New Video Card

[Lawlzerfish]

Hi, I've got an Alienware M14x (about 2 and a bit years old) and I'm looking for a graphics card to replace the default Nvidia Geforce GT 555M it came with. I'm hoping to play Battlefield 4 and right now, the best option I can see is the AMD Radeon HD 7790. Anyway, I'm a total n00b, and I'm hoping you magical PC wizards could answer a couple of my questions.
1. Will I run into any problems switching from Nvidia to AMD, apart from drivers?
2. The M14x is a pretty small laptop, and will this specific GPU fit? If not, what other similar ones will?
3. I've heard that you need a good power supply to run (relatively) high power cards. I'm guessing mine has the minimum power output needed to power my current card. I looked on the bottom and it said 19.5 V - 7.7 A. If those are the right numbers, will it be enough?
Thanks in advance

 

[Computerchap]

First off, you have to get a laptop graphics card, you can't just put a desktop card in it. Second off, AMD doesn't have nearly as many laptop cards, so i'd stick with Nvidia.

 

[itzdanielp]

Last time I cracked an alienware open (it was a while ago, but I don't think it is any different) the GPU was soldered into the Motherboard.

 

[Computerchap]

I'd ask this guy^ for further questions, as I have no laptop experience.

 

[itzdanielp]

Just verified that the GPU is soldered to the Motherboard... 🙁

Sorry buddy.

 

[Valentin_N]

what you want install is desktop gpu which won't work as you have a laptop. What you could is to change the 555M to and 765m for instance if the the gpu is not a part of the motherboard. Another issue to consider is the BIOS, some don't need any BIOS update or modified version of their BIOS to accept the new gpu. If the gpu is removable then you need see what from factor it has, if 555m's for instance has MXM 3.0b tthen you will be able to get a 765m a 760m would better as its TDP is similar to 555m