Laptop has integrated graphics and graphics card. Does this mean my graphics card is upgradable?

[01swodniW]

I have a HP Pavilion 15-p209ax. I read somewhere that you can upgrade the GPU of laptops with integrated and dedicated graphics, however I am not sure if it is correct or not. Is this true for all or some laptops with integrated and dedicated GPUs? Is it true for mine?

CPU: AMD A6-6310 APU With Radeon R4 Graphics
GPU: AMD Radeon R7 M260

Thank you for taking the time to read/answer this.

 

[dontlistentome]

I took a look at a user guide for that HP and it mentions the different modes you might, depending on model, use(dual/hybrid) but does not mention upgrading the GPU. The thing about laptops is they aren't really meant for upgrading like a desktop. Laptop priorities such as battery life, small size, and low weight are not compatible with things like graphic card upgrades. Adding a memory stick or maybe an SSD is about all the upgrading you can usually do.

 

[01swodniW]

I took a look at a user guide for that HP and it mentions the different modes you might, depending on model, use(dual/hybrid) but does not mention upgrading the GPU. The thing about laptops is they aren't really meant for upgrading like a desktop. Laptop priorities such as battery life, small size, and low weight are not compatible with things like graphic card upgrades. Adding a memory stick or maybe an SSD is about all the upgrading you can usually do.

Is the GPU soldered or something to the motherboard?

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

I took a look at a user guide for that HP and it mentions the different modes you might, depending on model, use(dual/hybrid) but does not mention upgrading the GPU. The thing about laptops is they aren't really meant for upgrading like a desktop. Laptop priorities such as battery life, small size, and low weight are not compatible with things like graphic card upgrades. Adding a memory stick or maybe an SSD is about all the upgrading you can usually do.

Is the GPU soldered or something to the motherboard?

[strike]Probably not, but [/strike]APUs typically are only compatible with a limited number of GPUs, plus the mobile GPU would be on the expensive side compared to a desktop GPU. It just isn't a very cost efficient way to go. [strike]But if you wanted to do it, I suppose you could find the best GPU that was sold with your particular laptop and see if it would work and how much it would be.[/strike]

 

[01swodniW]

I took a look at a user guide for that HP and it mentions the different modes you might, depending on model, use(dual/hybrid) but does not mention upgrading the GPU. The thing about laptops is they aren't really meant for upgrading like a desktop. Laptop priorities such as battery life, small size, and low weight are not compatible with things like graphic card upgrades. Adding a memory stick or maybe an SSD is about all the upgrading you can usually do.

Is the GPU soldered or something to the motherboard?

Probably not, but APUs typically are only compatible with a limited number of GPUs, plus the mobile GPU would be on the expensive side compared to a desktop GPU. It just isn't a very cost efficient way to go. But if you wanted to do it, I suppose you could find the best GPU that was sold with your particular laptop and see if it would work and how much it would be.

Thank you very much. I guess I might be one of the lucky few. I don't really fell like getting a whole new laptop or a desktop so this would be good. Isn't the APU kind of useless? It seems to be much worse than my GPU.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Thank you very much. I guess I might be one of the lucky few. I don't really fell like getting a whole new laptop or a desktop so this would be good. Isn't the APU kind of useless? It seems to be much worse than my GPU.

Well, I'm not familiar with them to much extent other than I know they can run in crossfire with certain dedicated AMD GPUs. But you are right in that they aren't that powerful, at least the last-gen APUs.

 

[bignastyid]

Ok seems there seems to be some bad info here thats needs correcting. The OPs laptop has a soldered gpu. This is easily by looking at the motherboards available(googles your friend)for that model or the service manual for the system.
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04511833