W541 GPU Upgrade

[thealphaoverseer]

Hi everyone,
I recently saw an interesting thread on Lenovo's forums where someone claimed to be upgrading their GPU to a K4100M. Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear what happened, because someone kindly informed him that the GPU is soldered. He sounded thoroughly disappointed. So, is it extremely difficult, or outright impossible?

[Screamer]

Likely impossible, as most GPU substrates are known to use wildly differing electrical pin-out layouts.

The second issue would be the BIOS, as it has to be capable of detecting the GPU via its own specialized VBIOS (which is normally a part of the BIOS).

[Screamer]

There is, but it is not elegant or convenient in any shape or form.

One such example is the widely available ExpressCard/34-to-PCI-E adapter, which are very cumbersome and may require the use of a power supply unit to provide the external GPU with sufficient power. While it is true that they do give a decent step-up in performance, they are still limited to one PCIe lane due to the ExpressCard slot's limitations. This would mean a significant bottleneck, as most GPUs would generally need sixteen PCIe lanes (whether if they do make use of the entire bandwidth given is another question).

[axur-delmeria]

One such example is the widely available ExpressCard/34-to-PCI-E adapter, which are very cumbersome and may require the use of a power supply unit to provide the external GPU with sufficient power. While it is true that they do give a decent step-up in performance, they are still limited to one PCIe lane due to the ExpressCard slot's limitations. This would mean a significant bottleneck, as most GPUs would generally need sixteen PCIe lanes (whether if they do make use of the entire bandwidth given is another question).

Based from all the eGPU threads I've read (was considering one for my X220 at one point), I've learned two things:

- an external power source is required. The popular EXP GDC Beast has inputs for a +12V barrel connector, a Dell DA-2 external PSU for the Optiplex 745, 755, and 760 USFF , and a standard ATX power supply.

- midrange GPUs like the GTX 1060 are the maximum recommended, as the limited bandwidth of the Expresscard severely bottlenecks more powerful cards.