Vista - Upgrading video card in HP laptop?

Hi all,
I have an HP Pavillion 9700 that came with a nVidia 8600 gs, 3gb RAM, a 2.4ghz core 2 duo, so i think the graphics card is the weak link in set up (not that it's that great overall). Are there any options for upgrading a mobile graphics card?

Pompeius, for a laptop that is quite a powerful system, I do not think there is any need for better graphics, you should be able to play newest games like crysis, COD4, ... Especially like the 3 gigs of ram Why do you want to upgrade anyway? Not happy with the system? It's pretty good tho... (better then my desktop...)

Amplid

Hi Pompeius,

With many laptops, the graphics module is integrated (built-in) on the main system board and is therefore NOT replaceable. Although it is certainly possible to upgrade the graphics module in SOME laptops, it is not something that I would recommend. For a start off, the procedure is not like a standard tower system where you can take the side panel off, unscrew the relevant bracket, disconnect a couple of cables and slide the old card out, the replacement being carried out in reverse and taking no more than 10-15 minutes for the complete job. With a laptop you need access to the maintenance and service manual for details on how to disassemble it as you will probably need to strip it right down in order to gain access to the graphics module. This in itself can take upwards of an hour. Even if you can gain access, it is unlikely that you will be able to upgrade the module to one of a higher specification as the components in a laptop are very tightly packed and power consumption together with heat generation and dissipation are major manufacturing concerns. After replacing the card, you will need to reassemble the laptop by carefully following the instructions in the manual. Be aware that any mistakes during the disassembly and/or reassembly procedures can leave you with a totally dead system. If you intend to carry out this procedure, I would entrust your laptop to someone who has experience in carrying out this kind of work, or, if you are very careful, you could do it yourself. Either way, you PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Thank you both for your responses
amplid-
It's a good system, but I get pretty poor framerates in COD4 except on 640X800 resolution. I tried the Crysis demo and it ran absolutely terribly on even the lowest settings.

dwarf
It sounds like more risk and work than I'm willing to take, seeing as this is my only system,etc. I think it's more likely that I'll (eventually) just get a dedicated gaming desktop with a quad-core etc.

Thanks again guys

Pompeius, if you invest and choose your components well, you will be able to build a decent gaming rig for about 1300 dollars. If you do decide to start a build and you have questions, do not hesitate to ask here, here is a good site for research on components or references like specs and reviews: www.newegg.com. Don't forget to post your finished rig in the Show us your rig thread either, it's always fun to see other peoples creation!!

Cheers,

Amplid

i am under the impression i can put a graphics card in the spare pci express slot in my dv6519tx. Do you have access to your system specs to see if you have a pcie slot?

(after checking the HP website, i see i misread pci express and express card, lol)

I googled and here's what I found: Asus F3SC vs HP DV6519TX - Notebooks - PC Hardware.

But a notebook with a spare pci express slot??! Never heard of that mate..

Amplid

ok this does have an expanstion slot but not for a graphics card the last i heard of those being replacable was bout 6 years ago when ATI attempted it but the life of a laptop is too short for them to consider it a viable upgrade platform.

this link has all the details on the pc and the express card slot form factor 54
HP Pavilion dv6519TX Notebook - Notebooks - PC Hardware

hope this helps

Hi pompeius,

This might be useful

All about MXM

Hope it helps

SIW2

Yea! HP laptops can rarely be upgraded!!
I own Sager NP5793 which has a 8800m GTX GPU (seperate module) in the MXM IV slot!

i.e. it can be upgraded to any of the future m GPUs that nvidia releases!!