Can i upgrade graphics card on my laptop??

[jrubenis]

Hi, i hav a HP pavillon dv8000 laptop. I use it for playing games (half life 2 CSS etc) and was wondering if it was possible to upgrade the graphics card. There is a port on the side which says "expansion port 2" is this used for better cards. I currenty get about 25-45 fps but would like to increase this to smoothen graphics etc. I am a bit of a noob so sorry if this has beeen covered. Thanks in advance. james.

[GOONERUK]

I would only imagine you can do this by changing the current graphics card and again I think only if its a stand alone one, not a built in one on the Mobo.
I have a pci express card on mine but might change it in the future.

[Roz_P_89]

As gooner said, it depends whether your laptop uses the (nvidia's go series?) feature where you can take out the graphics car and replace it, or if it is onboard graphics, i.e fixed to the motherboard.

I believe Asus have an alternative which allows you to use a pci-express graphics card on a separate unit plugged into your laptop, but this may be a little extreme, as it's liekly to cost afair bit in addition to a new card.

Do you know what graphics card your laptop currently uses?

Roz

[GOONERUK]

check this:
Notebookcheck: Upgrade / Replace a Notebook Video Card