Upgrading 8920G GPU

Heya all,

Long time lurker, new poster. Name's Chung and I'm from Melbourne, Australia. Purchased my 8920G-8332Q32Bn a few months back and at the time, the GeForce 9650 wasn't available so I settled for the 9500M GS. I find its performance very sluggish and read somewhere that these lappies come with "MXM-II" meaning the GPU's are swappable? Would anyone know of the costs associated and if it's even possible. Thanks in advanced!

Regards,
Chung

P/s I don't know if there's something faulty with my GPU. I installed Microsoft FS9.1 with AF at 4x and AA at 8 and used to average 40fps. Now, under the same settings, same scenery, same amount of scenery, I barely make 15fps. I've tried resetting all settings in FS and the Nvidia Control panel but to no avail. I do notice that the laptop is much much hotter than before.

 

All together now;

No, you cannot upgrade your video card.

 

Mr. Kubelwagen, that needs to be corrected.

Unless you are very lucky and have money to blow, you cannot upgrade your video card.

And Chung, you are indeed lucky. The 8920G has an MXM-III slot, which can accept an MXM-II card like your 9500M GS or an MXM-III card like the 9650M GS.
You most certainly can perform the upgrade, but it's going to be costly - 250€ plus taxes.
Click here and add part number 55.AP70N.001 to your cart.
Hopefully, that store ships to Australia.

EDIT: Of course, now that I re-read your post, you mention that the laptop seems hotter. It's possible that your intake fan is getting clogged like mine. Some einstein in Acer Design thought it'd be smart to put a mesh screen in between the fan and the bottom of the casing to filter out dust. The trouble is, the dust stays there and accumulates, starving your poor fan. I'd crack the case open and blow the schmutz out with a can of compressed air. That usually helps on my system.

 

Try out a random MXM-III card, flash the Acer BIOS on to it, and see if it works. (Only if money is not an issue)
Otherwise, only the 9650M GS is known to work.

 

That's true - in theory you could use just about any MXM-III card, as long as the BIOS is compatible.
Check over at the MXM-Upgrade.com forums.

 

Yes, 8920G has an MXM-III slot. And is backward compatible with MXM-II/I.

 

Thanks all for the prompt replies. I've read through the MXM forums and downloaded the Service Guide. I'm a noob when it comes to tampering with my hardware, but is replacing the 9500 with the 9650 as easy has plug and play or do I have to unscrew or remove any prior soldering, resolder and reformat my laptop? Trying to source the 9650 locally. I'll keep you guys updated.

Cheers,
Chung

 

Hmmm...
The way I see it, it will involve removing your back cover, heatsinks, and then the GPU proper. Some unscrewing will be involved, but no soldering.
What you WILL need to make sure of is that you put a fresh dollop of thermal paste on the new GPU before affixing the heatsink to it and putting everything back together.

 

so, would any laptop that would have two GPU options be able to upgrade in the future? Or is it only laptops with MXM II or III?

For example: A HDX Dragon with an ATI HD 2600 XT. Is it possible to put a 8800GTS in there? That is the other option chosen by HP, so we know it can be supported

 

Not every laptop, gaz, just the ones with MXM slots. Some notebooks with multiple GPU options may still have those GPUs soldered to the motherboard.
I know Acer has moved towards MXM adoption - I wouldn't know if HP has as well.

And keep in mind, there are FIVE MXM types out there - I, II, III, HE, and IV.
When the next MXM standard is released, though, it'll be simplified down to Type A and Type B.
Whenever that is, I have no idea