz), instead all the clocks are derived from southbridge.

So much for that.

 

For those of you currently owning a 2010 DV6z model, can you go into the BIOS, and see if you have an option named "virtualization Technology" that can be enabled/disabled? Should be under the 'System Configuration' menu per the maint/svc guide.

Guide says model may/may not have this option, so if you can put up your model and whether you have the option or not, I'd appreciate it. For CTO's, just put dv6z or dv6z-se for Select Edition, and what CPU it originally shipped with.

I want to see if the option exists in the se, non-se, and quick-ship models.

Trying to decide which to get.

What I plan on, in the end, is the following:

dv6z platform
Phenom II x920 BE (Black Edition) 2.3gHz unlocked CPU
8GB 1333mHz DDR3
500GB/640GB 7200rpm HDD
DVD
5650 discrete graphics

I (briefly) looked at the Dell Inspiron M501R, but quickly realized from reviews that it's ethernet port is 10/100, where the dv6z has 10/100/1000.
100 mbit is not enough to use iSCSI with a Synology SAN, unfortunately. Besides the fact that the dv6z has a MUCH better discrete graphic option!


Also, I've seen the question pop up about 1333 vs 1066 DDR3 RAM.

Per the service guide, the following CPUs will run the RAM at 1333mHz:

Phenom II X4 N930 2.0 gHz
Phenom II X4 N950 2.1 gHz
Phenom II X3 N830 2.1gHz
Phenom II X3 N850 2.2gHz
Phenom II X2 N620 2.8gHz
Phenom II X2 N640 2.9gHz
(I added N640,N850,N950 - older revision guide)

I will go out on a limb, and say the X620 and X920 Black Editions will, also.

 

BTW, check AMDZone.com • View topic - New tool for tweaking AMD K8L and K10 processors (Win&Linux) for an overclocking (via HT) app, and also to control voltage levels and pstates. unlocked 'Black Editions" get the full treatment - locked CPU's do it via overclocking the HT.


EDIT:

OK - found out the M501R does indeed have GigE. Back to square 1. Advantage for me, is 12mos no interest on my Dell Preferred Account.
So...

for $808 I can get:
Dell Inspiron M501
Phenom II N930
4GB RAM / 500GB 5400rpm/ATI HD550v/DVD/BT
3YR in-home service w/accidental damage coverage
12mos no interest on existing Dell account

for $861:
HP DV6-3160US
Phenom II N950
4GB RAM / 640GB HDD /ATI HD5650/DVD/BT
2YR in-home service w/accidental damage coverage
6mos no interest opening a BillMeLater account

$1185:
dv6 se
Phenom II N950
8GB RAM/640GB 7200rpm HDD/ATI HD5650/BluRay/BT
2YR in-home service w/accidental damage coverage
6mos no interest opening a BillMeLater account

$1049 for dv6 se above except:
N930 (upgrading to X920 anyways)
DVD and not BluRay

Suggestions?

 

Choice is obvious if you want Blu-Ray. The Dell looks to be the best option if gaming's not an interest. I would personally go with the 3160us since it's a good balance between price and features. You can probably upgrade the RAM later one for cheaper if you really think you need 8GB. Where are you getting the X920? I didn't even know you could switch out the CPU.

 

BluRay isn't important...

x920 can be bought at starmicroinc.net, found via pricewatch.com, for $99. They also list on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-Phenom-II-Mobile-X920-Black-OEM-CPU-HMX920HIR42GM-/280604758977?pt=CPUs&hash=item415558d3c1

I hope that link isn't against the rules - not me, don't know them, but it's pretty much the ONLY vendor I've found with x920's, so it might be helpful to others.
Seems like they're pulls, but have a 30-day guarantee, so should be OK, and vendor appears to have above-decent feedback (99.4% at time of this posting on 2000+ feedbacks.)

BTW, your CPU can be upgraded, too - check out the service manual at http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02659236.pdf page 96.
You can probably drop an x920 in, and even if your BIOS doesn't support changing the multiplier, you can do it with Windows/Linux tools in software after it's booted up - AMD even gives us "AMD OverDrive" for this purpose! The X920 (QC) and X620 (DC) Black Editions have an unlocked multiplier. I would suggest an excellent thermal paste, like Arctic Silver AS5, and using a laptop cooler when overclocking. Stock, the x920 is 2.3gHz, with the highest non-BE being 2.1gHz in the N950. The link to the service manual above mentions a 2.2gHz Phenom II N970, but I've yet to see the anywhere. With the x920, you START at 2.3gHz with an 11.5x multiplier (11.5 x 200mHz = 2300mHz).

I ended up getting a ThinkPad Edge 15 brand-new from a friend at a major computer distributor. mid-$400's , with 2GB/P340. Not so worried about ram/cpu, because I was upgrading anyways HDD is 320GB 7200RPM so that's OK for now. Looking at another $200 for 8GB/x920, so $650 for:
ThinkPad Edge 15"
Phenom II x920
8GB RAM
320GB 7200RPM HDD
DVD
Wifi b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1

Integrated HD4250 gfx, which is fine, as I'll be needing CPU, not gfx.
Plan on running everything on VM's under Linux+VirtualBox or Linux+VMWare Workstation. In which case, discrete gfx wouldn't matter, and would actually suck battery for no reason, unless I got switchable, and then the issue of is switchable supported under linux, or would I be stuck killing battery on discrete only?

Not really a gamble - I have 30 days to make up my mind, and all I'll be out is $10 for shipping

 

Could you elaborate on that? Do you use TPC?

 

Interesting, I might give it a try when I have the money for it. Not sure even then since the X920 is 45W TDP compared to 35W for my N930. Grats on your purchase though and the upgrades. Hope to try out the Thinkpads some day due to their renowned durability.

 

That's what the creator claims - I'm not doing it yet, but I can try when my tpad arrives next week, and report results.

Found the tpad service manual for the one I ordered, and surprise surprise!
Just like my former Gateway P-6861FX, one trap door covers RAM and the CPU/heatsink assembly!

Nothing better than single-door access to the CPU!

Lappy should be here next week...
Ordered the 8GB through Newegg - Corsair - they have 10% off on laptop RAM, so went from $101.99 to $91.79.
Also bought a tube of AS5 readying for the CPU upgrade.

Didn't get the CPU order in time - seller is out on vacation, returning 1/3

I originally wanted a Dell XPS15 with the 1080p display, but the 1080p panel is no longer available, so I'm getting this to hold me over until next-gen Intel and AMD come out mid-2011 or so...
I figure (4) AMD cores at 2.4-2.5gHz + 8GB RAM for $650 will be plenty to toy with for a few months under linux + VirtualBox/VMWare.

 

I bought a gateway NV53a36u laptop just for this X920 CPU from starmicro from ebay. the chip arrived quickly and looked brand new. no thermal paste/ smudgers or any imperfections. great deal for $99. anyrate. I gambled on a gateway because it was the CHEAPEST laptop with a real video card (5650) i got it for $557 shipped.

I just got the laptop today and installed my X920 cpu. it boots and runs windows fine but amd overdrive will not let me overclock it. I still think this is a great deal for someone upgrading but dont count on overclocking ... my old gateway FX was SO easy to swap CPU. this NV53a required removing the entire motherboard and everything connected to do so. I will make a video on the tear down because it was a pain and ill need to do it again when i get some real thermal paste.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_no1kTs1_j99AC1Pkfn2L6FRRZySYe7jpBvqRzSXIw4?feat=directlink

 

Nice work! Hope to try that out some day. Do you play BC2? Curious if the game freezes briefly for you the first time you load a server. Mine seems to do it in order to "catch up" to the destruction of the map.

 

I havent installed that game yet, i have a 3megabit connection and takes FOREVER to install over steam. call of duty mw2 runs GREAT!

 

Somebody has installed the newest ATI_Catalyst_Mobility_11.1_Software_Suite_Vista7_64-bit?

BTW my Pavilion DV7 4090 (AMD N620 + 880G & ATI 5650) came with F8 BIOS, I updated to F23, I supose it will bring in better performance and lower power consumption, isn't?

 

That is what I heard, I have not bothered to update. If it does let me know.

 

Hi, I'm from Italy and I have a great problem with my new notebook.

The problem name is AMD Athlon II P320, also know as "the king of bottleneck" .

I'm searching a way to overclock my CPU but I can't see a solution, I already try different software without success.

On NewEgg review i read a guy talking about the overclock of the n930, but he don't mentioned the method.

Did you find a method to overclock this chipset ? My Processor has very poor general performance .

 

So any widespread issues with the dv6z? The audio through the headphone jack is okay? No stability weirdness?

Does the system allow you to use normal drivers from AMD.com?

I was really close to buying a new Sandy Bridge based HP, until I learned the Intel video on them means you can't use AMD's normal drivers...which totally rules them out for me.

I hate spending as much money on a slower CPU and GPU, but if it works, so be it. Wouldn't mind supporting AMD anyway.

Another question...I'm assuming I should get the 2.2GHz quad, but I wonder if the 3GHz dual core might actually be a better choice in some ways? Stuff that's not multithreaded well might run better on it, and I'm not sure how these Phenom 2s compare clock for clock to a Core 2 (let alone i7 let alone the Sandy Bridge version).

The 3GHz dual is cheaper, but I just want whichever is better overall.

 

Haven't heard or experienced any issues. Sound sucks out of the box so follow this guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/5668647-post3614.html it's the same issue with the dv6t's using Clarksfield/Arrandales if you were wondering - don't know if it was improved in the SB gen of dv6t's. dv6z's can use the drivers from AMD's site since it's a purely AMD machine.

With regards to dual vs quad core, go with what works best for the software you'll use. I prefer the quad since I play games that benefit, but I also don't feel like I'm suffering any when I use other programs like web browsers, MS Office, etc. These Phenoms are at best on par with C2Ds. Anandtech has a collection of reviews that might benefit you if you care to sift through them: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Mobile/137

I'm not sure when they'll be released, but you might want to wait and see how AMD's Llano APUs will turn out. They're 32nm versions of the Phenom IIs, and some chips might have Turbo Core which is AMD's version of Turbo Boost. They won't be on par to SB, maybe close to Clarksfield/Arrandales Core i's, but too soon to tell.

 

Thanks for the info! Glad to hear they can use AMD's normal drivers.

So I read that link about the sound, and it looks like the issue is just that it's too quiet? I'm not super picky about sound, but just want it to not hiss or crackle through the headphone jack. I'm really shocked so many systems seem to have that problem...

Sounds like the quad is probably the way to go for me then...sounds like the 2.2 is probably similar-ish to a 2Ghz Core 2 quad....dated, but at least it's better than what I have now

 

Sorry to bump an older thread, but is there any news on the new AMD cpus? I wanted to buy a dv6zse but I couldn't bring myself to do it since the performance and power useage is so poor compared to my current i5.

 

HP is currently having a sale on the dv6z, has removed all but 2 processor options and there is a 35% off coupon. Taken together this probably means they are clearing stock.

Edit: They removed the discrete graphics options as well. Maybe Llano is going to be available earlier than many of us thought

 

Yeah, but Bulldozer CPUs are quite a ways off, aren't they? Coming sooner are ones with the integrated graphics moved from the chipset to the CPU, but the CPU's the same thing. Doesn't help anyone except people looking at low end systems.

The dv6z seems like a really good deal right now with that 35% coupon...I've been close to jumping on it but can't quite make up my mind. Wish it had a better GPU available...at least a 480 core part anyway.

 

Not high end =/= low end. The processor options that AMD offers right now are more than enough for most users. In light/normal use you would barely notice a difference between them and the fastest processors around and under heavy use they perform about as well as the dual-core Arrandale.

From early ES benchmarks, Llano will provide a slight increase in clock-for-clock performance so that it roughly equals C2D.

 

Well the point is the actual successor to these chips is months off, of not longer. I'm not even sure it's coming this year. At best, if they switch to those combo chips it'll be a downgrade from what you can get now, if not a massive downgrade.

Point being it would be silly to wait because you think something better is coming-it is, but it's Bulldozer, and it's hitting desktops first apparently, and even that is a ways off.

 

Llano, coming within the next couple of months, is an upgrade over their Champlain processors. Like I said, early ES samples of Llano show a clock-for-clock performance increase over Champlain. It may not touch Intel high-end processors but my point is that most people don't need to. Not to mention the huge increase in graphics performance. The highest available APU has an integrated graphics core as powerful as a discrete 5650, roughly 3 times faster than Intel integrated graphics. There should also be a great increase in battery life, if the current APUs are any indication, and heat management.

Bulldozer is at least a year away from laptops, possibly more.

 

Dang, that stinks-there's a new 35% off coupon...but they removed the GPU options...you can only get it with integrated graphics now, so it's no longer an option for me.