*HP EliteBook 8530p/w Owners Lounge *

Does the 8530w gets too hot to be used on your lap? I'd appreciate feedback from 8530w owners.

Thanks.

 

Yes that means yours has an LG screen, which explains why you find the brightness adequate. My samsung screen is not as bright.

Regarding heat: It only gets hot while gaming. The cooling is also somewhat poor, my laptop shutdown of few times due to overheating (on a flat table). AFAIK models with the ati video card are cooler so unless you plan to game on it choose ati over nvidia.

 

Under normal load (surfing, word processing) It's slightly above room temperature for most of the bottom. There is one spot right in the middle that gets up to about body temperature (<100 degrees F). It's very comfortable sitting on my lap unlike my old T60.

 

Undervolting helps. otherwise its extremely hot. id suggest not to use it on a table when gaming. cos heat flows better to it if you place it more to the right of your lap. I dont no why its cooler on lap but i have placed it on flat surface and its like the heat it lets out just reflects off the surface to the notebook adding more heat to the base. mine has never cut off due to heat when not undervolted. but if i dont undervolt it, im pretty sure it would cut off at some point.

 

What program do you use to undervolt it, and what's your minimum voltage? I know core2 cpu switch voltage dynamically so i guess you only need to lower the voltage on the maximum power state (maximum frequency) right?

 

Theres a thread guide on this forum withthe program to download etc. Some people do use just the maximum performance setting to sort it out. but i tend to find it doesnt really work and still powers high degrees and heat for me. so i just follow the guide setting it at performance on demand. which works alot. i undervolt it from 0.950 up to 0.975 from what ever it was defaulted at.
my power management is hp optimised which is same thing as performance on demand so when i game it powers same as maximum performance just with less heat.
But u can mess around and see what works best for you. but what you gotta realise is that its a program for cpu. so gpu just follows suit alittle which is what makes the program popular.
I only ever turn it on when i game. dont need it otherwise as my temps are as follows right now with browsing

core 1 37c
core 2 31c
gpu 45c

These are my averages most of the time.

 

I can't let my gpu run under 88C. I tried a zalman nc1000 cooler, also underclocked it all the way down to 9600m GS levels, but nothing changed.
The notebook only makes a little less noise. I think my gpu will run always on 88C because the fan allows it to happen.

 

Im not sure what you meant by "you cant let it run under 88c"? Are you saying you dont want it to gounder 88c or u mean u cannot get it under 88c?
Have you set "fan always on" off? and you shouldnt need to downclock your gpu. i havent felt the need. why would you want to either. besides the power management settings, unless you are using maximum performance or high performance mode then im unsure cos i do not use a cooler. but if i do not undervolt it with RMclock then my temps are around 88c aswell.

 

What I meant to say is: under 100% GPU + at least 80%CPU stress my GPU is always around 88C. When I take measures to cool it down, the only result is the fan to rotate slower. Which means the BIOS sensor is set to allow the GPU to reach that temperature and external cooling or downclocking doesn't help because it only makes the internal cooling fan work on a slower speed. I only downclocked my gpu to test my theory. Otherwise my conclusion would be the Zalman NC1000 is just a bad cooler for the HP8530w. I have my Fan always on when plugged in because I thought that would make it run cooler (I don't care about noise).

 

im with ya now. hmmm. i not sure if i can say right now cos i turned the fan always on off to reduce noise but it does the job of cooling it anyway. When i game it doesnt seem to me that it goes cooler even with fan always on. (it might reduce temp alittle) but i can feel the heat no different to the two settings. How that is any help to you this is i do not know but im just saying what i experience. id call up hp and either replace the notebook or try and get them to put thermal paste which im gonna try and get them to do.

 

I will try and see what happens when I disable 'fan always on'. I'm also hoping to see some BIOS updates in the future. Do you use BIOS F04 or F06?
I would expect from a High Quality notebook to operate at around 75-80 C (gpu), but I'm pretty sure HP is not going to take it back, because 88C is still common for a 9600m GT. If those stupid ***** telling us a 500GB cannot fit in a 8530w are going to mess around with it to apply thermal paste it might also get worse. I would rather do it myself but the 8530w seems very difficult to open up.

 

Hello,

speaking about the quality of the HP 8530: in various forums in Germany users are complaining about defective display release latches. It seems that they open simply by pressing the top of the display. Do users in the US have the same problem?

 

To ytrewqxl: id probably say it is hard to open. i took ALL the screws off on the nw8240 for my bro cos the wireless wasnt built in and i still couldnt take the thing off. On the 8530w all the screws are under the rubber rests. but i besides undoing them i dont no how hard it is to take it off from there.


To bbswa: This does NOT happen on mine. just tested it.

 

I sometimes find that my laptop is out of sleep after i carry it for a while. Dunno if the display latch opens up accidentally or if it's just another one of the so MANY hardware bugs this machine has.

 

Could you please explain what you mean by "MANY hardware bugs"? I'm very interested to hear from actual users before I buy.

 

There were just some unlucky people posting on this forum, my 8530w has absolutely zero 'hardware bugs' and does open the lid normally.

 

This thing with the opening lid is a bug of elitebooks as I was told today, but they can fix it.
I have some problems with the keyboard (space key is hard to press) and a noisy dvd. They are to be replaced
The other things are working just great.

What was your highest cpu/gpu temperatures? When will the leptop perform "thermal shutdown" (the guy on the hp told me it shouldn't go past 70°C )?
My highest was around 83°C.

 

Mine hasn't shut down in a while, but I guess it would be around 100C for the GPU (old nvidia drivers showed the thermal threshold but new ones don't display it anymore)

 

Well i just got hp tyo collect mine and they going to replace the heatsink etc. and they also taking my 8510w. that is MEGA hot. i watched it clock to 100c in 2 mins when i put cod4 on. i was freakling out. so i booked that in aswell though that has moree than heat problems. it just wont charge. the dc jack insides must be off the mother board i think and screen bezel slighlty cracked causing it not to close in the latch properly. so ill complain enough about random stuff after the 1st time and hope they just replace the unit.

 

How hot did your gpu become, before Hp wanted to take it back?

 

Not that hot. but was all too regular high temps. it might not be a big issue to them but i thought maybe since they are collecting my 8510w i booked the 8530w in aswell so im hoping that if they can put thermal paste on i could save 10c on the max gpu which is around 88c. I would just like to use the machines intesively under 80c without undervolting hopefully.
But its up to you if you think your reasons warrant a call to the company to fix. My 8510w not working was so i thougth ill add my 8530w in aswell.

 

Seems like a lot of the Elitebook problems have surfaced! I had tons when I first received the 6930p in October but there weren't enough Elitebook users to confirm my problems. The Duracover is another issue that seems to plague all the Elitebooks. I've had bumps and dents on more than one exchange and the LCD bezel is never done correctly, with the metallic casing not interlocking with the black plastic casing around the hinges. You can see large gaps between the two pieces.

 

my 8510 ran hot before I took it apart and changed the thermal paste , before it ran in the 78-80 c range when running orthos , now 55-60c since I put in OCZ Freeze . They put way to much paste at the factory

 

Well first off, i just want to mention that my 8530w with a T9550 has not had any heating problems. It idles around 27-32 when surfing the web and playing music. it maxes around 50-55 when running orthos. This is after I undervolted it. It also seems to have no problems with using it on a lap or bed, though I try to avoid doing either anyway.

One weird glitch Ive experienced is that the bar that pops up on the bottom middle of the screen when adjusting the volume or brightness level never goes all the way full. For both the volume and brightness the bar appears 80% full even when the volume or brightness was set to 100% full.

Anyone else experience this? Anyone have any ideas what it might be about? Its not cutting performance to 80% like it looks, so its not a big deal, im just a bit curious.

 

I have not had any problems with my 8530w. I do not play games but I have frequently stressed it with heavy numerical computations. It idles at about 35-37C. For heavy work I have a notebook cooler from my old dell which also tilts the laptop a little bit. Keyboard is excellent and no problems with the screen.

 

Hi I have a question. I'm looking at getting the 8530 P Now, I know it comes with the ati mobility 3650 HD that has ddr3 ram. Now I was trying to find info if it is for sure a MXM II slot. IF so, then is it possible to upgrade the card later say when the ati 4000 series comes out if the rumors are true that they will be MXM II slot. Thanks!
-David

 

Hello

I have a 8530p which I have installed Win XP on. When I run a Test executive software from National Instruments (TestStand 4.1) and using a Wait function the wait time does not match the one I have set (the program waits 4 times longer). I have now discovered with help of CPU-Z that if I run any program in the background so speedstep does not kick in the wait function works as it should. It seems that the speedstep function affects the timer function in TestStand. Unfortunately the is no possibility to turn of speedstep in BIOS ( ).

I only had this computer for a couple of days and I haven't really been able to test if other programs are affcted as well of this bug. I did however install XBMC which did not either function correctly (bad sync for video and audio), but I don't know if this depends on the same issue?

Have anybody else faced the same problems with another program?

Baxman

 

Yeah my 8510p's stock paste crapped out earlier this month. I did a full cleaning, got rid of all the dust, old thermal paste, etc. Put on some nice new stuff of my own.

Old temps:

Idle: GPU 55 Cores 55 55
Load: GPU 85 Cores ~95 ~95

New temps:

Idle: GPU 40 Cores 40 40

I'm browsing, working on some word documents, listening to music right now while chatting and still only 40, 42, 41 for temps

Load: GPU 65 Cores 62-68

So yeah, a little custom repair goes a long way

 

A new BIOS, F.07 (4 Feb 2009), for the 8530W was posted. Changelog:

- Fixes an infrequent issue where an inaccurate thermal reading from the CPU thermal zone could impact system performance.

I flashed my 8530W and it flashed OK.

 

Yes I noticed this too, it varies with graphics drivers, the only graphics driver that corrected this problem for me was 179.48, but take in mind this is a geforce driver and might reduce workstation performance.

Is there anyone who opened up the 8530w/p? If so can you tell me how difficult it was and how many screws there must be removed. (Maybe you have some pictures) when i'm looking at the back of this machine I'm a little confused. It seems more difficult that any notebook i've seen so far. The whole back seems to be constructed in one piece.

 

I took it apart and it sure looks like a MXM II slot. I've seen people sell of their 8530p display cards with the label "MXM II" compatible as well.

However, there have been reports that swapping a display card option that was not available with the notebook model will not work since HP seems to lock the Bios detection of the display cards.

That being said, a HD3650 swap with the FX770M should work (8530p and 8530w seems to share the same Bios) but anything else probably wouldn't.

 

I have not opened it up yet, but have heard it is a pain. The service manual should help alot though, have you seen it yet?

Service Manual

Its about 2/3 down the page under the Service and Maintenance Information.

 

Thanks for the info.

I don't know about the 8530p, but the 8530w should have mxm III slot. A mxm II slot has a maximum tdp of 25W, the FX770 is 35W. I believe someone reported it to be a mxm III slot many pages back in this thread.

EDIT: Wow, I just read the service manual and became a lot wiser. It seems both the cpu and gpu can easily be replaced by removing the keyboard. Also cleaning and applying thermal paste should be a piece of cake.

 

Yes but does anyone know whether cleaning and replacing the thermal paste voids the warranty ?
I noticed that other people have had a problem that I had with the laptop, meaning weird keyboard behavior around the right side of the keyboard, especially the space and right alt keys. I have just removed the keyboard and found that one of the wireless antenna cables was right underneath the keyboard causing a small bulge. I rerouted it and now all the keys press normally and the small bulge around the space and right alt keys is gone
Hope this helps the other people with the same issue

 

Is it possible to adjust/calibrate the ambient light sensor? Because the display is a bit dim for (even on 90% with ambient sensor on). But the maxed brightness is too much. I would need just one step in between.

 

I'm wondering about this too. I think cleaning should not be a problem because you only need to remove the fan and how would they ever know you did it?
I think for thermal paste they need to do some chemical analysis on the paste to proof you replaced it and then also proof it was the cause of the problem.

Some interesting facts I discovered:
-you need both a 2,0 mm and a 2,5 mm torx screwdriver for removing the heatsink
-The quad core + FX770 edition of the 8530w uses a different heat sink then the dual core + FX770 edition, I wonder if this possibly superior heat sink can be bought somewhere?

You can further lower the brightness and gamma in nvidia control panel.
I prefer to lower the gamma because it improves color.

 

I think most computers come with thermal pads standard. It is clearly noticeable if you replace the pad with paste so proving that you interfered with the cooling shouldn't be a problem. I'm only wondering if it is allowed or not under the terms of the warranty.

 

I thought most laptops have thermal paste these days, but the problem is they use far too much of it in the factory. I have read a lot of threads here about people with heating problems opening their laptop to find out the thermal paste is a mess.

 

It is incorrect to deduce that a 35W TDP display card cannot be used in a MXM-II slot. HP lists the FX770M as a MXM Type II card.

NVIDIA Quadro
FX 770M graphics adapter
Memory size 256 MB
Memory type GDDR-3
Memory interface 128-bit
Core clock 500 MHz
Card type MXM-II form factor
I/O interface PCIe (x16); Note: HP xw460c I/O slot is PCIe (x8 and x4)
Max power consumption 35W
Precision 128-bit color, 12-bit sub-pixel, 4X Full-Scene Anti-Aliasing
API DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0; OpenGL2.1
Upgradeable Firmware Upgradeable Firmware

I opened up both the 8530P and 8530W and the MXM slots have the same physical dimensions. Where did you see the 8530w as having a MXM type III slot?

 

Can someone please help me removing the keyboard. I've loosen the screws and opened the retention tabs. Then I can't lift the keyboard. It is stuck somewhere at the left- and right-most side (near esc&tab and home&pgup keys).
I am afraid to apply greater force to it.

And ytrewqxl thanks for the gamma tip. The colours are really nicer

 

Needs a bit of prying to get the tabs off.

 

Someone who opened up the 8530w was stating it somewhere on this forum (or maybe somewhere else I forgot ). I'm too lazy to search for it, mainly because it is unimportant to me at the moment. When the day comes my 8530w is in the need of a cleaning job I will open it up myself and take a look.

 

The keyboard has some holders that slide under the laptop case, just pull carefully from the top side and slide it gently towards the screen (most of the holders are located on the lower side of the keyboard, that's why you need to pull from the top).

 

I am trying to hook my 8530w up to a standard def TV with an s-video input or component inputs.

Has anyone with the FX 770 tried converting their vga out to a TV's s-video or component inputs yet? I am trying to hook up my 8530w to a non HDTV and want to avoid buying an expensive converter box. Does anyone know if the fx 770 even has TV-out capability?

Thanks,
Nick

 

Sorry, but you can't go from VGA to S-Video with just an adapter. (I'm pretty sure of this, anyhow - I've tried numerous times in the past) As well, you can't go from HDMI to S-Video due to the qualities of the HDMI signal, I guess.

 

does anyone happen to know what firewire chipset this laptop has? i want to use this machine for audio work but a lot of audio firewire interfaces are picky... not sure if you can see what it is in device manager or something?

thanks,

-dan

 

I'm quite pleased with my 8530w but I'm starting to run out of hard drive space. I saw that you can switch out the optical bay for another hard drive but I can't find the 7200rpm versions that hp says are available on the product page. Has anyone else seen them? Also, does anyone know if you can boot to the second hard drive for a second OS?

 

I'm using the HP8530w for audio work, but I'm still on USB. This is what i found in the Device manager:

Ricoh OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

Can you tell me if this one is picky or not? And what does it mean if it is picky?

Do yourself a favor and don't buy hard drives from HP. They are overpriced, especially the optical bay caddy that comes with a crappy 5400RPM Hitachi drive. If you want to add a second hard drive you can order a caddy that fits from newmodeus.com 42$ (There is more discussion about this in the 8730w owner's lounge) I recommend to order a Western Digital Black or Blue or one of the faster Seagate Momentus drives. A 5400RPM WD Blue is already faster then the 7200RPM Hitachi's HP is shipping.

Of course, you can also boot several operating systems from one drive with more partitions.

 

I just got the 8530w (geforce 770m) and I am somewhat disappointed by how noisy it is. The fan runs almost continuously even with the AC Fan bios option disabled. I can't really enjoy the rest of the laptop when it is this noisy. They should have put a big warning label on it that it was going to have the fan running this much. It certainly doesn't offer a silent experience (hd noise is ok but fan is not) and I am ashamed to bring it to a meeting due to its noise level.

 

dang, thats not what i was hoping for. this is kind of confusing too because i thought i found some spec sheets stating it came with texas instruments firewire chipset.

with a lot of firewire interfaces you either need the TI or VIA firewire chipsets in order for it to work properly... the others just dont work well with firewire audio interfaces. its pretty well documented, you can read all about it on some online audio forums if you do a search... pretty frustrating really. so many chipsets for firewire/cardbus are just crap! you're fine if you stick with USB but i was hoping to be able to have the option of going firewire for more IO in the future.


can some other 8530w owners check in their device manangers to see what firewire chipset they have in their system? i hear sometimes manufacturers use different parts for things like this depending on supply, etc.. wondering if there are any out there with the TI/via chipset.

thanks!