*HP EliteBook 8730w Owners Lounge*

FYI: 8740w owners lounge here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=470406

 

Managed to get HP to replace my 120W with a 150W after opening up two cases with the HP IT RC.

Roycit, I suspect my lowered 3dmark06 scores were because of W7 drivers, but I'm also glad I finally got them to switch to a 150W.

Just bought an Omnia II and having serious issues syncing bluetooth for file transfer between the two pieces of equipment.

Any ideas anyone?

 

Does anyone have any ideas for how to force a kind of 'reset' of the DreamColor screen? Let me explain...

Just a few minutes ago, I was using my DreamColor 8730w just surfing the web, etc. and suddenly the screen started show what appears to be a shifting of the red pixels. It looks like the entire screen's red pixels are shifted 2-3 pixels to the right and maybe 1 pixel down. As a result all of the images look wrong (as you can imagine).

I tried shutting down for a few minutes and re-starting. However, even on re-boot, the whole BIOS start-up screen with the HP logo doesn't look right. The red pixel shifting makes it look like the HP logo and the text on the BIOS start screen look like they have a weird red drop-shadow.

So, since this happens that early in the start-up process, it seems like it's a very low-leve driver issue (or it's a hardware problem that just started). Anyway, just wondering if anyone had any ideas for forcing a low-level reset (or something like that) to rule out a HS problem before I open a service call for it.

Thanks for any ideas, etc.

- J -

 

Hi JEA152
You should test your laptop with an external screen and see what happens. It doesn't mean much but it's a hint more.
But I'm sorry to say that 99% your card has gone bad. Time for repair...
I have a similar issue on a 2700m. It works fine on the external monitor but on the internal there's a red tint all over, looks like black is replaced with red. I tested it with other mainboard and other screen and the result is the same so I can say the card only is defective. It works perfectly on an external screen however.
If you have time post here a picture or send me a mail, you should have my address.
I'll give it a look.

 

Thanks for the info. 'My' 8730w is now back in the hands of my son (who is so delighted that it broke while I was using it and not him!) and the image on his external monitor seems to be fine. So, like you, I tihnk this means that there's a problem with the internal graphics card, the display, or the connection from the graphcis card to the display.

I'll try to take a screen shot of it (in 'broken' mode) over the next day or so and post it here for others to see.

Time to look out my warranty info, too, it seems.

- J -

 

Hi guys, I would like to know, is there a edge to edge glass for rgbled for this machine like the precision m6400 and M6500? How good or similar is this one to the M6400 and M6500?

 

no there's not on the 8730w and afaik not on the 8740w too.
I just upgraded from a ccfl to a rgbled on my 8730w and it's brighter and better but imho really depends on what you do and, most of all, how much you pay it. I'm going to buy a color calibrator as it seems to me reds are way more satured than they should be and greens are a bit stronger too.
I have no idea if it's better/worse/on par with a m6400 one, haven't had a chance to see them together.

 

some news for all of you who might be interested playing some games with the quadro 3700m.

I made some further tests and this is my situation. if you have time to reproduce the test in your laptop I would really appreciate.

1) some games have no problem at all with the quadro. newer or older it's the same it depends on the engine they are based upon. for example dirt 2 is newer and more resource hogging than dirt 1 but works fine while dirt 1 locks in ten minutes as much.

2) if you run furmark (open-gl testing suite for videocard) you'll see that the card gets crazy hot (90 and more degrees) but has no problem at all

3) if you download OCCT (a stressing suite that can test cpu and vga card based on directx) you should find an interesting thing:
the card works fine in gpu stress mode only with "shader model 0". changing shader model to a different one locks the card in a couple of minutes.

4) a similar issue has been found on some ati desktop cards and seems to be related to voltage regulators unable to give the card all the power it sucks during those test. here is a thread I found on the net about this same issue

5) as it happens for the ati cards if you lower the gpu core clock the card is able to run the test perfectly. in my case lowering core from 550 to 530 is enough. this means the problem is not related to the program or the card not being able to run directx applications (like most of the games are)

6) for all of you who are going to say that quadro aren't meant for playing and all that stuff I perfectly know it but I even know that the 3700m can give me nice 12700 3dmark06 points, so I think it's good for gaming and as these tests demostrate the card can perfectly handle every game you throw at it. if lowering core clock let the card work fine it means that the nvidia engineers pushed frequencies a bit too much or just thought that (as my tests with furmark demonstrate) the card can work fine in opengl at those frequencies but is somewhat limited in some kind of directx performance

7) last but not least all these tests are based on my 8730w and my 3700m. you could find different results on your setup and I'd like to know what happens on your systems if you have time and will to test it. I could even have a first revision quadro that has the problem but that has been solved in newer revisions, I have no idea and hp help desk is unhelpfull at all in such a specific matter.

8) I'm going to post this on the dell m6400 official thread too as I read of some 6400m users with quadro 3700m having similar issues (bsod or black while gaming) so I'd really appreciate some feedback from dell users too.

rcboyit

ps: if anyone of you is interested you can downvolt to 1,00v (instead of regular 1,03v) the gpu to 500/800 instead of 550/800.
this means more or less ten celsius degrees less during high stress. not bad at all for the 8730w that is way too hot imho.

pps: how to run the test:

1) download occt and try to run gpu stress with shader model 0. it should work fine. leave it for at least 10 minutes. temps will get high but don't worry!

2) change shader model to 8 and retry. if it works please try even model 4. both crashed on my quadro

3) download aticlock or rivatuner to downclock the gpu core. aticlock is really easy to use, once installed just click show 3d window then manually edit the core speed on the right (should be 383) to 500 and memory speed to 800 (should say 300). in the upper right corner there should be 550 and 800. after you press enter you'll see those change to 500/800 as desired

4) rerun occt test and see if everything works fine.

 

Hey rcboyit,

I have a Precision M6400 with the FX3700M card in it and have no issues playing games on it, everything from Call of Duty 6, to NFS Shift, Race Driver GRID, Star Trek Online, etc.

The only complaint I have had with it in the past is an apparent downclocking issue under load, but this was resolved by Dell with some replacement parts, which included a new graphics module which was a newer revision.

I'm more than happy to run this test for you, but I wont be playing with the Core Clocks on this machine.

After downloading the OCCT tool, I think you need to post a standard test setting for everyone to use, as there are options relating to test time, resolution, etc.

If you post a config for this, I'll run it for you now.

Cheers!
Grant

 

thanks GrantW for being first! you are really kind!

on my setup the card has problems with standard occt resolution (1024x768@60hz) so you could begin with this test! start with shader model 0 for ten/fifteen minutes until you see temps get stable. then try with shader model 8. afaik 0 is simpler 8 is more difficult. please report your temps here too.

you confirm dell replaced your videocard right? so as I thought it might be there has been some change from dell/nvidia...

if the card works fine with stock settings you won't need to change clock settings. this has to be done for who has problem with stock settings.

for admins: sorry for messing around in two different threads. if you want to move this to a new thread feel free to do it!

 

Yes, the graphics module was replaced. I had Dell ship the parts and I did the work. I noticed that the new graphics module was a revision number newer than the one that came out of the machine, and although they didn't look significantly different, there were different brands of capacitors on the newer card.

As for the tests: Just ran 15 mins of Shader 8 with no issues - here's a graph:


I am now running the Shader 0 test for 15 mins and will post the graph soon.

 

Ok, so here's the result from Shader 0 for 15 mins:


I did notice the fans weren't working as hard in this test as in the Shader 8 run, so definitely less heat.

 

ok thanks sooooooo much!
your card seem to work great (as you say!) but seems a bit "slower" than mine. I got more than 12400 3dmark06 while you get 11300 and with shader model 0 I'm around 70fps while you are around 60.
what os do you use? what driver?
last question...could you post a screenshot of gpuz to show your card specs? and even click on the small card with green arrow on gpu-z to export vbios ad post it here? ;-)
thanks again for your help!

 

Running Windows 7 x64 with the 195.81 driver.

GPU-Z reports the following. And I've always scored around 11300 with this machine, so I'm not concerned. What CPU are you running in your HP?



V-Bios, I can do but I don't have a file host, just photobucket. Got a place to FTP it or something?

 

I have a qx9200 ES. so a bit slower than yours. but I get lower score on windows 7, close to yours.

you could attach the bios to a post here, super easy!

it should be interested to know if the "faulty" cards behave as mine....

 

I have an enviable problem.
Running XP SP3, the 'Wireless Netwwork Connection' icon says: Not connected.
And the 'Wireless Netwwork Connection' window says: No wireless network detected within range, despite many Refreshes.

The good news is that after adding the network manually in 'Change advanced settings' it connects to the internet normally. Still, no wireless network detected, though.

Anybody experienced similar oddity?
(remark: another computer in the same room has no problems detecting and displaying all networks within range, as it should)

Another question, any particular firewall recommended -better free one- for the 8730w?

 

first make sure you have all the latest driver

I recommend the Intel drivers for WLAN

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&swItem=ob-81360-1&mode=5&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

then it depends on your WLAN router settings and so on and the first connection is always not that easy... make sure your router settings are correct

e.g. if you have hidden the SSID just type it correct during the first connection (and generating the profile). Make sure you have allowed the mac address of your WLAN connector and all keys of the WPA2-PSK (or what you use) are correct

 

Ok, V-BIOS uploaded to this post. Didn't go advanced posting on this forum yet, so didn't see the upload option.

Enjoy.

For the record - the old card, before I started seeing the downclocking issue, used to pull the same score in 3DMark 06, and ran equally as well in games.

 

I have some problems with a m-audio firewire soundcard, it stops randomly. The tech guy from m-audio told me its possible to be a IRQ problem, and since i have 8730w with a Ricoh 1394 adapter i think it might be Ricoh's fault.

Does anyone knows what the Ricoh chipset exact name ? Does the fact that i didn't installed the card reader drivers (also ricoh) might affect the 1394 controller ?

I didn't install all the drivers because of the wake-up problem on windows7 x64.

ps: for the guy with video card problems, i have the 2700 with 186.24 drivers on XP and play COD4, Fear2, Crysis without problems. The fan is very loud but no freezes.

 

Hello Hi I am new here I have one question.

How am I to recognize a HP Dreamcolor display?
I received a HP 8730W as a gift. I didn't know about the detail spec such a the display. How am I to know it is a Dreamcolor or not? FYI, the display is 1920 x 1200 on a NVidia Quadro FX 2700m.

 

If it doesn't have the "dreamcolor" sticker on it, it probably isn't. Run HP Performance Tuning Framework and see what display model you have. Or, this tool (scroll down for the zip version)

If it's a Samsung or a LG 171 WU 3 then its not a dreamcolor. See this post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=321602&page=56

 

Just a quick note, my DreamColor 8730w does not have a DreamColor sticker. Could be because I got it refurbished from the HP Business Outlet. As mentioned in earlier posts, the display type for mine is:

LP171WU5-TBL1

Note that others have said that the WU3 is not a DreamColor. The special part of this code seems to be the WU5.

- J -

 

Just wanted to update my saga from last weekend.

After having this problem, my son used the 8730w in the docking station for the week. (The external display wasn't affected.) Yesterday, took it out of the docking station and the problem was gone!

That's good but I wish I knew what happened to create the problem in the first place.

- J -

 

Can I use memory modules other than the original HP part? like Kingston.

 

This has been extremely helpful. I know this may come very late, as I just acquired one of these beauties, but these resources have everything I have been looking for, and give me great confidence being able to resolve common issues (such as replacing the RTC battery)

Thanks for posting these links up. I just wished they would make these videos available for download, I haven't found a way to save them locally. This trend towards computing as a service, the growing necessity to be online to even do mundane things and render personal computers as, essentially, dumb terminals, like computers used to be before the PC revolution, seriously upsets me as the most important menace against personal freedom in this century (witness what Google is doing). But that's another story fit for another thread...

 

Thanks a million for this great review! Any new developments since this first review? What are your long term impressions about the Trackpoint? Have you considered replacing the eraserhead for better usability?

 

Anyone know where I can find both the vBIOS AND system BIOS from an 8730w that came originally with the FX3700M?
Or if anyone could upload both somewhere, I would really appreciate it.
I noticed someone uploaded the vBIOS for a 3700M a few pages back, but I believe that's from a Dell Precision 6400M.

I'm in the process of upgrading my 8710w from a 1600M to a 3700M, but there seems to be a problem with the BIOS. GPU-Z registers lower clocks (500/800/1250) and it appears to only recognize 256MB of vRAM.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

Sorry RampageII, I don't have a solution for your issue, and have a question of my own

It's about Docking Stations... They seem to come in all kinds of different pwer supplies... Yet no one seems to know what the proper power supply is, some people seem to say that a 120W power supply is OK for an EN4889AA, whereas some list is at 135W, or 150W or even 180W.

What gives? I want to acquire one but am puzzled as to what to ask for the power supply (I am getting a Dreamcolor 8730w). Is the power supply that comes with the laptop not sufficient? What is it rated at anyway?

 

Well, if the docking stations come with their own power supplies, like in the 8710w versions, then whichever comes with it should be OK.
Based on my own experience, owning an 8710w, a docking station and having both a 120W and 180W PS.....they were both adequate. But keep in mind my 8710w doesn't have the same power requirements as yours. Once I upgrade to the FX3700M, I'll have to use the 180W for sure.
When I want to use both the laptop and docking station, I only need to use one of the power supplies (usually the 120w because of its smaller size) and connect it to the docking station. That way both devices receive power.

Only thing I would suggest, to make things convenient, is to make sure the power supply connector of the docking station is the same as the one on the laptop. That way they can be interchanged.

I got rid of the first docking station precisely because the PS were not interchangeable.

Also keep in mind that these laptops use a smart power supply, meaning they only supply what is needed. So even though my laptop only needs a 120w PS, I can also use a 135w or 180w, without the risk of damaging my laptop. Some people even like to use the 90w PS just because it's smaller.
But wouldn't go that far because then the laptop could be potentially underpowered.

 

I don't think you should use a 8730w BIOS with another laptop but you can download the different versions here

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3784202&swItem=ob-79534-1&prodNameId=3784204&swEnvOID=1093&swLang=13&taskId=135&mode=5

but I doubt also that it will be possible to install it on a 8710w... anyway try at your own risk


Here you can dl the VBIOS (post #706)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=321602&page=71

this is a newer one, it came with my replacement FX3700 but "belongs" to the 8730w (I don't think that Dell uses a different/special version)

good luck

 

As noted, the docking stations (when acquired from HP) come with the power supply. So, if you look at the QuickSpecs (link posted in an earlier note here) and stick with one of the 'approved' ones, you should be all set.

With that said, however, I'll let you know that the recommendation for the 8730w with DreamColor is to use a 150w Power Supply when using just the 8730w and to use a docking station with 180w.

When I plug the 8730w directly into the wall with the 150w, all has been fine. And I've been using HP Advanced Docking Station 2008 180w version successfully - one at home and one at work. So, these recommendations seem right to me.

- J -

 

Sotton,

Thanks for your help.
A few people actually have the 8710w with a 3700m, but with the problems I previously mentioned.
It seems to have something to do with the BIOS. It looks like it applies the settings for the 3600M. Also, the fact that it only supports powermizer 7 while the 3700m uses powermizer 8. Therefore, the BIOS requires some modification.
Yet, despite the handicaps, the 3700 still performs better than a 3600m, which is a direct swap for the 8710w.
It may be a loss cause, but I got the 3700m for about $200 so I couldn't pass it up.
Plus, I figured it would come in handy if I ever decide to replace my 8710w with an 8730w.

BTW, do the 8730w with fx2700m come with the right HS for the fx3700m?
Also, is it a straight swap? Going from 2700m to 3700m on the 8730w.

 

the swap from the 2700 to the 3700 was done by HP because my 2700 broke.

However, I still have only the single pipe cooling system, it may be better to go also for the dual pipe cooling system.

I use 32 BIT XP. Not much experience with the latest Verde Notebook Release 197 (197.16 WHQL) I installed lately.

 

I see.
I thought the 2700m and 3700m both used the dual pipe HS. The service manual for the 8730w only lists one HS for nvidia cards and one for ATI.

Well, if HP did it, then it's probably a direct swap. I'm surprised they didn't upgrade the HS though.
I would upgrade the HS if I were you. That's what I did with my 8710w.

 

Thanks for helping out, Man!

Good to know! The laptop I'm getting comes with the FX2700M, so presumably it require less power... 150w maybe? I really would like to know before I get it next week, so that I may order the right docking station and have both at the same time

I would probably use the laptop as a workstation most of the time, with a couple of hours every second day for presentations while on the road.

How would I know that the laptop's power supply won't work with the docking station?

 

Good! the EN489AA I'm looking at comes with a 120w power supply that has an expansion bay for an external drive (I was thinking installing a 1TB backup drive in it), and the 8730w I'm getting is an FM875UT, with the Dreamcolor panel but with the lesser and presumably less power hungry FX2700M video card.

In other words, I wonder if the power supply that comes with my laptop will be enough for all that... As the 120W power supply that comes with the dock appears a bit limited... I wonder why they have so many power supplies especially for docks, since it's a stationary object for which power supply size and weight is pretty much irrelevant...

As for looking on the specs, I have looked, but haven't been able to match the docking station power supply for the dock type and model laptop I'm getting...

 

No problem.

I don't understand why you're making a big deal out it though.
I mean, if the docking station has it's own PS and it's just going to sit at home/office (judging by the size ) then what's the problem?
Which ever PS it comes with it should be fine.

Heck, I have the DS for my 8710w but I never use the damn thing.
I only bought it because my 8710w came with the big 180w PS instead of the 120w, like it was suppose to.
I paid $15 for the DS/PS combo.
That's way lower than I would have to pay just for the PS alone.

 

I think it is better if you want to use the advanced docking station to use the higher power supply, so if 150 W is your normal power supply then you should use 180 W with the advanced docking station.

So, the correct one is KQ752AA

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06c/A10-51210-329229-347699-329229-3676828-3676829-3676831.html

the lower power supplies are for the other laptops (all have the same docking connector)

The problem is not too much Watts but there could be a problem if you have not enough

 

Thanks for your input... I Just wouldn't want the PS to be too weak for the Dreamcolor screen, the FX2700M video card and the backup hard drive I intend to install in it...

 

Yes, to be sure that should do it in a breeze, but If I can get an EN489AA for a bargain, as long as the power supply is sufficient, I will take that instead, since the KQ752AA is a whole lot more (over $300 versus about $50) and honestly, besides the power supply wattage, I cannot see any difference between the two.

The reason why it's a bit confusing is that HP does list the older docking stations (EN488AA, EN489AA) as compatible with the 8730w: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13092_na/13092_na.HTML#Options

 

yes, the power supply should be the only difference.

some older (1 year older) docking stations are only different in design, hardware is the same, but still you maybe need a more powerful power supply (if you have an 8730w with the ATI option I think you get the 120W power supply so an older docking station with 135W should be ok for this model). If your 8730w needs more power you just buy another power supply, keep the old docking station and all is fine... (that is why they are "mostly" compatible)

The opposite should work, too, you can use a 8710w with the newer docking stations, more Watts are no problem... and maybe a few connections (HDMI or something like that) won't work.


So, I think, too, that you can buy the cheaper version and buy an extra power supply with more Watts. Your 150W laptop power supply could work, too, but I think it is more safe to use the 180W with the advanced docking station. Maybe, if your 8730w is not that demanding (no Quadcore and so on) and you only use one drive in the advanced docking station the 150W could be enough... and I hope there will be only an error message like "you need a more powerful power supply" and no fire caused by the wrong power supply

 

anyone else noticed that the latest "Verde Notebook Release 197" drivers for the FX cards (197.16 WHQL) reduce the shader clock speed to 1100 (1375 was default) ? Is this only true for the XP version?

 

what software shows that result?
Gpu-z still show 1400 as with older drivers. I'm running xp pro 32.
anyway with these drivers and the latest vbios (the one you already have) I had no more lockups or errors or bsod...seems like we finally did it.

 

thanks for the fast reply, yes, I use of course also GPU-Z

however, I just re-installed the drivers and now I have the full 1400

I had reduced the clocks last week with NVIDIA ntune but did not notice anything wrong after going back to the defaults the same day until today, maybe ntune did something, maybe it was something else...

Since installing the latest drivers I did not play any game (just one short test was all)

I hope to check a few games soon...

But great to hear all "should" work and works with you

 

I currently owned a 8730w with a normal samsung display. My question is can I upgrade my samsung display panel to a Dreamcolor display?

 

I think so but I am not sure if you have one of the older ATI cards, with the NVIDIA it should be no problem

 

Hi rcboyit,

I haven't seen a response to this, I have a dell M6400 with fx3700m (furmark peaked at 75 and ran mainly at 73 - your 90 is way too hot) all my card details match GrantW's details, I have attached the bios renamed from .bin to .txt my video card is as supplied.

hope this helps!!.

I havn't cleaned the fans out in 18 months - I think I will, perhaps I can get it below 73.

 

Use the Dell 3700M Vbios on HP card is not recommended, since the cards are different designed.

 

Hey Folks,

So I finally got my 8730w yesterday. Beautiful machine! Extraordinarily precise screen, super bright and extraordinarily vibrant.

The trouble is, it’s way too vibrant for me. There is way too much saturation and after playing many hours with the NVIDIA control panel, I can't get it to display pictures in a natural, less saturated way. The skin tones especially bother me, they are way too blasted pink. Reds are super intense, greens pop, and blues are super concentrated.

Otherwise the color balance seems fine. I have tried everything I could on the NVIDIA control panel, which I find very limited. I presently have contrast and vibrance set at minimum, but the colors are still too intense.

Is there an alternate way to fix this and reduce saturation and color intensity? My eyes are hurting!!!

 

Question for all of you who have an 8730w with FX2700M from factory....

Do they all come with single pipe heat sink from factory?

If some do come with dual pipe HS, is it fair to say it's a small percentage?