How realistic is it to upgrade a dedicated graphics card in a laptop?

Since the advent of the dedicated grapics cards in some laptops a couple of years ago with the purpose being the ability to upgrade the card if desired; I have considered buying a laptop that is sufficient for my immediate needs and fits my current budget.

In reality how can a change be accomplished. I understand that the card that comes with the computer can be removed; but where does one purchase a new (more powerful) graphics card to put in place. I have searched for some reputable company that sells graphics cards for laptops/notebooks but have not had any success. I have checked newegg.com but they only have the cards for desktops.

If I could buy a 7900GS or 7900GTX in the future the prospect of buying a laptop with a X1600 or 7600 would not be so much of a roadblock to my buying now.

So what I am looking for from you knowledgeable people are reputable sources where I can purchase graphics cards for a laptop that I might buy in the near future. Let's assume the graphics card uses a PCI-e slot.

 

Upgrading GPUs in a laptop is generally impossible with very few exceptions. Use this link to read the sticky at the top of this forum.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=64910

 

Not very realistic, it is possible though. Only one I know it's easy to upgrade is the Dell E1705, but there are others depending if they're MXM. I don't remember the name but there's a forum member that sells upgradable dedicated graphics cards.

 

Remember also that just because you buy a laptop that is advertised as having upgradeable graphics doesn't necessarily mean that its ever going to be feasible. Supply is close to non existent and prices are high. Installation may prove to be troublesome as well along with finding cards that fit within the physical, power and thermal constraints of your laptop. I'd never buy a laptop whilst relying on the prospect of upgrading graphics along the line. Just get the best you can afford now.

 

The member name is ICE-TEA. Has pictures of MXM in his sig. line. I've talked to dell in regards to the 1705 and it was a nightmare. I'm pretty sure if you did it and ordered they would send you a desktop card.

 

Bigepilot thanks for the reply.

You lost me in your last sentence.
I do not understand what "it" refers to in your last sentence. I hate to assume what you mean.
Do you mean by "it" that if I ordered a laptop from Dell they would send me a graphics card at a later date if I wanted to upgrade the system that I had purchased from them?

I will search for posts by ICE-TEA to see what might be relevant to my question. Thanks again.

 

he means that if you ordered a graphics card for a laptop from dell they'd probably give you one for the desktop

 

Ok, I see that Dell offers a Inspiron E1705 with a 7900GS with 256MB as an optional choice for a graphics card.
I also have read that nVidia came out with an open architecture standard called MXM back in 2004 for mobile graphics cards.
It seems that ATI has adopted this standard for their mobile graphics cards; at least for the X1800.
I have also gone to http://mxm-upgrade.com and read that there is a highly limited supply of graphics cards available from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum where ICE-TEA posts his wares. I infer that he sells out of Europe as the prices are in Euros. That complicates things for those who wish to import stuff from Europe with all the tariffs and duties imposed and paperwork to comply with who know what laws.
It sure would be nice is some honest, knowledgable, enterprising entrepeneur would start a service/site in the United States which would provide a spectrum of mobile graphics cards for sale to those who wish to upgrade systems they have.
Some place that is already in the business of selling customized laptop/notebook systems would be ideal to branch out and offer this service.

 

Here's the deal with laptop graphics...

Only Dells, Clevos, and MXM capable laptops are upgradeable. Dells are only upgradeable to the cards available to it's line, and usually requires a bigger power adapter. Clevos have their own proprietary design. MXM is an industsry standard for upgradeable graphics cards for laptops. Ice-Tea does indeed sell these cards, and his site is full of information regarding MXM, and can be viewed at www.mxm-upgrade.com. There, you can find information on how to upgrade, and which laptops have MXM. Chances are, the upgrade isn't going to be straight forward either...

OOPs, looks like you found out about him already. I have heard MXM cards being available on eBay, but I am not 100% sure if they work.

 

brain_stew hit the nail on the head with this post. Keep in mind that even though Dell claims that their GPUs are upgradeable, it is very possible that by the time you want to replace the GPU in your laptop there won't be any feasible solutions that will fit the design of your system.

MXM is a great idea and concept. Unfortunately it has never really been implemented. There are very few MXM systems today.

I can understand the desire to want to prolong the life of an investment as big as a gaming laptop, but only desktops can offer the true upgradeability of components. There are simply too many restrictions when it comes to laptops.

 

Ahem... Somebody summoned me?

Regarding shipping to the US: I've done it several times, no prob. I'm currently operating privately, but I'm making the transition to 'company' status.

I currently just ship them in a padded envelope and I've never ran into paper troubles. Still sifting through regulations, but it would seem shipping to the states is fairly straight forward. Additional benifit: prices for non-EU citizens would go down about 20% as no taxes are inposes.

Regards,

Ice-Tea

 

It would be nice to have the option to change the graphics card in a laptop/notebook that is purchased today with a type III MXM card.
For example let's assume that a 17" widescreen with a 7600, 1600 or even 7900 is bought today. Next year Vista arrives and some time thereafter there are all sorts of applications that take advantage of DirectX 10. Certainly the graphics card manufacturers will produce cards that are designed for DirectX 10. It would be nice to have the option to change out the 7600, 1600 or 7900 for a DirectX 10 card. Putting out $2000 to $4000 (or more if SLI) on a gaming laptop seems less justifiable now than it has in last couple of years due to DirectX 10 looming on the horizon.

If the graphics card/cards were easily upgradable, then the useful life of the system could be extended by years.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be wide availability of MXM cards.

Ice-Tea, I hope that your venture in supplying MXM cards prospers.