How easy is it to upgrade the 8740w?

Hi,

I am about to purchase a 8740w, most likely the WD938ET variant at a good price although this variant could be a slight compromise depending on your opinion ie i5 540M, 2800M GPU etc. So I am really curious how easy it is to upgrade components of the 8740w for this variant.

ie.

1) CPU... ie i5 540M to i7 740M
2) GPU... ie 2800M to 7820M
3) RAM... no problem as I understand it can go to 16GB
4) HDD to SDD... No problem although I am unsure of the reason.
a) Noise?
b) Speed?
c) Low Energy?
5) DVD to 2nd HDD. Possible with HP caddy, but expensive ie $200
6) Dream Color.... No way unless you spend $500 to start with for the relevant panel.

So perhaps the 8740W is the upgradeable laptop???

Thanks for any help on this.

Sam

 

ok

CPU - this is upgradeable with about a dozen screws
GPU - is upgradeable - i am doing so
Memory - easy - i am running with 16gb
HDD -> SSD easy, bios was a bit weird, but it's fixed in newest bios
power - as my other post - battery life went up by 33 minutes switching to the SSD.

PANEL/SCREEN - upgradeble to DC2 later - I am also doing this lol

Second HDD - there is another part that will work, it's on the forums somewhere

NOISE - with my machine --- extremely quiet.


SPEED
My machine is pretty quick tbh. win 7 - 18 seconds to load
3ds max 2011 6sec
maya 2011 5 sec
afx cs5 4 sec
premiere pro cs5 4 sec
photoshop 4 sec
word 2007 3 sec
Visual C++ 2008 4 sec

thats with my SSD speeds.

ENERGY USE -

My machine hangs around 45watts on low end power, and goes up to about 140 watts on full load. I have not been able to get it to draw more, though the DC2 panel does draw a bit more i believe

 

Hi,

Thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply. So for someone(ie me...) who is "sort" of adept at upgrading (built my first desktop recently ) these CPU and GPU changes are all pretty achievable?? Obviously with a lot of laptops component upgrades have often been described as like "open heart surgery" !!!

Also I have come across issues with getting hold of these components? Recommendations? I am in the UK.

Very reassuring that with the 8740w I could have a platform that I could upgrade over time. I love the idea of using a SSD instead of a HDD having now seen the benefits. May just wait a few months for the prices to come down.

Thanks,

Sam

P.s Looks like you are a developer/video enthusiast as well !!

 

i'm in the uk also mate,

hence the WD941EA in my signature!

no, all parts are available. HOWEVER.

do not buy the processor from HP it's about £300+ more expensive than buying it elsewhere.

they are quite easy to replace, you can do it yourself, or hp can do it for about 60 quid

yes, i am a 3D artist/producer/teacher type person myself. so i need performance to be highest lol.

 

Let's say you buy a part elsewhere. Can you get HP to install it for you and maintain your warranty?

 

they are doing my CPU upgrade for me

so yes - upgrading the cpu yourself doesn't actually void the warranty by the way.

 

Thanks for this.

Should have spotted your "EA" !!!

I have had some feedback that upgrading CPU for WD938ET could be difficult because of different cooling systems etc. Are the motherboards the same for the i5 and i7 models and for those that carry the 7820 or 2800M components?

Also can you recommend where to get the components from so I get an idea of prices.

Interesting to see your professions ! Thanks.

 

ok

all motherboards will take the hp parts

that i can confirm.

second:

for a quad core chip, you'll need the quad core cooling assembly (bout 20 quid)
for the ATI youll need the ATI cooling assembly (27 quid)
for the Nvidia 2800/3800 you'll need the nvidia cooler (also 27 quid)
for the nvidia 5000M that needs a separate cooler (again 27 quid)

if you wish to have a cooler dual core, you can change it for the quad core one
this will reduce your temps by 5-10c

hope this clarifies it for you.

I have dealt with a few of these machines, so know about the different config. as long as the bios is F.08 you'll have no problems

 

You are a star. Thanks. So where do you get the bits from? HP, ??? I tried googling without much luck.

Thanks again.

 

search for 'partsurfer'

there is a parts link on the hp website at support.hp.com if you search for 8740w.

http://partsurfer.hp.com/

 

Interesting. However I could not see any prices and I could not go through to an order page. I guess this is something to do with the fact that I am an "external" user.

No 5000M there !!! Not for my model anyway. Do I assume that we have to get any parts from HP only??

 

no there are quite a few resellers that can supply you parts.

I use BTEngageIT for all my hp stuff.

if you put in my model number you will get more options.

the part number for the 5000M is 1 number more than the 3800M's number.

 

Sorry I am being really thick here. I tried putting "WD941EA" into the BTEngageIT's Search box, but with no results. Are you going somewhere else like "transact"?

Thanks for your help.

 

no for btengage, you need to ring em up mate;

you need to get the part numbers from the partsurfer, though, you can just discuss with them about your computer no problem.

just ring em up and you'll be fine.

 

Note that your choice of an initial i5 board means that you will probably be getting the dual-core motherboard as well... which only has 2 RAM slots, not 4. This will make getting to 16 GB of RAM much more expensive than for a quad-core board, since you'll have to use (currently very) expensive 8 GB SODIMMs.

 

@judicator,

Thanks for this. The mobo spec has:

Memory slots 2 or 4 SODIMM

I was verbally told that this means 4 slots and can take 16GB. It looks like 4 slots.

Thanks,

Sam

 

Hi All,

Just found this very interesting german configuration site for upgrading the WD938EA variant of the 8470W laptop. It shows what can be upgraded like cpus, gpus and likely cost. Very reassuring.

Here is the link: HP Elitebook 8740w WD938EA 17'' Notebook Planet Berlin

Thanks to all who have provided such valuable advice.

Sam

 

are they doing the upgrades or is it done by HP at their factory?

 

pass........ Good point.

 

according to their contact, it is done by them in their factory, but as an approved partner, anything they do is covered by the laptops warranty, so thats pretty cool

 

Siorah, Sorry to disturb you again... Would it be possible to swap the dual core chip to a quad ie i7 740 on the dual core board? I know it will still have the 2 sodimm slots.

I am still evaluating my options since I see that the WD941s are about £2400ish new or £2100ish as an HP Renew which is a load of difference to £1400 for a WD938

Thanks.

 

yes, the dual core boards WILL accept quad cores.

but you would need to do the following.

1 ensure bios is current

2 buy the QUAD CORE heatsink

3 get um, a quad core

the heatsink is important. because the idle temps with a dual core heatsink with a quad chip are about 15c hotter than the ones i posted.

 

Does someone know where it possibile to update the wuxga screen to a dream color 2 , in Europe ?

 

Sorry cannot help you with this. Good luck.

However I have another upgrade question, more for academic interest. Is it possible to install one of the new "sandybridge" intel chips into the 8740w laptops?

HNY to all.

Cheers,

Sam

 

maybe it is cheaper to buy a new one with DC and sell the other one?

 

no (at least that is what I have heard)

the new Elitebooks with Sandy Bridge will maybe introduced in March? (CeBIT 2011) or is there an earlier fair?

 

Siorah apparently has one on pre-order, and says it's been delayed until May. This would probably be the shipping, and not the announcement/introduction, though.

 

I was looking around the HP Parts Store and getting a DC 2 Screen costs $1205.00 USD!!! Is there another vendor that is 3rd Party that is just selling the panel itself for a bit less? I might have to go with a LG TN WUXGA+ for now I guess.

 

Not that we've ever seen. Even the (few) third party vendors we've come across also quote $1000 or more for the screen.

 

Well TN WUXGA it is for me then lol...

 

there are a few places that will do the upgrade - it costs about £700.

I don't have one *on* preorder, it's when i can preorder lol.

it will be introduced spring from what i've been told.

 

Oh, ok. I just remember you said that your "preorder has been delayed until May" or something like that. Wasn't immediately clear that that was an inital preorder availability date.