A lot of what you've said makes sense except for two things. For one thing, VGA is a standard that all graphics cards have implemented since the early 1990s generally supporting at a minimum 640x480x16 and 320x200x256 (and CGA/EGA compatibility) as well as often supporting XGA (1024x768), SVGA/Super VGA (800x600 and a whole host of other things) and VESA extensions, in addition to being the connector type used by the first VGA card on the IBM PS/2 (I believe some early third party VGA clones may have used a 9-pin D-subminature connector a la CGA). Windows contains basic VGA drivers (that now support VESA extensions) and since all GPUs implement it, there should be a level of compatibility when running the BIOS and Windows in basic display mode (giving me a chance to install display drivers)
Additionally, I have found listings on eBay for mPCIe graphics cards. Yes, they are sold solely to OEM's by GPU manufacturers (or the chip itself is sent to the OEM for manufacturing) but they have often been removed and sold online.
What I'm asking is if I could plug one of those mPCIe GPUs and plug it into the mPCIe slot on my Latitude and if it would work. So would it?
The Intel Graphics chip is built into the CPU itself, and there isn't a slot to just plug another GPU in. Even Latitude systems that are available with or without discrete GPUs don't have that design these days. Instead, the discrete GPU if installed is actually soldered onto the motherboard rather than existing as a physically separate card -- so if you order the system with a discrete GPU, you end up with a completely different motherboard, and sometimes a completely different cooling assembly.
As for the mPCIe slot, you're not going to find a GPU that actually fits onto an mPCIe card. The mPCIe GPU hack involves installing a PCIe bridge board into that slot that has a ribbon cable attached to it, and then you route the ribbon cable out of your chassis (so yes, you have a cable sticking out of the bottom of your system), and then you connect to an enclosure that contains a desktop graphics card. But those methods are messy and not guaranteed to work at all. The only "official" way to connect external GPUs is Thunderbolt 3, which your system doesn't have. And then Alienware has a proprietary Alienware Graphics Amplifier for this purpose (which predates Thunderbolt 3), but you don't have that either of course.
And just fyi, VGA is a very old signal type between a graphics card and a display, not a protocol used between the video card and the rest of the system.
@WillONC I'm well aware of what VGA is. My point was simply that the signal type sent from the video card to the display has absolutely nothing to do with the compatibility between the video card and the rest of the system. The system doesn't care what kind of signal the video card is sending to the display, so it's not as if a graphics card with a VGA connector would work, but one with a DisplayPort connector would fail just for that reason. The VGA signal doesn't originate from the system motherboard. The system motherboard interfaces with the graphics card over PCIe, and the graphics card is then responsible for rendering that data into a video signal and transmitting it to the display using whatever signal type it wants. The "Standard VGA Adapter" driver name you're referring to is just a name that was chosen long ago and has hung around. There's no special significance to the VGA portion of the name. It's not the case that that driver would only be usable by graphics cards that actually included a VGA connector.
As for whether it would work, first of all those video cards you linked are absolutely NOT Mini-PCIe cards. I actually owned a Precision M4800 that one of those came from. Those graphics cards are much larger than you think AND they use either a proprietary connector or MXM to interface with those systems. MXM and mPCIe are not the same thing. Those cards also run fairly hot and are therefore designed to have a fan and copper heat pipe assembly that carries heat out to the chassis vents sitting directly on top of them. Take a look at the Service Manual for the Precision M4800 if you want to see the diagrams of how that graphics card is installed in the system, which should also give you a sense of its size relative to that system's mPCIe card.
But even setting all of that aside and talking in theory, assuming you found an actual mPCIe graphics card that fit in your system and didn't overheat from having no cooling assembly supporting it, I have no way to know if it would work for sure because a) I don't know if such a card even exists, and b) I therefore obviously haven't tested it personally. And since Dell certainly wouldn't support this, unless you happen to find someone else who's tested your intended setup on that system, you'd likely have to roll the dice if you want to find out if it will work. At the very least you'd need an NVIDIA GPU that supported NVIDIA Optimus technology, since any graphics card you installed there would not have any display outputs wired directly to it, and Optimus is the only way to use discrete GPU acceleration with displays that are physically wired to the Intel GPU. Unless of course you would consider that ugly ribbon cable hack, but even then you'd only get discrete GPU acceleration on external displays you attached to your external video card, if it worked at all.
@WillONC in addition to my reply above (which I edited a bit to add more content and clarity), I'll spare you the search on that Service Manual and just show you the relevant images from it. Below you can see the copper heat pipe and heat sink assembly. That large gap in the upper-right corner is where the fan would be installed. Both of those components in the M4800 are dedicated solely to cooling that video card that you linked. This image should also give you some sense of scale. Compare the size of the Dell logo on the 15" display there to the spacing of the screw holes on the heat pipe assembly, and note that those don't even extend all the way out to the corners of the video card underneath. That should give you some idea of how much wider that video card is than, say, an mPCIe WiFi card....
I believe it is impossible to do an internal GPU upgrade but it is certainly possible to use a V8.0 EXP GDC (The Beast) and use a Desktop GPU, here in Brazil a high performing Desktop is absurdly expensive so I did a search on my family and one of my uncles had an E6430 without HD without RAM with an I7-3540M I took it for myself and at that time I have 12 Gigas of RAM and a 240 Gigas PND SSD and this machine flies, unfortunately the intel hd 4000 is very simple and in the newests softwares it leaves a lot to be desired, I have been doing this same quest about upgrading the GPU and I got to this possibility of using a Desktop GPU, I still haven't bought the parts to test because I'm waiting for a refund for breach of contract, but if you're still looking for a solution I can post the results here when I upgrade the E6430, please let me know if you do this upgrade.
I hope I have helped, I will leave my research links here, Good luck !!!
you can use external GPU using the EXP GDC external graphic card dock , that connects with your PCI EXPRESSCARD through Cable provided with Dock. Along with that you will need external monitor (Some NVIDIA GPUs will work with Dell's Builtin display) and a PSU that is compatible with the GPU you want to use. But there are lot of incompatibility issues with newer graphics cards. And this method is only fit for Testing and experimental purpose. I would not recommend for gaming
The Dell E6430 notebook are available in two different mainboards.
1. Variant:
* use the Intel CPU build in graphics card * The mainboard on varian 1 have a different pcb layout, use a different cooler part number, which is a little bit different in size and can not replaced by the variant 2 used cooler.
2. Variant:
* Dont use the Intel CPU build graphic card. * Use a NVIDIA Graphics vard which is directli on mainboard, dont have a socket like the cpu. And can no. The mainboard on varian 2 have a different pcb layout, use a different cooler part number, which is a little bit different in size and can not replaced by the variant 1 used cooler.
What should work (a not tested by me on this time): * It looks for me it can be its possible to replace the non NVIDIA mainboard variant by NVIDIA mainboard variant. The Coller need to replaced too, because its a little bit different.
* It looks for me it can be its possible to replace the NVIDIA mainboard variant by non NVIDIA mainboard variant. The Coller need to replaced too, because its a little bit different.
WillONC
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 16:00
A lot of what you've said makes sense except for two things. For one thing, VGA is a standard that all graphics cards have implemented since the early 1990s generally supporting at a minimum 640x480x16 and 320x200x256 (and CGA/EGA compatibility) as well as often supporting XGA (1024x768), SVGA/Super VGA (800x600 and a whole host of other things) and VESA extensions, in addition to being the connector type used by the first VGA card on the IBM PS/2 (I believe some early third party VGA clones may have used a 9-pin D-subminature connector a la CGA). Windows contains basic VGA drivers (that now support VESA extensions) and since all GPUs implement it, there should be a level of compatibility when running the BIOS and Windows in basic display mode (giving me a chance to install display drivers)
Additionally, I have found listings on eBay for mPCIe graphics cards. Yes, they are sold solely to OEM's by GPU manufacturers (or the chip itself is sent to the OEM for manufacturing) but they have often been removed and sold online.
What I'm asking is if I could plug one of those mPCIe GPUs and plug it into the mPCIe slot on my Latitude and if it would work. So would it?
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 16:00
The Intel Graphics chip is built into the CPU itself, and there isn't a slot to just plug another GPU in. Even Latitude systems that are available with or without discrete GPUs don't have that design these days. Instead, the discrete GPU if installed is actually soldered onto the motherboard rather than existing as a physically separate card -- so if you order the system with a discrete GPU, you end up with a completely different motherboard, and sometimes a completely different cooling assembly.
As for the mPCIe slot, you're not going to find a GPU that actually fits onto an mPCIe card. The mPCIe GPU hack involves installing a PCIe bridge board into that slot that has a ribbon cable attached to it, and then you route the ribbon cable out of your chassis (so yes, you have a cable sticking out of the bottom of your system), and then you connect to an enclosure that contains a desktop graphics card. But those methods are messy and not guaranteed to work at all. The only "official" way to connect external GPUs is Thunderbolt 3, which your system doesn't have. And then Alienware has a proprietary Alienware Graphics Amplifier for this purpose (which predates Thunderbolt 3), but you don't have that either of course.
And just fyi, VGA is a very old signal type between a graphics card and a display, not a protocol used between the video card and the rest of the system.
U2CAMEB4ME
4 Operator
•
6.2K Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 17:00
Welcome to the Dell Community @WillONC
Could you please post a link to one of the mPCIe GPUs ???
Best regards,
U2
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 18:00
@WillONC I'm well aware of what VGA is. My point was simply that the signal type sent from the video card to the display has absolutely nothing to do with the compatibility between the video card and the rest of the system. The system doesn't care what kind of signal the video card is sending to the display, so it's not as if a graphics card with a VGA connector would work, but one with a DisplayPort connector would fail just for that reason. The VGA signal doesn't originate from the system motherboard. The system motherboard interfaces with the graphics card over PCIe, and the graphics card is then responsible for rendering that data into a video signal and transmitting it to the display using whatever signal type it wants. The "Standard VGA Adapter" driver name you're referring to is just a name that was chosen long ago and has hung around. There's no special significance to the VGA portion of the name. It's not the case that that driver would only be usable by graphics cards that actually included a VGA connector.
As for whether it would work, first of all those video cards you linked are absolutely NOT Mini-PCIe cards. I actually owned a Precision M4800 that one of those came from. Those graphics cards are much larger than you think AND they use either a proprietary connector or MXM to interface with those systems. MXM and mPCIe are not the same thing. Those cards also run fairly hot and are therefore designed to have a fan and copper heat pipe assembly that carries heat out to the chassis vents sitting directly on top of them. Take a look at the Service Manual for the Precision M4800 if you want to see the diagrams of how that graphics card is installed in the system, which should also give you a sense of its size relative to that system's mPCIe card.
But even setting all of that aside and talking in theory, assuming you found an actual mPCIe graphics card that fit in your system and didn't overheat from having no cooling assembly supporting it, I have no way to know if it would work for sure because a) I don't know if such a card even exists, and b) I therefore obviously haven't tested it personally. And since Dell certainly wouldn't support this, unless you happen to find someone else who's tested your intended setup on that system, you'd likely have to roll the dice if you want to find out if it will work. At the very least you'd need an NVIDIA GPU that supported NVIDIA Optimus technology, since any graphics card you installed there would not have any display outputs wired directly to it, and Optimus is the only way to use discrete GPU acceleration with displays that are physically wired to the Intel GPU. Unless of course you would consider that ugly ribbon cable hack, but even then you'd only get discrete GPU acceleration on external displays you attached to your external video card, if it worked at all.
WillONC
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 18:00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Dell-Precision-M4800-Video-Graphics-Card-GPU-Nvidia-2GB-Quadro-K1100M-51Y08/142146937364?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D9a0fc90257da488180be4e291ea44c12%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D231344835504%26itm%3D142146937364&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1
https://www.ebay.com/itm/231344835504
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 18:00
@WillONC in addition to my reply above (which I edited a bit to add more content and clarity), I'll spare you the search on that Service Manual and just show you the relevant images from it. Below you can see the copper heat pipe and heat sink assembly. That large gap in the upper-right corner is where the fan would be installed. Both of those components in the M4800 are dedicated solely to cooling that video card that you linked. This image should also give you some sense of scale. Compare the size of the Dell logo on the 15" display there to the spacing of the screw holes on the heat pipe assembly, and note that those don't even extend all the way out to the corners of the video card underneath. That should give you some idea of how much wider that video card is than, say, an mPCIe WiFi card....
U2CAMEB4ME
4 Operator
•
6.2K Posts
0
May 9th, 2019 18:00
@WillONC
Impossible.
It will not fit, the slots are completely different!!!
WWAN cards are 42mm in length and any of the M series GPU cards would not fit.
If you want I can open an E6430 and show that any of the M series GPU's will not fit!!!
In fact there is no GPU card that would fit a WWAN card slot.
Sorry,
U2
U2CAMEB4ME
4 Operator
•
6.2K Posts
0
May 10th, 2019 06:00
@WillONC
Nvidia to WWAN will not work.
Just so happens I had an E6430s on my bench and an Nvidia card under the bench.
Best regards,
U2
Amadeualpha
1 Message
1
June 14th, 2020 21:00
I believe it is impossible to do an internal GPU upgrade but it is certainly possible to use a V8.0 EXP GDC (The Beast) and use a Desktop GPU, here in Brazil a high performing Desktop is absurdly expensive so I did a search on my family and one of my uncles had an E6430 without HD without RAM with an I7-3540M I took it for myself and at that time I have 12 Gigas of RAM and a 240 Gigas PND SSD and this machine flies, unfortunately the intel hd 4000 is very simple and in the newests softwares it leaves a lot to be desired, I have been doing this same quest about upgrading the GPU and I got to this possibility of using a Desktop GPU, I still haven't bought the parts to test because I'm waiting for a refund for breach of contract, but if you're still looking for a solution I can post the results here when I upgrade the E6430, please let me know if you do this upgrade.
I hope I have helped, I will leave my research links here, Good luck !!!
https://br.banggood.com/Expresscard-Version-V8_0-EXP-GDC-Beast-Laptop-External-Independent-Video-Card-Dock-p-1009976.html?gpla=1&gmcCountry=BR¤cy=BRL&createTmp=1&cur_warehouse=CN
https://www.banggood.com/Mini-PCI-E-Version-V8_0-EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-Independent-Video-Card-PCI-E-Expansion-Card-p-1011222.html?akmClientCountry=BR&admitad_uid=8adc24ec317ffb4872e591793cd4da36&utm_content=240682&tagtag_uid=8adc24ec317ffb4872e591793cd4da36&cur_warehouse=CN
https://trickiknow.com/external-graphics-card-for-laptop-egpu-setup-guide/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJabK8TfyOA
Sid Paul
1 Message
0
January 23rd, 2021 14:00
you can use external GPU using the EXP GDC external graphic card dock , that connects with your PCI EXPRESSCARD through Cable provided with Dock. Along with that you will need external monitor (Some NVIDIA GPUs will work with Dell's Builtin display) and a PSU that is compatible with the GPU you want to use. But there are lot of incompatibility issues with newer graphics cards. And this method is only fit for Testing and experimental purpose. I would not recommend for gaming
Bruno001
1 Rookie
•
62 Posts
0
October 20th, 2021 07:00
The Dell E6430 notebook are available in two different mainboards.
1. Variant:
* use the Intel CPU build in graphics card
* The mainboard on varian 1 have a different pcb layout, use a different cooler part number, which is a little bit different in size and can not replaced by the variant 2 used cooler.
2. Variant:
* Dont use the Intel CPU build graphic card.
* Use a NVIDIA Graphics vard which is directli on mainboard, dont have a socket like the cpu. And can no. The mainboard on varian 2 have a different pcb layout, use a different cooler part number, which is a little bit different in size and can not replaced by the variant 1 used cooler.
What should work (a not tested by me on this time):
* It looks for me it can be its possible to replace the non NVIDIA mainboard variant by NVIDIA mainboard variant. The Coller need to replaced too, because its a little bit different.
* It looks for me it can be its possible to replace the NVIDIA mainboard variant by non NVIDIA mainboard variant. The Coller need to replaced too, because its a little bit different.
U2CAMEB4ME
4 Operator
•
6.2K Posts
0
October 20th, 2021 08:00
Welcome to the Dell Community @Bruno001
There are at least 6 different system boards.
https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=category&id=140&subid=410&refine=motherboard.
Best regards,
U2