HP dv2500t, dv6500t and dv9500t Intel Santa Rosa Notebooks Announced

It's a bit of a marketing gimmick, but this is the story. The FSB is 800MHz, but the Northbridge chip can only talk to the RAM and Video at 667MHz. So basically the chip can talk to itself really fast, but talking to anything else is at 667MHz.

The effect of this is that the chips will be able to reach a higher clock speed for the line of processors, but it doesn't really help you immediately.

 

check out this laptop HDD guide from LaptopLogic -- 2.5-inch Hard Disk Drive RPM Guide. It clearly says that the heat and battery life of 7200 rpm drives are more or less at par with the 5400 rpm counterpart.

 

yup, same power consumption, so no extra heat or battery drain, only extra performance !

 

you are right Jaymz
thanks mainak

 

Someone on the boards actually ran detailed tests of this, if you scour the Hardware forums, you should find it. He took 2 drives of the same size and manufacturer, one at 5.4k and the other at 7.2k, and they turned in nearly identical battery life times and temperatures. If you've got the cash, 7200RPM is a no brainer.

 

but only your cost goes higher.

What I find feasible (and sensible too) is to buy the dv6500t or dv9500t with the 5400 rpm drives from HP and then when 7200 rpm drives (or wait for them to become cheaper) then we can buy from some other webiste and install into the laptop.

Things like the graphics card cant be changed later. So I'm waiting for the 8600M to be available on their website.

 

I don't think HP will offer direct factory 7200RPM drives; they never did on the last two generations at least. I'm not sure if upgrading the Hard disk will void your warranty though.

 

please see this

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=122964

 

Upgrading a hard disk or RAM in any computer cannot, by law, void your warranty (in the USA). Anyone who tells you that is either misinformed or a salesman trying to sell you something.

 

Hmm... wasnt the whole point of the FSB to communicate with external components at a higher speed? I mean I would hope the cpu can talk to itself alot faster than 800mhz

 

Someone here said the new nVidia GPUs will be on the HPs in a month or so... anyone know for sure?

 

According to someone else here (sorry, I forgot the name, but your avatar is a green worm with glasses), the FSB change allows the CPU to use a different multiplier internally, which in effect allows the internal CPU clock to go higher.

 

So between the 2ghz napa and 2ghz santarosa, the change in FSB does nothing to improve performance...

 

Yeah, it seems like mostly marketing to me, but you can get a 2.2GHz processor now, where before the max was 2.0GHz.

 

I was noticing that that when I go to configure a laptop (dv6500t) on hp's website that there wasn't an option for OS and Recovery Media like there was for the dv6000t.

Does this mean you don't receive any recovery dvd's and you're out of luck if you need to reinstall or recover Vista?

 

You have the make the recovery discs on your own... Just run the "recovery disc maker" app (don't remember the exact name), insert blank dvds or cds, and burn...

 

Does this mean it doesn't come with any OS disks at all?

 

You would still get the Windows Anytime Upgrade dvd, which can be used for a clean install. Just make sure to backup your SWSETUP folder at the very least.

 

I think the difference is that before you could get 2.16 and 2.33, now you can get 2.2 and 2.4.

What I want to know is when 800Mhz RAM becomes available for notebooks, considering the multiplier, can you put it in your Santa Rosa system and actually run the memory at 800Mhz without causing other components such as the GPU to run at a higher than intended speed (overclocked)?

 

I dont think so since the external FSB for this machine is stated as 667mhz. I'm sure future models will support an 800mhz external FSB.

FYI, my dv6500t was supposed to ship today but was delayed to friday. However HP is giving me a $50 coupon off a future purchase to compensate me. That is nice of them just for a 2-day delay. Has anyone actually received theirs yet? I'm trying to find end user reviews and/or pictures but am having a hard time finding them.

 

Cool, glad to see they care I always appreciate companies doing stuff like that. I was offered $100 from Dell once because I had to call a couple times to ask questions. I didn't even ask for it, they just offered it.

As for DVD playback with the 8M GPU, I think one big thing will be if you're watching blu-ray. With blu-ray, CPU would be nearly pegged, but with 8M GPU, it's much lower. That has got to increase battery life for high definition. I can't speak to DVD playback, but I sure hope the 8M is much better in dealing with power than 7M.

 

If it follows HP norm, even if it works the ram would just downlock to 667 anyway. Some speculate that it is a limit of the 965 chipset however.

 

It's not speculation. It's in the spec on intel's web site here:

Support for dual channel DDR2 667 MHz memory technology​

 

"The Mobile Intel® GM965 Express Chipset features dual-channel DDR2 memory, 800/533 MHz system bus.."

..on the same page you pointed..

Are Zepto notebooks the only offering PC 6400 memory so far ?

 

The system bus is not used to directly talk to the RAM, it only talks directly to the Northbridge chip. The northbridge then talks to the RAM, and in santa rosa only it supports 667MHz. That's why, even though intel has been advertising 800MHz bus, it will have no effect if you have 800MHz RAM. The CPU can only talk to itself at this speed. For everything else it must use 667MHz.

This is obviously confusing, and I think quite misleading of intel's marketing. At least the specs tell the truth.

 

are you absolutely sure about this ?

 

I am as long as intel's specs are right. (667MHz listed on the RAM section)

Wikipedia has a diagram on how the chipsets work.

 

well then besides the new N wireless and DX10 graphic cards.. what's the use of the entire Santa Rosa platform and it's 800 bus ?

 

Like others said...I think it was just a marketing message to introduce some new chips that run slightly faster and maybe run more efficient. The only thing new to the chipset is the x3100 intel graphix and the N wireless. Otherwise its status quo. The 800mhz FSB is only internal so it makes no difference to external components. What a scam.

 

Here is what is new with this chipset:

Before, above 2Ghz chips you could get a 2.16 and a 2.33.

Now, with the 800Mhz FSB, you can get a 2.2 and a 2.4.

It does not have anything to do with how fast RAM you can use, just allows for slightly faster processors.

In the future, with some kind of revision (probably hardware) it will also allow for faster RAM, but not now.

 

So the newer chipset allows for the faster processors....none of which are currently being offered on the pavillion line anyway heh.

 

The dv9500 has a 2.2GHz processor option. On the dv9000t, the fastest was 2.0GHz.

The chipset also is supposed to bring with it better power management, and it changes the CPU socket. Still not earth-shattering, but I figure that in a year and a half since the last chipset release, they've probably done a bunch of internal stuff that has indirect benefits.

 

Yes, the new chipset can adjust the FSB speed, not just the CPU speed, to save power.

 

OK, my first post, and I don't know if this thread is dead...

I just ordered the dv2500t today, when the salesman promised me i could upgrade the graphics later. I've read this whole thread, and see remarks to the contrary...

Am I screwed?

 

I've never heard of upgrading it, and I doubt you can. They are just trying to sell you something, and I have a feeling your salesman may not have been based in the USA. If you call them and go right to customer service, they should hopefully let you cancel, or at least verify it with a customer service rep.

If not, you still have a 21 day return policy, so you can return it with no problems.

 

21 days. hmm... any word when the one with ded. graphics are due?

 

Hopefully next week. When they launched, they said "about a month". That was 3 weeks ago now.

 

Orev do you have a link for the official HP announcement regarding Nvidia cards ?

 

You cannot upgrade integrated graphics. The guy who told you that doesn't know anything. You are doomed if were dead set on upgrading the graphics.

 

just got my 2500t yesterday
it's a sweet laptop, kinda surprised it got here so quick since it was shipped straight from Shanghai
only thing is who ever put this laptop together put the dv2000 sticker on the top edge instead of the 2500

ok so for those of you that got the 8400GS upgrade with HDMI port
have you tried connecting it to a 1080p HDTV?
also I think the Nvidia control panel is missing all the HDTV support features like adjusting for overscan

does anyone know how to update the drivers for the 8400GS, I read that the drivers on Nvidia will not work since it's fairly new hardware and it needs to be vista compatible

 

The 2500 is still part of the 2000 line, so it's the same sticker. My dv9500 also says 9000. I guess it wasn't a big enough change to make a different sticker.