HP EliteBook 8770w and 970M 6GB and 980M 8GB - they work!

This is indeed odd, it sounds like a vBios / BIOS issue. You can contact @Eurocom Support and see if they got any input on this.

 

I’ve read some of the users here were having this problem, but nobody has shared its resolution...
Can I flash the vbios without disabling the driver?

 

If you do that you'll break the vBios.

 

I uninstalled the driver and the process of flashing went smooth, now I have Prema vbios, but the problem remains the same...

 

Nothing seems to resolve the problem, different vbioses, win 7, 8.1, 10 (legacy is no go, uefi a bit better, but still - black screen after resuming from standby, black screen on cold boot, black screen if I attempt to install newer driver than the one Win 10 autoinstalls).
I think DreamColor panel is more important than gtx980m to me, most probably I will keep my previous 780m and will keep use it on my 8760w...
It‘s a pity - GTX 980m is monster...

 

The 980M should work with dreamccolor.

 

I thought so too, but how to make it work with my DC2...?

 

I think I am just out of luck ... in a Polish forum I saw a guy with same combo as mine (8760w DC+ 980m) and he has experienced exactly the same problem as me, unresolved by now for already six months...
I am going to sell this card.
Will keep using my 780m, clocked at the speed of 880m.

 

Guys, do you think Dell GTX 980m (with Dell vbios) is gonna work in HP 8760w?

 

We offer complete upgrade kits for HP 8760W and other HP 8xxxW models so check our website Upgrade section for more details.

 

Hello. I bought a 980m for my 8770w but the standard Nvidia heatsink wont make physical contact with the gpu. Its ~0.5 mm space between the heatsink ang GPU when screws are tighten. Anyone else having this problem?

 

Remove the metal backplate from the old card, and replace the one on the new card with the one from the old card. You'll need a heat gun. Hit the bracket for about 15 with heat from the heat gun, then try to *GENTLY* pry it off. If you have trouble removing it, push down on the screw anchors from the other side.

Be careful not to overheat the card. Start with low heat.

 

Thank you but the 8770w came with a AMD card. Can I still use bracket?

 

The bracket should work, but you should still test it anyway.

However, the AMD heatsink in the 8770w for the M4000 was shorter than the nVIDIA card requires, and had different cutouts. You need to get an nVIDIA heatsink.

There is one here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-EliteBo...h=item4d62d1ef31:g:7CAAAOSw1~JZSFQu:rk:1:pf:0

 

I have the Nvidia hetsink. I bought it when I bought the 980... seems like 980 was MSI.. I think I have an Nvidia Quadro card on a shelf.. try the bracket from that card...

 

Nope.. Did not work.. Seems like I need a new bracket or some sereous modding on the old bracket...

 

Did you try the bracket from the AMD card?

It is possible that the only bracket that will work is the bracket from the K1000m, which I think was the nVidia card the 8770w shipped with.

Also, are you *sure* the nVidia heatsink you have is for an 8770w?

 

The bracket i way to short on the Nvidia K2000M and the K1000M..

Looking for a new bracket but not sure witch one I should buy...

 

Can you post pictures? Of the bracket install and everything?

If your laptop came with an AMD, then it's possible that the bracket won't work at all. I am unsure, as I never had to do that swap. Someone else might know.

You might need to try and find someone who had an nVidia 8770w and get the bracket from them.

 

I'm gonna take some pictures.

I managed to fill the gap with a shims just fort testing the card. Temperatures was OK idle and I could install the official Nvidia drivers without modding inf? How's that even possible?

I think I'll just add some plastic spacers to the x-bracket to get the bracket lower.

 

It's possible whatever drivers you downloaded contained the information in the INF file relevant to your card. All INF files do is inform Windows that if there is a device connected with XXX values, that the drivers in the package that is being installed can be used to communicate with that device.

INF modding is essentially manually adding the values for the device into the INF, so that windows grabs the drivers out of that package and puts them into the driver repository for use on that device.

 

Guys,
Does your brightness’ controls work on your 8770w with 970m/980m.
Mine work with bios F.31 and I am really hesitating to update the bios.
Are there some drastically improvements in the newer bios rev.?

 

Sigh

And it's still the case as of 4xx drivers.

I'm on either the newest or second newest bios iirc and brightness has always worked fine on my 980M with non dreamcolor screen.

 

Did you find some vast difference in stability/performance when you upgraded the different bioses?

 

Not really. Mostly cuz I've been on the newer bios for most of the time I've owned the machine. I updated the bios way before I ever upgraded the gpu.

 

My keyboard sometimes stop responding (have to restart the laptop), have you experienced such a problem?
Was wondering if a newer bios would resolve this..

 

I don't think I was ever on a bios version that old. Iirc I got it with F.4X and upgraded to F.6X. I've never experienced the behavior you're describing. Have you tried a different keyboard?

 

Not yet...
Have to give another one a try.

 

Ok, I got a M5000M and I am stunned how cool it runs on my 8770W!!! OMG!
With overclock at 1200Mhz for the GPU, this card never exceeds 66C! And that’s even without LM, just Kryonaut...its ASIC quality is 77,4%, whereas my previous GTX 980m was 69,4% and never managed to reach such an O/C, let aside its temps of 79-81C on stock speeds...insane..

 

Guys , which fan is better - the one from 8770W (13 blades, but wider) or the one from 8760W (17 blades, but narrower), both 5V, 0.5A.
???

 

I think the second one with more blades is better. They both have the same current (0.5A) so their RPMs are the same. At this rate, more blades lead to more air flow.

 

It`s great to see you guys keeping this thread alive and your EliteBooks with it too - they still are great machines, missing my Dreamcolor...
As for questions asked me here or via PM`s about this upgrade: all is written in my posts (here and in owners lounge), nothing more I can add. My 8770w is long gone and all files (vBIOSes, personal notes etc.) regarding upgrade too. Three years and few laptops later I can`t remember all other tiny details now, sorry.

 

mirage_bg, what actual size (diameter and z height) are they? Identical diameter?

I would most likely go with the one with more blades.

Hook them up and see which blows 'harder'.

 

Yes, the diameters are identical, may be the one with less blades has 1mm wider blades.
For now I am stuck with the one with the bigger amount of blades.
But frankly, the other one seems really sturdy and the shape of the blades is somehow different, may be it could lead to similar airflow.

 

What about the static pressure? Could this be better on the first one, because of the little curvier design of the blades (bit wider too)?

 

Hmmm... this is what I asked you to test. Power up the fans and see which blows stronger.

 

Its difficult , my laptop is fully assembled now and to reach the fans I have to take literally everything apart..

 

Ok, exchanged them, not much of a difference, except the one with less blades is well recognized and spins at 100% with Notebook Fan Control while the other one reach 90-91% of its full speed.
The idle temps are better with the one with 17 blades - the gpu stays at 24-25, while with the other one - around 28-29C.
Under load there is no difference.

 

I've read that the best fan upgrade is actually from the zbook (1st gen 15 I think, but I dont remember). Its enclosure is actually shaped entirely different so you have to cut out the shape of the original 8770w's fan enclosure from it (it's made of metal) to make it fit. I bought the fan off Ebay at one point but never cut it and made the mod, but there's info about it around here if you search.

 

Do you still have your 8770w?
I bought M5000M for mine and the temps are just insanely low - it operates at 66-67C with +135Mhz OC (1185Mhz) at stock voltage.
It doesn't throttle as my previous gtx 980m did.
How behaves your gtx 980m in your 8770w if you stll have it?

 

How is actual performance compared to 980M though? My 980M definitely heats up during heavy gaming, but I'm not using my 8770w for that anymore, since I upgraded to a ZBook 17 G4. It's now my dedicated plex server and runs perfectly for that.

 

Actually better performance (!!). I got 1000pts more in 3DM 11 (11500 pts), in games I have really good boost over my previous GTX 980M, where power throttling was just a matter of few minutes after heavy 3D load and the GPU operated only at 960-980Mhz (with spikes to 1040-1050).
The power consumption was ~115W, whereas the Quadro operates constantly at 1185Mhz (without vbios mod with increased voltages), topping max 93-95W, runs 10C cooler and doesn’t throttle at all
The ASIC quality of my previous 980M was 69,4 %, now the Quadro has 77,3% (may be thats the reason why it is so cool and overclockable at the same time).
In Far Cry 5 I get around 6-8fps more in fullhd, ultra settings. (Before was 48-52, now 55-63/64fps)

 

@mirage_bg , may I ask how have you resolved the issue with banding?

I am having trouble with 8770w: after replacing a screen assembly (top lid incl. panel, bezels and cables) with the "Dreamcolor" one.

It has pretty bad banding / posterization in lower shadows. I have tried profiling it in different modes (full range, sRGB, rec709) - issue persists, and it indeed shows only in the lowest part of the characteristic curve. Mids and highlights are represented fine and show low deviation from reference values.

GPU is HP K4000M, Nvidia drivers installed "as it is", video-card is identified without a hitch. Banding was not present with the original TN panel using the same GPU.

Here, another user has found that problem was due to the cable, worth replacing?..

I am happy to provide whatever possible data that might help to identify the cause of the problem.

 

Unfortunately not...
It seems to have something with color board and its factory calibration with the GPU.
Once you change one of them, banding appears. It is not the cable.

 

Sounds not great. What would be preferred solution in your opinion?

 

Honestly, I don’t know...
May be some sort of professional calibration would improve the things a bit, but don’t count a lot on it...
I just got used to live with it.

 

Ok, after checking software side, I have noticed that Win10 has bit depth set to 8-bit...


My initial reaction was, - "Easy, let's change it in `nvidia-settings` and we're all set":


...but that would be too easy, right? After selecting 10bpc and clicking "Apply" screen went off and back on, only to show that depth stayed at 8bpc. Repeating the above few times yielded exactly the same result and I'm not in a hurry to meet a cliched (and laymen) definition of insanity.

Let's check GPU-Z. So far so good, nothing unusual. Notice the highlighted BIOS version and subvendor string:


Time to delve into other tabs. We are running WDDDM v2.4 which supports GPU dithering, but hey... BIOS version has changed!


Briefly back to `nvidia-settings` to check what is reported by vendor's own utility:


So far, we have two strings for BIOS version:

1. 80.04.5A.00.02 (let's call it an "A")
2. 80.4.33.0.37 (let's call it a "B")

Notice how 2nd one seems to not follow hexademical notation.

Lastly, "NVIDIA BIOS" drop-down, reports "A" version:


...and monitor section which confirms that rig is indeed capable of 10bpc, but currently running at mere 8bpc:


Windows "Adapter settings", reports version "B". It's 2019, diversity is a must.


"NVidia inspector" is of the same opinion:


Now, let's use some seriously legit tools and check-in exported BIOS file in `nvflash`:



Here we have two three interesting findings:

1. Reported vendor is Dell, not an HP. See this link for details.
2. BIOS version is back to "A". Have I already mentioned diversity?
3. MXM module uses MX25L2005 flash storage in WSON-8 packaging. If things go real nasty, we should be able to rescue a patient via Pomona clip and external programmer.

Loading the same file in "Kepler BIOS tweaker" confirms the findings:


EDID settings, courtesy of NVidia Control Panel. Hex dump can be found at the bottom of this post.

...Shall I be worried about "60.02Hz" refresh rate?


To summarize:

1. Why two different BIOS versions are reported? Anything to do with UEFI (e.g. HP is sideloading its own during boot)?..
2. Why two different vendors reported? As far as I remember, this is branded HP GPU.
3. Where to get "clean" BIOS of K4000M for future experiments? Ideally from 8770w equipped with "DreamColor" panel from a factory.

Link to the dumps, BIOS ROM and monitor EDID: https://mega.nz/#F!zGgRmQIL!9q2QFZtHuK2RQ-WHXMA4Mg

 

Interesting research you’ve done here...
Try first with driver 388.x and tell me if 10-bit stays after it is selected in nvidia control panel and tell me if you find same obvious problems with banding/gradient after the driver’s downgrade.
As soon as I get home I’ll check how it looks on my side with the vbios, although I have natively unsupported M5000m on my 8770W.

Edit: here how it looks on my side:

 

And the rest:

 

@mirage_bg, thanks for the information. I am about to continue hacking on it, will keep this thread updated.

Your situation looks similar to mine, two vendors reported and UEFI checkbox ticked. Which makes me wonder about side-load possibilities.

Apart from "WTF, how he has managed to use newer generation Quadro on 8770w" question, your rig indeed reports 10b depth. Which is great!

And I'e just noticed EDID screenshot in your message, it reports 70Hz refresh rate which is very much different from what I have:



What panel do you have installed? Exporting hex dump might be helpful.