max memory 17-cp0097nr

[JamesN2]

Yup, I'll be using the manual and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTRsW-YaAKw as my guide (I realize this won't be the exact model; while HP is great at upgrade videos, this laptop model doesn't appear to have any.)

[JamesN2]

My plan:

0. Order those pocket knife/cell phone tools and my upgraded PCIe 3.0 M.2 Drive

1. Boot the computer, make sure everything works.

2. Make sure Windows 10 is home version (listed as "Home Plus") and take it out of S mode if already in there.   

3. Activate it.

4. Create my updated Win 10 home USB installation media

5. Realize I'm probably voiding warranty/return once I open that bottom.  Feel moment of terror.

6. Re-read everyone's advice on opening it/resealing it (cuz those are the tricky bits for me)

7. Do the install with a minimal of fear

8. Reseal

9. Install my windows

10. Enjoy life

[pbroussard]

Sounds like a good plan! I have a bunch of little tool pack things they throw in cell phone parts ordered, and they are good for a couple uses. The $1-2 kits like the ones on Amazon  will work fine for this upgrade. I looked at that video, that model is the same series as the ryzen 5700U model.

The 256GB m2 ssd is Toshiba and is a pretty lackluster ssd. I can definitely feel the difference from better ssds I've used in the past.

[JamesN2]

Cool, then the video along with advice from here will do me well.

I ended up ordering these items:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071LDN61H   (Generic toolset with wrist strap and pry tools) 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DK2FB7G  (SK hynix Gold P31 500GB PCIe NVMe Gen3)  Good PCIe3.0 speeds of 3500/3100.

I probably should order myself a magnetic toolset.   After I upgrade the laptop, I'm gonna build my own PC (almost bought one from HP, but didn't feel the value was quite there and I eventually want 64GB-128GB of memory for VS 2022 and that notorious hog known as Chrome.)

Hey, I like my tabs.

[JamesN2]

I've had this for almost two months now. I'm a software developer using Windows 10 and Visual Studio 2022.

TLDR; So for $549 (current price) + $180-$190 in upgrades it's a decent development machine, likely .  Beware of Slack and power states, but otherwise really happy 8-9 weeks in.   Realize unless you pay extra to use HP Authorized center you will void your warranty, so upgrade at your own risk and buy pry tools, watch videos; it's not an easy process.

Overall, I'm pleased with the machine.   But I did have some minor complaints.

This is a PAIN to upgrade.  Had to buy a pry tool set, and it took over 20 minutes for me to get it open.  You got to remove about 12-16 screws (I don't remember now) and that gel strip along the back which I've never gotten back on.   Apparently if you don't want to void your warranty, you have to take it to an HP Authorized Service center.  

Of course it wanted to force Win 11 on me, but reformatting with a clean Win 10 build post-activation took care of that.

I had issues with phone calls on Slack and the computer crashing.  This is partially because, well, Slack sucks.   But I think the power states had something to do with it.   I don't really unplug the laptop (probably should have considered a desktop)  but keep it fully charged mostly, and set as many things as I could for max performance.   My issues happened between weeks 1-3 of using the laptop and not since, which is when I tweaked the power stuff.

And that's it.

For posterity, some people use PassMark to benchmark, and here were my scores:

Overall 63rd percentile, 4855 score.

CPU Score was 16977 with single-thread of  2442 and cross-platform of 24822.

2d Mark, 55th percentile and 652 overall.  Scored higher in the PDF rendering at almost the 75th percentile.

3d Mark, 34th percentile and 2652 overall.  DirectX 12 shows as 12 fps, and DirectX 11 as 41 fps.

Not bad graphics scores when you consider this is integrated graphics and I didn't buy it for gaming.  It'd probably suck as a gaming laptop.

With my upgrades to memory and disk:

Memory Mark 53rd percentile and 2602  overall.  TeamGroup 32GB DDR4-3200  CL22 TED432G3200C22DC-S01

Disk Mark 81st percentile (?!) and 19326 overall.  Write speeds have fallen quite a bit since my initial try but the Hynix Gold P31 is doing well. 2768/1220 Seq. read write with a disk that's about 35-40% full.  Running the PowerShell command Optimize-Volume had a small effect which bumped Seq. read/write to 2874/1282 and into the 83rd percentile.

Nice Visual Studio PC, but definitely want to complement it with a 64-128GB memory beast with a 16+ thread CPU and PCI-E 4/5 SSD speeds.