fyi: Dell 6400/e1505 now available with dedicated video

Yep, now that the coupons have expired dell releases dedicated video optioons for the 6400 and e1505... thus making those who want dedicated video pay more, and irritating those who bought one with integrated video just a few days ago.

In any case... you can now get them with ATI x1300 video or x1400 video. Of course the introduction of the x1300 for $100 lets them boost the price of the x1400 from $130 to $179 on both the 15" and 17" models... but hey, its dell if you dont like the prices wait til tomorrow.

 

Great thanks for sharing. I checked this yesterday and there were still integrated graphics.

 

I just ordered a system last Friday. I have a dumb question, can you add the video card at a later date, like you can on a desktop?

 

You can switch for video cards offered on that model. So in turn the E1505 can only have the x1400 right now. Some people on other forums are experimenting with the 7800Go in the E1505, but don't think it will fit, or will need some mods.

 

No, you cant , if you ordered with integragated video card.

But you can call to DELL and cancel your order before they shipped, and reorder with the dedicated video card.

 

Which would be an extremely smart thing to do for another $100 (price of the video card).

 

Hey, what do you know! I was just looking at the e1505 notebook, but decided I didn't like it because of the lack of a dedicated video card.

A quick question if you guys don't mind:

At the Dell site it says X1300 with Hypermemory and the X1400 with Hypermemory, does this mean that these cards also eat up system memory like the integrated graphics? Wouldn't that make it only marginally better than the GMA 950? I'm relatively new to notebook shopping and am having a hard time getting a straight answer.

Thanks for the update!

 

No - both the X1300 and the X1400 have their own dedicated memory that they use in conjunction with the Hypermemory, which does borrow system RAM and adds it to the GPU's. You can of course, shut off the hypermemory feature if you don't need it.

 

Hey all, do you think that those cards would work with the i6000 with a BIOS hack...however you would accomplish that....

 

Possibly - the E1505 is virtually identical to the I6000 except for the CPU and GPU - you might have to do some internal modifications to make the newer GPUs fit however. This is of course assuming you have the X300 in your notebook - if you've got the GMA 900, you won't be able to make the upgrade.

 

cancelled my 1505 order (in production) and reordered another with 128mb video card, just 100 bucks. but 2wk shipping delay.

 

Thanks a lot, xAMDvsIntelx, I was having trouble getting somebody to give me a straight answer on that. First day on the forums and I'm already loving it.

Thanks

 

is there a huge difference between the 128mb video card and the 256 video card... i would rather buy an extra battery than the 256 if there isn't a huge difference.

 

Huge? I don't know about huge...

The difference is big. I mean games will run much better on the x1400. Definitely worth the extra $80 or w/e it costs.

But if you are not going to be playing games, you wont notice a difference in performance between the two.

 

yeah i'm not sure... i'm wondering now if i should get the 256 card the 9 cell as an additional battery and lower the processor from 1.83 to 1.66... with all of my discounts it will be 1279 instead of 1380. do you think 100 is worth the processor difference?

 

thanks AMDvsIntel! That is what I was thinking too. Do you have any idea what the best way to go about finding out for sure if I could do that? I am not worried about voiding a warranty or anything. Should I just contact a Dell rep? Thanks for the help. Oh, and yes, i do have the x300...otherwise i would kiss the thought of upgrading goodbye...lol

 

Thats what I would do. If you are limited on money I dont think its ever worth it to go for the better processor . The difference isn't really noticeable, and the upgrade should really only be $50. Not 100.

 

Hi, newbie here...

I'm just about to go ahead and order a 6400 Inspiron, except I'm in Mexico and some models are different. Here, the 6400 comes with an integrated intel media accelerator 950 card (or so the description says), which you can't upgrade to anything else. I truly don't know much about notebooks, but from the looks of this thread, I'm guessing that's a really bad thing? I don't really play a lot of games, except for maybe some Sims, but I would like to use the computer to edit video.

Should I just start looking for a different computer where I can get a dedicated video card? How good does the card have to be?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

The option to add a dedicated video card to the dell inspiron 6400 was added just a couple of days ago and it's only in USA and Canada right now.. so I hope it be just a matter of time to see the dedicated card as an option for the i6400 in the rest of the world.

PD: If you really want to edit video and play somes you shouldn't buy the Intel video card. Wait for the dedicated video card or just get another notebook with a better integrated video than the intel one

 

Thank you for your reply!

I just looked around, and the only dell computer you can get a dedicated card for is the 9400. That would be fine by me, except 17" is way too big for me.

So I guess I'll just have to wait!

Thanks again!