Noise comparison: NC8430 v NX9420 v 6710b?

Reading the notebookreview forums, it seems that all 15" HP bussiness notebooks have horrible noise characteristics.

Based on the nx9420 fan speeds I find it to be:
off: great
slow: acceptable
medium: unacceptable
fast: horrid

Compared to other notebook's I have heard:
6715b with 2,0GHz AMD x2 - horrid
nx9420 with T7200 - acceptable
iBook with T7200 - great

How do the nc8430 and 6710b stack up?

 

im not sure is the problem affects all of the nx series, perhaps only those equipped with an intel core processor. I have an nx6325 with an amd tl-60, and the fan is hardly if ever on. When it does engage, this thing is whsiper quiet. I wish i could comment on the newer series, but i have yet to get my hands on one.

 

nx6325: wow that's amazing, the 6715b with the same CPU -> fan almost always on medium -> and the exhaust is really hot...

 

I have an HP nc6120 at work that is very quiet. I very rarely notice the fan and even when it is on it is barely noticeable. This is an older Pentium M model.

 

I have the new 6910p - its very quiet (fan spins up less than my nx8220). Fan is not audible during light work, spins up a bit more with heavy work, during benchmarking its quite loud for a short period of time, but not unbearable, and never a vacuum cleaner. Sounds like its only the early 'b' series that have the problems

 

My nc8430 is perfectly fine noise wise...until you try to actually do something processor/GPU intensive. Then you need some speakers to cancel out the noise with the game music or some MP3s. That just about does it for me.

 

Can you elaborate a bit on that? Is "perfectly fine" the first fan speed? Processor/GPU intensive - like a stress test? I'll need to use the laptop in a library, would you call it sufficiently quiet?

 

The first fan speed is about the only one that is okay. Something like a stress test - the laptop is loud, definitely loud, but it is not the 'roaring jet' everyone describes it as. It comes close though.

As for the library use, I'll post back at the end of my work day. I'll take my laptop to work with me and run it for a while to see. It has been a while since I have taken it out with me.

 

Install Notebook Hardware Control, undervolt the CPU as follows:

6x 0.9500v
7x 0.9625v
8x 0.9750v
9x 0.9875v
10x 1.0000v
11x 1.0125v
12x 1.0500v​

And set the fan speeds as follows:

-- FAN level --
low 55C
middle 66C
high 73C
maximum 83C

-- FAN speed --
low 40%
middle 65%
high 70%
maximum 100%​

With this my nc8430 is a bit noisy only when it heavily processes data or is rendering a video. Otherwise, common usage such as surfing, emails, spreadsheet word processor, image editing, it remains silent. You can hear it if you focus on that but it's close to ambient noise (and I live in a very quiet area).

(Also remember that altering the factory presets may lead to problems and/or void your warranty, so use this with caution. It seems to work for me but I won't garantee that it works for everyone).

Hope this helps
Steve

 

The thing that I am most concerned from seeing a nx9420 is the graphics card. The X1600 exhaust on the nx9420 is hotter than the C2D exhaust. On the nx9420 there are two separate radiators, where as on the nc8430 it's kind of bent on to the fan?

 

First series 6710b has some problems with cooling (the fan is nearly always on) - according to czech review, HP is said to replace the motherboard in 6710b, because there is some faulty termistor, I have been to our (czech) Service Center and I'm currently waiting for the repaired version - I hope it will be quiet...

 

FYI...

When running on the 'Laptop' power profile, and when you do not have an external monitor attached, and running the GPU in the lowest settings possible...

The fan does not turn on too much...I was seeing temps in the ranges of 45-55C. At home, I have a monitor attached so my GPU goes to 'Balanced' and temps are higher, but in a library it really is not bad...you can hear it from maybe two feet away.