Notebook Graphics Card

[Jon P. Inghram]

Doom 3? Didn't know it was out already, cool!

[Kurt]

Originally posted by ZokesPro
You are incorrect this time.

Only Alienware's new Area 51 model with the new ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 can and Dell's Inspiron XPS with the same card can be upgraded.

There are even more models that have interchangeable GPUs but just try to get the replacement cards... It's doable, but most brands don't sell separate GPUs. You can always try to ask, it won't cost you.

[Gurm]

Yeah, where exactly are you going to get the replacement cards? They're going to be 100% proprietary and I guarantee you it'll cost more than a new laptop to acquire one.

- Gurm

[Gurm]

And to answer the original poster's question - in MOST laptops the CPU is soldered in as well. Some of them are upgradeable, most are not.

Most laptops, you can upgrade the memory and hard disk ONLY.

- Gurm

[az]

AND if your CPU is NOT soldered in, the question is whether your Lappy's cooling solution can cope with the aditional heat from a faster CPU. In laptops, the cooling is more custom-taylored to the heat output than in desktops.

AZ

[Jammrock]

Gurm: UT2k4 went gold last night.

skinrock:

Unless the laptop is new and high end from certain manufactures, namely Alienware, VoodooPC, Dell, and maybe a couple others, your video card is NOT upgradable. More than likely everything is soldered to the motherboard. Upgradable video cards are only a new feature, and only gamer laptops have them, as gamers are the only ones who ever need an upgraded video card.

In other words ... if you want to upgrade your video card ... buy a new laptop, this time with one that has the upgrade slot.

Jammrock

[ZokesPro]

Originally posted by Gurm
Yeah, where exactly are you going to get the replacement cards? They're going to be 100% proprietary and I guarantee you it'll cost more than a new laptop to acquire one.

- Gurm

No doubt. But knowing DEll, I wonder if they are EVEn going to make any upgrades for their new models. That I highly doubt. Besides, the current system with a replacable card iut HUGE, even for a laptop.

[skinrock]

Update

OK, yes, the graphics card is soldered into the mb, the cpu is not, however. But I asked HP how fast I can go, they said they tested 2.53, even though they sell them with a 3.06. Anyways the 2.53 they want to sell me is 660 bucks! Screw that. I'm gonna pay off my credit cards and just build a custom pc, maybe by then they will have 512 mb graphics cards .

[Kurt]

Re: Update

Originally posted by skinrock
OK, yes, the graphics card is soldered into the mb, the cpu is not, however. But I asked HP how fast I can go, they said they tested 2.53, even though they sell them with a 3.06. Anyways the 2.53 they want to sell me is 660 bucks! Screw that. I'm gonna pay off my credit cards and just build a custom pc, maybe by then they will have 512 mb graphics cards .

what model is it (bis) ?

[Gurm]

Well you CAN just order up a mobile Pentium from somewhere online. You don't HAVE to get the one from HP.

- Gurm