Installed WX4150 in ZBook 15 G2, but fan runs at 100% always

[Vaardu]

Recently I installed a new GPU, after some research. But I stumbled into one issue and one issue only. My Zbook 15 G2 has no fan control with the installed WX4150. I understand the Zbook 15 G2 has the Kepler cards and the M5100 with more than 1GB video RAM but my intentions required more than that.

The WX4150 I got, was for a Z2 Mini G4 workstation that used this card. The part number is L17822-001.

I installed it thinking it'll work after updating to the latest BIOS. It does appear to be picked up by drivers and all, getting an output and being recognised by the AMD Radeon Pro graphics driver. Before the upgrade, I had an Nvidia Quadro K610M 1GB installed, which had appropriate fan behaviour.

The biggest catch is that the card doesn't respond to the fan control, so it runs all the time unless I use Notebook Fan Control to stop it from going to 100% (or 67.5% reported by NBFC.)

I've done the following already:

1. Updated BIOS to latest, being 1.26.
2. Reseated the card, cleaning the contacts.
3. Done a 30 second power button with the power adapter unplugged and turning back on.

I expected it to work with the fan just fine, seeing it's also HP branded with the HP video BIOS. Enduro works, outputs work. Just not the fan control. My question is this: Why is the fan not behaving as it should with my new card?

[Vaardu]

Could someone move this to Notebook Hardware And Upgrade Questions, please?

[Vaardu]

Anyone? I did speak with someone at support but I'm not sure if it's given plans for them to patch it in the BIOS. The card is definitely for an HP product so I thought in theory it would work.

[Huffer]

Did you also replace the fan and heatsink? The WX4150 is not a video card originally offered with the Zbook 15 G2. The motherboard and BIOS is likely just not compatible. MXM video cards are not universal as a desktop video card would likely be. Where did you see that is was compatible even with the newest BIOS?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7510-7520-AMD-Radeon-Pro-WX4150-4GB-MXM3-0-A-Video-Card-/293676795271

[Vaardu]

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@Huffer wrote:

Did you also replace the fan and heatsink? The WX4150 is not a video card originally offered with the Zbook 15 G2. The motherboard and BIOS is likely just not compatible. MXM video cards are not universal as a desktop video card would likely be. Where did you see that is was compatible even with the newest BIOS?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7510-7520-AMD-Radeon-Pro-WX4150-4GB-MXM3-0-A-Video-Card-/293676795271

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I also picked up the different heatsink for AMD, but since the fan on my NVidia was not any different, I wasn't hopeful it was a fan being the culprit of having no control.

It was this listing but it had the Zbook 17 G2 and 15 G1, until I asked the seller and said it wouldn't work.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-HP-L17822-001-PCA-RADEON-PRO-WX-4150-4GB-MXM-Mobile-Graphics/2743311123... 

The seller added the Zbook 15 G2 into the "compatibility" list in his listing shortly after which was odd.

I posted my experiences about it on a different forum, and I have photo evidence that the laptop is picking up the GPU and running off it just fine with Enduro, but the fan control is just not there. And it's strange because the ZBook was configurable with AMD cards as well so I thought it would work too.

MXM cards aren't universal because of the need to have some kind of compatibility whitelist, so you're only tied to what you can upgrade to, by the maintenance manual (which really shouldn't be the case).

[Huffer]

Preaching to the choir. Agreed it should not be but unfortunately it is. There is an MXM enthusiast board filled with sad stories and some triumphs. For some cards people have created custom video BIOS. This has been ground I have avoided treading but if you are brave, you might see what you can find out there. You might want to communicate with this guy:

https://graphicscardhub.com/mxm-graphics-card-gpu-list/

[Vaardu]

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@Huffer wrote:

Preaching to the choir. Agreed it should not be but unfortunately it is. There is an MXM enthusiast board filled with sad stories and some triumphs. For some cards people have created custom video BIOS. This has been ground I have avoided treading but if you are brave, you might see what you can find out there. You might want to communicate with this guy:

https://graphicscardhub.com/mxm-graphics-card-gpu-list/

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I'll look into this. For now over the past few months it's narrowed down to sticking with Nvidia at this point. Because as far as I know from videos and reports, the M2000M is the best card for performance and compatibility to an extent. Extent meaning: switchable graphics needs to be on, with certain UEFI settings on and it works OK.

[Huffer]

I have a book G3 (typing this on it) and am running an M2000M. About like a Geforce 950 or 960M. I don't game on it but do some video and image editing and it fits my needs just fine. I do not have switchable graphics turned on just the Quadro card. 

[Vaardu]

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@Huffer wrote:

I have a book G3 (typing this on it) and am running an M2000M. About like a Geforce 950 or 960M. I don't game on it but do some video and image editing and it fits my needs just fine. I do not have switchable graphics turned on just the Quadro card. 

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My intention for the upgrade is definitely for video editing, as Resolve runs out of VRAM with a 4K clip, when I had the K610M in it. The WX4150 made it so smooth, and it was almost perfect and I had no limit with the 4K (4096x2160) video. It'll be a while until I source a M1200M or M2000M. I will have to have SG on, though which will be fine.