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Laptop Upgrading

Started by Peon Jun 3, 2003 at 5:42 PM 7 replies 300+ views

Original Post

Jun 3, 2003 at 5:42 PM

I know laptops aren''t meant to be upgradable for the most part, but I was wondering if it would be possible to swap out a 3D card? Just asking... I''ve been too afraid to take anything apart yet, but wanted to upgrade possibly, at some point if possible. So is it possible, and if so, has anyone done it?

AnonymousPosterChild

Jun 3, 2003 at 5:45 PM

Depends on the laptop. A lot of this stuff is directly itegrated, but nothing is stopping you from giving it a shot. I have a bastard laptop myself.

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Democracy may only be a few steps removed from anarchy, but at least it isn''t as loud.

Michalson

Jun 3, 2003 at 6:09 PM

It is highly unlikely (read: impossible, I''m only covering myself incase there is some freak laptop out there). The "video card" on laptops, along with just about everything else, is integrated into a custom motherboard. About the only things you can change are the memory (typically 1 or 2 slots), the harddrive, depending on the model you may have one or more modular bays to change components (replace CD with DVD, or floppy with ZIP drive). Some laptops have upgradable CPUs, though a lot still have the CPU soldered directly to the motherboard.

Peon

Jun 3, 2003 at 9:19 PM

Yea, I have a stock laptop so all of that stuff is probably integrated. The reason I ask is because my 3D card is not that good. It can run FPS, but they''re not very playable, lol. Thanks for the info though.

falkone

Jun 3, 2003 at 9:34 PM

Yeah, same here.. i''m running a laptop with an onboard trident video card that shares memory with the system... no way to upgrade, so my next purchase is going to be probably an alienware system.. or something similiar (Area51-M has a 128mb radeon9000.. beats out my geforce3 on my main box).

CGameProgrammer

Jun 4, 2003 at 4:51 AM

I remember reading about a relatively new laptop that does let you swap out the video card, but most do not. Mine doesn''t, annoyingly -- it''s a 32MB GeForce2 which isn''t at all bad, but one with shaders would be better (and able to run more games).

~CGameProgrammer( );

Critical_Waste

Jun 4, 2003 at 1:55 PM

my laptop has a 4 mb video card...

cowsarenotevil

Jun 4, 2003 at 1:58 PM

quote:
Original post by Critical_Waste
my laptop has a 4 mb video card...

Mine has a "neomagic" video card, which is sad because neomagic stopped making notebook components years ago...

Critical_Waste

Jun 4, 2003 at 2:20 PM

quote:
Original post by cowsarenotevil
quote:
Original post by Critical_Waste
my laptop has a 4 mb video card...

Mine has a "neomagic" video card, which is sad because neomagic stopped making notebook components years ago...

You just named it.

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