Can I put a new video card in my Acer Aspire 4730z Laptop?
January 16th, 2010 | 
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I have an Acer Aspire 4730z and it won’t run games for anything. I use a website to test my specifications for certain games and EVERYTIME everything is GTG except for my video card. Very annoying… How can I get a new card for my system?
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Nope.
You can’t upgrade video card memory without replacing the whole video card. Unless you’ve ordered the laptop with the card you wanted, you can’t swap it out.
Unlike Desktop graphics cards, which are limited only by available slots, Laptop graphics cards are hard to find, and even harder to replace.
Laptop GPUs are not cards at all, but GPU chips soldered into the motherboard (which is why the ones with dedicated cards are said to have "discrete graphics" and others have the built-in "integrated graphics" rather than having "cards"), so as are some of the CPUs – meaning you have to melt the metal solder to even take them out. This is the way most laptops today are made. You’ll have to be a real expert to be able to swap them successfully – even then success isn’t 100%. Manufacturers will not take them back for an upgrade. Furthermore, your laptop motherboard chipset will not allow for you to upgrade to a discrete GPU if you ordered it with the integrated card.
Unless you have a laptop with a separate graphics unit or an MXM slot, you won’t be able to upgrade/replace it. Check your manual to see if they allow any upgrades. Few laptops today allow you to do so (the Alienware line being one of the very last)
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The only option you have left is to use an Expresscard-adpated graphics unit, but not yet. Maybe in the near future; right now external graphics through Expresscard is in the process of development/release.
There aren’t that many for sale yet, but if you’re lucky, you can find an ASUS XG Station for sale somewhere (but it won’t be cheap considering its around $300 for the dock alone). You just need to have an Expresscard slot.