Kitje

Anyone else get their own "music video" in their head when they listen to music?

31 minutes ago, cylix said:

When a game from 2014 looks way better then one in 2023 you know it failed

 

PS: Amazing how good AC Unity looks even now

I really had to look up the game engine Forspoken was using and I don't think they're properly utilising it, let alone making it efficient. At first glance before looking up I thought it was a mishmash of asset flips on Unreal Engine 5 or something.

There's also an article about how Polaris graphics cards won't run the game at all.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-polaris-forsaken-dx12

And this Reddit post: https://old.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/10lxsw7/polaris_gpus_are_unable_to_run_forspoken_due_to/

Disappointing for Polaris and the devs. No wonder my WX4150 lags behind with Feature 12_0. But that shouldn't matter.

Graphics wise I wouldn't see any difference, no matter the feature set the graphics card has or uses.  I'm no game developer but they can do better than this.

she found now - My Bloody Valentine

Always gives me the ideal soundtrack for autumn/winter in the UK for some reason.

Does anyone know of a great 1080p panel I can acquire for the 7540? I'm limited by 30pin, which I think it's 30. I have seen some 10-bits according to Panelook but no one on Notebookcheck has reviewed any laptop with such panel. I think it's 8-bit with FRC, which would be nice.

4 minutes ago, MELOCODI said:

Yeah, that's where the fun starts, yeah. I wish anyone that someone tries to install it one day...

I mean, I tried a WX4150 in an HP Zbook 15 G2, and not everyone else has really tried it on NotebookReview forums back then (and only not too long ago I saw some people trying it out). Maybe I can at some point acquire that kind of GPU and try it for myself. Not sure when though.

20 minutes ago, MELOCODI said:

ARC A380 6 GB (Nobody knows if it will even work)

Unless someone is able to fabricate a dual heatpipe heatsink for higher power draw GPUs for an M4800, this might be tricky. Might not even work at all because of VBIOS and drivers, or the generation of MXM it'd be using. A number of possibilities.

For the T1000 I only found a Zbook 17 G6 variant in MXM-B, which would make sense for an M6800, but it's not the right type. Advantech's online price for the type-A is €744 with limited availability.

Spotted some M2200's at something affordable though on eBay from a US seller, which I would but currently still fixing up a Precision 7540 (doesn't use MXM unfortunately).

Probably laptops with heatsinks that can handle 75W. Maybe a Precision 7520/7720? I don't think an M4800 will be capable due to the heatpipes only being one for the GPU. Unless someone fabricates a dual heatpipe version of the M4800's GPU heatsink then maybe.

19 minutes ago, serpro69 said:

Seen this the other day, very impressive stuff.

Since cooling/space is often a limiting factor in laptops, makes me wonder what excuse will OEMs come up with next for artificially limiting performance 😄
Hopefully this gets updated for use in thicker laptops as well, and does not stay just as a "cooling solution for ultrabooks"

Wonder if conversions can be a thing. Would be nice to have 4 of these in my laptops in place of their singular and dual fan setups. (I don't think it's possible but it's a wish)

5 minutes ago, saperkus said:

There used to be a topic on Tom's Guide about MXM GPU upgrades on HP ZBook devices. Someone tested quite a bit of MXM GPUs on HP ZBook 17 G2 - luckily I made a screenshot from that post.

Tried a WX4150 (based on RX460/560) in my 15 G2 and the result seemed to be that the fan would remain at max speed. But the upside was that installing drivers for the thing was swift and hassle-free. But looking at the vBIOS for the HP WX4150 I found that fan control looked really really off.

I've been looking on an LCD upgrade of my Precision 7540. It's currently using IPS but has low brightness and awful colors despite reasonable viewing angles.

The one I found in particular that seemed alright to me was a NE156FHM-N61 but I'm wondering if anyone else has this screen in their laptop.

Panelook tells me its 100% DCI-P3, and should be a fairly color accurate panel but I'm unsure making me question this.

37 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

So if you look at how LCDs are mounted, there are typically little "tabs" that stick out on the top and bottom of the panel that have screw holes.  You can see one in your image right above, partly obscured by the hinge.

 

These mounting tabs are actually not part of the panel, but just an aluminum thing that "sticks" to the back.  They can be pretty easily removed and "migrated" to a new panel as long as the physical dimensions are the same.

 

Here is an image of the back of a panel and I try to illustrate what I am talking about:

I assume its sort of like that but it's more propietary. There is an adhesive kit from laptopscreen.com I can look into to mount the new panel onto those brackets. I'm aware of these panels but didn't expect it to be mounted in this sort of fashion. I thought it would've been either this one with the standard mount or mountless with those brackets installed. My other panels aren't like this.

So, instead I'm going to search for an equivalent to my M4800's or better display for this laptop now. So far, I found N156HCA-EN1 being a candidate and should work, but its a matter of sourcing one and getting a mounting kit. It's a learning experience so I'm definitely opting for a new LCD.

I don't mind 60hz, since I'm not going to require anything higher than that.

1 hour ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

Huh.  That is a surprise.  I know that Dell has fully switched to adhesive for newer models (Precision 7X70+), but I have removed both the Precision 7530 and 7560 displays and they were just screws.  In any case, if they have used adhesive in your system, at least the screw holes are still there so you can mount another display without having to use adhesive.

The other corners are looking like this:

This is a bizarre mount. The screws on the sides could be removed and the panel can sort of move but it's still attached somehow.

The manual doesn't illustrate the panel removal either.

Removing those silver screws releases not only the LCD but the lid too, this doesn't seem very easy nor user friendly.

Seems to be the same case for a 7530's lid too. No screws where the other 2 tabs along the bottom of the LCD would screw into. The 7520/7510's lid won't fit this model due to the placement of the hinge mounting holes.

So now I've managed to get the bezel off since I may as well change panel but discovered something is a bit different to what I expected to have.

The LCD doesn't appear to be secured through the screws on the tabs but I can see an adhesive tab (I think) on one corner. I'm not sure what is really going on here.

42 minutes ago, aldarxt said:

Black residue could mean a leaky seal. From mechanical experience, automotive and power tools but not so much on PC but when a sealed bearing starts to leak the grease inside will leak out and the older it is the darker the grease. Unless you bring your PC in a coal mine that would be my best guess. I just use a very soft bristle brush like a small paint brush to clean my fans. And if it is rattling then best guess it needs replacing, hope this helps.

I got it to stop rattling in the past, as it did appear that the rotor was off balance and hitting the metal part of the fan assembly. I'll make note of sealed bearing leaks... Maybe look into it further to figure out the true cause.

Edit: I may buy a new set anyways if possible... Is it possible? I've checked AliExpress and have seen some on there but not sure which to go for. I know I need a CPU fan, but from whom?

The CPU fan has its dreaded rattling again. Is it possible for the rotor of the fan to lose its magnetism? And also when I cleaned it with a swab, black residue came off and I wasn't sure what it really was.

On 12/6/2022 at 12:11 PM, Easa said:

Unless you have a specific desire for the Radeon, just throw M2200 in there with modded vBIOS. Hassle-free, works like a charm. 

Yes, but the problem I was facing at the time was being unable if at all source an M2200, since the price for a card was too high. It didn't occur to me about the Polaris BIOS Editor, until recently being the point of this post/topic.

Just bought a new 6 cell battery direct from Dell, which is the first step of getting this laptop more capable being off the mains. Next up a new 500GB SSD. 😄 I'll probably give the Dell OS Recovery utility thing a go, too. Just to give it the OEM treatment.

EDIT: Yikes, just moments after checking out I'm given a different part number and the battery itself is different from the one I added to cart. Can't cancel it now, and it's not a good look directly from Dell either. I'm gonna have to figure out what to do now because this isn't normal.

Speaking of fan control, has anyone tried adjusting the fan settings in Polaris BIOS editor for a WX4150? My GPU keeps hitting 90c and the fans kick in then... But I want it to happen much earlier than 75c otherwise I'm constantly having to wait until it kicks in properly. I looked at Polaris BIOS editor and the threshold for the fans seem to be at 90.

EDIT: Been toying with the Polaris editor and now got the fan to kick in earlier... I'm still tuning it until it fully kicks in at 75C. So far it's still functioning just fine with the current parameters at 80C, at least it's not 90 anymore.

24 minutes ago, Clamibot said:

 

Pretty much the ability to keep your laptop useful as a gaming laptop for a longer period of time. The reason being is that typically people (including us enthusiasts) need a GPU upgrade long before they need a CPU upgrade to maintain adequate performance in games. Gotta keep them frames coming man!

 

The problem with BGA laptops is that it forces you to pay for other components you don't need or want to upgrade just to get a better graphics card. eGPUs are a pretty good alternative in theory, but we haven't had an interface for them to connect to laptops with that would yield their full performance until recently with Thunderbolt 4 and the like. Even then, you still have to carry extra items around with you.

 

The biggest advantages with MXM are that it gave the same GPU upgradeability for laptops as we enjoy with desktops, and it kept the system as an all in one package. This way, all your hardware was contained in one seamless package that could easily be transported, and you wouldn't have to carry around any extra items like an eGPU enclosure.

And maybe the other benefit that if the GPU you have dies, you don't have the replace the entire board. I have 3 laptops that use MXM: My M4800, my Zbook 15 G2 and my MSI GT640 (which I need to get it running with an M5100).

So it's been a while... After attempting once to get the bezel off, it's not really that feasible without having to remove the assembly and that may be the only way to actually replace the screen. I'm going to put in the ZBook's current IPS panel into it, and reinstall what the Zbook originally had, since I don't really do critical stuff on it now.

I also have found screws that seem to fit the screwholes for the palmrest assembly and battery, not the same colour but still there's some assurance it won't fall apart now.

A used Dell Precision 7540. Needs more work done to it but it's in decent shape despite the missing screws and heavily worn SSD and battery.

I own a Zbook 15 G2 in conjunction with 2 Dell Precisions, and the initial upgrade I made to the Zbook was installing an HP branded AMD Radeon Pro WX4150.

I ran into problems, though. Mainly because fan control was non-existent and would keep it at max unless you run NotebookFanControl. Now the Zbook has an M2000M it's running fine. A while later I put it into the M4800, and before flashing the Dell version, I dumped the original VBIOS. I didn't have a utility to view but PolarisBiosEditor allowed me to and in the fan section I saw this:

Fan control doesn't look right does it? Might be the reason why the fan wasn't behaving as it should but I've never tried adjusting what's there to work properly with the EC in the HP back then. Maybe someday I'll put the WX4150 back in and try flashing with modifications to the fan control yet I might not be successful getting anywhere.