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Will the 7900GTX fit into the m170?

post #1 of 25
4/25/06 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 
Is this even remotly off the top of someones head? Do you think it could work? Just think of that inside the m170... I Wish
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post #2 of 25
4/25/06 at 10:12pm
maybe with some serious modding. and by serious modding i mean maybe 1 person will actually get it in there and that is it.
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post #3 of 25
4/25/06 at 10:31pm
Seems Dell would see a sales opportunity here and make a perfect-fit 7900GTX for M170 users? Sales = Profits, after all.
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post #4 of 25
4/25/06 at 10:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTOG
Seems Dell would see a sales opportunity here and make a perfect-fit 7900GTX for M170 users? Sales = Profits, after all.

Nvidia makes the cards, not dell.

I would assume a very small percentage of Dell's laptop users actually upgrade their laptops (besides the easy stuff.)
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post #5 of 25
4/25/06 at 10:54pm
I think Dell would see more profit if they had everyone who wanted a 7900 GTX buy the new M1710, and not just upgrade their current M170 or whatever have you.
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post #6 of 25
4/26/06 at 2:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pwain
I would assume a very small percentage of Dell's laptop users actually upgrade their laptops (besides the easy stuff.)

It's not too hard to upgrade the video card and CPU. After all, we can even pinmod and voltmod the CPU for a nice overclock.
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post #7 of 25
4/26/06 at 2:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTOG
It's not too hard to upgrade the video card and CPU. After all, we can even pinmod and voltmod the CPU for a nice overclock.


It's goiong ot take a lot more modding and it's going to be more difficult to make it work compared to putting a 7800 gtx in a 9300.

The reason is, is that the M1710 has a different motherboard, and chipset compared to the older M170.

So it's not looking good, you'll have a better chance with a E1705 since they share the same motherboard and chipset with the XPS M1710.
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post #8 of 25
4/26/06 at 3:59am
it will probably be similar to putting the 7800 go gtx into the 9400/e1705... but it still may work!
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post #9 of 25
4/26/06 at 4:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pwain
Nvidia makes the cards, not dell.

I would assume a very small percentage of Dell's laptop users actually upgrade their laptops (besides the easy stuff.)

Actually, as far as I know, nVidia makes no cards. Just the chipsets. That's why you get so many companies that make Desktop grfx cards under the nVidia name. I think Dell actually manufactures them. If nVidia made them you'd see a standard form that would fit in any laptop, but you don't. Grfx cards for laptops are usuallly designed for the MB and case they will go with. This would also explain why there were heating issues with the 7800go on Dell laptops but no other companies had such problems. I also remember someone saying here that the 7800go was underclocked compared to other laptops with the same card nVidia wouldn't do this "just for Dell". it wouldn't make sense. Changes are Dell knew they used substandard components or were just trying to cut on power usage.

You'll also notice that nVidia will not release drivers for laptop grfx cards. This is because the components used aren't as regulated as the Desktop versions.

I base this information on the fact that nVidia produces no Desktop Cards at all (unlike ATI who produce thier own as well as let other companies produce them).
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post #10 of 25
4/26/06 at 5:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DTOG
Seems Dell would see a sales opportunity here and make a perfect-fit 7900GTX for M170 users? Sales = Profits, after all.


Dell is more interested in just making you want the new stuff so bad you have to sell your old rig to buy the new one.
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post #11 of 25
4/26/06 at 5:41am
I wish people'd stop these threads until someone who has a 9300 and an M1710 on the way opens both up, takes purdy pictures, and sees if there's really an impediment.

Until then, it's just jamming up the damned list.
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post #12 of 25
4/26/06 at 12:22pm
Assuming that the XPS M1710 uses the same layout as the 9400, it will probably work if you are prepared to de-solder a keyboard mounting post from the motherboard.
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post #13 of 25
4/26/06 at 12:40pm
The 7900 GTX adheres to nVidia's MXM standard for notebook graphics which sets a standard for size, connection type, and cooling guidelines. MXM is the reason that it is easy to upgrade from a 6800 to a 7800, etc., and that is exactly what it was designed for--nVidia wanted to give mobile users the same flexibility in upgrading graphics cards as desktop users.

That said, in practice, there are other things that might limit your ability to do that upgrade, such as power and cooling issues, but with the way things are designed, I think that you would probably be able to do the upgrade without too terribly much trouble.

Of course, we won't know for sure until someone actually tries it and reports back.
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post #14 of 25
4/26/06 at 1:04pm
Quote:
The 7900 GTX adheres to nVidia's MXM standard for notebook graphics which sets a standard for size, connection type, and cooling guidelines. MXM is the reason that it is easy to upgrade from a 6800 to a 7800, etc., and that is exactly what it was designed for--nVidia wanted to give mobile users the same flexibility in upgrading graphics cards as desktop users.

That said, in practice, there are other things that might limit your ability to do that upgrade, such as power and cooling issues, but with the way things are designed, I think that you would probably be able to do the upgrade without too terribly much trouble.

Of course, we won't know for sure until someone actually tries it and reports back.

Dell do not adhere to the MXM standard. Read the threads on these forums of people fitting the 7800 GTX into the 9400. It will be at least as difficult to fit the 7900 GTX into the M170 unless Dell release an official M170 upgrade.
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post #15 of 25
4/26/06 at 1:12pm
Dell doesn't use MXM, dell has its own form-factor. The only reason you could switch the 6800 go with the 7800 gtx is because it wouldve been to expensive for them to design a new form... damn capitalists.

Plus, 7800 gtx isn't MXM, uses too much power, MXM-III is designed for what, 30 Watts, hence, no 7800 gtx is in MXM factor :P.
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post #16 of 25
4/26/06 at 1:21pm
Ahhh, I see ... I stand corrected.
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post #17 of 25
4/26/06 at 2:16pm
You are all missing the point. If the 7800 GTX fit into the 9400 with some modding it will fit into the 9300 with some modding. The card must have plugged in the same, so that is one issue gone.

The problem is will the card fit in the same way? From what I could tell the card looks the same, except for the bottom left corner on the 7900 has no notch, like the 7800, however, if we were still able to plug in the leds under the card, then I'd say, the hardest part might be getting another hacked bios.
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post #18 of 25
4/26/06 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thesnowman2006
You are all missing the point. If the 7800 GTX fit into the 9400 with some modding it will fit into the 9300 with some modding. The card must have plugged in the same, so that is one issue gone.

The problem is will the card fit in the same way? From what I could tell the card looks the same, except for the bottom left corner on the 7900 has no notch, like the 7800, however, if we were still able to plug in the leds under the card, then I'd say, the hardest part might be getting another hacked bios.

But it's a new chipset and motherboard for the 9400/ M1710, so hacking the bios is giong to be a little triickeier.
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post #19 of 25
4/26/06 at 3:28pm
The hacked BIOS is most likely not needed - the fact that the Geforce 7800 GTX showed up as unrecognised in the Inspiron 9300 BIOS was not important.
The important thing was that the 9300 was only programmed to provide up to a certain amount of power to the graphics card - not enough for the 7800 GTX (as the 9300 BIOS was programmed to be able to work with a 90w adapter and 6-cell battery). However, the M170/Gen 2 BIOS is programmed to provide enough power for the 7800 GTX and 6800 Ultra - as a 130W adapter / 9-cell battery must always be available with this BIOS (or the computer will not boot), there would be no reason to program a power limitation.
There is a small possibility that there could be an LCD incompatibility problem because of no BIOS support, but this is unlikely.
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post #20 of 25
5/2/06 at 10:17pm
hmm i thot i read somthing about somone putting a x1400 into their 9300.. hmm ill look for it.. should be the same as putting a 7900 into a m170

*edit* here it is http://www.notebookforums.com/showth...ighlight=x1400


you would have to mod the connector for the power on- statis lights wires
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