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    SONY FW: diy gpu upgrade

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Petrovic, Jun 18, 2009.

  1. Petrovic

    Petrovic Notebook Consultant

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    I am looking at purchasing a Sony FW, but was wondering if the gpu is upgradable to something like the new nVidia GTX 280 M, or even the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850?

    Also, I have searched on the internet to buy a mobile gpu, but google yielded no results.

    Do I have to contact ATI/nVidia directly to obtain the certain gpu I want?
     
    Petrovic, Jun 18, 2009
    #1
  2. Inukami

    Inukami Notebook Consultant

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    Right now the current model only has a ATI 3650 512 MB but sony is about to refresh and come out with a new revision model very soon(weeks to a month) and you will have the option of the ATI 4650 512MB.
     
    Inukami, Jun 18, 2009
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  3. Petrovic

    Petrovic Notebook Consultant

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    Well, I knew that already~

    But, I was wondering if I can purchase a CTO Sony FW, obtain the parts and do the gpu upgrade by myself (do it yourself job)
     
    Petrovic, Jun 18, 2009
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  4. Wolf04

    Wolf04 Sony Fanatic

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    No, you can't do that. The GPU is non-upgradeable on the FW.
     
    Wolf04, Jun 18, 2009
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  5. scadsfkasfddsk

    scadsfkasfddsk Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah you can't upgrade the GPU in a FW, nor any other Sony laptop, they are soldiered to the motherboard.
     
    scadsfkasfddsk, Jun 18, 2009
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  6. Petrovic

    Petrovic Notebook Consultant

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    Why can't Sony and other similiar companies offer the ability to upgrade individual parts without trading it in?

    I guess it is all about the "money"~

    Thanks for the responses, I suppose I will just wait~
     
    Petrovic, Jun 18, 2009
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  7. fastbob

    fastbob Newbie

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    Actually, the reason it's soldered in most laptops is reliability. For some odd reason people expect their laptop to keep working even after dropping it off a chair. Don't try that with your desktop...
     
    fastbob, Jun 19, 2009
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  8. Derrida

    Derrida Notebook Deity

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    Heck, in the U.S., the laptop has to survive shipping throughout the U.S. to the Depot in San Diego for warranty repairs! LOL ;-)
     
    Derrida, Jun 19, 2009
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  9. scadsfkasfddsk

    scadsfkasfddsk Notebook Evangelist

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    Also ensures that silly people don't go and upgrade their graphics, installing components that the system can't handle. Any ATI 48XX or Nvidia 260/280 will fry itself fast in a FW due to the thin design and limited cooling system. Plus the battery/power in your laptop is only designed to provide so much power, the FWs power supply probably couldn't handle the high end ATI and Nvidia cards and therefore would most likely be constantly downclocked or not work at all.

    Add this to the stable and secure design element and you start to realize the GPUs are soldered in for a reason so not so smart people don't go through and try and change them.
     
    scadsfkasfddsk, Jun 19, 2009
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