We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Graphics card upgrade for laptop?

danthemoneysavingman
danthemoneysavingman Posts: 1,405 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Car Insurance Carver!
in Techie Stuff
Hi, anyone know, is it POSSIBLE to upgrade a graphics card in an (6mth old) Acer laptop (5732z i think)?
Thanks
Friendly greeting!

Comments

  • Richie-from-the-Boro
    Richie-from-the-Boro Posts: 6,945 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    danthemoneysavingman wrote: »
    Hi, anyone know, is it POSSIBLE to upgrade a graphics card in an (6mth old) Acer laptop (5732z i think)?
    Thanks

    No idea about your 5732z lappie, but it's a 99.9% no.

    It will almost certainly be an integrated graphics chip, built into the motherboard.
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
  • exup
    exup Posts: 1,235 Forumite
    the main thing you can upgrade in a laptop is the memory, other than that theres not much else, apart from the CD/DVD drive if its faulty.
    Is there an issue with the laptop by the way?
    Don't try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig
  • S0litaire
    S0litaire Posts: 3,535 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Probably not.
    Most Laptops have the graphics as part of the motherboard.
    Only way is to open up the laptop and see if there is a separate module for the video card.
    Laters

    Sol

    "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  • weegie.geek
    weegie.geek Posts: 3,432 Forumite
    There was something that let you use a desktop graphics card in an external caddy thing via the expresscard slot, but they were expensive and weren't great.

    Some laptops (usually gaming-oriented ones) can be upgraded internally as people have said, but upgrading would be more or less as much as a new laptop and the upgrades are super rare.

    Not worth it really, even if it is possible, which it probably isn't.
    They say it's genetic, they say he can't help it, they say you can catch it - but sometimes you're born with it
  • S0litaire
    S0litaire Posts: 3,535 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You can get USB graphics cards from around the £50 mark (I think) but are only useful for business applications as well as some video. (no 3d games playing with them lol)
    Laters

    Sol

    "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  • danthemoneysavingman
    danthemoneysavingman Posts: 1,405 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Car Insurance Carver!
    Thanks for the replies guys. I was asked if I could do it for someone, and usually say what Richie says (99.9% NO!)

    The prob is they need PhysX and the on-board card ain't up to it.

    Always worth an ask though!

    Cheers again
    Dan
    Friendly greeting!
  • gonzo127
    gonzo127 Posts: 4,482 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    why do they need PhysX, its just a bit of a marketing trick to make people spend more money for a few bits of eye candy, very few programs use it and the extra power required usually kills frame rates even in top end desktop GPU's
    Drop a brand challenge
    on a £100 shop you might on average get 70 items save
    10p per product = £7 a week ~ £28 a month
    20p per product = £14 a week ~ £56 a month
    30p per product = £21 a week ~ £84 a month (or in other words one weeks shoping at the new price)
  • danthemoneysavingman
    danthemoneysavingman Posts: 1,405 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Car Insurance Carver!
    mine is not to ask why they want it, just to ascertain whether the upgrade is possible. Is there a workaround to bypass the need for PhysX their software requests?
    Friendly greeting!
  • gonzo127
    gonzo127 Posts: 4,482 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    i personally do not know of any software that has to have PhysX, most of the time it is a extra to get more eye candy, main reason for this is because ATI and intel graphics chips can not do PhysX therefore any software manufactorer that NEEDS PhysX will be more than halfing their potential market
    Drop a brand challenge
    on a £100 shop you might on average get 70 items save
    10p per product = £7 a week ~ £28 a month
    20p per product = £14 a week ~ £56 a month
    30p per product = £21 a week ~ £84 a month (or in other words one weeks shoping at the new price)
  • blammo
    blammo Posts: 95 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    exup wrote: »
    the main thing you can upgrade in a laptop is the memory, other than that theres not much else, apart from the CD/DVD drive if its faulty.
    Or the hard-drive
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.7K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.5K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 601.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.6K Life & Family
  • 259.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.
Update Your Picture