Can you later swap video cards

in a laptop physically. Say half a year after you've bought it?

 

Depends what notebook.

But 97% of notebooks can't. The 2% has a chance to if the brand ever decides to release something(For example, the Dell 1520 has the 8600GT and is removable under Dell's own proprietary slot format, and *can* be switched to the 8400GS, but its a downgrade. If Dell chooses to release the 1520 with something better, then yes, it can be switched). The remaining 1% is notebooks with MXM-I/II/III/IV format, and have a high chance to be modular(note not upgraded) later on. A list is here: http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Table.html

 

that sucks

 

Indeed, due to each notebook having a different chassis and no general design is the same means each and every notebook is different inside, with different sized motherboards, cooling system, etc.

Generally, we can just say notebooks can not be upgraded video card wise, unless its explicitly says so, and even then, there are restraints.

 

all i hear is that your video card was built around your system so swapping video cards is near impossible in terms of compliance and such, but that is just what i've been told ever since i got my laptop

 

um, is there a way on here to swap threads to another forum? I didn't Mean to double post but I think it fit better here once I saw

 

Even that MXM stuff isn't guaranteed. There were originally 3 forms, but now a fourth, more power hungry and heat venting form is required for the latest cards.

 

I thought I read a few posts on here about people talking about sending their laptops to Sager to have the new nvidias put into their 9260s when they are out, but not sure what this entails. I would certainly do it at some point if it's possible even just to take advantage of the SLI b/c my config currently has just one card.

 

Can't you just request to purchase the video card and then upgrade it yourself? It seems like a hassle to have to send it to Sager.

 

I don't think most of these cards are available at retail and they seem to fetch a pretty penny on e-bay. Not sure about the other issues though. I'd be interested to know what the process is actually for people that have done it or are considering doing it.

 

And even if it accepts MXM cards, there's no guarantee it works. For example, the nx9420 accepts MXM cards, but no one so far got theirs to work.

 

As far as I know and from what Hp support told me, I am unable to upgrade my nx9420 ati x1600 video card. But that`s fine, it`s still a very powerfull GPU

 

eleron, the x1600 would be what I consider an average GPU. Very powerful would be cards like the 7950gtx or the 8700m.