Is it possible to upgrade a video card on a laptop?

[Brian52555]

Is it possible to upgrade a new Video card?

I just bought my laptop about 6 months ago.

It is a Compaq Evo N160, with a P3-M cpu at 1ghz, 256 sd ram, 20 gigs, DVD, and an ATI mobility Radeon (original version, not the 7500).

I wish i had waited a couple months for the 7500... my radeon is fine, except it only has 8mb of DDR ram, which is a bit meager for the next batch of games. I wasn't able to run Grand Theft Auto 3 because there was a lockout. I know i can run it though, because i can run games like Serious Sam 2 smoothly at 1024x768.

So i guess my question is, is it possible to upgrade the video card of a laptop? I'm guessing no, because all the parts on the motherboard are so custom and specific to each other.

(*Threads merged by mod)

 

[Brian52555]

I've already posted this on the portable forum, but i've gotten no replies so i figured i'd try here.

I just bought my laptop about 6 months ago.

It is a Compaq Evo N160, with a P3-M cpu at 1ghz, 256 sd ram, 20 gigs, DVD, and an ATI mobility Radeon (original version, not the 7500).

I wish i had waited a couple months for the 7500... my radeon is fine, except it only has 8mb of DDR ram, which is a bit meager for the next batch of games. I wasn't able to run Grand Theft Auto 3 because there was a lockout. I know i can run it though, because i can run games like Serious Sam 2 smoothly at 1024x768.

So i guess my question is, is it possible to upgrade the video card of a laptop? I'm guessing no, because all the parts on the motherboard are so custom and specific to each other.


(*Threads merged by mod)

 

[PHATMAN5050]

yeah, i'm guessing no too since its all onboard i assume. Not positive though, although i would be surprised if u came back here and said that it is possible.

 

[Th3M1ghtyD8]

Some of the newer laptops (mainly Dells) have microAGP graphics cards which are changeable (assuming you can get hold of a replacement). I don't think the original ATi mobility was produced as a MicroAGP though, so you are probably out of luck.

If it can be changed though you have the following options:-

ATi Mobile Radeon 7500 16Mb/32Mb
NVIDIA Geforce 2 Go 16Mb/32Mb
NVIDIA Geforce 4 Go 32Mb/64Mb

 

[Arris]

The forum search function seems to be acting up but check out this thread which covers the topic you are asking about:
Graphics card for my laptop?

 

[Brian52555]

Way to get around GTA3 lockout?

Since i only have 8mb of vram on my mobility radeon, is there any way to get around the lockout on the pc version of grand theft auto 3? It will not boot up because i don't have 12 mb of vram according to the game. However, on the box it says 16mb, but whatever. Can anyone help me?

 

[uncleel]

Re: Way to get around GTA3 lockout?

Originally posted by Brian52555
grand theft auto 3...the box it says 16mb

afraid not; probably any hack would make the game unplayable.

http://www.take2games.com/index.php...Theft+Auto+3,PC,Rockstar_Games,gta3&p=support

System Requirements, Minimum:
Pentium III 450 CPU
64MB RAM
16MB Direct3D Video Card
Fully DirectX compatible Sound Card
8X CD-Rom
500MB free hard disk space
Win 98/ME/2000/XP
Direct X 8.1

http://www.ati.com/technology/hardware/mobilityradeon/

 

[Vehementi]

graphics card for my laptop?

 

[uncleel]

Originally posted by Brian52555
I've already posted this on the portable forum, but i've gotten no replies so i figured i'd try here.
(*Threads merged by mod)

For the sake of continuity, it is better to have just one post. That way people can follow your problem & the story line. Otherwise the Q & A's our strung out all over the place. Anytime you reply to a post, it will be bumped to the top of the order, & further shows up in Today's Active Topics. Be patient, people are in different time zones.


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