All slots on the motherboard are occupied. The following graphics cards are installed:

⧉ Zotac

⧉ Palit

⧉ Palit

Additional

• A x4x4 bifurcation NVMe card for two additional SSDs
• An Intel X540-T2 network card* with two 10 Gbit ports via copper (RJ45, Dell)

⧉ Dell

Order

The cards are installed as follows:

⧉ Gigabyte

Der Beitrag <h5>TR-Server #5: </h5><h3><b>Expansion cards</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

After high-capacity hard drives and subsequently SSDs and RAM of all kinds had risen sharply in price due to extreme demand from AI companies, this unexpected news came at the beginning of December:

SSDs und DRAM: Crucial ist am Ende

Anyone who has been involved in the hardware sector for some time knows that Micron and Crucial, in particular with their extremely popular (but unfortunately long since discontinued) MX500 SATA SSD, were a real force to be reckoned with and often the only real alternative to Samsung. It is a real shame that the consumer brand “Crucial” is now leaving the stage. Competition stimulates business, and now there is one less supplier.

This will only fuel the rapid rise in prices even more. On December 14, 2025, there was another piece of news that has since been denied, but which I find even more worrying:

Samsung stoppt Produktion von SATA-SSDs: Leaker warnt vor bis zu 18 Monaten Preisdruck bei SSDs

Samsung has stated that these rumors are false. We will see whether this is true or whether Samsung is just trying to control the narrative in the first half of 2026 at the earliest. Since Samsung has always been my number one choice in the SATA sector, it would be tragic if production were to end. There are also no usable NVMe to SATA adapters that could be used to “re-adapt” the problem.

To make another component that has been totally overpriced for a long time even more unaffordable, the following happened the day before yesterday:

GeForce-Grafikkarten: Nvidia will GPU-Produktion angeblich massiv senken

If this proves to be true, the demand for high-performance DRAM will also be the reason here. The “super” refresh models that were actually expected are also not going to be released. These are all unconfirmed rumors, of course.

Future prospects

There are basically two possibilities:

Either all AI companies prove to be highly profitable, as many investors hope, and prices remain extremely high or even worsen. Then the era of forced subscription-based cloud PCs, which many have been predicting for some time, will draw ever closer—running your own powerful hardware will simply be too expensive.

Or much of what is currently being hyped will prove to be an unprofitable business. This would result in falling prices and a richly filled second-hand market – which would be desirable.

It is very difficult to predict how all this will develop, especially since the global economic situation has been anything but stable for some time now.

Der Beitrag Thoughts on the current situation with data storage devices and RAM erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This modification only needs to be carried out on Windows XP, as the GTX TITAN X was not natively supported by Nvidia there. Compared to the RetroBooks driver mod for the Quadro 2000M MXM card, this procedure is virtually harmless.

I found the information on this page (archive.org).
The latest official driver from 2016 for Windows XP can be downloaded here (archive.org) from Nvidia.

Let’s go…

As described in the linked tutorial, only one file needs to be modified. Notepad++ is again useful for this.

First, proceed as if you were simply installing the downloaded driver. This setup will abort after a short period of activity, displaying the message “No compatible graphics hardware found.”

Then navigate to the folder where the graphics driver was extracted, usually something like “C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\368.81\WinXP\International” and locate the file “nv4_dispi.inf”.

For additional compatibility with Nvidia GTX 970, GTX 980, GTX 980 Ti, GTX TITAN X and Quadro M6000 graphics cards, edit the following in this file:

First, in the section

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTx86.5.1]

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTx86.5.1]

The following should be added at the end:

%NVIDIA_DEV.13C2%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13C2
%NVIDIA_DEV.13C0%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13C0
%NVIDIA_DEV.17C8%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_17C8
%NVIDIA_DEV.17C2%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_17C2
%NVIDIA_DEV.17F0%           = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_17F0

%NVIDIA_DEV.13C2%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13C2
%NVIDIA_DEV.13C0%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13C0
%NVIDIA_DEV.17C8%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_17C8
%NVIDIA_DEV.17C2%           = Section008, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_17C2
%NVIDIA_DEV.17F0%           = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_17F0

Subsequently, in section

[Strings]

[Strings]

Add the following:

NVIDIA_DEV.13C2 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970"
NVIDIA_DEV.13C0 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980"
NVIDIA_DEV.17C8 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti"
NVIDIA_DEV.17C2 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X"
NVIDIA_DEV.17F0 = "NVIDIA Quadro M6000"

NVIDIA_DEV.13C2 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970"
NVIDIA_DEV.13C0 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980"
NVIDIA_DEV.17C8 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti"
NVIDIA_DEV.17C2 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X"
NVIDIA_DEV.17F0 = "NVIDIA Quadro M6000"

That’s it?

Yes. Now save the file and restart the installation using the usual “setup.exe”. It will now run successfully as desired.

Der Beitrag <h5>Retro-XP-PC #6: </h5><h3><b>Modify the graphics driver</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

How much can a standard 3 x 1.5 mm² NYM installation cable withstand on a B16A LS? 3680 watts?

The layout of the PCI Express slots on the motherboard allows for extreme configurations, and I decided to take full advantage of this. Additional power supplies for the slots are also available to prevent instability. Multi-GPU operation should also be possible without any problems, even with PCI Express 3.0, which is not officially and stably supported by this generation of chipsets and CPUs. Only a few combinations work without any problems.

Support

The latest graphics cards that are compatible with Windows XP are those from the Maxwell 2.0 generation (Nvidia GeForce GTX 9xx). Officially, the latest card supported by the driver is the GTX 960, which is very unsatisfactory. This would be more than enough for software and games from that era, but something much older would also do the job. However, the goal is to achieve the maximum performance, and this card is far from that.

Fortunately, there is a simple trick to make any card from this generation compatible: driver modification!

Which card?

There’s not much room for deliberation here. I wanted the absolute maximum, and that has a name: Quad SLI. The cards can be a maximum of two slots wide, otherwise cooling becomes impossible. Ideally, something designed for such scenarios… but what would that be?

Since the GTX 980 Ti is the most powerful card according to benchmark points for the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, it would look good at first glance. Unfortunately, most cooler designs are very bulky, and a “blower-style” cooler would be preferable due to the limited space. So the next logical step is a…

Nvidia GTX TITAN X (Maxwell)!

These cards were really expensive when they were released, but after a long search, I was able to find some second-hand ones at reasonable prices. Reasonable means around €150 each on classified ads. I bought five instead of four so that I would have spares and be able to select the best ones. The extra one is stored as a vGPU in the virtualization server until it is needed elsewhere, where the 12 GB VRAM, which was very large at the time, is a real added value.

The technical data looks even better than that of a GTX 980 Ti:

In reality, a GTX 980 Ti with a good cooling design will always be faster than a GTX TITAN X with the original blower cooler. Good cooling makes a big difference. And even if the cooling design is not the most efficient, the choice of materials, the build quality, and the design are simply timelessly good:

⧉ Computerbase

⧉ Computerbase

⧉ Computerbase

⧉ Computerbase

⧉ Computerbase

⧉ Computerbase

Four of these cards in an SLI configuration will require around 1000 watts at 12 volts at their original clock speeds and limits, which is quite a lot.

Maintenance

First, I checked all the cards one by one to make sure they were working properly, then carefully took them apart so I could replace the thermal pads* and -paste*. Of course, I cleaned everything thoroughly as well. The built-in “GM200-400-A1” is really huge at 601 mm² when fully expanded.

So far, so good – all cards are running and have been successfully refurbished.

Der Beitrag <h5>Retro-XP-PC #5: </h5><h3><b>Graphics, or – The Sky is the Limit</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

When using the uninstall routines from AMD, Intel, or Nvidia, remnants often remain that can cause problems. To uninstall the existing graphics driver cleanly, you should always use “DDU” – “Display Driver Uninstaller.”

It is advisable to first download DDU and the new desired driver and then disconnect from the Internet so that Windows cannot immediately download and install any drivers via Windows Update. It is best to use it in safe mode.

Then you can run DDU and select the desired procedure (first the driver type, then how to proceed). After restarting, you can now install the new driver and then restore the Internet connection.

This is particularly useful when replacing the graphics card with another one.

Der Beitrag Cleanly remove graphics drivers in Windows erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

Not too long ago, I came across modified drivers for AMD Radeon GPUs that are supposed to fix bugs and maximize performance.

First, I read about the so-called “NimeZ” drivers, which later became the R.ID mod drivers. The project has now been set up in a really professional manner and even seems to enjoy official tolerance or support from AMD.

With this post, I primarily wanted to point out that such a thing exists and that it can be a real gift, especially for older TeraScale or GCN-based GPUs (more modern or better DirectX support, newer WDDM, better performance and compatibility, less bloat…). AMD’s graphics drivers have never been known for exceptional stability or long-term support, so any improvement is welcome.

In a quick test with a TeraScale 2 GPU (Radeon HD 6650M with 1 GB DDR3, notebook), I noticed a repeatable improvement in the double-digit percentage range (Unigine Heaven) without overclocking.

I wish you success with your tinkering, and don’t forget to uninstall the old driver with DDU.

Der Beitrag Modified drivers for AMD Radeon GPUs erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

After successfully installing the drivers, I first installed Unigine Heaven (a DirectX 11 benchmark) to see if the 3D acceleration really runs smoothly and also how the power-hungry 55-watt TDP card performs in the relatively small 15.6″ EliteBook 8540p. As always, I monitored everything with HWiNFO64.

First surprise:

The Quadro 2000M reveals a lot more than the NVS 5100M did, namely very interesting VRM values such as temperatures and current/voltage values:

After Heaven had been running for a few hours without any problems and I noticed that I still had about 10-15 °C of thermal headroom before it would become critical, the question naturally arose…

…if the NVS 5100M could be overclocked so easily and significantly with MSI Afterburner, can the Quadro 2000M do the same?

The answer is yes – and the performance boost is nothing short of incredible.
But first, testing is carried out using original clock speeds.

First verify test values, with obstacles:

To maintain consistency with PassMark scores for comparison purposes, I installed and ran Performance Test v11.1 on Windows 10.

The result was only 711 points with original clock speeds (550/900 MHz) – significantly less than previously listed in the technical.city table (this could be due to many factors, such as Windows, drivers, CPU performance, background processes, daily mood, etc.).

It should have been 765 points, but with 711, it is now 7% fewer points.
At first, I suspected that the CPU was not powerful enough or that background processes were preventing the boost to 3.20 GHz on one core from being achieved consistently, meaning that it could not feed the GPU well enough.

Then I thought that it could at least partly be the “penalty” that this benchmark imposes because it cannot run the intended resolution (Full HD, but the panel built into our 8540p can “only” run HD+, i.e., 1600 x 900). This “penalty” is appropriately 7%, so that could well be it.

I verified this by connecting an external monitor via VGA (I had the cable to hand, DP would also have worked) and lo and behold – now I have 740 points. Still not quite there, but better. Only a 3.3% difference, so I left it at that.

Of course, at higher resolutions, the load is increasingly shifted towards the GPU, which in this case could reveal a very slight CPU bottleneck.

Now it’s time to overclock!

After a few hours with MSI Afterburner (slowly increasing the clock speeds one after the other and repeatedly testing with Heaven) and HWiNFO for monitoring, I reached the maximum overclock, almost at the limit—I had to reduce the VRAM clock speed slightly because one of the two cards started to show artifacts.

Since the original NVS 5100M was presumably suffering from dying VRAM components, it’s probably a good idea to go a little easier this time, regardless of stability.

Of course, I wonder what clock speeds would be possible on the GPU core if MSI Afterburner didn’t limit it (I suspect that the real limit, as is always the case, comes from Nvidia’s VBIOS, which is located on the card).

In the subsequent rerun of the PassMark Performance Test on the external Full HD screen, the result was a smooth 1100 points – a whopping 49.1% increase in points!

I am very satisfied with the results achieved; the Quadro 2000M runs much better than expected!

It was definitely worth it – of course, the card now reaches 95°C under prolonged full load, whereas previously it was more in the range of 80–85°C. The VRMs then exceed 100°C significantly, sometimes reaching 115°C or more.

In our case, I can live with that, since the GPU will never be under extreme stress for very long, as in a benchmark. It’s better to have performance reserves that you rarely need than to constantly run at the limit.

Here are the overclocking changes in tabular form:

So, looking at the entire process, these were the increases:

Original GPU, Nvidia NVS 5100M with 1 GB VRAM:
199 PassMark points – that was the baseline.
100% performance

Overclocking to the limit of the Nvidia NVS 5100M with 1 GB VRAM:
240 PassMark points (the stronger of the two)
121% performance

Conversion to Nvidia Quadro 2000M with 2 GB VRAM:
740 PassMark points
371% performance

Overclocking to the limit of the Nvidia Quadro 2000M with 2 GB VRAM:
1100 PassMark points
552% performance!

So the whole operation more than quintupled the original graphics performance of our 8540p and improved a few other things as well (DirectX 11, WDDM, 2 GB VRAM)!

Brief explanation of overclocking graphics cards:

I hope that I have been able to provide some general insights into overclocking (Nvidia) graphics chips. The whole process works in the same way with all Nvidia graphics chips that allow overclocking – you can find this out by installing and launching Afterburner. If everything is grayed out, overclocking is not possible.

Up to and including the Maxwell architecture (GT/GTX 9xx series), you could even freely edit the VBIOS limitations by flashing a modified VBIOS onto the card, which would then remove or extend the limits in Afterburner.

Of course, this is more dangerous than doing it with running software like Afterburner, but it allowed you to do cool things like writing the overclock directly into the VBIOS and thus being able to use it under Linux / Macintosh without special software – or simply passing on “pre-overclocked GPUs” that anyone can use without special knowledge.

Increasing or removing thermal and/or performance and/or voltage limits, programming other VRAM modules, flashing them, then desoldering the existing ones and installing larger ones – all of this is possible. It’s pretty cool.

Or undervolting and underclocking to optimize efficiency, which is also very useful, especially with limited cooling options – but that’s a science in itself and a topic for another post.

The topic of GPUs is now complete, so let’s move on to other hardware changes I’ve made.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #9: </h5><h3><b>Overclocking the GPU</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

Since the Quadro 2000M now appears to be running on the hardware side, the previously downloaded Nvidia graphics drivers must now be installed, matching the respective operating system.

However, these do not work out-of-the-box, but must be slightly modified.
In order for the modified version of the drivers to be installed, driver signing must be temporarily disabled in Windows 10 and 11. This should not be relevant for Windows XP, Vista, 7, or 8/8.1.

How to disable driver signing:

• Restart the computer by holding down the Shift key and clicking on “Restart” in the Start menu.
• Now “Please wait” should appear and, depending on the PC, it should restart.
• Now select the “Troubleshoot” button.
• Then click on “Advanced options” -> “Startup settings”
• A list of possible options should appear; select “Restart”
• When Windows restarts, the list should appear again and you can select the correct entry, “Disable driver signing” by pressing “7”
• Then simply wait until the operating system has completely restarted. The driver should now install without any problems.

The signature is only checked during installation. Once everything has been installed and the computer has been restarted, this check is automatically re-enabled and the driver still runs without any problems.

Let’s get started with the driver modification:

I will now show you the procedure for Windows 11 Professional. For Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1, the procedure should be identical or very similar. For Windows XP, the procedure differs slightly as fewer files need to be edited. Fortunately, you can see this immediately by simply paying close attention to the file names and entries (just ignore the missing files).

I have successfully performed this driver modification on Windows XP Pro SP3, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1, Windows 10 Pro 22H2, and Windows 11 Pro 24H2, and everything is running 100% stable.

Getting started:

Now, pretend you want to install the driver normally and click “OK” here:

Until the setup, which runs automatically after unpacking (with the usual administrator rights prompt in between), then reports “The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware”:

Then finish the setup with “X” or “Close” and navigate to the directory
where the driver was previously temporarily unzipped. By default, this would be at least in Windows 10 and 11:

C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\377.83\Win10_64\International\Display.Driver\

C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\377.83\Win10_64\International\Display.Driver\

Find out the PCI ID of the installed GPU:

Now open Device Manager and find the graphics card that should not yet have a “real” name (“Microsoft Basic Display Adapter,” the standard driver).

Once you have found it, right-click on the graphics card entry and open “Properties”.
From there, go to the “Details” tab and select “Hardware IDs” in the combo box that appears.

Then copy the first entry with CTRL+C or the context menu, or simply compare it with the following entry and then conveniently copy everything that follows without modification if the string matches:

The PCI ID of my Dell MXM card is:
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C&REV_A1

Note the vendor (manufacturer), i.e. Nvidia (“10DE”), which makes sense. The Quadro 2000M obviously has the device ID “0DDA”, so far so good. But here’s where it gets interesting: the Sub-ID appears to be “1521” and this is completely missing from the driver. That’s where the problem lies, so let’s change that now.

If the PCI ID copied earlier in Device Manager now shows a number other than “1521” at the location shown, this number must be replaced with the different number in all subsequent text (in which case it is a Quadro 2000M from another board partner, with a different internal model number).

Reminder:
This driver modification applies EXCLUSIVELY to this specific Nvidia Quadro 2000M type. Other models may be compatible, but everything that is now being changed would have to be adapted, otherwise nothing will work.

Next, files need to be edited:

Notepad++ is very helpful for this kind of thing, firstly because of the option to obtain administrator rights retrospectively (which you also need in a subfolder of C:\ to edit files) and secondly because of the convenient context menu entry for opening files. Nevertheless, I will show the process here using Windows’ own “Editor.”

The easiest way is to find the sections beginning with “Entry” using the search function in the editor you are using (CTRL+F). The following entries must be added, first in the file:

nv_dispwi.inf

In the entry (quite high up in the file):

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0…14310]

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0…14310]

Add at the end of the block:

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.10DE% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.10DE% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

Then in the entry (directly below):

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0]

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0]

Add the same at the end of the block:

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.10DE% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.10DE% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

Last entry in this file (at the bottom):

[Strings]

[Strings]

It is best to insert this under the existing entry “Quadro 1000M”:

NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA = "NVIDIA Quadro 2000M"

NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA = "NVIDIA Quadro 2000M"

…this ensures that the GPU is correctly recognized and displayed throughout the system.
Note that this entry is completely missing (as is the screenshot), but curiously, many other Quadros from this generation and model series are present. Perhaps the Quadro 2000M was only available to OEMs who received special drivers at the time?
The NVS 5100M is also missing here.

Next up is this file:

nvblwi.inf

In the entry (again quite high up in the file):

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0…14310]

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0…14310]

Add at the end of the block:

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.103C% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.103C% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

Then in the entry (directly below):

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0]

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0]

Add the same at the end of the block:

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.103C% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

%NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.103C% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DDA&SUBSYS_1521103C

Here too, most recently in this file in the entry (far below):

[Strings]

[Strings]

It is best to insert this under the existing entry “Quadro 2000M” with a different ID:

NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.103C = "NVIDIA Quadro 2000M"

NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.103C = "NVIDIA Quadro 2000M"

Finally, it’s time to tackle this file:

nvdmwi.inf

Only the entry:

[Strings]

[Strings]

Also to be supplemented with “Quadro 2000M” with the other ID:

NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.1028 = "NVIDIA Quadro 2000M"

NVIDIA_DEV.0DDA.1521.1028 = "NVIDIA Quadro 2000M"

Next, the entire “NVIDIA” folder should be copied to a directory where users also have write permissions. The easiest place would be the desktop.

This is very important to note, as I otherwise received various error messages regarding file permissions and the installation was canceled!

Now we should be able to install the driver

You can then restart the installation with “setup.exe”:

…Great, it seems to be working!

Once the installation is complete, you can check that it was successful in Device Manager, preferably after restarting the system:

If everything works, the temporary “NVIDIA” directories and the previously downloaded driver package can be deleted.

Unexpected positive side effects:

As a bonus, you can now see in the Windows 10 or 11 Task Manager that the Quadro 2000M is listed as a GPU in the “Performance” tab and can therefore be monitored. This was not the case with the NVS 5100M, which was too old – none of the cards offered by HP as compatible should be able to do this.

This is because, unlike the NVS 5100M, the Quadro 2000M supports DirectX 11 and thus also a newer WDDM from Microsoft – this compatibility is a prerequisite for this functionality. We now have this virtually free of charge:

To ensure that everything really works, I put a 3D load on the card for a longer period of time (see next post). Then I tested the DisplayPort (on the left side of the notebook) and the VGA port (at the back next to the power supply connection), both of which work without any problems.

Let’s move on to what was inevitable.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #8: </h5><h3><b>GPU drivers</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

After extensive research and many comparisons, I was able to find some newer GPUs in MXM-A 3.0 format in addition to those intended by HP for the 8540p and 8540w (summarized in a table in the previous post). (Points are again PassMark points from technical.city).

This list from TechPowerUp helped me enormously in finding the models that were of interest to us:

There also appear to be sister models of the NVS 5100M, which are also supposed to be in MXM format—I was unable to find out whether they are A or B. Confusingly, these are manufactured in a different architecture (the 5100M is based on Tesla 2.0, while the sister models are based on Fermi).

The models are called “NVS 5200M 1 GB DDR3” and “NVS 5400M 2 GB GDDR3”.
However, both are weaker than the Quadro 2000M, scoring 505 points and 617 points respectively.
I couldn’t find a single image of either of these in MXM format (only directly mounted on motherboards).

The NVS 5400M with 2 GB VRAM could have been the best choice from Nvidia due to its lower TDP of only 35 watts compared to the Quadro 2000M – if you can find one or purchase one.

Is an unapproved model really a good idea?

There is virtually no reliable information about which of these cards work specifically in the Elitebook 8540p / 8540w, at least not in German. Then there is the problem of the potentially existing BIOS whitelist – MXM cards are of course also available from various manufacturers – almost all of whom have installed them in their own devices.

This means that the vendor ID or PCI ID may also change, which could result in no image output on the internal display or on one or all of the external outputs (VGA, DisplayPort, …), no signal is coming through, it no longer boots (POST fail) because the BIOS does not recognize the device, the driver does not run or does not run correctly or stably, etc.

Apart from that, there are also hardware differences: is the die in the right place for the cooler, is the height the same or at least similar, what about the position of the VRAM modules, does the mounting system still fit?
If not, is it adaptable or completely impossible mechanically?
Does the newer module have the same electrical pin assignment? Will anything burn out?

There are many ways in which installing an MXM GPU other than the one intended can go wrong, especially since MXM was never a 100% serious standard that everyone adhered to exactly.

Until the very end, I wasn’t sure if what I had in mind would even come close to working.

Spoiled for choice – or not:

I wanted an Nvidia GPU because of my experience with the drivers and because I considered it to have the highest potential to run and fit mechanically (or be easily made to fit). After a long search, I couldn’t find a single comment or report that the AMD FirePro M5950 COULD run, which made the decision easier.

So, from the cards above, I had my eye on the Nvidia Quadro 2000M with 2 GB DDR3 in particular.
According to technical.city, it has 765 PassMark points, compared to 199 for the NVS 5100M – more than triple – making it significantly more powerful than any of the models officially offered by HP at the time.

I read somewhere in the depths of the internet that this card should work, but only with driver modifications. The specifications of this card fit well with the rest in my opinion – it has to work somehow, and 2 GB VRAM is also nice compared to 1 GB.

That would also be a significant upgrade to the NVS 5100M in every respect.
Unlike the NVS 5100M, the Quadro 2000M and Quadro 1000M are based on the slightly newer Fermi architecture, so they support DirectX 11.0, OpenGL 4.6, Shader Model 5.0, CUDA 2.x, and OpenCL 1.1.
No sooner said than done – this is what I want:

⧉ Nvidia

Found and purchased.

I purchased the cheapest Nvidia Quadro 2000M with 2 GB VRAM on eBay Germany for less than €40 each, including shipping, after accepting the suggested price. It was definitely worth a try. The two cards were new products sold as used stock, presumably for warranty reasons.

All the better, as silicon and electronics wear out over time, especially under the high thermal load that a graphics card is exposed to, particularly in a notebook.

However, there was one downside – they were OEM models from Dell – which was dangerous due to possible incompatibilities. HP also had this specific card at the time, but even used, it was significantly more expensive at the time. So it was a full risk, “no returns” (click here for the item on eBay).
The bracket, i.e., the mount that later connects the card to the cooler, looked a little different in the pictures, which was not a good sign.

Two impatient days later, the cards arrived in perfect condition, very well packaged.
They even had brand new thermal pads* on the VRAM modules.
It couldn’t have been better, considering all the circumstances and the age of the hardware.

Now we prepare for the GPU conversion:

First, download the appropriate graphics driver for the Nvidia Quadro 2000M for all existing/desired Windows operating systems (do not run it yet):

Windows XP x86:
https://de.download.nvidia.com/Windows/Quadro_Certified/307.83/307.83-quadro-notebook-winxp-32bit-international-whql.exe (archive.org)

Windows 7 x64:
https://de.download.nvidia.com/Windows/Quadro_Certified/377.83/377.83-quadro-grid-desktop-notebook-win8-win7-64bit-international-whql.exe (archive.org)

Windows 10 / 11 x64:
https://de.download.nvidia.com/Windows/Quadro_Certified/377.83/377.83-quadro-grid-desktop-notebook-win10-64bit-international-whql.exe (archive.org)

If you want a different operating system, you can manually check for it at Nvidia:

Then download DDU directly and use it to completely uninstall the graphics driver on all desired Windows operating systems (button: “Clean and shut down – To install a new graphics card”).

Of course, this is only necessary if a graphics driver was installed in the first place.

Now the installation / conversion can begin:

The service manual also provides a detailed description of how to remove the existing MXM GPU, in case I have forgotten anything. All you need is a PH1 Phillips screwdriver* – and possibly something to pry the touch bar out without damaging it. However, you can also do this with your fingernails.

Here is a summary of the steps:

• Turn off the notebook, unplug the power supply, and remove the battery.
• Loosen the keyboard screws (3 pieces); these remain in place (thanks HP, good design!).
• Loosen the screws on the touch bar (usually hidden in the upper area under the battery).
• Turn it over and open the notebook.
• Push the keyboard locks on the upper edge downwards
• Carefully lift out the keyboard; a plastic spatula or similar tool will help
• Carefully disconnect the keyboard ribbon cable and remove the keyboard
• Lift the touch panel sideways towards the keyboard, again preferably using a spatula
• Carefully disconnect the touch panel ribbon cable and remove the whole unit

Now it’s time to remove the cooler and GPU:

• Loosen the 4 Phillips screws on the cooler attached to the CPU (left).
• Loosen the 4 Phillips screws on the cooler attached to the GPU (right).
• Very carefully disconnect the cooling fan (very fragile connector!).
• Remove the screws from the cooling fan. There is another screw hidden under the ribbon cables in the upper area; loosen this one as well.
• Now the cooler unit can be carefully tilted to the side and removed.
• The GPU is held in place by two Phillips screws. Be careful—the MXM module folds up gently like a RAM bar.
• Done! The GPU is now removed.

Of course, everything should now be cleaned (preferably with isopropanol*, but carefully!).
If necessary, now would also be a good time to dust the cooling fan, as well as the cooling fins directly in front of it.

Is the Quadro 2000M suitable?

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the following things:

• The position of the GPU die and VRAM modules is unproblematic and fits quite well.
• The thickness of the thermal pads for the VRAM looks good, but rearranging them makes sense in some cases.
• The position of the thermal pads for the power supply is roughly correct, but not ideal. Acceptable.
• The plastic bracket attached to the new Dell GPU with double-sided tape is too thick and prevents the card from being fully inserted into the slot!

The significantly thinner metal bracket of the original NVS 5100M GPU should also fit the Quadro 2000M, right?

If you use a Quadro 2000M variant with a metal bracket, you can save yourself the following modification, which is not entirely risk-free due to the force required to press it in. I was simply “unlucky,” if you want to call it that. But the modification was easy to do—it could have been worse.

Modification of the cooler bracket and thermal pads:

The original bracket of the NVS 5100M fits the Dell card, but is attached to the circuit board with very strong double-sided adhesive tape. This is probably due to years of hot-cold cycles.

I carefully pushed the threaded sleeves through the holes in the circuit board from above using a Phillips screwdriver and, when there was enough space, pulled further on the bracket from behind. If it is very difficult to remove, bend or press a little more. Heat definitely helps enormously, but I managed without it.

After successfully removing both brackets, inspect everything carefully and bend the metal bracket back into shape; the threaded sleeves fit very precisely and can easily become jammed. I actually prefer the original bracket because it will be more stable and heat-resistant.

Be careful when reattaching it, as it only fits properly in one direction.
Note the distance between the SMD components in the middle of the “square” and the bracket!

The original adhesive tape survived cold removal on both brackets in my case and will therefore simply be reused.

When rearranging the thermal pads, I used their previous position on the NVS 5100M as a guide.
Before positioning the VRAM pads, I looked at exactly where the cooler was located and aligned the pads accordingly. That worked well.

Now it’s time to put everything back together again.

Now you can insert the Quadro 2000M diagonally into the MXM slot – just like RAM.
Then press down gently and carefully secure it with the two Phillips screws you removed earlier.

Then reassemble everything as listed above, and don’t forget the new thermal paste*.
For “direct die” cooler contact (i.e., components without heat spreaders), I always spread it thinly over the entire die to make sure everything is covered. Notebooks never really have heat spreaders, or at least haven’t had them for a long time, so I recommend spreading the thermal paste thinly.

I use Arctic’s MX-4* as standard, as with the CPU before.

Once everything is back together, you can turn on the notebook and boot it up.
And hopefully look at the display.

It’s working, and I’m getting a picture!

So I can conclude that:
Basically, an Nvidia Quadro 2000M with 2 GB VRAM, which even has Dell as its vendor and not HP, runs in an HP EliteBook 8540p and in 99.99% of cases also in an 8540w!

I estimate the probability that a closely related Nvidia Quadro 1000M would also run as extremely high.

As announced, the next part will continue with the necessary driver modification.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #7: </h5><h3><b>Upgrading – MXM GPU – Additional options</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.