Need help/advice installing ATI x1400 from x1300 in Dell e1505

Hey guys, after a bunch of research and making the decision NOT to buy a whole new laptop just because my e1505 came with the x1300 GPU, I decided to spend $50 and buy a used (albeit clean, tested and working) x1400 from eBay with the hopes of maybe squeezing just an extra 10-15fps out of some of the newer games I play. Just couldn't bring myself to buy a new laptop yet considering I've got 4GB of RAM, a 7200 RPM HDD and a dual-core CPU.

So, has anyone ever done this before? I've never seen an actual guide on the forums, and the only thing I could find on the Web was a guide to installing the GPU on the e1705, which is totally different from the e1505 because the heat sink and card are a different shape, as well as the motherboard assembly.

Dell's support page offers a REALLY vague and simple instruction, with hardly any diagrams and only a few steps.

I know it's too much to ask someone to write a whole GUIDE to doing this, but can anyone who's either done it before--or someone who is familiar with tinkering around those areas inside the e1505--give me some tips?

Maybe some do's and dont's, aside from the obvious? For example, would it be a good idea to secure the GPU and heatsink (a long copper "arm") with thermal glue, even though it's just plug-in, and doesn't normally need it? Anything I need to watch out for while I'm inside that area of the laptop? Any downside to using compressed air to clean dust and grime from that layer, since I probably won't have that area exposed again?

I'm pretty competent when it comes to upgrading hardware, but this will be the first time I've ever opened up a laptop to the CPU layer. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks guys,

Josh

ps - I'm also going to replace the hinges/bevel/lid/back cover of the screen; basically everything except the LCD screen itself. Anyone know of any good guides to doing this, either on this board or somewhere else on the Web? I've done the Googling, just haven't found a really good step-by-step guide with pics.

 

I don't own the laptop but I'm sure I could help you out if you can post some pics on where you're stuck. What I needed to do to disassemble my laptop:
- take everything out from the bottom
- unscrew the bottom
- flip over, remove keyboard
- unconnect all components attached to the top of the MB
- remove top cover
- at MB, unscrew fan/heatsink and anything else holding the MB in the shell
- pull out MB, flip over, remove HS from CPU/GPU
- undo everything in reverse order

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when I give this a go tonight. If I do get stuck, I might take some pics like you recommended. Basically I just want to make sure there's no "noob" scenarios where I could permanently damage something by not knowing something vital in advance.

I know to make sure I'm grounded, and never to force anything--just looking for advice beyond common sense. Thanks!

 

i replaced the cpu quite recently and its not that hard to get down to the cpu/gpu layer, just take your time and you'll be fine , hardest part was getting the little clippy thing to plug the screen in back on, and that was only because it was quite fiddly for me.



i notice in your signature you've got 4gb installed in it, is that possible? i thought the 6400 could only take 2gb of ram

 

Eh, crap, I was afraid I'd have to disconnect the screen when doing this.

As for the RAM; nope it's possible to have 4GB. I have two 2GB sticks. Thing is, Windows XP/Vista 32-bit only recognize 3.33GB of that, so you kinda "lose" 667MB of RAM just because Windows can't "see" it. I don't know the specifics, I just know you either have to have an older version of Windows (2003 Server maybe?) or 64-bit to get the full use out of it.

But the e1505 will accept two 2GB sticks...Verified by both the OS and third-party benchmark/system info programs.