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January 23rd, 2022 00:00
Does my laptop support a graphics card?
I have a Dell Inspiron 3542. When I bought this laptop, there was no graphics card, and I am running on the integrated graphics. But on the Dell support website, in the driver section, if I DISABLE "show downloads only for this PC", without entering the service tag, it also shows me a Nvidia GT840M / 820M / 920M graphics driver. So that means one of these graphics cards were available when purchasing this laptop. Today, I am thinking about upgrading this laptop. So does that mean I have a slot and space for one of these graphics cards in my laptop? I haven't yet opened my laptop so I can't see.
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ejn63
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January 23rd, 2022 08:00
SImply look up the service manual -- it will tell you what's inside without needing to open up the system.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/inspiron-15-3542-laptop/docs
Or, go ahead and look inside if you won't be convinced any other way despite being told the facts.
ejn63
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January 23rd, 2022 04:00
No. Both GPUs are soldered onto the system board -- the system cannot be upgraded.
Dell_User2147
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January 23rd, 2022 05:00
Soldered on the motherboard? I have seen a lot of laptop restoration videos on YouTube, and they all seem to be able to remove the graphics card from the PCIe slot and insert a new one.
ejn63
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January 23rd, 2022 05:00
Those must be quite old -- while it was once common to have separate graphics cards, in the last 10+ years, only high-end gaming and workstation-class systems have had the ability to replace the GPU.
Until about 10 years ago, CPUs used to be socketed and replaceable as well - no longer.
Your system cannot be upgraded -- but if you want to have that ability in the future, the Alienware Area 51m and Precision workstation notebooks do still offer that -- but nothing else does.
The system you have was available with Intel only or discrete graphics -- the latter option used a different system board. While you can replace the system board, you're limited to that GPU -- and wll also need to replace the heatsink assembly (the integrated one won't fit the discrete board.) and, if you have a 65W power adapter, you'll need one with 90W or better. You'll be putting over $200 in parts into a system that's worth less than half that on the used market.
https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=18078
Dell_User2147
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January 23rd, 2022 07:00
But my system is from 2013, which is 4th gen processors, which is kind of old. I think the only way to find out is to open up my laptop. But still, if I view my laptop's support webpage, it does give me a Nvidia GT graphics driver, except I don't have one. And also, if I look at the documentation, in the specifications, it does show a GT graphics card is also compatible. So there should be space for a graphics card.