Inspiron E1705 vs Nvidia 7950 GTX

Hey guys, I am very close to purchasing this laptop, probably towards the end of next month or beginning of december.

Now, I have looked at the XPS line of the m1710. It's nice, but a bit guady and overpriced for my tastes. Now, really the only difference it seems to me between the Inspirion E1705 and Xps M1710 is mostly packing colors and leds.

I would seriously doubt there are significant hardware differences.

Now, I am curious. If I were to buy a Inspirion E1705 with Intel Intergrated Chips. Could I pull that out and put in a Nvidia 7950 GTX? I mean I figure I being saving near 500-600 dollars going this route.

The Inspiron tops out at the 7900GS which is nice, but adds roughly 200 depending on the day and job costing distribution of their accountants. Total my configuration would cost just about an even 2000. 7900GS, bluetooh, 100 gig harddrive, creative audio, dvd burner, UXGA, and 3 yr warranty.

The XPS, however, will cost me 3000 just for a minimal of upgrades. The harddrive to 100 gigs and the videocard and bluetooth.

Now the Nvidia 7950GTX has gotten my attention because I'm running the 7900GT in my desktop.

Now my questions are.

Can it be upgraded without voiding the warranty?

Can I even purchase a mobile graphics card and where?

Or am I screwed and need to get the XPS? I mean I like the black armor ones, but all the colors and the overall gaudiness bothers me.

 

No you cannot put a 7950gtx on a e1705 with integrated graphics. The integrated and dedicated chips use different motherboards.


Other questions:

No you cannot upgrade without voiding warranty.

I believe you should be able to buy the card from dell, but it will probably be hard to find and also >1000 USD.

Your best option is to get the xps if you NEED the 7950. Odds are that you will not need the card. The 7900 gs is plenty strong for most applications and games.

If you want to try it, be sure to buy an e1705 with dedicated graphics, at least get the x1400.

I have heard of people putting the 7900gtx in an e1705 and having it work. It obviously is not for the faint of heart.

Hope this helps

Cheers

 

Different chipset in M1710 to the Inspiron 9400/E1705.

 

Have you seen the Sager NP5760? You can get a very nicely configured one for much less than the XPS M1710.

I wouldn't recommend buying an e1705 and then trying to change the GPU yourself. Besides for the warranty issues, keep in mind that the e1705 is not designed for such a powerful GPU as the go7950GTX. There may be some unforeseeable problems lurking there. The go 7900 GS is a very capable and power-efficient GPU in itself.

 

It can be. If you get the GMA950 integrated graphics card with the i9400/E1705, then it will come with the Intel i945GM chipset. However, if you opt for one of the dedicated cards (X1400, Go7900GS), then the motherboard will have the i945PM chipset, which is the same one as in the XPS M1710.

I second the comments about the Sager NP5760.

 

Sager has the most raw power for the price. And unless you are deadset on the dell, then definitely give it a look. Its one of the only other models available with the 7950GTX, aside from boutique gaming stores, and they normally use the 5760 and rebrand it anyways.