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Help me out guys, have an old 9300

post #1 of 10
12/15/07 at 2:37am
Thread Starter 
Ok, I have a Dell I9300, its starting to feel its age. I was playing COD4 today, and even though it played it pretty well I feel the video card is dying.

I was thinking about maybe pin-modding a CPU and buying maybe the 7800 GTX.

Is it worth it, and how hard of a swap would it be? I remember when I used to frequent the forums there were a few threads stickied about pin-modding, but I cant find it.

Any help would be great.

Also, where can I find the spare parts I need?
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post #2 of 10
12/16/07 at 1:54pm
I had a 9300 that had to have the video card replaced. Sometimes Dell has the spare parts and you can order from them but eBay would probably be your best bet. I just dont know if it's worth it anymore. You could always do what I did and get a new Vostro 1700 or Inspiron 1720.
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post #3 of 10
12/16/07 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
Id love to.

I need to find an awesome deal or sale this one first, as funds are tight in college.
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post #4 of 10
12/16/07 at 8:21pm
I am sure the pin mod thread is here somewhere.
I seem to remember that the 1.6 worked well,1.7 usually needed a volt mod, and 1.8 rarely worked stable.

The 7800gtx is a good upgrade but still seems to be an expensive card. To do that upgrade you need a 9cell battery,130w PSU, and possibly a heat sink. the tread is here as well.

Good luck!
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post #5 of 10
12/16/07 at 8:53pm
I don't think it would really be worth it for you to upgrade the 9300, after doing a pinmod+buying a 7800GTX+130w PSU+9 cell...you're looking at probably $500 anyway, and that's only going to keep your system barely breathing in the gaming industry.

I'd say you should start saving up for an E1720 or Vostro 1700 as Isuzu suggested.
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post #6 of 10
12/16/07 at 9:03pm
Here is the pin mod link
http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=80879

Back when I did the pinmod I actually made money off it. I bought the older 1.6 for like 80 bucks, then sold my stock 1.6 for 160 bucks. Keep in mind this was two years ago, and the prices have gone way down. The 7800gtx will be between 300 and 375, the 9 cell battery is around 70, and the power supply is around 50. The Northbridge heatsink is not needed to do the 7800gtx swap like it shows in that other topic. If you are really wanting a gaming pc then save up for something better. For the money you would spend on the other stuff you should just buy an Xbox 360 or PS3.
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post #7 of 10
12/16/07 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys, I didnt know all those parts were still that expensive.

I think I'll just try to sell the one I have now and buy a new one.
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post #8 of 10
12/16/07 at 9:49pm
if you want to keep the computer around, spend like $50 and upgrade to 2gb RAM, that will probably help you out more than anything. Also, it will increase your resell value.
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post #9 of 10
12/19/07 at 9:16pm
also consider the 6800gtx-- it's cheaper than the 7800,and is definitly better than the vanilla 6800.

And BTW-- IF you can get a good price on the 7800 (I paid $200 for mine over a year ago--- I got lucky), this is a good mod. I play WIC on my 9300, with 2 gigs ram, 7200 rpm drive, 2.2g processor, and 7800 gtx, and it runs great on higher res (1200 x something .. forget), at slightly higher than medium settings.
It starts lagging if I put it on maximum, but not that much..
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post #10 of 10
12/19/07 at 10:01pm
that would be the 6800Ultra, not 6800GTX
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