Gpu help!

[alphecca]

ok, lets see if i can say wht im thinking

i currently have a ATI RADEON HD 4650, graphics card in my laptop.

i have run the most resourse hugging games for hours and heat hasnt yet been reli an issue.

if i wanted to upgrade to say a 4800 series card, could i just switch them over and instal new drivers?

or do u think it will cause it to over heat being a laptop?

and will the output of these cards be too much for my system to handle, therefor limiting the amount of data they can proces, therefor no point in me getting it?

i have a brand new dv7t pavilion.

if you need any more information or clarification of my question just ask.

thanks!

 

[thepizzaman]

i'm sorry but i don't think you can upgrade your laptop graphics

 

[smarteyeball]

If it's an integrated chip on the motherboard, the only way to upgrade to a faster card would be a new mobo...

If it's an add-in card, you would still have to dis-assemble the laptop to change it.

 

[alphecca]

how can i find out weather its intergrated or add in? diassembling the laptop cant be to hard can it... few screews, make sure im not covered in static before i start, im sure theres more to it and could get someone to do it for me i think.

but in any event is there a way i can find out weather i can change it?

 

[smarteyeball]

Unfortunately it looks like the DV7t has an integrated chip and the chip that you have is the 'top of the line' for that model.

 

[alphecca]

ah ok, so its all over as regards to ever upgrading it correct? its a new motherboard if i want to right?

also do u know much about RAM?

i know there is DDR3 ram becoming standard, espesh in the high end laptops and mac's.

and i know DDR3 cant fit on DDR2 slots, (shame) but can i increase the performance of the ram by getting one with a higher frequency? currently its at 400Mega Hz, would 800Mhz be better and if so how?


also when buying ram, are all laptop ram slots the same size and so the ram purchesed work in any laptop. or do they differ?

also i love you ATI crosfire! :-D, thats wht i was thinking i might be able to do lol nvm..... alianware i think do them for laptops...

 

[thepizzaman]

hm the only difference in latptop memory is ddr, ddr2, and ddr3
sizewise if its laptop ddr2 memory it will fit and the might help some depends on your mobo restrictions

 

[smarteyeball]

Your mobo should support:

800mhz

DDR2 PC6400 200pin modules.

However some specs claim it only supports 667mhz. If that's actually the case, 800mhz still fits and will downclock to 667mhz. Any DDR2 200 pin laptop RAM will fit.

I'd double check with CPU-Z SPD tab that the ram you already have isn't already PC6400.

CPU-Z:
CPUID



If your RAM is actually 400mhz, then CPU-Z will show that as 200mhz. If it shows 400mhz, then it's already DDR2 6400 800mhz.

 

[alphecca]

hay, here is a picture of my CPU-Z screen shot



i have 2 slots both the same
what do u think?
so why does it say 400 but mean 800?

thank you very much smarteyeball lol, nice name, uv been of great help :-)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[smarteyeball]

lol, thanks and your welcome

DDR = Double Data Rate,where RAM transfers data twice per clock cycle. So x2 400mhz =800mhz. 400mhz is the RAMs clock frequency and 800mhz is the transfer frequency. Apps like Cpu-z report the clock frequency.

Both slots the same just means you have two identical 2GB sticks physically installed in your laptops Dimm slots giving you 4GB total.

So the good news is you don't have to buy more RAM

The bad news is you've essentially hit an "upgrade wall" and can't really do anything upgrade wise

You could possibly swap that existing RAM for some lower latency ddr2 800, but it's unlikely you would notice any real difference in normal usgae. (Lower latency=quicker data transfer. Your current latency is 6-6-6-18 as seen in the cpu-z screenshot)

 

[alphecca]

so how much did your system cost u!? the Intel Q9550 @ 3.8ghz alone musta been in the 1000s?

 

[smarteyeball]

I built it largely bit by bit so I refuse to add the total up I don't want to know It's probably around the 3K mark with all the bits and pieces. That's also in Australian dollars which is why it cost so much

The chip itself was only $500 AUS when I bought it. It's 2.8ghz at stock speeds, so that extra 1ghz is free

 

[alphecca]

AWW, man thats awesome!

oo what? so youv overclocked it?! doesnt that harm the proccesor? im guessing i cant do that on mine?

or have you done something else to it? can i do that?

 

[smarteyeball]

Yep, it's overclocked Since I'm not exceeding voltages etc and have good cooling on the CPU and in the case, it's 'safe'. (there is always a risk involved with overclocking)

Unfortunately laptops and overclocking are a bad idea. Normally the BIOS is 'locked down' (all the options you need to adjust aren't available). There are software apps that let you overclock but are less reliable than changing settings in BIOS.

The main reason overclocking on a laptop is a bad idea is heat. The two biggest component killers are excessive voltages and heat. Overclocking produces substantially more heat than normal and laptops are pretty warm to begin with. Without adequate cooling it would kill your CPU