Can the discrete graphics cards in the i5 and i7 be upgraded in the future?

[acribb]

Might be a dumb question, but couldn't the graphics cards be swapped out for higher end cards in the future, say replace the 330m 512mb for a 1gb card in the future?

Or are these GPUs soldered onto the mobo?

 

[alphaod]

They cannot be upgraded. They are soldered to the motherboard. The VRAM is soldered—mine was epoxied as well.

 

[miles01110]

No. They aren't even discrete "cards"- more like discrete chips that are soldered to the logic board.

 

[spinnerlys]

They are soldered onto the logic board. www.ifixit.com might have a teardown for you to look at.

 

[Hellhammer]

The orange one is 330M so looks like it's soldered link for bigger pic

 

[acribb]

I guess the term 'discrete' is a little misleading.....

'Discrete' sounds like there is the built-in soldered-on-to-the-mobo graphics chip with a side of plug-in pcie 330m graphics card.

Probably should say dual video chips instead, because that's really what it is.

 

[hypermog]

The interface needed to allow for modular components takes more space than just soldering it directly to the mainboard, which is why truly modular GPUs are so rare in laptops.