Upgrade G2 Zbook graphics card

[neilhillman]

Hi -

I would like to run DaVinci Resolve 17 on my much-loved G2 ZBook, and whilst the audio workstation works perfectly, I can't run video because DaVinci 17 requires an NVIDIA graphics card with CUDA 11 support and a CUDA Compute Capability of 3.5 or higher is required for CUDA11. My current card is an NVIDIA Quadro K1100M, which I understand has a CUDA Compute 3.0 capability. 

Please could you advise me on where can I find an HP-recommnded upgrade to my  graphics card to meet these requirements for CUDA11?

Also, is it possible to ad extra RAM to my machine? I currently have 16GB installed.

Device ID: B2B6C2CA-8654-4E8A-8ECD-E72BD0182BC2

Product ID: 00330-80000-00000-AA197

[soccer_dan]

You can certainly upgrade RAM on your system... the HP service manual (  HP ZBook 15 G2 Mobile Workstation Maintenance and Service Guide ) has all the information you need... i assume you are asking about the 15" not the 17"

Unfortunately, the graphics chip is not upgradeable, so that will be an issue

[cutprods]

You can indeed upgrade the ZBook G2 15's graphics card since it appears from the referenced manual to be an MXM-A one. But whether you can upgrade beyond a K2100M is unknown (which still wouldn't help your case use). It would depend upon bios (very doubtful) and thermal properties. You would need at least a Pascal based GTX or Quadro and the MXM-A form factor would still limit you to a 4GB vram one - not enough for 4K in Davinci Resolve 17. You would still also be limited by the 4th gen quadcore i7 too.

It's highly doubtful it would ever be worth the effort for such an old laptop. I use Resolve too on a ZBook 17 G5 with 64GB ram and recently upgraded from a Quadro P3200 (6gb) to P5200 (16GB) specifically for Resolve 17. Whilst it works very well, including 4K,  it is still lagging somewhat behind the newer RTX Quadros on the G6/7.

I suggest you either get at least a second hand G5 17 with similar graphics or a fast gaming laptop with RTX Geforce of at least 8GB and Thunderbolt 3 for Resolve.