Upgrading old ThinkPad W510 Help Needed

[Hoodrich Iggy]

So I thought it would be cool to upgrade an old ThinkPad.  One reason is I remember using them in school and they were always notoriously crappy.  But I have run into a few issues, a big one being power consumption.  With the new graphics card and processor its going top need a lot more power.  How would i go about this, I know just get a higher wattage power supply but there isn't one for this computer and the ones I find that do supply the correct amount of power are for different computers and aren't the correct voltage.  I'm thinking it might need about a 200W power supply on 20V. Also if anyone can find a 10 series laptop graphics card that I could use for this it would be much appreciated.  A slightly newer model ThinkPad would also help so I could use a newer processor, but many have graphics that can't be upgraded.

 

Here is the setup,

 

IBM ThinkPad W510

Intel Core i7-940XM

Nvidia GeForce GTX 780m

16GB DDR3 RAM

1TB WD Blue SSD

[PineyCreek]

Really curious how you plan to go about this considering usually the power circuitry is integrated to the mainboard or a custom daughterboard with the laptop, and then the graphics card is also usually it's own daughterboard with custom connector to the mainboard, which is also a custom part per laptop in 99% of cases.  You'd have to completely modify the power handling from the input jack to a custom-made daughterboard, unless you plan on somehow wiring a card in a custom enclosure to the laptop.

 

You can't customize a laptop discrete GPU like you do a desktop unless the OEM already has a part available.

 

Have you ever disassembled a laptop to see how things are usually setup?

[Hoodrich Iggy]

Yes I have, the research I have done says that this model laptop doesn't have a discrete gpu and is able to be changed out according to the thinkwiki, I'm not as knowledgeable about the electrical stuff though but thanks for the input its much appreciated! 

[Hoodrich Iggy]

Also, if those modifications are necessary how would I go about them?