ENVY 14 CPU replacement....

....is it possible?

Could I, for example, buy a refurbed Envy 14 w/ Core i3 370M and then throw in a Core i7 640M?

 

There are two motherboards. One for i3 and i5. The other for i7.

See the service manual (link on page 1 of owners lounge).

Also, you can only use CPUs that are supported by BIOS.

 

...the Core i7 640M is a dual-core chip, not a quad-core like the 740QM, 840QM, etc.

It's basically just an i5 with the full 4MB of L3 cache, rather than a cut-down 3MB as the i3 and i5 have.

 

Not supported in BIOS.

 

Was thinking about doing the same thing. Replacing the i5-460m with the i7-640m. Both have the same socket so it should be possible.

But what do you mean by not supported in BIOS?

 

HP whitelists devices in their BIOS. When it sees a piece of hardware that doesn't match up with HP's certified "list," it doesn't allow the hardware to function. This is why you can't use any old mPCIe device with the Envy, even though there's an empty slot.

I'm not sure if the BIOS whitelists CPUs though...

 

They have in the past and recent past. No reason for HP to stop that practice. Of course, there is one expensive way to find out...

 

I bought my notebook from ebay and they swapped the CPU from an i5-450 to an i5-540m for me.. So i think it's definitely possible. I'm not too sure how they did it though. Also they also managed to retain the ATI 5650 on it somehow.

 

They didn't swap the motherboard, just the CPU which is supported in BIOS. The motherboard which supports the i5 CPU has the 5650 on it already. The i7 motherboard is different in that it doesn't support the on chip (integrated) GPU but only the discreet (ATI).

 

yeah I'm unsure of the 640m working.

I remember someone saying they got a 620m to work but well he only posted once in here and never came back.

You could definitely put in a 560m or something though.

 

Ok so putting a 620m or 640m a bad idea huh? Despite having the right slot but BIOS would not support it so basically it would not work huh?

I actually googled it, is this the guy you're talking about?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...nvy-14-beats-owners-lounge-part-deux-505.html

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Btw dammit this is out of topic but hp envy 14 beats are selling off fast in ebay. New listing with stocks over 10 are ended within a day. Two max.

 

If the 620m actually works, then chances are the BIOS doesn't whitelist CPUs. I would test out the 640m and if it doesn't work, return it. (not sure if you can return open box CPUs, but i think they should let you)

edit: Newegg lets you return open box CPUs

 

Pix, or it didn't happen. Seriously. Lots of incidents on here where a poster claims to have done this or that without proof. Then someone tries it thinking that the info was valid and actionable, only to find that they wasted both time and money or worse.

 

Yeah I wouldn't really try to use the i7-640m now knowing that there's a slight (or much) possiblity that it won't 'fit'.

not only it wastes money and time but from what i read anything higher than the i5-560m-ish processor would bottleneck with the 5650. So yeah.. would just stick with an i5 560/580m.

The problem now is.. I could not get my hands on those envy beats since they're out of stock all the time. Dammit.

 

No.

The i7 640M isn't a quad-core chip.

It's a dual-core with on-chip graphics, just like a i5 450M, i5 580M, i3 370M, etc.

 

Yes, I know that. Read Archenemy's post which I was responding to. Whomever replaced his CPU, one i5 for another i5, didn't have to swap mobos, just CPUs. There are two Envy 14 Mobos. One for i5 and one for the i7(quads, of course since HP didn't sell the i7-6xx dual series).

 

The i3 is already bottlenecked by the 5650.

 

Correct.

The i7 duals still go in the Arrandale mobo, though.

The i7 duals and i7 quads don't even use the same socket.

i7 dual = Arrandale (just like i3 and i5) 32nm, on-chip graphics.
i7 quad = Clarksfield 45nm, no on-chip graphics.

 

LOL @ "no", "correct."

 

You seem to be implying that...

A) The i7 duals go in the same motherboard as the i7 quads

and

B) That the i7 duals aren't the same as the i5s / i3s

Which are both incorrect.

 

Good thing I never said any of that then, yeah?

I'll reiterate. HP has two mobos, one for i3/i5 and one for i7. Each respective mobo has certain CPUs that were an option for it. BIOS needs to support the CPUs for those mobos. Since the i7-6xx was never sold by HP and since it has been the case for a long time that if it wasn't an option then the CPU won't be supported in BIOS, then it stands to reason, irregardless of socket compatibility (i3/i5 mobo), that the i7-6xx CPUs won't work in the Envy.

This has been tried for many HP notebooks (installing CPUs which were never an option) and ended in failure. There may be exceptions to this but there is only ONE way to find out...