Upgrading video card on a laptop?

okay well i was looking on ebay trying to buy a refurbished laptop and i came across this guy selling a Nvidia Geforce Go 7950GTX video card. He said that it was new out of the box and he tested it but he also said that you could put it in any dell inspiron 9400/E1705,or XPS M1710 and it should work,but to my understanding i have learned that laptops aren't video card interchangable. with the exceptions of MXM. So is this true or is this guy just saying a bunch of Bull Crap?

 

Well, certain laptops can be upgraded and it is very difficult at times.


Also....the 1710 comes with the 7950 GTX...so

 

yeah...i knew that the XPS 1710 had a 7950GTX but i had heard that if a laptop came with another video card then it would be nearly immpossible to change it out. O and the guy also mentioned that the laptop must have a video card,the graphics must not be intergrated. but is it possible that you could change it out on a 1705? Has there been any people to have done it?

 

Well, ASUS has a product that lets you use a different GPU on your laptop if you can't switch the old GPU out.

http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=5369

 

ok well i have come across this website
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/349/1/
And it shows somebody upgrading their laptop from a ATI Radeon Mobility x1400 to a 7800 go...and if this can happen could it also be possibe to do the same thing with a go 7950GTX?

 

If the guy has the Dell 7950GTX, then this will fit in the Dell m1710 or m90. (I know because I've upgraded my m90 from fx1500m to 7950GTX.) The XPS m1710 can be configured with a 7900GS or a 7950GTX, so if you could upgrade that notebook from 7900GS to 7950GTX.

The 9400/E1705 can be configured with a an ATI X1400 or a 7900GS, but the design of the graphics card is slightly different (compared with a card designed to fit in the m1710/m90) in that it has only a single heatpipe (versus two). The Dell 7950GTX only comes with two heatpipes, so if you want to fit that card into a 9400, some internal chassis modification is required to allow the cad to fit.

Ginga

 

Where do you guys buy your upgrades and how much do they cost?

 

Depends on the laptop. Dell uses their own modular graphics design, so the parts have to come from another Dell laptop or direct from Dell. Others use MXM or AXIOM standard designs, so you can get those for specialized dealers. Yet more use a modified version of MXM/AXIOM, and you either have to get the part direct from that dealer or another dealer that uses the same type of modded card. Then other laptops (most of them) cannot be upgraded at all...

 

I'm just wondering as I'm hoping to get a Rock/Sager 770/5970RU (I can't remember the exact numbers >.<) and wanted to know if I should get the 8700 now for the next year- two years then upgrade to the 8800 or higher after. OR if I should get the 7950 GTX to start off with but end up paying £100 more.

 

mxm.com has all the known mxm laptops as well as confirming if your laptop does not support mxm.