Upgrading a Laptop's GPU? (T40)

[maxpp]

I know alot of people are waiting for the new Radeon 9600 mobility chip to be released on all notebooks, but rather than wait for it to come to the IBM's line of laptops i was wondering what the possibility of upgrading a laptops graphics was?
Ive never seen a shop where you can buy these chips, but i remember reading how the IBM's motherboard in their T40 was designed in such a way to accomodate the 7500's, 9000's and firegl without any modifications, so is it possible to acquire one and then 'plug it in'?

 

[Biggs]

AFAIK, the GPU is soldered unto the T40 motherboard itself so unless you have ub3r l33t skills or expensive machinery...

 

[mocca]

You cannot remove and install a new GPU onto the T40 motherboard. It is very difficult and if you didn't do it right, you will end up with a very expensive replacement part (the motherboard will cost around $600-800 if you can even find one). IMO, it doesn't worth it. Not to mention the heat dissipation. New gfx tends to draw more power and dissipate more heat (even if the mfg claim otherwise).

Mocca

 

[esaleris]

Whenever the 9600 does come out, it's doubtful it will first be slapped onto the T-series. The A-series has long been the highest performer in the line-up. The current T40 series upsets that. In order to keep the product differentiation, IBM will most likely update the A31p to hold a faster processor and a 9600 GL long before the T40s will feel it. The T30s were still on 7500s last February, to keep things in perspective.

End line: Whether or not it is possible is one thing (9600 in T40); it will most like be determined by marketing.

 

[esaleris]

Whenever the 9600 does come out, it's doubtful it will first be slapped onto the T-series. The A-series has long been the highest performer in the line-up. The current T40 series upsets that. In order to keep the product differentiation, IBM will most likely update the A31p to hold a faster processor and a 9600 GL long before the T40s will feel it. The T30s were still on 7500s last February, to keep things in perspective.

End line: Whether or not it is possible is one thing (9600 in T40); it will most like be determined by marketing.

 

[azazello]

You can't upgrade the GPU - the package is soldered in. You can, however, upgrade the CPU. The problem is finding the chip for sale - I haven't seen any places where you can get P-M chips alone. Personally, I'm holding out hope that the next iteration of Banias will be pin- and socket-compatible with the current design, and the chipset will support it, and I will somehow be able to find it on sale somewhere, so I can upgrade the P-M 1.3 in my T40.

i remember reading how the IBM's motherboard in their T40 was designed in such a way to accomodate the 7500's, 9000's and firegl without any modifications

The motherboard itself was designed that way (i.e. the connectors to the AGP bus, the S-Video port, the VGA port and the dock pin lines are good for both the 7500 and the 9000 series - not a big deal since ATI must have made them as pin-compatible with each other as possible anyway) but the cooler assembly is different for the two. The 9000 requires substantially more cooling when at full power, so they slapped an extra coolant line on top of it where there was none on the 7500.