HP Zbook 17 G1 hardware mods

[frelu]

Hello,

 

I just wanted to share my experience with HP Zbook. First 15 G2 and later 17 G1.

 

So I bought a cheap Zbook 15 G2 with a crappy FHD TN screen, K1100M and not so bad i7-4710QM. 

Later somehow I found a topic on notebookreview:
“8560w GPU upgrade - use empty DVD slot to fit MXM 3.0b (higher spec) video cards”.
Turned out that Zbook 15 G2 has a similar motherboard to Elitebook 8560w/8570w and mod is also possible.

So I purchased a used MXM B card: Nvidia Quadro K4100M 4GB.
Followed the guide and everything worked fine. I also managed to buy a Zbook 17 heatsink and desolder it for the Zbook 15.

Everything worked fine until the card died. 

I decided to purchase a Nvidia Quadro M4000M 4GB. Did some dremel work, INF mod and everything worked fine. Turned out that the M4000M (GTX970M) is hotter than the K4100M (GTX770M) so I decided to add another heatsink. 

Few days later somebody was selling a dead Zbook 17 G1 with a Dreamcolor screen for 70€, so I bought it.
Used motherboard was like 50€. Bought the board and replaced it. Laptop was still dead. When I unplugged LCD cable both motherboards worked on the external display . I assumed that Dreamcolor LCD is faulty and started searching for replacement on panellook but wasn’t satisfied with the results. All “good” LCD panels are eDP not LVDS, so I started digging. 

 

Zbook 15 has eDP LCDs and Zbook 17 has LVDS LCDs but the connector physically is the same. I downloaded schematics for 15 and 17 and the connector pinout is the same. Connected display+cable from 15 to 17 and it worked. Bought a nice used eDP 30 pin panel from Dell Precision 7750(?) Innolux N173HCE-E3B (100% sRGB, 100% DCIP, 90% AdobeRGB, perfect angles, 500nit). Now I know that everything works fine. I cut out some plastic parts from the LCD cover, added 5mm plastic foam bought in an art store + two-sided tape + a little bit of shaping and voila! Modern LCD in a 10 years old laptop.

 

 

Extra thoughts about this mod:
Cable length from Zbook 15 is enough for Zbook 17 G1 and G2.
Didn’t test it but the Zbook 15 G2 had an option for QHD+ (3200x1800px 60Hz) 40 pin LCD and cable. It’s DisplayPort 1.2 - HBR2 17.28 Gbit/s so it should be possible to upgrade for: 1080p up to 240Hz, 1440p up to 165Hz or 4K up to 75Hz. For my casual retro gaming 1080p 60Hz is enough so I didn’t search for hi-res hi-refresh rate panel. I also prefer better colors and viewing angles than higher refresh rate.
When you try to adjust the brightness Fn+F9/F10 there is a 3 seconds delay between each dimming. [Windows 8.1]. Screen brightness [slider] from “Power options” forks fine - no delay.

 

Link to panel: https://www.panelook.com/N173HCE-E3B_Innolux_17.3_LCM_overview_45902.html

 

Zbook 15 G2 with MXM B heatsink:

 

Zbook 17 G1 with eDP panel from 15

 

Working eDP panel on Zbook 17 G1

 

Dremel work + foam

 

Foam bracket

 

And here is an old photo of extra fan and heatsink concept. Extra heatsink is from Dell Precision M4500. 

+ no heatpipes bending is needed.

- no direct connection copper to copper = poor efficiency

 

I also changed cpu heatsink to dual-pipe heatsink from Zbook 17 G2. Not in the photo.

[GuitarG]

Nice work ! Can I ask if you could PM me zbook schematics ? I have spare 17 inch DC screen from zbook 17 with cables, but Im not sure whats damaged (I didn't had time to repair it, I think backlight may not be working).
How are temperatures ? If you could share it would be awesome 🙂 I'm not sure if I want to try separating CPU and GPU heatpipes or stay with connected design.
How about muxxer ? Every mode works ?

You could try make 3d model of that GPU heatsink and order CNC for copper plate, second heatsink would work as intended then. I plan it myself. For now I could recommend making hole for fan to blow air in GPU direction. It can help with temps.

Anyway, nice job man !

EDIT: I almost forgot... have you though about making thunderbolt to nvme drive mod ? There are such mods already made in macbooks pro.

EDIT2: I recommend undervolting with Intel XTU and MSI Afterburner 

[frelu]

Hi, please check PM for schematics. I don't know if they are 100% accurate.

 

M4000M - idle about 60*C - didn't test it for long time because I bought Zbook 17 few days later. Fan spinning a lot!

Don't remember temps for K4100M. I already passed Zbook 15 to my parents.

 

Could you be more precise about muxxer? What do you mean. I am not a technician nor engineer, just basic IT school and hobbyst.

 

About TB to NVMe mod. Didn't know about it. Don't know if I will do it. To be honest SATA SSD speed is really enough for me, for daily use and gaming.

 

I have a list of games from 2000 to 2023 that I always wanted to play but never could. ATM I am at 2002 and before I reach "modern" games that require more than M4000M (GTX 970M) it may take a while. Maybe I will be able to get some Pascal GPU or even some RTX. I don't like excessive fan noise while gaming, I also can't play with headphones on because of small baby (I play when baby is sleeping). Now I manually control fan with app "notebook fan control" so I can adjust fan speed and get ballance between noise and temp.

 

I have some new mods in my head but I am very limited with time. I like few mods of this guy https://hardwarebg.com/forum/showthread.php/291904-GTX-1070-на-HP-EliteBook-8770W-дядото-още-го-може-)

 

 

[Myro]

On 9/22/2023 at 2:02 PM, frelu said:

I changed cpu heatsink to dual-pipe heatsink from Zbook 17 G2

Hi Frelu, thank you for sharing your great project, it feels like a next-gen 8570w)

Could you please share how you managed to install heat pipes from zbook 17 and how you added the MXM-B heatsink? Thanks!

[frelu]

Hi Myro,

It's ZBook 15 heatsink with desoldered MXM-A plate, little bit shaped and soldered MXM-B plate again. I did it with heat gun and low-melting tin.

Now I would do it a little different. Buy Faulty zbook 15 motherboard, low-melt tin, and electric oven and put it all together inside like GuitarG did in his topic: