HP EliteBook 8760w

Im asking if anyone who has ever used one has had any problems with this laptop, big or small, non-drivers related issues?
Is the laptop any good for gaming on 1280x768 with medium-to-high settings on games from 2013 and before(TESV, Bioshock 1, Borderlands, Dota 2, Planetside 2 etc.)?

The specs of the one im looking at:

Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor (2.00 GHz[Up to 2.90 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology], 6 MB L3 cache, 4 cores/8 threads)
NVIDIA Quadro 3000M with 2 GB dedicated GDDR5
1920x1080 @ 17.3" anti-gloss
8GB RAM DDR3
320GB HDD 7200rpm

 

I' have an 8760w with a 2820qm and 32gb of RAM. I have 3 internal drives and one attached to the eSATA port. All USB ports are used. So the machine is used to the max, and it runs 24/7 with several virtual machines and regular rendering with no major problems.

The experience wasn't as good as with the old 8530 back in the day, mostly because I had to spend money on spare parts, but overall it's a great machine.

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So far, here's the issues I got:

My Quadro 4000m failed - it was an extremely unlucky event, a single capacitor shorted and also damaged 2 components on the system board. I doubt that will happen to anyone else . Worth mentioning that both still work fine, I replaced the capacitor and just to be on the safe side, got a replacement motherboard.

Just FYI - if your BIOS is admin locked, there is a tool that can unlock it, and if it has a power on password it can be removed by replacing the BIOS chip - so you can get these machines with locked BIOSes without worries, $20, a bit of careful soldering and they're good to go.

In case you do this, know that the BIOS chip uses solder with a lower melting point than other components, don't use a high power soldering iron, you'll rip off the copper paths like I did (luckily, it worked out in the end).

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Now, the everyday issues:

SATA III 6 Gb/s is activated by selecting "SATA II 3 Gb/s" in BIOS. HP messed up the setting and with BIOS F.50 it is still not resolved. But SATA III works fine.

RAM is limited to 1333 MHz - I don't know why they decided to do this, but it makes 1600 MHz+ RAM pointless. Would be nice to have faster RAM.

If you have HDMI monitors, you'll need a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. And you can only run 2 monitors - DisplayPort+VGA or Internal+DisplayPort/VGA.

The keyboard controller (From my research, it seems to be a hardware problem, not software) has a weird random, intermittent issue - it does not register key presses sometimes. It is very random, and mostly harmless, but it can get annoying.

The fingerprint reader does not work for Windows 7 logon - it needs its proprietary software to work, it works well after you log in to Windows (for websites and stuff), but I could not get it to work for logon.

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The 1080p screen is great, especially after you run the standard Windows calibration.

Games run well, in my opinion. I have a Quadro 4000m, but from what I read the Quadro 3000m can easily be overclocked to match the performance. It has a good cooling system, it will not overheat.

At 1280x720, it can run anything recent at high or worst case, medium settings. Full HD is noticeably slower, though.

Crysis 3 runs smooth with medium settings. Tomb Raider, Saints Row IV, Borderlands 2, CoD Advanced Warfare and Witcher 2 run fine with high settings.

The top of the line CPUs, 2920xm/2960xm are a great upgrade option, almost as fast as the 3940xm and even the newer Haswells. I'm thinking of upgrading in the near future, though I'd like to know if they can be overclocked with Throttlestop.

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That said, unless you get that 8760w for cheap, I'd look for an 8770w or an 8570w (with K2000m or M4000) with a quad core.

They have the faster Ivy Bridge CPUs (if you get a 3720qm, there's no need to upgrade) and Kepler video cards, which are faster.

Or look at the Dell Precisions - they were my first choice, but I found a great deal on the 8760w. The Elitebook is built very well, though - it's a tank .

Also, get 16GB of RAM and definitely an SSD. 100% worth it!

 

I probably wont be running it 24/7 and/or with external monitors, but thanks for the info!
As for buying more RAM, a better CPU or looking at the later released laptops; this is the best used HP that I could find with a year-long warranty in my country, I do (hopefully) get it for a decently cheap price - 400€.

Thank you for the reply!

 

Oh, for 400 Euros it's definitely worth it.

Test it as soon as you receive it - visual inspection, all the hardware + everyday software, prime95 + gputool for ~1 hour, and a game or two.

But don't let it overheat - if temperatures raise over 90-92 degrees on CPU or GPU, you need to replace the thermal paste, that will drop them significantly.

If you buy it from a business seller, you can return it within 14 days I believe.

You can add an SSD right away, no need for the special cage, if you install it under the smart card reader (prop it up with a piece of cardboard or something, it's not going anywhere ). A relatively cheap 128 GB Samsung Evo will make a big difference in performance!

 

If I can even find a cheap 128 SSD in this country
Any suggestions for thermal paste tho? I've never had to buy any, but just in case...

 

I always recommend Arctic MX4 - it's still the best paste imo, easy to apply and remove even after it has cured and it's still among the best in conductivity. The small 4 gram tube is enough for several applications (and in my experience you can always reuse the stuff you already applied if it's still somewhat viscous)...

 

I don't know how it is with newer generations i7s, but the first gen can pump-out (there's literary almost no paste between the heat-sink and the CPU) MX-4 within a month. It was my go-to paste, before that it was MX-2, not anymore. I'm using Gelid GC Extreme and I'm pretty happy so far.

 

I noticed that too, both on the cpu and gpu. I figure it's a good thing, though - the paste is supposed to fill in any space between the heatsink and the die; but if copper touches the die directly, there's no need for the paste...

 

Mostly on the CPU, haven't noticed it on the GPU. If it's a very thin layer - it's OK, but if it looks watery/low-viscosity/almost gone, then it's not OK. I should've made a photo. It's not good since there's literary no transfer medium between the heat-sink and the core and the temp do rise. So much that in the end of the month, I was hitting 90ºC in no time.

 

Interesting, I've never considered the paste seeping out or even going bad - it's supposed to last for years if untouched. I should try another paste (your recommendation, Gelid GC Extreme, looks like a good start) to see how the temperatures change over time...

 

MX-4 works fine for desktops with their large heat-spreaders on top of the CPU die, obviously not so good with recent bare dies. Was fine for C2Ds, that's what I was using with my T9500, X9000 and X9100. Also as I said, it seems to do fine with GPU cores as well, it's just the i7s that seem to stress it kinda, I don't know, differently. I mean, it wont pump out while dealing with 100W GPU, but would pump-out with 57W (non-overclocked) CPU.

 

Hey guys... I have a question of course. I'm trying to use the second HDD bay but it's not being recognized at all. I put a 700GB HDD inside it and a 300GB.. Still wont recognize it. Tried to even do the dskchk through cmd promt (admin)... Would it only work with SSD or is there something I'm missing? ANY HELP WILL HELP!!! THANKS
-Zay

 

^^^^ Just what I been looking for! I have a 8760w and trying to install a 700GB HDD in the the second slot and it is not reading. I'm searching everywhere for the solution to my problem and you are the closest I can get to it... AlSOO my bios isss locked and I baught it as is. Where can i find this tool. I hope its not the Cmd download way and if not could you please show me the light!!!

-Zay

 

Hi Zay,

A bit of a late reply (not too active around here ), but let's see if I can help you with anything.

Can you detail your problem? You've got an 8760w that boots from the main HDD slot but not from the second one?

In that case, can you see the drive in Windows after booting up? If it's not formatted, it would only show up in Disk Manager as a drive with no space allocated (black bar instead of blue). You can type "Disk Man" in the Start menu and open "Create and format hard disk partitions".

Can you try installing the main HDD (which you know works) in the second slot and see if it boots?

When pressing F9 at boot, can you choose the boot order (CD, HDD, USB, etc)? Or what does it say?

If the boot order (F9 at startup) is accessible, you may be able to unlock it with a software tool, but if it's a complete BIOS + Power-On lock, the only way to do it is to change the BIOS chip.