can i upgrade my laptop if I get a new motherboard and a graphics card?

[Bevan Jude]

As i have said in the title if i get a new motherboard with a graphics cars on it can i upgrade my laptop? Can i remove my old laptops motherboard and set this one up or just make a custom chassis for the mobo? i get the mobo and gpu for 100-200$ so is it worth it? Its just a thought and i would like to take on this challenge and build this bad boii if it is possible. Please gimme suggestion and guidance bros. ^_^

 

[harboym]

Well.... they say nothing is impossible... but this come pretty close. If you seriously want to try this you'll have to do tons of research on your own. You'll have to find a motherboard that fits in your case, has the same power requirements, has connectors in relatively the same spots, etc. This is not an easy yes or no question and if you pose it that way almost everyone is going to say no it's not possible.

 

[Bevan Jude]

Well.... they say nothing is impossible... but this come pretty close. If you seriously want to try this you'll have to do tons of research on your own. You'll have to find a motherboard that fits in your case, has the same power requirements, has connectors in relatively the same spots, etc. This is not an easy yes or no question and if you pose it that way almost everyone is going to say no it's not possible.

what about the bios issue? what is bios and is it applicable for the motherboard only? and yes i dont mind making another case for this build. Its sort of cheap and seems to be fun. I wanna learn more. Can u direct me in some direction and also if my power supply is more than required is that a problem???
my existing laptop is a Toshiba Satellite c660-t20 with:-
*TOSHIBA PWWHA motherboard
*gt 315m (sooo oollldd and slooowww)
*i5 2140m, 2.30GHz (Socket 988B rPGA)
thats about it for the main components and is the graphic card replaceable.
if i open the mobo and remove the heat pipes should the gpu chip be removable then its a replaceable gpu ryt?
is there an easier way to find that out?

OOohh i have a pc power supply will that be of any help? (sorry if the question is stupid! 😛)

 

[harboym]

I would not attempt to do this if I were you (or if I were me for that matter). No you cannot simply replace the graphics card.

If you want experience building computers you should start with a desktop because they're cheaper and easier to put together. Laptops are designed from the ground up to be as integrated as possible. This is a nearly impossible project for someone with tons of pc knowledge and it doesn't sound like you've even put a PC together before. If you go ahead with this you probably wont end up with a working product.

Also, if you attempt to build a desktop and run into issues, people will be much more willing to help you and will be more useful. If you noticed, no one else has commented on this post. That's because it's not an original question. This, or a slight variation, gets asked often and people are tired of explaining to others that they shouldn't try this.

 

[Bevan Jude]

I would not attempt to do this if I were you (or if I were me for that matter). No you cannot simply replace the graphics card.

If you want experience building computers you should start with a desktop because they're cheaper and easier to put together. Laptops are designed from the ground up to be as integrated as possible. This is a nearly impossible project for someone with tons of pc knowledge and it doesn't sound like you've even put a PC together before. If you go ahead with this you probably wont end up with a working product.

Also, if you attempt to build a desktop and run into issues, people will be much more willing to help you and will be more useful. If you noticed, no one else has commented on this post. That's because it's not an original question. This, or a slight variation, gets asked often and people are tired of explaining to others that they shouldn't try this.

thanks bro. I do noe how to put together a pc and its quite simple and ive seen many of my friends do it. I have experience in putting together a pc even though i haven't done it my myself. I just thought it would be cool to set up a laptop.

Any how what if i wanted to replace my laptops motherboard (which comes with a cpu and gpu? will power be the only issue?

 

[harboym]

No, power wont be the only issue. Laptop parts are not standard like desktop or server parts. They're not meant to be upgraded or used with each other. They require different power, they are compatible with different parts, they are different shapes and sizes. Unless you are replacing your motherboard with the same exact one (which wouldn't help anything), it probably wont even fit.

 

[jsmithepa]

how to put together a pc and its quite simple and ive seen many of my friends do it.

Desktop and laptop are 2 different animals. Desktops are designed to be modular. Laptops, tend to be not.

Short answer: Stick with desktops.

Longer answer: Laptops are tightly packaged boxes, because people always want them to be compact (for portability DUH), so vendors pretty much custom-make every laptop. You can't buy a generic laptop Motherboard and stick it in your favorite laptop case. Go ahead, look.

Now some laptops, some vendors sell the same laptop with several ratings, typically a faster clocked CPU. You may potentially have one of the lower rating laptops, and it's dragging, and you may be able to eBay for the higher rating Motherboard for this laptop. Is like going into the junkyard and find a better factory radio for your before, bare bone Civic. Even if this is possible, the up CPU clock is minimal, don't expect to turn a Civic into a Ferrari, or even a BMW.

 

[Bevan Jude]

No, power wont be the only issue. Laptop parts are not standard like desktop or server parts. They're not meant to be upgraded or used with each other. They require different power, they are compatible with different parts, they are different shapes and sizes. Unless you are replacing your motherboard with the same exact one (which wouldn't help anything), it probably wont even fit.

ik they are incompatible with each other but what if im getting a motherboard with its own gpu and cpu and then add ram and hdd to it which are upgradable and thats about it what other parts are there except the power? i dont care about my current case ill just built a custom one. now what could be incompatible??? advice please.

 

[jsmithepa]

ik they are incompatible with each other but what if im getting a motherboard with its own gpu and cpu and then add ram and hdd to it which are upgradable and thats about it what other parts are there except the power? i dont care about my current case ill just built a custom one. now what could be incompatible??? advice please.

Honestly this seems like a mental exercise to you.

We are more interested in reality.

 

[harboym]

No, power wont be the only issue. Laptop parts are not standard like desktop or server parts. They're not meant to be upgraded or used with each other. They require different power, they are compatible with different parts, they are different shapes and sizes. Unless you are replacing your motherboard with the same exact one (which wouldn't help anything), it probably wont even fit.

ik they are incompatible with each other but what if im getting a motherboard with its own gpu and cpu and then add ram and hdd to it which are upgradable and thats about it what other parts are there except the power? i dont care about my current case ill just built a custom one. now what could be incompatible??? advice please.

So now this has changed from "Can I upgrade my laptop?" to "Can I buy a bare bones used laptop that's been removed from it's case and forget my laptop all together? ". Of course you can, that's just a completely different thing than "upgrading" a laptop. You're talking about building one now.