Graphic Card Upgrades Help Needed

[Hitterman]

I was going through my laptop and suddenly I discovered that it has one slot called "ExpressCard Slot". Now, I searched on internet an found it's uses. What I was thinking is that is it possible to put a PCI-Express Expansion in ExpressCard Slot and then in that a low medium power graphic card?

Is this possible or it's only on paper?

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[omkarjere]

I was going through my laptop and suddenly I discovered that it has one slot called "ExpressCard Slot". Now, I searched on internet an found it's uses. What I was thinking is that is it possible to put a PCI-Express Expansion in ExpressCard Slot and then in that a low medium power graphic card?

Is this possible or it's only on paper?

Thanks for any help in advance!

According to my knowledge you can upgrade your GFX card on laptops

 

[tech.007]

no it is not the graphics card one ...it is a sort of pc card expansion.

 

[angryangy]

Surprisingly enough, it's possible. Here are a couple of devices.
Magma - PCI & PCI Express Expansion Solutions
ViExpress Box 1

These plug into the ExpressCard slot and can provide additional power to the PCI express card.

However, it wouldn't provide a fully capable slot. High end video cards draw hundreds of watts and PCI 3.0 x16 delivers much more bandwidth than the ExpressCard can. You would have to get very technical to determine what sort of card would function in such a setup.

It obviously wouldn't be very portable, but adding to the bulk is that the graphics card needs an external monitor. If you didn't already have one handy, it would add to an already very expensive exercise.

It's certainly not one of the more practical experiments you could imagine.

 

[Hitterman]

Thanks angy! It's better to buy another PC rather that this possible upgrade.

I have another question apart from this. I have another PC "HP D290". I was cleaning the fans and suddenly I discovered that it has a PCI-E x1 slot. I know that most GFX cards are only compatible with PCI-E x16 but is there any GFX card which can be plugged into PCI-E x1 slot? The PC uses DDR1 RAM

Any help will be appreciated!

According to my knowledge you can upgrade your GFX card on laptops

Thanks for the reply Omi but you can't update GFX card on laptop. Only possible thing is having an expresscard slot and the method posted by Angy above.

 

[sohum]

You can upgrade them on some laptops. It's just the level of effort required may not be worth the possibility of screwing up other stuff. For example, I recently fiddled around with my old laptop's cooling fan too much and messed up the Wifi chip somehow. Gotta fix it next time I open it up!

 

[Hitterman]

Thanks for the quick reply Sohum but you missed my Q No. 2.

I have another question apart from this. I have another PC "HP D290". I was cleaning the fans and suddenly I discovered that it has a PCI-E x1 slot. I know that most GFX cards are only compatible with PCI-E x16 but is there any GFX card which can be plugged into PCI-E x1 slot? The PC uses DDR1 RAM

Any help on this one?

 

[Abhas]

You can upgrade them on some laptops. It's just the level of effort required may not be worth the possibility of screwing up other stuff. For example, I recently fiddled around with my old laptop's cooling fan too much and messed up the Wifi chip somehow. Gotta fix it next time I open it up!

But what he's asking is utilizing the expansion port, and doesn't require the laptop to be opened.
The card would be left hanging from the laptop.

The only problem I see is, how will he plug in the laptop's display. And, without the display, the card will be useless.


Hitter, you may look at some of the older GFX cards if they are compatible with PCI-E x1. Their availability would be a problem certainly.