Laptop upgrades?

[lost_within]

When I was younger I use to love building computers, as I got older and time became more of an issue I found myself buying computers.

Well once we moved into an apartment I didnt have alot of room for a rig, so I got the latest asus gaming laptop. I want to say I paid around 1600? Its not a bad laptop at all. Runs most current games fairly smooth. But here is my questions:

I have NEVER opened up a laptop...I know its easy enough to upgrade ram, my bigger concern is upgrading the processor and/or video card. Is it possible? Do you just avoid at all cost and play at a sub-par level of graphics until the laptop is trash and you buy another?

Id love some hands on opinions.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Most laptops I've encountered don't have upgradeable internals, aside from the hard disk and RAM. Since you have a special laptop intended for gaming, yours might be a different story. That new video card might be hard to track down, though.

Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of variety in laptop design. Some require you to dig out the hard disk from inside, while others let you slide it out without even opening the machine. Just look for documentation specific to your model.

[isiolia]

Modular laptop graphics usually use the MXM form factor(s). They aren't sold at retail, but eBay or other internet sources should have a selection. Though, even then, there are four different sizes, and usually no guarantee of compatibility. Most worthwhile cards will be pricey too.

CPUs may be socketed and thus upgradeable, though only within what the socket/chipset supports.

Usually those components are swappable for service or custom configuration reasons rather than future upgradeability. Dropping in the parts the high end model came with, for example, probably wouldn't be an issue, but significant upgrades may not be feasible.

As Valkyrie-Favor said though, it'd really depend on your model. It's a lot more common that CPU and GPU be soldered to the motherboard.

[CRTGAMER]

I have NEVER opened up a laptop...I know its easy enough to upgrade ram, my bigger concern is upgrading the processor and/or video card. Is it possible? Do you just avoid at all cost and play at a sub-par level of graphics until the laptop is trash and you buy another?

The major components in most Laptops such as the video card and processor are hard wired in to save on space. The parts other then memory and hard drive are usually proprietary even if they were removable off the main board.

Maybe see if you can download a PDF of the owners manual that shows all the upgrade procedures? It will help to decide if the upgrade is risky? For example, many of the laptops require removing the keyboard assembly. That alone could be damaged with keys popping off if not done correctly.

As an alternative you could put the money into a new Desktop for the newest games since you'll get more bang for the buck. Keep the Laptop for a browser on the go.

[lost_within]

Well it has a nvidia 670m so its not horrible by any means. But after playing with some benchmarks I thought about overclocking it to see what the future may hold. Then it hit me that I had never considered or really seen anyone try to upgrade video in a laptop.

Being a "gaming" laptop didnt know if maybe they had more avenues. I did do some more reading and I heard people say with this laptop it was a little more in depth of course than a desktop but possible. Problem is without really talking to someone first hand...who is to say personal experience made it hard for that person due to it being a first time pc mod at all?

[isiolia]

I work in IT, and have swapped laptop motherboards and such before (though I usually have the service reps do it, that's what they're paid for ).

MXM GPUs don't look like they'd be too painful. Basically oversized mPCIe cards, plus a heasink/pipe for most. Though, hard to say for sure without looking, since designs vary a lot.

For example, many of the laptops require removing the keyboard assembly. That alone could be damaged with keys popping off if not done correctly.

I have never had this happen, ever, and I have taken apart hundreds of laptops. Not saying it couldn't, just, it's unlikely.

I agree though, I'd just not worry about keeping the laptop up to date for gaming. Unless space is really cramped, putting the money towards a desktop PC would net better price/performance.

[Ziggy]

CPUs may be socketed and thus upgradeable, though only within what the socket/chipset supports.

This.

Just look up your model laptop and see if there were CPU options when it was sold. Easiest way to tell if you even have an upgrade option.

I have NEVER opened up a laptop.

They can be kind of a pain in the ass mostly because, unlike towers, they're are all slightly different. From my experience, some of them take some finagling to take apart. But whether you decide to upgrade or not, you might wanna open it at some point to at least clean all the dust out. You didn't mention how old the laptop is, but if it's a few years old then you should consider doing it soon.