*HP EliteBook 8540w Owners Lounge!*

Hi everyone here

New to this interesting forum,
I just got my hands on a nice 8540p, wich I want to boost -> 8540w (roughly same thing, same MOBO, etc...)
So for the moment I have replaced:
Stock panel 1366*768 -> LP156WF1 1920*1080
I5 540M -> I7 720QM
4GB DDR3 -> 8GB
I initially wanted the dreamcolor display, I found the enclosure, bezel, hinges, 2 specific cables, LP156WF3 (SL)(B1) panel, BUT** CANT get my hands on the Color Mapping Board, that small controller behind the LCD...
So I surrended
Now huge question... Among all those who have attempted to replace the MXM GPU, who has successfully done it?
Was looking at several options, like Firepro M5950, HD 6770M, HD 7770M, Firepro M4000, etc
I dont want to buy a card if it is not accepted in it, I know 8530 and 8510 dont like other GPUs...
Who can tell me if the board is replaceable by a non-HP gpu?
Thanks

 

One step passed with success

Just pulled a G210 MXM 3.0 A from a dead Packard Bell LJ72 and fitted it in my 8540 and it fired up without any problem, that was just to test if that elitebook could eat a "standard" MXM board.

I think passed this stage my 8540p would eat any MXM 3 A GPU available... Lets go Firepro M4000 (equ. 7770M)

To be continued ...

 

Hello!
Intresting what you have found out. I also have a 8540p and would like to upgrade the video card (i have the nvs 5100m with an overclock), but i knew that HP bios locked the 8540p to just 3-4 video cards (nvs5100m, quadro 880m , quadro 1800m and firepro m5950, i think). Please keep us up to date if the swap for Firepro M4000 works well and good luck !

 

I am soon getting my hands on a EliteBook 8570w , I don't know if my 8540p would be sold by then, or if I keep the two elitebooks.

Anyway, as I stated, the Geforce G610M was accepted without any problem, but I have no other MXM 3.0 type A cards to test with...

If I keep the two elites, I'll swap GPUs to test the compatibility.

 

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone with some technical expertise could comment. I got an 8540w off a friend and the HD is basically failing. I'm just going to replace it, but I want to use a SSD instead of the 320GB drive it came with. I see on HP's site it lists 128 and 256GB SSD as stock options. I was wondering if it can handle a larger (480-512GB) SSD? Has anyone ever done this?

 

Hi new to the website looking for the fastest cpu and best video card that will work in an elitebook 8540w and a dell m6400 I do not care about warrants just what works and can i put a i7 second or third gen, cpu in the elitebook like i7-3920xx

 

I want to ask a few questions for anyone who might be able to answer them.

I have a friend who owns a Hp EliteBook 8540w with a Quadro FX 1800M. He seems pretty desperate trying to do things to run games faster and I would like to help him if I can. Spec wise I noticed that the Quadro FX 1800M isn't too much slower than the GT 540M which I have in my laptop, regardless his gaming performance is terrible in the same games which I can play well. These game include Battlefield 3 and Skyrim which he seems to get very low FPS in, somewhere between 10 - 20 FPS from what he has told me or even slower.

My question would be is there and way to improve his gaming performance. Are there drivers which are better suited for it? Would installing a different MXM board help? Is he just stuck with bad gaming performance because of the technology it is?

I appreciate your help and look forward to your responses.

 

Installing a newer MXM card would most definatly improve it BUT HP lock down the cards you can install
You can also upgrade the RAM. If he has a Core i7 machine, he can install 32GB. If he has a core i5 he can install 16GB.

 

What MXM cards are available that will work? Are there any kind of mods such are bios mods which can unlock more MXM cards? Can you suggest a few different cards that would perform better then the Quadro he has at the moment?

He also has an i7 machine with 8Gb of ram. My laptop only has 6Gb and does fine at the games I mentioned so I don't think that is an immediate issue.

 

Friend of mine also tried 2x8GB configuration on same laptop with dual core motherboard with original HP memory and he was also not successful to boot to Windows.

In the updated spec it's written:
**8 GB SODIMMs are only supported on quad-core processors

Another bad sign is the CPU spec from Intel where it says that i7 620M cannot handle more than 8GB.

I was just wondering if it's only not officially supported or if it's not possible at all.

What keep my hopes alive is a test done by Siorah 2 years ago where he claims that 2x8GB configuration is possible on 8540w with dual core CPU and motherboard.

Could this be a BIOS issue? He was using some older BIOS version from a different branch.

 

Hi everyone,

I own an 2010 hp elitbook 8540w and i am currently looking to instal and SSD instead of the HDD and install some extra ram.
I have the quad core version, so i got 4 ram slots, 2 are empty at the moment. 2 are now using 2 gb 1333MHz ram.

About the SSD: if i am correct my laptop is currently using a 4.5 inch HDD and i would like to put in a 128 gb samsung 840 2.5 inch. This SSD comes with a caddy to convert it to 3.5 inch, but this is still to small, any suggestions?

About the ram: i can put in 2 extra 2/4 gb ram sticks (1333MHz) but i would find it more convienent (looking into the future) to use 1 sticks of 8 gb (1333MHz). I am not sure what happens when i put in the 8 gb stick, will the 2 other ram sticks still run in dual channel? Do you think i should go with the 8gb stick, or the two 4 gb sticks?

Thanks for your input

 

4.5"?! The drives in the Elitebooks are 2.5"

 

Hello,

is there any way to find out the cpu voltage (vcore) on an 8540w with i7 620m? I've tried tools like CPU-z, HWMonitor, HWInfo32 or the OpenHardwareMonitor but none of them shows the voltage. Does anyone have the same issue?

 

Hi guys,

I'm trying to upgrade the RAM in an 8540W and I'm a little confused.

This is a quad core model with 4 RAM slots. Only one is in use and populated with a 4GB stick. I have ordered 2x8GB and 1x4GB sticks to add to the computer. I have searched for half an hour and can not find any site that says which slots I should install which sticks in for optimal performance. I know you can now have dual channel even with mismatched memory, but only for the parts that overlap (e.g. if a 4GB and 8GB module are on the same channel, only the first 4GB of the 8GB module will operate in dual channel). If I install them incorrectly, then I'll have two channels, each with 1x4GB + 1x8GB and lose dual channel on 8GB of my total memory.

Should I put both 4GB behind the keyboard and both 8GB under the bottom panel, or should I put 1x4GB and 1x8GB in each location?

Thanks!

 

Hi, you'll want to match up the slots in each channel. So Slot #1 Channel 1 - 8GB, slot #1, Channel 2, 8GB, Slot #2 channel 1 4GB, Slot #2 channel 2 4GB.

Having said that, I don't think it matters in your case which order you put them in because as long as one of each goes into each channel, you have 12GB in each channel. If your research shows that mismatching that way won't work, then ok, but I was under the impression that you would get the full dual channel benefit even with this config:
Channel 1: 4GB, 8GB
Channel 2: 8GB, 4GB

Hope that helps.

 

Hello i've been happy with my elitebook 8540w for 3 years, but now it has started behaving really weird. at moments it works really slowly, when watching videos it sometimes freezes the image for a few seconds but the audio still works. And other freezing spikes during games or normal work... I had it checked but they didn't find anything wrong. Now i've read lots of different sites and i'm suspecting that it's a motherboard problem.

Anyone ever had problems like that with his 8540w? Would really like to know how to solve it since using the laptop with these spikes is next to imposible...
Thanks for your anwsers!

 

Hello, I updated the bios of my 8540w with the latest one, but when updating finished and the machine got restarted nothing appeared on screen. I tried to update bios with usb with bios backup file in it. By holding win button + B button hoped bios will be replace with the backup one but I tried several times without any success. Anyone ever had problems like this? I am thinking about replacing the bios chip, because the machine is out of warranty.

 

Hi, I am bit of confused .... i have 8540w i5 M520 2.4GHz with 4GB RAM, BIOS F.24 .
Yesterday I've bought (1 module) KINGSTOON 8GB PC-3 10600 CL9 and put it in memory slot.
In BIOS I can see 10GB in total, However during Memory Test the PC restarts and also hangs on Windows SplashScreen.
Should I put it behind keyboard slot? Or it not going to work at all?
Thanks

 

Hi, I had the same experience and looking a bit harder I found that this model does not support 8GB SODIMMs. It only supports up to 4GB SODIMMs. So, I tried a Kingston 4GB (not the KINGSTON recommended part KTH-X3BS/4G, because it wasn't available but another pn with the same basic characteristics) with very similar results... So, now, I do not know if I should order the KTH-X3BS/4G (X2) because I am afraid that it would not work and will have spent another 100 Euros...
Did you mange to find a solution to your problem?
Does anyone else have some idea what to do?

.

 

Can I use a 90 watt ac adapter for an 8540w with an i7 720Q NVidia 880 or do I need more power?

 

you mean this one?

https://h30094.www3.hp.com/product/sku/2891026/mfg_partno/ED495AA

look at the compatible products, so it should work. At least you should get the battery performance, however, I guess not full power and maybe charging only if it is off? Only guessing... But if the normal power supply has 180W or something like that there have to be a few restrictions.

 

Do somebody have calibrated color profile for non dreamcolor FHD screen (auo13ed)?
thanks

 

I also have a 8540p and was wondering could i just upgrade the motherboard to a 8540w motherboard? Because i also have both my 3.0 usb port that are bad.

Thank you

 

I also have the 8540p and wondering if i can just replace motherboard with the 8540w motherboard as i also have both my usb 3.0 ports that are broken.

Thank you

 

and also looking to get this cpu.

Amazon.com: 1.6GHz Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor i7-720QM 6MB CPU BY80607002907Ah: Computers & Accessories

Thank you

 

Hello,

I am newly an owner of a HP Elitebook 8540w which I bought used.
I have installed Windows 7 Professional 64bit with all device drivers - the device manager does not list any Unknown Devices.

Unfortunately the trackpoint is not working. The touchpad and its three buttons work - the Synaptics driver was installed -, as well as the three buttons below the trackpoint.

Does the trackpoint have to be turned on or activated? How can I rule out that the trackpoint is out of order?

I uploaded a screenshot of the properties of the touchpad.

Many thanks for any help!

Notbuch-User

 

If someone has moved/replaced the keyboard, it's possible that trackpoint cable is loose. That is easy to check: open few screws in the bottom and move the 4 tabs in the top of the keyboard. Then you can carefully lift it and see if all the cables are ok.

 

Hi everyone!
I just got a used 8540w FullHD.
So far, I am fascinated with the machine., though I have been having problems with some drivers, and I feel HP 8540w drivers page does not help that much in regards of drivers information... but I think I'll figure all that out.

I have this question: How can I tell if the machine I have is DreamColor or not?

The product number is FN095UA#ABA

 

Question #2

The BIOS revision of the machine I have is "68CVD Ver F.23"

I am considering to get it updated. But when I go to HP website I see two options to download:

[/IMG]

The title for both options does not really suggest any difference.

I opened each option and the description does not help neither since as per the description both files are the same.

I guess I should go with the F.24 just because my computer has the F.23.... but, I would like to know what the difference between those two bios are. Any idea?

 

@Hamlet77: The newer the better. One version is from 8 Jul 2014 and the other from 9 Mar 2011. I think F.0x suggests that it is one of the very first versions.
By the way the newest version is F50, not F24.

@KLF: You were right. Actually there is no cable connecting the trackpoint to the systemboard. Therefore it's no wonder that the trackpoint isn't working.
Unfortunately HP does not sell the cable without the keyboard.
That's why I will live without the trackpoint for the moment. Maybe it does not work at all - I cannot test it.

That's part of what makes buying used stuff interesting.

 

Hi everyone.

I have this issue with my EliteBook 8540W

- laptop shuts down randomly when AC power cable is disconnected even when the battery is full. When it shuts down I can turn it back On with battery and it works with no problems.
- the problem does not happen if the DC power cable is disconnected.

At a beginning I thought it was a power adapter problem... but I replaced it with a new one, and the problem persists.

Any suggestions? recommendations?

Thanks in advanced

 

Hi, I want to upgrade my HP elitebook 8540w to a GTX 460m graphics card. I've got the card but unfortunately i've just realised HP BIOS have a whitelist to prevent only 3 graphics cards from being used in their systems. I noticed the HP elitebook 8740w can be upgraded to nearly any MXM_3.0b graphics card (including a 460m) and was wondering can the bios of a 8540w be wiped and replaced with the 8740w bios version? They seem nearly identical in spec so if my 8540w had the 8740w bios then I could install and bootup the Laptop with the new 8740w bios.

Thanks for any help

 

hi dear friends.
i have a Hp EliteBook 8540w...and yesterday i upgrade the bios and after that i turn off the laptop. after 1 hours,i turn on the laptop and go to Bios Setting and do the reset factory setting..after it,the laptop restart but it doesn't turn on again.when i turn on the laptop,the led blinks and after that the laptop shut down.
i do hard reset..also i try to open the laptop and open the battery...but it doesn't response.
please help me what i do....
thanks alot

 

[QUOTE = "djkeenan, post: 10048453, thành viên: 465.602"] Hi, tôi muốn nâng cấp HP elitebook 8540w của tôi đến một card đồ họa GTX 460M. Tôi đã có thẻ nhưng tiếc là tôi đã chỉ nhận BIOS HP có một danh sách trắng để ngăn chặn chỉ có 3 card đồ họa từ được sử dụng trong các hệ thống của họ. Tôi nhận thấy các elitebook HP 8740w có thể được nâng cấp lên gần như bất kỳ card đồ họa MXM_3.0b (bao gồm cả một 460M) và đã tự hỏi có thể bios của một 8540w được xóa sổ và thay thế bằng phiên bản 8740w bios? Họ có vẻ gần giống trong spec vì vậy nếu 8540w của tôi đã có bios 8740w sau đó tôi có thể cài đặt và bootup các máy tính xách tay với bios 8740w mới.

Nhờ sự giúp đỡ : D[/ QUOTE]
là card video không 8740w MXM 3.0 type b 82 x105mm . 8540w MXM 3.0 type a 82x 70 mm. Not same size

 

can I put AMD FirePro M4000 into 8540w ?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Chea...-Mobile-Workstation-DDR5-1GB/32438850390.html

is 8540w's BIOS compatible with it?

 

nobody help me?

 

I have same problem on my hp 8540w .the temperatures is 60*C idle, when i play game is 90-100*C and it auto shutdown.i think the thermal epoxy dry.i change the new thermal epoxy and clean the fan.the heat went down but it still hot ide 50-60,full load test 80-90*C.
Then i find out the resolution.i clean the cooling ducts behind + next to the cpu fan and affix the adhesive tape between the fan and the heat pipe,some one removed it (you must open the keyboard to see it).After that the CPU run 30-40*C, stress test is 70-80.

Problem sold.i think the reason is the adhesive tape, if you dont have it, the hot air cant go out and it make the sensor hotter. [/url][/IMG] [/url][/IMG]

 

I upgraded GPU to AMD FirePro M5950 (from 8560w with soldered and flashed VBIOS), it works great but I found 2 problems:
1. sometimes when you wake up the laptop, screen stays off, you have to sleep and wake up again, then screen works
2. you must disable screen timeout because when screen turns off after timeout, computer freeze and you have to power it down by holding power button
how to solve this problems? I tried radeon and firepro drivers but same results

3DMark06 1366x768 - 10900 points with i5 M560 (I want to upgrate to i7 640M when I find this CPU for good price)
-----------------------------------------------------
I also work on improved heatsink, this is first result, can you suggest me how to improve it even more? I want to have powerful but quiet (when not gaming) machine.
I attached 8 copper and 2 small aluminum heatsinks onto main heatsinks with 3M thermal conductive tape to increase main heatsinks thermal capacity.
Thermal pads are there to spread heat into keyboard (don't know if it helps much). My next idea is to add 50x50x0.5mm copper plates on main heatsinks (with 3M tape on heatpipes)