Dell and Video Cards...some can be replaced

From time to time I've noticed some people asking if they can replace the video cards in their Dell laptops.

The answer is...in many of Dell's laptops, you can change the video card. However, THIS IS NOT SANCTIONED BY DELL AND WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY IF YOUR COMPUTER FAILS. So replace at your own risk.

The only laptop currently that offers sanctioned upgrades is the XPS. However, say you bought a 5150 with a 32 MB Video card. You can purchase the 64 MB Card offered for that system from Dell's spare parts. You can only replace a video card that was specifically made for that system. For instance, you can upgrade (on your own) a 64 MB Geforce FX 5200 to an ATI 9600 128 MB in the Inspiron 8600, because both of these video cards are produced for the 8600. However, you cannot replace a 64 MB Geforce FX 5200 with an ATI 9600 in an Inspiron 5150 because the ATI 9600 form factor is not compatible with the 5150.

Bottom line, AT YOUR OWN RISK, you can replace a video card in most newer Dell systems with video cards specifically made for that system. BUT THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Unless of course you have an XPS, and when the newest video card comes out, Dell will replace that for you.

Instructions on how to replace video cards are found on Dell's website.

 

This is good to know. My only regret with my 9100 is not getting the 128mb video card.
I'm still going to give Dell a call and see what they can do about it. I'm not a huge gamer though and the 64mb card is more than enough for all the games I have.
For now anyways, I'm sure in the future I will need that 128.

 

can the 8600 take a 9700 128? or the next gen of ATI cards?

 

As of now, the best video card available for the 8600 is the ATI 9600 128 MB. The only cards available for the 8600 are the options offered for that system. If (although unlikely) Dell adds a newer video card to the 8600 line, then you can replace it.

The ATI 9700 card WILL NOT work with the 8600.

 

where to boy a separate video parts?

 

The safest place to is to call Dell's Spare Parts. I don't know the number off hand.

Sometimes, you have to speak to more than one individual because they don't like to give these parts out. But with patience, it can be done.

 

just don't tell dell you replace your video card

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by zxcvb

 

No, actually some of Dell's models have video cards that aren't attached. You can do a search for service manuals on particular models at Dell's website that shows you how to remove video cards.

 

I cracked open my Dell 5150 case the other day (to clean out some crud in the heatsink) and happened to have a look at the graphics card. I've got a geforce FX5200 Go 64mb, which is ok i guess, but I wouldn't mind having either a Geforce FX5650 Go or an ATI 9600...Does anyone know if the connectors from the display to the graphics card are compatible? Iif not, would some 'creative' soldering enable you to fit one of these cards in? The graphics are really the only think holding back the system...

 

Unfortunately, the 9600 or 5650 will not fit in that model. There has been much discussion about this in the Dell Community forum at Dell's website, but those newer cards are a much different shape and size that it would be nearly impossible to fit in the 5150.

 

Dell might eventually come out with a better card for the 5150, most likely the 9600. Until they decide to do so, however, you are out of luck, sorry.

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x256 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

My system only gets around 6800 3dmarks (2001) at standard speeds. When i overclock the vid card to 240 (core) and 460 (mem) i get around 7500. Is it safe to overclock it to this level?

 

If it is stable (programs run under strain and under normal usage with no side effects (flickers)) and your system is not getting hot (try i2kfangui (spelling?) to moniter). Then your overclock is successfull and you should be ok.

 

It is safe, but only if the GPU is cool. I actually was still stable with a 20% increase, but I totally redid the heat spreaders. monitor your temp closely, as you do at least a half-hour of gaming. The breaks between tests in 3dmark cool the GPU giving you downtime you don't usually have.

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x256 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

I've just reached clock speeds of 239/510 with my geforce FX5200 GO with no ill-effects. I've stress tested on 3dmark 2001SE looping with no gaps between tests for hours without crashing or artifacts, and tested in GTA3, vice city and SOF2 as well. Do you reckon it's safe to stay at these levels?

p.s. i've gone from 6700 3dmarks to 8200![ ]

 

the FX is pretty overclockable, go for it. Use Radlinker so that you only OC for the games that need it.

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x256 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

Originally posted by Braiot
< This is good to know. My only regret with my 9100 is not getting the 128mb video card.
I'm still going to give Dell a call and see what they can do about it. I'm not a huge gamer though and the 64mb card is more than enough for all the games I have.
For now anyways, I'm sure in the future I will need that 128.>


Actually, I believe the 9100 can take the 128 MB Radeon mobility 9700 or the 256 MB Radeon mobility 9800. You should be able to pick up the 128 MB 9700 cheap once people start swapping out theirs for the 9800s. You'll just void your warranty if your computer fails however, as nesbo notes in his post.

 

Hey everybody, have a simple question. I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 series model with the nvidia 64mb video card. I would like to upgrade to the best video card available for my labtop. Any suggestions? Doesn't matter who makes it I just want the fastest video card money can but for my labtop. Thanks....

 

Are video cards on the Inspiron 5100 and 5150 compatible? I want to upgrade the card in my 5100, and read that I could use the Radeon 9000 from the 5150. I'm using the 7500C in my 5100 right now.

 

This has probably been asked but isent it true that Inspirion 9100 owners can upgrade to the new Mobility Radeon 9800? If they give you the option to buy it during build time, why shouldnt you be able to upgrade it yourself? Dell SAYS that only XPS owners can but that is probably in reference to the warrenty issue correct?

Check this out:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?TabPage=techspecs&sku=XPSVID&c=us&l=en&cs=19&page=external

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by nesbo

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Andrew

 

With a 9800 (or hell a 9700) you should be able to run vice city at native resolution with everything on with no or little slowdown - We've got a 2.4 P4 with a Radeon 9200 SE 128 MB (all of $40) which runs Vice City with everything on and no slowdown.

Anyway - The 9100 could have 256MB, 128MB, and 64MB Cards - The 9200 only has the 128 - I wonder if it would work with a 256 card if you swapped them out.

Have
Dell Inspiron 2500, 800 Mhz P3, 312 MB Ram, 6.5 MB Onboard Graphics

Want
Dell 9200, 2.0 GHz, 1024 MB Ram, 128 MB Ati Mobility Radeon 9700 Graphics

 

I have a Inspiron 5150- I do a lot of gaming and will take any opertuinity to upgrade my my video card. I currently have a GeForce Go 5200 in it with 64 mb of ram. From reading the reviews i have figured out that you cannot upgrade the card untill dell comes out with one (if they ever do). I play a lot of counterstrike and it works great, however when i bought cs source my fps dropped from 100(cs)to 35(cs source). I was wondering what the benefits were with overclocking your video card. I am not familiar with the concept concering video cards. I would like to know how you over clock the card and if it would benefit me in my current situation.
Specs- 64mb geforce 5200
2.8ghz w/ht P4
768mb ram
40 gig HD
Windos xp home
Any help would be greatly appretiated Thanks-Phil-

 

Phil, hopefully Andrew (one of the other moderators) will reply. I don't know much about overclocking, other than that it can boost performance but you have to be careful as this can seriously overheat your card. Andrew knows more about overclocking then I do.

 

Hi,

Please help! I have a Dell 5150, 3.2P4-HT, 512RAM, FX5200 64MBm, XP PRO, 60GB HDD.

My problem is that when I play some strong d3d applications(games) my system is getting REALLY hot. And I get some slowing down in the games (Farcry, NFS Underground2, Fifa 2005, C&C Generals). Any idea how to make my system cooling ok? (I tried keeping him on some sticks to allow air to flow under it but with no luck... If it's cool, I can play very well those games. I dunno want to overclock it... Just to keep it cool. Neither disabling SpeedStep or Hyperthreading didn't helped.

Please reply!

Cos

 

Well doing those to shouldn't have helped... since Speedstep optimises battery performance and Hyperthreading just enables the computer to utilise all of the processors potential...

You could buy a laptop cooling pad to rest it on, also you could stick a vacumn cleaner to one of air vents and suck some of the dust out to improve airflow...

Have
Dell Inspiron 2500, 800 Mhz P3, 312 MB Ram, 6.5 MB Onboard Graphics

Want
Dell 9200, 2.0 GHz, 1024 MB Ram, 128 MB Ati Mobility Radeon 9700 Graphics

 

I specifically asked dell if the video card on 9200 could be replaced or swaped out and the answer was NO that the Video Card is permanently attached to the mother board.

 

Hi people,
I plan to get a laptop soon, and i hesitate between dell inspiron 9200 and dell 8600c.
The only thing that make me consider the 9200 is that the graphic card looks better (9700 instead of 9600 pro turbo).
Does anyone knows is there is a lot of differences (in term of performances) between this two graphic card, even if they are both in 128MB?
Considering that the dell 8600c is selling since a long time and already had an upgrade in graphic card, do you really thinks it will get another one (for a 256MB in few years maybe[ ]), so i will be able to upgrade it, or is dell more likely to launch a new laptop and to drop down the 8600c?
Anyway, i will take a 2GHz centrino and 1GO ram (in 9200 or 8600, that's the point[^]), if that can help you to answer me...
Thanks you

 

Well, I'm pretty certain Dell will not upgrade the video card in the 8600 especially with the release of the 9200.

The 9700 ATI card will perform better than the 9600 mainly because it supports newer graphical technology. However, that being said, I've had no problems with the 9600 playing newer games such as Doom 3.

I think Dell would be more likely to upgrade the Inspiron 9200's card than the 8600's.

Hope that helps.

 

Heyp,thank you that helps.
To evaluate differences in performance, what is the difference between 9600 pro turbo and 9700?(not huge i hope, if not i'll buy the 8600c)
I also heard that dell was unfamous because of the finition quality of its laptop, is it true? i mean , will my laptop last (i'll just take the 1 year guarantee, no money left for other one...)
Thank you

 

so what can i replace my 5150 with if i'm currently using a 64MB NVIDIA GEFORCE FX GO5200, I5150?? i want to upgrade badly - is this possible??

 

the previous posts were incorrect. the rendering technology behind the radeon 9600 and 9700 are identical.

"As with the change in the desktop space from RV350 to RV360 there are no functional differences between Mobility Radeon 9600's M10 chip to M11, hence there are no die differences for the most part, the primary difference is purely down to the process. M10 used TSMC's .13µ whereas M11 uses TSMC's .13µ low-k process which results in the die having lower thermal outputs at the same speeds as M10 or similar outputs at higher speeds."

source: http://www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/mr9700/

for information on what dell's are video upgradeable and to what product, check here:
http://www.bay-wolf.com/videoupgrade.htm

 

So, if I wanted to upgrade a 64MB GeForce FX5200 to an ATI 9600 128 MB in my Inspiron 8600, can I do it on my own?

What steps would I have to go through in order to upgrade my video card?

 

according to the site jherber listed the i9100 can be upgradd to a 9800. Is this also true of the i9200?

 

At this point, the best card avaiable for the Inspiron 9200 is the ATI 9700.

 

I have a Dell 5100 with a Raedon 7500 w/32MB. As far as I know, the only upgrade would be a 7500 w/64MB, right? If anyone knows of any better compatible cards, let me know.

Also, since the only upgrade I know of is one that doubles the video memory, does anyone have any experience with this? Will I actually notice a boost in performance? The main reason I want a better card is to play Star Wars KTOR, and the 7500 w/32MB does it with alot of chop and some things not rendering correctly even with detail and resolution and what not all turned way down. Does anyone know if the extra memory would help these problems?
Thanks

 

So you are saying that if I get my XPS I can change my MR 9700 for a
MR X800 without ruining the warranty?

Stalking dells refurbished iXPS's

 

no, you cant upgrade an xps to an x800 because the x800 is pci-express. What you could do, though, is upgrade to the MR9800, which is based on the desktop x800, but with some stuff taken out (like 8 of the pixel pipelines). If they come out with an agp MRx800 like in the desktop series, you can upgrade to that without ruining your warranty.

 

If you upgrade it on your own, that would void your warranty.

 

Well do you think dell will start shipping iXPS's with PCI-E's pretty soon?

Stalking dells refurbished iXPS's

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by JesseQ

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Ng Factor

 

Yes, you should be able to upgrade to the ati 9600 128mb with some modding. I installed the ati 9600 in my 8500 and it works great!

http://www.bay-wolf.com/8500video.htm





<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by avn06us

 

I have a dell inspiron 8600 with pentium m processor 1.6 2mgcache, ati 9600 radeon pro 128mb, 512mb ram, xp home, 60 gb ata HD, and anyway i was trying to play roller coaster tycoon but it crashes on load, im sure my video card needs updated. Where can i get the most current drivers?.......i really want to update them. You can not get them from ATI, and i do not know where dell has them. I am reluctant to trying omega's drivers. Help would be appreciated.

-CHriS-

 

I used the omega drivers on my 8600 and never had any problems. I was reluctant at first as well, but if you want more current drivers, that is the way to go.

 

i just downloaded them, and your right they do work well. I noticed DOOM running smoother, but the only thing is Roller coaster tycoon still does not run. It crashes right after launch. black screen and thats it. I do not do gaming much on computer though so im not sure what it could be. LOL, i went to school for networking. anyway, anymore help would be great, suggestions and what not.

-CHriS-

 

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to join in with the few still out there with Inspirons, i have a 5100. I have the 32MB Ati mobility radeon 7500. voiding my warranty is no longer an issue as I only bought it for two years.

from what I understand I can't do anything more than replace the 7500 32mb, with a 64mb one. so there's no hope for installing a 9000 or a 9800. Is this accurate?

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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Lighthammer5100