Upgrading Laptop Videocards

BobDoleX · Dec 8, 2005, 06:10 PM

From what I know, and the research I've done, upgrading the GPU on a notebook is pretty much impossible (unless you own one of the few models out there with video card modules). The problem is, excluding the most recent cards, there is no standard form factor, even if the same interface (AGP, in my case) is utilized.

My question/idea is, why don't any companies try to cash in on the growing notebook market (growing significantly faster than desktops in sales during the last 5 years) and offer services or parts to upgrade laptop GPUs? I'm sure it's doable on some level, as many laptop video cards can be removed in some way. It would be expensive, but cheaper than a new system, certainly.

Do any services or stores exist as mentioned, or is this just a dream? It could prove to be quite profitable. The biggest issue in terms of costs for the company would be making so many different modules, since there are so many different forms of cards in today's systems. Just a wish and a prayer...

Vikingod · Dec 8, 2005, 06:42 PM

Well, this is becoming a reality, more and more. The manufacturers, under pressure from other, newer companies are offering lappies with upgradable gpu's. The gaming gpu's are getting more popular and more affordable. Problem with laptops, they are so proprietary in nature, and heat is such an issue, screwing with themj can really create some trouble. Best thing to do, IMO, buy a desktop for affordability, performance, and upgrading, and a laptop for portability, battery power, and purpose. Getting a laptop with all these features sort of takes away the portability and definetly battery power. If you need something for LAN parties and whatnot, go SFF.

BobDoleX · Dec 8, 2005, 10:33 PM

Good post, I agree. The problem is that I'm on a limited budget, and I received a pretty decent gaming laptop about a year ago, but the GPU is only a 9600, which hurts in some newer games. Even with the latest laptops, it still seems best to build a desktop for gaming needs (in terms of price and the functionality you want from a notebook in general--portability and battery life).

Tipstaff · Dec 8, 2005, 11:12 PM

From what Intel has been touting these last couple months at their seminars is that next summer we should start seeing laptops that offer modular graphics.

Edit: Sorry, I meant to say that Intel expects that the majority of laptops will all have modular graphics, and that you could basically order replacements/upgrades quiet easily.

dutty · Dec 9, 2005, 06:50 PM

there are alot of laptops out there that do support the mxm architecture - like mine, an amilo a1667g with an ATI x700 mxm - that means i can switch it.

Samir · Dec 11, 2005, 04:03 PM

dutty:

I've ordered Amilo 1667G very recently... Are you happy with it's general performance? Could you specify any user experience pros. / cons...

Sorry for offtopic!

Thanks!

swimtech · Dec 11, 2005, 05:58 PM

They are still working on packaging and form factor issues, yes...

dutty · Dec 12, 2005, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samir

dutty:

I've ordered Amilo 1667G very recently... Are you happy with it's general performance? Could you specify any user experience pros. / cons...

Sorry for offtopic!

Thanks!

yes. i am very happy with it... pros and cons?
pro: wonderful display, silent notebook compared to others, widescreen, good seagate harddrive, 1024mb ram, x700 - somehow people think it's not that good, but it outperforms my brothers 6600go. great wlan card, better quality than the intel wlan imho... great upgrading capabilities- change wlan card, change graphics card, change harddrive, change ram, change cpu..
cons: some amilos have a manufacturing "bug" so 2/3 of the fan exhaust port is covered by a plastic i recommend you cutting out, bios 1.01c sucks- install 1.05c.

mxm card got problems with it's form factor and packaging? sorry, but what the f*** are you talking about? the design is excellent the design documents and technical specifications have been released by nvidia, read it before you say something like that... the mxm standard is perfect, everything has been exactly defined - the size of the card itself, the length of the backplate, the space between the motherboard and the gpu card, the place of the gpu on the card, the place of the screws, everything, really everything has been defined in the specs. i have read them so i know about it. the thing is, retailers do not want to sell mxm cards seperatly because that would ruin their business - want a better notebook? go and buy a new one -. thats the politics they are rolling with..
if you want a new mxm card you have to get it from something like repair-shop or a parts-seller.. mxm cards are not sold seperately like agp/pci-e cards for desktop computers, but that's because the nb industry are a bunch of greeneyed sobs..

btw, samir, me and some members of the nbreview.com community are working on a forum thats dedicated to notebook overclocking, benchmarking and gaming - if you are looking for some help for your notebook you can reach me there. as soon as it's ready to go live i'll post a thread here as long as i get the permission of the mods ofcourse

we have written some great articles like "how overclocking heats up your notebook", "the true performance gain overclockers get" and much more.. and the articles include statistical graphs to ease the reading

if you want to get the url before the site is up feel free to pm me, you might help us to get some more launch-content up with your questions.

Post edited 12-12-05 by swimtech...

swimtech · Dec 12, 2005, 04:49 PM

...speaking generally about form factor and packaging - of course the specs are worked out - they still have to physically tool up and manufacture them in mass quantities...

Tipstaff · Dec 14, 2005, 08:54 AM

Just to point something out, there are 2 MXM technologies floating around: Nvidias (the creator of MXM), and ATIs (there is also a second revision of the MXM from Nvidia). MXM is not a industry standard. It was created by Nvidia, however they have not made it a proprietary product (by that I mean it's aa open/public technology). What's interesting to note is that both ATI and Nvidia have stated that you should not expect to be able to buy a laptop "at this time" in which you can pull out an MXM ATI card and swap it with an MXM Nvidia card. Also, you should not expect to pull out an X700 MXM card, and swap it with an X1600 MXM card, and have it work 100%. In fact this is why Nvidia created the "MXM Type II" revision so that they could support going to 7800 Go cards from lower end ones.

That brings me back to my earlier posting (and towards swimtechs post). It is not an industry standard "yet". Until it becomes so there will be continued revisions by both parties. What is going on right now is that manufacturers (like Intel, and so fourth) are working to standardize MXM, and we should see that happening within the next year or so.

dutty · Dec 14, 2005, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

Just to point something out, there are 2 MXM technologies floating around: Nvidias (the creator of MXM), and ATIs (there is also a second revision of the MXM from Nvidia). MXM is not a industry standard. It was created by Nvidia, however they have not made it a proprietary product (by that I mean it's aa open/public technology).

that's true, but i have seen 100s of mxm notebook boards but i haven't seen a single axiom board with my own eyes.. as far as i know ATI contributed to the MXM specification upon request by the notebook OEMs

Quote:

What's interesting to note is that both ATI and Nvidia have stated that you should not expect to be able to buy a laptop "at this time" in which you can pull out an MXM ATI card and swap it with an MXM Nvidia card. Also, you should not expect to pull out an X700 MXM card, and swap it with an X1600 MXM card, and have it work 100%. In fact this is why Nvidia created the "MXM Type II" revision so that they could support going to 7800 Go cards from lower end ones.

exactly, there are different types of MXM formats, MXM-1 entrylevel/thin notebooks up to 128mb ram, MXM-2 power users up to 256mb and, MXM-3 high end/desktop replacements also up to 256mb.. there's another one that's mentioned in the design docs, MXM-HE but i'm not sure why this has been developed. sure, don't expect that you can plug in an x1600 MXM-3 into a x700 MXM-1 slot, but be sure that you can plug in an x1600 MXM-1 into a x700 mxm-1 slot. everything has been specified in the design docs, even how hot the gpu card can get. MXM-1 is the most produced type of notebook cards at the moment, because most books that are sold at the moment are entry level or thin books. that's what people prefer.

Quote:

That brings me back to my earlier posting (and towards swimtechs post). It is not an industry standard "yet". Until it becomes so there will be continued revisions by both parties. What is going on right now is that manufacturers (like Intel, and so fourth) are working to standardize MXM, and we should see that happening within the next year or so.

well, i think it's an industry standard because most OEMs, nearly all big-ballers have already signed an MXM deal. i think you will never see an laptop where the enduser can easily switch cards,because laptop OEMs don't want that. they're running different politics, if you can buy a card/cpu/ram you will not buy a new laptop! that's why they're pulling mxm down. but you can already do this, call your favorite computer parts dealer, tell them you want an mxm-type 2 7800go and you will get it, and if you're a quite smart guy/gal you will be able to install it in your mxm-type 2 slot.

Ice-Tea · Apr 5, 2006, 09:29 AM

Hi guys,

I know it's BG to resurect old topics and I know this is bordering advertising, but as it is on topic I hope it's OK.

I have a site about MXM right here.

Pay a visit if you feel like it!

Ice-Tea
MXM Upgrade

Tipstaff · Apr 6, 2006, 02:54 AM

While it might be bad to resurrect a dead thread, personally, this is one case where I don't mind as it's very well done, and informative. Thanks for posting it.

Dec 8, 2005, 06:10 PM	#1
BobDoleX DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Upgrading Laptop Videocards From what I know, and the research I've done, upgrading the GPU on a notebook is pretty much impossible (unless you own one of the few models out there with video card modules). The problem is, excluding the most recent cards, there is no standard form factor, even if the same interface (AGP, in my case) is utilized. My question/idea is, why don't any companies try to cash in on the growing notebook market (growing significantly faster than desktops in sales during the last 5 years) and offer services or parts to upgrade laptop GPUs? I'm sure it's doable on some level, as many laptop video cards can be removed in some way. It would be expensive, but cheaper than a new system, certainly. Do any services or stores exist as mentioned, or is this just a dream? It could prove to be quite profitable. The biggest issue in terms of costs for the company would be making so many different modules, since there are so many different forms of cards in today's systems. Just a wish and a prayer...

Dec 8, 2005, 11:12 PM	#4
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 191 System Specs	From what Intel has been touting these last couple months at their seminars is that next summer we should start seeing laptops that offer modular graphics. Edit: Sorry, I meant to say that Intel expects that the majority of laptops will all have modular graphics, and that you could basically order replacements/upgrades quiet easily. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick. Last edited by Tipstaff; Dec 10, 2005 at 12:11 AM.

Dec 11, 2005, 04:03 PM	#6
Samir kX Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 520 Rep Power: 0	dutty: I've ordered Amilo 1667G very recently... Are you happy with it's general performance? Could you specify any user experience pros. / cons... Sorry for offtopic! Thanks! __________________ MU3NKA 3A HAPO6!

Dec 11, 2005, 05:58 PM	#7
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	They are still working on packaging and form factor issues, yes... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Dec 12, 2005, 04:49 PM	#9
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	...speaking generally about form factor and packaging - of course the specs are worked out - they still have to physically tool up and manufacture them in mass quantities... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Dec 8, 2005, 06:42 PM	#2
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Well, this is becoming a reality, more and more. The manufacturers, under pressure from other, newer companies are offering lappies with upgradable gpu's. The gaming gpu's are getting more popular and more affordable. Problem with laptops, they are so proprietary in nature, and heat is such an issue, screwing with themj can really create some trouble. Best thing to do, IMO, buy a desktop for affordability, performance, and upgrading, and a laptop for portability, battery power, and purpose. Getting a laptop with all these features sort of takes away the portability and definetly battery power. If you need something for LAN parties and whatnot, go SFF.

Dec 8, 2005, 10:33 PM	Thread Starter #3
BobDoleX DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Good post, I agree. The problem is that I'm on a limited budget, and I received a pretty decent gaming laptop about a year ago, but the GPU is only a 9600, which hurts in some newer games. Even with the latest laptops, it still seems best to build a desktop for gaming needs (in terms of price and the functionality you want from a notebook in general--portability and battery life).

Dec 9, 2005, 06:50 PM	#5
dutty DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	there are alot of laptops out there that do support the mxm architecture - like mine, an amilo a1667g with an ATI x700 mxm - that means i can switch it.

Dec 14, 2005, 08:54 AM	#10
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 191 System Specs	Just to point something out, there are 2 MXM technologies floating around: Nvidias (the creator of MXM), and ATIs (there is also a second revision of the MXM from Nvidia). MXM is not a industry standard. It was created by Nvidia, however they have not made it a proprietary product (by that I mean it's aa open/public technology). What's interesting to note is that both ATI and Nvidia have stated that you should not expect to be able to buy a laptop "at this time" in which you can pull out an MXM ATI card and swap it with an MXM Nvidia card. Also, you should not expect to pull out an X700 MXM card, and swap it with an X1600 MXM card, and have it work 100%. In fact this is why Nvidia created the "MXM Type II" revision so that they could support going to 7800 Go cards from lower end ones. That brings me back to my earlier posting (and towards swimtechs post). It is not an industry standard "yet". Until it becomes so there will be continued revisions by both parties. What is going on right now is that manufacturers (like Intel, and so fourth) are working to standardize MXM, and we should see that happening within the next year or so. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Apr 5, 2006, 09:29 AM	#12
Ice-Tea DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Hi guys, I know it's BG to resurect old topics and I know this is bordering advertising, but as it is on topic I hope it's OK. I have a site about MXM right here. Pay a visit if you feel like it! Ice-Tea MXM Upgrade

Apr 6, 2006, 02:54 AM	#13
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 191 System Specs	While it might be bad to resurrect a dead thread, personally, this is one case where I don't mind as it's very well done, and informative. Thanks for posting it. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.