can the graphics card be upgraded?

[badwolf1009]

So, I wanted to buy my son a laptop for christmas. He plays minecraft a LOT on the one we currently have and I wanted to get him something equivalent or better. We currently have a dell inspiron 15r 5520 I believe. I didn't have a lot to spent and I ended up buying a refurbished Dell inspiron 15 5559
Processor: Intel Core 6th Generation i7-6500U Processor (Dual Core, up to 3.10 GHz, 4M Cache, 15W)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (4GBx2) Memory
15.6 inch LED Backlit On-cell Touch Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1366 x 768)
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
AMD Radeon R5 M335 4GB DDR3

It was more than I wanted to spend, but I thought it would work. Now, I'm reading it won't work, that that graphics card is actually worse than the integrated graphics card of the cheaper laptop I was considering. :-( What I would like to know is if the graphics card in the one I bought can be taken out and a better one put in? If so, which one? Or should I try to return it?

He only really plays Minecraft on it.

 

[Purpletalon55]

no, sorry most laptops gpus are soldered to the motherboard and non replaceable.

 

[Purpletalon55]

i would return it, honestly for a good gaming experience you will be looking at the $800 price range on the low end.

 

[badwolf1009]

I don't have $800 to spend :-( Has to under $500 , preferably under $300. Which is impossible, I know.

 

[Purpletalon55]

Yeah you wont get anything gaming capable in the least bit under $600

 

[Purpletalon55]

you want something with Gddr5 video memory, not DDR3, you might honestly get a better deal buying used. than new and might find something.

 

[Purpletalon55]

Now normally i dont recommend older hardware but this even despite being a little older would be better off by a good bit than the one you purchased and is in price range from a reputable seller.

http/www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y510p-15-6-i5-4200M-2-5-GHz-6GB-Ram-GT-750M-SLI-Gaming-Laptop-/262650373233?hash=item3d272ea471:g:ajwAAOSw4shX7kiV

or this

http/www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-ROG-Gaming-G74S-G74SX-i7-2630QM-16GB-MEMORY-750GB-HDD-GTX-560M-/122182072847?hash=item1c729e7a0f:g:ZRAAAOSwFe5Xw0Yd

 

[JeffDaemon]

purple is on the right track. You will have to deal with used laptops, but for the price range you can net laptops with 6xx and 7xx geforce cards in them. Wouldn't go any lower than x40 versions.

 

[Purpletalon55]

purple is on the right track. You will have to deal with used laptops, but for the price range you can net laptops with 6xx and 7xx geforce cards in them. Wouldn't go any lower than x40 versions.

the first laptop i linked has sli 750m which is pretty good for gaming will eat minecraft like its nothing, the other one has a 500 series which is older but i linked it cause its a good deal, the rest were pretty crappy alienware m14 and stuff with 280's basically really dated. But yep i did see one with a 650m on ebay which is a good chip but dual 750m is a lot better.

 

[jsmithepa]

PC gaming is an expensive hobby I tell ya. $300? stay with console. Maybe a mid-range tablet.

 

[jaguarskx]

So, I wanted to buy my son a laptop for christmas. He plays minecraft a LOT on the one we currently have and I wanted to get him something equivalent or better. We currently have a dell inspiron 15r 5520 I believe. I didn't have a lot to spent and I ended up buying a refurbished Dell inspiron 15 5559.
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He only really plays Minecraft on it.

The laptop you purchased is definitely more powerful than the old dell inspiron 15r 5520. If your son was able to play Minecraft on your old laptop then he will definitely be able to play it on the newer laptop. The newer generation CPU is a bit more powerful even though it and the older i5-3210m CPU both have the same clockspeed. However, the difference in performance between the old Intel HD 4000 and the current Intel HD 520 is much greater. It depends on the specific game, but overall the Intel HD 520 is probably around 45% - 50% more powerful than the Intel HD 4000. Most games are limited by the graphic core.

If you want something that is more powerful than the Intel HD 520 graphics core and under $500, then you can by the following refurbished Acer laptop with a "Core i5" CPU and a nVidia 940m GPU. There is no model number provided, but since it has a nVidia 940m GPU, it should no older than 4th generation Intel CPU, but I suspect it is actually a 5th generation CPU.

https/www.amazon.com/Acer-Dual-core-Win10Home-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01BUGB81C/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1476814025&sr=8-9&keywords=acer+940m

Regardless if the CPU is 4th or 5th generation, this laptop will definitely provide better performance in Minecraft than the one you recently purchased due to the more powerful nVidia 940m.