8510gz upgrade

I am planning to make an upgrade of my Gateway 8510gz system. I just want to know which Ati video cards are compatiable with my system. I am happy with my 66mb x700 but sometimes it is slow especially when playing world of warcraft.
In addition i think of upgrading the RAM to two units of 1gb. Is that appropriate and which type of RAM would be needed (all i know is that it needs 533DDR2 sodim-is that all that i need to know). The gateway website is not very helpful since 8510gz is a retail system.
Thanks!!

 

Two 1GB sticks of DDR2 533MHz for the RAM. That's pretty much all you need to know, other than good brands (i.e. Kingston, Crucial, Corsair).

You can't upgrade the video.

 

Yes, unfortunatley, you can't upgrade the video card.

Upgrading the RAM will definitley help - try to get a Gigabye or more....the max. amount for your notebook is 2GB. Installing the RAM in pairs (same size) will enable dual-channel mode, which will lead to increased performance.

Upgrading to a faster hard drive can also help your loading times, and boot up/shut down performance.

 

8510GZ has a 5400rpm hard disk, though. The faster hard drive upgrade isn't really worth it.

 

The last 5% is the most expensive. 7200s are expensive, but I would get one.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I have just one final question. Somewhere I saw that there are 8510gz with X700 with 128mb. can i upgrade the 64mb on to 128mb one. Maybe it sounds stupid since all of you said that it isnt possible but just to make sure that this particular upgrade cant be done.

 

Sorry but this information is wrong. The 8510GZ/GH has a user accessible MXM/Axiom slot.

 

For this particular notebook you can get a:
64 MB X700
128 MB X700
256 MB Go 6800

I am not sure if any std MXM/Axiom card will work but this is what Gateway offers.

I am trying to find a source for the cards.

 

I think I can answer your question since I have already complete your 'quest' (pun intented). To serve your purpose of WOW. adding 1GB of ram will help very much (which I did). Lag time at IF has reduced from 40s to about 5s at IF. I'm running at 1440x900 with 24bit and high detail on most stuff. Regrading the video upgrade, its possible to upgrade to 128mb x700 but the trouble and money to find and change one is not worth it. its not as easy as swapping a video card for a desktop. I find the quest item (pun intended again) at canadacomputers for $119CAD. definetly a good steal. anyway back to WOW

 

You can also get a Go 6800 256MB that fits in the slot. That would be a good upgrade if you could get a good deal on it.

 

Thanks wufai. I am not the best with identifying the benefits of one configuration to another but the IF lag time comparison is definitelly enough for me ). How anout the GO256MB it should be also a good upgrade as lewdwig suggested.

 

The notebook that i have (as seen in my sig) uses the same case as the 8510gz. Do you know if i would be able to upgrade my video card? I was able to find a 256mb 6800 go on ebay for $15 brandnew.


Now if it is possible to upgrade to the 6800 does anyone have a guide on how to do so?

 

There isn't much to it. My recommendation has always been, remove existing video driver software(if you added any ATI CCC, DH or Omega) and set it to a standard VGA adapter. Shut down. Open up bottom of notebook and remove original video card and replace with new(it's just a socket, plugs right in...there's a thread on here somewhere with reviews of the 8510 that has pictures of the video card in the notebook). Boot up, install drivers for new video card. Reboot.

That should be it.

Also...after you get yours, can you let me know where you found a go6800 for $15 on ebay? All I've found lately is go6800Ultras...which most agree won't fit due to the large heatsink necessary for it.

 

wait you mean they aren't the same card?

****

 

No. An Ultra is clocked higher. I think the original Dell 9300's came with regular 6800Go's. Maybe the XPS2, but I'm not sure. Then the Ultra was available...either as a replacement or an option...I have no idea. But either way, these are usually coming from those machines, as people upgrade to the 7800's. As I understand it, the Ultras have an upgraded heatsink/fan attached that takes up noticeably more space...and space is an issue for where our GPU resides. So, several have stated they don't see it fitting in there. I'm not 100% sure it's been confirmed...but that's what I've read from several individuals who've upgraded their GPU's. Some have also successfully used 256MB 6600G0's as well...but that's just a memory upgrade from the x700, and not any faster(slower for some stuff, in fact).

 

do you knwo where i could get a 128 x700 from?

 

Maybe Ebay or one of these forums? I don't know. Can't see a big performance increase from a 64MB x700 to a 128MB x700...so I wouldn't pay for it unless it was rediculously cheap, myself.

 

Great thread! I've been wanting to know this info myself. Questions: I was under the impression that as far as user-upgreadable video cards are concerned, Axiom technology was an ATI specification and MXM was a Nvidia specification.
1. If this is the case how can you insert a GeForce Go 6800 where a X700 used to be?

2. Finding one of these cards is liking trying to photograph Bigfoot. Does anybody out there have a website/url/thread where they have an Axiom/Mxm video card for sale? Or the Ebay search words that will produce the results?

Thanks, keep it up!

 

Axiom is ATI's spec, MXM is nvidia's...however they aren't excluding others from using either form factor...as that would make it more difficult for their socket of choice to become popular.

As has been posted, the 8510GZ uses an MXM socket. So MXM video cards would work, provided there's adequate power supply and space in the laptop for the card.