Upgrading a Dell Vostro 1700

Hi, I was thinking about upgrading my dell vostro 1700, and I have a few questions. I would like to upgrade CPU and GPU (the gpu of this notebook is upgradeable).

Now, I would like to know how I can tell which GPU is compatible, and where I could buy one, since upgrading laptop gpu's is quite rare.

Also, I would like to know how I can check the compatibility of a CPU with my motherboard?.

And for bonus, is it possible upgrading the ram from DDR2 to DDR3, or won't it be supported by the motherboard, and would it make a significant difference?

Thanks

 

All i can say is that upgrading your ram won't give you any performance boost. And if you DDR2 now you most probably don't have any DDR3-slots.

Once and for all. Faster ram won't give any performance boost at all. More amount of ram can be good when multitasking, only because there is more ram to utilize.


What's the spec of you're notebook, i'm too lazy to google what CPU, GPU and chipset you have

 

That would be

Cpu: Intel Core2 Duo T7300 2.0Ghz
Gpu: Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT
RAM: 4GB

I know these are already pretty high, but I need a lot of power for some of my applications.
The prices doesn't matter, unless it would be better to buy a new laptop.

 

4GB ram is enough

That CPU could get better, i'll let someone else throw in a hand of help for you on what's available, all i can say is that your notebook uses the intel 965 chipset. So you can have a penryn CPU, that's all i know.

The GPU is nice though not high-end, but very good anyways! (if it is a GDDR3-version and not GDDR2, if it is GDDR2 then it's slow and you should consider buying a new notebook).

What applications are you reffering too?

Have you upgraded your harddrive yet? That does alot for the feel of your computer and makes things snappier with a faster one. So i'd say that's one good upgrade to do atleast.

 

If you want to upgrade I think lazy Michel's idea is a good for you to upgrade the hard drive. You could get an SSD or a 7200RPM hard drive. However you might already have a 7200RPM hard drive so the next up would be an SSD.

Also upgrading the CPU to a T9300 would give you a significant boost in performance.
BTW The Vostro 1700 is still on dells business line so it isn't that old.

 

How could I check the GDDR-version? Are you ssaying thath if it's a GDDR2 I could not replace it by a GDDR3 GPU?

My harddrive (which has not been upgraded) already is 7200rpm drive.

I do a lot of work on this laptop as well as gaming.
Applications include Artificial Intelligence research, (hence the need for CPU power), software development, graphics design...

Edit: would an Intel® Core™2 Extreme quad-core mobile processor (QX9300) be compatible? I see it uses intel 965...

I'm a noob when it comes to hardware

 

Download CPUID
That should give you plenty of info on your entire computer including the graphics

EDIT: That CPU is really expensive($1K) and I'd recommend getting a new computer instead of that.

 

Hehe i'm only lazy cause the last two days i've had 40-41C degrees celsius(about 105C farenheit) fewer I took your reply with a twinkle in one's eye so to say (check your user cp )


And yeah, listen to erwallie, 1k$ is really not worth it, shouldn't matter even if your notebook is new and cost twice that! Then you should really get a new notebook to match the specifications

 

CPUID only finds the ddr types of RAM (which is DDR2)

I can get it for around 600 euro. I'm just gathering information now, The upgrade will probably not be this month or the next, so I guess the price will have lowered by then.
It's because I already have 4Gb's RAM, a WUXGA 1920x1200 screen, and my 2 7200rpm harddrives that I find it a bit unnessecairy to just buy a new notebook, and having to pay for those again..

 

600€ is almost like 1000$, it's not even worth anything near that to be honest. But if you're made of money and want to waste it, go ahead

 

oooh thanks Michel

Sir. G look up your express service code at dell.com
That will show you the components of your laptop.

 

I wasn't planning on buying that cpu if it hasn't dropped it's price when I'm going to do the upgrade.

I'll look it up tomorrow erwallie, it's getting pretty late over here.

 

in short :
The only upgradable part in that notebook is the CPU.
GPU is maxed out for that model; there are no better options out there that will fit.
RAM is also maxed out at 4GB DDR2, DDR3 is not compatible.
Depending on what type of programs you run, a CPU upgrade can have little or noticeable improvement.
QX9300 is NOT compatible.

 

The Vostro 1700 is actually the black version of the Inspiron 1720. I strongly believe it uses the same BIOS A09 and GM965 chipset.

The 8600M GT in the Inspiron 1720/Vostro 1700 uses a DDR2. Which you can't upgrade any further because it uses a proprietary slot designed by Dell, though upgradeable from 8400M GS to 8600M GT - maximum. It's highly overclockable however. I get about 65*C max. It can play most games at medium settings and because of its 128bit bus width constraint its best played at a 1280x800 resolution for a balanced framerate:quality ratio.

If that's the case, the things you can max out are alot. I would highly suggest the 2.5GHz T9300 processor. Runs very cool in your 1700 definitely, especially if you undervolt it further.

RAM wise, 4GB is enough; unless if you're doing photoshopping work and dealing with alot alot (Yes I mean 10,000+) of layers, big huge 300dpi A0 poster size architectural renderings like I do, and yes, not to mention VMWare workstation, you're looking at 6GB-8GB RAM minimum. For your needs, 4GB is ideal already.

RAM doesn't max out at 4GB for the 1700/1720 models. See my sig.

Harddrives like the others have mentioned, SSDs are great. But if you need alot of space and don't want to spend any further, Dual 320GB 7200rpm drives are all you need. 500GB 7200rpm drives are around the corner if you want to wait for them.

Hope that helps.

I've modded my Inspiron 1720 quite alot.

PS, does your 1700 have RAID support?

 

I was quoting DELL owner's manual, but since you have upgraded, looks like DELL is wrong, again !

 

I don't think raid is supported. I didn't see it in the options when I bought this 2 years ago. It isn't enabled, that's for sure.

If my options of upgrading are that limited I will buy a new notebook within six months.

Thanks for the info.