Which card do I need to plug into my computer?
Which card do I need to plug into my computer?
I recently bought a very cheap gaming laptop for college work. It's the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3, model 15IHU6-D1. This one has an Intel i5 11320H processor, 16GB of RAM (which was upgraded from 8GB), a GTX 1650 graphics card, and a screen that supports 1080p at 60Hz. Now I'm asking myself... how do I know if the GPU is connected through the CPU's PCIe lanes or via the motherboard's PCH? The laptop shows up as having a PCIe x16 connection at PCIE v4.0, which also includes some channels at v3.0 that can be used by the CPU. But these same lanes could actually come from the PCH too. Since the i5 11320H supports PCIe 4.0 and has 20 total lanes (four for the motherboard itself and sixteen for other devices), it's a bit confusing about exactly which way my GPU is connected. I really want to learn more about this, but just so everyone understands what interface my laptop uses... what kind of connection does my GPU have?
Well, some TU117 chip versions actually support PCIe 4.0. But those chips are called MX450 and MX550, and they only have four or eight lanes. I guess if they had enough perfect TU117 chips, they could make a whole line of GTX 1650s with PCIe 4.0. But they probably would share the same four-lane or eight-lane setup, which might be true here. I wouldn't expect Nvidia to push these onto vendors anyway. Or maybe Lenovo would take a motherboard that only has four lanes and put different GPUs in it. Is your model available with an MX450 or MX550? If the signal quality wasn't high enough, they probably made the speed 3.0 just to avoid data errors. You can't expect them to skip cheap cutting corners on laptops like that. All the GTX 1650s in...
Click the ? next to Bus Interface and start the render test it idles low. thot the 1650 was pci-e 3.0 rather than 4.0 though. Your upgrade options are no Here's a demonstration teardown of your similar laptop on youtube The gpu is physically hardwired to the mobo in laptops not modular so if or perhaps when it ever develops a fault, it has to go back to the manufacturer or an electronics shop for reconditioning if that is even possible or they have spares available for it. This be not user serviceable besides memory, drives and the battery is modular so could be renewed by the user should it become necessary, while the CPU may also be hard soldered to the mobo rather than in a socket and not user serviceable. The gpu and cpu are under the heatsinks which you'd need to detach to determine what's socketed or not but probably aren't modular but hardwired so there's no real need to do that and you couldn't do anything even if you did remove the heatsink besides renew the thermal paste and then you'd only have to reassemble it correctly. So that 4.0 interface may be there more for the benefit of the manufacturer since they can use different varieties of gpu on the same mobo for different models in the range.
I know that laptop graphics cards aren't removable. They are stuck to the main board with their own power supplies, BIOS settings, and other parts. But what kind of connection do they have? Most modern laptops use CPU PCIe lanes for the GPU. Entry-level GPUs like the 1650 or 3050 only get x8 lanes, but bigger ones like the 3060 or 3070 use full x16 lanes. It sounds common sense right now. The problem is that the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile says it supports PCIe 4.0 x16 even though it actually uses a bus width of x4 in normal mode. So, if my CPU has two main PCIe channels (x2), how can a GPU claiming to be x16 work when there are only two lanes? The sources say my Intel i5-11320H can handle up to 20 lanes from the CPU that supports Gen4 speeds, which includes some for the PCH. This leaves plenty of room for my GPU if they both support Gen4. But here is where it gets tricky: What if my motherboard only has four physical lanes plugged in? Even though the system advertises full speed, the actual connection might be limited to x4 because that's all there are. Or maybe the GPU isn't even connecting directly to the CPU; instead, it could be using an intermediate bridge on the mainboard. So I am confused: How can I tell exactly whether my GPU is connected to the PCH or to the main CPU? Also, since I already opened the laptop to check the power supply quality and couldn't see any PCIe traces on the top layer of the board, it's hard to track down where the cables go. Any suggestions for figuring out how to know this for sure would be super helpful right now!
GTX 1650 doesn't support PCIe 4.0. I don't think you see that on the internet because GPUs can only do x16 lanes at speeds up to PCIe 3.0. There is no reason for a laptop maker to make that option since the GPU isn't fast enough for it. If they chose a 4x link, it's probably just saving space and power.
Well, there are some TU117 chip revisions that do have PCIe 4.0, but they are MX450 and MX550 chips, and only 4x or 8x lanes. I suppose if they had enough perfect TU117 chips they could have made a series of GTX 1650 with PCIe 4.0, but they would also likely share the 4x/8x lanes, which could be the case here. I would not put it past Nvidia to push these onto vendors. Or for Lenovo to take a motherboard with only 4x lanes and put varying levels of GPUs in it. Is your model available with an MX450 or MX550 in it? If they didn't get the signal quality high enough, they may have configured it to run at 3.0 speeds to prevent data transmission errors. Can't expect them not to cut corners in cheap laptops. All the GTX 1650 in the techpowerup database are PCIe 3.0. https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/nvidia-tu117.g881 https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/?a...generation Can you post the GPU-Z from your card? If the TMUs and ROPs match the MX550 more than then the mobile GTX 1650 then that will pretty much confirm it. And then you could submit your card to the techpowerup database. And there would need to be some entries on the Wikipedia page for Nvidia GPUs.
Helpful Info.. But my 1650 Mobile is just A Common 1650 Mobile with GDDR6 memory, And Am looking for information purposes.. Performance, Which is better is not my goal here.. Just want to know.. ""Is my GPU is connected to CPU via CPU PCIe Lanes or Via PCH PCIe Lanes?"" And How can i Know which lanes are in Used for what device?? And Yes what is the source of those PCIe Lanes That is the main question here..