Graphics Card - Upgrade

[Akhtar07]

Hello and Good evening Everyone, 

Is it possilbe to upgrade my laptop graphics card?

Current specs being: 

HP Envy 15-J039tx

NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)

2.4 GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ

8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L

I don't want to open my laptop and check for myself whether it is integrated or has separate slot arrangments. 

 Plus how to check what's the limit of upgradation. 

Please help guys, I would be obliged 

Thank you. 

[DavidPK]

Hi,

Unfortunately the Nvidia gpu is integrated into the system board and is not an upgradeable component.

Regards,

DP-K

[Akhtar07]

Hi David, 

Thank you for feedback  

I would like to know if there is any way I can upgrade my graphics card like 

- external gpu

- changing the main board 

or buying a new laptop would cost the same ? 

Plus what else components can I upgrade if I don't want to buy a new laptop? 

- RAM

- Processor

- Motherboard with detachable gpu

Would appreciate your input. Thanks.

[DavidPK]

Hi,

You're welcome

To answer your questions in order.

1.  Any external gpu option is going to have bandwidth problems as you can only connect it via usb 3.0 which just isn't fast enough.

2 & 3  You can change the system board, however the best gpu for your notebook series is the Nvidia 750M, so there's no great gain in performance,  Added to that, the expense of replacing and fitting the board would certainly rival the cost of a new notebook.  Additionally, windows would see the change as significant and the OS would no longer be activated.

4.  The maximum memory you can install is 16Bg ( 2 x 8Gb Modules ) - an example of a suitable upgrade can be seen on the following link.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/envy-15-j030us/CT4549562

5.  The processor can be upgraded - see the list of compatible Intel processors starting on Page 85 of your Maintenance & Service Guide.

6.  All the system board options available only have fixed gpus.

Regards,

DP-K

[Huffer]

RAM can be upgraded to 16 gigs but that will do little to nothing for gaming. There may be a motherboard available with slightly better graphics but as you guessed the price of the motherboard will not be worth the very small improvement in video. There are no motherboards with detachable graphics that would fit in the chassis of your laptop. External gpus do exist. Called eGPU and it is a big clunky thing that uses a bay that holds a desktop video card, a connector cable which ends in a plugin that looks like a wireless card, a desktop power supply and en external monitor. You plug the cable into the wireless port, which requires that you run the laptop with the bottom cover off. People have reported mixed success with them on HP laptops and I try to discourage their use wherever I can for technical hardware reasons. In a nutshell, the wireless port does not have the bandwidth to run good gaming video. In my opinion the eGPUs are taking advantage of the desparate and gullible. If you want to game on a laptop you need a purpose built gaming laptop. HP makes good mid-range ones like the HP Gaming Notebook and the Omen for around $1000. A real good one is going to run you $2500 and up. 

[Akhtar07]

Thank you so much David and Huffer. 

I did some diggings regarding eGPU and I found the same things as you mentioned in your reply and personally I didn't like it. It is better to go for a system instead of a laptop with that sort of arrangments where wires and other products are dangling. 

Secondly as per our discussion, it seems like I have to go for a new laptop, a gaming one but I have heard certain things like they are not suitable for graphic designing or mechanical tools like CATIA, ANSYS etc in terms of processing. Is it really a thing or it's just a hype? 

[Huffer]

Well that is right. Gaming video cards and engineering video cards have a lot in common and can handle each others' work to some extent but there are differences and you can't game real well on something like an nVidia Quadro and you can't do CAD as well on a GeForce. Which is it you want to do, game or render 3D drawings? 

[Akhtar07]

Sometimes I have to work on CAD software but mostly it's all about playing games. So I would stick to a gaming laptop.

Could you please suggest one which is also upgradable in terms of gpu? 

Does HP manufacture such laptops or should I go for the gaming developers like alienware, republic of gamers, origin, gigabyte etc? 

Please advise. 

[Huffer]

HP does not make a consumer laptop with a removeable and upgradeable video card. To get that you would have to go with a Mobile Work Station model. HP happens to have loaned me one for my work here; it is the Zbook 15 G3 Mobile workstation but to configure it with the top end video card you are looking at a price approaching $3000 for all the bells and whistles. Even when a laptop has a removeable and upgradeable video card it ain't like popping down to Frys and picking up the latest desktop video card. MXM cards have limited interoperability and have caused more than a few competent technicians nighmares, including this semi-competent amateur. I might suggest Sager as a manufacturet to explore. They are not well known or cheap by any means but make some of the best and most robust gaming laptops on the market.   

[Akhtar07]

Hi Huffer, 

Sorry I got stuck in few other things, couldn't really find time to reply back or look deep into things you said. 

I looked for reviews regarding the Sager manufacturer you mentioned, well there are good and bad reviews as happens to be out there for everyone. But what hits me most is when you look for top 10 or top 20, Sager is found no where near, plus people are complaining about it's rubberize finish tends to wear out pretty quickly. I wouldn't prefer to buy such laptop which changes its look after few months. I have envy for three years and it still looks new. 

I am okay spending around $2000 but before I do, i came across one more thing. 
Some of the laptops uses e.g. GTX 980 and others uses GTX 980M, what's the real difference between these two?