Dell Mix Up - 7900!

Hi, new to this forum but have been a dedicated reader!
A few days ago i asked dell for a replacement ATI Mobility Radeon x1400 as i sorta busted my other one (but lets not tell them about this ) they agreed and sent one in the post, today i got a graphics card but it was not that one - it was a 256MB DDR3 nVidia GeForce Go 7900, i'm like wow! lol but the question is could this go inside my Inspiron 6400 - i have heard about heat and power issues but if it is only slightly then it is fine!
Any feedback would be great as i can get a dell engineer to come out in the next few days to do it for me as he did help so kindly last time and even was telling me this great stuff on how to sue dell lol!
Thanks and help me out with my predicament hehe,
Der...

 

The 7900 is not engineered to fit in a laptop that small, and my guess is that it will not work. If it does work, prepare for your laptop to roast...it cannot handle the cooling requirements.

 

ok, thanks for the reply - when u say roast do u mean roast roast?! is the
x1400 the top end for this model then or do any of these dell supplied graphics cards http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/learnmore/learnmore.aspx/gfx_cards_notebook?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&~lt=popup&ref=CFG work inside my 6400? not the 7300 as i have already had that and it is absolutely terrible!
Thanks again.

 

its probably not offered for your model for a reason, either too small, too powerful or too hot. think the X1400 is your only option here, you could still try the 7900 but who knows what will happen!

 

lol ye well i do want to try it but then again i don't.
i want to play high spec end games
but
i dont want the thing to blow up in my face
would be a first as i havent seen another forum or website that mensions it!
If it doesnt work then what do i do with the 7900 den!?
Thanks all for your help.

 

a) Contact Dell
b) Explain they've ballsed up
c) Tell them this has caused you unnecessary distress and delay in your laptop experience

Do not walk away without a freebie or discount

 

elo LFC, o i have lol i only have had the laptop for a month and have had 2 geforce go 7300's, 1 mobility radeon x1400 , 1 Core 2 Duo T7400 Processor upgraded from the budget T5300 and an £80 refund. overall very happy with my whining and excessive nagging with dell
But then again i do need a bigger hard disk hehe!!!

 

Man, I think you r overdoing it a bit here. Why the heck will you get that many parts changed? Might as while get a laptop replacement. But, hey if you can get a freebie, y not? BTW you got to teach to how to whine for more spare parts!!!!

 

You say you've had this laptop for a month now, so why dont you give back your Inspiron 6400 and pay a little more for a Dell Inspiron 9400? You can get the very basic one with only an addition of 2GBs of ram, then you can fit the Geforce Go 7900 you already have inside it (since the 9400 can be customized with a GeForce Go 7900 GS as an option).

 

Just put it in. if it breaks then phone dell and say your not computer savy and didn't relise it wasn't the card you asked for, therefor they would be responsible for sending you the wrong card and would have to replace your laptop.

 

StevenJ:
Yeh, i think i am overdoing it a little bit, all the stuff requested except for the realy gd processor are in my draw at the mo so its not all in use! quite simple to moan really, best trick i use is tell them to take my laptop back or somthing with legal action gets them going!
Cheeseman:
Thanks for the word but i dont like the 9400 the 17" screen is too big for a laptop in my opinion and for portablility.
Skawtish:
This is true lol and i did not think of tht!

The main thing that i am asking is if the connections are the same, on the 9400 the x1400 is offered just like the 6400 specs so if that fits in both laptops do you think that the 7900 would fit into the 6400?
Also i need clarification on this heat issue, how hot would it get?!
Thanks everyone

 

The 7900 will not work in the 6400, I seriously doubt you could physically install it, and if you could, you would have to create a custom bios for it as it is not supportted by the 6400, then as stated, the chasis and cooling solutions are not remotely adequate for that card, with all those parts in your drawer, are they not expecting you to return the parts your replacing?

 

Thanks ice, looks like ill be selling everything i got then .
No they have not asked for anything back, mite request a new hdd too 120gb not enough, its great u just say can i have -this- and then they say well if its not on your original order form then it cannot be requested - then i get an order confirmation form lol and its on its way!
Thanks again.

 

by the way, i also got an odd email a few days ago about a dell order -it apparently says im getting another inspiron 6400 and that it is coming soon with a new order number and everything, i am keeping track of it at the momment and its in production- what is this all about lol, is it a dell **** up?
Heres a snip of the email:

 

Just a warning though if they realize they sent you the wrong thing and you kept it they will charge you for it. If they sent you replacment parts you are supposed to return the old ones you have. They will start calling you after a month or so if they havent got the parts. The first part is an if, though I dont see how you can use the 7900 when you have to take out you existing one to mail it back. The second one is a sure thing. Iv never heard of Dell giving free parts away. Replacements that are upgrades yes, but the old stuff always goes back. Whining for upgrades is an old trick in the book with Dell, Iv never liked Dell so I dont care if people try to screw with them. Dell is not as stupid as you think however, if you check your Dell account they keep track of each order, most of the times it shows a balance. If your balance is > 0 then you will be paying it in the end. If you sold the stuff you are a little screwed since they charge you their crazy prices for what you sold for probably a fraction of that.

 

In my experience they put a hold on my card for the amount of the part/replacement machine, and it wasnt lifted until they received the parts that were being replaced, its usally around a 30 day window, and if they dont get it, they simply charge it to the card. you "might" get away with it once, but theres no way you'll do it multiple times over.

 

Yeah, I would just install the parts you got upgraded and send the rest back. Not worth the trouble to hope that you will get lucky since you wont. Dont get too greedy it might bite you back in the ass. You still go alot more than what you had in the beginning so be happy with what you got.

 

thanks for all your replys and warnings but i am sure i am fine as i have requested all these items as replacements as if they were broken in my new laptop, they have to give it to me as it is under warranty and has a 3 year gaurantee thingy me bob tht i purchased with it. I suppose i will have to wait and see what happens, maybe some whining will sort this new issue lol

 

Even if it is broken they want it back. Why? Because they know some people abuse the warranties. Anyway if you really want to do it go ahead. I dont think it is worth it for the extra $$ to keep this stuff. First it is not honest to say that your stuff broke when it didnt. Second of all they will call you like once a day when it gets to like 2 months. Hardly worth the time and trouble.

 

ok thanks for the warning. Well they havnt told me to send anything back so shud i wait and see what they say, contact them or just send it back?

 

Just send it back. They should be giving you return packaging material with the new parts. To be honest, it's quite unethical to be claiming broken parts that aren't really broken, but take your luck where you can get it and don't push it. If it's not a bad part, they'll likely just put it back in circulation, stick it back on a refurbished laptop, or sell it in spare parts.

As to the original topic, the 7900 will not go into the 6400. Fitting it in there is less than half the battle; you'll then having to apply tons of cooling paste, find something to do with the heatsink, and then figure out how to make up for the difference in power and heat. Then you'll most likely need a bigger power supply, a hacked BIOS, and then an act of God to keep it from blowing up. If you wanted a gaming laptop, you shouldn't have gone with the 6400.

 

ah don't want no blowin up! they didnt provide me with any return material, it was just sent in a box well packaged with an order slip, no return package, addresses or anything? i'll wait and see what is said by them, i am in close contact with a very helpful customer service person and she has been great and she may help me. Thanks everyone for supplying me with feedback, criticism and great advice. All very much appreciated!!!

 

As stated, check your card account, they wont just send you stuff without someway of compensating themselves when the original component is not returned. If they dont have access to a valid credit account, or there are insufficient funds in the account, they would make you send the unit to them, then they would change out the parts then ship it back to you. If it is a defective part, they will send it back and get reimbursed by the company they originally bought it from, if there is nothing wrong with it they will reuse it. Dell is a "system" builder, they dont manufacture their components, they buy the components from various sources then assemble them, if a part is bad, they do the same thing you would do, either get a replacement or get their money back.

 

ok then great thanks for the advice!

 

They do not send you shipping slips!!!!!!! After I got my replacement (My computer was seriously crippled) I had to call dell to request UPS label (email; you print it out urself) to send back the old parts!!! After one week of keeping the new parts (backing up my info, and zero filling the hardrive) dell starting calling once every few days. The only part I was allowed to keep is a broken multidrive (the tech support guy can hear how much noise that was making over the phone!!! ), so I really cannot use it, but still pretty cool to open it up and mess with the motor. So in conclusion, send back ur replacement parts. I would rather haggle when purchasing the notebook, then complain after for free parts.

 

exactly my thoughts.

 

http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=31&page=1
Go to this link. It shows how to put a NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800GTX 256MB graphics card into a 15.4" laptop like you have. It will require some computer skills, but the reward is great.

You pretty much have to just take off the heatsinks, and swap them. Then put your new 7900 into your laptop. Install the drivers, underclock it for heat concerns, test, and you have a 15.4" gaming BEAST!

The 7900 is five times better than the x1400 even though it is underclocked. Think about doing it.

If you mess up, you can always say that you tried to install the card they sent you, and messed up your laptop. No lie either

 

Do not do it.

It might fit but the video bios wont recognize it.

 

Ok, I actually want to try this now. According to the LaptopLogic article, it actually seems pretty doable. The Go7900GS uses less power than the Go7800GTX monster that they used, and overall the laptop should be more powerful because of the dual core processor. Power supply probably will not be an issue (battery life will be way down though), and the BIOS may or may not be a relatively minor problem. Cooling though, is a major issue, so underclock the card highly, and get AS5 to make it cooler.

Practical? No. Really freaking awesome and geeky? Yes. Like I said, I may try it over the summer if I get some money.

 

It might depend on what warranty you have. I have the complete care warranty (a free upgrade) and they sent me everything I needed to return a faulty battery. I don't even have to leave my house, I call the courier company and they come pick the package up.

My recent support experience means (among other reasons) that I'll likely buy Dell again.

 

No, I also have the complete warranty for three years, but didn't get anything until i asked for it. Then I received an email with ups label which I could arrange for pick up or just drop it off.

 

That is step number 5
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=31&page=5

Is it hard and crazy? Yes. Is it do able and amazing? Yes.
You could do this if you wanted to. There are a lot of places you could mess up, but I think it would be worth it. To each his own.

 

OMG u should really try it. I mean, what do you have to lose? If you succeed, then u are giving hope to all the 6400 owners out there .

 

I looked at both vid cards pulled from the 6400 and 9400, and also at the respective service manuals. The sizes of the graphics cards, even the X1400 are quite different for the two, with the E1705 having a much bigger card. The E1705 graphics cards have 4 screws, the E1505s cards have 2. It might work, I am not sure of this though.

The size is the main obstacle here. If the card fits, the rest should be pretty simple. If you notice in the LL article, the Quadro from the M70 that they used is the same size as the Go7800 GTX, which is the same size as all of the E1705s graphics cards.