HELP Envy 15 i5 to i7 swap-no video on boot?

Hey guys, just took the Envy under the knife and replaced my i5 520m with a i7 820qm. The machine is flashed to F.2A BIOS. When I tried to boot with the new processor installed, I was greeted with no video output. All the fans spin up and the LEDs on the keyboard and power button light up, but the display does not even turn on. Does not seem like the laptop is completing the POST cycle to me.

Any idea what's up?

 

you replaced your arrandale chip with a clarksfield chip, the ATI 5830 on the motherboard has a different and incompatible video bios. you might be able to flash the vbios, but then you still have a problem because the heatsink/fan assembly in there is for the lower wattage of the i5. so basically you need:

#1 new motherboard
#2 new HSF assy
#3 new CPU (the 820qm)

 

The arrandale->clarksfield swap has been done before by members of this forum without any modification to the mobo or hsf. In fact, the contact area of the heatsink is perfectly sized to accommodate the 45nm core on the quad.

 

Where did you get this?

I've scoured most of the ENVY 15 forums high and low- G1 and G2 in fact. Never seen any posts that could back up your claim.

 

Uh, I performed this upgrade way back a while ago, went from an i5-520m to an i7-820qm. The heatsink for the i5/i7 is nearly identical except for a thin black adhesive film that can easily be removed and serves no purpose whatsoever. Never had video out issues like you described doing the switch back and forth (currently running an i5 again with the latest bios). the only time I had video out issues was when i did a bios upgrade (can't rememember what number). the external video out still worked for bios settings and running windows (try that). i was able to flash to another bios that way. The display driver needs to be reinstalled after performing a cpu swap also, but you should be able to adjust/see boot menu when starting up. I have a Gen 2 Envy. Please use the search feature next time.

 

I see. Then I stand corrected. My mistake.

However, why would I use the search feature for something that doesn't pertain to me... Obviously one would point out that I could have done it to refute the guy, but that wasn't my intention either.

 

try plugging in the HDMI output and see if you can get a video out. If you can, try flashing your bios to something earlier. The latest bios may not allow for an i5-i7 swap for some reason (mine did). Also, of course recheck your cable connections, make sure your memory is properly seated, etc. reinsert the i5 and see if the display works again. Would hate if you have a bad i7 chip or something...

 

I am posting from the machine now, albeit on the i5 It fires right up with the i5 installed, but no display out with the i7.

Unfortunately, I don't have a HDMI monitor/TV handy at my present location, but I will try reverting to an earlier BIOS version and see if that helps at all. Thanks a lot for the advice, it is most helpful!

 

there's no integrated GPU in the i7, thats why there are 2 seperate vbios for the ati chip. if its trying to use a non-existent iGPU then its probably going to fail post.

 

The IGP on the i5 is disabled on the Envy 15. It runs the HD5830 full time.