The Eagle has landed! (Envy 17 SB)

Big Momma just arrived. Gonna do some preparation, etc.....then we'll play. All specs are good. To anyone...if you ordered the 640 GB HDD...you get it!

 

That is one sexy notebook

 

Congradts! Bobmitch, do you think you might be able to take an HD video and upload to YouTube? I plan on creating the "Envy 17 3D SB YouTube Video Thread" If you do, just PM me the link and I will add you to the thread. Enjoy your new Envy!


KJ

 

Can you please tell us the nature of the Switchable Graphics? Supposedly the Envy 17 SB was supposed to have *dynamic* switchable graphics... Let us know!

 

You can manually switch graphics from discrete to integrated or you can have it automatically switch when on battery. I don't think it automatically switches when you open a game, just when you unplug the power cable.

 

@mcchea

did you confirm this on a SB Envy 17?

 

Yes, I just received mine this morning. Here's a screen shot of the switchable graphics settings.

 

Can you say something about battery life with the switchable graphics? How many hours can it pull on one charge on the 6-cell (standard) battery?

 

Nice... post some more info and pics please

 

mega disappointed with AMD. they have dropped the ball on Dynamic SG for over a year.

 

Can you see if 120Hz is an option after you switch to Intel IGP?

 

The "dynamic" graphics deal you are talking about isn't that big of a deal. I have switchable on my 14 and it takes no time at all. I wouldn't worry about it. The first round of "dynamic" as you say graphics are bound to have some kinks that would probably be more trouble to work out in the long run. You are probably better off and since you don't have a choice I'd at least tell myself that ha.

 

BTW, the M17xR3 doesn't offer automatic switching to IGP on battery. That's a nice feature that the Envy 17 SB has over the M17xR3!

 

don't the new macbooks have automatic switching? They are using AMD which makes ATI right?

 

Macs only can use Auto-Switching in their OS only. Apple has an easy job optimizing their OS for a very small subset of hardware. When using Windows 7 it defaults to the discrete GPU if I remember correctly. I was seriously considering the MBP 17" but since I use windows exclusively it didn't make much sense for me to go the way of the Mac.

 

Wait is it the Envy 17 or the Envy 17 3D?

Cuz the Envy 17 SB JUST came out on HPs website so I'm confused as to how you already have yours....

I'm pretty sure you were talking about the 3D version though in the other thread a few days ago....anyways congrats.

 

Mine is the Envy 17 3D Sandy Bridge model. They were first available for order on 3/1. Problem was that the HP site, depending on the day, was showing either the older i7 or the new one. I ordered the following:

Envy 17 3D
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• No Additional Office Software
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
• 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Yeah I thought so...thats why I was originally confused.

No question though she's a beauty (as the old saying goes haha). Look forward to more pics or vids if you post em!

And def let me know how quiet or loud it is during normal use or playing games....I'm sure it can't be worse than my current laptop but I'm interested to see if its whisper quiet during normal operation (like saying surfing the web, watching a tv episode on the Internet ,etc etc)

 

I am installing programs, etc...and this thing is a quiet as a "church mouse". I know the cooling is working because the machine is cool to the touch...but man...so worth it!

 

GPU clocks? Temp tests?

 

Still installing updates and SP1, etc. BUT...as far as the 6850...Core 575 Mhz and Memory is 900 (1800)...DDR5. Pretty good...doesn't look like HP did any alterations to it.

No temp tests...other than I have been beating on this thing with installs and backups...and as hot as it got was warm to the touch...

What I find interesting is the bios has settings for RAID. If that is the case...for now...rather than blow alot on an SSD, where prices are supposed to drop to about a dollar a gigabyte....I may pick up another Samsung 640 GB 7200 rpm HDD and RAID it with the one in the machine. That will kick this thing in the pants even more...and believe me...this Envy is fast

 

Looks like ATI is still doing work on automatic GPU switching.