Please help - need info on Graphics card

Hi friends

I recently bought a Toshiba Satelliite A105 which comes with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950* with 8MB-128MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory, 2 GB RAM etc.

The inbuilt graphics card is not meant for 3d gaming and litteraly gives me a 'slide show' kind of animation on Hitman-Blood money game. The laptop was purchased from circuitcity hence I didnt have the option of configuring it.

So I need to know, Can I add an external graphics card from nvidia or ATI, like in the PC card slot or PCMIA slot or ExpressCard slot in my notebook, and increase the game play efficiency ? for example - Like adding a USB bluetooth to a notebook USB port to make it work for bluetooth devices like fone.

is it possible ? Any info will be highly appreciated.

 

No. It is not.

 

so U mean only way possible to increase the game play efficiency for my notebook wud be to open it up and add a new graphics card to it ?

 

sorry forgot to thank u for ur post

 

You can't upgrade the graphics in there, you are stuck with the integrated Intel GMA I'm afraid.

 

Basically, the only option for better graphics on it is to get a new laptop. Laptops usually can't be upgraded like desktops, and yours definitely can't be upgraded (someone correct me if I'm wrong and the Toshiba uses MXM or something)

 

Thanks friends for all inform, may be I will have to leave game play and do some useful computing only on my laptop. Coz I just bought a new one.

 

Hey, you can still play nifty things like LBreakout2, or Scorched3D, or Neverball/Neverputt (all free... search Google), as well as older games like Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament. And possibly even some newer games at a lower resolution. You just won't be playing the latest games, especially not at your native display resolution.

 

even if that model laptop had dedicated version available, any model that comes with the 900/950 (or any integrated chip) comes with a motherboard that sacrifices the MXM/PCIe/AXIOM slot for the integrated GPU.

 

can u possibly play CS:S with that?

 

Its possible.

800x600 @ High Qual = 20.2fps So possibly at low settings at 640x480 you might stand a chance I guess

 

The Source engine is pretty much the best optimised engines around and scales really well. If you turn down the settings most Source games (inc. Counter Strike) should run reasonably well.

 

Forcing a DirectX 7 path will give you very playable framerates, google to see how to do it. You loose the shading effects, but CS:S looks great either way. I ran DX7 on my GF4 MX440 for the longest time before getting a DX9 card, can't say there was a drastic difference. For other games, that's a different story.

 

Yep, when you're in the middle of a match, the last thing you want to do is look at the pretty water effects in Aztec.

 

i just wish every game is based on source engine..

it would rock

imagin playing bf2 on an older card w/ ok graphic

 

Except for the fact that you'd then have to use Steam. Screw that. I like my computer and programs being mine to command, not mine to use at the behest of some 2-bit development shack. They've got a great graphical engine, it just baffles me how much they hate their customers, and how many people apparently like being treated like criminals, especially when they aren't.