|
|
|
  |
 Gaming laptops: HP HDX9050
|
Somewhat disappointing performanceFrom the point of view of a media centre, the HDX is an impressive piece of computing power and features put together. But, with the mediocre graphics card, you will not be able to play the toughest games available. Certainly, the notebook makes for an excellent computer for a casual gamer, but not for those who view themselves as a part-time gamers. 3DMark is intended to provide normalized mean scores to help compare different visual processing units. The following are the rather impressive results for our test unit: 3DMark06 Test Results for HP HDX9050 3DMark Score 4081 3DMarks SM 2.0 Score 1439 Marks SM 3.0 Score 1797 Marks CPU Score 1721 Marks Cinebench R10 is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software and assesses computer’s performance by running several tests on the graphics card and the processor. CINEBENCH R10 results for HP HDX9050 Rendering (Single CPU): 1962 CB-CPU Rendering (Multiple CPU): 3710 CB-CPU Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.89 Shading (OpenGL Standard): 3091 CB-GFX HDTune 2.54 assesses the performance of the hard drive. The test unit had a Fujitsu MHY2250BH (250GB) hard drive and the results were the following: Transfer rate 6.2 MB/sec minimum, 45.0 MB/sec maximum with 33.0 MB/sec average. The access time was 16.6ms, the burst rate 89.2 MB/sec while the CPU usage was 3.3%. The last and the least, the Windows System Performance Rating, available in Windows Vista, provided the following results: Processor 4.9 Memory 4.8 Graphics 5.9 Game Graphics 5.4 Primary HD 4.8 Gaming ExperiencesWe tested the computer with some relatively recent games that demand a lot from the computer, such as Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Crysis (the demo) and Civilization 4, as well as the preview copy of PT Boats: Knights of the Sea that Akella was good enough to provide us just in time for this review. As was the case with our previews review of G2S, the HDX was also crippled by the graphics card. Thus, the findings are pretty similar. Oblivion runs very well when you cut down the graphics quality a bit (or the resolution). Civ 4: Beyond the Sword ran perfectly without a hitch, as can be expected from a slightly older game, while Crysis and PT Boats: Knights of the Sea really showed the shortcomings of this computer. Neither of these recent games managed to provide any sort of enjoyment on this platform as the frame rates dropped to around 1 per second. The impressive 20.1” display of the HDX is also a power hog. We tested the longevity of the battery with our highly standardised Oblivion test and managed to play the game continuously for 1 hour and 3 minutes before the computer shut itself down. You cannot really expect more from a machine with this big a screen, but, for a gamer, this is rather disappointing (although I'd like to see the gamer who lugs this beast around the campus). ConclusionHP Pavilion HDX9050 proved to be an excellent piece of electronics if you are looking for a tool that can replace your CD player, radio and TV, as well as your computer. Even the price tag (of about 3000 to 4000 dollars (1700+ euros) depending on the set-up) will seem less when you consider all the other equipment that it replaces. However, from a gamer's point of view, this notebook will not carry you far. After all, if you are looking for a gaming laptop, you want something that will run games that will be published one year from now, rather than something that has trouble running even today's games. However, it should be noted that there are more powerful versions of the HDX available, with larger graphics memory and more powerful processors, that will probably make this “Dragon” more like it's nickname implies.   |
|
|
| Vitals |
    |