Replacing GPU questions

How and what one must take in consideration when wanting to replace a GPU from a laptop? I mean would my current laptop even be able to provide enough power for a high end future card?
I know its possible to replace my current GPU but i think it would be expensive and possible cause trouble so basically once you buy a laptop even with a replaceable GPU, good changes are you still suck with it, no?

 

Depends on the laptop you have? You have to see whether or not your laptop can take 2 of the most common MXM 3.0b cards, Alienware cards and Clevo cards, you might have to worry about a vBIOS. Then you'd have to worry if you can directly put on your current GPU heatsink, VRAM, etc fit. Then also you'd have to see if your laptop can handle like a 780M, if your PSU can handle the extra load. Now if your laptop had an option to upgrade to a high end card and you are upgrading from a lower end card, usually you'll be fine (like Alienware 17/18).

 

It would help if we knew what laptop was being discussed in the first place...

 

That would help hahaha, also your BIOS has to support it ..

 

Both of these are valid requirements that should first be answered before we can talk about GPU upgrade or any upgrade of any kind.

 

Maybe possible if its a MXM videocard but also then it has to be the same body and the same amount of heat, spreaded by the video card.

 

Its the Medion Erazer X7821 with the GTX 680m and an i7-3630QM processor. And is the is the CPU replaceable?

 

The MXM standard used by the 680m dictates the power supplied by the MXM slow to the GPU. Unless you have a GPU that follows a different standard, you should be fine w.r.t power. That being said, with the different MXM standard, it most likely won't be backwards compatible so its a moot point.

Regarding price, you gotta pay what you gotta pay. Laptop GPU replacements are done by a small percentage of the end users. That is why most prefer to purchase a good GPU that will last them until they need to purchase a new laptop itself. The 680m is a very capable GPU. I am not sure why you'd want to replace it. What games are you not able to play currently? Upgrading GPUs is an option for those that have money to spend on such upgrades.

Regarding the CPU, same story. A quad core i7 should last you the lifetime (read 3 years) of the laptop. Beyond that, the upgrade would cost you more than it would be worth considering Haswell (the next gen step up from your CPU) is not supported by your motherboard.

So yes, you are stuck with your set up (except for RAM, SSD, etc. upgrades). However, you shouldn't NEED to upgrade for a pretty long while either.

 

All modern MXM cards are 3.0b, so kinda irrelevant.

In theory, if the Erazer is based off Clevo designs, the GPU is physically upgradable as everything these days in high end machines is MXM 3.0b. However Clevo have been known not to let the BIOS accept newer cards. In this case, it maybe best to contact Medion directly and see if they guarantee compatibility. And the processor is upgradable.

 

To add to what Tsunade said, upgradable to any other Ivy Bridge CPU, i7-3xxx series, you won't fit a Haswell in there. The precision was likely not needed, but just in case.

 

also might have to upgrade the PSU