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

[KbX]

Nice to hear from you guitarG!

I read everything from the beginning!

That looks too small for me to do.

I might take your idea of using some good speakers with an amplifier connected to the card slot…

For now, I’m working on my cooling solution for the GPU, but I’m missing a drilling machine to do the upper plate. it might arrive next week. is there some place on gpu where I can tap 4v for a mosfet to run some fans ?

If I understood well, you just put a new BIOS to use 2133 MHz RAM.

How did you manage to use 1867 MHz on yours? Because my i7-3940XM arrived, but I don’t feel much difference, and these memories for now seem like money thrown away.

[GuitarG]

11 hours ago, KbX said:

Nice to hear from you guitarG!

I read everything from the beginning!

That looks too small for me to do.

I might take your idea of using some good speakers with an amplifier connected to the card slot…

For now, I’m working on my cooling solution for the GPU, but I’m missing a drilling machine to do the upper plate. it might arrive next week. is there some place on gpu where I can tap 4v for a mosfet to run some fans ?

If I understood well, you just put a new BIOS to use 2133 MHz RAM.

How did you manage to use 1867 MHz on yours? Because my i7-3940XM arrived, but I don’t feel much difference, and these memories for now seem like money thrown away.

1866 and 2133 RAM works out of box, no bios mod needed. 
Try finding 8560w boardview and using openboard viewer on internet, it would help finding voltages a lot (8560w and 8570w are almost same layouts).

From my experience, 980M gained twice performance on modded heatsink. I advise to remove keyboard for better cooling operation till you make one.

[frelu]

14 hours ago, KbX said:

Nice to hear from you guitarG!

I read everything from the beginning!

That looks too small for me to do.

I might take your idea of using some good speakers with an amplifier connected to the card slot…

For now, I’m working on my cooling solution for the GPU, but I’m missing a drilling machine to do the upper plate. it might arrive next week. is there some place on gpu where I can tap 4v for a mosfet to run some fans ?

If I understood well, you just put a new BIOS to use 2133 MHz RAM.

How did you manage to use 1867 MHz on yours? Because my i7-3940XM arrived, but I don’t feel much difference, and these memories for now seem like money thrown away.

What is that copper sheet? can you share some more photos and info how it's attached? [GPU]

[Vladka76]

On 11/14/2025 at 11:18 PM, KbX said:

How did you manage to use 1867 MHz on yours?

I'm very sorry, but what frequency memory modules do you have installed? 1600 MHz or 1866 MHz? HX316... or HX318...? Those numbers in the model name are hard to see.

Unfortunately, in any case, these are new, but counterfeit chinese modules, unlikely to be made by Kingston (the OCR incorrectly recognized, meaningless word "DIMSION" is clearly visible). I recently encountered two such modules, supposedly running at 1866 MHz: one with Samsung chips, the other with Micron chips, as in your case. Both worked fine, but... at 1600 MHz. 🙂 I tested them on two laptops with i7 CPUs (hp 8770w and Dell E6540). Moreover, the markings on the Samsung chips indicated that they were officially 1600 MHz (but the Micron chips were officially 1866 MHz).
Check the actual memory frequency on the BIOS startup screen or using CPU-Z (see the "Memory" and "SPD" tabs). If it says 1600 MHz, but you bought 1866 MHz, return those modules and look for genuine Kingston modules with Kingston chips, manufactured between 2018 and 2021. I was lucky enough to find three of these, and they work perfectly at 1866 MHz.

Below is a my own photo of two modules (the original on top, the counterfeit on the bottom).
Find 4-5 differences. 🙂

[Vladka76]

Here's a photo of Samsung chips and a screenshot of their datasheet.
Beware of such memory!

[KbX]

Thank you! What a scam! I wouldn’t have noticed it on my own. I just asked for a refund and said they were fake. I might have to send them back to China.

mistakes are expensive! Thanks!

Got also to rethink my heatsink. The computer doesn’t turn on, just a black screen. Without it, everything runs normal. I consider myself lucky, because I applied too much pressure on the GPU while measuring the plate and even bending it in place. If it shorted or broke, it would be game over, and it’s still working, so I need to rethink the measurements so it sits right, with minimal pressure on the bolts and GPU.

I already had it working with just the lower plate and some thermal pads, so it is possible to use the upper plate touching the original heatsink as well. The GPU will always stay a bit curved because it’s sitting on the CD/DVD bay connector. I believe it’s possible anyway.
(I once had a phone that got smashed by a car wheel and stayed curved like the wheel. It kept working after I changed the screen, and the new screen forced the whole phone flat again.)

Do you think I have the GPU shorting somewhere I can’t see but still not fully damaged, or could it just be the connection not letting the GPU go in far enough?

Thanks for everything!

[KbX]

[GuitarG]

Definitely desolder dvd connector, mxm board will bend overtime and stop working. Especially with heatsink attached.
Smartphones have very small board, so it's less prone to bend issue. 

[KbX]

Thanks! I tried to grind it to the minimum size, but I might desolder it and find out which pins have 5 and 12 volts to connect the fans… I was trying to avoid disassemble everything...

[GuitarG]

Actually you can carefully *delete* that connector with pliers, no need to dissasembly whole laptop.

If you would like to use that SATA port then it would be possible to route cables elsewhere

[Daedalus]

On 11/16/2025 at 6:29 AM, Vladka76 said:

Here's a photo of Samsung chips and a screenshot of their datasheet.
Beware of such memory!

Yep, i got stung for that too. 4x 8gb sticks "DIMISION" not great. branded 1866, clock runs them at 798, so 1600's reclothed with a fancy sticker. Micron chips but three benchtest apps report as 1600. They dont report all detail in CPUz either....

Damn....