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    XPS M1330 motherboard upgrade

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by vesurka, May 21, 2012.

  1. vesurka

    vesurka Notebook Guru

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    my m1330 motherboard is shot, it currently has the intel chipset. through friends of family, im receiving a new motherboard with a NEW nvidia gpu. yes i know there has been lots of fault in these motherboards, but i have been reading about a copper mod involving taking off the thermal pad and replacing it with a slab of copper (ordered through ebay specifically for m1330). so i'm going to give this a shot. i also ordered a new heatsink and cpu fan for it as i know that would need to be swapped as well. other than that, shouldn't it fit right in my m1330? or is there anymore conversion parts i need to replace to? i spoke to a comp tech on the phone and he said the form factor of the case wouldn't allow it, but he also didn't seem to know what he was talking about. please, any info would help. thanks!!!

    *edited for new question involving same topic*
     
    vesurka, May 21, 2012
    #1
  2. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    You do NOT want the Nvidia motherboards, they are all ticking timebombs due to the Nvidia BGA issue. You'll need a new heatsink too, but I HIGHLY advise against the uprade.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, May 21, 2012
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  3. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    Do not buy the motherboard with the Nvidia chip. You are lucky you have a motherboard with integrated graphics; the Nvidia boards are all faulty and hardly ever last.
     
    Commander Wolf, May 21, 2012
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  4. lordnikon

    lordnikon Notebook Evangelist

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    Want to swap? haha jk
     
    lordnikon, May 21, 2012
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  5. vesurka

    vesurka Notebook Guru

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    bumping because i edited my main post!
     
    vesurka, Jun 1, 2012
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  6. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    The only parts that differ between the Intel and Nvidia models are the boards and heatsinks; you shouldn't need anything else.

    There is no "new" GPU; they are all basically bad. The copper mod will prolong its life, but there is no permanent fix short of a reball.
     
    Commander Wolf, Jun 1, 2012
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  7. intarweb

    intarweb Notebook Consultant

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    If it's a refurbished motherboard chances are the GPU has been reworked. Depending on how long you plan to continue use of the M1330, it may last long enough to meet your needs. I'm not sure it's worth being a total alarmist about it.

    With that said, the 8400GS is not very fast and I've found the drivers tend to be wonky in terms of hardware acceleration of video (and a Penryn seems fast enough to do 1080P decoding anyway). As for games, I never found that GPU fast enough to play much of anything.
     
    intarweb, Jun 1, 2012
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  8. vesurka

    vesurka Notebook Guru

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    Yes it's just to hold me over till I get a new laptop. I know it's not a gaming machine, the only thing I play really is WoW and Minecraft as well as a few classics from GOG.com. It's funny because the Intel chip ran wow better than minecraft lol.
     
    vesurka, Jun 1, 2012
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