Grafics card laptops
MountainMonster
Posts: 7,423
My HP DV7 has just kicked the bucket in the graphics card department, a few weeks after warranty has ended. I've been told by the shop that checked it out that it is about 300 to 400 to get a new graphics card installed because it is a laptop, and I wanted to ask if that sounds about right for the computer whizzes on here. It sounds extremely cheap to me, especially considering grafics cards are only about 80 installed for a decent one for a PC. Is it really that hard and expensive?
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MountainMonster wrote:My HP DV7 has just kicked the bucket in the graphics card department, a few weeks after warranty has ended. I've been told by the shop that checked it out that it is about 300 to 400 to get a new graphics card installed because it is a laptop, and I wanted to ask if that sounds about right for the computer whizzes on here. It sounds extremely cheap to me, especially considering grafics cards are only about 80 installed for a decent one for a PC. Is it really that hard and expensive?
It would depend on how much the graphic card costs... and how they're charging you. Can't see it being by the hour as in theory they'd know what's wrong with it.
Might be worth finding a compatible Graphics card and maybe trying to fit it yourself (depending on how it's installed)0 -
Just had a talk with the shop to see why it was so expensive, it's not the graphics card that is really the problem, it is the fact that the graphics card has gone dead, and is attached to the motherboard, so a new motherboard as well as graphics card is needed.
They did say they could salvage my hard drive at least to get all my data off, so will be doing that in the next few days, and hopefully i'll be back up and running next month on my own PC. I'm done by laptops though, they are just too unreliable and expensive should something go wrong. Why a laptop has things built into the motherboard I will never know, but oh well, i'll cut my loses.0 -
MountainMonster wrote:Just had a talk with the shop to see why it was so expensive, it's not the graphics card that is really the problem, it is the fact that the graphics card has gone dead, and is attached to the motherboard, so a new motherboard as well as graphics card is needed.
They did say they could salvage my hard drive at least to get all my data off, so will be doing that in the next few days, and hopefully i'll be back up and running next month on my own PC. I'm done by laptops though, they are just too unreliable and expensive should something go wrong. Why a laptop has things built into the motherboard I will never know, but oh well, i'll cut my loses.
Lack of space!!!0 -
Most laptops have integrated graphics on the motherboard, as ProjectSome says, to save space and power. Some of these integrated laptop GFX cards also use the system memory discreetly, so again, space and power saving
Some high end gaming laptops have removable GFX adapters with their own dedicated RAM.
A few years ago I had a company supplied Rock 18" gaming laptop that had a 1GB Nvidia graphics in it. These are the removable type, but they are expensive as hell.The laptop was also chunky and very heavy
The issue was that those GFX adapters are coated with a copper heatsink on the bottom end to keep them cool and these fins were prone to clogging up with dust, thus overheating and failing.
Heat tends to be the enemy of any failure on a laptop motherboard. If you repair or replace the laptop, just ensure you use it on a flat surface so the airflow isn't affected.
Using most** laptops on your knee or placing in on a cushion, the couch in the loung or on your bedding restricts airflow and causes heat build up
**MacBook Pro's exempted0 -
HP are cheap arse using inferior thermal bonding to hold the chips in place, a quick google and you will see plenty of people complaining. Never buy a HP laptop!0
