Upgrade laptop display from HD to QuadHD

[teffysam]

Hi guys. This is probably my first post here on the forum. I'm an avid fan of ltt but I've kept away from the forum for a long while now. So here's my deal: I have a janky old ( 3 years) laptop. Specs as follows: 

 

i5 6200u

Nvidia 930m

8GB RAM

256GB Evo + 1TB HDD

and the most important thing to discuss: the 1366x768 TN panel with terrible viewing angles

 

I don't game that much, the occasional Minecraft and a few strategy games. Dual boot Windows with Linux and prefer the later for work/studies. 

 

I want to upgrade to a better display preferrably 2560x1440 and an IPS one too. Initially I thought of just getting a 4k monitor but apparently HDMI 1.4 outputs at 24Hz and that's giong to be choppy . The built in eDP port on the laptop display itself support 4096x2304@60Hz according to intel's website. 

 

The questions I have: will I be able to make the upgrade. I live in Bangalore and there's this electronics street hub that has the qHD IPS panel (supposedly, I'll know when I see it) that I want. They're willing to sell it and set it up for 8000 INR. They said they'll also buy my current HD panel for 1000 bucks. Previously I'd researched all this stuff and was planing to buy it off Aliexpress or some chinese store and set it up my self but the long wait times with shipping etc kept me hesitant. This seems like the perfect opportunity. Should I go for this? Is the panel worth more and am I getting a good deal?  Is it possible there's some huge caveat I'm missing on? 

 

The alternative is to just get a qHD/4k mointor and possibly get a smaller refresh rate over HDMI. 

 

My other issue that I'm concerned about is, will running a qHD on an i5 6200u (2.3GHz base) slow my laptop down? Or will it be able to handle it? and give decent framrates for everyday tasks (programming, moving windows/workspaces, watching youtube  etc) I've seen the macbook air/pro using the same  processor just fine for qHD+ resolutions. Do you think that's some apple magic and not possible in Windows/Linux? And yes I do know my battery life will probably suffer. Right now with a new replaced 38Whr battery, I get 5-6 hours on Linux. 

 

Criticisms are welcome. Cheers!

 

Edit: I will not game or even try to game at qhd resolutions on this specsheet. Everything is underpowered for 1080p gaming itself. This is purely for coding work and the very occasional minecraft session. Screen real estate is what I'm after but I don't want choppy frames for everyday use when opening apps and moving windows  

[AndrewB121]

As long as the display physically fits then it should work fine. Your battery life will suffer and you probably won't be able to run games at QHD resolution but it should work fine otherwise. 

 

That being said do check beforehand that the screen is compatibly and that you can do the repair. 

[Eigenvektor]

33 minutes ago, teffysam said:

My other issue that I'm concerned about is, will running a qHD on an i5 6200u (2.3GHz base) slow my laptop down? Or will it be able to handle it?

The CPU isn't the real issue, the iGPU and/or GPU is. It's definitely fast enough for desktop use, but gaming is a different matter (NVIDIA GeForce 930M)

Assuming you can make the modifications without breaking the laptop, you should be fine for desktop use, but the GPU isn't going to be much use at higher resolutions when it comes to gaming. It'll definitely be easier and less risky to simply attach an external screen. If you can live with 1440p then HDMI 1.4 should be able to do that at 60 Hz.