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Replacing the vid card in my old 9300. What's compatible?

post #1 of 10
5/10/08 at 9:33am
Thread Starter 
I had originally planned on just building a seperate desktop, but had recieved some interesting offers on here and seen some things on ebay that made me reconsider breathing a bit more life into this laptop.

I have an older Inspiron 9300, that originally came with a 6800go (256mb). What other cards can I put in it that will a) fit and b) perform well, without c) needing major modifications (new battery, etc, etc)?

I know the 6800go will, and the x300, but what about the 7300go that was put in the e1505s and Inspiron 6400s a generation later? Do the heatsinks and stuff line up still, or are they the wrong size?

Any advice or links would be appreciated. Also, if someone has a part they'd like to sell, or links to places they can be found for cheap, feel free to hit me up in-thread with those as well.

~Semi
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post #2 of 10
5/10/08 at 9:36am
From what I know, the 9300 doesn't really have any upgrade options for the gfx card... though that may not be the case now... When I got my 9300 yearsssssssss ago I was looking around thinking I might be able to upgrade to a 7 series but to no avail... the 6800 is still an ok card that can run most games (read: not Crysis lol) at reasonable resolutions and settings but you might be better off getting a desktop... that's what I plan to do when I get the money together haha!
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post #3 of 10
5/10/08 at 9:57am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I'm planning on building a really nice desktop, actually. I just ran into an unexpected delay in funds.

I'm a student, and after seeing Dell wanted $300+ for these old 6800gos I figured I'd just take out a big student loan and build myself a new desktop rig. I thought the excess loan money would come in this week, via direct deposit, but it turns out they make us wait until the end of B-terms add/drop. On top of that, the school I go to is apparently stuck in the Stone Age, and doesn't intend to refund (via snail-mail, not even direct deposit) the excess financial aid money to people until July 8th. Classes end 20 days after that. It's kind of an asinine system.

~Semi
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post #4 of 10
5/10/08 at 2:46pm
Your only options are going to be the 6800 Ultra or the 7800GTX as far as more powerful than your current card.

Not 100% for sure on the Ultra card, but I know the 7800GTX will require the 9 cell battery and the 130W power brick. The 7800GTX will also require a BIOS flash. Over all though, the modifications are VERY easy to do.
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post #5 of 10
5/10/08 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
yeah, I'll probably just stick with a 6800go or a X300 then. The whole idea is NOT to put too much more money into this machine for the immediate future.

~Semi
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post #6 of 10
5/12/08 at 3:16pm
You should be able to pick up a x300 for well under $100 now. Just keep an eye on ebay.
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post #7 of 10
5/12/08 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by semisonic9 View Post
yeah, I'll probably just stick with a 6800go or a X300 then. The whole idea is NOT to put too much more money into this machine for the immediate future.

~Semi
[I apologize to the forums admins in advance]

I have a x300 that came from my 7800 upgrade thats not doing anything right now. PM me and we can talk.
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post #8 of 10
5/12/08 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Will do.

I think the x300 can handle WoW, which is about the only gaming I'll be doing until I build the new rig anyways. If I can save some cash that way, that'd be great!

~Semi
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post #9 of 10
8/21/09 at 4:06pm
My Inspiron 9300 is having problems: when I boot up (into BIOS, Windows, safe mode, whatever) or awaken it from slumber the screen works for a fraction of a second and then quickly goes almost totally dark; I can see ghost images, as if looking at the screen through a very dark room. I'm something of a hardware n00b and brought it in to a repair shop, where they told me the problem wasn't with the backlight, inverter or LCD but rather with my graphics card - and that it would cost $300 to replace (they quoted me a price of $240 for the card + $60 labor). Given that my computer is 4+ years old I'm seriously considering just buying a new one, but I thought I'd browse the web and see if I could find the card for cheaper. This is where I need your help: I'd like to know which cards are compatible with my Dell. I currently have a (nonfunctioning) 128 MB ATI x300, and I should stress that I'm not necessarily looking for a better card, just a functioning one. This thread lists a couple, but I was wondering if there are others I should keep my eyes open for on eBay. Also, as I've never bought a computer part off eBay before: if one purchases a used card from a reputable eBay dealer, does it usually work for a while or should I be avoiding eBay for this kind of thing?

Thank you in advance!
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post #10 of 10
8/21/09 at 6:30pm
Before buying anything, try plug in an external monitor first and see if any differences. If this works, then your GPU is still very much intact.

cheers ...
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