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

Probably.

I do use AMD GPU Clock Tool to OC the 6570M up to 725/925 and works fine.

I still don´t understand why the 5650m could downclock itself when idle to 100/150 @ 0.9V and the 6570M goes to 400/800 @ 1.05V, that´s a bit too much.

 

Well, that explains the battery life.

You made sure that PowerPlay was enabled in CCC, right?

 

Received my HP Pavillion DV7T Quad laptop (with sandy bridge) yesterday. Don't like the new mouse pad and the keyboard, but i can manage with it. The one thing that bothers me greatly is that i had ordered a customized laptop with 160 GB solid state drive and an additional 500 GB @ 7200 rpm hard drive.

The three hard disk drives on the laptop i have received are the following:

1. OS(C drive) 74.4 GB free of 117 GB

2. Data (D drive) 465 GB free of 465 GB

3. Recovery (E drive) 4.65 GB free of 31.6 GB

The 500 GB 7200 rpm hard disk drive has obviously been partitioned into D: and E: But why is the C: hard disk drive showing 117 GB instead of a number closer to 160 GB? I called HP and the representative said that this was unusual, but unfortunately i did not have internet access on my laptop and he could not view my laptop from remote access. Then, later, i called again, and reached a second representative who accessed my laptop using remote access and then said that a portion of the 160 GB SSD is being used for Bios and also for virtual memory. This did not make sense to me. I just spoke to a techie friend of mine and he says it does not make sense to him as well. My friend also wondered why the Windows 7 operating system which came pre-loaded on the laptop (along with some additional drivers) is occupying so much memory. Any comments/thoughts on my issue? Should i contact HP representatives again? Does it make sense that approximately 43 GB of the SSD is being allocated for virtual memory and the Bios?

 

Not necessarily. I would imagine that the Recovery drive is part of the the SSD and not the secondary disk (even though the drive letter is after).

The actual capacity of a 500 GB drive is definitely less than the 496.6 GB capacity (because of the 1 MB = 1024 KBs and not 1000 KBs thing) that you would get if you added the D: and E: drives together. Whereas, the actual capacity of a 160 GB hard drive is about the size you would get if you added C: and E: together.

Open up the Windows 7 Disk Management console (Run --> diskmgmt.msc) and see which physical disk the recovery partition is on.

 

Actually I haven´t said anything about the battery but I guess you´ve read my post in that other thread.

Powerplay is always enabled, the problem is that the GPU always (idle or no 3d) stays at 400/800 @ 1.05V.

And to make matters worse HP hasn´t enabled the IGP in the BIOS. What´s the point of having a SB with and IGP if we can´t use it.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

My guess is that HP chose not to bother making their own switchable graphics method and is just waiting for AMD's upcoming solution.

 

Actually that would be pretty much pointless. If the IGP is not enabled in BIOS then the OS will not "see" it.

I just managed to downclock the GPU to 150/200 @1.05V and it has dropped 10ºC. I´m gonna try to go 100/150.

AMD GPU Tool say that it has a supported voltage of 0.9V and 1.05V but it won´t drop to 0.9V.

 

They could probably offer a BIOS update to fix that, but thinking about it I've come to the conclusion that HP just feels that people buying a laptop with a quad-core CPU and a dedicated GPU don't want or need good battery life.

 

And HP would be wrong!!! I for one would really like to have the IGP with longer battery life.

 

if that was what HP was thinking, the hammered the nail right on with me...especially a 17 incher, i didn't care that much for battery life, if it was 14 or 15", i'd imagine more people would use it for battery life...but that's just me...

and Briju, I got the same SSD so I'll find out if they did the same for me in the next week or so...

 

I'm pretty certain you're correct...my 1.5 tb external hd only has 1.35 of usable space...

 

When I added the second HD and caddy to the DV8, I thought then that the caddy was outragerously priced. Now that my newly ordered DV7t SB is on it way, I ordered the caddy for the DV7, $6.78 for shipping in addition to $38.85 for the caddy. I could have got a 2.5" HD 500 GB for that amount.

 

Daym you're right, I picked up a 500gb external on black Friday for only $40, and here I am racking a $115 bill for my caddy and 640gb Sammy drive...guess that's the price we pay for a hd that's attached, spins at 7200rpm, and connected through esata

 

Looking at your new DV7, you have both the SSD and the HD, so your caddy is included with your system. I am still thinking about an additional SSD ( best upgrade for me so far) so an extra caddy is needed.

 

I only went with the SSD so I bought the caddy and Sammy by themselves ... So are you saying I would of gotten the caddy for the 2nd drive automatically?

 

No, you would get the second caddy only if you buy both the ssd and HD from HP.

The second drive is always empty for me.

 

It seems that I was wrong. It does look like HP is just waiting on AMD, along with some other OEMs. It might come as early as the 26th.

 

i think we're confusing ourselves and talking about different things...lol

this is what the caddy says:

*Works with 2.5" SATA drives up to 12.5mm in height
*Works with both 9.5mm and 12.5mm drives
*Also compatible with 2.5" SATA SSD
*Includes caddy, cable, screws (4 - bracket screws, 4 - drive screws)
*For 2nd Drive Bay only

i didn't order the 2nd drive from HP, but my guess is this "caddy", is not really a caddy by the traditional meaning of going into your optical drive, but just allows you to put a HD into the 2nd HD opening...someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's how it is...and i needed to add my sammy HD so i had to buy this, but I think if you didn't get the 2nd HD right from HP, you'd need this because i don't think they bolt right in, right?

cus if I'm wrong, I gotta resell the "caddy" that i bought.

 

Will this be updated via new driver?

 

Anyhow the motherboard supports switchable graphics, the thing is that BIOS must support the same

 

I tried replacing the "default" wireless card with an Intel 6200 I have at home, however when I booted the computer after the swap it shows an error screen saying that the wireless card is not compatible.

What´s the point of having Intel wireless drivers on the HP website for this model if I can´t use an Intel card???

 

HP and Lenovo have very annoying requirements for wifi cards. They have to be HP or Lenovo certified whatever that means. I had the same problem when I tried to replace my intel 5100 with the 6200 in my DV8. I thought the SB dv7 "default" wifi card is the 6200. I ordered mine with BT so I don't know what I get until it gets here next week I hope.

 

I don't quite understand that question. I'll try anyway.

Basically, the driver should contain the software required for switchable graphics. Use the driver from AMD's site when it becomes available. If you need help with that, I'll be glad to give it.

True, but it might already support it. You won't know it until you actually try the driver (assuming that this driver adds AMD DSG).

 

Got mine from HP website. Arrived 1/21 shipped from Shanghai in two days

So far happy with it. Have a few questions:

1. Can some one show me how to make a recovery disk? I saw i can run the recovery manager to re-install the original system but want to have a disk in case the whole computer die.

2. How can i test the blu-ray writer, blu-ray player to see if it is working? Realizing i have only 21 days of return policy.

3. i did not order the blue-tooth with it. Was it a bad choice since i want to have wireless mouse later on and don't want to use up a USB socket. Now that i order it already, would it be a option i can add it in myself?

Thank you

 

1 Ans: Start>HP Recovery manager(just type in recovery- if not found)>Advanced options>Recovery disk creation>(Then it will give you the details of how many DVD or CD (s) required)>insert the disk(pref. DVD) and when it asks for 2nd disk insert it...like that.
(Also this can be done only once so get good set of DVDs)

2 Ans: Well s you have chosen Blu-ray writer, just get a blu-ray disk and write some content into it and try to play the same thing or for just checking the Reading you can just try with any blu-ray film disks.

3 Ans:I think you can add on later (not confirmed: Clarify with other members in the form)

 

With the 9 cell battery, the DV7 4290 is quoted by HP as having a 5 hrs battery with the 2630qm. I assume that with the wifi turns off and the screen brightness reduced. So in regular use, the battery should last at least 4 hrs. That's not bad at all for this laptop. In comparison, my DV8 with the 12 cell battery only lasts about 2-3 hrs in regular use, wifi and everything on.

Now with IGP, the SB laptop should last even longer than the ATI GPU. I know the dv7 is heavy and not really a mobile laptop but in pinch, it's something it's really nice to have a long battery life.

Hopefully, the new SB and ATI fusion will have 10-12 hrs battery life!!!

 

An HP rep on the official support forums recently mentioned that new drivers are coming for the ATI 6570M:

The issues are that the customer is not able to activate the switchable graphics for the SB/ATI combo, and they were having some issues connecting to an external monitor.

Switchable graphics supported on dv6t qe with ATI 6570? - HP Support Forum

 

How hd6570 performs in games?

 

On the DV6T, with the 2720QM in Bad Company 2 I was getting between 60 and 90 fps on low settings @ 1366x768. On Medium it was more like 40-60 and on high right around 30.

IMO it does quite well.

 

yay i just got my laptop today...

i opened up the back, installed my new sammy 640gb HD with the newmodeus caddy...

a couple of questions:

1. The side screws of the caddy could NOT go completely around my HD, will that be a problem if the HD just stays in the laptop not screwed into the caddy, which ofcourse is screwed on to the laptop

2. Where in the bios do I add the new HD?

thanks

 

@deucelee, I had to remove the brackets off the mylar shield and install the brackets back the other way for it to sit nicely. It took some time to figure out but the set I got from newmodeus seem to be in reverse. BIOS, auto detects it.

 

awesome, i'll give that a shot bravo...thanks for being so informative in our thread...

right now i'm creating the restore disks but after I do that, i'll retry the removal of the shield..i think the shield would fit the 9.5mms must fine, but i don't think i could stretch the 12.5mm HD in the shield...

well, my bios did not detect it at all...i'll have to retry it later...thx tho

 

Right, I moved my 1tb drive to the empty slot, reused the newmodeus sata connector for it. While the newmodeus mylar and brackets went on my ssd and reused the old shorter sata connecter.

 

the bios is not reading my HD...hmmm, any ideas?

the only thing i see when i got to the bios is to select Primary or Secondary "Hard Disk Self Test".

suggestions?

 

Hey to all of you current owners has anyone had any build issues or quality issues? Whats the battery life on these like? Temperature issues?

Last but not least does it have a USB 3.0 port?

 

@deucelee,

Do you know if the new 640gb HDD you have works? (try it on a PC, or on the stock cable..etc.)

 

what is the difference digonal and non diagonal display?

 

build issues? no so far, but it's only been one day...it seems pretty decent...i didn't buy it for battery life but i only have the 6 cell, you can buy the 9 cell if you're concerned...

there's no usb 3.0, that is one downer but i'll probably get a expresscard for usb 3.0.

 

hey Bravoexo, man do i feel like an idiot...haha i just needed to go into "Computer Management" and in the "Storage/Disc Management" to add a new simple volume.

aldam, not sure what you mean bro...

 

@deucelee, good job figuring it out.

 

You mean you can add an expresscard after the fact? How?

 

On another note: HP has new On Screen Display drivers... the graphics are new for those fn + fxx keys... and the volume doesn't seem to tamper with full screen displays anymore (and it seems to sync with media player's volume setting too)

 

I was thinking something like this...but maybe when they get a little cheaper and more stable later this year or something...seems like most of them on amazon has pretty crappy ratings...

 

But we don't have an expresscard slot.

 

Given that I only get 1 and half hours from my current notebook's battery I'm sure that the dv7t offers some improvements. So what the general estimate you would give as to how long yours last? Is the screen on the brightest settings?

 

I ordered the 9 cell battery and HP estimate is about 5 hour battery life. I assumed that would be with everything turns down, normal use would be about 4 hours with wifi on.

When HP and ATI release the appropriate driver for the SB IGP then I hope the battery will be even better.


dv7t Quad Ed
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• No Additional Office Software
• No additional security software
• 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 5.0 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1600 x 900)
• Blu-ray writer & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision Webcam with Mic + HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader [For Brightview Infinity Display]
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Standard Keyboard
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

crap you're right, i didn't take a good look at that yet and was just assuming we had one...it's only a sd card slot...darn

guess i'll just have to get a external HD with eSata if i want a decent connection...aw well, i've been living with usb 2.0 for years now without much problems...guess i'll get a laptop with 3.0 4-5yrs from now...i'll live :|

 

@bravoexo, how much free storage is left after you cloned your HD to your SSD?

 

Hey folks, just got my dv7tqe yesterday. Its absolutely beautiful and BEASTLY fast! Very excited about this sucker.

Anyways, one of my main uses of this notebook will be for playing World of Warcraft. So I got WoW installed on it, and it runs great looks great and everything. One problem, I can't hear sound effects. I can hear the game music...I can even hear certain sounds but most of the sound effects in the game are not coming through for some reason. I have tried messing with the in-game settings but I haven't been able to turn on the sounds I'm looking for. I thought perhaps someone else on this forum may have run into this. Any ideas?

 

21 pages and only one bench.
Please do some more benchmarks, games etc..
I'm very interested in results of 6570.