HP laptop limits on upgrading

[Karl1992]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to ask advice on whats the limit in terms of upgrading  my laptop, specifically this model HP Pavilion Laptop 14-bf1xx. 

Specs on this laptop.
cpu: i5-8250u @1.60ghz
gpu: intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 and NVIDIA GeForce 940mx

ram: 4gb ddr4 (2 ram slots)
HDD 1tb

I think it will be better if you get a context on what i do. I do heavy 4k video editing with visual effects and i bought this laptop for me to edit on the go. I chose this because of how small it is and i dont want to spend $2000 for a macbook.

I want to upgrade all the parts to its maximum potential.

-Is the cpu and gpu on this laptop upgreadable? if yes, what specific parts will i get for gpu and cpu?

-can i upgrade ram to 32gb total? 16gb for each slot.
-can i keep the HDD 1tb in my laptop and add an ssd or do i have to remove the hdd and replace is it with an ssd?
-if upgraded the laptop to its maximum potential highest possible spec for this model, is there a risk of overheating?

I would also like to ask for your opinion on the stock specs on this laptop. Is this a decent laptop or below average.


PS i dont need it to be blazing fast in rendering time or editing etc. i just need it to be a smooth editing experience, no stutters no software crashes or program being "not responding" or lag.

[St3ve1 · Accepted solution]

Hello,

For HP Pavillion 14-bf100 series there is an online service guide that tells you the parts compatible, how to replace them and also part numbers if you want to order HP compatible parts;

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05527168

Your laptop supports up to 16GB of ram according to this guide 

It has an M.2 Slot and supports dual storage: up to 256GB SSD and up to 1TB HDD in dual storage config;

In regards to the CPU and GPU, they seem to come as BGA's soldered to the system board and the best you can get is one iwth an i7: Intel Core i7-8550U processor and 4 GB of discrete graphics memory 940762-xx1 

Normaly these documents are for laptop model series not specific models but you can also go to www.support.hp.com and in the "search all support" box put in your Serial number (S/N) and it should show you the product page most relevant to your laptop model. This includes software and drivers, product info and user guides. The service guide is in User guides -> Maintenance and service guide;

For RAM upgrades you can also check www.crucial.com

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/HP-Compaq/pavilion-14-bf101nx

This is just an example and please note that some components might not work with the HP laptop even if they seem to have similar specs. 

I hope this helps and best of luck

[Karl1992]

Thank you for the quick respone. 

Regarding about the ssd and ram. Does it have to be the brand "crucial"? Can i use other brands like samsung, sandisk etc?

About the gpu and cpu, so basically i can have someone open it and change it entirely for the i7?

Regads,

[St3ve1]

SSD and Ram do not have to be crucial but so far i've found that they actually have compatibility lists like what products they have and what laptop it would work with. You could try to use other brands as wlel as i'm sure these laptops come with components from various manufacturers but: 

There is just one thing, i've noticed it on a desktop where we changed the graphics card with a more powerful one from a different brand and at boot it showed "Unsuported hardware". I think this shouldn't be an issue for SSD and RAM but the part numbers you see in the document are usually parts HP uses for the laptop model series.

As for the CPU and GPU, it would actually involve replacing the whole motherboard with the CPU and GPU as these are soldered onto the motherboard, . For this, you should try shops like EET europarts or HP Part surfer as you see there a list of system boards with their configuration and the part number for the product. 

To sumarize it, the SSD and RAM should work even if they are from a different brand, jusst keep in mind the configuration limits:

if you keep the 1TB HDD you can use an up to 256GB SSD;

Ram you can put up to 16GB  limit ( 2 x8GB ram cards) and please check the DDR standard and the Frequency limit (i think it supports RAM cards with 2144Mhz or so);

With the motherboard, you are pretty much stuck with the part numbers are listed in the service guide as with laptops nowadays you cannot take out the GPU or CPU separately; 

[Huffer]

For the most part this is all true and well done. However, although the Manual lists 16 gigs as the maximum memory this model can accept up to 32 gigs in the form of 2 x 16 gig DDR4-2400. You can add a 2280 form factor M.2 disk but it has to be the SATA-3 type such as Samsung Evo 850 M.2. Good luck. 

[St3ve1]

@Huffer,

Could you please tell me if there is a document or online reference to prove the statement ?

I don't want to be mean but i'm just wondering if there is a better way to find how much RAM do laptops support. 

[Huffer]

Just experience. Users have reported universal success with DDR4 machines with 7th and 8th gen Intel Core CPUs. HP still lists it as 16 gigs max so no HP document will say 32. 16 is almost certainly enough for you but I wanted you to know about your options and the real maximum.