In laptops, the GPU sits on the mainboard near the CPU under the heat pipes and heatsink—or it’s built into the processor package.
Laptop graphics hardware comes in two layouts: a chip integrated into the processor package, or a separate graphics chip soldered to the motherboard. In both layouts, the graphics silicon sits close to the processor and shares the same cooling zone, tucked under copper heat pipes and a finned heatsink beside one or two fans. If you’ve ever wondered where that graphics power actually lives, this guide shows how to spot it, how the cooling wraps around it, and what that means for upgrades, repairs, and performance.
Laptop GPU Location: Quick Orientation
Open almost any modern notebook and you’ll see a flat motherboard with one or two large copper heat pipes snaking toward a heatsink at a rear or side vent. Under those heat pipes sit two square packages on the board:
- The processor package (often marked and surrounded by memory chips on some designs).
- The graphics chip (on systems with a separate graphics die), typically similar in size but labeled differently.
On systems with integrated graphics, there is no second chip—the graphics cores live inside the processor package, using the same memory pool as the CPU. On systems with a dedicated graphics chip, you’ll see two distinct dies under a shared or split heat-pipe assembly.
What You’ll See If You Open The Back Cover
If you remove the bottom cover (when safe and allowed by your warranty), these are the common visual cues:
- Heat pipes and fins: Copper pipes run from the center of the board toward a heatsink near the exhaust vent. Both the processor area and graphics area sit beneath these pipes.
- Dual chip layout on gaming/workstation models: Two thermal plates or cold plates, one over the processor and one over the graphics die, often linked by the same pipe network.
- Single package on thin-and-light models: One thermal plate over the processor package only; graphics cores are integrated there.
Community teardown guides make this easy to visualize. For instance, an MSI GF63 guide shows the processor and dedicated graphics under the copper assembly, confirming the side-by-side placement under shared cooling hardware (MSI GF63 disassembly). For a technical view of integrated versus separate graphics at the chip level, Intel’s graphics documentation outlines how graphics logic may sit inside the same package as the processor or exist as its own device with dedicated memory (Intel GPU overview (PDF)).
How Cooling Points You To The Graphics Silicon
The cooling path is the best map to the graphics hardware. Heat pipes sit directly on top of the hot chips with thermal paste or pads, move heat to a fin stack, and the fans push air through that fin stack toward vents. If you see two contact plates under one pipe network, one plate is the processor and the other is the graphics chip. On larger gaming notebooks, you might see two separate fin stacks and two fans—one leaning closer to the hinge area, another near a side vent.
Because laptop cooling is compact, designers often route one continuous pipe across both chips. This can equalize temperatures and lets either chip borrow spare cooling headroom when the other is idle. The side effect is thermal coupling, which is why stress on one part can nudge up temps on the other.
Integrated Graphics Versus Separate Graphics: Where Each Lives
Integrated Layout (Graphics Inside The Processor Package)
Here the graphics logic is part of the processor die or sits in the same package. You won’t find a second chip for graphics on the board. The heat pipes clamp a single cold plate to the processor package. Memory for graphics is carved out of system RAM. This layout dominates thin-and-light designs, productivity machines, and many ultraportables.
- Where to point on the board: The single large chip under the main heatsink. The graphics cores are inside that package.
- Performance angle: Plenty for daily apps, media, multi-display work, and light gaming.
- Repair angle: Thermal service means repasting the same package; there is no separate graphics module.
Separate Graphics Layout (Dedicated Chip On The Motherboard)
Performance and creator laptops usually carry a distinct graphics die next to the processor. It’s bonded to the board (BGA solder). Modern models rarely use a removable card; the chip and its VRAM sit on the motherboard.
- Where to point on the board: Look for a second die under the pipes, often with dedicated memory chips around it.
- Performance angle: Higher compute throughput, its own power limits, and (on many models) its own power phases.
- Repair angle: Replacement is a board-level job; not a user-swappable card in most current notebooks.
Why Builders Place Graphics Hardware Next To The Processor
Short traces and shared cooling keep weight and cost down. A central thermal zone lets one fan system evacuate heat for both chips, which helps with thickness and acoustics. Proximity also simplifies power delivery paths and improves signal integrity to memory.
How To Spot Graphics Hardware Without Opening The Laptop
You can locate the graphics hardware conceptually without touching a screw:
- Check the spec sheet: If you see only a processor name with no separate graphics line, the graphics cores live inside that processor package.
- Look for a dedicated graphics listing: If the spec lists a separate model (for example, a GeForce or Radeon tier), there’s a distinct graphics die on the board.
- Watch fan behavior: Two fans spooling up during games often indicates a dual-chip thermal system.
- External display headroom: Systems with a beefy discrete part usually handle high-refresh or multi-monitor setups with ease.
Upgrade Reality: Can You Move Or Swap Laptop Graphics?
Short answer: movement isn’t a thing; the chip is fixed to the board. Upgrading is rare on modern notebooks because the graphics die is soldered, and the thermal frame is tuned for a specific wattage. Some older designs used modular boards, but that approach is uncommon today due to size, cost, and heat density. If your work needs more graphics steam, the practical path is a laptop with a stronger configuration or, on supported platforms, a Thunderbolt-connected external enclosure.
What Each Layout Means For Temperatures, Noise, And Performance
Thermal Behavior
Shared pipe designs can warm up both chips during heavy sessions, while dual-stack designs split the load more cleanly. Fan curves vary by vendor, but the layout near the hinge and side vents is standard, so you’ll feel warm air from those edges first.
Noise Patterns
More heat needs more airflow. Dedicated graphics systems often run a second fan or push the same fan harder during games and renders. Idle time brings both fans down, especially in hybrid modes that favor integrated graphics on the desktop.
Performance Consistency
When the chassis saturates, the system may drop frequencies to steady temperatures. A dust-free fin stack and fresh thermal paste help the system hold boost clocks longer. Performance notebooks include thicker heat pipes, larger fin stacks, and sometimes a vapor chamber to spread heat under the keyboard deck.
Finding The Graphics Hardware In Popular Form Factors
Ultraportables And Office Notebooks
Graphics logic lives inside the processor package. One heat plate, one set of pipes, usually a single fan. The physical “location” of graphics functions is the processor itself.
Creator And Gaming Notebooks
Expect two packages under copper. The graphics die sits a few centimeters from the processor, under its own plate, often surrounded by memory chips. Two fans are common, with exhaust out the rear, the sides, or both.
Workstations
These machines pack thicker heatsinks and expanded power delivery. The graphics die still sits near the processor, but with a larger brace of heat pipes and sometimes extra VRAM chips around the die, easy to spot in teardowns.
How To Safely Inspect The Cooling Zone
If you’re confident and your warranty allows it, you can remove the bottom panel to clean dust or refresh paste. The goal here is not to poke the chips; it’s to keep the fins clear and the paste healthy.
Prep And Cautions
- Shut down, unplug, and hold the power button for a few seconds to discharge residual power.
- Work on a clean surface. Use the right screwdriver size to avoid stripping screws.
- Ground yourself before touching the board. Static can damage components.
What To Do Once You’re Inside
- Brush or blow dust from the fins and fans. Keep the fan blades steady while you clean.
- If repasting, lift the heat pipes as a unit, clean with isopropyl alcohol, and apply a rice-grain of paste before reseating evenly.
- Reassemble in reverse order, checking each ribbon cable and connector along the way.
Step-by-step photos from trusted repair communities can help you match what you see with the labels for the processor and graphics die; the MSI GF63 guide linked above shows the layout clearly, as do many model-specific guides for Lenovo, Dell, HP, and others.
Tell-Tales That You’re Looking At The Graphics Die
- Surrounding memory: Dedicated graphics dies often sit near several identical VRAM packages.
- Extra power phases: Look for a dense cluster of chokes and MOSFETs along one edge of the die’s area.
- Thermal plate shape: The cold plate over the graphics die may be a separate piece with its own hold-down screws.
- Sticker marks: Some makers label the thermal plates “CPU” and “GPU.”
Placement Myths, Busted
“It’s A Removable Card Like Desktops.”
On most current notebooks, the graphics device is not a user-swappable card. It’s a soldered chip on the board, tuned to the chassis power and cooling limits.
“It Sits Under The Keyboard.”
The device sits on the motherboard, which spans the lower deck. The keyboard sits above it, but the graphics die itself mounts to the board near the center-rear region, close to the heat pipes and vents.
“It’s On A Separate Daughterboard.”
That layout was seen in select designs years ago. Modern slim builds integrate everything on the mainboard.
Common Layouts And How They Look
Use this table to match what you see when you peek inside with the layout your laptop likely uses.
| Layout | Where It Sits | Quick Clues |
|---|---|---|
| Integrated In Processor Package | Inside the processor package under a single cold plate | One pipe set, one plate; no separate die labeled for graphics |
| Dedicated Die On Motherboard | Next to the processor under a second plate | Two plates; VRAM chips around one plate; two fans are common |
| Performance Workstation Variant | Same region, with thicker heat pipes and fin stacks | Larger heatsink mass; extra power phases near the graphics area |
Practical Tips For Better Thermals In Daily Use
- Give the vents room: Lift the rear edge slightly with a stand so air can move under the deck.
- Keep dust off the fins: A blast of clean, dry air at the rear vents every few weeks helps.
- Balance profiles: Use “balanced” or “quiet” profiles on light tasks; switch to “performance” for gaming or renders.
- Mind the intake: Soft surfaces can block the bottom intake. Use a hard tray if you’re away from a desk.
Why Knowing The Spot Matters
Knowing where the graphics hardware sits helps you understand warm zones, clean the right areas, and plan repaste or pad refreshes when a system ages. It also clarifies what’s realistic with upgrades: storage and memory can be user-serviceable on many models, but graphics silicon is almost always fixed. When your software stack grows, aim for a model with the right graphics tier on day one, or consider an external enclosure on supported platforms if you need desktop-class displays and compute.
Recap You Can Trust
The graphics engine in a notebook lives under the same thermal canopy as the processor. On integrated layouts it’s inside the processor package; on performance models it’s a separate die a few centimeters away under its own plate. Both sit under the heat pipes you can see through any honest teardown. If you stick to reputable guides and official documentation—like the MSI GF63 teardown for visual cues and Intel’s overview for chip-level context—you’ll always know where to point when someone asks where the graphics horsepower sits.