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

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!

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

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.

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

You should be able to pick up a x300 for well under $100 now. Just keep an eye on ebay.

[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.

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

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!

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 ...