Laptop GPU replacement

[Pietro Emiliani]

Hey, I recently purchased a cheap brand new laptop that was on sale with great specs (8gb expandable to 16gb Ram, DDR3 1600MHz, 1TB 5400 rpm, i7 which overclocks at 3.6GHz for 700 bucks) But there's a big problem, the GPU is dragging everything down for me, it is a 620M GT Geforce Nvidia which quite frankly, sucks. Now I know a bit about hardware when it comes to desktops but my knowledge is little-none on laptops. I would want to first ask is it even possible to change the GPU on a laptop? The support centers I called (P.S this is in Dubai with very few support centers and very low skill technicians) all said that it is impossible on a laptop because, and I quote, "The GPU is fixed into the motherboard on laptops". That explanation seemed like BS to me, so I wanted to ask here if it was possible to do so. If it is two more questions, how difficult is it to do manually for a person that has experience with desktops but not laptops and what would be a compatible replacement for my GPU which would be able to run demanding games like Crysis 3 or Far Cry 3 and could replace my current GPU (I have 150$ as my budget but I'm really hoping for something under 120$). Thanks for reading and taking the time to answer (or taking the time to tell me I'm stupid if there truly is no way to replace a GPU)

P.S my exact laptop model is this http://www.fujitsu.com/sg/products/pc/notebooks/lseries/lh532/specs.html
With i7-3520m (4MB cache, up to 3.60GHz)
win 7 home premium 64 bit
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT620M with Optimus™ technology and 2GB of dedicated video memory

Thanks and you guys are awesome,
Me

EDIT: Not to sound like even more of an airhead but shouldn't a different model of the same series fit just as well? (for example the GT 650?)

Edit 2.0: I've been looking around on the forums and just discovered that this is probably not possible according to the majority of the responses, damn! Oh and fixed was apparently used in the place of the word solder...

 

[J_E_D_70]

Very, very few laptops have swappable cpu or gpu and yours doesn't state that it does. They are soldered onto the motherboard and likely very difficult to find anyone selling the individual parts. That's why most people recommend a good gaming desktop and the cheapest laptop.

 

[faster23rd]

Mobility GPUs are drastically different from discrete desktop GPUs and it will be impossible for regular folk to replace a mobile GPU.

There are gaming laptops out there that lets you change GPUs, but I don't think that yours is an example. You've also got it wrong, discrete desktop cards such as the GTX 650 cannot be put in a laptop, there are mobility solutions for that.

The support centers got on Dubai got it right, although they may not have been eloquent enough to convince you, OP.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Actually the support guy was correct. The graphics card in a laptop is just a chip soldered onto the motherboard unless you buy a specialty high end gaming laptop. Even in the link you provided no matter the CPU choice the 620M is the only GPU option. That's just not a gaming laptop and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[EzioAs]

Seriously man, if you have some skills in building a desktop then why not just build one for gaming? Why would you want to play games on laptop and demanding games at that?

 

[Guest]

first, you're not stupid for thinking outside the box, but also i have to crash your party somewhat, because upgrade-wise laptop-graphics are a pain in the ass. i myself considered this option a few years ago, so my info probably isn't 100% up to date, but i don't think the situation has changed dramatically since then, so here are the problems:

- is the graphics card replacable? like the other guys told you, in laptops the gfx often is directly on the motherboard. if that's the case, your out of luck. as far as i know swappable solutions are implemented more often in higher-end models, where you sometimes can choose your gfx.

- if it's a MXM-card (= the standard used for swappable laptop gfx), the possibility to upgrade it theoretically exists, but you have two main constraints: size and heat.

- if i remember correctly, there were more than one MXM-standards, so if you wanted to upgrade to a beefier and probably also bigger card, you first have to check, if it even fits in.

- also, more powerful gfx produce more heat, which could be a big problem for the implemented cooling-system.

- then you also can't be sure that the new gfx/gpu fits the cooler/heatpipes in terms of placement and spacing.

- so if through some miracle everything works out til here you gotta take the laptop apart, which isn't exactly easy on most models and will probably void your warranty. and let me tell you this: tinkering with a laptop is a whole other story, than with desktops, but given you can find some sort of how-to on the net, that should be managable, if executet with caution and preparation.

not finished yet 😉

- drivers. your guess is as good as mine regarding this topic and the best gfx is useless without working drivers. will be even more interesting, if you want optimus-functionality.

- price and availability: no store (i know) sells MXM-cards. i guess ebay is your best bet in this case. and don'texpect to pay reasonable prices, remember, there is no market for this sort of things, at least for consumers, hence they can price these cards as high as they want.

like i said, i'm sorry to bring your hopes down, but this is the information i have right now. maybe i'll look into your matter more specifically, but i would be surprised if your fujitsu even has MXM.

have fun!


quick edit: i checked the manual of your fujitsu, didn't find anything about mxm. so i think this is where the story ends.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Most major brand laptops are not upgradeable. In fact, most major brands you'd recognize don't actually "make" a laptop, they buy them from ODM's whom you have never heard of an slap their sticker on it.

Those "boutique" gaming laptops you see / read about are built by specialty manufacturers, the majority of which use Clevo chassis and parts. Alienware was the first well known brand in this arena and used Clevo as their supplier until Dell bought them out. Historically, you could buy these units from Falcon Northwest, VooddooPC, WidowPC and others but you also could go direct to a Clevo distributor and save major bucks. You can in fact upgrade GPUs on these buggers tho size and interface limitations will oft limit you within a specific series. Here's a sample list of options you can choose from on ya original build.... and note the "user upgradeable" designation at end.

http://www.lpc-digital.com/sager-np9170.html
and hit the "customize" button

NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 670MX 3GB GDDR5 Memory
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 675MX 4GB GDDR5 Memory
AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 680M 4GB GDDR5 Memory
NVIDIA® Quadro® K3000M with 2GB GDDR5
(User Upgradable)

 

[Ilhamdefra]

for Lpatop PC models its almost impossible to upgarde the hardware. many support center in my country said so in Dubai. for laptop hardware upgrade its limited of RAM and HDD/SDD only. the laptops GPU and CPU is attach in one board and its permanent, so u cant replace it to another GPU or CPU. sorry if make u hope down, because that the fact, and based on my experience too same as like u.

u said u have little bit knowledge/experience on Desktop model, why u not build a Gaming desktop? many PC gamer rely to dektop than laptop.