7690M GPU = HP HORRIBLE DRIVER SUPPORT [ Edited ]

[t1nm4n]

I called HP yesterday, I have been following tis thread for some time now, It is the fault of HP for taking a bid on GPU that don't have proper drivers from a manufacturer that makes CPU, I don't blame ATI for not stepping to bat and fixing AMD screw up. I know they are one in the same, but they are still operated as two different companies. I do feel bad for "Us" the customers that have been forced with an inferior product, and the CS tech I spoke with on the phone seemed to understand my plythe when I tried to explain the situation, Luckily I was in the 21 day window and they are willing to exchange mine for a newer model, I'm stoked, just shipped mine out this afternoon, no clue when my new one will arrive.

If you look at the timing of things, I bought mine 3 days before their spring sale went on, which would be about a week before they released the new line of laptops, I would imagine HP has known about this issue for awhile and has been working at resolving it in a manner that is going to piss alot of people off. I don't see anything happening for 6 months as far as new drivers to come out specifically for the 7690xt (hence trading-up). for those of you that have had your laptop more than 21 days, best bet is to create technical cases to the point you can say this is a defunkt machine, spend the time on the phone with support, you can call customer service and speak to someone about routing you to an english speaking tech support individual, I have had my fair share of language issues and ask for this. wether or not HP tech support will aknowledge an issue with the drivers is regardless to the issue you are having, just create tech cases and be as pleasant as you can ( thee old adage "you catch more flies with honey" fits here). I do understand how hard it is to understand what they are saying at times, hey it took me 3 1/2 hours to find out the cable for the secondary hard drive only comes with a laptop if you order the second hard drive with the laptop, that was a hair pulling day.

I would imagine threatening to never purchase HP again is something they hear alot, I don't suggest that tone, won't get you far, got me hung up on several times in dealing with HP support.

The CS rep I spoke with was named Burnadette, not sure if that was real or not, but she seemed genuinely concerned that I was having problems, but again, being able to keep your emotions bottled up and no just let loose on some poor unsuspecting CS rep is hard to do.

[D3forfun]

Sincerely hope they will admit tha this GPU is defective and exchange yours.  Then I will do the same to my laptop...

But honestly I don't think HP would run a game on your laptop for testing and find out it actually chill out for no reason during games.   Anyway, keep my fingers crossed for you and all of us!

[t1nm4n]

On a side note, those o you that have laptops with switchable graphics before, might be able to guess at this issue. I know that an ATI video card will send a 720p signal through an HDMI cable to a TV that can reproduce that signal, I know the CCC sofware will recognize a monitor that can display Highdef resolutions and give you HD resolutions to output to that monitor, when I had my DV7t quad with switchable graphics off (for the most part), I had the AMD7690 set to on and there was no way for me to use catalyst to change resolutions for a monitor, I could only control the resolution functions through the Intel Control Panel, which did not offer any HD resolutions, when dealing with a TV that has HDMI inputs on it, you can't just send 1280x720 and it fit the screen, there will be edges, nor can you 1400x900 fit it inside the screen.

Back to the question, when you have switchable graphics will the onbaord graphics always tak control of display resolution, or was there some way to let catalyst set rosolutions, if there wasn't that might be a way to return your computer, Intel software is preventing you Graphics software from performing the way it was designed to. Just an idea, I'm not the smartest when it comes to software/hardware conflicts. the only switchable graphics I ever had before was an MSI mobo with graphics built in, when I installed an ATI video card i had to turn onboard graphics off/disable, through the bios, that's how it used to be, and how it still shoudl be.

[CJacksonLASD]

@t1. The first thing we learned was HP switchable graphics is highly flawed, that is why we all switched out bios to fixed graphic cards, so switchable is not the issue. Like a guy around page 28 stated who tested many games. In HP default drivers nearly all games fail to run, especially open gl games. We as users have to spend countless hours on forums to learn what 3rd party drivers and mods we have to install or tweak to get each specific game to run. As a HP customer, with less then a 3 month laptop that is top of the line we should not have to deal with such things. It should all be plug and play out of the box. And what about 6 months from now or next year? We will definitely be SOL in terms of gaming when we run out of ways to treat games to run, even if it is poorly. For example in hp drivers swtor will not play, on 3rd party drivers I can get it to play but at worse frame rates then my 2 year old acre laptop. These are issues HP customers should not have to deal with. I purchased mine on Feb 6, and they Are telling me it's my fault for not returning my laptop for a refund under 21 days. I waited because they told me that a fix is conning even though now I know they lied like all CS does. And now because I'm a fool for believing them I'm SOL because noone wants to listen to me and go over their 21 day policy

[demon_edge]

CJacksonLASD-

I was within the 21 day period to switch my laptop out. I got lucky because I stumbled upon YOUR thread. I feel that HP gave us a very poor functioning graphics card. I want to THANK YOU for creating this thread. You have helped countless people. HP needs to correct this wrong.

But lets face it. HP had a GHASTLY problem with a previous set of Nvidia cards and a solder problem that caused all kinds of problems. It is not "easy" to start up a class action law suit or force HP to give ALL affected users a replacement/upgrade (they would lose TONS of money).

Obviously, this is not what you want to hear. But I think on a 1 on 1 level you have a great chance of getting this fixed. Let's look at what your situation is

1) You bought the laptop a few months ago and expected a top notch laptop. They DIDNT deliver.

2) You have called CONSTANTLY over and over again and they refused to fix your problem.

3) You created a thread on their forum and it already has 33 pages filled with other people with the same exact issue.

 Honestly I think your best bet is to do what was suggested above. Document every time you call CS and follow everything they do. Be nice as pie. Send the laptop to them, let them run their tests. Keep calling them and telling them it didnt resolve your issue.

EVENTUALLY they will HAVE to give you a replacement. You can get a CEO involved or the BBB (filing a complaint does wonders because they dont want any blemish on their report)

They will have nothing to do but "extend" their 21 day period. I wouldnt hold your breath to wait for HP to have ownership to this issue. It probably will never happen. You will have to fight your case on an individual basis.

I really hope everything works out for you CJackson

[t1nm4n]

@CJ

I realize the Switchable Gfx were flawed, I did all the steps people were talking about, I found some drivers installed before or after installing HP driver sets acted differently with different games, I mean it was a toss up depending on which game you played as to which drivers and how they should be installed. I totally agree with you that this should all be PnP when it comes to the excessive power this computer should have, even with just the Intel HD Gfx you should be able to play some, if not most, games on the lowest settings, but thats not why we opted for a dedicated GPU with 1-2g ram, or at least thats not what I planned on.

I completely understand your plythe, But again I understand HP's stand point, I can gaurantee what happened is HP wanted a Graphics card they could call their own, ATI and NVidia being GPU manufacturers quoted HP a price they didn't like, steps in AMD, (parent/owner of ATI whatever thier relationship) and figures they can take a 6770 and spruce it up, give it some new numbers and sell it to HP for a price they can use to make money. AMD probably tested the drivers ATI currently had with the card and for the most part it worked, so what if there were a few glitches in OpenGL probably some botlenecks in 3D rendering, definatly some issues with lighting and texture; they looked at the numbers of how much they (AMD)could make and the details of the contract to supply GPU's to HP and figured if there does arise an issue, they have fulfilled thier end of the contract and it is up to HP to resolve any issues, HP doesn't write Drivers for anything, I imagine HP buy components from other manufacturers to meet thier specs along with drivers so that they work to thier standards. As far as AMD is concerned the GPU works flawlessly, HP didn't (probably still doesn't) recognize an issue, but you bring it to their attention (which you have, and to the attention fo many other users) is a step in the right direction. They should spend the money to have an actual GPU manufacturer write speific drivers, (as should of been done when the graphics were retuned by AMD). I know you will get you issue resolved, one way or another, shouldn't take as long as you might think. There are many ways to skin a snake, the easiest is sometimes the one that takes the most time. When I first read your thread, I figured these issues won't apply to me( more over I was hoping) foolish of me I know, I should of been patient and waited for the new Laptop that was coming out, didn't know about it at the time, probably wouldn't have known about it unless for checking this thread you started. I am greatful to you for recognizing the issue, and saying something about it, I can't thank you enough, and no I won't buy you a new laptop, or trade you mine lol. Sorry, sounded funnier in my head. You seem to know what your talking about when it comes to the computer, so dealing with Tech Support is your biggest hurdle, which I admit is something to of a daunting challenge in of itself. If there is anything else I can do, look up numbers or write some emails, let me know, I can be quite diplomatic when it comes to talking to people.

[CJacksonLASD]

I am so happy I was able to help so many people out.  I am a computer enthusiast, avid COD and MMO gamer, and you will see me all over HP, TomsHardware, and Guru Forums to help people out.  We are a community with questions and answers and people have helped me in the past and we like to return the favor.  Just please post how you like your new computers when they come

[gregsuarez]

@t1nm4n

While HP may have wanted a GPU they "could call their own,"  what they failed to realize is PC gamers want the latest hot piece of tech, not some obscure model number that doesn't properly align within the GPU manufacturer's model line.  I'm getting an exchange of my laptop with a 7690, for a new dv7t with an NVIDIA GT650M.  I'm really, really happy about this because when I go to NVIDIA's web site, I can actually see model GT650M in their line-up.  It's not some rebadged version of another model that doesn't quite fit within NVIDIA's line-up, as is the case with the 7690.  And the best part: it is supported by the GPU manufacturer with current drivers.

I blame both HP and AMD for this 7690 debacle.   HP should have gotten some kind of guarantee from AMD for driver support.  If AMD did not want to provide support, then HP had an obligation to its customers to support the GPU themselves.  If AMD did agree to support it, then HP should be going after them with both barrels to produce new drivers because HP is the one suffering the brunt of this problem.

[baba94]

CJackson I have hp dv6 i7 2670qm, when I run any latest game, after an hour or so, my cpu temp reaches upto 95C. What should I do? For a while i have changed max CPU usage to 90% so my temps are not exceeding 82C, but May be i am not getting the full performance for which I have paid. So any recommendations please reply quick! My laptop is a week old..

[gregsuarez]

@baba94

The next thing you need to do before you eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, or even take your next breath, is to get a laptop cooling pad.  They have one or two fans built in, are powered by USB, and circulate cooler air into the laptop from the lower heat vents.  My dv7t runs pretty hot (and you can hear the laptop's own fans kick in) when I'm playing strenuous FPS games, but when I turn on the cooling pad the only hot spot on the machine is at the side exhaust vent; the underside of the machine stays relatively normal.

HP should package a cooling pad with every one of these they sell.  These upper-end Pavilions are acting as desktop substitue machines for a lot people (me included) due to the better processors, more RAM, and dedicated GPUs, and as such, they are going to run pretty hot, unlike a netbook or iPad.