You must have thought if you could upgrade your laptop’s parts or components. Truly speaking, most of us know that a Laptop is not meant to be upgradeable other than storage devices and RAM. However, you probably wouldn’t want to throw away or sell your cherished laptop you’ve had for long just because of the poor graphics, right? Graphics Card/ GPU is now one of the fundamental parts of the computer system because of video editing or intensive graphical games. Even though Laptops didn’t come with any better GPU before, it nowadays has become a demand for laptops with a dedicated graphics card.

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How much of a possibility is there to Upgrade Laptop Graphics Card?

The Laptops come with integrated Graphics known as “Intel HD Graphics”. And the GPU is permanently packed with the CPU. And then, there will be a dedicated graphics card with Nvidia or AMD brand on it. This GPU works pretty close to a desktop’s one but it absorbs less power.

There might be a slight chance of upgrading a Graphics card, but either you have to be a person or have to find a skillful and experienced one in this field. However, you can also think why go through this hassle and lose patience along with time? Just buy a new one. Anyways, there is another way of having a better graphics card than to use the old shabby one.

Upgrade Laptop GPU

You can use a modern desktop Graphics card called eGPU or an External Graphics Card for the boosted performance. With its own PCIe connection and power supply, it is easy to use. You just need to plug it onto one of your USB ports. However, how suitable and stable is this method? Firstly, it is more pricey than the GPU itself. Secondly, you will never get to use the max potential of it. Thirdly, as a nature of the external part’s act, it remains 10-15% slower than the main GPU. Finally, it is totally poor for the price you will be giving. Moreover, not all of them are fully compatible.

Thunderbolt 3 plays an important role in transferring the data from laptop to GPU and vice versa. However, it is slower than a PCI Express connection.

Is it Worthy?

If your laptop comes with only a simple integrated Graphics Card, then eGPU is worth it as it will turn your performance from good to perfect. In terms of having a dedicated GPU in your laptop, then an eGPU is more likely to have little role to play. Since the dedicated GPU is more than efficient, you most probably face any performance loss.

Upgrading the GPU is time-consuming and a hassle where you will even lose your laptop’s warranty once it is opened up. The external GPU is worth it if your decent laptop has no dedicated graphics. However, it will be a wise decision if you just let it be since your one comes with a dedicated one.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How to upgrade the graphics card on a laptop?

    You can use a modern desktop Graphics card called eGPU or an External Graphics Card for the boosted performance.

  2. Is an External Graphics card for a laptop worth it?

    Upgrading the GPU is time-consuming and a hassle where you will even lose your laptop’s warranty once it is opened up. The external GPU is worth it if your decent laptop has no dedicated graphics. However, it will be a wise decision if you just let it be since your one comes with a dedicated one.


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Sherman R.

I am a total tech geek! I'm obsessed with computers and anything remotely related to them -building, tinkering, upgrading...you name it. My friends are probably sick of hearing me talk about the latest hardware innovations and whatnot but, I hope you all appreciate it!