Is it guaranteed we will be able to upgrade to the 8800m with the 5791?

Or whatever video card surpasses the 7950gtx in performance?

 

You can not expect upgrade guarantees to be fulfilled by manufacturers.
When the first 256 bit directx 10 video card becomes available I will purchase my notebook computer. I do not believe you will be able to upgrade the video card in the future. For any notebook computer from any manufacturer.

 

There sure is a high chance though, but as mentioned, there is no guarantee.

 

i've read that there is no guarantee whatsoever... though people seem to think the chances are that it will be upgradeable.

i was going to wait too but there is just no darn official release. i really needed a new laptop so i figure, i'll take the chances.

plus, there is ALWAYS going to be something better eventually or sooner, so i just got to make do with what i can get right now.

 

Heres the thing, the ports on the laptop are PCI Express, which all video cards use today. Since this laptop has those ports, it is very similar to a desktop, and in desktops you can interchange video cards as long as they are compatible with the port. I don't see a problem upgrading to the 8800 when it comes out, unless the 8800 requires a completely different port to interface with the motherboard.

 

You can have the same interface, but different form factor -- so new hardware might not fit physically inside your machine.

New hardware may have different power requirements that exceed the capabilities of your current machine.

Thermally your machine may be unable to provide sufficient cooling to use the new hardware (regardless of power consumption).

Your current laptop or the new hardware may be electrically noisy which thrashes one or the other.

There are many reasons why your laptop may not be upgradeable. Your best bet is if the laptop OEM manufactures the new hardware. Then you may have hope that you can drop it into your current computer.

Upgrading is a mixed bag anyway. If your computer is so slow that it REQUIRES an upgrade, then chances are you're generations behind in hardware -- very little chance of upgrading then.

If your computer is not slow and you're just trying to grab the next hot thing, then your performance improvement wouldn't be that great over your current system -- so why upgrade in the first place.

My experience is just to max it out, ride it into the ground, repeat .

 

if only women were that easy.

 

One thign that worries me .. NVidia makes the chips, and defines the MXM specification, but they do not build the cards; ie: It is Clevo who would be building the cards (?)

Clevo has some interest in MXM expandability, since its one of the reasons peopel buy the machines in the first place.

At the same time, by not building this card, maybe they will sell new laptops to people who want that card.

Makes it interesting when the laptop manufacturer holds some of the cards..

But I could be very wrong.

jeff

 

I'm just going to hold out for the 8800 to come out for laptops and see if Sager offers it. If for some reason I don't feel that the 8800 will be coming out by the beginning of the year or I get too anxious for a laptop I will just go with the 8700GT SLI in the NP9261 model.

 

well, we'll have to see if the 8800 uses MXM4 which is what the 7950GTX uses (right?) i heard those 8800 cards use a lot of power!