Easy to upgrade graphic card in an inspiron?

Hi,
This is my first post! yay!

This looks like a great community. I was looking at the dell inspiron e1505. I like everything about it, except that the graphic card is a radeon x1400 ( I am an occasional gamer). Is it possible to switch the radeon x1400 for a better card easily? If I plan to manually switch the card, I may just go for an integrated,and then upgrade myself. Is it possible?

I understand that the E1705 has a better graphics card
( the geforce Go 7900 GS)...but i think the 17 inch may be a hassle to carry around ( I am going to be a college student).

Thanks in advance

 

Please read the stickies before you post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=41454

 

o sorry, Im new. SO i guess thats a no.

My next main question is between the dell E1505 and e1705.

The E1505 only has a x1400 but the e1705 has the geforce go 7900 gs. Is the 7900 Gs much better?

Also with the 17inch screen, for those that have a 17 inch screen or an e1705, is it a pain to carry around?

Thanks again for helping this new guy!

 

We can help you find a better notebook if you like; there are a few good 15.4" gaming notebook options out there. In the What Should I Buy forum there is an FAQ you can fill out and we'll give you some recommendations.

Thanks for joining + registering on the forums

Chaz

 

thanks. I will start a new thread. You can close this thread. thanks a bunch

 

The Asus S86J (l think thats the model) is a 15.4" with the x1600 for a decent price, like $1300 with a good config.

 

Thanks. Ill look into that...

But the dell at around 1100 with duo 2 ghz and 2 gb ram...its hard to beat..only downside is the x1400 grrr Would half life 2 play on those specs with that graphics?

 

Half life 2 can play on just about anything, it isn't very demanding. That being said, I would look at the ASUS too, or spring for the 17". If you are gaming, I would avoid the x1400 unless you aren't into playing new games when they come out. As for getting the 2 gigs with the Dell, that's a waste anyway, save some money, buy from newegg and sell the old RAM

 

The Sony VAIO FE690 now has the NVidia GeForce Go 7600 card, which is comparable to the ATI X1600. It is a 15.4 inch notebook with an excellent screen. I will be purchasing it very soon, and I advise you to do so as well

 

thanks for your replies. Hmm it is either whether to get a 17 inch or 15 inch. I hear that the 17 inch will be a HUGE pain to lug around. Since the E1705 has the geforce go 9700 gs ( i think that is correct).

THe sony fe looks nice too.

I would consider myself an occasional -medium gamer.

hmm...maybe I should only get 1 gb of ram? Or how much? If I am going to put ram in myself...what brand, type should I look for, which is compatable with a dell system...a link would be helpful.

Should I go all out on hard drive and processor and gpu, and less on ram?

 

General rule of thumb, ALWAYS get as little RAM as possible. It's an easy upgrade, and much cheaper. You need 200 pin 667Mhz Sodimm. Probably your best bet right now is THIS

If you fall in the medium gamer category, I say stick with x1600 and up. If it helps, I carried my m170 to class with me 3 days a week last semester from one end of campus to the other (and michigan state's campus is pretty big). I had no issues, I just got a backpack for it. I also was in the Army for a couple years, so I am used to my rucksack, but I still don't think it is too bad.

But if it is too big for you, just pay the extra for a 15" with an x1600 or 7600 (but man do I hate Sony computers). You'll be happy you did

 

thanks sublime. That is so helpful! So If i get the least ram, say 512..is ther 2 dimms on the motherboard? What do i do with the 512 if i want to buy 2 dimms of 1 gig? Do all motherboards support DD2 667?

hmm the 17 inch may be hard to take notes everydar in class.

 

The laptop only has two RAM slots, so you would have to remove whatever Dell puts in there and replace it with your own. It is very easy to do, and saves a lot of money as sublime said.

 

thanks a bunch! If i upgrade my harddrive...i would have to reinstall windows right?

 

Yes, because the new drive would be blank.

 

What hard drive should I be looking at like brand and comptablitliy. (looking for a cheap 60 or 80 gb 7200 rpm drive.

thanks

 

I'm going to move this over to the Upgrades forum now since that is the bulk of what it is dealing with.

I'd recommend a Hitachi hard drive in a 7200RPM speed, very well made. I use one in my notebook.

 

thanks for moving it for me. How do i know if its for laptop or desktop..or are they all the same?

 

Dell Inspiron, Now, wouldnt be a good choice. Especially if you are a college student. You might want to stick with the level where you are, depending what you are doing in college. You might want to stick to the basics if you are majoring in something for language arts. In science and tech, find a better laptop wih a better card. If looking for a career in hisory or math. Stick with the Macs or more up to date inspirons, preferably xps. Just a tip.

 

Are inspiron that bad? I am going to be a biology major by the way.

 

No, they aren't. Dell gets a bad rap. They are the best bang for the buck, they are usually built out of cheaper materials though (usually plastic of course). They have the same thing inside them every other computer has though!!

As far as what HDD, laptop drives are 2.5", desktops are 3.5". So you would be looking at 2.5s. Also, many of the new computers use SATA drives, where many older ones do not. So you may have to pick a computer before deciding on a hard drive, but if you check out pricegrabber or newegg for 2.5" drives, you can at least get a general idea of what price range you are looking at

 

I'd agree that Inspirons aren't bad. The last one I used was sturdy and had a good cooling system. You cannot beat a Dell for the money. If you want a better built machine, check out the Dell Latitudes.

 

THanks for your replies. My only concern with dell is the graphics x1400. Everything else, especially the price I love about dell. I am actually really only an occasional gamer,like wc3, counter strike source, half life 2. I heard that x1400 will run vista..but dont know if x1400 would last me ~3-4 years.

I guess I may have to look at a more expensive asus or compal for a x1600.