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Capabilities of my Dell notebook?

post #1 of 9
2/6/09 at 7:01pm
Thread Starter 
I am curious as to what my dell notebook is capable of handling as far as video cards go. I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop. I have seen the ever-popular thread about the NVidea Go 7800 GT being installed in an Inspiron E1705 but I had some slight problems.

My notebook came with the built in Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset and not the upgraded ATI Radeon that was available; however, whenever I take apart my laptop, my graphics card is still able to be removed which would lead me to believe it is not onboard. Because of that, I am not sure what my mobo is capable of handle because I most certainly want to get a better graphics card.

Just let me know whatever specs or information you need and show me the program I need to download to obtain that information and I can provide ASAP. I had a program before that told me all the part numbers of the hardware of my comp but I lost after I reinstalled my OS. But like I said if you tell me what you need to know and a program that can provide that information I can hastily post it in this thread. Thank you!
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post #2 of 9
2/8/09 at 8:08pm
If you want to install a video card in your particular laptop, you'll have to also upgrade to a motherboard that is for E1705's with dedicated graphics. In your case the cost of such an upgrade most likely won't be worth it. ESPECIALLY considering the quantity of defective cards that seem to be up for sale.

And even though your current system has that little video loop-back card a video card won't work. Unfortunately that board is missing a few key components (apart from the graphics slot) that won't let a dedicated card work.
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post #3 of 9
2/9/09 at 10:16pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you very much sir. That answers alot of my questions and clears things up. Yeah I suppose an upgrade wouldn't be worth the money. Anything else other than upgrading the ram that you would recommend to get the most out of my system?
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post #4 of 9
2/12/09 at 1:42pm
DDR2 is cheap and plentiful, if you're not up to 3GB (system can't use more than 4GB of addresses and some are use for I/O not memory) go ahead and do that. You could put a faster Core 2 Duo in the system too if you can find a good price on a used one. I mean that's really all you're going to be able to do.
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post #5 of 9
2/12/09 at 4:59pm
Thread Starter 
If, say, I did want to try putting in a new mobo? What part number for the mobo would I need and how much of a painstaking process is it? I have periodically taken just about everything out of my laptop from the video-card, to the cd drive, to the processor, just about everything but the mobo. Is there a likely chance of screwing something up with I install it or is it as easy as installing one on a desktop?
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post #6 of 9
2/15/09 at 9:21pm
It's just more screws than a desktop, it's easy for me because I do this everyday and have a $150 Snap-on electric screwdriver with a #1 phillips bit in it.

I don't know the part number for the dedicated graphics mainboard, but I'd say you should carefully consider this and how much money you're going to spend. I can almost assure you if the price of the upgrade is pushing $300+ you're better off setting your money aside for a new laptop when your E1705 starts floating in the bowl.
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post #7 of 9
2/16/09 at 2:54am
I agree with Evil. A motherboard is gonna be around $150-$200 and the video card will be about $300 for a total cost of $500 (maybe more) and you aren't even sure how long the parts you buy will work. For that price, you could practically get a whole new laptop with better specs all around. Now if you're just a modder at heart and are going through with this regardless then more power to you. Here are the part numbers: http://www.notebookforums.com/post2852073-6.html . This comes directly from our sticky thread here: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread197478.html .
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post #8 of 9
2/19/09 at 10:07am
Part-people has a motherboard for over 300 but it is the integrated video one.
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post #9 of 9
2/20/09 at 3:54pm
That pretty much tells you what kinda money you're going to have to spend on the dedicated motherboard. You might find cheaper on Fleabay but the parts may be of dubious quality and barely tested.
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