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Prolonging the XPS Gen 2's life.

post #1 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:17pm
Thread Starter 
Haven't visited this forum for months so I'm sorry for my rather n00bish questions.

1) Can one replace the Go 6800 Ultra in the XPS GEN 2 with the Go 7950 512MB? If SO, can you please provide a step by step guide on how to do so?

If NOT, what cards could replace the 6800 Ultra?
I know the 7800 GTX is one such card.

2) I don't know want to ruin anything in my laptop so I want a professional to this for me. Does Dell or anyone else online provide services to do the replacing for you? This is doubly important for someone like me who is COMPLETELY ignorant of such matters.

Though I know that doing it yourself would probably be the best solution, I simply have no time to learn/do the procedure.

Thanks.
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post #2 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:22pm
There is manual and guides on this. Chances are if you do it yourself, you'd be more careful on your system than the techs who comes out and charge you for it.
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post #3 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dissembled View Post
Haven't visited this forum for months so I'm sorry for my rather n00bish questions.

1) Can one replace the Go 6800 Ultra in the XPS GEN 2 with the Go 7950 512MB? If SO, can you please provide a step by step guide on how to do so?

The 7800GTX as mentioned below is your only upgrade option. (guide on the forums)

If NOT, what cards could replace the 6800 Ultra?
I know the 7800 GTX is one such card.

2) I don't know want to ruin anything in my laptop so I want a professional to this for me. Does Dell or anyone else online provide services to do the replacing for you? This is doubly important for someone like me who is COMPLETELY ignorant of such matters.

Dell won't do this for you, so you'll have to order the GTX off eBay and then get a comp. shop person to put it in for you.

Though I know that doing it yourself would probably be the best solution, I simply have no time to learn/do the procedure.

Thanks.

Read the bold
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post #4 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:31pm
If I can just guess the cost of this. It be better off just selling the laptop, and buy next gen.
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post #5 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdonket View Post
Read the bold

So it is possible to replace the Ultra with the 7900 one. Good news for us older member here.

Is there a link for the bios for it somewhere?
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post #6 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:44pm
Umn No. It can be replaced with 7800GTX. Not current XPS's GPU's such as 7900GS/7900GTX.
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post #7 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:46pm
Thread Starter 
Is the inside structure different in such models? Different bios as well? Not possible at all? Moo.
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post #8 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:48pm
Not possible.
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post #9 of 52
6/16/07 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quick question kindarelavent to my topic....I could use the offiical GO 7800/7900 drivers for my Ultra 6800, correct? Can't find the offiical ones for the Ultra in Nvidia's site.

The Xtreme to Go drivers have my GPU idling at 74C. Way too hot. In the beginning it idled about 54C!

Thanks.
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post #10 of 52
6/16/07 at 7:10pm
You have to clean it up is my guess..
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post #11 of 52
6/16/07 at 7:56pm
Yeah, 7800GTX is the best you will fit in, even if you got a 7900 series card to fit (a few bits to chop away i belive) as the BIOS doesn't support it you would still be out of luck.

For drivers see www.laptopvideo2go.com or one of the more customised drivers (though I have often had problems with them). Though remember with our old cards the latest drivers are not always the best, with my 6800U I use the 87.25 driver...
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post #12 of 52
6/16/07 at 9:32pm
+1 to that. My 7800gtx seems to hate non-dell 9 series drivers.
You'll be wanting a 7800gtx which will offer you a substantial speed improvement, but it won't make your cpu any faster.
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post #13 of 52
6/16/07 at 10:00pm
if you are lucky, you can find someone selling the Go 7800GTX for about 200 dollars. I found 2 on ebay when I bought mine, they were both going for 199.99 (buy now).

As they said, the best place to find video drivers is laptopvideo2go.com
But as also mentioned, the 7800GTX doesn't seem to like the 100 series drivers that are currently being released. While it does work, it takes away the ability to overclock.

The best drivers that I've used are the Xtreme-G Mobile Force XP 94.22
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post #14 of 52
6/16/07 at 10:26pm
Thread Starter 
Wonder what drivers are BEST suited for the Ultra? It's running way too hot. Right now, all I'm doing is surfing and it's idling at 70 C! WTF?
EDIT: Drivers right now are Xtreme 97.44

Are there methods to clean the fans WITHOUT going inside the laptop? A vacuum cleaner perhaps??

Also, those people who could install the 7800 GTX inside my XPS2.....what exactly are they called?

Is there a company I could contact that specifically does such things?? Please give me a term I could use to look them up via online Yellow Books.
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post #15 of 52
6/16/07 at 10:37pm
computer repair shops are really what you're looking for. It's not your driver btw that would drive the temp up like that. Take a can of compressed air and spray it into the rear vents of your laptop, it should help out a bit.
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post #16 of 52
6/17/07 at 1:59am
Thread Starter 
Uninstalled the GPU driver (97.44) and temps decreased by 8.
Would be great if Ultra owners here would post more of their driver recommendatons.
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post #17 of 52
6/17/07 at 2:01am
How many people have to tell you it's not the driver that's causing the high temp?
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post #18 of 52
6/17/07 at 3:03am
I'd just have to advice you not to be so timid over opening the system. If you can function a screwdriver, then its really not worth paying someone else to do. The only hard part is prying up the system panel and hoping it doesnt break . So just try to clean it out and that should reduce your temperatures. Also, your temperatures may be high because your card is in 3d mode at all times. Find a driver that you wish to install and I'll tell you how to mod it to allow throttling.
I'll add to the recommended drivers 84.25 though

Cleaning out your system should be priority however.
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post #19 of 52
6/17/07 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zzpulp View Post
I'd just have to advice you not to be so timid over opening the system. If you can function a screwdriver, then its really not worth paying someone else to do. The only hard part is prying up the system panel and hoping it doesnt break . So just try to clean it out and that should reduce your temperatures. Also, your temperatures may be high because your card is in 3d mode at all times. Find a driver that you wish to install and I'll tell you how to mod it to allow throttling.
I'll add to the recommended drivers 84.25 though

Cleaning out your system should be priority however.

Yeah, especially considering how long it's been since he bought it, it's probably quite a dirt hole in there
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post #20 of 52
6/17/07 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
It is the driver that's causing it mostly. GPU is now at 62C with the last Ultra drivers Dell released: 78.xx

I'll try to upgrade to the Oblivion tailored 84.25 or the 84.37 drivers reviewed here:
http://www.tweaksrus.com/index.php?o...d=495&Itemid=1
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