*HP EliteBook 8540w Owners Lounge!*

Thanks for the answers..

 

Anyone else having issues with the 8540w CTO page? I can browse the entire HP site but get some error when I try to configure the 8540. Hopefully this means something good

 

Now that we can order the ATI Fire Pro it's time to get the ne Core i7s!

I'm looking forward the Intel Core i7 840QM, 1,83GHz native clock up to 3,2GHz, with 45W!! Amazing!

 

I still don't have email confirmation of shipment tomorrow but we'll see if that comes soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I too noticed the USA site was down yesterday but I logged on today to check a customized build and.....

'ATI FirePro M5800 with 1GB DDR3 video memory'

Was listed as an option for $400 less than the NvidiaFX1800M!

Now if it would only come to Canada....

 

I would like to buy a docking station for my 8540w laptop. How does one determine which to get the 120w or the 230w advanced docking station?

 

hi

just got my 8540W Friday and overall like it quite a bit. However, I could not find one with the resolution I really wanted so settled for the 1600 x 900 and do not care for it. Coming off of what we now call FHD+ I guess, or what is really 1080p I have lost a lot of real estate. If anyone has experience swapping panels on HP elitebooks, I would like to hear about it. I am going to try to keep this the complete 3 years, but not with this screen.

That and the keyboard, not sure if the keyboard is not hot, it's just using a thinkpad for years, there isn't any other keyboard quite like them.

I have two problems. I also have the once asleep and coming back awake, the fan runs full blast.....annoying, but not the end of the world.

THe one that cost me tons of time was I could never get the fingerprint scanner to work correctly in Win7 64. It installed, appeared to run, but duing training, i would successfully scan a print, then another, then it would start giving me an error saying 'this fingerprint already enrolled', but would never let me move forward or past that. I had thought maybe it was a pemissions issue, but did not seem to be. SO, this this machine had to go to work early this morning, I am stuck with win 7 pro 32, which is ok, but I am losing memory obviously.

Did anyone get the fingerprint scanner to work correctly in x64 and if, did you do anything 'differant' than i did. which was clean fresh install, update all the the HP drivers, then all the windows drivers ?

Lastly, what is status of next bios release that will hopefully correct the silly fan issue ?

I have the quad core with 4GB, crazy fast boot and shut downs....who woudl have thought HP made anything like this. I wouldn't have known if I could have found a W510 loaded in this configuration.

 

Hi,
Had same problem with fingerprint sensor on my 8540w win 7 x64, left index finger enrolled succesfuly after about 10 tries, but couldn't enroll right index finger, then i tried enrolling it by moving it forward (away from me) and it worked like a charm, strange. Now if i want to log on with right finger i need to enroll it by moving it forward and if i want to log on with left index finger i need to enroll it backward (toward myself). Funny
I noticed when i install protect tools windows 7 needs more time to boot, so i uninstalled protect tools because i don't need that much of a security anyway.

 

Something interesting on new bios from HP, but still nothing about fan issue:

HP EliteBook 8540p Notebook PC and HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation System BIOS Update F.09 - c02130797 - HP Business Support Center

 

Heh, that's actually the store where i ordered. After reading about the 2 slot issue here i phoned HP and after confirmation told the shop so they added the (2x8GB) part.

I'm not quite convinced yet that fix made sense though - can the board even support 8GB DIMMs? (Provided they will eventually be available..)

As a consequence I also switched my order to a W510 which seems to be the only available option with 4 DIMM slots and can't say i'm comfortable with that decision so far. However, I'm not optimistic that HP germany will in time (or ever for that matter) offer a preconfigured 8540w with i7-820 and M5800, which would cause me to switch back to them in a heartbeat. The ATI GPU is not even listed in their german specifications .

 

Well, I received my shipping notice this morning. Estimated delivery is Friday, May 14. Soon we'll know what the Firepro W5800 will do!

Joe

 

Woooohoooo!

 

1) I switched the panels of my T510 and my 8540w. Panelswitching is almost as easy as changing the HDD. You don't need to open the bottemcase at all! Just remove the bezel and loosening a few screw. Then you can slightly lift the panel from the display cover, remove the display connector... vice versa for installing the new panel. First time I did this it took around 20min. Last time (when I changed the panels to original state) it only took 10min.

2) Works flawless for me, after doing a Win 7 64bit clean install. You need to install the HP Security Manager, it has all the needed drivers and tools to set the fingerprint reader up. With those tools it's real pleasure to use, actually it's the first fingerprint system I really even use for websites.

This has been already posted days before

Can't wait to see the results!!

 

I think I found the discrepancy in the whole thing on battery life about me getting around 5 hours for battery life (sometimes) to your 3 hours normal battery life. I have a 73wh battery, while you probably have the long-life battery (i think its 63wh). If on average you can get the computer around 15 watts, that would mean on my battery I would get around 4.86 hours and you would get 4.2 ish With 18 watts I get 4 hours and you would get 3.5. This is a significant difference. So in the short run my battery would last longer, but probably after a year or so your "long-life" battery would out do mine.

 

Anybody know how the display outputs on the HP 230W Docking Station work? My 8540w with FX1800 arrives in a couple of days and I got the docking station with it. The docking station has DVI and display port outputs. Are they mirrored or should I be able to hook 2 different monitors to it (1 DVI, 1 dp) and extend the desktop to both? If they ARE separate outputs, what do you get when the laptop is open, would I have 3 displays in that case?

Any info appreciated!

Thanks

 

You have two independent displayports, so you can connect 2 monitors. Those will only work when you turn off the notebooks screen. NVidia Cards only support 2 monitors, if you need more than that, you'll need a ATI card. ATI supports up to 6 Monitors (notebook editions probably only 3).

 

I am a network admin for an automotive design company. I use the 8540w i7 2.66, 4GB ram, FX 880 Build myself and it works flawless on 7 x64. I have 8 windows XP 32 8540w's I just imaged and every single one works ok when you power up off teh Docking station... When you reboot on the docking station it boots to a black screen and will not go any further.. Has anyone ran into this? i'm pulling my hair out trying to fix this. Tried Bios update.. GFX drivers.. only thing I can think of is the sata mode I am using native AHCI mode with oem hp drivers. Used OEM HP XP sp3 install media.

Thanks for any input!!

- Savo

 

Actually, that's the Advanced Docking Station (2 display ports). I'm getting the regular one that has 1 display port and 1 DVI. I would guess it would work the same though (I hope).

 

FIXED*****

================================================

boot the laptop, dock it, open Device Manager; uninstall BOTH Communication Port (COM1)'s, then rescan for new devices, it will reinstall one COM port, then reboot.

===================================================

 

argh i found 2 stuck pixels i didn't notice before...now that i've noticed them, i can't not look that way.

 

aint some1 due to hve an 8540w today with the m5800?

 

I've ordered the quad model, which should arive next week
Its coming with a single 4 GB module, and I've got another 4 GB waiting, but my question is what slot to put it in..

Does slot 3 work for the dual channel mode? Or is it slot 2? If so, where is slot 2 and 3 located? I'm asuming slot 1 & 2 is under the keyboard, 3 & 4 at the bottom.

Or doesn't it matter?

 

Yup I think so. I'm hoping his delivery wasn't delayed

 

Under the keyboard is slot 1 and 3. That's where 2 the 2 modueles were, when I got mine directly from HP. You can use the 2nd slots under the keyboard, so you don't need to remove the keyboard again when you add more memory.

 

Ok guys, my 8540w with Firepro arrived this morning. I have made some notes as I looked it over and have some preliminary info I'm sure you will be interested in. I'll have more info later after I install my Patriot Torqx SSD and install my software. My first impression is that I really like this machine - a lot more than the Envy 15 that I returned a few weeks ago.

Here's some info....

8540w Observations (I7-620m w/4 GB of ram - 2x2048 modules and 250 GB hard drive - FHD screen)

ATI Firepro M5800 driver 8.683.1.1000 dated 2/28/2010
Everest info -
Video Adapter - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 (Madison)
GPU Code Name - Madison (PCI Express 2.0 x 16 1002 / 68CO,Rev 00)
Memory Clock - 800 MHz
Transistors - 627 million
Process Technology - 40nm
Die size 104 mm2
Memory size 1 GB
GPU Clock 650 MHz
RAMDAC Clock 400 Mhz
Pixel Pipelines 16
TMU per pipeline 1
Unified Shaders 400
DirectX 11
pixel fillrate 10400 MPixel/s


Hard Drive partition size / usage
c: 215.59 / 22.71 GB
HP_Recovery 15.00 / 7.30 GB
HP_Tools 1.99 / 1.49 GB
System 300 / 261 MB

Memory 4 GB (2 x 2048) 1333 - timing 7-7-7-20

Bios ver. F.08

Windows Experience Index
Processor - 6.8
Memory - 5.9
Graphics - 6.7
Gaming graphics - 6.7
Hard Disk - 5.9
Base Score - 5.9
The Graphics scores are within one tenth of what my Envy 15 scored (6.8). Memory is quite a bit
lower than my Envy 15 (7.3) Processor is 2 tenths below my Envy (7.0 - I7-720qm)

3DMark06 Score (1280x1024)
7237 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 2629
HDR/SM3.0: 3127
CPU Score: 2994

 

Wow, even the 5730 is quite capable!
Congrats on the systems! Good choice. With only 24W that card is a good performer. I wonder what's the max GPU temp when @load?

 

Question, what Video-Bios version does your M5800 have? I'm told there's an April version available (v-bios, not talking about system bios).

(my version etc. is in the attached screenshot).

Also, I noticed we both have F.08 for the System BIOS.
Anyone out there have any idea what changed from 06 to 08? I believe 07 included the fan issue, 08 includes ati gpu support...there's likely to be more..anyone able to locate any release notes?

Thanks!

 

On a side note, your CPU score is about 100-200pts lower than it should be. Check your background processes and re-run the test. Your overall should easily hit 8k

 

Congratulations mate. I'll be refreshing this thread constantly I'm a bit disappointed in the 5730 but i'll do a bit more research before making a final decision. Congratulations on the system and have fun. I'm looking forward to as many impressions and as much information as you can give us as its looking more and more like an HP in my future.

 

Can someone directly compare the M5800 (based on this one result) to FX880M and FX1800M. I'm a bit confused b/c sometimes the score includes the CPU, sometimes it doesn't and I don't know how to distinguish between the two.

Thanks in advance.

 

3DMark06 Score (1280x1024)
7237 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 2629
HDR/SM3.0: 3127
CPU Score: 2994

7237 is the overall score.
2994 is the CPU score which is somewhat low for 620M processor. It should easily hit 3100pts.

Compared to Nvidia cards, the M5730 should be quite a bit stronger than the FX880M and on par/ slightly stronger than the FX1800M. Dunno regarding the pro apps like CAD, DCC, etc, but in games it benches it should be even more powerful than the FX1800M even though the later is a GDDR5 card. Would be nice to see a Vantage run.

 

I'm going to get a quote from HP on the 8540w and some accessories. If you had a good experience with your sales associate, please PM me their contact info. This will be a small order (1 laptop, 1 display and dock) though, so if your associate normally works with large companies, then they might not be the right fit for my sole proprietorship.

If you can't PM yet, you can send an email to [myNBRname] at yahoo dot com.
Thanks

FYI I'm posting this over on the Dell M4500 thread for Dell associates...so if you browse both I apologize for the x-post, but promise I'm only doing this for the M4500 and 8540w

 

Yeah i'd certainly like to see some more comparos. A couple things bug me though:

1. ATI said the Firepro is based on the 5800 series. They could be wrong of course but i'm wondering if there is any chance the software is wrong.
2. Why does the firepro card need the bigger power pack if its just a 5730 based card?

Oh yeah, isn't Firepro a workstation card? Why doesn't it support the same software like the Quadro?

 

Sent you a PM.

Nobody said it can't run the same software (except for CUDA which is Nvidia's invention).
I think HP reserves a room for another ATI card (58xx based).

 

okay, got the SSD installed... brought the hard disk "experience" up to 7.2 from the 5.9 of the 250 GB that came with the machine.

Still installing stuff so will be a bit yet before I get time to run some more tests.

The data I reported in my last post was run on the machine just as it came out of the box. All I did was install 3DMark06 and Everest and run the tests so there probably were other background processes running.

I've attached a number of Everest views of the GPU that may answer a number of questions (including bios).

Joe

 

Ok, My 8540w just arrived today as well. i7-820QM, FX1800M, 4GB, 250GB (SSD should be here on Monday). Installed 3DMark06

3DMark06 Score (1280x1024)
7561 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 3017
HDR/SM3.0: 2966
CPU Score: 3225

I ordered mine before the M5800 became available otherwise I would have waited for the benchmarks of the ATI. Seems roughly comparable.

Does anybody know how much the CPU speed affects the base SM 2.0/SM 3.0 scores? I.E. are the SM scores strictly a function of GPU performance?

 

New 8540w received, just some of my findings:

So the right-speaker issue was verified on my system with BIOS version F.08. I tend to agree that this is related to the Audio driver.

For general use, this system is QUIET! (and the SSD rocks, and HP posted in their forums that they're testing a firmware update for TRIM support).

Beautiful 1920x1080 screen and teh ambient light sensor is rather good at adjusting brightness.

The arrow keys on the keyboard are a bit small.

No bloatware pre-loaded.

M5800 gpu does well. It is NOT a radeon 5800 equivilent, it's a 5700 series. It's a mobile version of the 'Desktop' V5800, which is based on the 5700 radeon series. This GPU doesn't compete well with Nvidia's if you use professional workstation apps, but if you need DirectX 11 hardware, it's the only current option for this system...today

The 150W ac adapter/transformer is a huge brick, but ah well. Power consumption while I'm typing this message shows between 23 and 27 watts (not bad at all)!!!

 

Just curious, why do you say that? It looks like it will outperform the FX880M and will be approximately on par with the FX1800M.

 

My 8540w arrived today...

Core i7-620, 4GB RAM, FirePro M5800, 500 GB 7200 RPM HD

3DMark06 Score 7309
SM 2.0 Score 2643
SM 3.0 Score 3128
CPU Score 3160

Windows Experience Index 5.9
Processor 6.9
Memory 5.9
Graphics 6.7
Gaming Graphics 6.7
Hard disk 5.9

 

Not just on par, it should perform better in GPU sensitive benches like Vantage.
Regarding the pro apps, nothing can be said yet.
We'll have to see some more tests.

Congrats and nice score. So, as you can see even with the GDDR5 of the FX1800M and the stronger CPU, the results are 200pts away. It would be 100 or less with the same CPU which means, they are equal in 3Dmark06.
Now if you could run Vantage, would be even more interesting.

 

That definitely wasn't as fun to watch... a bit sluggish:

Core i7-620, 4GB RAM, FirePro M5800, 500 GB 7200 RPM HD, FHD display

3DMark Vantage Score P3760
CPU Score 8648
Graphics Score 3164

 

Impressive scores!
P3760 is more than 1k above the FX880M.
Does anyone have the FX1800M Vantage results?

<<<< Only found a single Vantage score (FX1800M) so far in this thread ~2900pts. Dunno if it's the graphics only or the P score.
Please, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

The SMx scores are slightly affected by the CPU, yes, but it's a negligible influence so you can disregard it most cases AFAIK.

 

The limitation is NOT the hardware, it's Ati's OpenGL driver vs. Nvidia's. ATI has made a bit of a comeback, but still can't compete. That's why FireGL (FirePro) cards cost a few hundred dollars LESS than Nvidia's.

Most professional apps that I use (earth-science and manufacturing) are far superior on nvidia hardware 1 generation older than ati's latest.

Again it's not the hardware, but the limitations of the Video driver.

This is with regard to Workstation-Class certified applications.

 

Hate to say this, but an Nvidia FX570M on an HP Mobile Workstation 8510w (yes mobile edition) has performed considerably better than an Ati FirePro V7740 inside a Dell Precision T5500 (we swapped in the 7740) in our manufacturing samples. Benchmarks are great, but as we've seen drivers are often optomized for them.

For real-life workstation application usage, ATI has failed to deliver time and time again for us. Don't even get me started on the GIS applications I use..

Again this is NOT to reflect anything regarding 'gaming', purely professional workstation apps.
---

 

wow like 4 8540ws arrived today?

 

Yeah a veritable flood of them Looking forward to all the info, pics, benchies, etc

 

Core i7-720QM, 8GB ram, Quadro FX 1800m (Driver 197.42), Intel X25m, external Monitor

3DMark Vantage Score P3444
CPU Score 9974
Grafics Score 2827

3DMark06 (1280x1024): 7416
SM2.0: 3005
SM3.0: 2919
CPU Score: 2993

--> SM3.0 (+7%) and Vantage (12%) GPU is significant better on the ATI card. SM2.0 is worse (-14%), maybe a driver issue. Will do a rerun with another driver (189.74) because the 197.42 only scores a 5.1 in Windows performance index, 189.74 scored 6.6...

Well that's said, instead of comparing 3DMarks, why don't we do some real game benchmarks? That should give a better impresion what those cards can handle.

 

Now from ATI's website, the 5730 has about the same TDP as the 5830 so why didn't they just use that card. They even managed to put a 5830 into the envy 15 which is a thinner notebook.

 

Not boasting but i knew it that m5800 was not going to be based on the 5800s. they looked too much into the numbers and presumed so but numbered firepro cards are never similar to gaming card numbers.
Anyway im impressed. even if its based on the 5730 and not 50 it still somewhat better than 1800m wen it comes to details on a game with more frames.
im kinda swaying back towards 8540w now but i like the np8690.
i wonder what kinda frames at what resolutions it achieves with games like bad company 2, modern warfare 2 and gta 4