Noob seeking tech help

[SANS]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty sure this is the wrong place to post this but I'd really appreciate some help or if someone can redirect me somewhere where I can get help.
I've bought a few games on steam and I'd like to play them on my laptop, but even on the lowest quality settings set for max performance in the games I'm playing, I'm still only getting around <10 fps. I think the problem is my dedicated video memory, which is only 64MB and most games require a lot more.

I'm pretty certain that I can't increase my dedicated video memory, but is there anything else I can do to improve my gaming experience, short of buying a new laptop?

[Silicon Vampire]

Not really. You should be investigating these things before purchasing. Most laptops have no provisions for upgrading the vid adapter.

[SANS]

Thank you for your reply.

I purchased this laptop a long time ago, and at that time I wasn't planning to use it for gaming at all, mainly coursework for University and general internet browsing.

I understand that I probably won't be able to upgrade the video card or anything, but is that the only option to improve performance? Is there anything else that can possibly be done to improve fps?

[rad87gn]

You need a high performance dedicated graphics card designed for gaming. Without it you are toast. Integrated graphics are only good for basic usage and low end games.

[Silicon Vampire]

That would depend on the specs of the laptop and the requirements of games you want to play on it.

Probably not though.

[SANS]

These are the specs of the laptop if I'm looking in the correct place:
http://i.imgur.com/9XayUL3.png
http://i.imgur.com/6qn5HFj.png

If I need to purchase a better video card, is it as simple as purchasing the hardware and installing it myself or would I need to take it to a shop? I wouldn't mind spending around £100 or so.

Thanks for the input by the way.

[_I_]

for most notebooks a better gpu means getting a better notebook

find something with a radeon or nvidia card

[Xskyplayer]

are you running the games in fullscreen or windowed mode? Window Mode will result in a bit of fps loss because your graphics card has to draw more pixels. Also, check out if alternative drivers are available for your card. I have an intel 915 on my old laptop an under the latest driver i get 64mb vram, under a previous driver i get the proper 96mb vram.

you can also checkout this (though personally i think it's a waste):
http://www.hwtools.net/adapter/pe4h.html

They make a few different versions (kinda confusing) basically you can connect a pci-e card to an expresscard slot and either use it as s second display powered by the card or using a special driver you can power your internal display with it. They also say it doesnt work on lots of systems. I dont get the point in it, but if you want upgradable graphics on a laptop, this is the only option.

[SANS]

Thank you so much for your input skyplayer, you're really helpful.

I do play in full screen mode and your link is very helpful, I'll read it up on it and see if it's suitable, I'd rather do it than have to buy a new laptop

Thanks again, greatly appreciated.