i have actually kept tabs on it.

it's not significantly.. maybe a few bux. max i've seen is like 70-80 bux maybe.

on ebay they go for 350+ mostly 400 bux.

the 7950's are the same.

300173926359 -fx3500 item #

150183991470 -7950gtx item #

it is about 60 bux cheaper in this example.

but that 7950 is too high shipping.

I would venture that the 7950 would not be $400 better than my 7900 at say
1400x900? My notebook is getting old so would consisder one for around $200. I still want to jump on a Meron down the road as well.

I'm getting good FPS 20-30ish in Crysis as long as I don't turn on shadows.

I've answered this same question a hundred times, and I give the same answer every time. You're gonna have to do the research and see if it is worth to you. I have a FRAPS benchmark thread with a lot of 1440x900 benchmarks you can compare to. I score 11,346 points in 3DMark'05 http://service.futuremark.com/orb/re...0&UID=12155286. I get 6,657 points in 3DMark'06 @ 1280x854 http://service.futuremark.com/orb/re...0&UID=12239626. Between those benchmarks and the FRAPS benchmarks, you should be able to make a well-educated decision. Hope this helps.

the m1710 won't boot unless you have a 130W or greater PSU.

if you don't have a 9cell it won't boot either.

you have to trick it.

I don't think there is a need to add the 8C temperature offset in i8kfangui. It's ATItool that reports the wrong temperature. Here's a little trick to check the real temperatures:

Suspend your laptop and leave it for a while (overnight). When you resume the next morning, notice the temperature of the CPU and GPU. They must be the same.

If you add the 8C offset, the GPU is 8C hotter than the CPU, which can't be right, since you know they are at the same temp.

Fair enough, but I would also like to find a third temp monitoring program to verify which one is correct.

I put my laptop to sleep, made sure both the bottom and the keyboard were cool before I turned it back on. Sure enough the two temps were nearly identical. Can I get a few others to also try this for verification? Remember to change the offsets in I8KFanGUI back to zero before you do it though.

I'll test it as well. But that would mean that our GPUs are running 8 degrees cooler than we thought ? COoool

This might help? SIW- System Information for Windows by Gabriel Topala
http://www.gtopala.com/

Alot of people reported seeing throttling at around 94 C. Since the bios limit is 102 C, I'd say that it follows that (most) M1710's need an +8 C offset.

Also, you do not need a third program as the driver (w/ coolbits registry temperature settings) shows the temperature of the card.

I have a few questions.

I have a 1705 ~ one of the original Yonah core launch versions of 2006. Would these upgrades be possible for my computer, eg video card (right now it is a 7800gs) and cpu (T2500 Core Duo)?

Yeah. You would get some significant gains from a 7900GTX or 7950GTX video card. On the CPU side, a T7200 is the best bang for the buck. Look at the first page of this thread for more detail.

So I can upgrade without a hitch?

I'd be lying to you if I said there was no "hitch". Both of the cards I mentioned have dual heat pipes, so you would have to remove a very small section of the inside of your laptop for the 2nd pipe to fit. All it takes is a pair of pliers and the piece breaks right off. It harms your laptop in no way, cosmetically or functionally. The CPU will drop right in with absolutely no other modifications. Remember though, the E1705/M1710 can only use the even-numbered CPU's. For example; T7200, T7400, T7600. And remember to order some AS5 thermal paste for the install. Should run about $7.