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Graphics for laptop??

nevski

nevski

nevski

Associate
Joined
27 May 2006
Posts
70
Hi

I'm about to purchase a laptop either based on the Intel 945GM chipset with Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics or based on the Intel 965GM chipset with the GMA X3100 integrated graphics. If later I decided I didn't want to use the integrated graphics on the laptop any longer & instead wanted to install a graphics card, could I do this? Is this upgrade possible on either chipset?

Thanks :)
 
Generally speaking I think there tends to be two variants of laptop chipsets, one with inbuilt and one without. The ones without have the seperate graphics solutions and can (sometimes but not usually) be upgraded. The ones with inbuilt graphics generally (as far as I'm aware anyway) wont have a slot and thus cannot be upgraded.

it is quite unusual to upgrade a laptops graphics solution being honest, though I knew somebody that once upped an old Del in built 32mb card to a newer 64mb one a few years back.

Also, most laptop manufacturers BIOS lock what the laptop can and can not accept. Not all do it but its very hard to tell which do and which dont. For example my old HP NC4000 laptop will only accept certain brands and indeed models of WiFi card.
 
The vast majority of laptops are a dead end as far as graphics are concerned. There are no widely available upgrades. Intel integrated is fine for Vista Aero and really old games but forget anything new.

ASUS and MSI currently have plans to release external graphics card housings for laptops. They will require an expresscard slot (so you could check if the laptops you have in mind have them). In both cases you can forget about gaming on the move. The laptop will plug into these things and use an external monitor. It's kind of a docking station sort of arrangement.

An alternative would be to try a laptop with a Geforce Go or ATI mobile solution. The table here (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/graphics-video-budget,review-29616-6.html)
has the widely available graphics chipsets (including mobile chips) ranked roughly in performance order. Bear in mind that the intel integrated chipsets are so bad that they don't bother including them.
 
If it has an intel graphics chipset then no you are stuck with the integrated solution... there are a few laptops using nVidia chips that can support upgrades but they are few and far between...
 
Even if you have an AGP slot or PCI-E slot in the laptop to upgrade (like mine) finding mobile graphics cards that aren't Dell parts is a nightmare.
 
Thanks for all replies. Forgot to say most importantly that I'll only be using the laptop for surfing, playing dvd movies (want a good picture) & video/photo editing, I won't be gaming on my laptop. Therefore, would you say that the Intel GMA 950 or the GMA X3100 integrated graphics will do the job comfortably?

Thanks :)
 
Thanks sr4470! :)

So you think the Intel GMA 950 will give good quality pictures when watching dvds & editing video's/photo's?

Can you recommend a laptop with these integrated graphics, that also has firewire for a budget of £550 please?
 
thanks sr4470. I'd like a laptop thats got an Intel core2duo cpu (t5500 or faster) with 2gb of ddr2 ram though, any more suggestions? :)
 
nevski said:
thanks sr4470. I'd like a laptop thats got an Intel core2duo cpu (t5500 or faster) with 2gb of ddr2 ram though, any more suggestions? :)
Click to expand...

The reason I suggested that one is it already has a firewire port. You'd need to add a pcmcia\express card firewire port to the others.
 
Sounds like you want a Dell Vostro me old chum :)

My father just bought a Vostro 1400 (with a few deals added admittedly) with:

T7100 (not a 7300 sorry, mistype, that would be an extra £50)
2GB DDR2
160GB HD
14" Widescreen shiny TFT thing
Geforce 8400 with 128mb dedicated mem
DVD-RW
Decent Wifi
4 USB & Firewire
6 cell battery

etc etc

for the grand sum of £440 delivered :) I think the same would be £490 now (the deal he used has ended)

They really cant be beaten at the moment on price.

A bit more can get a 15" one with an 8600 GT with 256MB Ram.

Not a gaming monster, but not bad at all and still less than other brands with inbuilt graphics im finding.

Not the prettiest of laptops though and a bit bulky, although very solid and hard wearing.
 
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