Help understanding GPU--Discreet vs Integrated

[Grumpy]

I thought a DISCRETE GPU meant a "card" that could be replaced by slipping into a socket. And INTEGRATED meant the pins were soldered to the motherboard.

Doesn't seem to be the case for my R51 1836-Q7U http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ry=1836Q7U

My LCD is grabled with symetrical colors and shapes and the same image appears when attached to a working external monitor. I guess that means my motherboard needs to be replaced unless there is a secret card slot someplace I haven't been able to find. Poking and prodding on everything I could find that looked like a processor on the motherboard made no difference on the screen image (ie nothing loose or poor connection).

So...does Discreete sometimes mean simply another "chip" soldered on the mb?

[Marin85]

On most laptops even the discrete gpu is soldered to the mobo and hence is not replaceable. Only some recent models like W700 (and probably W500) and some Asus laptops are built so that the gpu is replaceable/upgradable.

Regarding integrated vs. discrete gpus -> Graphics processing unit (wiki)

Marin

[Grumpy]

Thanks Marin for the reply and Wikki ref. Somehow I knew I wasn't going to get out of this without a replacement laptop. Is there any way to EASILY tell from the marketing description whether a card is replaceable via a slot? Certainly seems like that would be desirable. If the W500 uses replaceable video cards I can't tell from the Lenovo descriptions on the website where you build your system.

Now it's off to the T500 forum with some display questions.

[ssd_thinkpad]

Is there any way to EASILY tell from the marketing description whether a card is replaceable via a slot?

A hard but also interesting way would be to watch lenovo training videos for the machines you consider. Maybe here you get some ideas if you can replace the gpu.

[aaa]

Is there any way to EASILY tell from the marketing description whether a card is replaceable via a slot?

Good rule of thumb is to assume it does not have a slot, because 99% of the laptops out there don't.

[rkawakami]

Maybe somewhat less than 99% . I took apart a Dell Inspiron 1100 a couple of days ago and found that it has a removable GPU module. As far as determining if a Thinkpad has a removable video card, then I'd suggest looking through the Hardware Maintenance Manual:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 39298.html

[Grumpy]

Thanks. I'm interested in the T/W500. Looks like they fall in the 99 percentile.

[sjthinkpader]

I think the G series has removable GPU cards. George should be the expert on this.

[ajkula66]

Someone called... ...?

Some versions of G41 have removable nVidia GoForce 5300 GPU with either 64 or 128MB VRAM, but that's about it. As for W500, GPU is soldered to the planar.

[sjthinkpader]

Someone called... ...?

...

You have a 6th sense or there is a hidden notification function on the site only the privileged knows?

[ajkula66]

sjthinkpader wrote:

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You have a 6th sense or there is a hidden notification function on the site only the privileged knows?

Yu shud nou det KGB nevr sliips...

All jokes aside, I'm subscribed to this forum so I get a notification of every new post...