*HP EliteBook 8760w Owners Lounge*

Correction, the BIOS update does NOT fix the fan noise when using Displayport. Last night I had it connected to my TV for a couple of hours, and after sometime the fan went nuts, as soon as I remove the cable, the fan speed is down to normal.

 

I'm using GPU monitor and Open Hardware Monitor to check the load and temps and everything looks OK. The GPU doesn't show more load when a second monitor is connected (I'm not connecting the second monitor via DisplayPort but via the DVI port on the docking station, and before the F21 BIOS I had the same problem with the fan).

Until recently I had a 8730w with a Quadro FX 2700 M and I didn't necessarily notice a very high fan activity when having an external monitor (that is, most of the time).

 

I can definitely say there is a huge difference after installing the BIOS update and that the notebook is now mostly silent when having a second monitor connected (via Docking Station), which wasn't the case before the BIOS update.
One thing that I noticed with some GPU monitoring software is that when playing MP4s or MPEGs (with VLC for example), there is quite a lot of activity on the GPU, because of the hardware decoding. *Maybe* that can be an explanation for the fan activity in your case.
I only played short previews with VLC, but I might try watching a whole movie and see how that affects the GPU load/fan.

 

I have the ATI version, you are right that it's not as loud as before, but definately louder than anyone would accept, I have to install the fan control again to make the noise acceptable, it doesn't affect the normal fan noise, but only makes sure that it doesn't go crazy when I'm watching a movie, there are no heat issues in doing this btw, the air is cold, so I would definately call this a bug.

If it wasn't for the fan control I would have been very upset about the noise...

 

hiya digitally,

I never said the GPU is under more load, i am saying it switches from Idle CLOCK speeds to full clock speeds.

This has the effect of generating more heat.

the 2700M/2800M/3600M/3700M/3800M/5000M from old generations do it, and i know that the 1000M/2000M/3000M/4000M do it as well.

Its an Nvidia 'optimisation' to give you quick responses.

GPU Monitor should show the change in clock speeds when you plug in your second monitor.

 

True. With both monitors active I get 55-63° C for the GPU. With the external monitor deactivated this becomes 44-45° C.
I could use TPFanControl to actually increase the fan speed, but the values seem OK to me.
Interesting enough, even when under load (but not heavy load), using some 3D app with viewport shaders, the temps don't seem to increase very much. Should explore this further.

 

Have anybody here tried changing the Hard Drives that come with your 8760w... Can't seem to get the system/UEFI to accept any other non-hp drives. Is that possible??? Please advice, refer, help if you know something. HP is a joke when it somes to customer service here in Scandinavia.

Thanks,
Christoffer

 

Yeah, I'm using an Intel 510 SSD with no problems, just plug and play
I use the harddrive that came with the notebook in the 2nd bay.

 

Hmmm, I purchased the 8760w with just a lousy 320GB in order to change and add my two 256GB Kingston HyperX SSDs in RAID, but no luck. Could it be the UEFI bios reciding on the old hard drive that's causing my problems? Really want to figure this out before I go ahead purchasing HPs own 256GB SSDs, which is also slower. I get a message that says that SMART feature is not supported, then rebooting in loop.

All help appreciated - Christoffer

 

I did something similar- I replaced the 320Gb drive with a 256 SSD (Plextor Sata III drive) and added a 750GB sata III drive for data in the secondary bay.

I had no trouble at all and didn't have to do anything in the bios. The machine immediately recognized the SSD. I installed the second drive after I had an OS installed on the SSD.

Test each drive individually- make sure the bios sees your drives one at a time before you get started setting up RAID. I would guess the RAID controller/setup is at fault, and this step will help confirm that. If the bios does not see either drive when installed by themselves on the primary channel, then you have a drive/bios issue.

 

Thanks.

I guess I have been to busy and lazy to really start sorting this out. Was just so freaking anoying. I mean, you're used to every thing beeing repleacable on a business laptop, but not this one. I even tried installing the WWAN card and antenna, which you can't order together with the dreamcolor display because of space issues - and even though I manages to install it hardware wise, the bios wouldn't allow it. Damn you HP. But it's still the only decent alternative next to Dell, now that Lenovo is sticking to 15,4".

I'll try everything, and then get back with what turns out to be the solution.

Christoffer

 

my 8560w was configured with WWAN card+antenna+dreamcolor - no problem at all.

 

Looks like HP made a batch of 8760w laptops LG674ET. it is for sale in many online stores. I am very tempted but price just dropped by 100£ in one week time. Could it be that another premanufactured batch on it way? It is certainly cheaper compared to similar configured Dell M6600 with IPS screen. I wish it had backlit keyboard and something faster than i7-2630QM. Does anybody own this particular model, opinion will be very appreciated

 

Latest BIOS update quietly enabled AES-NI for Intel 2630QM cpu?

I just updated my 8760w to BIOS to "F.21 (24 Oct 2011)". It looks like AES-NI has now been enabled by default (or 2630QM microcode was updated). My 2630QM microcode version is "1A" but I didn't check it before.

CPU-Z says AES is enabled. Intel Processor Identification says "AES-NI: YES", CPU MSR register "13c=00000001" implying enabled.

I guess the next step is to benchmark encrypting a volume with bitlocker/truecrypt.

The HP customer advisory said Intel got the info wrong and claimed the Intel cpu 2630QM does not support AES-NI. The BIOS rev. notes made no mention of any AES-NI changes. I could not find a new BIOS interface setting for AES enable/disable. Tjhe BIOS update either/both updated the BIOS to turn AES-NI on by default and/or updated the Intel 2630QM microcode to version "1A" which is required to support AES-NI. Mine is at "1A" now but I don't know what it was before applying the latest BIOS update.

For my general knowledge, does anyone know if it is standard to practice to sometimes include CPU microcode updates in a BIOS update package?





--------------------------------------

SUPPORT COMMUNICATION - CUSTOMER ADVISORY

Document ID: c03059334

Version: 1
HP Notebook PCs - Notebook Does Not Support AES-NI Feature
NOTICE: The information in this document, including products and software versions, is current as of the Release Date. This document is subject to change without notice.

Release Date: 2011-10-19

Last Updated: 2011-10-19
DESCRIPTION

A notebook with the Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.00 GHz central processing unit (CPU) does not support the AES New Instructions feature despite the feature being listed on the official Intel website.
SCOPE

HP EliteBook 8760w Mobile Workstation
RESOLUTION

The Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.00 GHz central processing unit (CPU) does not, in fact, support the AES-NI feature. The information on the Intel web site may be misstated. As such, HP has contacted Intel in order to resolve this discrepancy.

If you want to be certain that the CPU does not support the AES feature, contact HP support. HP support can run an AES check tool on the notebook to confirm whether the feature exists or not.
Hardware Platforms Affected: HP EliteBook 8760w Mobile Workstation
----------------------------------------------

 

Hi,

First of all I want to thank you for this awsome thread, it's incredibly usefull

I'am a lucky owner of HP8760w with DreamColor 2. Inside the computer, I found three cables, two of which lead to the WLAN card and one is unused. It's yellow marked cable with label MIMO. As far I know, it's the three-antena WiFi technology. My question is whether I can use this cable as an antena for miniPCIE TV card?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

Hello,

I would like to upgrade from a 8730w to a 8760w with a 3000m nvidia card.

Question:

If I did that could I later switch out the 3000m for a 5010m?

thanks for your time.

 

Hello Again,

Could I put a 5010m in my 8730w?

thanks again

 

Not gonna happen. You need a BIOS support for the card to be recognized by the system. Just sell your rig and grab the 8760w with the card, that's your best bet, IMHO.

 

agreed, new gen quadros are bearly backwards compatible.

The 3000M and 4000M will work in a 8740W, but you won't get past the hp logo. still researching why atm.

And Aiki, you traitor returning back to hp, i thought you were done in this line

 

you can however upgrade to a 5010m if you ensure you have the right heatsink available. the 8760 supports all of the new gen quadros

 

Not entirely, lol. This is a secondary machine as I miss the IPS. Other than that, AW is FTW

 

I have a short question about the 10bpp at the display. On the 8740w it was nearly impossible to get the 10bpp working on an nvidia card and DC2 panel.

How about the 8760w?

Is the AMD firepro better in this case as it was on the 8740w?

And a second question: is it possible to configure the 8760w in europe as it is in the US?

 

What do you mean exactly?

 

In the US it is possible to configure the 8760w (XY697AV, CTO). I have not found such a possibility in europe.

 

I am torn between this and the m6600 and I was hoping I could get some feedback from the hp crowd on their experience

 

The m6600 has the touch which I want and a possible 1tb of ssd storage with an extra msata slot still available but does not offer the 2960 chip and has been months behind hp on release of ips and 5010 gpu Do any know the max ssd storage capacity of the 8760 and is the keyboard and hand rest silver instead of that but ugly brown 6600

 

In Europe too, but you need access to the Business to Business portal. I could configure my 8760w exactly how I wanted

 

Do you have a link or where do get access to the business to business portal?

 

Does anyone have an answer to this?

 

Regarding your second question, yes it is possible to order a CTO 8760w in Europe (or at least in some countries). But you must first find out which HP partner in your country is able to take CTO orders. My advice: send a request for quote to as many HP partners you can and you'll see a) which ones can CTO and b) which one offers the best price. At least that's what I did and it worked out (waiting on my 8760w to arrive ).

Alex

 

You need a business account, it's not for private users as far as I know.

 

Thanks to all who responded to my upgrade question. Much appreciated.

I'm under the impression from my supplier and from the HP site that no one currently owns a 8760W with a 5010M card installed because they simply have not shipped yet. Is this true?
Are we really waiting until Jan 15?

Not to mention the fact that the Canada HP site does not even list the configuration on their site at all. Any Canadians out there who know anything?

Here's the link I'm refering to BTW:

HP's Small & Medium Business Online Store


Oh one more thing - what do you all make of this...

HP 8760W i7-2960XM 3.7GHz 16GB RAM Intel 510 250GB SSD FX 5010M DREAMCOLOR BD-RE | eBay

says they'll be available DEC 1st. Really?


All this worry because the corp. I work for is coming up to their year end budget and I gotta order this thing ASAP.

 

Not true, we have a batch of these beasts all pre-configured with the 5010M. I even got one in my sig as a secondary machine. We received them a few weeks ago, BTW. Maybe there's some local problem with your supplier, dunno...

As for the 2960XM, you won't be able to use its true potential in the 8760w. Sadly, the cooling system is not robust enough for the extreme processors. Even with non-extreme quads (45w) there's some throttling under full load. With the XMs it's much worse, any significant load will force the clocks down due to excessive heat. Better spend money on SSDs, IPS screen and the 5010M.

 

Hello, is it possible to have a test with DPC Latency?

http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Could you also tell me if the firewire chipset is a "texas instruments"?


Thanks.

 

Agreed, the 2960XM is just screwed in the new 8760W. The one we got at the office has been put down to a 2630QM and it's still throttled a little bit. hell even the 5010M throttles sometimes due to thermal issues. I keep away from the two 8760Ws here, they are just such an annoyance, so much potential, but throttled due to heat.

the 3000/4000M appears to be fine in the 8760W under load though topping around 75ish with max fans, in our 2630qm as long as the cpu isn't 100% loaded.

but yea, we got 5010M here about 4 weeks ago. they are still very very new though.

 

WOW! Glad I asked.
Thanks very much, Siorah and Aikimox.

I'll get in touch with Fortnax.

Cheers

 

This is bad news..I'm waiting on mine (2960xm + 5010M) to arrive .
Can you please elaborate on the throttling issue? How severe is it? And would repasting improve the situation?

Thanks,
Alex

 

Some questions before I get into discussions with HP:

I read somewhere that the 2630QM is not able to supoport 16GB RAM in dual channel mode.

Is this correct?

HP offers a 8760w with 2670qm in my region. Does this CPU support dual channel memory with 16GB?

Does anybody have an 2820QM? How about throttling with this CPU and FX4000m?

 

Is a 2820qm i7 and NVIDIA Quadro 3000m have the same problems with the ventilation system?
I do not understand how a machine like this can not be robust enough to withstand extreme processors and non-extreme.
So it is no better than a machine public.

 

I have a 2630 and 16 GB ram and works fine

 

ok ok, lets bring the throttling into focus.

when you max load the system, there is a bit of forced throttling, because the tech is.. in a nut shell, too good for the thermal management system HP has installed.

The 28xxqm and the 2960xm get way too hot for the poor fan to manage. but only when it's fully loaded

in every day use, unless you're going to be hammering it with renders or heavy cpu (or gpu) loads it should be ok.

the 4000M and 5010M i have seen throttled to lower clocks because it's hit high 90's when the cpu was loaded also. Playing something like battlefield 3 on them is not recommended.

We have repasted and lapped the heatsinks, nothing solves it at this time.

Hope that clears things up guys.

 

Could you tell me if the firewire chipset is Texas Instruments?

 

Between the HP 8760w and the Dell M6600, which is the best in performance?

A i7 2820qm and quadro 3000m for use pro audio (about 8 hours per day), it can work properly?

 

Sio,

May the throttling issue be avoided by using the HWiNFO tool with its fan speed feature? Have you tried that? On my 8740w it's awesome to set the fan at max speed when doing a heavy video render. I get maximum turbo boost speed on all 4 cores (2.0GHz) and the machine is only a bit warm.

 

maxing out the fan still gave us throttling on the XM processor. it didn't actually get hot enough to need to throttle, but it did anyway. Dunno if it's a hardware limitation, or what tbh.

 

HWiNFO fan control doesn't work on the 8760w, trust me, I've tried, even been in contact with the creator, and tried to help him getting some info out of HP about how the fan is controlled, no luck so far, maybe I should dig deeper...?

 

In a somewhat related announcement, HP acknowledges the fan spin-up with two monitors issue:
HP Notebook PCs - Notebook Fan Increases in Speed and Becomes Noisy When Two External Monitors Are Connected - c03093758 - HP Business Support Center

 

Hi, it would be possible to have a test with DPC Latency?

Thank you.

 

EXTREME CONFIG DELETES VPRO

Anyone know why? 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, Intel's site shows both chips DO support vpro.

 

It seems the bug is fixed with a new BIOS version. HP don't document in the download web page that all mentioned bugs are fixed. If you go to the 8740w BIOS download page, you'll see the same text: that is, the F.20 BIOS "provides better support for secure erase and it's more reliable for the updating process". That's all. But some days ago I've received a recommended advisory telling me that the F.20 BIOS version fix the automatic shutdown under heavy load. Furthermore, there is another recommended bulletin claiming that the F.20 BIOS also fixes the performance hit when using the high power profile under a Linux OS.

It's disappointing none of these bugs are documented in the release notes Why HP?