945PM - dedicated GPU? What does it really mean?

Heya


Been searching alot about this but i can't find any other info than it has a dedicated card as for example the nvidia 7600GO, what i understand the GPU is a separate card in the laptop. Does this mean it could be upgraded? Because i haven't seen anything that doesn't say that or vice versa.

I know the majority of laptops cant upgrade the GPU's and i suspect that this laptop can't do it either, but i just wanna know Always fun to upgrade everything that's possible on a laptop to it's maximum specs.


Thanks!
// Michel.K

 

945 PM Chipset. The integrated graphics port is disabled, and there is a discrete GPU. Now MXM wasn't mainstream during the Napa Era, so it is likely that your GPU is soldered to the motherboard. You can either confirm this by getting the Service Manual for your notebook, or just open it up and check.

Plus MXM wasn't really developed keeping in mind upgrades. It was for making GPU replacements easier in case of failures. Because when upgrading a component, you have to consider the Power Consumption, BIOS Support, Cost, Availability etc etc.

Plus, I don't think the Go 7600 was available in a MXM form factor.

If the GPU has a proprietary form factor, then it'll be hard to find an upgrade that will be compatible with the MoBo.

 

945PM isn't a Dedicated GPU,

"The Mobile Intel® 945PM Express chipset delivers outstanding system performance through high-bandwidth interfaces such as dual-channel DDR2 memory, 667 MHz system bus, PCI Express* x16 graphics port and PCI Express x1 I/O ports, next generation Serial ATA and Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity. Use of the Mobile Intel® 945PM Express chipset includes support for Intel® Active Management Technology, the next generation of remote client network management for business."

more info : http://www.intel.com/products/notebook/chipsets/945pm/945pm-overview.htm

 

Thanks for your reply Andy, you seem to be a true notebook-guru
Haven't had time to open the notebook up yet, so that's why i'm asking!

That was exactly the answer i was looking for!
And yeah i know the problem about powerconsumption and such, but there's usualy a way around in some cases, i've done alot of soldering-mods through my days



vinumsv: it's not an integrated GPU anyways. The 945GM has integrated GPU.

 

I think the 945GM/PM have the same chipset, though the GM has an Integrated GPU with the PCI Express* x16 graphics port disabled, and the PM has the PCI Express* x16 graphics port, with the integrated graphics port disabled.

I won't really do any soldering on a laptop motherboard. Would rather invest in a new notebook, with a cheap CPU, HDD, RAM etc, but with a good GPU, since MXM-GPUs are hard to come by, whereas the other components are widely available as Retail/OEM.

A future external graphics solution also wouldn't work well, mainly considering the Price-Factor !!

EDIT: NBR choking again !!

Naw, I ain't really a guru yet.

 

Hehe, well it seems like vinumsv is kind of correct, i downloaded the service manual and it seems like the GPU is merged with the whole MB, cause there aint no external GPU-card there.


It's fun to do solderingmods, even on these things i'm more of if you can do it, do it, and not into buying something new and more powerful not as much fun
But in this case i can't really do anything to the GPU, so a more GPU-powerful notebook would be the solution


In my eyes it seems like you know every little thing that's fun to know about laptops, so that makes you a notebook-guru for me! hehe



EDIT!!

Just found this post! http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=86864 it's an older sticky, this sticky would have helped me if it would still be a sticky