Can you upgrade an integrated laptop video card?

[matador7]

My laptop is only 2 years old, but it appears to suck when it comes to games, even games a 2 or 4 years old. Can I tweak it at all? Dell cant seem to make up their mind. Some folks say it is integrated and others Dell tech staff say it's not. I think they are all *****s with 3-ring binders chained to their wrists.

I usually play a first-person shooters, typically stuff that is a year or 2 old so I can get it cheap of eBay. Currently sitting (unplayed cause my 2-year old computer can’t play them) are Riddick Butcher Bay, Thief Deadly Shadows, and Assassin’s Creed. Would like to upgrade my Inspiron E1705 Laptop, but Dell says impossible with their integrated video cards.

Budget: $100(in U.S.)

1. Motherboard - Dell 0FF049
2. Graphic interface – Mobile Interl(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family – 224Mb
3. Memory – DDR2 2Gb RAM
4. CPU – Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7200 @ 2Ghz
5. CPU Speed - (CPU-Z shows it flipping between 1997 and 998 Mhz every second or so)
6. Power Supply Make/Model - I honestly see nothing with this info on the bottom of the laptop? Do I need to take the thing apart?
7. Watt output/Amperage – Ditto above.

Currently running XP.

Can it be done?

Thanks,
Allec

 

[Tmagic650]

Most laptops are not good at playing the more intensive games. Desktops are more suited for game playing. Your Dell laptop has on-board or integrated video. This CANNOT be upgraded. You are already running 2GB of system memory. I don't know if you can increase this any more. You could allocate more memory to be used by the video processor. You didn't mention how big the hard drive is or how much free space is left on it. This matters. The power supply is irrelevent. In laptop power supplies, you get what you get

 

[matador7]

actually I just upgraded (doubled) the ram to the max allowable. 105 GB hard drive, of which 60% empty. am i just stuck? the desktop is even older (~5 or 6 years), and is rarely used. i was reluctant to put any money into it, as compared to putting the same amount into something new. i priced new laptops with a good (non-integrated) video card and plenty of memory - cant see spending $700-$800.

 

[Tmagic650]

"I priced new laptops with a good (non-integrated) video card and plenty of memory - cant see spending $700-$800"...

I don't blame you. Some gaming laptops approach $2500. The only other things you can do that will possibly help is to increase the shared graphics memory in the bios and increase the virtual memory in Windows

 

[nismo91]

@matador7:
no you cannot just 'upgrade' laptop. that's why upon choosing laptop i'd choose one with medium-spec because their graphic card just cannot be replaced. high end laptop would cost much, as tmagic650 said.

anyway if you're desperate for increasing it, this tweak may help you. dont expect much, but here it is:
http://www.gmabooster.com/home.htm

it suppose to set the onboard graphic to its full speed. im not sure if this works, because i do not have laptop with dedicated graphics now.