Founder Brian Posted March 13, 2011 Founder Share Posted March 13, 2011 HP has released their newest Envy revision with SB and 3D support. Their starting price is pretty decent at $1649.99 and that includes the AMD 6850m graphics chip, 3D display and glasses as part of the starting package. Their competition includes the Alienware M17x-R3 that costs $1799 for the starting 3D bundle and Asus G73SW-3DE that costs $1999. If you break it down:Asus:nVidia 460M support for 3D and removable graphics card (though not MXM 3.0b compliant)Cooling that should be better than HP but not as good as AlienwareAsus keyboard can be switched out for a colord lighting one at added cost from a custom reseller (not Amazon)Alienware M17x-R3:Soft touch rubber + magnesium constructionDell at home warranty service for 1 yearAlien fx lightingMXM 3.0b compliant video card that can be swapped outHDMI InputWireless HDMI (coming soon)Best cooling of the 3 notebooksSwitchable graphics for long battery lifeOption for AMD 6970M graphics card which offers 50-100% performance increase vs GTX 460M found in Asus G73SW and HP Envy 17 3D but no 3D support.HP Envy 3D:Lower starting price than either of the other 2Metal chasis which gives it a higher quality feelThinner profile than AW or AsusMacbook Pro like design which a lot of people likeEven with upgrades, its cheaper than AlienwareThe 6850M is integrated and not a separate MXM 3.0b compliant card. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mw86 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I owned a HP HDX-18T which had 18.3inch 1920x1080 LCD, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 @ 2ghz, 4Gb DDR3 1066Mhz, (2)512Gb 7.2K w/ Nvidia GT-130M. What I concluded after a year of ownership is it was easy, cheap, and if I were to guess probably quick to be produced by HP. The overall performance was okay for the components in the system, for that reason alone the system performance was acceptable in average use and multimedia. There was one fan for the system in that model and it is hindered in my opinion from overheating due to the graphics heat sink location on the same copper tubing as the processor causing each to heat up when each other was under load alone even in just a graphic load or a processor load on the system. When I would play a game that worked the system it would start overheating and crawl to a stutter. In most cases the GPU would throttle due to the added heat.So I HP's manufacture process and thermal design have improved. But integrated and low cost factor's should not rank high in manufacturing a great product. Research actual schematics of laptops before you buy and check reviews, there are some flawed designs out there hiding among the great ones and their manufacturers don't want you to know which category they fall under. Stay Away from integrated chips because when something goes wrong the entire board and integrated chips will have to be replaced at the same time. Could that possibly be a marketing ploy to get you paying more in repairs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted April 10, 2011 Author Founder Share Posted April 10, 2011 HP loves using single fan designs for some reason. I had to fix my ex-gf dad's HP once and holy shit, taking those systems apart is a huge undertaking! The manual is nowhere near as detailed as the one's Dell makes available and it is so god damn cumbersome getting to the mainboard. I love the way Dell designs their systems and it's why I've stuck to Dell all these years. The simplicity of their designs coupled with above average to excellent cooling has me sold. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mw86 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 They don't have me sold. Dell-Alienware has me sold but not plain Dell. The Inspiron tear-down thread shows similar issues to that of the HP I owned. Though I do believe if those two models are compared that the Inspiron does have better cooling but to tell you the truth no one's consistent. I personally wish my CPU paste was done better from factory on my R2... there's a 8 degree Celsius difference between some cores at extreme load. Anyway there's a third Dell at my homestead of my Mother's also and it's a Studio 15 and suffers from the exact same issue. One copper pipe for GPU and CPU and a shared fan is no way adequate for most systems although they skate by because they think oh it's a laptop that's meant to be portable so there's no need for fancy cooling. There is plenty need for good cooling even in basic office oriented setups. I had a Fujitsu N6010 (a 17inch notebook) I gave to my girlfriend when I got the HP before the Alienware. The Fujitsu with exception of my R2 had the best design, build, feel, look, cooling out of the 3 aforementioned computers... HP HDX, Dell Inspiron and Studio. It had two fans, one for a basic core 2 duo and another for it's HD2600M, which may I say for it's time was amazing the video card over-clocked a little bit too even for a computer probably never deigned to overclock. It's a nice system, I'll post some pics when I clean that one out soon. I'll probably do a tear down of the Fujitsu, the Studio 15, and the HP HDX18t... which will be my brothers not the one my mom got from me. I may re-paste my brother's HP to combat that horrible thermal design flaw before he burns his GT130M up... since the max temp for the Q9000 is 105 degrees 5 degrees celcius over the I7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclewebb Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) I just wanted to warn anyone that is considering buying a HP Envy 17 with a Sandy Bridge CPU. Some of these new laptops are using multiplier throttling which seems to be triggered by power consumption long before temperature becomes an issue. If you are using the CPU and GPU at the same time such as when gaming, they can instantly throttle down to 800 MHz which kills performance. Anyone thinking of buying one of these should do some thorough testing before reaching for their wallet and make sure that you can take it back for a full refund if you are not 100% satisfied. If you already bought one of these and want to test for this problem, run any demanding game and at the same time run RealTemp with the Log File option selected to make sure that your CPU is running at its rated speed. RealTemp 3.67 http://www.mediafire.com/?n99nq4kn95u6i6a When loaded or gaming it should not be dipping down to 798 MHz. If you have this problem, run ThrottleStop and it will take care of it and get you back up to full speed. Edit: May 27, Throttling problem solved. See my next post for a bios update. Edited May 28, 2011 by unclewebb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbabt007 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Without flaming anyone I will like to state that if you buy an HP you will end up:1.with company that gives you little or no support and If something happens to the system be prepare to repair it yourself or just to junk it. 2.A product that looks great visually but uses inferior parts.3.They are extremely poorly Designed. This goes back to the time of the Packard Bell computers, this laptops are extremely difficult to work on and most components end up solder on the motherboard.4.They give you the notion that they are fairly priced. This is an illusion, any Dell machine even the lower tier ones will club to death any HP machine. 5.Selling point for their machines are the Doctor Dre Beat speakers? really? nuff said. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetFound Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Flame! FLAME!! 1. They didnt intend to work on these, they are throw away systems. Who cares if you paid 2k for one, you obviously had money to throw away.2. Uhm, I personally saw DR. Dre putting some cool looking parts (cpu?) in that commercial so bite your tongue!3. See #1.4. Hey for the price they charge you can buy a backup for when the first one melts...5. Dr. Dre is a real Dr. and KNOWS how to make some 1" speakers. At least he's human, nuff said. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclewebb Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 New HP Envy 17 owners are starting to see the light over on the NBR forum. I'm seeing log files while gaming where their systems are spending 80% to 90% of the time throttled down to the minimum which is only 798 MHz. They are not overheating, just throttling for the hell of it I guess. As soon as they start using ThrottleStop, their problem is instantly solved and a 2630QM is then averaging 2600 MHz instead of 800 MHz while gaming. Core temperatures then shoot up over 20C higher since the CPU is finally being utilized. Maybe that's why the ThrottleStop download page here on Tech | Inferno seems to be getting a good work out since yesterday. There will be more HP users heading this way, guaranteed. I mentioned to them that Dell finally saw the light about 6 months ago. The forums used to be full of one throttling Dell laptop problem after another but you rarely hear about throttling with their recent releases since last fall. No flaming, just telling it like it is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedomofthedarkendheart Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 lol man so awesome, i left HP years ago and never looked back sometimes i wanna buy them mostly the Elitebooks but just never going to happen dell and other things always catch my eye quicker. Man i really have to learn throttlestop. But that is the true, the effect and impact as a consumer onto the big bad corporation to govern them and get things like throttling fixed is just so awesome, always strength in numbers!! I hate those beat headphones one of the most POS ever headphones terrible, the few Denon headphones i have owned sounded clear, have more bass and always clear no matter the volume range is! Not an audiophile either easily could be though i loathe those beat headphones lol, and all in the rap music videos with Marshall and Dr. Dre; HP and Dr. Dre products are always there and plus now HP's stock has been suffering looks like WebOS phones newer ones, and tablets, which i hope doesn't happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclewebb Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 HP gets a gold star tonight for releasing a bios update that fixes the throttling issues in the Envy 17. Dell could learn a thing or two about handling a throttling problem in a speedy and professional manner the way HP did.HP Product search resultsTITLE: HP Notebook System BIOS Update (Intel Processors)VERSION: F.15 REV: ADESCRIPTION: This package provides an update to the System BIOS. The update installs on supported notebook models using a supported Microsof Windows Operating System. A reboot is required to complete the installation.PRODUCT MODEL(S): HP ENVY 17OPERATING SYSTEM(S): Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise 64 EditionMicrosoft Windows 7 Home Basic 64 EditionMicrosoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 EditionMicrosoft Windows 7 Professional 64 EditionFIXES: - Fixes an issue where the notebook operates slower than expected when running multiple programs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Founder Brian Posted June 1, 2011 Author Founder Share Posted June 1, 2011 New HP Envy 17 owners are starting to see the light over on the NBR forum. I'm seeing log files while gaming where their systems are spending 80% to 90% of the time throttled down to the minimum which is only 798 MHz. They are not overheating, just throttling for the hell of it I guess. As soon as they start using ThrottleStop, their problem is instantly solved and a 2630QM is then averaging 2600 MHz instead of 800 MHz while gaming. Core temperatures then shoot up over 20C higher since the CPU is finally being utilized. Maybe that's why the ThrottleStop download page here on Tech | Inferno seems to be getting a good work out since yesterday. There will be more HP users heading this way, guaranteed. I mentioned to them that Dell finally saw the light about 6 months ago. The forums used to be full of one throttling Dell laptop problem after another but you rarely hear about throttling with their recent releases since last fall. No flaming, just telling it like it is. @unclewebb that's because together we led the Dell anti-throttling campaign that finally forced their hand The HP guys are more than welcome to join T|I and share their experiences. HP gets a gold star tonight for releasing a bios update that fixes the throttling issues in the Envy 17. Dell could learn a thing or two about handling a throttling problem in a speedy and professional manner the way HP did.HP Product search results TITLE: HP Notebook System BIOS Update (Intel Processors) VERSION: F.15 REV: A DESCRIPTION: This package provides an update to the System BIOS. The update installs on supported notebook models using a supported Microsof Windows Operating System. A reboot is required to complete the installation. PRODUCT MODEL(S): HP ENVY 17 OPERATING SYSTEM(S): Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise 64 Edition Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic 64 Edition Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Edition Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Edition FIXES: - Fixes an issue where the notebook operates slower than expected when running multiple programs. Good, has their been further testing on this? I bet HP had a fix ready to go and were just waiting to see if anyone would notice the throttling--if not then they save money on overheating return costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mw86 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 [MENTION=5]Brian K.[/MENTION] yeah they were just waiting to see if anyone noticed. That and their famous for their one fan poo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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