help on graphics cards please?

im pretty new to the computer scene and i was wondering.. in my acer travelmate 2700 ive got a dreadful ati mobility radeon 9000 igp and i want a new one can it be changed? ive already changed the ram to 2gig so some parts definitely can be changed... if it can, could someone recommend a good gfx card thats fairly cheap (less that £100 which is about $200) that will play most modern games, will run vista and will last me a while?

thanks, tru

 

Welcome.

Graphics cards are generally non-upgradable. Ram can be upgraded quite easily, but graphics cards are a whole different thing. The heat they produce and the additional power and so on means no.

 

Simple answer is no. Your graphics card is soldered onto the motherboard. You cannot change it.

 

then why do i see loaaads of gfx cards for sale? :S

 

For desktops?

 

Some laptops use an MXM connection, and so, they can be swapped with a few other GPUs. However, most laptops have their GPUs soldered on to the motherboard, so that power consumption and heat dissapation is more efficient. You might be able to upgrade your GPU, but there isn't much point. You'll probably run into problems even if you can upgrade your GPU. The new card might not fit, it could be dangerous as it uses more power, or emits more heat, and as laptop GPUs are rarely sold alone, they can cost a lot more than £100.

Desktop and Notebook GPUs are different and are not intercompatable with each other.