*HP ENVY 17 & 17 3D (2XXX series) Owners Lounge*

[philmo]

You got it! That score is almost exactly the same as the one I achieve using the same drivers. My latest score was 1993. Mind you, I have an SSD as my OS drive and I installed catalyst 12.1 over the HP drivers. Basically, if you want to try that, you can do so by downloading here:

AMD Mobility Catalyst Display Driver 12.1 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit - TechSpot Drivers

Couple of things to note. Before installing...disable you antivirus program. I have Kaspersky and it doesn't allow the installer to write to my registry and the CCC always fails.

Now...with that said...do NOT remove the old drivers. Install 12.1 over the top of the existing drivers. After reboot...you should retain switchable graphics and have more up to date drivers

I do NOT recomment 12.2 or 12.3, especially 12.3...they really muck up the system and never install correctly. As with me, others have complained about black screen and having to remove in safe mode. 12.1's seem solid and perform well....

Thanks Bob, your feedback looking through-out the hundreds of pages I have on this and other subjects always seems excellent - and I am sure has helped many out of deep holes.

I think for the time being knowing the hassle I have had over the last 4 months I will stick with the HP drivers for now.

I really wanted to improve the drivers for playing BF3 (when the wife lets me that is!), and have briefly checked and the there seems to be a very good FPS increase. I think previously you have mentioned you have played this, if so what kind of FPS to you get - and what settings do you use ?.

Thanks again.

[Bobmitch]

Thanks Bob, your feedback looking through-out the hundreds of pages I have on this and other subjects always seems excellent - and I am sure has helped many out of deep holes.

I think for the time being knowing the hassle I have had over the last 4 months I will stick with the HP drivers for now.

I really wanted to improve the drivers for playing BF3 (when the wife lets me that is!), and have briefly checked and the there seems to be a very good FPS increase. I think previously you have mentioned you have played this, if so what kind of FPS to you get - and what settings do you use ?.

Thanks again.

In all honesty...I have never benchmarked BF3. I can say this...I have it opened up pretty much all HIGH settings and no stutter, nada...

[philmo]

In all honesty...I have never benchmarked BF3. I can say this...I have it opened up pretty much all HIGH settings and no stutter, nada...

Hi all

Well !!


Tonight with first decent gaming session, all went bad. That is after playing for 10 minutes the laptop shut down into hibernation mode. It works again after a while, but then does it again. It is very hot, and fun is working like crazy.

So I know there has been feedback about cleaning fan / vents with compressed air, will do that tomorrow. Do I just spray it on the Left side vent or do I have to take the base off. If so how does it come off ?.

I am wondering if I should add the ATI 12.1 as recommend in some areas or do anything else.

Was running BF3 on low settings, so not sure what to do now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Phil

[Bobmitch]

Hi all

Well !!


Tonight with first decent gaming session, all went bad. That is after playing for 10 minutes the laptop shut down into hibernation mode. It works again after a while, but then does it again. It is very hot, and fun is working like crazy.

So I know there has been feedback about cleaning fan / vents with compressed air, will do that tomorrow. Do I just spray it on the Left side vent or do I have to take the base off. If so how does it come off ?.

I am wondering if I should add the ATI 12.1 as recommend in some areas or do anything else.

Was running BF3 on low settings, so not sure what to do now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Phil

Whatever you do...DO NOT try spraying the intake / outtake while the machine is HOT or even warm. In the AM, before you even boot up...clean the vents. Also...set Coolsense to "Coolest" mode and it will disable Turbo boost for you. Games don't even use that mode anyway. 12.1 would run a bit hotter...but not sure why you are shutting down. Try the coolsense setting and see what happens

[philmo]

Hi Bob - thanks for the reply again...

Coolsense seems to have either on or off mode, how do I get to a 'Coolest' mode?.

Will clean vents tomorrow, do I just spray in both - or do I need to get the base off (seems trickly).

Thanks.

[Bobmitch]

Hi Bob - thanks for the reply again...

Coolsense seems to have either on or off mode, how do I get to a 'Coolest' mode?.

Will clean vents tomorrow, do I just spray in both - or do I need to get the base off (seems trickly).

Thanks.

I forgot...I got rid of Coolsense 2.0 and went back to 1.1. Comes with an earlier version of HP Software framework, which can be found here:

HP Software Framework HP ENVY 17t-2000 CTO 3D Edition Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

My sense is that with the newer version...just make sure it is ON. As far as spraying the vent. First clear the intake. Under the TAB key on the bottom. Then spray the exhaust vent...Left side just above the VGA port. I can't imagine that they are clogged...but guess we'll see. Let us know of your progress...

[palatkik]

I am wondering if there is a residual effect to this bios update. I know that in the past, the 6200N had issues with certain chipsets. I am wondering what HP did to make it more compatible...Have to do some homework

So what did HP do? Still peeved I had to wait nearly 6 months for this BIOS update to stop my 2280NR locking up. Was there a trade off? Perhaps we'll never know.

[John97]

That link for the Catalyst 12.1 drivers takes me to a page where I can download the compatibility app which tells me that I can't download the Catalyst drivers...

[nMIK-3]

That link for the Catalyst 12.1 drivers takes me to a page where I can download the compatibility app which tells me that I can't download the Catalyst drivers...

Here is the official AMD link to download the Catalyst 12.1 Mobility driver (Windows 7/Vista 64bit).

[philmo]

I forgot...I got rid of Coolsense 2.0 and went back to 1.1. Comes with an earlier version of HP Software framework, which can be found here:

HP Software Framework HP ENVY 17t-2000 CTO 3D Edition Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

My sense is that with the newer version...just make sure it is ON. As far as spraying the vent. First clear the intake. Under the TAB key on the bottom. Then spray the exhaust vent...Left side just above the VGA port. I can't imagine that they are clogged...but guess we'll see. Let us know of your progress...

Thanks Bob, as per advise earlier (Gunny also pm'd me) have installed Core Temp - and have started doing some tests on temps.

Not sure how to post an screenshot of current Core Temp screen (do I have to past link to image sharing programme?).
At present with just web browser and Core Temp running and temps read:

Core 0 Min 46c Max 57c
Core 1 Min 46c Max 56c
Core 2 Min 46c Max 55c
Core 3 Min 46c Max 56c

Just did some gaming and it was for around 5 mins and all Cores were running at around 81c, so far so good - will see what happens later. Anything I should be looking out for ?.

Today add to that I did use some compressed air, did not see much dust come out as I think to be fair you suggested. Also purchased a colling stand with 2 fans in - not sure if this will make too much difference.

Will post an update after running for a more realistic period of time.

tks