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MagyarHP Gaming Pavilion 15 Laptop Review: A powerful yet pleasingly quiet gaming laptop
HP Inc, the PC and printer element of the former Hewlett-Packard, has refreshed its Pavilion Gaming range. The laptops sit below its OMEN line and consequentially should offer better value for money than something like an OMEN 15. However, the Gaming Pavilion 15 only comes with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 to GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPUs, with the RTX 20 series being reserved for OMEN laptops. Our Gaming Pavilion 15 review unit has an Intel Core i7-9750H processor and a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q GPU, which is the more power-efficient version of the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. We recently reviewed its 17-inch sibling, which comes with the same CPU and GPU. Imaginatively, HP calls this the Pavilion Gaming 17.
The Gaming Pavilion 15 configuration that we are testing currently retails for around 1,400 Euros (~US$1,547). We have chosen to compare the Gaming Pavilion 15 against the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G GA502DU, CUK Model Z, Dell G5 15 5590, Lenovo Legion Y530 and the Medion Erazer X6805.
Case
The Gaming Pavilion 15 has a redesigned case compared to the ones that HP uses on its other Pavilion laptops. Nonetheless, our review unit bears a certain resemblance to its predecessor, with the Gaming Pavilion 15 having a matte, black plastic chassis. HP calls this Shadow Black, which it contrasts with several green areas, including the keyboard. The most striking design feature is the air outlet on the back though, in our opinion.
The device does not have a maintenance cover nor is the battery removable. Instead, accessing the battery or other internal components requires removing the bottom case; more on that in the Maintenance section of this review.
Our review unit is well built, with there being evenly tight gaps between materials. However, the bottom edges of the display lid are overly sharp, to the point where they could injure someone. The lid is too easy to twist for our liking though, and the hinges cannot prevent the display from teetering if we are typing. Our review unit is robust at least, with the lid absorbing our best efforts to deform the display. We could not deform the base either no matter how hard we tried. We like that the display can be opened with one hand too, although its maximum opening angle of about 130° is rather shallow.
Our review unit is slightly compacter, sleeker and lighter than its predecessor, with it weighing 2.4 kg and being 23.4 mm thick. This makes it thinner and lighter than all but the CUK Model Z and Zephyrus G GA502DU of our comparison devices too.
Connectivity
The Gaming Pavilion 15 has a good selection of ports, with four USB 3.2 ports including one Type-C Gen 2, which also supports DisplayPort out with an appropriate adapter. By contrast, the three Type-A ports operate on the slightly older Gen 1 standard. There is also an HDMI 2.0 port, a 3.5 mm combined headphone and microphone jack, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a cable lock slot. HP has positioned all the ports along the right and left-hand sides of the device, but no cables should obstruct you while using a wired or wireless external mouse.
Our only gripe is that HP chose not to include a Thunderbolt 3 port. While its use is essentially limited to hooking up an external GPU, Thunderbolt 3 has become a standard among modern gaming laptops, so its exclusion seems rather odd here.
SD Card Reader
The SD card reader in our review unit not only swallows SD cards completely but also keeps them locked in place. It appears that HP has equipped the device with a USB 3.0 reader, which averaged around 75 MB/s transfer speeds with our Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference card.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Average of class Gaming (19 - 202, n=98, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Average of class Gaming (26 - 269, n=89, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Communication
HP has equipped our review unit with a Realtek RTL8822BE Wi-Fi module. The chip supports all modern Wi-Fi standards up to 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2. The chip averaged over 600 Mb/s in our iperf3 Client Wi-Fi tests thanks to its two antennas, which puts it well above average for gaming laptops and on par with the Intel Wireless-AC 9560. Incidentally, the Gigabit Ethernet chip is also from Realtek, specifically the RTL8168/8111 family. It also worked well during our tests.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Average of class Gaming (450 - 1580, n=43, last 2 years) | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Average of class Gaming (423 - 1700, n=43, last 2 years) | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
Accessories
HP only includes a power supply in the box, along with a quick-start poster and some warranty information. Our review unit arrived with no other accessories.
Maintenance
As we mentioned earlier, the Gaming Pavilion 15 does not have a maintenance cover, so accessing the internal components requires removing the bottom plate. This is not too onerous by modern HP laptop standards, unlike the HP Spectre x360 13t and its fragile rubber strips with hidden screws, but we would still recommend taking care prying the bottom case from the chassis once you have removed the several screws securing the two pieces together. A small plastic spatula, or spudger, would do. Once you have removed the bottom panel, then you will be greeted by all the major components including the two RAM modules, HDD and SSD.
Warranty
Disappointingly, the Gaming Pavilion 15 comes with just a one-year warranty by default. HP sells extended warranty coverage though, which it markets as Care Packs. The company currently offers the Gaming Pavilion 15 with either two- or three-year extensions that it sells for 50 Euros (~US$55) and 65 Euros (~US$72), respectively. Care Packs include pickup and delivery, for reference.
Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies & Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.
Input Devices
Keyboard
HP equips the Gaming Pavilion 15 with a six-row chiclet keyboard including a number pad. The primary keys measure 15 x 15 mm and are easily distinguishable from each other thanks to their bright green lettering. The keys have a smooth action and have a medium lift with clear pressure points. The resistance should be crisper for our tastes though, while the keyboard deck gives away a bit when we type. We did not find this overly disturbing during our tests though. HP includes a two-level keyboard backlighting too, which has a dedicated function button. In short, the Gaming Pavilion 15 has a decent keyboard.
Trackpad
The Gaming Pavilion 15 has a multitouch trackpad too, which measures 11.4 x 5 cm. The trackpad has a smooth finish on which it is easy to perform multi-finger gestures, which is aided by its size. The one in our review unit responds precisely to inputs even into the corners of its surface. The trackpad integrates two mouse buttons, which have tactile pressure points and deliver an audible click when pressed.
Display
The Gaming Pavilion 15 has, as its name suggests, a 15.6-inch display. The IPS panel operates natively at 1920x1080 and has a 144 Hz refresh rate. Our review unit achieved an average maximum brightness of 324 cd/m² according to X-Rite i1Pro 2, making it the brightest screen in our comparison table below. Unfortunately, the display suffers from a comparatively high black value that we measured at 0.42 cd/m², which limits the contrast ratio to a measly 821:1. Only one of our comparison devices has a ratio higher than 1,000:1, which is something we would expect from any class of laptop costing US$1,500. The panel has short responses times though, which will please gamers, as will the lack of pulse-width modulation (PWM).
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 346 cd/m²
Contrast: 821:1 (Black: 0.42 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.3 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.1, calibrated: 1.1
ΔE Greyscale 1.2 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
94.9% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
60.5% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
65.8% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
95.1% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
64.2% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.31
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Dell G5 15 5590 IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -1% | -38% | -37% | -3% | -7% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 64.2 | 64.5 0% | 39.26 -39% | 40.33 -37% | 62.5 -3% | 63.8 -1% |
| sRGB Coverage | 95.1 | 93 -2% | 59.1 -38% | 60.6 -36% | 93 -2% | 82.4 -13% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 65.8 | 65.7 0% | 40.56 -38% | 41.69 -37% | 63.8 -3% | 60.3 -8% |
| Response Times | 1% | -181% | -138% | 2% | -158% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 16.4 ? | 13.6 ? 17% | 45 ? -174% | 34 ? -107% | 15 ? 9% | 38.4 ? -134% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 10.4 ? | 12 ? -15% | 30 ? -188% | 28 ? -169% | 11 ? -6% | 29.2 ? -181% |
| PWM Frequency | 21280 ? | 20490 ? | ||||
| Screen | -44% | -181% | -117% | -70% | -91% | |
| Brightness middle | 345 | 306.8 -11% | 234 -32% | 240.1 -30% | 305 -12% | 270 -22% |
| Brightness | 324 | 309 -5% | 219 -32% | 231 -29% | 284 -12% | 269 -17% |
| Brightness Distribution | 86 | 87 1% | 82 -5% | 85 -1% | 83 -3% | 86 0% |
| Black Level * | 0.42 | 0.38 10% | 0.17 60% | 0.34 19% | 0.52 -24% | 0.32 24% |
| Contrast | 821 | 807 -2% | 1376 68% | 706 -14% | 587 -29% | 844 3% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 1.3 | 3.16 -143% | 8.6 -562% | 4.2 -223% | 3.63 -179% | 5.1 -292% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 2.8 | 6.05 -116% | 17.49 -525% | 17.8 -536% | 8.18 -192% | 9.25 -230% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.1 | 2.4 -118% | 4.06 -269% | 4.09 -272% | 1.31 -19% | 3.25 -195% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 1.2 | 2.3 -92% | 8.55 -613% | 2.8 -133% | 4.77 -298% | 4.16 -247% |
| Gamma | 2.31 95% | 2.17 101% | 3.02 73% | 2.2 100% | 2.54 87% | 2.53 87% |
| CCT | 6476 100% | 6557 99% | 7802 83% | 6925 94% | 7500 87% | 6860 95% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 60.5 | 60 -1% | 37 -39% | 38.4 -37% | 59 -2% | 54 -11% |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 94.9 | 92.6 -2% | 59 -38% | 60.4 -36% | 93 -2% | 82 -14% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -15% /
-30% | -133% /
-154% | -97% /
-105% | -24% /
-49% | -85% /
-84% |
* ... smaller is better
HP colour calibrates the display at the factory and has done a good job according to our tests. We measured DeltaE 2000 colours and greyscale deviations of just 1.3 and 1.2, respectively, which are better than the ideal values of 3. While the human eye cannot perceive the difference between a deviation of 3 and 1.2 or 1.3, it can notice colour tints. Thankfully, the display in our review unit is not afflicted by a tint, with its colour temperature being within 25 K of our ideal value of 6500 K.
We tried further calibrating the display but only managed a minimal improvement in deviations, with colours and greyscale both dropping to 1.1. We have included our calibrated ICC profile in the box above our comparison table should you wish to use it, but most people will not notice the difference between our calibration and the one done at the factory. Also, we would only recommend applying our ICC profile to the same display as the one in our review unit. OEMs often use multiple display partners for their devices, which is worth checking before you apply our profile to your Gaming Pavilion 15. The display also covers 94.9% of sRGB and 60.5% of AdobeRGB, making it colour accurate enough for hobbyist level photo and video-editing.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 10.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 5.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 21 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 16.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 8.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 8 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 23 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (34.5 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 54 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18982 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
The Gaming Pavilion 15 is usable outdoors, but only when direct sunlight is not shining at it. The matte display diffuses reflections nicely, but it cannot get bright enough to overcome the sun’s luminosity, making it look washed-out and difficult to read. In short, we would recommend using the device in the shade where possible.
The IPS panel has stable viewing angles, with the display remaining readable from practically every angle. However, there are some brightness and colour distortions at acute viewing angle, as the photo montage below demonstrates.
Performance
The Core i7-9750H and GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q-powered Gaming Pavilion 15 is powerful enough to handle all modern triple-A games. The configuration retails for around 1,400 Euros (~US$1,547), but there are cheaper versions should you not want to drop that much on a gaming laptop. The cheapest model currently costs just 700 Euros (~US$774), which HP equips with a Core i5-9300H processor and a GeForce GTX 1050 GPU.
Processor
The Core i7-9750H succeeds the Core i7-8750H, a popular hexa-core processor found in many of last year’s gaming and multimedia laptops. The Core i7-9750H is also a hexa-core chip that Intel bases on its Coffee Lake Refresh and offers slightly higher clock speeds than its predecessor. The CPU has a 2.6 GHz base clock that it can boost up to 4 GHz on all cores thanks to Intel Turbo Boost. It can also get 100 MHz faster for every core that is not in use, with it reaching 4.5 GHz on a single core.
Our review unit can briefly keep its CPU at 4 GHz in Cinebench R15 Multi 64Bit before it drops to between 3 GHz and 3.3 GHz. Conversely, we recorded the CPU fluctuating between 4.0 and 4.5 GHz throughout the corresponding single-core benchmark. The Gaming Pavilion 15 can still reach 4.5 GHz in single-threaded tasks on battery, but it occasionally drops to 2.5 GHz. The same applies during multithreaded tasks too, although the CPU could only peak at 2.9 GHz during our tests.
We also subjected our review unit to a looped CB R15 Multi 64Bit benchmark to see how well it maintained its performance under sustained load. We left the benchmark running for 30 minutes and recorded each successive benchmark result. Scores dropped by around 10% between the first and second run-through, although they then stabilised at around 1,030 points, with scores fluctuating between 1,020 and 1,042 points. The CPU engaged its Turbo Boost throughout the loop, but it could not maintain peak multi-core clock speeds.
In short, the Gaming Pavilion 15 has disappointing multi-core performance, as the graph below demonstrates. The device even scores below average in its best run and consistently scored around 150 points fewer than the CUK Model Z in our CB R15 loop. The Gaming Pavilion 15 and Pavilion Gaming 17 perform similarly in this regard, with both underwhelming in CB R15 Multi 64Bit.
| Cinebench R15 | |
| CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Average of class Gaming (79.2 - 312, n=246, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (170 - 194, n=82) | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Average of class Gaming (400 - 5663, n=247, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (952 - 1306, n=85) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Cinebench R10 | |
| Rendering Single 32Bit | |
| Average of class Gaming (5847 - 11940, n=25, last 2 years) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (6659 - 7214, n=13) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit | |
| Average of class Gaming (35806 - 85088, n=25, last 2 years) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (28251 - 36304, n=13) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Cinebench R20 | |
| CPU (Single Core) | |
| Average of class Gaming (169 - 825, n=241, last 2 years) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (416 - 486, n=55) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Average of class Gaming (930 - 13769, n=241, last 2 years) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (2017 - 3133, n=55) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Geekbench 3 | |
| 32 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (21185 - 23587, n=8) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| 32 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (4137 - 4428, n=8) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 | |
| 64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Average of class Gaming (27071 - 71700, n=33, last 2 years) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (17054 - 25043, n=27) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| 64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Average of class Gaming (5812 - 8936, n=33, last 2 years) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (4440 - 5511, n=27) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 (Edge 44) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng (Edge 44) | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (845 - 1713, n=54) | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Average of class Gaming (421 - 882, n=219, last 2 years) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Gaming (63457 - 105526, n=53, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng (Edge 44) | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (22874 - 39708, n=47) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 (Edge 44) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU (Edge 44.17763.1.0) | |
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Gaming (325 - 541, n=28, last 2 years) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng (Edge 44) | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H (212 - 280, n=47) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 (Edge 44) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU (Edge 44.17763.1.0) | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
The device performs comparatively well in system benchmarks like PCMark though. A glance at the spec sheet reveals why, with its hexa-core CPU, powerful GPU, dual-channel RAM and fast NVMe SSD all combining to create a nimble system. Our review unit finished second overall in PCMark to the CUK Model Z and scored 8% better than average for its class.
| PCMark 7 Score | 6847 points | |
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 4362 points | |
| PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2 | 4155 points | |
| PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 | 5608 points | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 5583 points | |
Help | ||
| PCMark 8 | |
| Home Score Accelerated v2 | |
| Average of class Gaming (3570 - 6657, n=41, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (4148 - 4362, n=2) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Work Score Accelerated v2 | |
| Average of class Gaming (4622 - 7085, n=40, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Average Intel Core i7-9750H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (5222 - 5608, n=2) | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
Storage Devices
HP has equipped our review unit with a 256 GB Samsung PM981 SSD, which remains one of the fastest PCIe NVMe drives on the market, as our comparison table below demonstrates. The 256 GB SSD had about 200 GB free when we first booted our review unit, with the remaining space being occupied by the recovery partition and Windows 10 installation. The PM981 is not only considerably faster than SATA III SSDs, which are limited to around 600 MB/s transfer speeds, it delivers better speeds than all but the 2 TB version of the Intel 660p of the drives in our comparison table.
There is a 1 TB Seagate Barracuda HDD too should you need more than 200 GB of storage. The 2.5-inch drive operates at 7,200 RPM and is considerably slower than the PM981, hence why HP preinstalls Windows 10 on the latter rather than the former.
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ | CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z Intel SSD 660p 2TB SSDPEKNW020T8 | Dell G5 15 5590 KBG30ZMS128G | Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8 | Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ | Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 Samsung PM961 MZVLW256HEHP | Average Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB256HAHQ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 37% | -56% | -6% | 2% | -9% | 72% | |
| Write 4K | 100 | 134.4 34% | 64.3 -36% | 132.2 32% | 108.9 9% | 90.3 -10% | 116.1 ? 16% |
| Read 4K | 31.39 | 56.8 81% | 29.3 -7% | 55.5 77% | 40.23 28% | 38.98 24% | 189.5 ? 504% |
| Write Seq | 1308 | 1742 33% | 131.1 -90% | 986 -25% | 1390 6% | 1095 -16% | 1409 ? 8% |
| Read Seq | 1083 | 1687 56% | 776 -28% | 1318 22% | 964 -11% | 777 -28% | 1624 ? 50% |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 362.9 | 535 47% | 96.8 -73% | 220.3 -39% | 314.2 -13% | 302.7 -17% | 360 ? -1% |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 425.7 | 639 50% | 198.6 -53% | 315.5 -26% | 369.2 -13% | 352.2 -17% | 396 ? -7% |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 1411 | 1903 35% | 127.8 -91% | 987 -30% | 1506 7% | 1265 -10% | 1492 ? 6% |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 3240 | 1849 -43% | 1044 -68% | 1416 -56% | 3446 6% | 3389 5% | 3313 ? 2% |
Graphics Card
As we mentioned earlier, HP has equipped our review unit with a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q, a more power-efficient version of the regular GeForce GTX 1660 Ti that NVIDIA has designed for thin and light laptops. The Max-Q has a 60 W thermal design power (TDP), 20 W shy of the regular GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.
The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti sits in the upper-middle class of laptop gaming GPUs, with NVIDIA basing it on its Turing architecture. However, while the Turing architecture is synonymous with DLSS and ray tracing, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has no tensor cores so cannot make use of these new technologies. The Gaming Pavilion 15 supports NVIDIA Optimus though, meaning that it can switch between its NVIDIA GPU and the integrated UHD Graphics 630 to minimise power consumption.
The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q supports DirectX 12 and has a 1,140 MHz base clock, which NVIDIA claims it can boost up to 1,335 MHz when required. However, NVIDIA only gives this as a guideline, with the GPU able to reach higher clock speeds if it does not hit its power or temperature limits. The one in our review unit reached a maximum of 1,500 MHz during synthetic benchmarks, for example, although it averaged 1,377 MHz while playing The Witcher 3. NVIDIA pairs the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q with 6 GB of fast GDDR6 VRAM.
Our review unit performed as expected for a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q-powered device in 3DMark. The Gaming Pavilion 15 scored 1% more than the Ryzen 7 3750H-powered GA502DU and just under 20% more than our GeForce GTX 1060 powered comparison devices. However, our review unit throttles the GPU performance by up to 50% when running on battery, effectively curtailing an opportunity of gaming on the go.
| 3DMark 06 Standard Score | 38536 points | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 15913 points | |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 117976 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 33027 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 11615 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 5072 points | |
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| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU | |
| Average of class Gaming (1029 - 72070, n=235, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (17010 - 18653, n=8) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| 3DMark | |
| 1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics | |
| Average of class Gaming (15902 - 193851, n=162, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (38321 - 89505, n=7) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| 1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
| Average of class Gaming (781 - 53059, n=243, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (12903 - 13870, n=7) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| 2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics | |
| Average of class Gaming (224 - 22547, n=243, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (4867 - 5440, n=8) | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
Gaming Performance
As mentioned earlier, the Gaming Pavilion 15 can handle any modern triple-A game with ease. Our review unit averaged playable frame rates at 1080p and maximum graphics in all but Anno 1800, where it averaged just 33.2 FPS. Dropping the graphics settings to high resulted in it averaging 64.1 FPS though. Overall, the device will play most games at 60 FPS on maximum graphics, but you could make use of its 144 Hz refresh rate display if you reduce the graphics settings to high.
| The Witcher 3 - 1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+) | |
| Average of class Gaming (8.61 - 216, n=239, last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (44.8 - 53.2, n=7) | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Medion Erazer X6805-MD61085 | |
| BioShock Infinite - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset, DX11 (DDOF) | |
| Average of class Gaming (last 2 years) | |
| CUK Model Z GK5CQ7Z | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (102.3 - 130, n=5) | |
| Lenovo Legion Y530-15ICH | |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA502DU | |
| Far Cry 5 - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
| Average of class Gaming (14 - 218, n=139, last 2 years) | |
| Dell G5 15 5590 | |
| HP Gaming Pavilion 15-dk0009ng | |
| Average NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q (50 - 74, n=2) | |
We also subjected the Gaming Pavilion 15 to an hour-long The Witcher 3 run-through to see how it managed its performance under sustained load. Frame rates fluctuated between 44 and 53 FPS during this test, with the system averaging 49.5 FPS. We did not move the playable character during this test and conducted it with the game running at 1080p and maximum graphics, for reference. The Gaming Pavilion 15 edges the GA502DU by 5 FPS here and is about 10 FPS shy of the GeForce RTX 2060-powered G5 15 5590.