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MrAnthonySutton

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2012
27
0
Is it possible to upgrade the Macbook Pro late 2011 13 inch graphics card? I want to do gaming with decent graphics. If so, what graphics card would you recommend for this?
 
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
No, as the GPU is within the chip for the chipset, and that chip is soldered onto the logic board. Notebook computers (with few exceptions) rarely have exchangeable parts like CPU or GPU. RAM and HDD/SSD are most often the only parts to be replaceable.
 

clyde2801

macrumors 601

From the linked article:

"Before you start dreaming of a MacBook Air that converts into a powerhouse machine, you need to know that this will require driver support from AMD, Nvidia and Apple. We find it unlikely that the latter will ever happen, but should AMD or Nvidia support the device you'll be able to use it in Windows. Since there currently aren't any drivers that support the case, MSI tricked Windows in the demo to make the OS think that the GPU was connected over PCI Express."

So I would say no. Sorry.
 

Dangerous Theory

macrumors 68000
Jul 28, 2011
1,984
28
UK
From the linked article:

"Before you start dreaming of a MacBook Air that converts into a powerhouse machine, you need to know that this will require driver support from AMD, Nvidia and Apple. We find it unlikely that the latter will ever happen, but should AMD or Nvidia support the device you'll be able to use it in Windows. Since there currently aren't any drivers that support the case, MSI tricked Windows in the demo to make the OS think that the GPU was connected over PCI Express."

So I would say no. Sorry.

" Since there currently aren't any drivers that support the case, MSI tricked Windows in the demo to make the OS think that the GPU was connected over PCI Express. The enclosure will work with any new Windows PCs with Thunderbolt"

I think it may work in bootcamp.
 

clyde2801

macrumors 601
" Since there currently aren't any drivers that support the case, MSI tricked Windows in the demo to make the OS think that the GPU was connected over PCI Express. The enclosure will work with any new Windows PCs with Thunderbolt"

I think it may work in bootcamp.

That's what I ascertained. Would be cool if it DID work in OSX.

BTW, going to 8 gigs or more on a HD3000 or HD4000 intel gpu also boosts the video ram from 384 to 512 mb.
 

Dangerous Theory

macrumors 68000
Jul 28, 2011
1,984
28
UK
Realistically though, that enclosure + GPU would be a huge price to pay for gaming on the 13". It makes more sense to just choose the 15" model with a 650M. Really depends what games OP actually wants to play.
 

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Realistically though, that enclosure + GPU would be a huge price to pay for gaming on the 13". It makes more sense to just choose the 15" model with a 650M. Really depends what games OP actually wants to play.

Realistic? Who wants to be that?!?:D The OP presumably already has a 2011 13" MBP, though.

A docking station is almost an anachronism these days, anyway. The only docking station Apple thinks you should use is s TBD, which doesn't have an external GPU.
 

AzN1337c0d3r

macrumors 6502
Sep 13, 2010
448
2
" Since there currently aren't any drivers that support the case, MSI tricked Windows in the demo to make the OS think that the GPU was connected over PCI Express. The enclosure will work with any new Windows PCs with Thunderbolt"

I think it may work in bootcamp.

As far as I understand it, Thunderbolt is basically external PCIe. I wonder why they needed a driver for the enclosure.
 
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