How Upgradable is the 8710?

I presume the CPU memory and disk can be upgraded. But the CPU is 667MHz FS bus. If I put in an X9000 will I get the full benefit of the higher FS bus, or are there limitations? If my memory is 800MHz or 1GHz, will my whole FS bus be at that speed? When the Montevino comes out, will HP use it? (there's a news article that says they won't) If so, can an existing notebook be upgraded with Montevino?

What about the GPU? Is this MXM? If so, what version? Is it even possible to get MXM boards, and if so where? When the 9800 comes out I expect the 8800 to drop in price by half. Reasonable?

How about the display? If I buy an 8710p, can I put in a better LCD, like LED backlighted and higher rez/contrast? What do you do with the inverter when you install an LED LCD? What LCD does it have currently? Has anyone investigated a better LCD in this model? Options, sources?

 

The bus limitations on the current line of HP laptops is 667Mhz, which means that no matter what you put in there, it will be capped at 667Mhz.

As far as the Montevino is concerned, I don't know what socket type it is and if it will be compatible with HP's current motherboards.

As far as the display goes, you can upgrade the LCD monitor and there is a discussion about people upgrading their DV9500 and DV9700 monitors to a 1920x1200 resolution monitor. It will take some work and you should definitely feel comfortable taking computers apart before you try this out.

 

^ agree

 

Don't count on laptops being upgradeable, specially from big vendors like HP or Dell.

I'm not even sure if there is a 17" 1920x1200 LCD with LED on the market right now. I think it will take a while until they become standard. However it is possible to do it if you want to.

When it comes to video cards, there is a big risk that they put in security functionality in the BIOS so that the computer will not boot unless it detects a supported video card (this being a card from HP in this case). It is quite common that they add this the BIOS so don't expect you can change the video card even if it is mxm.

 

The video card upgrade isn't even an option with HP laptops, because all of their Video Cards are soldered onto the motherboard.

There are many laptop manufacturers out there, Sager for example, that don't solder their Video Cards onto the motherboard and can be upgraded. The problem even with Sager's is that most people had to upgrade the motherboard in order to go from the Nvidia 8700 to the 8800.

In a perfect world we would be able to upgrade laptops easily as we do desktops, but I doubt that will happen. The main reason for this is because they need to find ways to cram the newest technology into the smallest package, and when that happens it becomes very hard to upgrade. Also, manufacturers want you to buy a new laptop instead of upgrading your old one, that's why their replacement parts are so expensive and why in most cases it's the same amount of money to buy a new laptop than fix your old one.

 

The 8510p/w and 8710p/w models have modular graphics card that can be swapped out. They are not soldered to the motherboard.

 

Thanks for correcting me, I wasn't aware they had the modular graphics cards. My Apologies on the wrong information.

 

Whoah, any idea whether they're MXM? Source for an upgrade card? Any bios lockout?

On the LCD, I'm hoping someone knows the type the p and/or w comes with, so I can research a replacement. My intent is to find a p, cheep, then upgrade over time as prices drop.

I suppose I could wait for Montevino, although I'm chafing to go back to Debian after experimenting 9 months with OS X.

 

Easy now, they are removable but not necessarily upgradeable, and even if they were MXM, there would be no guarantee.

There is a guy called Ice-Tea who sells MXM cards, you can send him a PM if you want more information.

This is his site, and a member of this forum tried to upgrade the GPU of the previous version (HP nx9420) and it didn't work out (explained on the site). Also, I'm not aware of anyone that has successfully done it so far, so I wouldn't plan on doing things that most likely won't happen.