*HP dv7t Quad Edition (429X / 5XXX series) Owners Lounge*

My computer idles around 46-52C. I would think that is a pretty good idle.

ATI HD6570 is in the ~44C. Thanks for the video card gadget.

Sound wise my fans are silent.

 

Finally my logitech anywhere mouse came in. No more trackpad for me.

 

Im returning a dv7-4183 I bought at costco 3 weeks ago. They are selling the 4290 with 8gb ram and 1tb, plus their 90 day return policy with 2 yr warranty. So I can test it for a few months and see how it works.

Will the 6570 gfx card give better performance than the 5470 that was in my 4183? Will the 2630 be faster than the i5 460m?

 

I recommend getting a SSD. These 5400rpm hard drives are just so slow. So would recommend saving the 100 bucks and get the 750 GB one and use that 100 to get a SSD.

 

I really feel that it should be in the low 40s. Yes, it does go up to 100C, but if it idles at over 50C, then I have to wonder how high it will go under load. It shouldn't exceed 80C if properly cooled.

 

Just a quick question for those of you who have Windows 7 installed on an SSD? How hard is it from a technical standpoint to swap out the HDD and what size SSD are yall using?

Lastly as far as the WEI score is it true that the highest you can get is a 5.9 overall due to the limitations of the old school HDD?

 

Hi fellas,

I created a thread about this laptop in a spanish forum. 3DMark06 results inside (pictures). Amazing performance for the price.

Comunidad N3D - Ver Mensaje Individual - HP Pavilion DV7-5050es (Sandy Bridge para el populacho)

I was able to reach 12000 on 3dMark and the GPU didn´t pass 73ºC. On Cinebench R11.5 the CPU didn´t reach 80º. The SB chips are really cool.

 

Yes, you do need an SSD to get higher.

 

In the 3 weeks I've had mine, it will only idle in the 40's if you are in an AC room. 25C ambient like here. (On a cold start up I've seen 30's too he he) but 50's C is normal. And ten minutes on Cinebench got me to 90C max on one core, with the rest near 85-88C)

 

You don't have to swap, the dv7's have another hdd slot.

From a technical standpoint... not that hard. You do have to order the cable kit from either HP or newmodeUS, since it's more likely not in there. (unless you got a dv7 w/ 2 HDDs.)

 

Couple questions if you all dont mind helping.

Will the 6570 be faster than the 5470 in have in the hp dv7 4183?
Will the 2630 be too hot for the lap compared to my i5 460m?
Will the stock 5400 rpm effect gameplay?

Im new to computers, wondering what the ssd help. Any suggestions on one to buy for this computer and from where?

 

How much is the kit by itself?

And Im worried bout the ssd itself since I've been reading all sorts of threads with people having issues installing Windows 7 on an SSD. I guess cuz of the newness of the technology. Plus I'm guessing if I bought the kit (price by the way?) I'd also have to install it into the laptop. Which I can manage.

 

2nd Hard Drive Caddy & Cable kit for HP dv7-4000, dv7t SE series [HP-dv7-4000] - $38.55 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

$39 w/o shipping

 

The 6570 is a renamed 5770, so it will be at least 2-3 as fast.

The new Sandy Bridge quads run very cool, so no.

HDD speed has no effect on game performance; only load times.

 

Bravoexo, do you know if either the GPU or CPU is soldered to the motherboard?

 

also i'm wondering about the battery life since switchable graphics isn't available yet?

what kind of battery life can i expect with the 6570?

 

I could not locate the cable and connector for the 2nd HDD slot when I opened up the cover - thanks for explaining this.

I just swapped out my drive with a 7200 RPM drive instead - I really don't see myself needing the extra capacity anytime soon.

 

I've been averaging 4 - 5 hours using High Performance mode with the screen at 50% brightness.

 

this is with the ATI 6570???? that's very impressive!

could you check what's your battery capacity with battery bar or something?
xx kWh? I'm guessing you are using the 9-cell?

I'm getting a dv6 quad with the high capacity 6 cell, if anyone knows the WHr for that it'd be very helpful too! ^_^

any chance we are getting switchable graphics on these with new drivers?

 

The hardest part of the install for me was taking the cover off. The thing got stuck on something. The install is pretty simple.

Plug the SSD to the SATA cable which is plug in the SATA slot.

Screw the SSD into the laptop.

Make the SSD the boot drive.

Turn the laptop on with either a Windows 7 disc or on a usb drive.

When windows comes up install like a normal hard drive.

That is pretty much it. No need to mess with anything. Windows 7 seems to do it all.

 

I understand switchable graphics have not yet been implemented. Does anyone know if it is planned?

On another forum someone said the Intel GPU doesn't show up at all under device manager. Can someone verify and/or try to enable it in BIOS?

Thanks!

 

If you read up on Intel's doc, I believe when a discrete gpu is around, it's auomatically turned off (The IGP). But Lucidlogix has a software solution to keep using the IGP for video rendering processes, while still maintaining the discrete graphics running directx stuff at the same time.

We can't enable switchable graphics until Ati releases a solution for it. (Envy SB was announced to have that so we have to wait.) but as far as going back to lower sb laptops, it wasn't announced.

 

Hello fellow dv7t brothers!

I just placed an order for one right from HP using the $500 coupon.

Much thanks to mrPico for giving me the heads up. I opted for the 160gb SSD right away because I was going to get one anyways and I didn't have a need for any other upgrades. I'll probably get a 640gb or 750gb for the other caddy. For the price, it was WAYYYY too good to pass up. Definitely a kick to get you over the fence if anyone was looking at a dv7t.

Can't wait to get more input from you guys and hopefully i'll have some info to share to help you'alls as well.

edit: DARN! Maybe I should have just ordered the additional 500gb 7200rpm HD for an extra $100. When you consider the cost of the caddy, the cost of a extra HD goes up. forgot about that.

Hmm, maybe I'll just get this item off ebay and this 640gb HD off newegg. Total comes up to a little over a Benjamin. Any reason why that wouldn't work?

 

@deicelee, first off, Congrats! next, the cable is too short.

 

ok thanks for the info Bravoexo...

I see you posted this at newmodeus in the last page. My bad, i guess our version is the newer model which needs the longer cord...thx

btw, can someone confirm that we have ExpressCard 2.0?

2.0 was suppose to be in all laptops by late 2010 so i don't see why we wouldn't get it, but just wanted to confirm so i can get a USB 3.0 card...

 

could you possibly try disabling the ATI graphics card and install intel graphics to see if it is possible to do a "manual switch" with reboot? theoretically, especially for the dv6 quad, since you can configure it without the ATI card, you *should* be able to disable it and just use the intel 3000 for battery life when needed.

 

I'm thinking of adding a second hard drive and using RAID-1 for redundancy. Are these ready to go as far as RAID is concerned?

 

There's no way something like that would work. Installing drivers like that won't automatically allow Windows to "see" the IGP and enable it. Even if it could, you wouldn't be able to switch because there's no hardware or software switch to pick a GPU. The IGP is more than likely completely hidden as it stands and probably will need a BIOS update to enable switchable graphics if the option ever becomes available.

 

Damn, I ordered mine when there was only a $350 off coupon D: Anybody know if I can cancel my order and place a new one? Estimated shipping date is the 20th.

Edit: I placed an order for a second one using the $500 off coupon. I will either RMA the first one, or refuse delievery. Any advice on whether I should flat-out refuse delievery, or take the time to RMA it and ship it back? Also, if I choose to RMA it, do I have to go to a Fedex store to ship it, or can a Fedex driver pick it up at my house? Any advice is appreciated.

 

if you look on the hp site, for the dv6qe, you can configure it with or without the ATI 6570. so to the best of my knowledge, the bios is exactly the same between these two versions. what is preventing me from just disabling, or even physically taking out the ATI card to "downgrade" the laptop to the HD 3000 version temporarily when I need battery life instead of graphics power?

 

Well, you obviously can't take the card out, since it's soldiered to the board. The BIOS and motherboard might be configured to not be able to use the IGP at all if the board has a 6570M on it. Even if it isn't, without switchable graphics, the only way it could work would be to completely uninstall the AMD graphics driver and then install the Intel graphics driver. Would going through that trouble every time you go on battery really be worth it?

 

definitely let HP know that you're sending that one back...if they can't do that, as long as you don't open it, fedex should be able to take it back, even if they've left it on your door steps already and left...

 

I was in a similar corundum but my estimated shipping date was jan 26th. I called HP and told them I wanted to change my order and use the $500 coupon. I had to change my order to get to 1399 price to use the coupon but ended up canceling and placing a new order through hp.com since they couldn't modify. they said it'll take 24-48 hrs to find out if they could cancel but I got the notice in an hour.

If you can't cancel just return the item once you have the RMA. the HP customer service said you can ship back for free and there is no restocking fee. Just don't refuse delivery though (see link).

HP Home & Home Office Store - Returns exchanges

 

Is that cable long enough for the 2nd hard drive?

 

@alstrike, yes, that's the one I ordered, used with my 1tb HDD now that I've swapped the SSD with it on the original cabling.

It has to be long enough to do the cabling route of down, channeled in the middle and reach the sata socket around the mems.

 

For reference (since its hard to trust the maintenance manual atm)

Here's our internals backside... the dv7-5xxx series should be the same...

 

Say, is anyone ordering the Infinity view? Is it worth the extra $50?

 

Hey Guys i i am one step before buying this and i have some questions..
The specs are very good so i dont mind abouth the performance..But

Are the temps good( browsing, games?) and how about the noise(browsing,games?) noise is an important issue for me,so i dont want to have much noise (ok more noise at games but internet and office ?)
Also i have read that hp laptops have issues with their screens..Is too dark and not with good colours.. iS this right ( has anyone comparison with any Dell that have exelent screens?) ?

Sorry for my bad English..

 

bravo's probably goin to be one of the few guys that can answer that for you right now...

but i just want you to consider that this is currently a $1,200 laptop selling for $1,000, not a $2,000 laptop, so just make sure you don't have a $2,000 mindset. With that in mind, you should probably be ok. Ok i'll step aside now

 

Idle temps in a 28-30C room temp is around 51-53C (Coolsense on balanced)

Gaming temps was 75C nominal at those ambients (both CPU and GPU, run long enough and they'll be equal coz they share the same Heatsink)

Idle temps in an AC room (24C) will be around 45-48C, and gaming around 65C

Full bore Cinebench @ 10 minutes will get you 90C (10C more and you're at maxTj)

All temps are CoreTemp ones, so they're higher than what Speedfan would report.

 

Oh, and if you do put a 2nd hdd, the palm rests will warm up noticeably...so get a Coolermaster U3 with the 3 adjustable and positionable but quiet fans. (the vents underneath are all intakes.)

If you run Coolsense at coolest mode + the U3, you'll get -2-3C lower temps on the HDDs (normally they are at 33C-SSD and 38C-1tb afterwards) I'm sure you can run them hotter, but it's not a bad $35 investment IMHO

 

brvoexo thnx for ur reply man..The noise of the fans when u play and browsing is annoying?
And last how about the screen?Is good? because may have issues with their hp screen (not bright and no good colours)

 

Check out my vid caps (using a Canon 7D) on youtube, just look for my id or "dv7-4290us"

The fan hasn't been noticeable anymore since I flew out back here in the Philippines. Must be because of the U3 though. Unlike my Gateway FX p-7805u, which you really hear in the same room once it hits 50C... I can't hear the stock fan of the HP.

 

@bravoexo

Is this the way the cable should be routed?

It´s in spanish but it should be easy enough to understand.

 

To anyone who just ordered a dv6t QE or dv7t QE, there is now a $500 coupon floating around if your config is above 1,399.99. Mine was in production and they took the extra money ($150 in my case) off. The coupon is NBK4267893. They will kick you to a manager, but they WILL give you the extra money off. Good luck.

 

Does anybody know if you can get USB 3 going on these? Is there a hub or something I can buy?

 

You must be a smooth talker because I couldn't get them to do this for me. The manager I spoke with told me I would need to cancel and place a new order. I told him I had a friend that swapped the coupons. But he insisted, since I already had a coupon applied ($200 off), he could not reverse it to apply the new one. I would have to cancel. Maybe they're getting tired of people calling about it.

 

Yes. I found it easier to install the cable kit SATA connector end first before the drive side.

 

I'm not a smooth talker. As a matter of fact, I'm borderline retarded. They kicked me to a manager, then the manager said they would rather refund the difference than have me cancel and reorder. I don't know if it matters, but the first person I talked to was in India, then the manager sounded like a good, ol' fashion Amurican.

 

BYTECC has an E-Sata to USB 3.0 adapter, I just don't know if it goes only 1 way.