Re: Upgrade cpu path of Pavilion dv7 - HP Support Community

NikosN · ‎07-29-2019

Hallo I have a Pavilion Dv7 3175ev laptop. I want to upgrade to a better Cpu, but I am a bit confused. The current CPU that came with the laptop is an i5-520m. I want to replace the Cpu with something better (I7 for example). The official technical manual says it comes with an Intel Core i7-820QM or an Intel Core i7-720QM and not an i5 like mine at all. Do you think I can try to upgrade to a Clarksfield (QM) family processor like the manual says or try an Arrandale ( I7-640m).Thank you in advance...

Paul_Tikkanen · ‎07-29-2019

Hi:

I think that HP has the wrong service manual on the support page for your model.

This is the one that should be for your model series...

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02666747

You will notice that models with the first gen quad core processors all have discrete graphics and have different motherboards than the dual core models do.

To be safe--especially if your model only has the onboard Intel graphics, I recommend that you try to upgrade to the dual core i7 such as the 640M you mentioned.

If your notebook only has the Intel graphics, I can tell you that none of the quad core processors would work.

NikosN · ‎07-30-2019

The board's cpu matches the manual's configuration but the gpu (nvidia Gt 320m) and the cover of the laptop are not the same in the manual. Also the computer model is 3000 series (not mention in the manual at all). I am confused because it seems that my model is a mixed series from the manual that you showed me and the manual of the next series ( http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01859666http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01859666 ) although the spects of that, are also wrong. You are probably right about the discrete graphics matter though. How can I be sure that the i7-640m would work? Any ideas? Any advise is welcomed .....

Paul_Tikkanen · ‎07-30-2019

Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if the 640m would work. In theory it should.

You can do a search in the forum and see if there are any other posts about this.

You are correct...both manuals are not the right ones for your model, but the one I posted makes more sense.

As I wrote yesterday...if your notebook only has the onboard Intel graphics (there are no specs I could find online for it), no first generation quad core processor will work. They must have a dedicated graphics adapter such as AMD or Nvidia. The same goes for the 1st gen core desktop PC's.

You can find a bunch of posts where folks changed out their dual core first gen processors in a desktop PC for a quad core, and don't understand why there is no display.

That is why the service manual on your PC's support page is not a good one to go by.

If your notebook does not have a discrete video adapter, and you assumed the 820QM would work because it was listed in the manual, you would have been tremendously disappointed.

Here is a comparison between the i7-640M and the i7-820QM, and your processor.

You will notice under the graphics spec, the 820QM shows no graphics spec. Intel HD graphics is not supported.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=47341,43124,49666

Now, if your notebook does have an AMD or nvidia graphics adapter, then you can try one of the i7-QM processors.

NikosN · ‎07-30-2019

I will try for some clues to the answer of my question.

-In the last bios (F.1C A sp48953.exe 3.6 MB), in the description says "Adds BIOS support for the Intel I3-350, I5-520, I5-540, and I7-620 K-O Stepping Processors".

-My model's exact information: https://h10057.www1.hp.com/ecomcat/hpcatalog/specs/provisioner/05/WK568EA.htm

So up to now:

-I7-620m will work 99% (Arrandale)

-I7-640m will work if the bios supports it (?) (Arrandale Top Dual-Core)

Based of Intel PM55 chipset specifications (BGA1288 / Socket G1) Core i7 Quad-Core (Clarksfield):

-i7-720QM

-i7-740QM

-i7-820QM

-i7-840QM

50% chance of failing (no Graphics)

50% chance for success based on the manual that you posted.

These is the search so far......

Paul_Tikkanen · ‎07-30-2019

If the BIOS update shows support for the i7-620, then I would go with that one.

If the BIOS update does not have the microcode for the i7-640, it probably won't work and I would think the BIOS update would have included it if it did.

Once again...if your notebook only has the onboard Intel HD graphics, there is a 100% chance of the i7 quad cores not working.

NikosN · ‎07-30-2019

is there a "tool" or any other way that I can see the microcodes of the cpus that my bios includes?

Paul_Tikkanen · ‎07-30-2019

None that I know of.

NikosN · ‎07-30-2019

I think there is, but I Just started to search more about it...

It reads the Cpu microcode strings in the bios...

If I have more info I will inform you. Thank you very much, we are on the same way of thinking. Thanks again... If you have anything more please contact me. I will do the same.