VPro not available in HP's with Extreme CPU's - why?

EXTREME CONFIG DELETES VPRO

When I config an HP 8760W with an i7-2920XM or i7-2960XM processor, the configuration states "not available with VPro".

Intel's site shows both chips DO support vpro.

Anyone know what is missing? I don't need remote enterprise mgt but I do need virtualization and some other features that Intel calls "vpro". Although HP deletes the vpro label when the 8760w is configured with an extreme chip,
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I am not sure. Dell does the same thing with their XM's as well. I think it is due to the fact that unlocked multipliers will violate how vPro manages the CPU. Because I just saw the preview Ivy Bridge models that Intel released and none of the Unlocked Multipler "K" editions has vPro or VT-d enabled, while their locked variants do.

AnandTech - Ivy Bridge Desktop Lineup Overview

 

Hmmmm... so do you think that makes the chips bad choices for VMWare and virtual machines?

 

They theoretically shouldn't but I guess Intel wants to keep their CPU lock-and-key to how they want them to work with their products. They allowed the K series because of demanding enthusiasts but at the same time they did a trade-off I guess of not letting them use their internal features like VT-d and vPro.

I just confirmed on the Intel ARK that the Desktop i5-2500K, i7-2600K and i7-2700K all got VT-d and vPro disabled, yet their locked versions have them. Therefore I think Intel is pulling a trade-off here. Even though the XM's do show that they are vPro capable, I think the OEM's aren't allowing it on the same principle. At the same time, people that use the K or the X series tend to use them for raw performance and not for commercial uses, so that is another theory on how they can lock out vPro as most business would not need to care about overclocking heh.

Yet I am curious to ask if the additional .1 or .2 GHz is worth it to you vs. the i7-2820QM or the i7-2860QM since the 8760w doesn't even allow overclocking and you want vPro and VT-d for sure?

 

I guess if I was in his position I'd get the 2820 or 2860 since 0.1-0.2GHz is just not worth it and u can't even OC...

 

It's not worth it... 2.7 is faster than 2.5 but virtualization is my entire reason for getting the Elitebook. I've been waiting for a notebook that would take more than 8 gbs of RAM. My current quad-core HDX-18 is fast but the RAM limit hurts when trying to run multiple 4gb (or 3gb) VM's. I can usually pause a VM when I switch so I'm not stretching the base ("real") processors but the RAM limit means heavy swapping if running three 3 or 4 gb VM's (and by the way, VMWare Workstation lets you run more RAM additively across the active machines than you have in the physical machine, but with the resultant disk swapping, you can't really "pop" back and forth between machines.

Thanks Star Forge for the in depth answer.

 

I was a bit distraut on reading this thread, since the reason I invested in the 8760w with i7-2960xm and 32GB memory was precisely to run Virtual server farms and have them perform.

After loading the latest bios, and getting thoroughly confused I called the EliteBook support line at HP. Rachel didn't know at first blush, but dutifully went to her lab where one of these monsters lives, and fingerd it out for me.

First we set the VP setting in System Configurations, Set Security Level to Change, then went to Device Configurations and set VT to enabled, and viola my 64 bit vm's run without the nagging message that VT is not enabled.

Just thought I'd share in case anybody else had my difficulties.

/Robin

 

I got all the virtual support running but had to turn it on in the BIOS in steps separated by reboots because some depend on others.

Works great. This is an awesome machine for supporting VM's.