Laptop GPU

[Stavros]

Ok, so my brother has an old-ish laptop and he wants to upgrade his video card. I have a couple questions: 1) Is it possible to buy a laptop video card? 2) If so where? Newegg has only desktop GPUs. His current video card is the AMD Mobility X700.

 

[Automata]

It depends on the laptop. Most have them directly on the motherboard themselves, obviously, you can't replace that kind

If there were other cards that were available for that laptop, then you should be able to.

 

[Ethre]

Most likely you can't, and it will be hard to find a card to fit the case - meaning you'd pretty much be limited to anything that was available when the laptop was produced. So it's probably not worth the upgrade.

 

[mblue]

You used to be able to, but I haven't seen a video card for a laptop in a long time and don't think you can get them anymore.

 

[Automata]

You used to be able to, but I haven't seen a video card for a laptop in a long time and don't think you can get them anymore.

...huh?

My Toshiba laptop has one (7900GTX), it completely depends on the laptop. They didn't just stop making them cards, that would hurt production costs.

 

[mblue]

Them tell him where to buy one.

 

[Automata]

...like I said, it completely depends on the laptop. Hard to tell someone "where to buy one" when we don't even know what laptop we are working with.

My guess is that eBay will be the best spot to look.

 

[Stavros]

I come bearing gifts! Ok, I popped the back off of his laptop to take a look at it. I think this is a GPU integrated into the motherboard, but I wanted a second opinion.





Edit: My brother bought his laptop from Ibuypower.com. I checked to see if they sell just GPUs, but they only sell desktops and laptops.

 

[Automata]

To know for sure, you will have to remove the cooling system. My guess though is you will not be able to change it, I don't see a slot for the card and it looks perfectly level with everything else.

Opinions though? That cpu heatpipe is HUGE.

 

[Stavros]

Oh boy. I'm not too sure I want to open that can of worms, but I guess if I have to be sure I'll do it.

 

[Automata]

I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to change it

 

[Ethre]

Agreed. Although I can't say for certain without actually seeing it, there doesn't look to be doable.

I don't think IBuyPower sells any parts. I also don't think they offer customizable (video card wise) laptops.

 

[don256us]

I did a google search for your laptop. The first photo shows the model number.

The answer is "No".

You can not replace the video card on this laptop.

To respond to mblue, only a very small few ever sold laptops with a replaceable video card. Only a very few. These were uber high end and did not maintain proper sales for the companies to continue develpement. Alienware comes to mind. In fact they may have been the first.

Bottom line, laptops do not offer interchangeable video cards with only a slight number of exceptions.

 

[ps2cho]

I did a google search for your laptop. The first photo shows the model number.

The answer is "No".

You can not replace the video card on this laptop.

To respond to mblue, only a very small few ever sold laptops with a replaceable video card. Only a very few. These were uber high end and did not maintain proper sales for the companies to continue develpement. Alienware comes to mind. In fact they may have been the first.

Bottom line, laptops do not offer interchangeable video cards with only a slight number of exceptions.

There are so many restrictions. Most them are due to size limitations....Many of the cards are oriented to certain positions inside the laptop. If a core is SLIGHTLY moved on newer cards, then heatsinks don't match up for example. Heat is another huge issue.

Although my 8600M GT in my Inspiron is dedicated....there will never be an upgrade IMO for my laptop...

 

[EchoTheDolphin]

Even if it were upgradeable you'd have to depend on a third-party selling it (as it's not something you can buy OEM or from ANY retailer. Laptop upgrades, especially on consumer-targetted systems instead of botique or business grade systems, is generally not in the least bit cost-effective unless it's memory or hard drive.