EliteBook 8770w CPU and GPU upgrade

[Guttalaser]

Hi, i'm an EliteBook 8770w owner (Ivy Bridge, Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz, upgraded with 32Gb RAM, and as graphic card an NVIDIA Quadro K3000M 2 GB GDDR5).

Somebody can help me about:
1) the MAX CPU i7 model i can use for upgrading my actual cpu
2) the MAX GPU nVidia mobile Quadro (i need the CUDAs!) graphic card i can use for upgrading my actual gpu
3) IF there is any way to upgrade the actual display to a IPS DREAMCOLOR Screen Display 17.3

Tnx for help.

[Huffer]

You have the Quad Core motherboard so the top processor is the i7-3820QM, which would be an improvement from 2.3 ghz to 2.7 ghz, would be a serious upgrade and is worth doing. 

Service Manual

Top video card is nVidia Quadro 5010M and you would go from 2 gigs VRAM to 4 gigs DDR5 VRAM and video card comparison sites say the 5010 is quite a bit more powerful. 

Yes an IPS Dreamcolor display could be retrofitted. 

The display assembly is priced at $1300 on HP Part Store website but is on backorder:

https://parts.hp.com/hpparts/Search_Results.aspx?mscssid=516ABEDAB2D24CECBF72B528993ED41D&SearchIn=P...

You can find them used on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17-3-LCD-Screen-For-HP-Elitebook-8760W-LP173WF3-SLB2-Dreamcolor-Panel-IPS-R...

The above screen panel can be used in your laptop. 

Processor:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i7-3820QM-Quad-Core-2-7GHz-8MB-Mobile-CPU-Processor-Socket-G2-SR...

video card:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-HP-NVIDIA-Quadro-5010M-NVIDIA-GRAPHICS-N12E-Q5-MXM-HP-ASSY-NO-633691-00...

HP's price on this is over $3000!!!

If you can get all 3 of these parts for like $650-700 it might be worth it but if you have to pay HP Parts Store prices it looks like you could buy 2 new mobile workstations for what it would cost for the upgrades. 

Post back with any other questions but please accept as solution if this is the answer you needed. 

[ExTempore]

Dear Huffer,

I have a question similar to the one from topic starter: Is it possible for me to upgrade my EliteBook 8770w.

Difference: I have only i7-3520M as processor installed and would like to upgrade it.

If it is possible, then is it diffult to perform? Is the CPU soldererd on the mother board?

Thank you a lot in advance for your answer.

[Seymour_A]

I know this thread is old, but I thought I might provide an update in case anyone else comes across this post in their research, as I did when I was researching the 8770w before I purchased one.. Anyways, as long as you have a system that already has a quad-core i7 (the dual-core i5's have a different mo.bo.), you can upgrade to the Core i7 Extreme 3920xm. It is what I am running in mine now. I have read it is possible to take it one step further to the i7-3940xm as the top compatible CPU, but it is only .1Ghz faster than the 3920 anyway. And the i7-3920xm FOR SURE works. As for GPU, I am running the nVidia Quadro k5100m 8gb, but the best graphics card you can put in this laptop is the GeForce 980m 8gb. I plan on upgrading to the 980m shortly. Paired with 32gb of ram and 1TB SSD RAID this old laptop will still outpace most brand new systems. I hope this info comes in handy to anyone looking to upgrade and extend the life of their 8770w.

-Seymour

[Guttalaser]

Hi Seymour! TNX so much for your update!
My i7 motherboard is the HP model 176C KBC version 50.1F with chipset Intel IvyBridge  rev.09 and the southbridge Intel QM77 rev.04 and runs the BIOS 68IAV ver.F.71 updated 04/19/2019.
I'll try the i7-3940xm with the +1GHz more (+1GHz is not a small step further expecially in long 3D rendering tasks).
As for the graphic card i think i will stay with the nVidia Quadro K5100M 8Gb 'coz i need both the special 3d drivers for some 3D progz AND the Mercury engine for speeding up the Premiere video preview and rendering.
Beside if all this will "works"... my only remaining doubt is: is the original thermal system enough for all this upgrades?!

BTW: I've upgraded yet my memory to 32Gb and 3 SSDs (the 3rd removing the dvd and using a "dvd like" SSD caddy). They are all Samsung Pro 4Tb each (i have lot of VSTs with giant samples libraries).
BUT during the system disk clone procedure i've screwd up all the raid settings. Anyway... the SSDs r/w is faster enough and i don't suffer any bottleneck even with the most mission critical tasks i do with 3D graphic, video editing and with the DAW recording and mixing.

Tnx again Man.
Antonio

[Seymour_A]

I'm happy to help! But the difference between the 3920 and 3940 is POINT one GHz (0.1), not 1GHz. The 3920xm = 2.9GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) and the 3940xm = 3GHz (3.9GHz Turbo). All the other specs are the same. So don't spend too much time trying to find a 3940 if you don't fin done reasonably priced right away, the 3920 is more available and priced significantly less considering the speed difference. Really the most tempting reason to splurge for the 3940 is just to be able to say you have the best possible processor.. lol. 
And yes the k5100m isn't bad. Good for video editing, but I prefer gaming. For the thermal system, yes the original setup will work. No physical mods required. Just make sure you use a good quality thermal paste and use enough. 

The RAID setups do get some impressive read times.. I can boot Windows 7 Ult in about 6-7 seconds and Windows 10 in the blink of an eye. 

Happy upgrading!

[Guttalaser]

Hi Seymour!

I need your help Man!

I upgraded my 8770w with the 3940XM (and it works!) and with an Nvidia Quadro K5100M... but the graphic card is not recognized by the system (in device manager i only see a generic vga wich i think is the graphic chip onboard the cpu).

The exe driver install from nVidia don’t work (“no nVidia detected”) and even the “force driver update” method (in a solved case here that is exactly the same of mine) that consists in the “i have disk” and point to the .inf file don’t work too (i arrive to the step where are listed the graphic card models and i see 3 items of k5000m but selecting them one bu one i got always the error “this driver is not compatible with your Windows version” (my OS is Win 7 Professional 64 bit OEM that came with the Elitebook).

Any suggestion Man?

Tnx Cheers!

Antonio

[vitormvieira]

Hi Huffer,

I own a 8770w, with a 3940qm running on a (176C (U3E1) / KBC Version 50.1A)  motherboard. Originally with a K4000m GPU.

I've bought a new, unopened, K5100m GPU, but after installation it won't start (no image). I've even upgraded the BIOS to F71.

Help?

[Huffer]

K5010M was offered by HP not the K5100M. The system BIOS are not the issue its the video BIOS of the video card. People who really know what they are doing with MXM video cards have developed custom video BIOS and apps to flash them with but I am far from expert in this more of a dabbler so I have no idea whether there is a video BIOS that would allow you to use the card in that laptop and how you would flash it. 

[Seymour_A]

Hello Antonio!

Sorry to reply so late. If this is still an issue, try going to the official HP driver download page found here - https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-EliteBook-8770w-mobile-workstation/5257511

Go to Drivers-Graphics and download the NVIDIA Video Driver and Control Panel. That should automatically detect the correct drivers and give you a control panel page as well.

IMHO,  just in general, I get ALL my drivers from there if I can. Those are specific, straight from HP just for your 8770w. As long as you select the correct OS everything from there should work.

On a side note, Seymour recently switched full time to Linux mint from Windows 7 & 10.. at least on his HP Elitebook anyway. I haven't had to worry about finding drivers or any of that. The only thing I can't get to work is the smartcard reader, which I didn't use anyways.

I hope this helped if you hadn't figured it out yet buddy.

(I'm still happy to help you guys with windows questions, to the best of my knowledge. I'm also happy to help show you how to install a copy of Linux on your 8770w if you felt like getting adventurous!)