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    Putting a Geforce Go 7800 GTX in a Dell Inspiron 9400

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by ZeonStar, Mar 21, 2015.

  1. ZeonStar

    ZeonStar Notebook Consultant

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    Hey all,

    I haven't posted in a very long time. I need some laptop help and thought I would come here. I hope I have this posted in the right forum.

    So here is the deal. I have Dell Inspiron 9400 (Please note it's a 9400 and not a e1705 or any other variation.) It originally came with a nVidia Geforce Go 7800, of which I have had replaced several times by Dell back when it was in warranty. I've had a lot of trouble with the card and it being reliable. I've even baked the card to fix it, which it did work for awhile. Eventually I replaced the Card with the less powerful (But less problematic) ATI x1400. No issues since, except the card is just so noticeably slower.

    Recently I was online and discovered that Geforce Go 7800 GTX new are quite cheap. I did my research, or so I thought, and all signs pointed to it fitting into the 9400. I was aware it had a second heatsink and that I would need to break off some tabs on the left side of the laptop to accomodate the second pipe/heatsink. So no problem there.

    The unforseen issue I ran into is there is a screw post on the right side that the old 7800 (and x1400) have a notch for it to pass through, where as the 7800 GTX does not. The post is for the screw that holds the right side of the keyboard down.

    Basically I want to know if I can just remove the post and do without it? It's the only thing keeping this card from going in my laptop at this point. Has anyone tried to put this exact video card in this exact model laptop like I am doing? And if so, were you successful?

    Thanks for your input.
     
    ZeonStar, Mar 21, 2015
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  2. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    its been some time since I worked on a 9400 but I seem to recall that removing the post was not an issue
     
    dave-p, Mar 23, 2015
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  3. ZeonStar

    ZeonStar Notebook Consultant

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    I ended up not using it. On top of the screw post thing, another issue I discovered is the right heatsink wouldn't of fit, as it is a lot thicker than the other video card's heatsink and so it would not even fit alongside the fan. I would have to remove the right cooling fan for it to fit which does not sound like a good idea.
     
    ZeonStar, Mar 24, 2015
    #3