HP Fansite

HP Elitebook 8740w and ATI FirePro M7820 appear on multiple HP websites

HP Elitebook 8740w listed for order on HP UK website!

Disappointed that you didn’t see any sign of the Elitebook 8740w last weekend? Well, let’s turn that frown upside down because the HP Elitebook 8740w (sans press pictures) has recently appeared on multiple country-specific HP websites. On HP’s UK website, the Elitebook 8740w is listed from 1949 pounds for the Core i5 540M equipped version right up to just shy over 2300 pounds for the Core i7 720QM quad core model. The Elitebook 8740w has also appeared on HP’s websites for other countries around the globe, from HP Saudi Arabia to HP Bulgaria. Oddly enough, there hasn’t been an official announcement from HP yet, neither has the 8740w Mobile Workstation appeared on HP’s USA/Main website yet… but from today’s events, you can look out for an announcement before March is over!

For those who want all the news right here without clicking any links, HP’s UK website seems to provide the most info about the Elitebook 8740w Mobile Workstation, but nothing that we don’t know about already thanks to tips from a trusted source several weeks back.

• Processor choices: 1.73 GHz Core i7 820QM quad core, 1.60 GHz Core i7 720QM quad core, 2.66 GHz Core i7 620M dual core, 2.53 GHz Core i5 540M dual core and 2.40 GHz Core i5 520M dual core
• 4 DDR3 1333 MHz RAM slots for up to 16 GB total RAM
• 7200 RPM hard disks are standard; capacities available range from 320 to 640 GB
• 17 inch 16:10 full HD+ (1920 x 1200) display with optional DreamColor (looks like DC1 at this point in time); ambient light sensor for display is standard
• Choice of 1 GB ATI FirePro M7820 GDDR5, 1 GB Nvidia Quadro FX3800M GDDR3 or 512 MB Nvidia Quadro FX2800M GDDR3 workstation-class graphics cards
• 2 MP webcam
• Optical drive/upgrade bay for secondary hard disk
• 2 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports; other ports remain the same as 8730w except HDMI which has been replaced by DisplayPort
• Weight: 3.57 kg
• Dimensions: 39.75 x 28.55 x 3.65 cm

What’s missing at the moment, but are confirmed to become available in the future, include the DreamColor 2 display panel, backlit keyboard option and solid state drive options.

ATI FirePro M7820 confirmed on HP UK Elitebook 8740w page

P.S. Anyone noticed that HP has placed the ATI FirePro M7820 above the Nvidia Quadro FX3800M?! Hint hint at graphics card positioning there…

Elitebook 8440 and 8540 have better heat dissipation than old generation

I just finished several hours of intensely working out HP’s new Elitebook 8440p, Elitebook 8440w and Elitebook 8540w models this week running several games in a row (special thanks to several friends who helped). Well, to be frank, we weren’t just ‘officially’ testing them – we had lots of fun playing the latest game titles and creating fancy CAD car models while at it!

I’m not gonna post a whole bunch of benchmark and temperature numbers here, perhaps at a later point in time, but today, I want to keep things simple and straightforward. The HP Elitebook 8440 and 8540 models have very much improved heat control compared to previous models. So far, I’m not sure what’s bringing such a huge improvement – better fan speed control, reshuffled component layout or more efficient components – but there was a tangible difference I could feel. After about 8 hours of running a mix of AutoCAD, 3Ds Max, Left4Dead 2 and Need for Speed Shift, I could literally hold the quad core Elitebook 8440w and 8540w models using my bare hands, by the bottom of the notebook, without getting my fingers and hands fried. The dual-core Core i5 running Elitebook 8440p fared much better: after going through the same stress test, it really didn’t feel as if the notebook had been doing any work at all – it was as cool as a notebook that had merely been idling with some windows open.

For comparison’s sake, I wouldn’t touch the bottom of any old generation Elitebook that I knew had just undergone some heavy task lifting because they can literally burn!

Off topic: Anyone know why notebooks can suddenly ‘switch off’ and how to solve this problem? There was an Elitebook 8730w (among other various notebooks) at the gathering which frequently (and suddenly) switch off without warning. I suspect it’s due to overheating (processor can go up to 90-100 degrees Celcius running the same apps/games as above) though I’ve tried cleaning the fan and even removing the bottom panel for better airflow – but no luck.