Upgradable graphics card ??

[Alpinism]

can the graphics card be upgradable via the Express slot on the MAcBook Pro ??

If not, what about removing the internal PCI express graphics card and upgrading it to something else ?

thanks

 

[robbieduncan]

No Apple laptop has an upgradable graphics subsystem. On the MacBook Pro the graphics chip and it's dedicated RAM are soldered directly to the motherboard. It's not a card. It's simply connected via a PCI Express Bus.

As the ExpressCard slot is only PCI Express 1x it's too slow to use for any reasonable graphics processor (full desktop cards use 16x links).

 

[Chundles]

can the graphics card be upgradable via the Express slot on the MAcBook Pro ??

If not, what about removing the internal PCI express graphics card and upgrading it to something else ?

thanks

There is no graphics "card" in the MacBook Pro - it is a collection of what would normally be on the card but soldered to the logic board. It cannot be upgraded in any way shape or form.

The only Mac with an upgradeable graphics card is the PowerMac.

However the first part of your post is interesting, if they can come up with a graphics processor small enough to fit in the ExpressCard/34 form factor it would be possible to add an additional outlet allowing you to use 2 external monitors with the MBP. It could not, however be used to boost the built-in graphics abilities.