Upgrading laptop video card?

[Akubane]

Hey guys, long time no see. Just a quick question. I've done a bit of looking around and couldn't find any conclusive info one way or the other. Is it possible to upgrade the videocard on newer HP laptops?
I've got the HP DV7-3157ca 16:9 - i7 q720 with an nvidia GT230m

The card itself isn't awful but definitely not a great gaming card. Got the laptop for school but ended up finding it more convenient to game on than my desktop lol, so now that I have a bit more cash than I did when I had to buy it i figured I'd toss a card in if possible. Admittedly though I don't know much about laptops.

Thanks for any help guys.

 

[Lexluethar]

9 out of 10 laptops cannot have their video card replaced because it is integrated into the motherboard (like onboard for desktops).

Looking around for your nvidia GT230m i don't see where it says it is removable. So i'm not 100% sure on that. Easy test would be to take the laptop apart to see if you have a removable video card. But as i said before i'm over 95% confident you don't and if you want to upgrade you'll have to purchase a new motherboard with an upgraded GPU.

 

[Akubane]

Ah I see. Thank you. I might take a look just to see but I'll probably leave it as is. It works well enough that I won't lose sleep over it lol. Thanks for the info. Appreciate it.

 

[patonb]

I did a quick google search, and you buy the mobo with the 230, so it'd seem to me that its stuck on it.

However, you might search to see if it has a pci-e slot, which you'll have to either find a repair manual or opener up.

 

[MindoverMaster]

As long as he is fine with the current, then why risk tearing it apart?

But yes, pretty much only the high end has replaceable cards.

 

[Akubane]

Well, I'm fine with it because if I want to do any serious gaming I can still use my desktop ^^; Got an extra pay in April so I was thinking if it was possible to upgrade the video card to turn this into a good gaming laptop it would be nice. Not necessary, but nice/convenient ^_^
It's not bad, but its not great XD
Thanks for all the responses. I'm not worried about taking it apart, I'm competent enough not to damage it. Anyhow I'll give the manufacturer a call they should be able to take the guesswork right out of it.
Thanks again.

 

[MindoverMaster]

It depends on the manufacturer but they can be a really pain in the "you know where"

 

[Harper]

Long story short. Just sell off your current laptop and by a new one with a better video card.

Laptop video cards are expensive. Plus you will need to make sure that your laptop power supply will take it. When they make laptops, they don't make them with the idea you will be upgrading your video card.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Very rarely will you be able to upgrade a video card in the laptop, even if it is a dedicated card. 99% of the time, the manufacture only makes one, maybe two cards for a laptop that has dedicated graphics.

I just looked, a replacement 8600GM for my vostro, is $470, but, that is because of the proprietary design, and only Dell uses that particular design, in that particular series of laptops.

Another thing that would prevent it, they design a system around one or two dedicated cards, as the power has to go from the battery/charger through the motherboard, then into the card, if the traces or motherboard design can't supply enough power to a card, if that card WOULD fit, it just won't work and you can fry the charging system among various other parts.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Well, yes, the battery has to be powerful enough to power the new graphics card, if possible.