How Can You Tell If YOu Can Upgrade Your Graphics Card?

I know about MXM. And most new gaming laptops come with MXM III GPUs.

But I hear different messages about whether it will be possible to upgrade your GPU in the future.

Some say yes, others say no. It's a matter of actually fitting the GPU in your slot and having the right connections and cooling systems.

But I have been settling on buying the Sager 5797. It comes with the 280M, MXM III.

2 years down the line, I don't want to fork over another 3K to get a new laptop, I rather just spend $600 and buy a new GPU, for example what might be the 400M series.

If the GPUs then are still MXM III, and how likely is that anyway?...will I be able to upgrade? Or will there be heat issues? Perhaps be then GPUs will be MORE energy efficient, so it might now be an issue.

 

strictly speaking of gaming notebooks with standardized MXM modules.... not the numerous gaming notebooks with proprietary modules (like .Dell's, .Toshiba's, etc.)

up to now..... the MXM standard has been:
- Type I (2.x)
- Type II (2.x)
- Type III (2.x)
- Type IV (2.x)

Top card in the 2.x MXM modules is the Nvidia GTX 280M.

The most recent Nvidia MXM standard has moved to MXM 3.0
- Type A
- Type B

The Clevo D900F (Sager 9820) has the MXM 3.0 Type B.... Nvidia GTX 280M

I will be confirming if the M17x Refresh model has it or not this week at E3.

 

What does the Sager 5797 have? Type III or II? Type B?

Will I be able upgrade it to the 400M?

 

The NP5797 has MXM 2.1 for type III cards. No you will not be able to upgrade the machine to the 400M.

 

The Clevo M570RU (5790/1/2/3), M570TU/ETU (5796/5797) and D901C all have:
- MXM Type IV (2.x)
.... fully backwards compatible with Type II and III.

 

MXM is incredibly confusing, and OEMs certainly aren't doing those of us who are equipped with slots any favours by failing to provide cards.

 

I am going to buy the Sager NP9280. It has a 280M GPU with MXM 3.0 Type B. It it an upgradeable GPU slot.

However, I won't spend money to upgrade for the 300M if it's only a 15-20% performance improvement over the 280M. What I would do is wait for a greater GPU to come out, maybe the 400M series 2 years down the road, which would have a much greater performance improvement. Or there could be whole new design breakthrough, like the 8800 GT was.

THEN, I would want to upgrade, Would I be able to still? Or would there be a MXM 4.0 or 5.0 by then. How long will the MXM3.0 Type B be upgradeable?

It's a matter of fitting into the slot and have the right cooling system, right? But I thought GPUs tend to get more energy efficient as technology improves so that should not be a problem right?

 

I think you just answered your own question, sameet.

Theoretically yes, the NP9280's GPU can be upgraded providing that the 300M and the 400M are released in MXM 3, and the system BIOS supports the new cards. But right now, it is hard to accurately speculate that far ahead in GPU technology. It is a matter of the ODM's producing the necessary cards for the slots they will fit in.