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doom killer

post #1 of 21
9/12/05 at 11:53pm
Thread Starter 
Hello to all. This is my first post on the board. I've spent a good while reading all the threads today and cheers to the people who created and frequent this site.

I bought in on the dell 9300, uxga with true life, 256 mb ram, x300 graphics, 40 gb hard drive,1.6 PM

I upgraded the ram in the machine to 1.25 gb, added a one gig stick from newegg. I have another stick that should be here in the next couple of days.

I'm writing because I'm very disappointed with the gaming abiliity of my current configuration, and am not sure where to upgrade. It is why I bought the other stick of ram, so the machine could run in duel channel mode, hopefully it will help.

I downloaded the DOOM 3 demo and it reallly makes this machine sweat. I have to play it at the lowest quality setting on 640*480 mode so it won't skip.

Which way should I move to make my machine better for gaming? How do you tell where the "bottlenecks" are?

I don't mind putting some more cash in this machine, as long as it makes it a decent gamer. I believe my xbox will blow this web surfer out of the water.

I did the superpi 2m in 1:58

don't rip me on that one
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post #2 of 21
9/12/05 at 11:56pm
check your quick set settings..left clikc on the QS icon in ur system tray, hover over power scheme, and then select maximum performance, see howit works
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post #3 of 21
9/12/05 at 11:58pm
The reason is because you got the i9300 with the x300 you should of got it with the 6800 GO w/ 256mb which is the second best video card they offer.
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post #4 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:05am
I have to echo the previous post. The x300 is just not going to hold a candle to the 6800. Upgrading the piece could be very expensive, more so than sending the one you have back and just orderinng another ($25 return shipping when I sent one back for various reasons). You should config a new on one, check the price of the upgrade and see if the difference in the purchase prices + the $ to return is less than the price of the upgrade + the trouble of replacing the card (or letting a tech touch it depending on your service plan_

BTW I don't think dual channel makes a difference with the P-M chip. 2 gigs and the 6800 and you can get close to max detail on BF2.
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post #5 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:07am
Thread Starter 
I just doublechecked it and tried it. It still sucks ars. I can go 640*480 lowest quality, but one bumb up on quality and she starts skipping.
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post #6 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:11am
Thread Starter 
how much is two much? I'm already past the 21 days.
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post #7 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:12am
Thread Starter 
could I play this game on max settings with 6800?
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post #8 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:22am
That is unfortunate that you're past the 21days .

Try doing a search of these forums for "dell parts" or something like that to find the phone number for Dell's parts department (I just tried, but apparently the search feature doesn't seem to want to work for me ). I think the 6800go 256mb video card alone runs about ~$349 or so. Also, you'd have to install the video card yourself I think, something I'm not too comfortable doing, but perhaps you are brave enough . Then you can maybe sell your ATI X300 video card on eBay, or the FS/FT part of these forums to recoup some of your cost of the 6800go. Good luck!
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post #9 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:28am
if youre going to buy the new card, might as well go all the way and get a 6800 ultra, or better yet, wait a while and get a 7800go.

but you wont be playing any games with an x300, thats for sure.

and yes, you should be able to play it on close to max settings with a 6800 and max with the 7800.
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post #10 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:53am
Also, you cant run dual channel ram with 1.25 gb, you have to have two sticks of identical size, ie two 1 gb sticks.
Also from what ive read its only about a 5% difference, wont make or break your games.
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post #11 of 21
9/13/05 at 12:59am
Well, you can get the Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra but it won't work in your Inspiron 9300. The Inspiron 9300 doesn't have enough power to drive the 6800 ultra gaphics card. You can purchase a Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 graphics card from Dell's spare parts store but it will run you quite a bit and you will have to install it.

You may want to wait until the Nvidia GeForce Go 7800 is released as it will lower the price of the GeForce Go 6800 card and the 7800 might run in the Inspiron 9300 as the 7800 requires less power than the 6800 Ultra. Either way, I would wait as the price of the 6800 will come down and the 7800 might run in the Inspiron 9300. You can also try eBay to see if someone is selling their 6800 card that will fit in a i9300.
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post #12 of 21
9/13/05 at 8:16pm
Dual channel meaning the sticks of ram have to be the same size.
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post #13 of 21
9/14/05 at 1:26pm
Why did you choose for the X300 if you were planning to game on it?
I also recommend to wait for the 7800 Go since those GPU's are really pricy.
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post #14 of 21
9/14/05 at 4:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverburst
Also, you cant run dual channel ram with 1.25 gb, you have to have two sticks of identical size, ie two 1 gb sticks.
Also from what ive read its only about a 5% difference, wont make or break your games.
He said he has another gig of ram on the way which would = 2 gigs, so it would run in dual channel but wouldn't make really any difference!
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post #15 of 21
9/14/05 at 5:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrOmAn
could I play this game on max settings with 6800?
u can play any game with max settings out in the marker right now with 6800. i play bf2 maxed out 4xaa 8xaf at 1280*1024 and manage 50-90 fps at all times. but i am slightly overclocked.
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post #16 of 21
9/15/05 at 2:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovu
Dual channel meaning the sticks of ram have to be the same size.
There is no advantage buying exact sticks. The CPU can only run at 533 MHZ and will always run at 533 MHZ with any PC4200 type RAM.
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post #17 of 21
9/15/05 at 4:58am
i guess if he really read thru all the post, i think all gamers who get 9300 config with 68002go.
maybe he can play doom2 or quake 3 for now.
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post #18 of 21
9/15/05 at 5:15am
The moral of the story? Do your homework before you buy. Know what you want a laptop for, and configure it accordingly.

In response to the thread title? Yes, this is correct - the X300 really is a Doom killer (well, Doom 3, that is...as dumpav said, there are plenty of games you can still play on the X300 - if you like Solitaire and Minesweeper, that is )
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post #19 of 21
9/16/05 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 
I went with the x300 because it was a 128 mb card. I was comparing it to an old nvidia ge force 4(also 128mb) I had in a desktop machine, and it(the 6800) wasn't an option when I purchased. I used a 750 off coupon, and the options were limited. Walked away with the 9300 with a uxga for 950, I figured I'd upgrade later as cash became available...and buy the upgrades from somewhere other than dell.
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post #20 of 21
9/16/05 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
I think I might just be better off moding my xbox now
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