*HP dv6t & dv7t (70XX / 71XX series) IVY BRIDGE Owners Lounge*

[basharg]

I'm about to return my current dv6t with 7690M XT and buy the new one. I'm deciding on either 1gb or 2gb GT 650M. I don't do video editing at all and I just do some moderate gaming on latest games like BF3. Based on what I've read online, I understood 7690m xt won't make much of a difference with 1gb or 2gb. Is it similar on the GT 650M? Please share with me your thoughts

I'll either pick the 2gb 650M option or the 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache, in order to come up with a total of $1399 to use the $400 off coupon.

Get the 32 GB mSSD (actually its mSATA ssd) ,at 1080 p 1 GB of Vram is enough.On the other hand,you will notice a huge increase in performance when adding the ssd (boot times ,load times,etc...)

for more information on intel Smart Response Technology here is a nice article by Anand Lal Shimpi:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/i...ching-review/2

[xAnimal]

the gt650m is 25-35% better than the 6770m/7690m

This is slightly incorrect.
The DDR3 version of the GT650m ranges from 29-44% better than the 7690m XT.

The GDDR5 version of the GT650m ranges from 50-60% better than the 7690m XT.

Anyways, coupled with whatever Ivy Bridge you choose, expect better gaming performance.

I'm about to return my current dv6t with 7690M XT and buy the new one. I'm deciding on either 1gb or 2gb GT 650M. I don't do video editing at all and I just do some moderate gaming on latest games like BF3. Based on what I've read online, I understood 7690m xt won't make much of a difference with 1gb or 2gb. Is it similar on the GT 650M? Please share with me your thoughts

I'll either pick the 2gb 650M option or the 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache, in order to come up with a total of $1399 to use the $400 off coupon.

I was in the same boat. I returned my old DV6TQE and got the new one yesterday. Anyways, DO NOT BUY the mssd cache. I repeat DO NOT. VRAM helps A LOT if you are connecting the laptop to an hdmi display and is unchangeable once you get it.

REAL SSD's are dirt cheap at less than $1/GB. The HP mssd is $50 for 32Gb and it's garbage anyways. The HDD will still get hot and still make a lot of noise. Buy a real SSD and go with the VRAM because if you regret the VRAM later, you are stuck with a machine that isn't up to your standards.

[basharg]

I was in the same boat. I returned my old DV6TQE and got the new one yesterday. Anyways, DO NOT BUY the mssd cache. I repeat DO NOT. VRAM helps A LOT if you are connecting the laptop to an hdmi display and is unchangeable once you get it.

REAL SSD's are dirt cheat at less than $1/GB. The HP mssd is $50 for 32Gb and it's garbage anyways. The HDD will still get hot and still make a lot of noise. Buy a real SSD and go with the VRAM because if you regret the VRAM later, you are stuck with a machine that isn't up to your standards.

I dont have any info about the brand hp is using for this cache drive,but looking at the prices of a 32 GB ssd in online shops, I cant see a lot of saving in buying an ssd on its own.Plus I heard Hp doesn't ship the required wiring for mSata if you don't order the ssd in the first place.
If anyone has any data on the brand used please tell us .
Regarding the vRam please elaborate with proofs concerning the increase in performance.In my opinion I dont think there is an incentive in going beyond 1GB of Vram if your only gaming at 1080p res.Beside your graphic card (GT 650m in this case) will most probably run out of processing power before it runs out of memory.
Btw my post was meant to be an informative post ,so I am not only addressing xAnimal
thanks !!

[xAnimal]

I dont have any info about the brand hp is using for this cache drive,but looking at the prices of a 32 GB ssd I cant see a lot of saving in buying an ssd on its own for caching.Plus I heard Hp doesn't ship the required wiring for mSata if you don't order the ssd in the first place.
If anyone has any data on the brand used please tell us .
thanks !!

Just get rid of the HDD and put in an SSD.
Use a USB enclosure to migrate Windows+Drivers over to the SSD and bam, no more HDD noise, less heat, and Windows startups under 5 seconds.

BTW to Everyone:
I placed my order yesterday and my Order got Dropped to factory, what about everyone else?

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• No additional security software
• 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• 720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype + FingerPrint Reader
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard

[Raficoo]

I want to get the new series but the problem is that I don't live in the US and all the models in Europe and Middle east only have GT 630m... no.. not a single GT 650m in sight! I was thinking about buying a shipping address in US and have it sent here but then I remembered that in US the power voltage is 110v while in my country it's 220v

Why HP.... why? ;_;
all I can do now is wait and hope they release a pre-configured model with a GT 650m GDDR5 in it soon, I hope no more than a month

[xAnimal]

I want to get the new series but the problem is that I don't live in the US and all the models in Europe and Middle east only have GT 630m... no.. not a single GT 650m in sight! I was thinking about buying a shipping address in US and have it sent here but then I remembered that in US the power voltage is 110v while in my country it's 220v

Why HP.... why? ;_;
all I can do now is wait and hope they release a pre-configured model with a GT 650m GDDR5 in it soon, I hope no more than a month

That's pretty lame because all the laptops are assembled in China. You would think that the surrounding areas get more options than less. But definitely, the 650m's performance over the 630m is recognizable.

I dont have any info about the brand hp is using for this cache drive,but looking at the prices of a 32 GB ssd in online shops, I cant see a lot of saving in buying an ssd on its own.Plus I heard Hp doesn't ship the required wiring for mSata if you don't order the ssd in the first place.
If anyone has any data on the brand used please tell us .
Regarding the vRam please elaborate with proofs concerning the increase in performance.In my opinion I dont think there is an incentive in going beyond 1GB of Vram if your only gaming at 1080p res.Beside your graphic card (GT 650m in this case) will most probably run out of processing power before it runs out of memory.
Btw my post was meant to be an informative post ,so I am not only addressing xAnimal
thanks !!

128GB OCZ Vertex for $127

But there were MANY better deals earlier this week. I'm a slickdealer, so paying $50 for 32GB is at $1.5625/GB. That is more than the retail price on most SSD's. Buying your own SSD is SO MUCH cheaper than buying an mssd cache. I myself picked up a Corsair Force GT 180GB for $165.

[Raficoo]

That's pretty lame because all the laptops are assembled in China. You would think that the surrounding areas get more options than less. But definitely, the 650m's performance over the 630m is recognizable.

yea... before the new series was in sight I was thinking about getting the last generation laptop with a 7690m XT, but then after a bit of research you'll see that the GT 650m GDDR5 overpowers it by a nice amount so that's why I decided to wait until the new series now... Ivy+GT 650m sounded like a very good plan for me since it would future proof me from buying any laptop for 3/4/5 years(under good maintenance) instead of getting a 7690m XT which will struggle harder to play many DX 11 games in the future

and the funny part is, as we know the GT 650m GDDR5's performance matches the GTX 560m, and in my country a Toshiba Qosmio with it costs $2,899

[laptop_newbie87]

That's pretty lame because all the laptops are assembled in China. You would think that the surrounding areas get more options than less. But definitely, the 650m's performance over the 630m is recognizable.



128GB OCZ Vertex for $127

But there were MANY better deals earlier this week. I'm a slickdealer, so paying $50 for 32GB is at $1.5625/GB. That is more than the retail price on most SSD's. Buying your own SSD is SO MUCH cheaper than buying an mssd cache. I myself picked up a Corsair Force GT 180GB for $165.

Agree with you. I also intend to buy 256GB SSD OCZ Vertex 4 but not sure if the new HP can support it since only 160GB SSD can be upgradable in HP website. Anyone know?

[bryanchk]

Hey, basharg and xAnimal, thank you both for ur helpful thoughts.
I've just placed my order with the 2gb 650M and no mSSD since I think the video ram would weight more to me over the mSSD. To me, 5400rpm HDD is good enough and more video ram seems to be more useful in case I'll connect an external monitor or edit video.


Here's my specs:
HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• No additional security software
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
• 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Backlit Keyboard
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

BTW, unfortunately the laptop is said to be shipped on May 15th while it was May 10th if I'd have ordered yesterday:/

[wild05kid05]

^ upgradable to anything you want. Forget what HP says about that.