HP Pavillion dv6z-7000: AMD A10-4600M + 7670M (crossfire) or 7730M

[Extremehotdog]

I am going to buy a new laptop(Toshiba Satellite C655 replacement) for gaming. I found out that the HP Pavilion dv6z-7000 is perfect for my price range (700-775 US dollars). I started customizing it and this is the system I built:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor: AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M APU
Ram: 6GB 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics Card: 7670M (dual graphics) or 7730M
Hard Drive: 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
Total:779.99

Im not shure what to get. I can get the 7670M(Not very powerful but I can use the dual graphics technology) or the 7730M(More powerful but I cannot use the dual graphics). This system usage will basically be for gaming (Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Darsiders 2, SWTOR, Batman Arkham City, etc) and surfing the internet.

Thanks for your responses

 

[airanp]

I am going to buy a new laptop(Toshiba Satellite C655 replacement) for gaming. I found out that the HP Pavilion dv6z-7000 is perfect for my price range (700-775 US dollars). I started customizing it and this is the system I built:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor: AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M APU
Ram: 6GB 1600MHz DDR3
Graphics Card: 7670M (dual graphics) or 7730M
Hard Drive: 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
Total:779.99

Im not shure what to get. I can get the 7670M(Not very powerful but I can use the dual graphics technology) or the 7730M(More powerful but I cannot use the dual graphics). This system usage will basically be for gaming (Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Darsiders 2, SWTOR, Batman Arkham City, etc) and surfing the internet.

Thanks for your responses

Really it just comes down to how patient you are. Dual graphics is maturing, and when it works it works pretty well from what I have read, but not everything supports it yet. If you want the power now go with the 7730. If you can handle waiting till more things support dual graphics go with the 7670m. Oh and currently HP is running a coupon for $100 off 799.99 and above. I was playing with builds and if you went a10-4600m and 7670m you can actually get it for 599.99 right now with coupon code *** NB119 *** NOTE: that is if the only two options you chance are the processor and graphics card and that does not include any applicable taxes. But that is a really good deal for a laptop that down the road you can DIY a good matte FHD screen.

On a side note, I just recently bought my wife a dv4t and now that I am seeing the 599.99 price tag I am thinking about picking one of these up for myself.

 

[Extremehotdog]

Really it just comes down to how patient you are. Dual graphics is maturing, and when it works it works pretty well from what I have read, but not everything supports it yet. If you want the power now go with the 7730. If you can handle waiting till more things support dual graphics go with the 7670m. Oh and currently HP is running a coupon for $100 off 799.99 and above. I was playing with builds and if you went a10-4600m and 7670m you can actually get it for 599.99 right now with coupon code *** NB119 *** NOTE: that is if the only two options you chance are the processor and graphics card and that does not include any applicable taxes. But that is a really good deal for a laptop that down the road you can DIY a good matte FHD screen.

On a side note, I just recently bought my wife a dv4t and now that I am seeing the 599.99 price tag I am thinking about picking one of these up for myself.

is the dv4t bettwer than the dv6z?

 

[airanp]

is the dv4t bettwer than the dv6z?

The dv4t has up to a 3rd gen i7 and up to a 2gb gt 650m all in a compact 14" body. My wife's has a 3rd gen i5 with the 2gb gt 650m. When it comes to performance the dv4t is going to beat a maxed out dv6z however, you are going to pay more for it as well. The dv4t also runs hotter under load than the dv6z. But that is just the nature of the chips. Trinity runs cooler than Intel plain and simple.

Here is a quick comparison.

dv4t-5100 $719.99 (coupon: NB119)

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M Processor (2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz)
FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
* NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR 5 video memory
FREE Upgrade to 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
No additional security software
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
14.0" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768) SVA
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone
802.11b/g/n WLAN
Standard Keyboard Black

dv6z-7000 $599.99 (with 7670m) $624.99 (with 7730m) (coupon: NB119)

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M Accelerated Processor (3.2GHz/2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
FREE Upgrade to 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
* 1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7670M Graphics
FREE Upgrade to 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
No additional security software
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366x768)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone + HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
802.11b/g/n WLAN
Standard Keyboard

The i5 + 650m is naturally a stronger combination but it costs $120 more than the dual graphics setup. The dual graphics setup for 599.99, given the right conditions meaning the game supports the dual graphics, is suppose to function at about only 1% less than the GT 650m. I can only advise you on the dv4t since i do own that but do not own a dual graphics dv6z yet. hope it helps.

 

[Real_GM]

If you are going for gaming, the A10-4600 + 7670M combo will be as strong as the i5 + GT 650M.

As it was mentioned, you have to wait for Dual graphics to mature and it did recently.

I have the same AMD configuration and after updating to Catalyst 12.9, all Dual Graphics Performance improved.

For example, in Diablo 3, I get 70+ frame rates in Act III at All High (no AA) at 1366x768. I used to get around 40 and stutters before driver update.

SC2 I can play in Extreme setting no AA at a frame rate of 24 fps (Playable but not ideal).

Having said that, the i5 is better in rendering and general task because many programs are optimized for intel cpu, and it has better instruction set.

I got my AMD samsung laptop for 549 Canadian:

http/www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-14-amd-a10-4600m-laptop-np355v4-s01ca-silver-np355v4-s01ca/10211638.aspx

If you are doing a lot of modern gaming, AMD is a great value, however, you will have to wait for driver supports for new games and DX9 games won't benefits from DUal Graphics.

If you just want good performance out of the box, the GT 650M will consistantly work great on any games. But it costs significant more than the A10 7670M setup.

 

[Extremehotdog]

Best answer selected by Extremehotdog.