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Should I upgrade my video card for my Dell E1705?

post #1 of 19
3/18/06 at 4:41am
Thread Starter 
Hi I am new at this forums and also this is my first time buying the New Dell Inspiron E1705. I am very happy with this kick @$$ system so far I have the NVIDIA 7800 Go with 256MB and it plays all my game very well. If I upgrade can I tell a lot of difference on the 7800 Go GTX verson? Or I should just wait up for the 7900 Go GTX?
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post #2 of 19
3/18/06 at 4:48am
You cannot upgrade to the 7800GTX the form factor is different and will not work due to the changes Dell made.

I highly doubt the 7900go/gtx go will fit either.

Sucks.
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post #3 of 19
3/18/06 at 4:53am
Thread Starter 
Well today I chat with the Dell people and they say I can upgrade mine to the 7800 GTX verson. So I just wanted to know if I will see any big performance gain?
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post #4 of 19
3/18/06 at 4:55am
They're idiots, don't believe them.
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post #5 of 19
3/18/06 at 4:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcikra
They're idiots, don't believe them.
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post #6 of 19
3/18/06 at 4:58am
Thread Starter 
Oh right I gees I am out of luck then.
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post #7 of 19
3/18/06 at 10:07am
Yeah, unfortunately I had to speak to 3 different Dell reps before I got one that admitted that the 7800 GTX is NOT available as an option for the E1705.
I got the impression that the problem was that some of them mix the 7800 up with the 7800GTX. Only when I persisted did one finally understand exactly what I was asking about. The first 2 simply saw 7800 & said "yes", it could be upgraded....not understanding that I meant the 7800 GTX version.
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post #8 of 19
3/18/06 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 
Darn those Dell Chat people giving me the wrong information I almost wanted to order one. Lucky I have ask you guys to make sure that it wont fit. Can I ask why that the 7800 GTX Go wont fit in the E1705?
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post #9 of 19
3/18/06 at 5:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FUBARMS
Darn those Dell Chat people giving me the wrong information I almost wanted to order one. Lucky I have ask you guys to make sure that it wont fit. Can I ask why that the 7800 GTX Go wont fit in the E1705?
There is a peg in the bottom of the motherboard where the 7800go connects that is not on the 9300 motherboard, and this is a big problem. There is also a problem with the fact that the 7800GTX has two heatpipes, whereas the 7800go has one. There was an extensive thread on this in the Core Duo forum, and it was determined that it is not possible without serious modification of the 9400 chassis.
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post #10 of 19
3/18/06 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcikra
You cannot upgrade to the 7800GTX the form factor is different and will not work due to the changes Dell made.

I highly doubt the 7900go/gtx go will fit either.

Sucks.
now why would you say that you highly doubt a 7900go/gtx will fit either ?
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post #11 of 19
3/18/06 at 7:53pm
Why would the 7900go/gtx go fit if the 7800gtx doesnt fit? Dell doesn't want people to be able to upgrade gpu's, because it would be detrimental to their sales of new laptops. Unfortunately, laptops are not to the same level of upgradibility of desktops (yet). Believe me, it won't fit, and if it DOES won't be without major modifications.
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post #12 of 19
3/18/06 at 7:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcikra
Why would the 7900go/gtx go fit if the 7800gtx doesnt fit?
Because the next gen XPS is much more likely to be based on the chassis and motherboard configuration of the 9400, not the 9300 and current XPS. The only reason that the 7800GTX won't fit is because the 9400 doesn't share the same motherboard with the 9300 since they came out with Core Duo. Since it's kind of a given that the next XPS is going to be Core Duo, I would not be surprised at all to see Dell use the 9400 motherboard again.
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post #13 of 19
3/18/06 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mZimm
Because the next gen XPS is much more likely to be based on the chassis and motherboard configuration of the 9400, not the 9300 and current XPS. The only reason that the 7800GTX won't fit is because the 9400 doesn't share the same motherboard with the 9300 since they came out with Core Duo. Since it's kind of a given that the next XPS is going to be Core Duo, I would not be surprised at all to see Dell use the 9400 motherboard again.
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post #14 of 19
3/18/06 at 9:47pm
If Dell doesn't want you to upgrade your GPU, then upgrading the 9300 with 7800GTX was a mistake? If it was then they'll probably fix this with the next generation.
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post #15 of 19
3/18/06 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshnor713
If Dell doesn't want you to upgrade your GPU, then upgrading the 9300 with 7800GTX was a mistake? If it was then they'll probably fix this with the next generation.

Thats why a hacked xps bios is required to upgrade the 9300 to the 7800gtx.. The 9300 doesn't know how to give ethe video card the proper voltage, using hacked xps bios gets around this.. from what i understand the hacked bios are exactly the same except the first bit is switched..

It's easier to create two nearly identical products with different components (videocard,etc) and a different BIOS, than it is to have two totally different systems.. the xps1/9100 was the same way.. having identical chassis', nearly identical mobos and whatnot reduces production and development costs, so chances are the next gen xps will follow a similar path..

not that i like to speculate about things or anything.. speculation generally ends in disapointment.. so i'd say it'd be the best bet to just sit and wait until it happens.
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post #16 of 19
3/18/06 at 10:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshnor713
If Dell doesn't want you to upgrade your GPU, then upgrading the 9300 with 7800GTX was a mistake? If it was then they'll probably fix this with the next generation.

Yes, you could only get it to work with a hacked bios, and depending on when your bought your 9300 you had to buy a 'northbridge heatsink' too. If it was 'Officially Sponsered" by Dell, THEIR drivers would support it, and they would too for a reduced price. I wouldn't call it a mistake, but rather what happens when your top-tier laptop is nearly identical to your second-tier laptop in design.
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post #17 of 19
3/18/06 at 11:02pm
This is the main reason I didn't buy a 9400/E1705.

Lack of video upgrades...
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post #18 of 19
3/18/06 at 11:49pm
Thread Starter 
WOW thanks for all that info well I hope the new XPS is going to use the same chassis as the 9400/E1705. If so then I might have a chance on upgrading it to the 7900 Go GTX.
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post #19 of 19
3/26/06 at 4:49pm
It is possible that next XPS will be based on Merom, so it is not possible to be sure the board and form factor of the GPU will be the same as the 9400. You must remember that the first XPS was similar to Inspiron 9100; then a 9200 appeared and it couldn't be upgraded. Then the XPS2/M170 appeared and it was swappable with i9300.

My theory is that 9400 is a temporal product from DELL to keep up with core duo laptops from other companies; when Merom will be launched, they will update the System to a new 9500 with Merom support which will be more like the XPS3 (or whatever DELL will call it).

This point leaves three possibilities:

1. 9500/XPS3 will share the same board of 9400. This is plausible, as according to http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/dis...019183430.html Merom will be pin compatible with current Core Duo. So, to upgrade the 9400 to a new video would be possible and also to a new CPU using a BIOS flash (probably not sponsored by DELL)

2. 9500/XPS3 will have a new board so nothing can be done with the 9400.

3. 9500 will be a Merom with one GPU and XPS3 will be Dual GPU.

The third possibility leads to:

3.1 9400 could be flashed to 9500 and could be upgraded if Merom is pin compatible and they use the same board layout.

3.2 9500 is a new design, so nothing can be done.
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