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XPS M170 video card

post #1 of 5
3/24/08 at 3:38pm
Thread Starter 
Hey whats up?

Basically the video card went out in my dell xps m170 a while ago, bugger was still under warrenty but they said there was a "spill" in it so they wouldn't replace it... fyi it wasn't a spill got a second opinion and a layer of nicotine formed over the video card couple with some pet hair that got in there it caused it to over heat and fry out. but alas my warrenty is screwed. (also i was runnin linux and they said it was "irregular" buggers)

anywho i want my laptop back up and runnin, its a thousand times better then this toshiba satellite a105 with a broken keyboard but the video card Nvidia go 6800 is like 300 bucks.

I was talkin to my girlfriends brother who works at a computer shop and he suggested a different compatible video card.

a Dell inspiron 9400 which has a ATI mobility X1400.

is this compatible with my dell xps m170, he said it looks like it would fit in there and the only major difference is there is one heat sink instead of two. (its not quite as powerful plus side-- better battery life. i do some gaming like world of warccraft and the ati 1400 seems like it would be good enough for that).

I've built numerous desktops but i've never personally worked on a laptop internally before. I do know the xps m170 was made a little different then some laptops in that nothings integrated and its upgradeable (hell has a guide how to take it apart that it came with.)

any help would be appreciated but u can get the latter video card for under 100 bucks (would prefer nvidia cause ati can be a pain at times on linux but i got it to work on everyone I've tried with a lil work).


thanks ahead of time
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post #2 of 5
3/24/08 at 9:08pm
No, the card is not supported (or at least, it shouldn't be). You could use the ATI X300 or X600. I can tell you personally though that the 6800 and 6800 ultra are among the best supported cards I have seen in Linux. It would be a shame to give them up for an old ATI. I know the price is a throw off but maybe you can lurk here long enough and find one in the for sale section (you have to get 10 or 25 posts first - something like that).
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post #3 of 5
3/25/08 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 
so if i understand right the ATI mobility X1400 won't work but the ATI X300 or X600 would?

Its entirely a temperary fix just to get it back up n runnin and make sure thats the prob. basically it starts up sounds like everythings runnin fine but nothin EVER comes up on the screen. I don't care aobut linux, i love it but i'll stick with windows if i have to for the time being.

I will replace it back to the nvidia geforce go 6800 eventually, just i need a temp fix because man.... this laptop i'm on now is shitty. I mean i have to use an external keyboard all the time because the keyboard on its fried plus its slow as hell. i'll settle for a crappy video card for a while.
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post #4 of 5
3/25/08 at 6:13pm
well then just go for the X300. They come in different flavors according to memory size (32 MB, 64 MB, 128MB). The thing you have to be careful about is that they make them in different formats: desktops, inspiron 6000 and 6400, as well as for the 9300/XPS2. You need to get the right one. The one you want looks just like the 6800go vanilla and it looks like the 6800go ultra, except its missing the second long heatpipe that extends from the left of the card. Right now I only see one on ebay with the right footprint but its way overpriced ($110 us).
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post #5 of 5
3/27/08 at 5:12am
I'd also recommend you have a look around on ebay.
The price of a x300 for a 'quick fix' probably isn't worth it, considering its so pathetically slow.
I'd recommend you take a look around ebay for used 6800's. A lot of people who moved to 7800 gtx's sold their 6800's and 6800 ultras, so they should still be around. Try international searches etc?
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