Noob Gaming Laptop Questions

[BecauseScience]

I have a Toshiba Qosmio X70-ABT2G22 on the way. I was forced to go with a gaming machine due to other features I need but I have no use for the GTX 770M. Will the 770M be on a card that I can remove if I only plan to use the i7 gpu? It's an Optimus setup.

There are two 2.5" disk bays, one internal mSATA, and an optical bay. Is it a good bet that all of those are on SATA III? The chipset is HM86 which has four SATA III and two SATA II. There's no eSATA port on the laptop.

My plan is to pull the included hard disk and install two ssds. I have one 2.5" ssd on the way and I'm wondering if it's safe to order another 2.5" ssd or should I wait to verify that both 2.5" bays are in fact SATA III.

I've never owned a gaming laptop before so I'm clueless on these discrete gpus and extra bays.

 

[Meaker]

It's likely that all the ports are SATA III yes, however the card while likely on a removable PCB might cause the notebook not to boot. It depends how the bios reacts.

On MSI machines for instance with an unlocked bios you can set it to IGP only.

Some systems can drop down to the 765M while still taking a 4930XM.

 

[BecauseScience]

It's likely that all the ports are SATA III yes, however the card while likely on a removable PCB might cause the notebook not to boot. It depends how the bios reacts.

BIOS issues didn't even occur to me. I was worried about the gpu being on the mainboard or attached to a shared heatsink. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

 

[FnordMan]

Will the 770M be on a card that I can remove if I only plan to use the i7 gpu? It's an Optimus setup.

Likely integrated on the motherboard. I wouldn't worry about it too much with optimus the gpu supposedly gets turned off when not in use. Just keep the thing off and your good.

 

[dandragonrage]

You're stuck with it and like FnordMan says it's no big deal as when you're not using it, you'll be on Intel graphics and it won't worsen your battery life notably.