Nvidia GeForce 445M GT GDDR5 instead 9600M GT

Hello guys,

I have a Compal HL90 laptop with following specs:

C2D P8400 - 2,23GHz
4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
320GB SATAII 7200rpm HDD
Nvidia geforce 9600M GT 512MB
1680x1050 TFT 15,6" display

And I'd like to upgrade my graphic card, I found Geforce 445M GT with GDDR5 memory, which should be about twice the performance of my current card.

I have 90W power adapter for the notebook, and I checked that 445M has about the same power consumption as 9600M GT (about 30W). So it should be possible, TDP should be same also ...
The question is does any of you guys know dimensions of 445M GT with GDDR5? If it will fit in place of 9600M GT .. that is my concern.

And also does anyone have an idea where I could by 445M GT? And for how much?

Thank you!

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but unlike desktop, most laptop GPUs are NOT upgradable, they are usually directly soldered onto the motherboard, only very few models from Clevo alike and Alienware have upgrade options, even then the choices are still severely limited. Just because a card physically fits into your laptop doesn't guarantee it will work, modified heatsink, Bios support from your laptop manufacture are all required to make it actually work.

So in short, you can simply put the upgrade out of your mind.

 

Yes, I know of that.
But I dismantled my laptop several times - I needed to replace thermal conducing paste on GPU because of overheating and I thik in my case the GPU can be removed - it holds on place by 4 screwes ... so only thing I need to find out if the replacement card will mechanicaly fit to motherboard slot and can be fixed in place same way as the old one and that heatpipe cooling will work with the new one - needs to fit on GPU.

Also another problem is actually to find someone who will sell the new gpu to me

 

A common misconception...

Nvidia only manufactures the GPU. When you talk about a graphics CARD, there are many more manufacturers involved - essentially you are referring to a PCB of which there are many different types (with the same 445m GPU core).

Specifically, in this case you need a somewhat standard MXM 2.1 PCB with the Nvidia GPU onboard. This does NOT exist. It doesn't even exist on MXM 3.0 AFAIK.

If you want a more feasible option, you can try a 9800m GT, Quadro FX 3600m or 3700m, they are a lot bigger and you'd need to find some kind of different better heatsink:

You could also try certain types of ATI 4870. All these are available on Ebay and other sites.

Another option, if that card simply wont fit in your laptop physically, maybe one of these will:
Asus G60J Laptop Video Card GTS 360M 1GB 60-NYLVG1000 69N0GZV10C11 | eBay
BRAND NEW ASUS G60J VIDEO CARD 60-NX5VG1000-A01 | eBay

Unfortunately its very likely you would need to solder an EEPROM onto the board and flash a compatible vBIOS. I just ordered a gts 360m which is 1gb gddr5 BTW and equal power to the 445m, and I have the vBIOS.
I'll see how it goes... I haven't seen the hl90 but its likely you're better of trying an FX 3600m.

 

Thank you for clarification, I thought the graphic card has its own vBIOS by manufacturer and it is NOT dependent on motherboard - is that what you ment?

Next time I'll dismantle my laptop, I'll check the way the card is fixed in place and if it looks like some of the cards available on ebay - at least remote possibility to change it

But since the card costs about 200 USD - I think I'll build myself desktop PC