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inspiron e1705 upgrade (wireless, bios, cpu, gpu) questions

post #1 of 20
3/27/11 at 11:37pm
Thread Starter 

Hi, I'm currently upgrading my laptop of a few years old now. Already upgraded my Ram. 

 

1. Wireless card- whats a good wireless card to upgrade to?  The one I have is not that good connection-wise for gaming as compared to the card in my new cheap netbook. I think it is a Intel Pro Wireless Wifi Card- 3945 802.11 a/ b/ g/ MiniCard -NC293

 

2. CPU- My current processor is a intel core duo T2250 @1.73ghz, I'm going to upgrade it to a Intel core 2 duo t7600 @2.33ghz

    GPU- currently have a Nvidia geforce go 7900 gs, going to upgrade to 7950gtx. 

And my BIOS version is currently A09. Do I have to upgrade the Bios to use my upgrades? 

And after I install these 2, what do I have to do regarding drivers or anything else?

 

3. Hard Drive- I also am upgrading my hard drive from 80gb @ 5400rpm  to a 750gb @7200rpm hard drive. I plan on cloning my hard drive over. My current HD is partitioned as 62.4 GB and 9.99 GB. On the new drive, when I move it over, do I have to have it partitioned as: 62.4gb, 9.99gb, about 670gb. Also for the remaining space. I prefer not having too many partitions. But I read that it improves performance. What are the best sizes to repartition the hard drive?

 

Thanks for the help. 

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post #2 of 20
3/28/11 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneyy88 View Post

Hi, I'm currently upgrading my laptop of a few years old now. Already upgraded my Ram. 

 

1. Wireless card- whats a good wireless card to upgrade to?  The one I have is not that good connection-wise for gaming as compared to the card in my new cheap netbook. I think it is a Intel Pro Wireless Wifi Card- 3945 802.11 a/ b/ g/ MiniCard -NC293

 

2. CPU- My current processor is a intel core duo T2250 @1.73ghz, I'm going to upgrade it to a Intel core 2 duo t7600 @2.33ghz

    GPU- currently have a Nvidia geforce go 7900 gs, going to upgrade to 7950gtx. 

And my BIOS version is currently A09. Do I have to upgrade the Bios to use my upgrades? 

And after I install these 2, what do I have to do regarding drivers or anything else?

 

3. Hard Drive- I also am upgrading my hard drive from 80gb @ 5400rpm  to a 750gb @7200rpm hard drive. I plan on cloning my hard drive over. My current HD is partitioned as 62.4 GB and 9.99 GB. On the new drive, when I move it over, do I have to have it partitioned as: 62.4gb, 9.99gb, about 670gb. Also for the remaining space. I prefer not having too many partitions. But I read that it improves performance. What are the best sizes to repartition the hard drive?

 

Thanks for the help. 


. Wireless: try updating the driver first and reviewing the network configuration before changing the hardware

. GPU; you should not need to update the BIOS for it, but it is nice to have the latest BIOS version, especially with Dell Systems

- Hard drive: If you clone the drive, the partitions will be made for you. Can you list out what are the current partitions all about? I prefer one partition for one drive

cheers ...
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post #3 of 20
3/28/11 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 

ok i thought my drivers were updated, but I updated them all now. Going to test the connection later. 

 

I prefer one partition as well. But this laptop came partitioned as one c drive and the other was named recovery (D:)

I'm just confused on what happens when I clone this hard drive into the bigger one; like what my options are. 

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post #4 of 20
3/30/11 at 2:26pm
When you clone the original drive, you should have both partitions intact. And do keep that recovery partition alive - never know when you need it wink.gif

cheers ...
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post #5 of 20
3/30/11 at 4:27pm
Having the latest BIOS version is usually very important when upgrading from a Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo, so make sure you do the BIOS update before installing the new CPU.

Also, keep in mind that any graphics upgrades MUST be from Dell systems similar to yours.
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post #6 of 20
4/6/11 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 

I'm going to hold off on the graphics card upgrade for now. Can't really find an affordable card on ebay. 

I got my hard drive and cpu is coming in. Do I have to get the 130 W power supply as recommended in threads? Is it only for the graphics card upgrade? Currently it is the normal 90w. 

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post #7 of 20
4/7/11 at 12:10am
Dell machines have the tendency to gobble juice. So if you can go for a higher capacity brick, get it.

cheers ...
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post #8 of 20
4/13/11 at 1:09am
Thread Starter 

So, I installed both gpu and cpu. I'll have to go back in to redo the thermal paste. I forgot to clean the top of where the top of the cpu chip touches. And I didn't put anything on the graphics card. I'm not sure where to put the arctic silver on the gpu. This is the picture of the gpu. http://www.compuvest.us/Ebay_Images/331005900-32.jpeg  .My understanding is that you put it between a chip and a heatsink, but I can't see any chip on the card.

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post #9 of 20
4/13/11 at 2:29am
Can you remove the screws holding the heat sink and the card together?

cheers ...
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post #10 of 20
4/13/11 at 7:03pm
Thread Starter 

 

 

ok, I've redone the thermal paste on both cards.  The cpu temps still seem kind of high. I'll check again after the recommended arctic silver break in time. But currently idle temp for the cpu is around 50c, and when in use, it goes around 80-98c

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post #11 of 20
4/14/11 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneyy88 View Post

 

 

ok, I've redone the thermal paste on both cards.  The cpu temps still seem kind of high. I'll check again after the recommended arctic silver break in time. But currently idle temp for the cpu is around 50c, and when in use, it goes around 80-98c


Yes - 50 deg on idle is high, if it doesn't come down suggest you redo the arctic silver on the CPU - mine used to idle at around 35 - 40 deg don't recall the load temps but certainly only the GPU hit those temps under load.
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post #12 of 20
4/14/11 at 2:21am
Thread Starter 
is it possible that my gpu isn't working and cpu is doing all the graphics? Or does my gpu have to be working since I can play videos, games etc.. The temp of my gpu doesn't seem to change that much. Its always around 53C, 54,52.
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post #13 of 20
4/14/11 at 5:11am
If your GPU is not working, you would not be able to even boot the system up. You might want to consider backing up your personal data and perform a clean installation?

cheers ...
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post #14 of 20
4/14/11 at 12:48pm
Thread Starter 

I think I see the problem? This processor faces a different direction than the old cpu. Under the heatsink, where it fits the cpu, it is a rectangle but it faces a different way than my new t7600. Do I have to get a new heatsink? Where can I get one that faces the right way.

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post #15 of 20
4/14/11 at 1:05pm
Pics please

cheers ...
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post #16 of 20
4/14/11 at 1:08pm
First thing I would do is simply go back and make sure everything was spotless, and polished and redo the artic silver, second thing if this did not lower temps is to check the fans are working correctly. The 9400 had a habit of holding back on cooling to lower the power consumption and noise, dell did make some bios changes to fix this after everyone's 7900go started to fail. My preferred temp control program was Ik8GUI - running an 8 degree offset on the gpu. Fans normally run on low 90% of the time - also are you running the dual pipe heatsink for the 7900 gtx???? if your only using the single pipe this may be your problem.
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post #17 of 20
4/14/11 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 

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post #18 of 20
4/14/11 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 

Ik8GUI, I have it set to high at 63C. 

 

So, I decided to chisel off the grey stuff on the heatsink to see more of the copper and make it fit better for my cpu. The new cpu has a lot more surface area than the old one. My idle temps for cpu is now around 38C. I am fine with GPU at 54C , since it doesn't seem to heat up from my initial experiences, so far. It is the dual pipe. 

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post #19 of 20
4/14/11 at 11:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kenneyy88 View Post

Ik8GUI, I have it set to high at 63C. 

 

So, I decided to chisel off the grey stuff on the heatsink to see more of the copper and make it fit better for my cpu. The new cpu has a lot more surface area than the old one. My idle temps for cpu is now around 38C. I am fine with GPU at 54C , since it doesn't seem to heat up from my initial experiences, so far. It is the dual pipe. 


Those temps are normal, the GPU can hit 85 - 90 deg under heavy load, this is normal but it helps to keep the airflow under the unit free when gaming - and clean out the dust bunnies every now and again - may have been the thermal paste on the heatsink was not cleaned off properly - well enjoy your 9400 - they are still a great laptop and in their day one of the best!!!
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post #20 of 20
4/15/11 at 12:39pm
If you want to try to stress just your GPU then use a tool like ATITool and open 3D view. You should see this: http://images.betanews.com/screenshots/1074728381-1.gif . Let it run for awhile and you should certainly see your GPU temperature rise to 70+ degrees. In fact, your GPU temperature could go as high as 90+. The average is somewhere around 77-83 C if I recall.
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