Windows Upgrade Grahics Card - MBP

[MacCrank]

I have a 2012 MBP with the following Spec.

2.2GHz quad-core intel Core i7 processor
4GB SDRM
500GB HDD
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M Graphics Processor - 512MB of GDDR5 memory

At the time this was the best Graphics card available for it.

I have recently discovered a game which I love to play. I run 2x 1920x1080 screens for work but run 1920x1080 res instead of 3840x1080 not only because it runs laggy but also due to playing down the middle of 2 screens is pointless. I also have to choose lower settings, but don't get me wrong it still plays superbly but I want more out of it.

The MBP is used in clamshell mode in a stand on my desk and I do worry about heat etc with it being closed during game play as it does generate some noise not sure heat temps as don't know how to show these, however I was wondering if I could upgrade the Graphics internally or even externally without buying a dedicated gaming computer to get more from gaming.



Your advise is much appreciated as I have no clue when it comes to this sort of thing.
TIA

 

[saturnotaku]

however I was wondering if I could upgrade the Graphics internally or even externally without buying a dedicated gaming computer to get more from gaming.

Short answer, no.

 

[Huntn]

Mac laptops are not made to be upgraded. Whatever you buy is what you are stuck with until you replace it. There was a time when you could increase RAM in Mac laptops, but my impression is that as laptops have gotten thinner, that choice may be gone too. My impression is that you can be in the same boat with PC laptops too.

 

[bkar89]

I'm sorry, no. It's like the CPU, its soldered in place.

btw: How do you run games in 3840x1080? I have a two screen set-up aswell

 

[lunaoso]

Can't upgrade it internally. There have been some talks of external graphics cards through thunderbolt, but that is in it's infancy at this point. Plus with the money spent setting that up, you'd probably be better to just build a gaming rig. Not really what you wanted to hear, unfortunately. With Black Friday sales coming up, you may be able to snag the parts needed for around 400-500 bucks, but you'd have to find some good sales. You might be able to hit that already by buying some used parts off of eBay (graphics card in particular). I was just using a GTX 260 and ran all games pretty well for its age. It's a card you can find on eBay for well under $100 these days. You could start up with a $150 i3, which would be sufficient to start off. Then the rest you could grab for a few hundred bucks. Hopefully I helped a little bit if you want to go down the building route.

 

[saturnotaku]

Can't upgrade it internally. There have been some talks of external graphics cards through thunderbolt, but that is in it's infancy at this point.

An eGPU can actually work pretty well, but that's only the case on systems that only have an Intel HD GPU. It's extraordinarily difficult to outright impossible on ones that have multiple/discreet GPUs.

 

[MacCrank]

Cheers guys. I had a feeling there was no easy or cheap way of doing it. I did do some reading into this before posting and saw there is an external method but wasn't that clear.
I suppose keeping what I got at the moment, I'm probably expect too much out of a laptop anyway. Tbh I'm pretty amazed at the performance of my MBP at playing to such great graphics etc already.

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btw: How do you run games in 3840x1080? I have a two screen set-up aswell

Not sure exactly what you mean here. How do I run two screens for normal tasking or how do I set it when playing games?
For normal tasking its superb and would never go back to a single screen.
For gaming I stick to one due to what I said it runs slow and laggy plus no good having the two screens frames in the middle of your game. 3 screens would be fine thou as the middle screen would be your central primary screen and the other two your outers however to run 3 screens for gaming requires some serious computer power. For tasking it would be fine thou.

 

[bkar89]

Cheers guys. I had a feeling there was no easy or cheap way of doing it. I did do some reading into this before posting and saw there is an external method but wasn't that clear.
I suppose keeping what I got at the moment, I'm probably expect too much out of a laptop anyway. Tbh I'm pretty amazed at the performance of my MBP at playing to such great graphics etc already.

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Not sure exactly what you mean here. How do I run two screens for normal tasking or how do I set it when playing games?
For normal tasking its superb and would never go back to a single screen.
For gaming I stick to one due to what I said it runs slow and laggy plus no good having the two screens frames in the middle of your game. 3 screens would be fine thou as the middle screen would be your central primary screen and the other two your outers however to run 3 screens for gaming requires some serious computer power. For tasking it would be fine thou.

Opt1 is pretty plug/play. Hehe, and totally agree. Even though I'm planning on swapping the 24 inches for a single 27" Thunderbolt display somewhere in the future.

I was never able to do dual fullscreen games on either Windows (Gaming PC with two 285GTX's in SLI). For that to work with nvidia, i would have to have 3 screens. And ofcourse, the reason as you mention, for say FPS games you'll be staring at the gap between the screens. Really counter productive. But I just wanted to test it out, even put some effort into it. Never succeded, so i don't really think it's possible. Not with Nvidia anyway.

 

[Dulcimer]

I'm curious: if someone was really courageous enough and willing to mod the rMBP, could that person replace the GPU? Assuming they could solder a Mac-compatiable GPU and solder it on themselves.

 

[saturnotaku]

I'm curious: if someone was really courageous enough and willing to mod the rMBP, could that person replace the GPU? Assuming they could solder a Mac-compatiable GPU and solder it on themselves.

For what it could cost in terms of experience and equipment, it would be much easier to simply buy a new machine. Further, you couldn't add a discreet GPU to a system that never had one in the first place.

 

[Consultant]

Thunderbolt + graphic card that works with Thunderbolt (if and when they become available)

I'm curious: if someone was really courageous enough and willing to mod the rMBP, could that person replace the GPU? Assuming they could solder a Mac-compatiable GPU and solder it on themselves.

Have you seen the solder point size? Not DIY unless you have expensive equipment.

 

[Dulcimer]

Have you seen the solder point size? Not DIY unless you have expensive equipment.

I thought the answer would be something along those lines. Thanks for the info.

 

[saturnotaku]

Thunderbolt + graphic card that works with Thunderbolt (if and when they become available)

Only an option at the moment if your system has Intel HD graphics and no other GPU.