HP nc8430 with Core 2 Duo and X1600 Review (pics, specs) Discussion

The nc8430 is HP's business class high-powered 15.4" notebook, often popular for its solid build, gaming capability, and business class support through HP. It starts at a base price of $1,449 with a three year standard warranty, but you can purchase the notebook as one of several pre-configured models or make a custom-to-order. Today I will be reviewing a pre-configured nc8430 with Core 2 Duo and an ATI X1600 graphics card. (Updated 10/4)

Read the full content of this Article: HP nc8430 with Core 2 Duo and X1600 Review (pics, specs)

 

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Outstanding review! That was the most complete and thorough review I've read in a while. Thanks for your effort. And congrats on acquiring such a fantastic notebook!

 

Thanks jetstar, it's very much appreciated! Sorry if it's a little long, but I tried to answer a lot of the nc8430 questions that I've seen floating on the forums with respect to GPU clocks, heat, noise, gaming, etc.

Come to think of it, if anyone else needs me to look at something else, just post on this thread and I'll get to it ASAP.

I'm still trying to squeeze a little more eye-candy out of Oblivion, without OCing. So far I've increased my resolution to 1280 x 800, decreased the shadow filtering a little, and am playing comfortably now. If anyone else has the X1600 with similar clocks and plays Oblivion, I would certainly be interested in having those settings posted here.

 

Is the docking extremely worthwhile for the price? Does it feel more comfortable when propped up at an angle? Thanks. Great review by the way!

 

I agree, this was definitely one of the most thorough reviews I've read here. Great work, and sounds like a really solid laptop! It sounds like you get your money's worth for $2400, since that includes the dock and the warranty.

 

Definitely a very thorough review here, and a very nice job. I'm impressed by the battery life for the nc8430 -- for a 15.4" screen notebook to achieve 2:50 on a battery that is flush and not extended life is very impressive. And the fact the adapter is small and light is a huge plus, something not often considered but quite important for travel weight.

 

Wow , did you write ALL that by yourself ?

Congrats on your new notebook , it has everything , even a serial port .



( That was not a joke , I have an old serial tablet and that port is very handy )

 

Not everything, unfortunately. This really great machine lacks ExpressCard slot.
Other new HP laptops from DV family are already equipped with it...

 

I'll check out the typing angle when I get home tonight. Considering that I'm hoping to keep the notebook for about 3 years, all the moving around to/from campus, the DVI connection on the dock, and all the crap I plug into the computer...well, I think the $159+tax was a fair price for the time I'll save over the next 3 years while docking/undocking. Usually, I keep the notebook closed while I use my external monitor, so that extra power button on the dock is nice too.

But I have a lot of things I need to plug into (even needed a USB hub or two), it is different for everyone.

The only think I can say, aside from thanks, is that it manages 2:50 with a dedicated card like the X1600 in it. I'm fairly sure one could squeeze more out of the battery, but if you REALLY need more battery life you can get a secondary battery through HP. The Extended Battery will give you a *claimed* total of 7.5 hours, and the Ultra High Capacity Battery nets you around 10 hours.

Took me a few days, but yup that's all me.

Well, I'm not seeing any really good ExpressCard products out there anyway, so I'm not to concerned with that. Plus, most business are going to WANT the PCMCIA slot for a little while longer.

Now, in a year or so, there might be some more ExpressCard solutions out there. But right now it isn't to big of a deal. What would have been nice was if it had BOTH slots in it, but oh well.

 

Wow...very thorough review u have there.
That Core2+x1600+100GB 7.2k is a killer combo. Congrats on ur new lappy.

On a side note: Any particular reasons why the travelmate 8204 is stubbornly stuck at the top of the 3DMark05 list for 15'4s with the X1600. Most other lappys are around 3900 but dont touch 4000. Does acer use higher clocks than the others, or am i missing something else

 

Great review! Only one I have seen with multiple pages. Very nice and a nice laptop you have there!

 

Thanks for the thorough review. Got the same configuration with Core Duo CPU though (3 months ago the core 2 duo was not available) and consider this to be one the most balanced laptops available.
From the negative point of view I will add the lack of DVI connection (very usefull if you plan to use a high quality projector) and the level of noise which although is below average is still not in par with other laptops.

 

Excellent review - I have always considered this in my top 5 candidates for my impending purchase, but this review may have just shot it up to number 1! If Apple doesn't get on the ball updating the MBP to C2D, I may go for the 8430... no ExpressCard slot is a major bummer though - there is always something to be picky about

 

Oh my... what a great review! Thanks for those Oblivion benchmarks man!

But I think the settings were kinda low.
I play at 1280*800 with Large textures, Shadows all off, no AA, no AF and with Bloom at around 20 fps outside, 30 fps inside. That is with a overclock of 10% for memory. I think your Core 2 Duo with 2 GB and X1600 should do better then that. Maybe updating drivers will help?

Link: http://www.ati.com/online/mobilecatalyst/

Charlie

 

The standard clocks on the X1600 are 470/470. Most notebooks are underclocked (such as mine) by their makers. The Acer might not be as heavily underclocked.

I've been playing around with the settings a little bit, and I too have set it to 1280 x 800 with only a little impact. I was running with the 6.9 Catalyst drivers as well though.

When I get home tonight, I'll beat out another round of testing on Oblivion . I'll have abaxter add in my updated results, and I'll change them on the discussion thread as well. I'll start with your settings and work my way up.

I've also found that FRAPS might have hurt the performance (I read that it hurts Oblivion about three days after I sent in my review). I'm not using it now, since I found out how to enable the frame counter in Oblivion itself.

I do agree, it should go a little higher with 3dMark scores like that.

 

Great review! I asked you about the keyboard a while ago in another thread and its just as good to me as a thinkpads

 

Nice thorough review

I would like to say though, on my NC8430 I notice no gap along the edge of the LCD. The build quality on mine is fantastic. Just a small thought, I don't imagine you care enough to gripe too much about it

 

I ONLY get that gap when I pull or push on the LCD cover. I wouldn't have noticed it had I not been looking for flaws, and I only really noticed it because I was poking and prodding.

 

Check out my post here about how the display can become scratched over time, and how to fix the keyboard flex in the right end.

I don't think there's only one temp for both CPU and GPU, the temp you see there is for the CPU, since the GPU temp shouldn't raise 25° C when running SPI, right?
It's just a matter of finding the right software. I'm not sure that SpeedFan will find the temp (and it will most likely not control the fan either), but it's worth a try since it's a great software. ATITool should work, and maybe SYSTool as well...

What I really miss on this laptop is DVI, and also eSATA. I think they should exchange that serial port with an eSATA instead. But then again, they want to sell docking stations, and the latest NAS station have both DVI and an internal HD, although only 160 GB...

 

Well, I for one do not think there is a major problem with the keyboard on this notebook. As for the scratching on the LCD, it seems like someone might have been putting that notebook in a squeezed position. Judging from the spacing, it appears that the LCD isn't touching any part of the keyboard deck.

Anyway, it turns out that Hitman was right...the settings used during gaming WERE a little low. Anyway, I ran without FRAPS in the background (Now I know I read somewhere that it hurts Oblivion performance more than other games). I'm going to post the new settings that I used in the discussion thread, and have abaxter fix the news story.

Again, thanks Hitman!

 

Outstanding review! well deserved rep points!

 

yeah, I can say that too: great review!

 

That was one of the best reviews I've ever read on a notebook. Very well-thought-out, thorough, and well-written. Congratulations and thank you for taking the time to write it.

The nc8430 is definitely a very impressive system.

 

Great review!

Just to add for those who plan top use this notebook with an external CRT monitor: the VGA output is good quality. It doesn't reach sharpness of the normal PC ATI cards, but I run it at 1280x1024/100Hz without any blurriness. Even 1600x1200/100Hz is still nice and sharp.

I am posting this because it is not always true with all notebooks/graphic cards.

 

I've been watching this site for a long time, looking for the right laptop replacement, mainly waiting for core 2. I've not even looked at HP until this review. Very nice. I was swinging toward the Asus v6j with nearly the same specs, minus a .2 on the screen size and such. My main question for anyone here, would the 256 ATI card on the HP better the 128+Turbo cash of 512 on the nVidia 7400?

 

The ATI X1600 is way better than the NVIDIA 7400. No contest there despite turbo cache. Check this thread out for more info on GPU's:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

Good luck and happy computing!

 

Another NC8430 owner chiming in here.. I love this notebook. I was in line to get an Asus A8JM but opted for this guy instead. I wish I had the DVI and expressport, but opted for the build quality, battery life, and light weight with a 15.4 screen.

 

I think we can all thank abaxter...he's definitely been a great help getting a few corrections posted on the article!

If you're into docking stations, I know that the Advanced Docking Station (a little more expensive than my $159 (Standard) Docking Station) has an ExpressCard slot. Both types of docks have DVI though.

 

Great review, very thorough! Indeed the nc8430 is an amazing notebook.

 

yeah, I sometimes wonder how he can handle such enormous amount of work

 

Well, I read through the thread again...I think that all of the questions posted so far have been answered. If not, or you have additional questions, please feel free to post here.

PMs are welcome, but I'd like to see the Q&A on this thread to benefit all the readers.

 

Hi,
Just bought my NC8420 yesterday. Basically, it is the same as NC8430 minus the serial port. Anyway, I wanted to format the notebook to give it a clean start. However, I can't find the driver page except the one seems to be available for the older model with CoreDuo rather than Core2Duo. Can anyone confirm that these drivers are good for the Core2Duo model? Also, the 2 DVD Recovery Point backup the I did as per instructions, do they contain a separate disk for Windows XP pro installation & one for Drivers? or it is just a mirror backup and flush all software (inclusive of all those bloatware?). Thanks, looking forward to your early reply before I make a stupid move.

 

The only difference between the Core and Core 2 models should just be the processor, so I'm fairly certain you'll be fine with the drivers for the Core model. Someone else please chime in if they know anything else.

The 2 DVD Recovery discs (which I used last week on my machine), will restore the computer back to its original state using the "HP Recovery and Backup" program. No XP installation as we know it, but it does the trick. There should be NO bloatware on that machine, so even the recovery DVDs are useful.

 

Night_2004,
Thank you for the info. That's very assuring. I will whack my NC8420 in a moment, to reinstall the Windows XP pro to my liking

Just curious, I am not sure whether our notebook XP=64bit compatible although it sticked there Vista ready.

Also, was wondering how you achieved your 3DMark2005 score? Mine can only achieve 3454. Anyway, be back after the operations and will update if any improvements. Thanks & Have a great day.

 

Hi,

I just found out that the recovery point partition in the hard drive contains hidden folders, one of it, is the i386 that I guess may be containing the WinXP Pro installation files. The problem is, how do I extract these files as everytime I try to expand the folder, a HP notice/warning will be shown. Thanks for help.

 

Try going to Start->All Programs look for an shortcut to HP Backup and Recovery (or something along those lines). From there, you can choose to burn the backup/recovery DVDs for the system. Basically, all it does is burn the files in that "locked" partition. Once the DVDs are successfully created, you can erase that hidden partition with no ill effects. Those will restore the laptop to the exact factory image...don't worry, HP doesn't mess with anything in the Windows installation so it's the same as running the Windows XP disc yourself.

Also, the Core 2 processor IS 64 bit, so yes the nc8430 will support XP-64 (probably a few driver issues though...drivers are buggy for XP64) and the upcoming Vista x64.

 

One of our new forum members has PMed me asking for camera shots of the nc8430 with a few standard windows open: Control Panel, My Computer, and www.hp.com. I'm going to post these here so that everyone can see and benefit from them.

Sorry if the lighting isn't the best...my camera is a little finicky once in a while.

 

Very good review...

The only downside with this laptop (have the old nc8430, only core duo) is that the screen isn't very bright. (and yes, i have turned off the sensor)

Mine is the 1650x1050 wsxga+ and its just not bright enough.
Have compaired it to my friends dell 6400 or even my old nc8000 laptop.

I wish HP would put a better LCD panel in it, maybe they have done so in the core 2 duo version of the laptop.

Other than that the build quality is good, and after uppdating the drivers to the ATI card its quiet aswell....

 

Well, I have an LG screen...that might have something to do with it.

Either that or I don't need it that bright...but I do have to leave it on one of the highest settings to be as good as I like it.

 

More pics as requested by a PM...

(sorry about the last pic...my mirror has some water spots on it)

 

Well I am dissapointed in the fan noise on this. Everyone says "it's so quiet, you can hardly hear it" - well this must be the younger generation who have blown their ears out listening to MP3 players, etc. My last notebook was dead silent: an Inspiron 8100, an oldie I know, but it had a Geforce 2 which required decent cooling just as the X1600 of the NC8430 also requires decent cooling. If you are listening to music, you won't hear it, but if you work in very quiet environment (I often work late at night by myself) then you will hear it and quite possible be annoyed by it. I am going to try playing with some of the options petrv was trying, but that's not exactly the solution I was hoping for.

 

Great review thanks. I have bought the NC8430 too with the same specs as you have. I found your review before I found your nice piece of work here and maybe I would have hesitated buying it. I agree with the post above me. The noise level is indeed huge. Under Windows XP it is possible to control the fan with NHC (notebook hardware control) and the ACPI File which is posted on their forum BUT under windows vista for example it is not possible. There the fan is on 24/7 and battery is used up in under 2 hours. I searched the entire www but there seems no viable solution apart from NHC and that acpi file for windows xp.

if there is anyone who found out a decent solution for windows vista I would greatly appreciate hearing from it and I guess many users too. Sure I know Vista isnt officially released yet but the problem still remains. I hope there will be an appropriate solution until end of january because then lots of nc8430 users who wanna use their notebook power with vista (vista is gr8 on this notebook!) will be disappointed by the heavy noise of the fan and increased battery consumption.

To make it short, please give me any tips you got regarding Windows Vista & Control of the Fan. Id love to hear from a good solution

Thanks for reading - Cyas

 

Hi, this may not be relevant here, but has anyone had any experience of dealing with Hp's customer services over in the USA?

I ordered one of these on the 7th of November (in the UK), and despite an estimated 15 days for delivery, it still hasn't arrived (now the 10th of December!) despite three attempts at dealing with the HP direct service over here. How long did it take yours to arrive anyone? + do Hp reps normally tell outright lies? Or is this some UK-only feature of their service?

I bought on the basis of the excellent review by Night 2004, and I just wish Hp would stop making up delivery dates and tell me some facts! Or at least deliver my new toy!

 

Good review. One thing which was mentioned at the beginning was the lack of an Express Card slot. From what you listed on your Docking System it wasn't mentioned so I guess you just purchased the Docking Station and not the Advanced Docking station which is $70 more. I purchased the Core Duo 2.0 nc8430 last year and subsequently the HP Advanced Docking Station with 135W Smart Adapter. I purchased that Docking Station specifically because it has an Express Card slot. I use the Express Card slot for a Sata Card to use wtih external hard drives with SATA connections which are 4 - 8 times faster (depending whether they are 1.5 or 3.0 SATA drives) than a USB or 1394 connections and equal in speed to your SATA hard drive in the nc8430. I use the nc8430 with the Express Sata Card for video editing (Premiere Pro etc) on my external SATA hard drives. It is considerably faster using the external SATA drives than my desktop Pentium 4 3.4mhz with two internal Sata drives. In any case, the Express Card Slot is an important slot. There are PCMCIA Sata Cards but they are only for the slower 1.5 Sata hard drives and I couldn't get mine to work -- it locked up the computer. But the Express Card Sata Card works like a charm and it will take a 3.0 Sata hard drive which is twice as fast as a 1.5 hard drive.

It is unfortunate that the nc8430 doesn't have an Express Card slot but at least the HP Advanced Docking Station has one.

Dave

 

Yup...ExpressCard is only on the Advanced Dock. I didn't mention it because I didn't have one. It is a shame because a D820 (similar except for the GPU) has both the ExpressCard and PCMCIA.

However, I do have to report that I might be interacting with HP Tech Support in the near future. It appears my screen is going to have to be replaced as a small (30 x 30 pixels) section of my screen has a bunch of stuck pixels that just showed up.

 

Thanks for the great review!

I have a very specific question: Does the firewire port on the nc8430 use a Texas Instruments chipset (you can check in device manager)?

This seems to be important for using it as a DAW (Digital audio workstation). It seems that all Dell core duo notebooks are unsuitable because of their firewire port (I almost ordered the D820)...

Does anyone use the NC8430 succesfully for DAW purposes with firewire?

 

I'm not too sure if this is a bad answer or a good answer, but yes it does have the TI Controller.

 

Yes, i am using the NC8430 as a DAW. it rocks. Zero problems with the firewire, and both the PCMCIA and Firewire card are the TI chip which is great.

In fact, I don't even have to turn off my Wifi card while doing Audio stuff. Somehtign that you do have to do with most other laptops with Wifi.