Possible to Upgrade Intel 915 Graphics card in X41?

[Subs91]

Hello everyone I am new to this site

Just wanted to know if there is a slim chance that I could replace that card with maybe a AMD or Nvidia graphics card?
I am using Windows 7 now and due to the whole WDDM driver issue I can't get Aero effects which really sucks.
Anyway, maybe some soldering or something could achieve this I don't really want to shell out and buy a Aero compliant netbook but I fear it may be my only option. Even WindowBlinds doesn't work on it

[Harryc]

It is not possible. The CPU and GPU are soldered to the systemboard and I have never seen even an attempt at a transplant of either.

[Subs91]

I thought so. Thanks for prompt reply.

[ThinkRob]

Hello everyone I am new to this site

Just wanted to know if there is a slim chance that I could replace that card with maybe a AMD or Nvidia graphics card?
I am using Windows 7 now and due to the whole WDDM driver issue I can't get Aero effects which really sucks.
Anyway, maybe some soldering or something could achieve this I don't really want to shell out and buy a Aero compliant netbook but I fear it may be my only option. Even WindowBlinds doesn't work on it

Personally, I'd save my money and just skip out on "Aero". Fancy eye-candy may look cool for a while, but I find the classic Windows appearance to be faster and more efficient to work with. I'd definitely pass on paying for a new laptop just to get a UI that I'll be bored with in a month.

But that's just me. YMMV.

[loyukfai]

However, Aero Glass is not entirely about eye candy. Some of the features in Win7, like Aero Peek and taskbar thumbnail preview, are useful IMO.

Moreover, Microsoft has made it a pain to change the colour scheme if Aero Glass is not used.

BTW, have anybody tried Aero Enabler...? It claims to make it possible to skip the WDDM check.

http://www.wecode.biz/search/label/AeroEnabler

[ThinkRob]

However, Aero Glass is not entirely about eye candy. Some of the features in Win7, like Aero Peek and taskbar thumbnail preview, are useful IMO.

Taskbar preview is useful, but I'm not so sold on "Peek" being anything other than eye candy.

Moreover, Microsoft has made it a pain to change the colour scheme if Aero Glass is not used.

No disagreement there. Then again, I'm not a very GUI-oriented person, so colour scheme flexibility doesn't tend to be high up on the list of things I notice.

[Subs91]

Personally, I'd save my money and just skip out on "Aero". Fancy eye-candy may look cool for a while, but I find the classic Windows appearance to be faster and more efficient to work with. I'd definitely pass on paying for a new laptop just to get a UI that I'll be bored with in a month.

But that's just me. YMMV.

Like loyukfai said, some of the features are really useful and I have a Toshiba Satellite which works really well with Aero. I'm not going to lie, Aero is mostly eye candy but then I would have just stayed with XP if I cant use Win 7 to its potential. I'm looking at getting the MSi Wind/Advent 4211. Slightly smaller screen but has a good WEI so Aero works really well. It's a shame because I really like X41.

[ThinkRob]

Like loyukfai said, some of the features are really useful and I have a Toshiba Satellite which works really well with Aero. I'm not going to lie, Aero is mostly eye candy but then I would have just stayed with XP if I cant use Win 7 to its potential. I'm looking at getting the MSi Wind/Advent 4211. Slightly smaller screen but has a good WEI so Aero works really well. It's a shame because I really like X41.

I understand. While you can't enable Aero on the GMA in the X41 (AFAIK), you can take some comfort in the fact that if you ever upgrade to the (very similar) X61s, you'll be able to run Aero on that. The X3100 handles Aero like a champ. Small comfort, I know, but worth keeping in mind.

[Tasurinchi]

I'm also a Aero-less user with my X31. I personally wouldn't bother investing money in a new laptop (or to heavily modify one) exclusively to have Aero.

I would have just stayed with XP if I cant use Win 7 to its potential

I don't think that because you cannot turn on Aero you are not using Win7 to its full potential. My understanding was that Win7 was improved in terms of security and user administration as well.

If you want to stay with your X41 and have more eye candy, you may try any of the newest Linux distributions and install Compiz. I've seen it working in old desktops computers and it looks impresive.

My 0.02 cents...

[ThinkRob]

I don't think that because you cannot turn on Aero you are not using Win7 to its full potential. My understanding was that Win7 was improved in terms of security and user administration as well.

I second this. The advantages of Windows 7 over Windows XP are numerous and substantial. Aero is just eye candy -- occasionally useful eye candy, but eye candy nonetheless. IMHO the improvements in performance, security, stability, and flexibility that Windows 7 offers over Windows XP are far, far more meaningful than whether or not you have a semi-transparent border around a window.

If you want to stay with your X41 and have more eye candy, you may try any of the newest Linux distributions and install Compiz. I've seen it working in old desktops computers and it looks impresive.

Definitely. You might not be able to run all of the Compiz effects on the old GMA in the X41, but you definitely can get many of them working just fine -- shadowing, transparency, etc. all work great on my X40, and it's a substantially less-powerful machine than your X41.

[loyukfai]

Just wondering, nobody tried that "Aero Enabler"...?

Edit: Ooops... Looks like from the comments, it's mainly for Basic users to enable Aero Glass. Systems without WDDM drivers will still not able to run Aero Glass whatsover.

Edit 2: OK, out of curiosity I still gave it a try (after creating a System Restore point)... And it couldn't enable Aero Glass on the X41T. : )

[Subs91]

It looks like without the WDDM driver it's near impossible to get aero to work on this particular chipset. I've heard that they i915 has the spec to handle aero but they never released the driver publicly because they wanted everyone to upgrade. Business Strategy? Maybe.

Edit: Instead of the MSi Wind it looks like I'm going to upgrade the x41 to x60.

[loyukfai]

Have anybody tried the drivers created using the Intel® Embedded Graphics Drivers (IEGD) tool...?

http://edc.intel.com/Software/Downloads/IEGD/

I don't think it's WDDM-enabled for 915, but wonder if it provides better performance.

The downloaded file is not a driver package per se. It seems to be a tool that can package up a driver (and more).