HP Pavilion DM4 1060EA -- BIOS update???

I recently purchased a Pavilion DM4-1060EA laptop. On the software downloads page for this product there is a newer BIOS available.

I am wondering whether to do the update. F.17A says it updates the fan control algorithm so that the base of the computer doesn't get so warm when the graphics card is under heavy load.

I don't particularly want the fan on louder, but on the other hand I don't want the product to fail prematurely due to overheating. I had this happen with a previous HP laptop, but to be fair they repaired it for free under a free warranty extension programme.

Has anyone with this model (or another DM4 with Intel CPU) done the BIOS update? Can you comment on what the effect on the fan has been?

Strangely the HP Update Advisor program has NOT found or suggested I install a BIOS update, but it is there on the downloads page for my product.

 

Welcome to the NotebookReview forums!

What BIOS version is your dm4 currently using?

Note also that version F.17 is no longer the newest revision. HP has released F.23 for the dm4 notebooks, and it is classified as a recommended update.

Link to F.23 - HP Notebook System BIOS Update (Intel Processors) HP Pavilion dm4-1060ea Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

HP Update has never been a very reliable utility -- it's better to either look at the HP driver downloads page or use the driver thread set up right here in our very own forums: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...-hp-dm4-dv5-gen-2-g32-cq32-envy-14-intel.html

 

That's useful info, thanks for that.

My DM4 has the original BIOS, F.08.

Yes, you're right, since I looked at the page the other day F.23 has now appeared. Presumably I can flash straight to that and don't have to go to F.17A first?

Are the HP BIOS updates fairly reliable? I'm always nervous when it comes to updating the BIOS - don't want to wreck the machine!

Thanks,

AR

 

Yes, you can flash straight to F.23. All of the fixes in F.17 are included in F.23.

The BIOS flashing process is fairly straightforward. Make sure you are plugged in, make sure no other programs are running, and just follow the instructions and guidelines given. Don't touch anything once the flash has started.

 

Thanks, I updated to F.23.

As far as I can tell, it hasn't made any difference to the behaviour of the cooling fan and the GPU reaches the same temperatures after gaming as it did before I did the update.