Calling all N3rds!

[Nuusku]

How hard is it to install new graphic cards? And how risky is it? I'm asking this because i've had this laptop for about 4-5 years, but when i play games it lags, even on minimum settings. I've heard people say that it may boost the 3d performance 20%! That 20% would take the twitching away..

[Monkey]

Man, I hoped this was a D&D question.

[Thunder_Snus]

On a laptop I have absolutely no idea. Installing anything on a desktop computer is incredibly easy though so I dont think there will be much more difficulty. Pull out old one insert new one simple as that. Or i could be horribly wrong I know nothing about laptop hardware i've always been into desktop

[truthwolf1]

I have only done memory/hard drive in a laptop and they were very easy. Desktops are super easy.
Just google your model and new video card. You might find a youtube or something to guide you. DELL had some great videos on their own site on how to's

Drivers are the biggest headache. If you can install them before you start you are ahead of the game.

[lxskllr]

Laptop is usually kind of tough. it ranges from "not too bad" to "fsck this thing!" and launching it out the window. Not a beginners job for someone new to hardware. 4-5 years old is getting pretty old in hardware terms. That's a C2D I assume? You might be due for a new machine if you can swing the cost. If you're serious about pc gaming, a desktop is the only way to go. I love cheap low end laptops, but that's only cause I pair it up with a decent desktop. You'll always get more bang for your buck on a desktop system.

Edit:
It may not be replaceable at all if you have integrated graphics. You could look into overclocking the system, but that's sketchy on a laptop. You'd have to do it via software, and it requires specific chipsets to even be able to. You'd also have to get a cooling pad to get rid of the extra heat.

[russki]

Laptop is usually kind of tough. it ranges from "not too bad" to "fsck this thing!" and launching it out the window. Not a beginners job for someone new to hardware. 4-5 years old is getting pretty old in hardware terms. That's a C2D I assume? You might be due for a new machine if you can swing the cost. If you're serious about pc gaming, a desktop is the only way to go. I love cheap low end laptops, but that's only cause I pair it up with a decent desktop. You'll always get more bang for your buck on a desktop system.

Edit:
It may not be replaceable at all if you have integrated graphics. You could look into overclocking the system, but that's sketchy on a laptop. You'd have to do it via software, and it requires specific chipsets to even be able to. You'd also have to get a cooling pad to get rid of the extra heat.

Nowadays roughly ~2 years is getting old, with 3 pushing it, although laptops have a bit of overhead. With regards to actually swapping out the card, it is quite a different beast when dealing with laptops. As opposed to simply popping the case open and seeing what you are dealing with, you have to dismantle the laptop which is extremely packed to begin with.

As far as your actual eligibility for upgrades, it simply depends. Seeing as you have a 4-5 year old laptop, I'd say the money would be better spent on a new laptop, as the odds are that you wont be able to upgrade it as the mobo would probably only support ancient graphics cards, that is if it even supports a discrete card (a graphics card separate from the mobo). Unless you actually have a discrete card, or a slot for one, you are shit out of luck, as you're running on integrated graphics which wont do anything for gaming; even then most mobo's come with limitations on whether or not the graphics card can be upgraded. To put it bluntly, upgrading graphics on a laptop is usually next to impossible with respect to the run-of-the-mill laptop and a user that is not tech savvy.

As for overclocking, that is probably out of the question; mostly in part to the fact that laptops dont overclock well to begin with, and trying to OC a 4-5 year old machine, odds are you wont even be able to play anything relatively current on decent settings.

If you want specifics post you're laptop brand and model.

[clint404]

You need a Voodoo 2 video card. That should bring you up to speed

[Nuusku]

Thanks for the tips!

This seems to be a " AMD Turion(tm) X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 2.10Ghz, 3Gt ram
And i was talking about downloading some new drivers or whatever from the internet. :P

[lxskllr]

Updating the drivers likely won't hurt. It likely won't help either, but it's easy enough to do.

[Nuusku]

Updating the drivers likely won't hurt. It likely won't help either, but it's easy enough to do.

I just have no idea how to do it

[lxskllr]

Well, the easiest way is using a utility many oem computers come with. That'll search for updated drivers for all your components. If you don't have that, the next step is going to the makers website, entering your model#, and seeing if there's anything there to download. If there is, download the file, launch it, and follow the prompts.

Unless they REALLY screwed up the original drivers, you won't get a 20% increase in performance. You /may/ get an additional frame or 2, or it could even be worse. Hard to say.

[russki]

Thanks for the tips!

This seems to be a " AMD Turion(tm) X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 2.10Ghz, 3Gt ram
And i was talking about downloading some new drivers or whatever from the internet. :P

Ah, what your talking about is likely an optimizer they put out specifically for those mobile processors. Drivers updates would help in performance as well, although when it comes to laptops, the drivers usually don't hold back the performance of the card by that great a margin unless it is a discrete card, and the processor you are using is integrated. Go to AMD's website and look for drivers updates, although in your case it's probably not going to make that much of a difference unless you're playing older games.