HP EliteBook 8760w: Color, So Dreamy
by Dustin Sklavos on August 25, 2011 2:30 AM ESTWorkstation Performance
Since we're working with a mobile workstation in the HP EliteBook 8760w, it's worth testing it in workstation-based performance metrics. Note that for these our only reference points are desktops; as we get more mobile workstations in we'll be able to improve the amount of data we have to the point where we can eventually split these off into mobile and desktop charts.
In SPECviewperf 11, the 8760w's Quadro 5010M comes into its own and runs roughshod over the other cards. That's fair: the 5010M boasts twice as many CUDA cores as the Quadro 2000 and four times as many as the Quadro 600, more than making up any performance deficit resulting from the faster processors in the desktop workstations. The 5010M is in fact likely to be as fast as or faster than any desktop Quadro currently offered on NewEgg.
SPECapc for Lightwave 3D 9.6 shows more excellent results for the HP EliteBook 8760w and proves it's more than capable of offering adequate performance for users who need a mobile workstation.
Our third benchmark is Premiere Pro Benchmark for CS5 (run in CS5.5 without issue), and as I mentioned in my review of HP's Z210 SFF desktop, I'm still not 100% sold on this benchmark. If you agree or disagree on its inclusion, or have another workstation-class benchmark to suggest, please sound off in our comments.
Adobe Premiere Pro unsurprisingly favors as much CPU power as you can throw at it, and as a result the quad-core systems can't really compete with an i7-990X. The 8760w does put in a great showing, though, possibly owing to the speedy Micron C300 SSD which runs faster than the Intel X25-M in the HP Z210 SFF.
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damianrobertjones - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
In the future could you actually make a point of informing users about the fan (A bit more info)? Does it stay on all the time? Does it switch off as this is one of the more important aspects.For instance I've had a chance to use the following new models: (Fitted SSD, clean install, tweaked)
HP 5330m - core i3, fan off most of the time
HP 6460b - core i5, fan always on and annoying
HP 8460p - core i5, fan always on and annoying
Dell Vostro v131, celeron, fan ALWAYS off!
Also here are the extended battery options that you missed off:
HP VH08XL
HP ST09 - Extended life battery (Fits under the laptop)
HP BB09 - Ultra extended life battery (Massive slice, fits under the laptop)
The BB09 along with the standard battery on a 6460b will play full screen media non-stop for 14+ hours (Wireless off, lowest brightness, audio via headphones).
Thanks
nirolf - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
+1, more info on the noise would be nice.B3an - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
Same. More fan info please.wawawiwa - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
In my experience, the fan starts spinning on high usage like rendering or hd editing. It spins sometimes in photoshop but for short periods while in illustrator it stays off all the time (cs5.5). It also spins up but on lower rpm when i'm using both external and laptop display and it stays on all the time. If I'm using "projector" only or the laptop display only, it stays off.Standard temperature (CPU) is around 45°C, the maximum I got it to go is up to 80°C but still the keyboard and the part around the power button never gets hot, just warm.
It is a beast.
heymrdj - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
These are high end workstation systems. Like any user, one must make a tradeoff between power and cooling. You can't run dual 6990's without fan noise, be it a watercooling radiator setup or fans, you *have* to pay the price for power in fan noise and/or size. The only way to get fan noise lowered is to thicken the fan and thicken the unit itself. Using workstation systems myself fan noise is a non issue, I know it will be loud according to the chips I outfit it with. A high end I7 and an always on quadro GPU is going to be producing a good deal of heat even idling, no way around it, just as my 5.4L V8 in my Expedition costs more to idle in fuel and heat than the 2.3L I4 in my fiance's Ranger.damianrobertjones - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
I'm aware of this. The entire new Elitebook and Probook range are thicker than nearly any laptop I've used in the last 5 years YET the fan is always on even after updating the bios which enabled the 'fan' option. That said same option no longer even does what we think it does.I'd expect the 8760w to have fans the size of a small room :) but it would be nice to know if it EVER switches off
Barfo - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
yesvelis - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
I too bought an 8740w just for the x1200 dreamcolor. Had it been 1080p I wouldn't have bothered. I sure hope this notebook lasts me until monitors finally start picking up resolution. This convergence to 1080p and nothing higher gives me the creeps. Thanks for pointing out that fact in this review.Oh what I wouldn't give for a nice 24" 2560x1600 standalone - which would be the exact monitor obtained from this same dreamcolor 17" glass (the 1200p one of course)...
I saw that HP offers a dreamcolor standalone, but its resolution is a useless 1920 and the price is stupenduously prohibitive. Why can the upgrade on a notebook cost $500 ($600 now), but a standalone costs >$2500???
Rick83 - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
Well, mostly because the upgrade also includes the price of the base display (probably around 150-200$) and because you get much better back-lighting for desktop screens.Additionally, size does matter, there's a bunch more material costs, more/better control circuits, a power supply, a foot, and finally dream color is just a brand - so the panel is probably utterly dissimilar from that used in the desktop.
Also, the desktop screen market is a much more competitive market, as you can plug any screen into any computer - with the laptop you're limited to the options your producer gives you.
If you compare the dream color offering to NEC and eizo offerings, you will see that it is priced for a certain market.
It would be interesting to see direct performance comparisons between high end IPS laptop panels and mid-end PVA/IPS desktop screens, to see just how good/bad these high-end laptop screens are, and whether they're worth the extra 600$, if you mostly use the machine at a desk, or if the same money buys a vastly superior dedicated screen.
Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
I have to be honest, I think the screen quality (at least subjectively) is at LEAST on par with my desktop HP ZR24w and LP2465, if not outright better.