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

[K4sum1]

I think at some point there was a whitelist of sorts, but HP removed it in a later BIOS. I had no issues upgrading my GPU and WiFi card.

[Daedalus]

19 hours ago, K4sum1 said:

I think at some point there was a whitelist of sorts, but HP removed it in a later BIOS. I had no issues upgrading my GPU and WiFi card.

i have the final .71ver on my machine, looking at the bios release notes on HP.com, it doesnt call out an whitelist being present, that said some had issues (there was alot of chatter on older forums on it). There was a Coreboot bios floating around 8770W only (however 8570 and 8770W share same .71 version, no O/C option in the .71 bios release for CPU or RAM.....which is a shame. 

I tried (and failed) a GTX 965M upgrade, might have been a duff card. However now working on my 980M upgrade.
No issue going from 62205 to a 7260HMW, just plug an play in win10. Wifi speeds improved, still working on getting BT stack operational as only sees Broadcom (onboard ) not showing Intel chipset.

[gingerswordsmith]

9 hours ago, Daedalus said:

Welcome to the Forum and Thread, you will find a number of us have arrived at same desire to modify these machines. 

Are you set in getting the M5100? i ask as there are a fair few MXM "A" cards you could use above the M5100, otherwise you can go further down the rabbit hole and look at MXM "B" upgrades. 

Take a look at TechPowerUp, there maybe a Vbios image already there for the m5100 that works.  
Unfortunately its difficult to load a VBios "in machine" as our CPU socket traces dont exist even though the CPU might have IntelHD on the core. 
You refer to the whitelist, if i recall this is located on the Mobo and not the GPU card, so your looking at whiletlist editing (a completely seperate to a working VBios image). You may have a perfect Vbios solution but if the mobo says no, you'll only get a black screen.

 

The whitelist appears to have not just GPU restrictions, also Network cards too. sorted a 6250 wifi to a 7260 upgrade and had similar fun, Internet says "it shouldnt work" Pah..... This 8570W now runs a 7260HMW card (so stuff can be done within the apparent restrictions) wether it be HP scare tactics or an actual whitelist they deny exists......

That said its not all doom, if you read through the thread a number of GPU's have been proven to work which arent on HP's "list"

Hi Daedalus,

Thanks for the warning about the lack of CPU socket video traces preventing an in-machine flash. Fortunately, I am using an external CH341B hardware programmer and an SOP8 clip, so I was able to safely pull a clean dump of the original Dell VBIOS while the card is out of the machine. I won't need the laptop to boot to flash it.

Regarding the whitelist: I am still a beginner at this and definitely don't have the skills to modify raw hex code myself. I was hoping a VBIOS mod existed where the card's sub-vendor info could be changed to match an official HP card, tricking the motherboard into letting it boot.

Knowing that I'm flashing externally with the CH341B, is there a pre-modified VBIOS image floating around for this specific Dell M5100 to HP 8570w combination that you know of?

I did take a look at TechPowerUp as you suggested, but to be honest, I'm just not knowledgeable enough to know which VBIOS image might actually work for this specific cross-brand mod. Since I want to avoid potentially damaging the card through blind trial and error, I'd prefer to find a file that someone with more experience has already verified as working.

Also, thank you for the tip on looking at other cards. I decided on the M5100 specifically because I regularly use Debian 12 and wanted an AMD card to take advantage of the native open-source kernel drivers (amdgpu), which are a lot more stable on Linux right now than Nvidia's options.

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[Daedalus]

On 10/8/2026 at 8:34 PM, gingerswordsmith said:

Hi Daedalus,

Thanks for the warning about the lack of CPU socket video traces preventing an in-machine flash. Fortunately, I am using an external CH341B hardware programmer and an SOP8 clip, so I was able to safely pull a clean dump of the original Dell VBIOS while the card is out of the machine. I won't need the laptop to boot to flash it.

Regarding the whitelist: I am still a beginner at this and definitely don't have the skills to modify raw hex code myself. I was hoping a VBIOS mod existed where the card's sub-vendor info could be changed to match an official HP card, tricking the motherboard into letting it boot.

Knowing that I'm flashing externally with the CH341B, is there a pre-modified VBIOS image floating around for this specific Dell M5100 to HP 8570w combination that you know of?

I did take a look at TechPowerUp as you suggested, but to be honest, I'm just not knowledgeable enough to know which VBIOS image might actually work for this specific cross-brand mod. Since I want to avoid potentially damaging the card through blind trial and error, I'd prefer to find a file that someone with more experience has already verified as working.

Also, thank you for the tip on looking at other cards. I decided on the M5100 specifically because I regularly use Debian 12 and wanted an AMD card to take advantage of the native open-source kernel drivers (amdgpu), which are a lot more stable on Linux right now than Nvidia's options.

 

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Had a search on TechPowerUp. 

Found the unit (i think)

VGA Bios Collection | TechPowerUp

 

I totally get your concern on the will X work with Y.  I had similar concerns when trying to work out the correct Vbios for my 980M. Turned out KBX on here had already tested stuff, long story short, an MSI / Dell Vbios on an Nvidia card works in an HP. It seems the Dell Vbios are more relaxed and allow more compatibility. 

I also run a dual boot with my current K1000M and soon to be 980M (once i finish messing around with the cooling solution) dont disagree AMD drivers arent more stable, good choice. 

The lack of GPU traces on the CPU core sucks as we then have no internal GPU (IntelHD) to fall back on if the flashing didnt work. Im not aware of anyone managing to fix this.

 

Did anyone actually attempt the GTX 1080M ( the one without the extra power connector) in the 8570W? i know 1070M wont output to anything but DP, but curious if 1080M did the same?

[Daedalus]

Hi all, please critique the idea.......
Going back to the cable saga, are we (or am I) looking at this wrong, As far as im aware once we pass the GTX 980M upgrade we are in Dreamcolor territory (thats a given). 1070M and others only output to DP as a result as either the internal screen cant display (Mux) or not configured at Vbios level. 

I was looking at DP to HMDI conversion (mini project) as a separate thing
Could we run say an DP to 30pin eDP or HMDI to EDP and see if the port would output to the inbuilt screen or am i missing something. DP output is only there on 1070M as its a "configured". Clearly we cant Vbios edit a internal screen (even if it could display) we have the MuX issue to work around.

checking specs for the 1080M it shows 3 DP ports ( now we have 1 wired) so it should display output at least to DP#1 our port.

I did stumble across the following in the continuing journey for the eDP to LVDS 

Taidacent 3.3V 5V 30 Pin EDP Universal Driver Board EDP to LVDS Converter Board LCD Screen LVDS to EDP Signal Adapter (Extended-Type) : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

or 

EDP to LVDS Adapter: Convert Signals Easily or Wholesale LCD TV Display Spare Part 51P FHD to 30P HD LVDS Adapter For HV320WHB-N ( the last one seems to look very close to our rare board)

Does the board convert signals or act as a connection point and thats it?

[Daedalus]

On 3/18/2026 at 10:18 AM, JadeRover said:

Yes, dell m6600 and dell m6700 DC models have that DC conveter board that transforms the incoming eDP to 50 pin LVDS + 10 pin power cable used by the DC LCD.

 

The HP zbook 17 g1, g2 and 15 g1 that have the DC screen option also use such converter boards.

 

Keep in mind that for all the models stated the converter board looks something like this :

 

So if you get the DC cables for your model you see that it connects to your board in a non standard eDP format = can't use that cable to connect to a standard eDP panel conenctor.

 

Also the zbook 17 g1 and g2 all have this converted board as they all have LVDS displays and the motherboard outputs eDP. Not sure why HP chose this approach, probably because eDP lcds were rare in 2013-2014.

 

so zbook 17 g1/g2 with 900p to 1080p screes have this board if you want a sure way to get your hands on one.

If i re-read this right, This is the inverse of what we have in the 8570W? Our MoBo is 50Pin LVDS output and we can put a 30Pin eDP screen. So therfore an IPS screen. so even if i tracked one down and had an LVDS "normal cable and spliced to a G1/G2 cable (for the connector) and then its relevant output 30pin to the screen. i dont think this would solve our issue. 

[JadeRover]

29 minutes ago, Daedalus said:

If i re-read this right, This is the inverse of what we have in the 8570W? Our MoBo is 50Pin LVDS output and we can put a 30Pin eDP screen.

 

Your mobo is a 50 pin (LVDS + eDP) COMBO connector it is quite rare, usually laptops only expose either LVDS or eDP per connector, the 8560w, 8570w, 8760w and 8770w have this dual mode connector.

 

This is the schematic of a 8770w (because 8570w schematic is unavailable), it has the same 50 pin connector (different pinout from the 8570w BUT still the same function) :

 

 

See pins 39 to 50 : they contain 4 lanes of DP (4x2 differential pairs) + 1 aux pair + DP HPD pin, to change a DP into a eDP you need two extra signals : backight on + backlight PWM that is also present on the connector

• INV_PWM (backlight inverter PWM) -> it is used by the dGPU when driving an eDP display
• LCM_3S_BKLTEN -> Backlight enable signal

These two signals are universal between LVDS and eDP displays.

 

Here are the first 40 pins of the 50 pin LVDS + eDP connector of the 8570w (just so you can see that this connector also contains LVDS signals as well as DP signals just in a different order) :

 

 

 

...

 

All this to say that if you want a 30 pin or 40 pin eDP display connected to your 8570w, you need a custom LCD cable that only uses the DP lines + backlight signals from the motherboard's 50 pin LCD "COMBO" connector. Also this custom cable should contain other HP signals for LID closed and LOGO light that go through this 50 pin LCD connector.

 

This custom cable will terminate in either a 30 or 40 pin male IPEX connector that is required to plug in to a 30 or 40 pin eDP display. Therefore doing this will allow you to upgrade to 4K60Hz+ IPS displays or even Mini LED displays just like it was done here on the 8770w :

 

 

TLDR : To accomplish this upgrade you need : 

• Custom LCD cable that connects directly to the display, no DC board needed or any other type of signal converter board
• 40 pin eDP display 

[Daedalus]

Thanks @JadeRover for the response, thats what i suspected it presented both,  

I had initially scoured the "interweb" for 8770W cables, but discussed with GuitarG and found 8770W were wired different, which is a pain as if 90% of the wires are same and just a few are different it might have been viable "small" mod to make it work. (plus 8770W cables are less rare, relatively speaking)

40Pin EDP seem available so the screen end is easier (relatively) 

I did catchup with DevilAngel on the 8770W post in the message, he used TaoBao to get someone to build a cable. I'm yet  to work that site out with success. We seem to have alot of the pinout detail its just getting someone to make one. 

That said, what is the "interposer board" actually doing if a cable (custom) removes the need for conversion. I recall GuitarG saying the interposer / inverter part got hot in the shell so he put putty or something to transfer heat so i think the board wasnt a "passive" item.

[Vladka76]

IMHO, the only place where chinese copy(?) of DreamColor cable for 8770w is available (9996 pcs left):
Direct link to AliExpress
Warning: his p/n 6017B0352401, so pls click on the correct proposal (xxxxxxxxx301 is the LVDS version).

 

I would venture to guess that owners of the 8570w can also buy it, but then they will have to carefully pull almost all the wiring terminals out of the connector of the mobo's side and rearrange them to the correct positions, according to the GuitarG pinout table. But the cost of an error due to inattention will be significant (pinouts of 8570w and 8770w are very differents), so they will have to take this risk upon themselves.

Based on GuitarG's research, I have compiled my own, so far in theory, version of a custom cable for 8770w mobo -> 30 pin eDP. Dear @JadeRover, can you help me check the correctness of my work?..
And one more question for you.
Somewhere earlier our GuitarG wrote that he was able to get the 30 pin screen to work, but not the 40 pin screen. In this case, what would be the best way to deal with the microcables of the two left unused pairs of the eDP interface?
Just insulate their exposed leads near the 30 pin connector?
Or would it be better to pull their wiring terminals from the connector on the mobo side and insulate them near both connectors?
Or even pull them out of the cable completely?..

The custom cable pinout for hp 8770w mobo -> 30 pin eDP screen:
---------------------------------------------------------------------

[Daedalus]

IIRC, the 8570W cable is different to the 8770W from discussion with GuitarG, I recall the pinout he added to the thread, 

That said, moving a few cables is preferable to moving all of them...... Best have my steady hands and good eyes that day 🙂

Do we assume that Ali cable is a end to end solution? (could be an equipment pull or an actual manufactured clone) I ask as the "official" has the interposer board which i couldnt see in the Ali advert. Ive also seen the 8770W cables on ebay but again all seem to be missing the board in the middle (assumption is the cable is doing all the pinout changes to make LVDS Mobo and edp/IPS screen "talk" and work. 
(added in GuitarG's version of the above for 8570W comparison)

Just trying to get all the bits to the puzzle......

So 301 is the Normal, 401 is the "dreamcolor". added to the basket 🙂 amongst other ALi items for the machine 😄

[JadeRover]

Hello,

 

Good job, yes this pinout matching is correct.

On 11/12/2026 at 4:13 AM, Vladka76 said:

The custom cable pinout for hp 8770w mobo -> 30 pin eDP screen:
---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

However I would actually wire this to a 40 pin eDP connection with 4 lanes of eDP because that way you can wire the screen up to nicer 1440p and 4k displays with high refresh rate, if you so chose to.

 

If you want a 30 pin screen you can pick up a very cheap 40 pin to 30 pin eDP converter flex cable such as this one, that way you can make these 40 pin cables in bulk and end users can decide to get one with 30 pin converter or not depending on if they want to use a 30 pin or 40 pin display.

 

If you want to make a custom 30 pin eDP cable then the 2 unused lanes should not be connected to anything, just let them terminate on the 50 pin LCD port on the motherboard -> cut the extra unused cables directly on the port.

 

 

 

[Daedalus]

13 minutes ago, JadeRover said:

Hello,

 

Good job, yes this pinout matching is correct.

 

However I would actually wire this to a 40 pin eDP connection with 4 lanes of eDP because that way you can wire the screen up to nicer 1440p and 4k displays with high refresh rate, if you so chose to.

 

If you want a 30 pin screen you can pick up a very cheap 40 pin to 30 pin eDP converter flex cable such as this one, that way you can make these 40 pin cables in bulk and end users can decide to get one with 30 pin converter or not depending on if they want to use a 30 pin or 40 pin display.

 

If you want to make a custom 30 pin eDP cable then the 2 unused lanes should not be connected to anything, just let them terminate on the 50 pin LCD port on the motherboard -> cut the extra unused cables directly on the port.

 

 

 

so without chasing the new 4K capability, would that be beneficial to the ageing 8570W, (dont get me wrong its a nice tech to have). Would the simpler 30 pin and IPS capability be suitable?
Have ordered one of the '401 cables Vladka shared the link to so looking good. 
I had seen those converters online but they didnt look "intelligent" hence me thinking we were missing the interposer?

 

Thats actually a good logic of having a 50pin to 40pin option and then if 30 pin screen is your thing then just run it that way. Obviously this is all theory and assumes either the 4K screen or the normal 1080 Dreamcolor IPS/eDP screen would function. if we can indeed make the 50MoBo to 40 (or30) pin jump by coupling connectors (with a few rejumpering wires changed) then that makes it way easier than scouring the internet for remaining OEM DC cables. 

 

[JadeRover]

On 11/12/2026 at 10:43 AM, Daedalus said:

IIRC, the 8570W cable is different to the 8770W from discussion with GuitarG, I recall the pinout he added to the thread, 

That said, moving a few cables is preferable to moving all of them...... Best have my steady hands and good eyes that day 🙂

Do we assume that Ali cable is a end to end solution?

 

Hello, yes that 8570w cable is different to the 8770w cable, the pinout in your message is correct.

 

You know that eDP cables are coaxial ? They have an inner core wire + insulation + outer ground wire + insulation, all in one cable. They are EXTREMELY hard to work with if you solder by hand, possible but very very hard, very fine soldering + microscope + tweezers are needed.

 

In the factory they are soldered by laser machines, ordering a custom cable is also manufactured this way.

 

Ali cable isn't the end solution, the best solution in my eyes is to ordering a custom cable, or finding the 50 pin male connector + 40 or 30 pin male eDP connector and making the cable by hand (you can by a spool of micro coaxial cable for cheap)

 

On 11/12/2026 at 10:43 AM, Daedalus said:

• I ask as the "official" has the interposer board which i couldnt see in the Ali advert. Ive also seen the 8770W cables on ebay but again all seem to be missing the board in the middle (assumption is the cable is doing all the pinout changes to make LVDS Mobo and edp/IPS screen "talk" and work.

 

The cable is probably a clone since manufacture date of 2019 is 8 years after the laptop release. It probably works fine.

 

Yes if you want a dreamcolor display to work you need an interposer board, but be careful :

• signals coming from the motherboard to interposer are eDP
• signals leaving the interposer and going to the display are LVDS

The Dream Color display is a very rare IPS display using high bandwidth LVDS signals, that is why they needed eDP (high bandwidth), converted it to high bandwidth LVDS and then send it to the screen.

 

The confusion comes from the fact that the laptop sees this display as "eDP" since it has to send eDP signals to drive the display, the reality is that it sends eDP -> gets converted to LDS -> LVDS display.

 

The cable doesn't "convert" or "talk", that is done thanks to the chip on the interposer board.

 

A full DreamColor display assembly has :

• Motherboard to interposer "eDP" cable
• Interposer board converting eDP -> LVDS
• Interposer board to LCD "LVDS" cable
• DreamColor IPS display that uses LVDS signals.

Hope this clears things up for the Dream Color technology ! this is the same for dell precision also using the DC screen. 

 

 

[JadeRover]

1 minute ago, Daedalus said:

Thats actually a good logic of having a 50pin to 40pin option and then if 30 pin screen is your thing then just run it that way. Obviously this is all theory and assumes either the 4K screen or the normal 1080 Dreamcolor IPS/eDP screen would function. if we can indeed make the 50MoBo to 40 (or30) pin jump by coupling connectors (with a few rejumpering wires changed) then that makes it way easier than scouring the internet for remaining OEM DC cables. 

 

I see 2 solutions:

1. Custom interposer board + LCD cable
   Using the stock DC cable, one must design a simple interposer board that has an eDP female port connected to the OEM DC cable + retraces the signals to a 40 (or 30) pin standard eDP female connector + use an off the shelf 40 (or 30) pin eDP cable to connect to the LCD (many can be found on Aliexpress)
   CONS : sourcing a 40 pin female eDP connector (connecting to OEM DC cable) of the interposer board + sourcing a OEM DC cable
   PROS : much simpler to get a custom PCB made than a custom LCD cable
    
2. Custom direct LCD cable
   Create a custom 50 pin to 40 (or 30) pin eDP cable as discussed before
   CONS : sourcing a 50 pin female LCD port connector used on the 8770w motherboard + getting a company in china to build such a cable
   PROS : only sourcing one old stock part, the connector

[Daedalus]

2 hours ago, JadeRover said:

 

Hello, yes that 8570w cable is different to the 8770w cable, the pinout in your message is correct.

 

You know that eDP cables are coaxial ? They have an inner core wire + insulation + outer ground wire + insulation, all in one cable. They are EXTREMELY hard to work with if you solder by hand, possible but very very hard, very fine soldering + microscope + tweezers are needed.

 

In the factory they are soldered by laser machines, ordering a custom cable is also manufactured this way.

 

Ali cable isn't the end solution, the best solution in my eyes is to ordering a custom cable, or finding the 50 pin male connector + 40 or 30 pin male eDP connector and making the cable by hand (you can by a spool of micro coaxial cable for cheap)

 

 

The cable is probably a clone since manufacture date of 2019 is 8 years after the laptop release. It probably works fine.

 

Yes if you want a dreamcolor display to work you need an interposer board, but be careful :

• signals coming from the motherboard to interposer are eDP
• signals leaving the interposer and going to the display are LVDS

The Dream Color display is a very rare IPS display using high bandwidth LVDS signals, that is why they needed eDP (high bandwidth), converted it to high bandwidth LVDS and then send it to the screen.

 

The confusion comes from the fact that the laptop sees this display as "eDP" since it has to send eDP signals to drive the display, the reality is that it sends eDP -> gets converted to LDS -> LVDS display.

 

The cable doesn't "convert" or "talk", that is done thanks to the chip on the interposer board.

 

A full DreamColor display assembly has :

• Motherboard to interposer "eDP" cable
• Interposer board converting eDP -> LVDS
• Interposer board to LCD "LVDS" cable
• DreamColor IPS display that uses LVDS signals.

Hope this clears things up for the Dream Color technology ! this is the same for dell precision also using the DC screen. 

 

 

Having DC isnt a deal breaker, just something that doesnt limit the GPU options, LVDS "standard" is 980M max, GuitarG and the DC setup he had was RTX level options, so even if a 4K screen & associated cables unlocks that (or a IPS equivalent for 1080) would work. 

Yep saw the manafactured date so assume its a new "clone" So i would assume a DC screen to have the interposer board attached to the back of it as the primary cable '401 seems to be quite long to route through the hinge assembly to arrive at back of screen. so i would assume the "secondary" cable off the interposer to be a short one similar to your 30-40 flat one shown up above?

if we can get each cable Primary & secondary pinout known / mapped then its really only the interposer board which poses the blocker for upgrades.

To add to the options, could the Dell equivalent cable and assembly work if yours uses Dells DC version? Just a thought.