Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
GUIDE TO DV6Z OPTIMIZATION AND OVERCLOCKING
What is this guide? It's an attempt to help AMD Llano notebook users overclock, undervolt, and optimize their systems. The Llano CPU has superb overclock potential especially from a mobile chip. This guide comes from a culmination of information, most from NBR but from multiple sources, so credit goes to everyone. The suggestions made in this guide by no means is the best or only solution, but it is one that worked for me and for many others. I will be happy to update, correct, and/or add additional suggestions. Please just post in this thread and we can discuss as needed. Hopefully this will end up being the definitive AMD Llano guide eventually, with specifics for DV6z.
A lot of this information is generic and can be carried across manufacturers, I just included it because I saw these things as commonly asked questions in the forums.
CONTENTS:
. Downloads and Links:
... Downloads for OC
... Drivers
... modded BIOS, utilities
... Hardware Mods
. What should I do when I get my PC / Windows Installation
. Overclocking / Undervolting CPU
. Overclocking GPU (Video Card)
... Integrated GPU (6620G) Performance with Single and Dual Channel Memory, 1333 vs 1600 MHz (different thread)
... CrossFireX / Dual Video Overview and Compatibility
... CAP Profile Downloads
. Confirmed Hardware Compatibility and Guides *** NEED USER INPUT!!!
. Gaming Optimization Suggestions *** NEED USER INPUT!!!
. FAQ - Just a few at the moment, working on more...
---------------------------
HISTORY:
January 27, 2012 - Added to hardware section Unlock / Fixed Dynamic Switchable Graphics - Imwithstupid11
January 26, 2012 - Added Hardware Mods section (under downloads)
January 26, 2012 - Added 6620G IGP Benchmarking
January 24, 2012 - Getting the Fingerprint Reader to work with Firefox / Chrome by Jafar.al added to hardware section
January 21, 2012 - How to guide for removing optical drive bezel added by clarkkent57 in hardware section
January 17, 2012 - Thread Created!
-
OVERCLOCKING / UNDERVOLTING CPU
The one big advantage of the AMD Llano / Fusion chips is their ability to overclock. AMD left a LOT of voltage headroom for overclocking, or for the better, undervolting even at higher clock speeds. There are two utilities that allow you to do this fairly easily. These utilities are K10Stat and FusionTweaker. I will cover K10stat primarily since that's what I use and am most familiar with. Will add FusionTweaker info later. They both effectively do the same thing, with minor GUI or performance enhancements between one or the other.
************ IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ***************
Every laptop, CPU, and configuration will overclock differently. So just because what worked for one person won't necessarily work for another. You will most likely have lockups, crashes, BSOD's, restarts, etc if you just copy one person's profile to your laptop. It is good as a general reference, but you MUST test your specific machine extensively to ensure stability. Also, while this will most likely not harm your laptop, I take no responsibility if something breaks on your machine. Overclocking technically voids the warranty. High temperatures can also damage equipment, although there are hardware safeguards to minimize that possibility. In other words, be smart, and don't push your laptop so the CPU (or APU as AMD likes to call it) runs at 100C
************ END OF IMPORTANT NOTE ***************
- K10STAT OVERVIEW -
There are several guides to K10stat on the web, but nothing seemed too detailed or left out a lot of assumptions. I'll try to be as concise as possible without boring you.
K10Stat can seem somewhat cryptic at first, but once you get to used it, it's pretty straightforward and easy to use. K10stat allows you to set multiple profiles so you can run your laptop in different configurations depending on your useage (i.e. gaming, extend battery life, etc). There are also several different ways to manage how the CPU clock is controlled (K10stat, Windows, PowerPlay, etc). It is important to choose which method you like and disable the others otherwise it can cause unpredictable or conflicting results.
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/5JyI3.jpg)
First, a brief overview of the program. There is a guide and instructions for K10stat, but this is my interpretation and in myown words. Hopefully it's straightforward. Refer to the above image in the below descriptions.
When you fire up K10stat it starts you at the "info" tab. Of importance here is the Voltage. It tells you max and min voltages the CPU will accept. Each type of CPU has different voltage ranges, and may limit how high you can overclock if temperature is not an issue, so take note of your maximum voltage limit. But where you will spend most of your time is in the "P-state" tab. In the profile pull down menu (1) there are 5 profile states that you can configure for different useages and can be renamed for ease of reference. Note that you CANNOT name it with a space in the name, otherwise it will mess up the naming designations, just a bug in the system.
Next line (2) you will see FID, DID, Frequency. Don't care much about the FID and DID, all you are really interested in is the frequency (well sorta). The FID and DID are basically multipliers to get the desired frequency. DID of 0 allows for multiples of 100MHz, DID of 1 is 67MHz, DID of 2 is 50MHz, etc. You will see the resultant frequency as you change the DID and FID. It will not take affect until you click the "Apply" button. It theoretically doesn't matter which multiplier is used to get your desired frequency, but it is best to go from lowest DID for highest frequencies, down to highest as you approach your lower frequencies.
The DID/FID configuration works in conjunction with the P-states (3) listed below it. You select the desired radio button (dot, whatever you want to call it, to the left of the P-state. The B0 state is the "turbo" state, and will only reach that speed when certain load and temperature conditions are met. What they are I'm not going to say, because I really don't know! P0 state is the maximum standard clock frequency, and each P-state below it are "steps" of the frequency that the CPU will run at based on load. At idle, the system will run at P6 state. At full load, P0 state. Varying loads will float in between the two.
This leads to the up/down states (4)/(5). In (5) you can set the desired % load at that state before it will boost to the next faster P-state. In (4) you can set the desired time at that specific load up and down. But for simplicities sake for most people, just leave them alone. You can fool with those later, but for now just consider them information.
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/koQ5H.jpg)
The last part to note is in section (4). You can manage the "gang" status of the cores through command line or by right clicking the K10stat icon in your system tray and choosing "control function". By "ganging" cores, you can leave them "unganged" which means they move independently of each other, "ganged (based on highest-load core)" which means they will all advance simultaneously based on the highest loaded core, and ganged based on average and lowest-load core mean same thing respective of their description. Keep in mind that they will only move according to the specified gang setting if "Enable Clock Control" is set (again through system tray icon right click).
The "Boost" checkbox basically allows the system to boost to the B0 state if checked. Otherwise it will remain at the P0 state.
- OVERCLOCKING WITH K10STAT -
So how do we overclock with this thing? When we overclock we are looking to do two things actually, find a good set of CPU frequencies from P0 to P6 state, as well as optimize for lowest frequency it will remain stable. Lowering the voltage will result in a cooler running laptop and also offer longer battery life because it's not drawing as much power. You can see from my Overclock profile vs. stock profile that I have a much higher overclock 2333MHz at not much higher voltage than stock P0 at 1800MHz. I also have my lower P-states set at much lower voltage than stock, which is where an idle or lightly used laptop sits, resulting in cooler running and less power consuming laptop. Note that K10stat must be running in order for these frequencies and voltages to be in effect. Don't worry, there is a way to get it to start up automatically and apply proper settings on startup, but we will discuss that later.
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/pUoEZ.jpg)
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/zUsJI.jpg)
In order to ensure a stable system, now you will get to install and use all those utilities listed at the top of this post under the "OVERCLOCKING" section. Download and install the following at minimum:
- K10Stat (duh)
- HWInfo64
- HWMonitor
- Prime95
Before we get started note that every CPU is different and each type of CPU has maximum and minimum voltages, and you can not exceed these thresholds. It's unlikely you will be able to go below the minimum spec, but maximum spec may limit your maximum overclock due to voltage. To determine your maximum voltage just
Open K10Stat. Right click the system tray icon and choose "Enable Clock Control". Back in the K10Stat window pick a profile and rename if you want ("overclock" or something). We should start by picking a target *REALISTIC* P0 state. Don't jump at 3.0GHz right away, because you will fail. Start with 2.2Ghz (most Quad core Llanos, A6 and A8, can achieve this as a resonable overclock). Start with the default voltage, in my case of A8-3510mx, of 1.05V, set FID at 1 and DID at whatever it takes for your CPU to reach 2200MHz. (Hand holding advice - click the radio button next to P0![[IMG]](images/storyImages/5nD7V.jpg)
before adjusting the FID/DID). Click apply once you've set your frequency.
Ok, here we go, we're testing stability! Whee! I'll make this step by step:
- Start up Prime95 and select "In Place Large FFT". This will start a CPU torture test. (If you stop Prime95 and need to start it up again go to Options/Torture Test)
- Now watch your HWInfo64 CPU load. It should peak at 2.2GHz (or whatever you chose).
- Let Prime95 run for at least five minutes and monitor CPU temperatures using HWMonitor. Make sure they don't exceed 90C. If they do, then stop Prime95 (Hand holding tip - Pull down menu Test / Stop - just pressing the "X" close will minimize it to system tray and keep it running). If your system does not lock up, BSOD, or Prime95 doesn't error, then drop the voltage one notch. Let it run for a few minutes, make sure it doesn't lockup, reboot, BSOD, Prime95 error, etc. Continue this process until your computer actually DOES error out in Prime95, BSOD, lockup, reboot, whatever isn't normal. This means you will have to bump up the voltage a notch from where it failed. I recommend pushing it up two notches until you can validate that voltage for an extended stability test.
What temperatures are "OK?" I'd say anything below 85C is ok. 90C is actually ok, but pushing into the danger zone. Also watch HWInfo64 core activity. If all the cores drop to a lower P-state for a second or two, then your CPU is throttling. Otherwise some intermittent bouncing around of each individual core is normal. Many users have been seeing Core 3 fail before any other core. This is normal, but still cannot fail to ensure stability.
Once you've got P0 stable, move on down to P1 state. It will have to be same speed and voltage as P0 or lower. K10stat will scream at you if you violate this rule anyhow. In order to lock in P1 speeds, click each individual speed button to the right of P1 or more easily, right click the K10stat icon in your system tray, click "Lock P-state" and choose P1. You can do this while Prime95 is running if you want to just keep the system loaded. But you can also stop and start up Prime95 again. Sometimes I actually get errors by stopping and starting Prime95 due to instability, but possibly due to a lower P-state and voltage, but you can fuss with that later. Test each P-state this way for a good ten minutes minimum and watch for temperature, Prime95 errors, core activity, and of course lock-ups, reboots, etc.
You can set each p-state to whichever speed you desire, ramping up at whichever speeds you desire. I like to keep mine set pretty evenly distributed, but the choice is up to you. Most of the time they system will be running a the lowest three p-states with normal dekstop activities like websurfing, office apps, etc. Gaming and encoding or other CPU intensive tasks will likely spend most of their time at the fastest p0 state.
For lower p-states (or higher number P-states), run Prime95 for longer times only because the CPU is processing much more slowly, and can take a lot longer to reach instability. In order to test your B0 speed, which is your turbo boost speed, you will need to set your P0 state to your B0 state and test it as P0 state because you cannot lock in B0 state.
Once you've achieved overclock/volt stability it can't hurt to run Prime95 for extended periods at each P-state. I ended up running each one overnight, but that's probably overkill. If it can make it through 30 minutes you're probably golden. Also try running Prime95 in conjunction with MSI Kombustor. This will stress both the CPU and GPU simultaneously. Plus the CPU and GPU share a portion of the cooling system, it can increase CPU temps an additional amount. When running MSI Kombustor, however, be sure to select DX9, DX10, or DX11 mode otherwise it will default to OpenGL which at present time, will only utilize the integrated GPU (the one in the CPU) and not the dedicated 6750m.
Now that you have your overlock/undervolt stable, you can fuss around with the different gang settings. If you right click the K10stat icon in the taskbar you have to activate "Enable clock control" and then choose control function of unganged, and other ganged options. Best to choose them before starting a game or benchmark and check performance and temperatures to see what works best for you. Alternatively you can turn off clock control, which will allow Windows to manage control of the P-states, although as long as K10stat is running, the associated clock speeds and voltages will be in effect. How does Windows p-state control work? Here's a brief overview if you want to play.
Windows CPU p-state control can be found in your Windows Power Options. (Hand Holding Tip - Right click your battery icon in your system tray and choose Power Options, or Control Panel, hardware and sound, power options. If you haven't dabbled in the advanced settings now is the time to do so. There's lots of options to tune your PC for each power profile assigned, along with how it acts on battery or with A/C power. For now select the power option you desire (i.e. "HP Recommended", Balanced, High Performance) and choose "change plan settings". Then choose "change advanced power settings". Scroll down to "processor power management". Here you can change minimum processor state on battery or plugged in. 0% will not run your PC at lowest state, but at your slowest P-state. In my case 800MHz. 100% will set it to your fastest P-state (P0) in my example 2.2GHz. So with 7 p-states (P0 to P6) each 17% will bump up an additional p-state. So if you want your system to max out at P2 state on battery, just set it to somewhere between 68-84%.
- STARTING K10STAT WITH WINDOWS -
Ok, now that you have everything set up how you want, you probably want this thing to load up automatically with Windows right? Thankfully there is an excellent guide on starting K10stat with Windows. Read this guide carefully, and I mean carefully when doing so.
http://aspiregemstone.blogspot.com/2009/06/k10stat-amd-griffin-processor.html
Now let me clarify a couple things since some people tend to make these mistakes, even I did.
(1) Make sure you start it "at logon" with your username. If you set it to startup "at startup" it will run before you even log in, but you WILL NOT HAVE A SYSTEM TRAY ICON for K10stat to change settings.
(2) After you make your K10stat task in Task Scheduler, be sure to set the "Start In" path to your K10stat directory under the "Actions Tab"
Now you should be set. Once you boot up your PC K10stat will be running. Personally, I have two profiles, one for gaming on my cooler for fastest performance and the other for battery and/or non-gaming to keep it cool and quiet. -
6620G BENCHMARKING RESULTS WITH DIFFERENT RAM CONFIGURATIONS
Added results in the gaming forum here at NBR, so will just link to it: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...g-benchmarked-various-ram-configurations.html
OVERCLOCKING GPU
The DV6z-6100 currently comes with an AMD Radeon HD 6750m GPU (recently replaced with 6790m) with the GPU clocked at 600MHz and 1GB GDDR5 RAM at 800MHz. There is also an integrated GPU with the AMD A4/A6/A8 CPU's designated as Radeon HD 6620G. With AMD CrossfireX or currently renamed to Dual Graphics it will utilize both the dedicated 6750m GPU along with the integrated 6620G GPU simultaneously for supposed improved performance. This works out great in theory, but mixed results in reality. It can result in "micro-stutters" where even 50 fps can look like 15 fps. So your mileage may vary. AMD continues to improve this tech through drivers, although running and overclocking only the 6750m GPU seems to render the best results. See below this section in this post for more information on CrossfireX.
Note that the integrated GPU *cannot* be overclocked. Also just for reference, you cannot currently adjust voltage on the dedicated GPU. Higher voltage typically allows for faster overclocks.
Overclocking of video cards is pretty generic, but will cover the use of MSI Afterburner. It's a great all around utility for overclocking video cards, as well as includes an on screen display (OSD) that will provide stats on your CPU and GPU in-game such as temperature, clock speed, fps, among other things. It can also take screenshots and record video.
Before trying to overclock, you will need to make sure you have an HP video driver set installed or Catalyst 12.1a (currently confirmed supported) AMD Radeon drivers. Other drivers will lock up the system.
Additionally, you will need to ensure ULPS is disabled. I'm sure you want to know what ULPS is, it's basically a power saving feature for AMD GPU's. Considering your system will use your integrated GPU except for your most intense graphics programs (mainly games), this will not affect your battery life or temperatures adversely by disabling it. But it will allow you to overclock. There are a couple ways of doing so.
disableulps(1) I have written the appropriate ULPS registry entries to enable or disable ULPS. You will need to reboot after you have updated your registry entries. It's basically a toggle, so run "ULPS_Disable.reg" and reboot and your ULPS will always be disabled until you run "ULPS_Enable.reg". Download it here (originally posted here): http://www.mediafire.com/?p3317ahjjcghpts
(2) Other option is to use Sapphire Trixx: https://www.sapphireselectclub.com/ssc/TriXX/TriXX.aspx
This program has the option to disable ULPS, requiring a reboot also, but has had mixed results.
That being said, if you haven't already done so, download and install MSI Afterburner. It also includes MSI Kombustor which is a GPU stress and benchmark utility.
msieulaOnce you download and install MSI Afterburner, run it, then close it. You will do this so it creates the MSIAfterburner.cfg file in its install directory (C:\Program Files(x86)\MSI Afterburner by default). You will need to open and edit this cfg file. Once you do look for
UnofficialOverclockingEULA =
UnofficialOverclockingMode = 0
You will have to replace that with:
UnofficialOverclockingEULA = I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it
UnofficialOverclockingMode = 1
Now save the file. You will have to save it elsewhere because it will not allow you to edit files in the C:\Program Files(x86) directory. After you save it elsewhere, copy / paste it back into the C:\Program Files(x86)\MSI Afterburner directory overwriting the original.
Now start up MSI Afterburner again. You should now be able to overclock your GPU.
Just move the slider for "Core Clock" (GPU) and "Memory Clock". Shader Clock will be grayed out because it's non-relevant to AMD GPU architecture. Fan speed does not work either.
I won't go much into how to overclock because there's lots of info on that, but in general, best to increase only Core first in 5-10MHz increments and test for 5-10 minutes running a stress test like MSI Kombustor. Be sure to choose DirectX 9, 10, or 11 mode though, otherwise it will default to OpenGL which runs on the IGP only. Also verify that Kombustor is utilizing your dedicated GPU. You can do this by right clicking your desktop and selecting "configure switchable graphics" and that Kombustor is set to "high performance".
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/bpPVC.jpg)
MSI Kombustor will either show erratic behavior or lock up your system when it's reached or exceeded your GPU's maximum speed. Once you've determined maximum speed, reduce core back to stock speed, and do the same with the Memory speed. With RAM, MSI Kombustor will most likely show "tearing" or where you will see streaks in the 3D image. This means you're stressing it too hard. Your system can also lock up or reboot or BSOD as well.
Once you determine your maximum Memory clock set your core clock and memory clock to their maximum you determined, and test once more using MSI Kombuster, recommend minimum 30 minutes, but several hours will give more confidence.
If this works well for you, then you can save the profile by clicking "Save" at the bottom of MSI Afterburner and then choose a profile number 1 through 5. Then all you have to do is click that profile number and it will activate those speeds. You can also click the "Apply overclocking at system startup" option if you want those speeds when your computer starts.
Congrats! Now go play some games!
Now for some more advanced features. Clicking on "Settings" button at the bottom of MSI Afterburner opens up a whole world of features. But I'll just cover the On Screen Display.
Under the "Monitoring" tab, you will see "Active hardware monitoring graphs". Check the ones you want to show up in the graph of MSI Afterburner's main screen. But more importantly, select each item one at a time you want to show in the OSD during gaming and click the "Show in On-Screen Display" at the bottom. You need to click this box for every item, and it should show "in OSD" under the "Properties" field. GPU1 is your dedicated GPU. GPU2 is your IGP as is GPU3. There's no point in showing GPU3 for anything since it's just a duplicate of GPU2. Click OK.
Now you can minimize (don't close) MSI Afterburner, and it will show in the system tray if you need to open it again. when you run your games the OSD should show up with those details you chose.
crossfire CROSSFIREX (AKA CROSSFIRE / DUAL GRAPHICS)
AMD has a technology allowing you to utilize two (or more) GPU's to share the graphics calculating load that result in improved framerates. This is called CrossfireX, also known as "dual graphics" or commonly referred to as just "Crossfire". Typically the Crossfire technolgy is utilized between two same speed video cards, and previously only utilized in desktops. However AMD has come up with "asymmetrical" Crossfire allowing varying speed GPU's to share the GPU load, allowing us to use the integrated GPU (i.e. 6620G) and dedicated GPU (i.e. 6750m) for overall improved graphics performance. This sounds great in theory but is currently riddled with issues. For one, there are theories that the performance gap between both GPU's can only be so large before you have issues like "micro-stuttering", basically resulting in missed frames, making 60 fps look like 15 fps.
There are configuration files released regularly called CAP profiles which stand for Catalyst Application Profiles that set the parameters for each game or 3D app to process Crossfire appropriately. These are usually rolled into the next driver release. However AMD's driver updates have had mixed results, and some users have had to resort to combination of pre-release drivers and different CAPs for it to work. I am validating Vect's procedure where he's using 12.1 pre-release drivers along with an older 11.9 CAP profile. Feel free to try and report back your results as well.
cap DOWNLOADING CAP PROFILES
CAP profiles are *supposed* to be wrapped up in subsequent driver releases, however NBR user Vect noticed that installing all CAP profiles starting with 11.9 through current (as of 2/23/2012 12.1 CAP 3) it can improve crossfire performance, in other words eliminate stuttering.
CAP files can be downloaded from RAGE 3D here: http://www.rage3d.com/cap/ although they aren't real prompt on keeping them up to date. I'll try to do that here.
I also found that you can manually get the files from AMD's site using the following:
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_ XX. XX_cap X.exe
and obviously replace XX.XX with Catalyst version, and capX with CAP version.
Here they all are direct from AMD:
11.9 CAP 1: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.9_cap1.exe
11.9 CAP 2: Does not exist on AMD/ATI Servers ? Use the one at Rage 3D instead.
11.9 CAP 3: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.9_cap3.exe
11.9 CAP 4: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.9_cap4.exe
11.10 ---> There are no 11.10 CAPs
11.11 CAP 1: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.11_cap1.exe
11.11 CAP 2: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.11_cap2.exe
11.11 CAP 3: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.11_cap3.exe
11.12 CAP 1: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.12_cap1.exe
11.12 CAP 2: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.12_cap2.exe
11.12 CAP 3: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_11.12_cap3.exe
12.1 CAP 1: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_12.1_cap1.exe
12.1 CAP 2: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_12.1_cap2.exe
12.1 CAP 3: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/hotfix/catalyst_application_profiles/amd_catalyst_12.1_cap3.exeLast edited by a moderator: Feb 5, 2015 -
This RAM is also working flawlessly:
G.Skill SO-DIMM 4GB PC3-12800S CL9-9-9-28 (DDR3-1600) (F3-12800CL9S-4GBSK)Attached Files:
-
-
Removing the Optical Drive Bezel / Replacing The Optical Drive Bay with an SSD/HDD Drive Bay / Optical Drive External Enclosure / Preferred SSD/HDD Configurations
What you'll need:
First, read this entire post before you start. Seriously. It might save you having to do the work twice and reduce the risk of breakage.
Medium-size phillips screwdriver
Largest flat-blade jeweler's screwdriver (or similar)
Prior removal of the optical drive, opened, and placed upside-down on a secure, clean flat surface. (Easy, just pop the bottom panel of the laptop and remove the one screw holding the drive's mounting bracket to the laptop, If you need further instruction, check out Youtube...there are many videos on this...but if you can't do it from these brief instructions alone, well, then, you probably shouldn't be doing it all. Sorry, don't mean to offend...but it's true.) DO NOT TOUCH THE LENSES!
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/j3FLh.jpg)
1. Once you've removed the optical drive from the laptop, do this clip first. Approach from the side (not shown), and press the phillips' tip into the hole. Clip should easily pop. (Don't use anything smaller that will actually fit the hole. Only use something big enough for the blunt tip to fit, otherwise you risk breaking the tab or worse.)
2. This is the tab that's hard to see...it looks like part of the assembly. Just push down using the flat-blade while applying just enough forward pressure to the bezel so that it slides out once the clip is down. (How I found this was by first looking at the replacement bezel for the optical drive enclosure I bought. This might help you too, since, by looking at the drive, this is not obvious at all.)
3. This is the obvious "hook clip" (not shown because it's on the HP bezel, and this photo is of the drive after install into the external enclosure.) Once #1 and #2 are out of the way, you might not even need to unhook it, but if you do, simply do it with the flat-blade as part of the process of prying off the rest of the bezel. Work carefully, but it's pretty easy from here.
Reinstallation is the reverse. Just line up all tabs with all holes and push gently and firmly. ABSOLUTELY do not press harder if it doesn't go in the first time! Re-check your alignment and gently try again.
As for the caddy I bought in which to insert my SSD, here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HNQRC0/ref=ox_ya_os_product
It's listed as unavailable, but if you check around, you will find many suitable substitutes. I urge you, however, to buy one just like this one, where the screws mount the drive from below. The reasons for this are:
1. Ease of mounting. Much better that those that use some funky side mechanism or "block" to hold in the drive from behind.
2. MOST IMPORTANTLY, if the caddy you use is just like this, than you can be almost certain that the internal/external interface provide SATA II connectivity. There are many complaints out there that people are only getting SATA I speeds due to the connector. I have tested this one with ATTO and my SSD, and I am getting true SATA II speeds.
Once I mounted the drive, I simply snapped the optical drive bezel on it, and then slid it back into the bay. Don't forget to transfer the mounting bracket on the rear of the optical drive to the back of the caddy, if you can, before insertion of the caddy into the laptop.
(The only problem I experienced is that the caddy holes for the mounting bracket in the back weren't shallow enough to accept the screws I removed. Some time in the near future, I will probably get one that fits and reinstall the bracket, securing the bracket back to the laptop, but this is completely optional and anal-retentive on my part. The caddy fits securely without it, and will probably never slide out due to impact, vibration, etc.)
So now, you want to think about what you're going to do with that optical drive. I bought this:
Amazon.com: USB2.0 Slim DVD / CD RW Burner External Enclosure Caddy Case with SATA Connetor For all Laptop Notebook dvd cd burner[ Case only!! Drive is not included !!]: Electronics
It comes with everything you need to make it work. It doesn't come with instructions, but the only tricky part is this: DO NOT INSERT THE 2 RETAINING SCREWS UNTIL DRIVE IS COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED, AND DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN!
(Now I have a blu-ray drive for the portable HTPC I just built!)
By the way, I tested this drive on the laptop's USB 3.0 ports, and everything works just fine. (Don't waste your time trying to find a USB 3.0 enclosure. Optical drives, even Blu-Ray, don't need that speed at all.)
OK...here's one of the reasons I said to read through first: drive placement is important depending on the combination of drives and your use.
1. Combo 1 - Two HDD drives. Put your secondary drive in the caddy. Don't buy a SATA III HDD. It's a waste of money since even a 7200 rpm SATA III HDD can't keep up with SATA II speeds beyond the initial burst.
2. Combo 2 - A small SATA II SSD boot drive and a HDD. Put the SSD drive in the caddy, unless you plan on swapping out the caddy for the optical drive or another expansion HDD. If this is the plan, then make the SSD the internal drive.
3. Combo 3 - Two SATA II SSD drives. Make the boot drive internal.
4. Combo 4 - One SATA II SSD and one SATA III SSD. Regardless of the size or which is the boot drive, put the SATA III SSD as internal. This maximizes your use of the laptop's SATA II (bay) and SATA III (internal) ports. (This is what I run, and I use an external HDD for more storage which I almost never use because I run all my media through my portable HTPC connected to the TV. When travelling, I can put the movies I want to watch on either a flash drive or directly to the SSD, and this maximizes my battery life too!)
5. Combo 5 - Two SATA III drives. Pretty much a waste of money on one SSD, but, if you do this, then keep the boot drive internal.
6. Lastly, if you're a gamer using one or two SSDs, install your games on the fastest drive. The best combination here, using two SSD drives, would be to boot from a smaller SATA II in the bay, and installing your games to an internal, larger SSD SATA III. Once you've booted your PC, and loaded an application or game, your PC rarely accesses the system. -
-
-
-
Probably you should add a section for Mods/Crazy mods....
-
HTWingNut,
First thank you for putting up this great guide. I have been casually following several threads here to tweak the dv6, a lot of which you are involved in, but the good stuff is scattered over hundred of pages making it hard to follow or catch up with. It is a great idea to reserve the first few posts and update them regularly to make a comprehensive guide that is easy to manage. It took me lots of trial an error to discover for example the separate AMD usb 3.0/ahci and HDMI drivers downloads to get everything working correctly when I want to skip going through hp drivers/downloads. But now with this guide, new users would be able manage all of the "mess" quickly! Thank you again!
On another note, I haven't done a lot of OC/UC'ing in the past, and I don't have a lot of experience doing so. You posted the finest details to get things right if one have the patience and willing to optimize the system to its maximum. I played with the numbers on my side and got some good results, but I was wondering if you can post some sample profiles that one could start with or just use as it is. I know there is no one profile that would work for all since each CPU is different, but at least we can start by a set profiles for A8-3510mx since you have that one. And then add few more over time for other CPUs including the A6 lines. I would like to see for example:
UC-low -------- UC-mid --------- STOCK -------- OC-mid -------- OC-high
OC-high could be the highest you could get at your side, or a little lower. OC-mid would be about mid way to high. Same applies for Under clocking/volting. Max/Min (approximate) temperatures associated with each profile can be also included to give an idea of what should be expected.
In any case, these are just suggestions/thoughts, which could be valid or not. Thank you again!
Jafar.al -
-
Getting HP CoolSense Technology to work
I have been trying to get HP CoolSense to install/work independently from other HP bloatware. CoolSense helps a lot by giving control over when and how often the fan should kick-in. So far I could only get CoolSense to work by also installing HP Support Assistant which is a requirement per HP forums. Here is what I did:
1- Get/install the latest HP Support Assistant from
HP Support Assistant HP Pavilion dv6z-6100 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)
2- Run the Assistant and from "home" screen choose the "learn" Category. From there you can tun CoolSense and Configure it to best fit your liking! a Short cut to CoolSense will be added to the Start menu also somewhere in "All Programs"
3- If you don't want the Assistant to mess around or bug you you can disable all of its features, (check for updates, tune up, pop-ups.. etc..)
The main reason I went after CoolSense is that after experimenting with HTWingNut instructions a little bit, I was trying undervolting and also undeclocking to maximize battery life. After running about an hour a half with light use, browsing mainly, some MS Word and installing programs I'm still at 70% battery which is great. The temperature was around 44C most of the time, but once in a while the fan kicks in for some time which I thought is unnecessary at this low temp and hence can be avoided and save some more watts! .. I can handle a slightly warmer laptop if I need to run on battery.
I have yet to see if this makes any difference!
P.S. If anyone knows how to get the Standalone Coolsesne here
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=ob-94127-1
to work please let us know
-
You are right about Coolest throttling the CPU. Actually, Quietest also throttles the CPU, but hey, isn't that desirable in some cases like mine where I want the longest battery life I can achieve?! and I know I'm not pushing too much work to the CPU anyway. Of course I wish CoolSense gives us more control over what to do and what not. To summarize your points:
Coolest: Temperature is the priority => More fan + Throttle if needed.
Performance: Performance is the priority => "Normal" fan + No throttling
Quietest : Less noise is the priority => Less fan + Throttle if needed
To achieve the highest OC and keep it up, performance mode is the way to go. Although, I can see some use for Coolest + OC where one wants OC but also wants to guarantee temp not going beyond 75C (if that is the only temp where throttling takes place). With Coolest, fan spins faster and more often which might leave some room for OC'ing before the throttle kicks in, and the computer cools quickly. I haven't tested that though. Would be interesting to find out. You can call that "conditional" overclocking! lol
-
Well, COOLEST keeps cool because it throttles, and yes ramps the fan up quickly. But the problem is that you could be pushing along just fine and all of a sudden BAM, performance drop. Depending on what you're doing it can be quite annoying. You can also either set K10stat profiles to limit your speeds and voltages lower to keep things cool and quiet, or you can adjust your Windows power properties to limit maximum CPU speed, and/or PowerPlay to do the same thing.
I've messed around with coolest mode and it didn't work for me, especially with gaming. But user discretion, do whatever works for you. First time I set it to coolest, I was excited because fans kicked in and kept things cool, then when doing anything CPU intensive it just dropped the speed like a rock and was all sad. lol.
-
Good idea. This is true. I think you're better off with the A6-3410MX or A8-3530MX than the A8-3510MX because voltage limit is only 1.2625 and really restricts overclocks, well at least excessive overclocks. With my cooling now, I know I could easily exceed 3.0GHz, but voltage is my limiting factor now. 3.0GHz is my ceiling. I was able to get 3100MHz for one run of Cinebench but subsequent runs crashed. Will go in the FAQ section, if I can ever work on getting it together. I have to go back an re-run all my 6620G benchmarks now because found out I was running at 200MHz core instead of 444MHz core. So far showing 20-25% performance improvement!
-
-
Just wanted to add a few upgrades and info...
now on a8 3530mx stock 1.9 at 1.0875v
after only 30 minutes testing at 3.0ghz at 1.0625v
yea i both ocd and undervolted and am mad impressed.
did this with prime for 30. no probs temps under 70c
my bios is f.21 at 770 970
played bf3 with ocs applied for an hour with max temp 81c
also, am using the gskill 1600mhz cl9 with hs.
120 gb agility iii
1920x1080p matte lcd monitor (there should be a guide for this!)
I have yet to find a bluetooth/wifi replacement that does not require whitelist bios. (whitelist bios options are few and dont have 770 970 option that i know of)
laptop cost 530
lcd + cable 140
ssd 150
ram 50
apu 120
= 990
sold stock
ram 25
lcd + cable 85
hdd 90
apu 70
=720
+ three year warranty that covers all if purchased same date. 80
800 for 15.6" with 1080p with 120gb ssd with 8gb cl9 with nicely ocd apu and 6750 graphics with bluray and fingerprint reader. And with accidental damage handling. I feel secure.
I am happy with my purchase. This computer flies in every capacity.
I cannot wait until i finish oc ov uc uv testing (over under clock volt)
the final kick will be hooking it up to my yet to be completed windows home server for everywhere files.
and thank you everyone and mostly wingnut for all the useful information I used to apply these upgrades.
even if i did have to sort through the big guide before this one was created
-
I was thinking the same thing. 1.2625 maybe.
-
The Definitive DV6z Llano Overclock and Optimization Guide
Discussion in 'HP' started by HTWingNut, Jan 17, 2012.
