Hi, Thanks for responding. It is the iGP only so no 6630m. It's also 8 gigs + windows 7/8/linux mint (on separate HDDs), and the 1.26 bios. I'm pretty positive the expresscard is connected to the southbridge. I was planning on getting a PE4L (or possibly the EXP GDC?) and either a GTS 450 or GTX 650 and scrounging up an adapter from somewhere or buying one of these. I don't plan to game on it -- I need access to CUDA computing for my undergrad research. The main question I really have is knowing whether I need to bother with all this compaction stuff for the E420, and if I do, whether I can do it myself manually -- a la the DSDT override or such -- without resorting to something else (despite it being a brilliant piece of software, I just can't afford Setup 1.X in my budget). Here's a picture of my memory from device manager. I think I'm below the 3.25 gb limit? I need it to be as plug and play as possible and probably have the gpu running for hours on end. If someone can post a comprehensive answer, I think I can pick up a cup of joe for you via bitcoin, haha. Thanks again, S