HP 8770W upgrade process

[Skyryder43]

So I've started the process of upgrading a used 8770W laptop. Started out with a cheap i7-3520 Dual core CPU on a two DIMM slot mobo p/n: 690034-001 with 8GB DDR3 ram and a Quadro K4000M 4 GB GPU. The first issue I ran into was the ram limitation on the mobo (16 GB) and it doesn't support a Quad core CPU. So installed a new mobo with 4 DIMM slots that's supports a Quad core CPU, p/n: 690035-001. Installed an i7-3940XM Extreme 3.0 Ghz. Quad core CPU. Added 32 GB DDR3-1600 (4X8GB) ram and a 1 TB SSD. The system boots up quick and a much improved performance over the old CPU. But now I want to upgrade the GPU to an NVidia GT 980M MXM 8 GB GPU. Does anyone know what problems I might encounter? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

[pbroussard · Accepted solution]

Looking at your service manual here- http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03579708.pdf , The best GPU they offered in that line is a  Quadro 5010M. Congrats on getting that far with the build. If it never was offered, then I don't know if it would actually fit and bios support would be the first problems I see.

Also, did you upgrade the heat sink to the quad core version when you upgraded?

[Skyryder43]

Thanks for your quick reply to my concerns.

Yes, I certainly did upgrade the CPU heatsink appropriate to the CPU (Double pipe heatsink vs single pipe) EBay is great!, No heat issues so far. I did test the system with an NVidia Quatro K5100M 8 GB card and it worked fine, but I'm more gamer than Architect so I was hoping to run the GT980M 8 GB card in it instead. I know that sometimes the offered upgrades of the time may be outdated by newer tech being available after they roll out the product as new. Just hoping I get lucky with this. Is there a way to update the Video BIOS separately?

[pbroussard]

No bios update like that exists. I'm not saying it won't work, but chances are kinda slim that it won't. But there may be some standard for the discreet cards of that era, since you see some with AMD also. If you can find one on eBay cheap, give it a go. CHeck the pins if it looks like it will fit, try it.

I get most all my laptop parts off eBay myself, too!