How can I tell if my laptop has a PCI Express or a built-in graphics thing?

boxville

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Jun 15, 2014
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Hi,
I have an ASUS laptop from 2012 and I want to know if I can boost my laptop's gaming performance by upgrading its graphics card. I'm not very clued up in this area, but I am a cheapskate and I do want to be able to play decent games.
I was going through my Power Options to try and increase performance after de-fragmenting my hard drive and I noticed that PCI Express was on the list of things I could alter in Power Options.

I have been told before (on this site) that my laptop has a built in graphics thing that could not be changed and person thinks my laptop is an Ultrabook (which it isn't), it's an ASUS K53E and I think ASUS have used a similar name again on a newer Ultrabook, so don't be fooled by what's on their website.

Thanks in advance,
Boxville (real name, obviously)
 
Solution
Your laptop runs integrated graphics which is a form of graphics that resides on the CPU itself, these are NOT intended for gaming.

It is not upgradeable either.

You would need to buy a new laptop with DISCREET graphics or a desktop with a DISCREET card to be able to game decently.
Your laptop runs integrated graphics which is a form of graphics that resides on the CPU itself, these are NOT intended for gaming.

It is not upgradeable either.

You would need to buy a new laptop with DISCREET graphics or a desktop with a DISCREET card to be able to game decently.
 
Solution
Although there are devices that use pcie protocols, laptops don't use pcie slots. Mxm is used for laptops but that's a pretty low end laptop and only a few $1100+ laptops have mxm which will definitely say it in specs. You're stuck with what you have.

Btw it's discrete not discreet.
 


Thank you :)