Mobility Cards
Mobility 9700 vs 9800
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 by quinnby222 | Discussion:
I have a laptop that I purchased from CyberPower Inc. I am very pelased with its performance. (P4 2.8, 1GB PC2700 RAM, 40GB 5400RPM HD)
I was wondering what the opion is on upgrading my video card when my warranty expires and I am no longer in danger of voiding it by opening it up. I currently have a Mobility 9700. Is it worth an upgrade to a Mobility 9800 or (haven't checked the compatability of this) Mobility x800?
I was wondering what the opion is on upgrading my video card when my warranty expires and I am no longer in danger of voiding it by opening it up. I currently have a Mobility 9700. Is it worth an upgrade to a Mobility 9800 or (haven't checked the compatability of this) Mobility x800?
aufisch
Reply #2 Thursday, January 27, 2005 3:25 PM
Reply #2 Thursday, January 27, 2005 3:25 PM
Mobility Graphic Cards on laptops and notebooks are usually not real physical cards, but small chips hardwired and totally integrated in the motherboard. Because there is no physical free space in a notebook, there are no slots to put an additional card. In fact, the only free slot you will find on most notebooks is an additonal RAM-slot.
Having said this, I don't think it is possible to upgrade a graphics-card on a notebook at all without changing the motherboard. And this would be soo expensive (because everything is integrated on a notebook motherboard, not just the graphics card but also audio, modem, ethernet.....) that it would not be feasible to do so. You also would need to find an updated board that would have the exactly same form factor (have the ports at exaclty the same places) as your old one.
Now, there might be special upgradable notbooks out there (who now doubt would cost a small fortune), but I haven't seen one yet. And unless you are a technical engineer, I wouldn't try and rip out your graphics-chip from your motherboard and replace it with one slightly faster, its just not worth the risk.
Having said this, I don't think it is possible to upgrade a graphics-card on a notebook at all without changing the motherboard. And this would be soo expensive (because everything is integrated on a notebook motherboard, not just the graphics card but also audio, modem, ethernet.....) that it would not be feasible to do so. You also would need to find an updated board that would have the exactly same form factor (have the ports at exaclty the same places) as your old one.
Now, there might be special upgradable notbooks out there (who now doubt would cost a small fortune), but I haven't seen one yet. And unless you are a technical engineer, I wouldn't try and rip out your graphics-chip from your motherboard and replace it with one slightly faster, its just not worth the risk.
quinnby222
Reply #3 Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:05 PM
Reply #3 Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:05 PM
Sounds... encouraging... I tihnk I'll leave mine alone! 
In2it
Reply #4 Thursday, March 3, 2005 10:42 PM
Reply #4 Thursday, March 3, 2005 10:42 PM
While aufisch's caution is appreciated, some of the info is outdated. You can now certainly upgrade notebook graphics and as surprising as this might sound, it is actually pretty simple for the average person. Again, you will need to check with your notebook manufacturer if it voids your warranty.
As you can see from this link, this is how it is done here Link
BTW, i'm thinking about doing the same thing........
As you can see from this link, this is how it is done here Link
BTW, i'm thinking about doing the same thing........
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Reply #1 Wednesday, January 26, 2005 11:48 PM