Puerto Rican XPS, video card help .

http://www1.la.dell.com/pr/es/dhs/L...px?refid=laptop-studio-xps-16&s=dhs&cs=prdhs1




Okay so after most U.S retailers refusing to sell me a laptop, despite P.R being part of the U.S . And XoticPc being crappy with their customer service I decided to buy an xps from here . Its great for what it does, and it has everything I need . However Even with everything, there is one thing that I don't like, which I would like to upgrade, and its the video card which is the - ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 - 512MB

1. Is it as good as an nvdia 9800 ?

2. Is it possible to upgrade it ? I am thinking of buying the video card off somewhere else if that is even possible . Possibly a 1gb one .



Thanks to those who can help me .

 

The nvidia 9800 destroys the 3670 in performance. No you cannot upgrade the video card in the SXPS 16, it's soldered to the motherboard. You will need to sell the laptop and get a new one or return this one and get a different notebook with a better GPU. I had the SXPS 16 myself and returned it because I wasn't happy with the GPU. The new SXPS 16 with an ATi 4670 is supposed to be coming but nobody knows when yet. You may want to look into Asus notebooks if you want a good 16" gaming laptop. Even this HP DV7 I have has an ATi 4650 GPU that is 2x as fast as the 3670.

Edit: Check out this ASUS laptop: http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=61&l3=776&l4=0&model=2713&modelmenu=2 It has the nVidia 9800 chip you want and the same specs as an SPXS 16 as far as the other hardware components go. I think it's also a very nice looking laptop.

 

Looks like a Sager NP9280 is coming soon to a home near him!

 

That Sager is a beast! Too bad it weighs a ton..

 

Puzzled! If this is true, what's the problem? The 512mb 3670 is a very capable card, and if it works for you, what's the problem?

 

Well guys I was going to get the sager, but I was very dissapointed with the way xoticpc handled my order . Seems like to avoid a headache might have to order by bank wire .

Oh and poison, it great for everything except the video card .

 

Hey dude. I'm from Puerto Rico as well, so i get your pain when it comes to shopping online and the many things they just wont ship over here.

I got a Studio xps 16, but returned it (dells coming to pick it up today) for two reasons:

1. theres a lot of speculation that Dell will include an ATI 4670 configuration soon . It is still speculation (and who knows when they would include that configuration in Dell PR) but i can afford to wait.

*edit* - while it plays games like wow, ffxi online and other games at full fps, I tried playing the last remnant on it and i had to lower the resolution so that the game ran very smoothly. otherwise, at native resolution and high settings, it gets pretty slow. not sure if its the game per se, that has a fame for being very buggy .



2. they included a blu-ray burner now, and i definitely want that.


Like they already pointed out to you, its not possible to upgrade the cpu (even though me and at least one other person on these forums have been informed by Dell otherwise) so don't count on that.

I don't really know how urgent it is for you right now, but if it's not that urgent maybe you could wait a bit. In my case, being in PR and all, i *really* appreciate Dell's extended warranty and the fact that they'll be wherever you are the next day to fix ur pc or whatever. Have never really been dissappointed with them.

On the other hand, like many others have said (and rightfully so) theres always something new coming up with pcs and laptops so you could pretty much wait forever if you wanted to.

I guess it all comes down to whether you are going to game hardcore and / or which games youre going to play. The pc handles most MMOS perfectly at full fps and they look . It is a very fast computer.

However, last I configured it for PR we dont get the option to buy a 9 cell battery. Take note: regardless of what others say here, if you do NOT have a 9 cell battery or rise the back part of the laptop to offer room so that the vents can blow out the hot air (vents are located under the laptop) the machine will get very hot and gaming performance will suffer badly. If you get a 9 cell battery or a notebook cooler (or a book to lift the pc, like i did) this is not a problem at all, but make sure you follow these suggestions, *if* you are using the laptop for gaming.

Feel free to send me a pm or whatever. good luck with your purchase. It is a beauty of a laptop , the 1080p screen is awesome.