Gateway Parts

Can I upgrade my laptop?

Hello there. I have a little Gateway laptop I got from walmart, so obviously, it's nothing special power-wise. I mean, it's good for what it was built for, and that's browsing the internet and media and such. However, i've been meaning to get a computer for gaming reasons, but I figure that I already HAVE a computer, so that's a starting point, right? I actually know a bit about various computer parts, but I know pretty much zip about upgrading a laptop. So, first off- does upgrading a little laptop like this even sound like a rational idea? I could probably go out and dish some cash to build a computer from scratch, but like I said I figured i'd start from a base(besides, this computer was a christmas gift, and I don't want to get rid of it and offend the person who bought it for me. Besides, I do actually like it a lot.) Two: How difficult are laptops to take apart and upgrade? I would imagine pretty difficult. Anywho, please help and give me some suggestions and recommendations if possible.

Public Comments

1. The only recommended upgrade (in my opinion) is the memory. Anything else is probably too much hassle and expense. Check out crucial.com and let their scanner check out your laptop and see what it's got in it, and the most memory it can handle.
2. Sorry, but you can not upgrade the Graphics in that laptop. It probably has onboard graphics and that's all it ever will have. Build a desktop gaming system.
3. You probably cannot upgrade it, as most low end laptops don't allow for it. If you want, you can take out the back panel and look to see if the CPU is directly soldered onto the motherboard. More than likely it is and if it came with integrated graphics then you definitely cannot put a graphics card in it. You can also buy a full motherboard for a better version of the same laptop. If that same model came with a higher CPU and video card option, then you could replace the motherboard altogether. A problem with that though is that it most likely doesn't come anywhere near gaming standards. You might be able to get an integrated graphics card like the Radeon 3200, but I doubt you could find an actual dedicated card as an option for that motherboard. So right now what you have to do is research and disassembly. First open up the computer and check to see if the CPU is removable (I suggest not trying to remove it to check, but do a visual check) or you can go to Gateway's website and see if they have a maintenance/upgrade/repair manual for your model. If you can take out the CPU then the instructions will most likely be there. If you can upgrade the CPU, just make sure that the wattage/voltage is something your computer can feed it, it's the right chipset, and most importantly that it's the right socket, before buying something. If it isn't, then try to find all the different versions of that computer and hunt down the best one and look on places like ebay for anyone selling the motherboard to that higher end model. Check the specs of it here: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php And http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php For gaming, I wouldn't recommend a processor below the 150 rank (the number on the far right) and a video card below the 100 rank. Anything else wont be able to play new games and decent settings and you'll be stuck with poor graphics. Graphics cards in the 100-150 range will still play most games, but don't expect it to be a gaming "experience." If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message on here :)