Can you upgrade the video card on a laptop?

[Inspector Jihad]

I have a Sony Vaio PCG-FRV37 with a Radeon IGP 345M graphics card.

 

[crazyeddie]

Probably not without a degree in electrical engineering.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: crazyeddie
Probably not without a degree in electrical engineering.

Even then it would be tricky

 

[Inspector Jihad]

really...why is it so complicated? It seems in this day and age where upgrading is so popular it would be something that should be supported.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I actually think there might be some that support it, but the problem is that the videocards are disigned to fit into the very limited space of the laptops. The PCBs are strangely shaped in order to fit around specific components and specific laptops. Nothing is standard.

I think the most likely thing would be if you originally had an option to upgrade the videocard on your specific model, if you send it back to the manufacturer you might be able to get them to put in the upgrade that would work with your model.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Example: shape of a mobility radeon 9700

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Example: shape of a mobility radeon 9700

LOL thats the entire motherboard not just the GPU.

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: crazyeddie
Probably not without a degree in electrical engineering.

I don't think that would help.
Replacing the mobo would help, but then with a new mobo you need a new case (new laptop).

 

[otispunkmeyer]

yes the newer chips like the 6800go etc have been designed to be removable/upgradable

 

[Peter]

Funny what ideas people have ...

The IGP unit is (I)ntegrated, inside the chipset. You can't remove that. Some notebook designs do have a slot for a discrete graphics unit. Most of the time, those cards are proprietary, and even if ATi's or NVidia's generic card design is used, the notebook must be designed to take the upgrade.

So, grab your model #, ask the vendor, and if they got nothing then there is nothing.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
I have a Sony Vaio PCG-FRV37 with a Radeon IGP 345M graphics card.

Some laptops do have replaceable/upgradeable video cards and have for some time now. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any industry-wide laptop video card standard implemented. I believe there was some talk about creating one, but am unsure if anything ever came of it.

In your situation, your laptop doesn't actually have a video "card", per se. The graphics core is integrated in the motherboard northbridge. It gets its memory by allocating a selectable amount of system memory for video use. Since the video core is soldered to the motherboard, there is nothing you can replace or upgrade.

There are some PCMCIA video cards out there, but I haven't looked at them enough to know their advantages/disadvantages.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: JBT

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Example: shape of a mobility radeon 9700

LOL thats the entire motherboard not just the GPU.

whoops