Intel based HP Pavilion DV9700 upgrade information

Hello all,

After some debate (and QHN mentioning it would of interest to see), I've decided to go ahead and create a thread for these machines and the upgrade information that I have for them in the hopes that it will help some people who may have them and want to push them or give them some longer life.

Some brief background: I purchased my DV9700 in late 2008. It came stock with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 (2.0 GHz, 667 MHz bus, 2 MB L2 cache), 3 GB DDR2, 240 GB HD space (120GB x 2, one of the main reasons I chose this machine was its 2 HD capacity), and an nVidia GeForce 8600M GS with 512 MB of RAM.

I began to wonder as the machine aged what upgrades were possible. I did more than wonder when I accidentally screwed up a BIOS flash. Shopping for replacements, I learned not only that they existed but that there were SEVERAL different ones. THAT lead to me learning all I know about the Compaq Presario C500 series, but that's already covered in a Stickied post (Thanks, QHN!)

To keep this as short as I can, this is the information I have found first hand:

Motherboard 461068-001: Intel based, Socket P, 800 MHz bus maximum, dedicated graphics (GeForce 8400M GS, 256 MB), NB chipset PM965
Motherboard 461069-001: Intel based, Socket P, 800 MHz bus maximum, dedicated graphics (GeForce 8600M GS, 512 MB), NB chipset PM965

RAM support: The PM965 chipset is STATED to be limited to 4 GB of RAM, but I have found that 461068-001 will work with at least 6 GB, and 461069-001 runs just fine with 8 GB of RAM. As they have the same NB chip, it's more than likely that 461068 will also run with 8 GB. My only available 4 GB sticks are Corsair PC2-6400 sticks, but they've worked in both boards. Some boards with integrated graphics may have a GM965 (as opposed to PM) or some other brand chip (nVidia, AMD), so the RAM support may not be the same. However, the only difference I know of between the PM and GM965 is that the GM has an integrated graphics card. THEORETICALLY the RAM support should also go as high as 8 GB. Your mileage may vary.

CPU support: Basically ANY 800 MHz bus Socket P CPU SHOULD work. The most powerful CPU that I know of is the Core 2 Duo T9500 (2.6 GHz, 800 MHz bus, Penryn-6M). Obviously, 667 MHz bus chips will also work, again provided they're Socket P.

ALL the information I have says that 800 MHz bus is the maximum the boards will run, so I've never spent the money to test a 1066 MHz chip. My system has also been disassembled so many times I'm getting nervous about doing it any more.

There are SEVERAL more boards available, many AMD based. You would need to research these as the information I have is sketchy at best. The only upshot to those boards I can find is they're all the same socket (S1), so CPU hunting may not be hard for them. I have no support information though either way. There's one other Intel board I can find right now:

445178-001: This appears to be Intel based and a "generation" older than the two listed above, with a GeForce chip with 512 MB of video RAM. The north bridge chipset info I've found says i945PM, which would mean the system would be limited to 4 GB tops from what I know.

Of all the boards I HAVE found and seen, 461069-001 appears to be the TOP board with the best specs.

One thing to be aware of in any search that you do for boards: The DV6000 series boards are VERY similar to the DV9000 series. However, they have their battery connector mounted further BACK on the board so it's likely that neither type of board would work in the other style case. If they WERE cross-mountable, the gain would be limited to any "new" hardware they might run while AC powered as it's not likely your battery would still be usable.

As far as upgrade efforts: HP provides a maintenance guide for the DV9000 series on their website. It's VERY useful and informative for disassembly instructions. However, be advised that the part information listed in it is not 100% accurate for EVERY DV9000 series model. I can also provide some fairly extensive help if anyone has any questions as I've pulled mine apart at least a dozen times or so now.

The only advice I can offer from experience is to be EXTREMELY careful with the two ribbon cables that require force to reconnect (the Quick Launch and Power ones). You CAN lose the QL ribbon without losing the computer, but the Power ribbon is necessary and the system will NOT function without it. Also, the NB chip has a "pad" of what I THINK is parafin based cooling material on it. PRESERVE THIS as best you can when removing the cooling assembly as I have not found any suitable replacement without buying a fully new cooling assembly.

I do have pictures and if there's interest or need I will post some or all of them if they're requested. I grant you this isn't as in depth as the C500 information there is now, but there are FAR more options to choose from with the DV9000 series. At least this should give people an idea of what the top levels are they can get these machines to.

Regards,
O Shadow Fox O
Edited by OShadowFoxO - 10/9/11 at 2:35pm

Hey QHN,

Thanks for the sticky!

And I will go ahead and post the pictures then and create sort of a mini-guide to disassembly. I will edit the pictures to go through them and demonstrate what screws to remove in each picture.

There are a LOT of them for the DV9000 series, at least double those in the Presario C500's.

It's amusing to me to note that both the first and last time I disassembled my machine, I misplaced a screw some how. The first time, I put a screw back somewhere I shouldn't have so I was one short when I finalized the bottom case screws. The last time, I must have taken that one back cause I had one left over. Heheh But there are so many of them and I know I got the CRITICAL ones in place that I didn't panic over it.

I'll post the pictures shortly!

One little thing that has me scratching my head a bit: My brother's (previously my father's) DV9000 is equipped with 461068, and his GeForce 8400M GS is rated in the WEI as 3.5 Aero, 5.3 games, while my 8600M GS shows 4.9 Aero and 4.6 games. I can't help but think something is screwy there. Heh

Regards,
O Shadow Fox O

Okay, here we go: A small walkthrough of disassembly for the DV9700. I'll warn you ahead of time, there's at least 35 images to show here, and there's a LOT of flipping of the unit in this process.

Our victim: HP Pavilion DV9700t CTO. The black spot on the touchpad is a spot where I've worn through the surface coating. I don't use my laptop a lot AT ALL. (/sarcasm)


Shown here is the underside, with all removables removed (except the DVD drive):


On the underside of the unit, in the battery bay, remove the six screws circled here:


Still with the unit resting on its lid, remove the screw that the knife is pointed at. Once that screw is out, you can slide the optical drive out of its bay. Set it off to the side for now.


Once those steps are done, flip the unit over and open the lid. Follow the directions in this picture:


Once the Quick Launch panel is removed, close the lid again and flip the unit back over. Remove the screw the knife is pointed at in this image:


Flip the unit BACK over (yes you could combine some of these steps, but I prefer the back and forth as it's the order I used the first time. Easier to keep it in the order I know) and open the lid again. Remove the screws in this image and follow the directions in the one after it:



Please note: To the RIGHT of the keyboard connector is the Touch Pad connector. It uses the same type of push-in/pull-out cable guard as the keyboard connector does. Again, with a small knife or small screwdriver, work the cable-guard loose until you can pull the ribbon cable free. It's a VERY tight fit with the cable so don't get frustrated by it. Just work it loose and then let it rest there until you're ready to remove the "tray" (which the touch pad is attached to). I forgot about this cable until I tried to remove the "tray" which is why there's no picture of this process. It's basically the same as the keyboard though, so you should be able to figure it out without a picture to guide you on it.

With the keyboard removed, carefully free the wireless antenna cables as shown here. You will need to first pull the "wrapped" part of them free of their guiding channel on the bottom of the unit.


Next, remove these screws (yes, the keyboard is still attached in this image, I goofed the order a bit):


These screws were holding the speaker bar in place. Now that it's loose (you may have to wiggle the bar to free it but there's otherwise nothing holding it down), work it free and disconnect this wire:


Set the bar aside, then close the lid again (careful of the antenna wires). Flip the unit over and remove these two screws:


Flip back again (don't worry, we're soon to be done with the lid here) and open the lid. Disconnect these two cables from their connectors:


With that done, remove the following four screws in these two images. You may want to support the lid while you do this, but it does have some tabs holding it somewhat steady to the frame:



Carefully lift the monitor panel free of the machine and set it somwhere safe. We should now be left with the "tray" of the computer as shown in this image.


I will continue the guide in the next post. It's getting harder to type as the post gets longer.
Edited by OShadowFoxO - 10/9/11 at 2:36pm

Okay, and on to step 17 (as I labeled the images)

Follow the guidelines in this next image. I CANNOT stress enough how important it is that you are VERY careful with this ribbon cable. Without it, you own a lump:


Once you've disconnected the power ribbon (it remains attached to the "tray"), flip the unit over and remove these four screws:



Flip the unit again and remove THIS screw:


Once those five are removed, you can carefully work the back trim piece free and remove it. It snaps into place along the back of the unit, so you will need to gently pry it loose. Next, remove the two screws in this image and lift the two small circuit boards free (you can leave the small cable attached to them):


Set them aside carefully. Next, remove all the screws in the following three images (they're not circled in the last image because not all are shown. Just remove ALL of them from the underside):



With all those screws gone, you can carefully pry and lift and tug the upper "tray" free of the bottom piece of the shell. It helps to start at the "back" and work forward along the sides. The tray also snaps into place along the side (similar to the back piece of trim), so you may need to work them loose. Once all those snaps are free though, you can lift the top piece off. When you reassemble the unit, it works best to set the front of the "tray" into the edge of the bottom frame and then lay it down on top before starting to snap it back into place. Moving on...

Once the top "tray" is gone, it's time to remove the final pieces and screws holding the board down. Start with these:


Once those screws are removed, gently work the ExpressCard bay loose by tugging it and wiggling it to the right, away from the motherboard. You can either remove the small USB board or leave it connected and remove it and the EC assembly at the same time. I find it easier to leave them together.

Next, remove this screw. You CAN remove the IDE adapter board if you want, but usually I leave it. You just need to remove the screw to be able to remove the motherboard.


Next up, disconnect the ribbon cable as described here:


And now, remove these screws:




Following that, disconnect the two cables as described and shown in these images:



With that done, you can now carefully lift and wiggle the motheraboard and cooling assembly free of the bottom shell of the case. Either lay it carefully in the shell or, room providing, set it on the table you're working on. You will also be lifting the headphone/microphone/IR board free of the front of the case this way. That connector is a bit of a pain, so I just remove the board with the motherboard. You can easily fit it back in place at reassembly time.

We'll continue on in post number three of the guide here. Stay tuned!
Edited by OShadowFoxO - 10/8/11 at 7:35pm

Okay, guide part three. This will be the finish:

Now that you're looking at the motherboard in all its glory, you want to loosen the three screws in the following image and follow the directions on the image itself for removing the HSF assembly. Please note that THESE screws are like the ones in the panels from the bottom of the unit: They do NOT come out, they remain in the mounting frame, so do not force them out as you will likely damage your HSF assembly in doing so.


Note: The AMD versions of these systems have slightly different cooling assemblies and spacings. An Intel cooling assembly will NOT work on an AMD board and vice-versa (Intel assemblies mount with three screws in Y configuration, AMD assemblies with FOUR in an X configuration). It IS possible, I'm sure, to "convert" to Intel from AMD and to AMD from Intel motherboard wise, but be aware that you would need to replace not only the CPU and motherboard, but at LEAST the HSF assembly and possibly some other components as well. Generally speaking, it's easier to replace apples with apples, oranges with oranges. However, if you'd like a challenge, by all means pursue a conversion. Nothing's gained by not trying, and if you're machine is dead nothing is necessarily lost by trying, either.

Once you've loosened and removed the HSF assembly, take a small flat-bladed screwdriver or knife and give this cam a half turn in the direction it will loosen in (I BELIEVE it's counter-clockwise). This will let the CPU free of the socket so you can remove it.


Once this is done, you are ready to reverse the steps in order to replace/upgrade your CPU. Make sure to use appropriate thermal compound where needed and be gentle with all you do. Don't forget to secure the CPU in place with the cam again (he says as if from experience).

While you have it apart, it's probably best to clean out the fan and heatsink assemblies since this is such a rare occasion. The GPU cooler is just a small, self-contained heat-pipe and fin assembly that we left attached to the motherboard (since there's no replacing it anyway). Clean them out however works best for you and then reassemble the machine at your leisure.

I've said it before and I will say it again for emphasis: be CAREFUL with the ribbon cables. MOST have ZIF socket type connections, but the Power and Quick Launch cables require gentle force and careful alignment on the motherboard connections (as noted in that image).

Some extra images for show now that we're at the end here:
Core 2 Duo T9300. Note the different sized core compared to the T7250 (Merom-2M vs. Penryn-6M)


The battery connector on a DV9000 series board. Note the circled area, which is the location of the connector on DV6000 series boards:


The HSF assembly as shown from the bottom with weird blue "pad" in place:


And finally, the WEI scores for before and after. As QHN notes, WEI is hardly a rock-steady useful guide to performance, but it DOES provide SOME level of "Before and After" as well as comparison information:



*EDIT*
Posted below is an updated WEI where I dug deeper and found the "Reset these scores and rerun the assessment" option. This is MUCH more inline with what I would expect, especially comparing the GeForce 8600M GS scores to my brother's 8400M GS.


And there you have it. I hope this is useful and enlightening for people.
Now, I am going back to edit in one step I missed regarding the touch pad connection. Please post any thoughts or comments. And as always, new information is forever welcome!

Regards,
O Shadow Fox O
Edited by OShadowFoxO - 10/8/11 at 9:25pm

Everyone,

For the record, thermally: The increase in idle temps from the T7250 to the T9300 has been negligible so far. About 5 degrees overall, and THAT may level out once the Arctic Silver 5 settles in. So far there's been no "shock" in temps, and in fact I think the fan runs LESS now than it did before. That may be attributable to the fact that I cleaned the coolers out, however.

I would expect that an upgrade to the "ceiling" of a T9500 would prove just as viable, in this case. It's only 100 MHz more, which really isn't worthy of note. This is all dependent on your model of motherboard, though, of course. 461068 and 461069 should both support a T9500 as the max, but older boards may not. As shown in the picture above, my board is running BIOS F.59, and F.5A is the most recent. Support for T8100, T8300, T9300, and T9500 was added in BIOS F.45. However, your board's hardware must support it for that to matter.

All in all this is a pretty solid upgrade so far with some notable gains, at least for me. Anyone running an older or slower chip that can run this upgrade would find it even more notable.

Regards,
O Shadow Fox O

QHN and Saugen48,

Thanks!

To answer your questions: I LOVE my little pocket knives. They're not QUITE all in one, as I have to have two separate ones to fill all the uses. The one pictured is by far my most used. The little phillips head screwdriver/can opener attachment is the PERFECT size for laptop screws usually AND the body of the knife gives me something to torque with (jeweler's screwdrivers are the right SIZE but their lack of real shape or texture to grip prevents me from getting any leverage). Unfortunately, that knife doesn't have a flat-blade screwdriver attachment, which I need the other knife for. I don't know what was paid for them, I sort of inherited them from my father (read: I borrowed them and just have never had to return them). I don't imagine they're horribly expensive though. Keep an eye out at shops and such and you should be able to find them or something similar. Handy little guys!

As for what program I used: I just used the version of MS Paint that came with Windows 7. I opened the images with it and resized them using the Resize tool on the main Ribbon bar, then created the shapes I needed using the oval, line, and square tools in the "Shapes" area of the main Ribbon. People malign Paint all the time, and if you're a Graphical Artist I'm sure that is well deserved. However, for my purposes Paint might as well be Michaelangelo's own expert creation to assist artists. No sense spending a potential fortune on Photoshop when the equivalent of a dollar store box of crayons will suffice,eh? Heheheh

My next steps for this machine are at some point to repair the Quick Launch bar (I just need the ribbon cable, the bar itself is fine), and possibly to replace the Touch Pad. However, in the case of the former, it's $50 for the repair, and I will wind up with a totally spare QL bar (you have to buy the bar to get the ribbon if you buy from HP). In the case of the latter, it will require an almost complete teardown again as the TP is attached to the palm rest "tray" and you have to remove that to replace it. Not TOO keen on another disassembly that risks the fragile ribbon cables. Ah well, though. It works as well as the day I bought it otherwise, so I may not bother.

Thanks again for the responses!

Regards,
O Shadow Fox O