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    The £500 question

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Braam, Nov 7, 2007.

  1. Braam

    Braam Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am about to buy a dell XPS M1730 (it seems to have at least equal gaming performance to the Alienware m9750 and is slightly cheaper). However, I was hoping for some advice on whether to upgrade the graphics card.

    The default system is:

    CPU: T7500 (2.20 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB)
    GRAPHICS CARD: Dual 8700M GTs (SLI)
    MEMORY: 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
    OPERATING SYSTEM: Vista Home Premium
    LCD: 17.0 WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT
    HARD DRIVE: 200GB (7200RPM) SATA
    OTHER CARDS: Ageia PhysX Card
    HARDWARE SUPPORT: 1 Year Hardware Support
    PRICE: 1749 pounds
    3D MARK SCORE (notebookreview): 8019

    Upgrading the processor to the X7900 (2.80 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB) will cost £530 (yes, it stings). I will only consider it if it makes a significant improvement in actual gaming performance.

    Should I upgrade?
     
    Braam, Nov 7, 2007
    #1
  2. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    £530? No way. It won't make a siginificant enough increase for that amount of money. £150 maybe. What the X7900 WILL do is cook your laptop like a piece of steak.

    I'd advise strongly against it.
     
    moon angel, Nov 7, 2007
    #2
  3. Braam

    Braam Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks, couldn't be more clear than that!

    Those upselling bad boys...
     
    Braam, Nov 7, 2007
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  4. Apollo13

    Apollo13 100% 16:10 Screens

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    I second that. That's an insane price. The price to buy one a la carte should be no more than £450. And the T7500 costs about £125. So there's at least £200 of Dell profit in there. Even if it was £330, about break-even for Dell, I'd advise against it.
     
    Apollo13, Nov 7, 2007
    #4
  5. KnightUnit

    KnightUnit Notebook Evangelist

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    Your always be paying the top prices for the latest technology. In these kinda cases best to wait a couple of months
     
    KnightUnit, Nov 8, 2007
    #5
  6. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    Are you taling about graphics cards - Nvidia Geforce go 7950GTX etc. or Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 CPU?


    Either way it's not worth the money in the slightest.
     
    moon angel, Nov 8, 2007
    #6