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HP's, the P4 chip and heat.

post #1 of 12
5/25/05 at 10:57am
Thread Starter 
I've been told and am aware that the P4 is infamous for getting hot. What I'm wondering is if any of you HP notebook owners have had any slowdowns or performance problems you would link to the P4. As I am considering a HP 17" MCE notebook but am uncertain about getting notebook using the P4.

Thanks.
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post #2 of 12
5/25/05 at 4:21pm
What model are you getting? I recommend an AMD Athlon processor over P4 any day, but the model will make a difference on whether I'd get a P4 or not.

-Ransom
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post #3 of 12
5/25/05 at 5:29pm
My nx9500 has never shutdown or locked up due to heat issues. I'm always looking for ways to cool it but as I said I've never had a problem due to heat. I have a P4 3.2 HT proc and 64mb geforce go5700.

Average temps as seen via Mobmeter are ACPI: 40c usually and for the hard drive 35c with lite work load. I do see my ACPI temp get up to 50c while playing WoW (which this laptop plays great by the way) but its never gone over 55c and some of the added heat is due to slightly OC'd video driver.
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post #4 of 12
5/26/05 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ransomed1
What model are you getting? I recommend an AMD Athlon processor over P4 any day, but the model will make a difference on whether I'd get a P4 or not.

-Ransom
You'd recommend an Athlon 64 yet own a P4? Why is that? Why would you recommend an Athlon 64 over a P4?

I was/am considering the HP Pavilion zd8110us (http://www.hp.ca/products/static/pav...10us/index.php <--- Cdn model). Just wondered if any HP P4-based notebook owners have run into any problems related to the P4 cpu.

When I was in a local shop (FutureShop...just like a BestBuy) I had a chance to play around with the previous version of the zd8110us and BOY did the keyboard area feel hot. Abnormally so. But obviously not so hot it singed my finger tips. Didn't run into any slowdowns playing with apps like MS Word and the like. No gaming. So I never really pushed it. But still....never felt a notebook keyboard so hot.

The Toshiba Qosmio notebooks were almost "cold" in comparison. The keyboard area only had a hint of warmth. This was because the G20 was a display model and was left on the entire day. Overall, I'm most happy with what I've seen with the Toshiba's.

Interesting to hear one of you hasn't run into performance issues due to the P4.

Night.
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post #5 of 12
5/26/05 at 1:20am
I have the HP ZD8110US

Just got it a week ago and its working fine. No heat issues at all.
HDD is between 38 to 48 degrees C
and my GPU always seems to be around 55 no matter what. Unless i play HL2 where it hits 60.

I have had others say the same thing, that when they Played around with this notebook at the store they felt it was hot. Every time i checked it out it was fine, and it runs fine too. When you play HL2 and touch the keyboard area then i must say it does feel quiet hot.

Let me know if you need more info as i just bought it from circuit city.
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post #6 of 12
5/26/05 at 4:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkDTSHD
Why would you recommend an Athlon 64 over a P4?
Why wouldn't you?
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post #7 of 12
5/26/05 at 10:09am
There are two main reasons that I recommend an AMD processor over a P4. One is battery life. The other is power. I've talked to quite a few people about this, and they all (every single one who's used an AMD Processor) said that the AMD Athlon outperforms the P4 in power.

As for battery, if you haven't seen the way the AMD Athlon works, go in to Circuit City, and ask them to give you a demonstration. I did, and they showed me a program that gives clock speed. Basically the processor on the notebook I was interested in idles at 800MHz, but when under load (ie: when opening a program), it jumps up to full speed and then goes instantly back to idle once the process is completed. Whereas the P4 that I currently own (which is quite powerful, as a notebook) stays at 3.066GHz when on A/C power, and at 1.8GHz when on battery power. There's no variance under different loads, and the battery almost never lasts over 2 hours.

I think that I agree with the guys who're into the AMD processor, and for my next notebook, that's what I'll be getting. I've heard of people getting 5+ hours out of them when doing simple things like writing Word docs, etc. To me, this makes sense in what you'd want in a notebook (long battery life when idling or barely being used... and power when it's needed/plugged in).

So there you have my answer. Hope it helps.

-Ransom
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post #8 of 12
5/26/05 at 10:13am
Oh, and for the record, when I bought my P4, I was sure I wanted that much power in a notebook. And the power has been great... as long as I was able to plug it in. But I hate the feeling that the battery's about to run out, when I've only been using the notebook for an hour on the battery. I see why the P4 isn't the best choice, unless you're ALWAYS going to be plugged in.

Anybody know much about AMD's new Turion processor?

-Ransom

PS- Part of what makes this particular HP so great is the video card. 128 dedicated should be standard in all notebooks (I wish it was).
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post #9 of 12
5/26/05 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gazar
I have the HP ZD8110US

Just got it a week ago and its working fine. No heat issues at all.
HDD is between 38 to 48 degrees C
and my GPU always seems to be around 55 no matter what. Unless i play HL2 where it hits 60.

I have had others say the same thing, that when they Played around with this notebook at the store they felt it was hot. Every time i checked it out it was fine, and it runs fine too. When you play HL2 and touch the keyboard area then i must say it does feel quiet hot.

Let me know if you need more info as i just bought it from circuit city.
Hey gazar,

Congrats on the new notebook! I thought you would get a different model# in the US . Which is the case with Toshiba's. Any how, nice to know your computer doesn't run that hot unless gaming. And that you haven't run into performance problems as a result.

Under regular use (e.g. running MS Word, checking e-mails, playing movie clips...etc.) I'm guessing the keyboard area doesn't feel hot? And how do you mean "...everytime I checked it out it was fine...". As in "not hot"?

Any how, when I get the chance, I'll be dropping by a BestBuy to check out the zd8110us for myself. As I mentioned in another thread...even if the HP doesn't run into performance problems due to the P4...I don't think I could live with a notebook who's keyboard (and rest of the base) runs hot. But that's just me...

Thanks for your input Ransomed1! Much appreciated. Will look into the Athlon 64 based notebooks. Hopefully there are some with 17" screens.
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post #10 of 12
5/27/05 at 3:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkDTSHD
Hey gazar,

Congrats on the new notebook! I thought you would get a different model# in the US . Which is the case with Toshiba's. Any how, nice to know your computer doesn't run that hot unless gaming. And that you haven't run into performance problems as a result.
I think what you mean is here that I am from Australia and have a US model laptop???
Well I am currently holidaying here and bought the laptop from circuit city when it was priced at 1799 to take back to Aus. The model numbers are different in Australia just like the Toshibas.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkDTSHD
Under regular use (e.g. running MS Word, checking e-mails, playing movie clips...etc.) I'm guessing the keyboard area doesn't feel hot? And how do you mean "...everytime I checked it out it was fine...". As in "not hot"?
OK i just checked it out. I am watching a movie right now for about 2 hours and the area that gets hot is just on the right to the touchpad. Its actually the battery heat that i can feel and well i would classify it as warm, but i am used to it and it does not bother me. The heat in the area is the same as when i play HL2, but since its my right wrist that rests in the area I never use that area as my hand is busy with the mouse. The keyboard itself is not hot. Its just the area above the battery that feels warm. When doing light tasks as word processing, emailing, surfing the web. It feels fine.

I think i am going to try running the laptop without the battery to see if the area is just as hot. Will let you know how i go.
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post #11 of 12
5/27/05 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gazar
I think what you mean is here that I am from Australia and have a US model laptop???
Well I am currently holidaying here and bought the laptop from circuit city when it was priced at 1799 to take back to Aus. The model numbers are different in Australia just like the Toshibas.



OK i just checked it out. I am watching a movie right now for about 2 hours and the area that gets hot is just on the right to the touchpad. Its actually the battery heat that i can feel and well i would classify it as warm, but i am used to it and it does not bother me. The heat in the area is the same as when i play HL2, but since its my right wrist that rests in the area I never use that area as my hand is busy with the mouse. The keyboard itself is not hot. Its just the area above the battery that feels warm. When doing light tasks as word processing, emailing, surfing the web. It feels fine.

I think i am going to try running the laptop without the battery to see if the area is just as hot. Will let you know how i go.
Hello again Gazar,

Silly me. Didn't notice you listed your "location" as "land of Oz". Any how, what I was saying was that with Toshiba notebooks the model # for the same model is different for Canadians and Americans. I haven't had a chance to check the US HP site yet. Assumed it would be the same with HP's. Anyway...

Thanks for your input about your zd8110us! It's very interesting that when you play HL2 only the area to the right of the touchpad get's "warm". Not the keyboard. Perhaps that means HP has finally found a way to keep the P4 chip cooler. Because in previous verisons of the 8xxx series they keyboard area was damn hot. Perhaps not "damn hot" but giving off more heat than I'd care for.

As I said, in comparison, the Toshiba Qosmio's have always been "cool to the touch" for me. When I visit a BestBuy or FutureShop to look at. Then again the Qosmio uses the Centrino chip.

In any event, when I get the chance I'm going to either a BB or FS to take a look at the new zd8110us. It's a good deal for $2500.00 (Cdn) IMHO.

Hope you had fun in the US mate.
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post #12 of 12
6/9/05 at 12:00am
I have an nx9600 w/ 3.4ghz intel chip. It does get hot, but I have never noticed any degradation in performance or anything like that.
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