I'd just bought a Lenovo G480 laptop and it only comes with a integrated graphic card Intel HD 4000,but according to the manufacturer,this model can reach up to Nvidia GeForce GT630M.I was wondering if I could buy and add this (or any other) graphic card to it.
Add a dedicated graphic card to the laptop
graphics cardlaptop
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Laptops are quite a bit different than desktops in the sense that every laptop motherboards vary in shape and are limited in how much they can be upgraded.
This isn't really going to help much, but the answer is Yes and No. The video processor may not be removable (thus requiring switching out the motherboard, which obviously means you might as well just buy a new laptop).
First it would be good to lookup your model (for example, on Lenovo.com), and find out what the highest graphics processor available to your model is. This is the safest bet as your motherboard should have no problem supporting the upgrade (to the specific graphic processor models available on the manufacturer's model lineup)
However, having had a Lenovo Y530, I believe my video processor was removable. I have a semi-complete tutorial on disassembling a Lenovo Y530. I'll try to dig it up and post up the additional details.
-- So I dug up my photos from my Lenovo Y530 disassembly and I can't confirm whether its removable; however, from the looks of it, it is. I attached (2) images. The black heatsink is where the video processor is while the other image is of the CPU processor (with heatsink)
Will Nvidia graphics card be consuming power/generating heat after disabling it?
No
Will disabling the Nvidia graphics card driver in the Windows Device Manager fully disable it?
Yes
You can also override the default graphics processor for a program. You can activate a setting in the NVIDIA Control Panel that allows you to override the Optimus application profile setting and choose a particular graphics processor to use. To enable this setting, click View from the NVIDIA Control Panel menu bar and select Add "Run with graphics processor" Option to Context Menu. This setting will now allow you to right-click on any executable or shortcut and select the graphics processor to be used when running the application, either High-performance NVIDIA processor or Integrated graphics.1
I've heard something about Nvidia Optimus technology. Is this technology applicable to this laptop?
Nvidia Optimus technology intelligently optimizes your laptop, providing the better graphics performance you need, when you need it, while extending battery life.
According to the official GeForce website the GeForce 840M GPU supports the Nvidia Optimus GPU switching technology. For laptops with GPUs that support Nvidia Optimus, Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors are supported.
Best Answer
Nope. First, the cost to have the GPU properly soldered to your motherboard would be prohibitive. It pretty much has to be done when the other components are attached. Second, your laptop doesn't have the cooling system needed to cool the GPU. Laptops bought with a discrete GPU included the necessary cooling.
If you want a laptop with discrete graphics, you need to buy one. About all you can comfortably change on a laptop is the RAM and the hard drive or SSD.