HP Elitebook 8570W - is it still good ? Hardware modifications

[GuitarG]

On 7/2/2025 at 8:04 PM, SuperMG3 said:

Hello. Did you test if RTX 3000 from HP works too? If it works, it means all RTX 3000/4000/5000 work at the end. I can get the cards work on the first slot of my laptop and have better driver supports for RTX 7000 GPUs on the second slot on 3rd gen hahaha

Quadro T1000/T2000 or any RTX 3000-5000 will work. Tried few vBIOS on mine, all worked with differences being what ports it outputs, for ex. some vBIOS didn't worked with my Displayport. They also different with TDP, Mhz min and max parameters.

I would love to borrow Ampere gen card and check if it would work.

[Daedalus]

Great to see such amazing work done on the trusty 8570w. Recently got a i7 unit and maxxed the ram upto 32gb @1600mhz ( i have seen 1866 DDR3L HyperX is possible). i7-3940XM is awaiting install once i pick it up.

I see alot of MXM cards are possible on the chat (965M/970/980 and the Quadro cards)  Which is a sensible upgrade for longevity as i see some cards shorten the life of the machine.  I see there is the NVflash and found a custom driver for the 965 on another site. and then there is the question of what bios etc works with what.

Happy to get all heatsink separate parts. Is there a list of which to get? e.g 8770W fan shroud etc? i see you had a laaaarge pile of sinks, pipes and bits to get to the utopia you have now.

Apologies for all the questions, your input Much appreciated, keep up the awesome work. 

[GuitarG]

17 hours ago, Daedalus said:

  Which is a sensible upgrade for longevity as i see some cards shorten the life of the machine.  I see there is the NVflash and found a custom driver for the 965 on another site. and then there is the question of what bios etc works with what.

Happy to get all heatsink separate parts. Is there a list of which to get? e.g 8770W fan shroud etc? i see you had a laaaarge pile of sinks, pipes and bits to get to the utopia you have now.

Apologies for all the questions, your input Much appreciated, keep up the awesome work. 

CPU is Achilles' heel in this laptop, 3940 will give you nice performance. It is most efficient 3rd gen mobile CPU. Remember to use PTM7950.

The newer GPU you use, the better it will work. 965 may cost more than something better and modern. 
Remember what panel you use, though. 980 and 965 are last ones working with "normal" LCD, newer ones need modified LCD cable and eDP panel or Dreamcolor assembly. I recommend first option more, cheaper and better.
I bought few months ago P5000 for like 100$.

EDIT: About vbios, it is lottery. With Turing gen, every Vbios worked for me. With Pascal (Quadro P5200) only few of them allowed me to boot. On Maxwell (GTX980) MSI vbios worked correctly, others didn't. Seems like modern GPUs are more compatible.
And try to use NVclean, download newest driver for your gpu from nvidia site and load it with nvclean. On linux you don't have to mod drivers anymore btw.

That large pile of heatsink are just leftover from my work and project. I repair a lot of damaged notebooks and sell them. And sometimes I bought a lot of heatsinks for 5$ each. That pile is about 3 years of auctions 😃

Anyway, I found another 8570w auction, wish me luck so I grab it cheapest I can! = ] my modded cable awaits its glory!

And remember when I had Clevo ? Now I'm trying to grab damaged Alienware M17x R4 and try it out.

[triturbo]

1 hour ago, GuitarG said:

965 are last ones working with "normal" LCD

Has it been confirmed? I can’t find any info about it. I’ve seen 980s work with LVDS screens, but nothing about 965. And I mean straight GPU -> screen, no Optimus or something. 

[GuitarG]

24 minutes ago, triturbo said:

Has it been confirmed? I can’t find any info about it. I’ve seen 980s work with LVDS screens, but nothing about 965. And I mean straight GPU -> screen, no Optimus or something. 

It is same die as 980, Maxwell gen. So it should work with LVDS display. 
With Maxwell I had no problem with LVDS screen. I used 980 and checked M3000M. I had a lot problem to make them work with Dreamcolor, though. I used specific driver version, which still supported 10 bit output.

[triturbo]

1 hour ago, GuitarG said:

It is same die as 980, Maxwell gen. So it should work with LVDS display. 

I’ve tried the HP Quadro M2200, which should be the same as GTX 965m, but there was no picture. Maybe a DELL vBIOS might help, but the chip is an odd one and is not supported by my programmer. 

[AstroMan]

Honestly, lovely discussion.

 

It all depends on the vbios (or config within it) with these mxm modules.

Depending on your config (firmware + hardware), you will be able to use some cards over others (stock). 

 

With eDP (the moded cable), you get access to new gpus as long as they fit the heatsink. Some new display options are quite nice too.

 

@GuitarG For those who can't access ibmnb forums, could you please repost the MXM 3.1 - 0 ohm resistor mod here?

 

[Daedalus]

Thanks for the response.  Re: Thermal Management, would you reccommend the PTM over something like Artic MX-6? happy to get either for the CPU swap, just thought to ask.  I know the heatsink and CPU are very close and the TPM might run to end of screws if the thicker stuff ive  seen when looking to order.

Re: GPU Upgrade - 965 / 980 i think are sensible upgrades, dont get me wrong i'd love to go P5000 and enjoy 16gb Vram, but alot of work.  I think i have the standard screen (although im not sure where id check as its not called out in device manager or system information) details show the K1000M fitted.

Which GPU cooler fits them? i assume the 8770W plate as the 8570W plate looks to be too small for the components to be covered and cooled.

[Vladka76]

On 7/4/2025 at 7:08 PM, Daedalus said:

i have seen 1866 DDR3L HyperX is possible

Thanks to @GuitarG and @panda_zzz - I was lucky to find and buy two identical and new (made in 2018) Kingston HyperX HX318LS11IB/8 modules for my 8770W - they Memtested and now works great on 1866MHz@CL=11. My modules are based on Kingston's chips with marking "D5128ECMDPGMC".
So there was no need to buy 1600 MHz memory, IMHO.

[Vladka76]

On 7/2/2025 at 6:47 PM, GuitarG said:

If it will work and don't burn anything, I will show connections schematic here! 

That would be great and very useful. Thanks in advance!
How many pins has your 4K IPS eDP screen connector?

[Daedalus]

11 hours ago, Vladka76 said:

Thanks to @GuitarG and @panda_zzz - I was lucky to find and buy two identical and new (made in 2018) Kingston HyperX HX318LS11IB/8 modules for my 8770W - they Memtested and now works great on 1866MHz@CL=11. My modules are based on Kingston's chips with marking "D5128ECMDPGMC".
So there was no need to buy 1600 MHz memory, IMHO.

ah, would have been good to know before i threw in 4 sticks of PC3-12800 DDR3L 1600Mhz 😄 Its maxed at memory limit, just not running at max memspeed.  The hyperX 1866Mhz stuff is the fastest stuff out there so i'll get that once i sort the CPU upgrade and get all the heatsinks & heatpipes for the GPU upgrade. 

I've ordered the PTM7950 for the CPU work will probably go for the 40x80mm sheet so should have enough for GPU pads too if i use the 8770W heatsink. 

 

Question for those that have trodden the path of GPU upgrade. comparing 965M to the 980M, it seems like 980 wins on paper. within reasonable budget what is the best card to fit (aliexpress seems to have many many geforce MXM boards), based on drivers working (without need to reflash Vbios etc to see the 8570W)?

[Daedalus]

apologies for many questions. the 965M is available in Type A, however the 980M is a Type B (dont think it ever existed as type A) so therfore is a longer card.  How did you solve the issue where the card overhung the DVD port? Type A just about sits in the space left by the original quadro card. TBH its no biggie if i lose DVD player as i can get a "spare drivebay insert and gut the internals for a secondary fan and GPU sink, will probably get a JST splitter to run the fan from the CPU fan port as i cant seem to locate another fan port socket on the 8570w.

[SuperMG3]

On 7/4/2025 at 10:50 AM, GuitarG said:

Quadro T1000/T2000 or any RTX 3000-5000 will work. Tried few vBIOS on mine, all worked with differences being what ports it outputs, for ex. some vBIOS didn't worked with my Displayport. They also different with TDP, Mhz min and max parameters.

I would love to borrow Ampere gen card and check if it would work.

Hello. So it means all the Turing cards can output to eDP screen on your laptop?

 

HP, Dell VBIOS too?

[Daedalus]

On 7/7/2025 at 9:29 PM, Vladka76 said:

Thanks to @GuitarG and @panda_zzz - I was lucky to find and buy two identical and new (made in 2018) Kingston HyperX HX318LS11IB/8 modules for my 8770W - they Memtested and now works great on 1866MHz@CL=11. My modules are based on Kingston's chips with marking "D5128ECMDPGMC".
So there was no need to buy 1600 MHz memory, IMHO.

I've heard that there are 2166Mhz DDR3 modules available but yet to find any. Is 1866 the best the 8750 can run or is it worth searching for the 2166 DDR3?

[Myro]

 

On 7/2/2025 at 7:47 PM, GuitarG said:

I have to look for spare 8570W to test my modded cable. Cheapest in my region is about 200$ sadly. 
So Im waiting for cheapest possible =] 

If it will work and don't burn anything, I will show connections schematic here! 

Or maybe someone has one in working condition for sale (or science!) ? 

In UA the cheapest 8570w now is 80$ with i7-3720QM + delivery to EU 10-20$. Or alternatively I can borrow you mine, but only for the next month

[SuperMG3]

Do the AETINA RTX Turing cards have eDP lines or not?

[Vladka76]

7 hours ago, Daedalus said:

I've heard that there are 2166Mhz DDR3 modules available but yet to find any. Is 1866 the best the 8750 can run or is it worth searching for the 2166 DDR3?

It seems you didn't read the previous posts very carefully. 😉

@GuitarGwrote (about modules DDR3 2133 MHz):
"They are more rare than 100$ laying on ground, though. You can use cheaper 1866 mhz, those are easier to find. They work out of box."

Yes, the respected TC has modules 2133 MHz, but it is much more realistic to find modules 1866 MHz (there are even new ones!). So, first, look for HyperX HX321LS11IB2/8, and then, if you don’t find anything, look for HyperX HX318LS11IB/8 (you need two or four identical modules for 16 or 32 Gb of RAM).

[Myro]

2 hours ago, SuperMG3 said:

Do the AETINA RTX Turing cards have eDP lines or not?

Cannot say about all of them, but Aetina RTX3000 has eDP output, however the brightness control on 8570w is broken - stuck at minimum level

[SuperMG3]

Just now, Myro said:

Cannot say about all of them, but Aetina RTX3000 has eDP output, however the brightness control on 8570w is broken - stuck at minimum level

So it works on your laptop? What ID does AETINA uses? Same as GETEC? 1F76?

[Daedalus]

32 minutes ago, Vladka76 said:

It seems you didn't read the previous posts very carefully. 😉

@GuitarGwrote (about modules DDR3 2166 MHz):
"They are more rare than 100$ laying on ground, though. You can use cheaper 1866 mhz, those are easier to find. They work out of box."

Yes, the respected TC has modules 2133 MHz, but it is much more realistic to find modules 1866 MHz (there are even new ones!). So, first, look for HyperX HX321LS11IB2/8, and then, if you don’t find anything, look for HyperX HX318LS11IB/8 (you need two or four identical modules for 16 or 32 Gb of RAM).

yeah i see it now, my bad. As ive got 4 sticks of 8Gb its maxed but will keep an eye out for whichever turns up. i hadnt seen anyone confirm 2133 as working in the 8750W, were beyond normal use so its uncharted territory 😉 

[Vladka76]

38 minutes ago, Daedalus said:

i hadnt seen anyone confirm 2133 as working in the 8750W

@GuitarG wrote on another forum:
"I use 3940xm with 2133 ram and rtx5000."
😉

[Myro]

1 hour ago, SuperMG3 said:

So it works on your laptop? What ID does AETINA uses? Same as GETEC? 1F76?

Yes, it worked, but it is currently not in my device

[Daedalus]

12 minutes ago, Vladka76 said:

@GuitarG wrote on another forum:
"I use 3940xm with 2133 ram and rtx5000."
😉

Thanks for the confirmation, its now on the list to hunt down. 

3940XM going in this weekend with PTM7950 medium.  
How much rework was the RTX5000?  i assume alot more than the 965M install, if i recall the RTX is a Type B MXM card? Therfore would need the 8770W heatsink 

[SuperMG3]

10 minutes ago, Myro said:

Yes, it worked, but it is currently not in my device

I saw that ADlink, GETEC, Pny and Aetina are all sharing the same ID of 1F76. So the VBIOS are all the same? And I can crossflash them for testing? I just want to get a very recent card for my eDP laptop. Currently slot one is running a P5200 and slot two is running a 4080

[GuitarG]

26 minutes ago, Daedalus said:

Thanks for the confirmation, its now on the list to hunt down. 

3940XM going in this weekend with PTM7950 medium.  
How much rework was the RTX5000?  i assume alot more than the 965M install, if i recall the RTX is a Type B MXM card? Therfore would need the 8770W heatsink 

Read my whole topic for more info. For MXM B you need to remove DVD connector,  dremel a bit of protrusion in case and remove one keyboard mount. It is also recommended to use part of heatsink from 8770w or another laptop.
EDIT: About RTX cards, those from HP Zbook needs few steps more, look up in thread 🙂 

 

On 7/5/2025 at 7:13 PM, AstroMan said:

@GuitarG For those who can't access ibmnb forums, could you please repost the MXM 3.1 - 0 ohm resistor mod here?

 

Of course ! Sorry I forgot to insert it here

 

 

On 7/7/2025 at 11:07 PM, Vladka76 said:

That would be great and very useful. Thanks in advance!
How many pins has your 4K IPS eDP screen connector?

40 pin is needed for 4K glory (4 pairs of eDP channels). 30 pin is enough only for FHD (one pair only needed, though)

I soldered motherboard side already, in few days my colleague will help me solder screen side. Shaky hands lately 😕 
 

 

1 hour ago, Myro said:

Cannot say about all of them, but Aetina RTX3000 has eDP output, however the brightness control on 8570w is broken - stuck at minimum level

I wonder. Dunno about Dreamcolor cable, but while I was figuring out pin outs, I learnt there are at least two ways to drive brightness control in eDP screens: using AUX channel or PWM output from board. 
I think Aetina may not have it implemented, though. It is advertised for PC boards, no ?