dell spouting baloney?

HI there,

I am a complete newbie, so please quell your wrath at my question. I've recently been on the phone to a Dell sales rep who, whilst trying to flog me a high spec xps m1530 assured me that the already somewhat dated nvidia geforce 8600m COULD be removed and upgraded to, for example, the 9600m. So please clear this up ... Is Clement from Bombay spouting baloney, or would this genuinely be an option?

Thanks in advance for all your advice and forbearance

 

No, it can not happen.

 

I would guess probably not. Even if you could do it, it would not likely be a big enough leap to merit the trouble or expense.

 

Yes... Dell sales people are full of crap.

I called them once looking to purchase a Latitude E4300, and somehow the sales rep started trying to sell me a XPS M1330 claiming it had Centrino 2 chipset/processor/wireless. >_>

What a load of crap.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say that Dell sales people in general are full of crap, just the people over in India that we always get to talk to are. And by talk, I mean decypher "english".

 

And no, notebook video is normally non-upgradable.

 

if it is offered by dell then yes, it is upgradeable.

if the 1530 offers the 8400gs, 8600mgt, and the 8600m GS, you could i guess "upgrade" or inter-change between them all, because dell has its own form of MXM so it can just swap cards in and out if they are offered at the time.

If the 9600m GT is offered now, it actually might be able to be swapped, but i suggest against it because there will be little performance increases.

 

Why would this upgrade offer so little in terms of performance increase?

Also, would an 8600m GT be able to run CoD or an RTS like the new Total War efficiently at good settings?

 

Most if not all GPUs are soldered to the Mobo aren't they? I know they are for the Thinkpads. The only ones I know that are removable are the white box models you build yourself. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

I know for a fact the M1330' 8400m gs chip is soldered to the motherboard--that's the reason a whole motherboard swap is required if the GPU fails.

The M1530 is probably the same way.

 

Well, most are soldered to the MB, it's really only the high end models with dedicated graphics that can possibly be upgraded. ie. no Intel GM can be upgraded but some models like AW have GPU's that can be swapped.

 

Talk to different reps, it's not upgradeable - that one guy doesn't know what he's talking about (unless everyone else is incorrect). The 9600M GT isn't a huge increase but there is a noticeable increase over the 8600M GT, assuming same memory type (GDDR3). 25MHz faster core, 300MHz faster shader, 100MHz faster memory, 65nm process (vs. 80nm)...

 

...and less likely to kill itself while in use. Don't forget that.

I used to want a XPS M1330... but when I heard about the epic GPU fail, I'm glad in retrospect that I never bought one.

 

1- upgrading the graphics card in a notebook is 99.9% impossible...and even if it were, it would completely void the warranty!

2- In my experience, Dell reps are morons! I'm a fan of Dell products and just bought a new Studio 15, but I've had several sales reps argue with me about specifications that were listed on their own website!

3- I may be wrong, but I don't think the nVIDIA GeForce 9000-series is even compatible with the Intel 965PM chipset in the XPS M1530. If it is, I'd love to know why the hell the 9600M GT wasn't added to the XPS option list long ago!!!

Long story short- if you like the XPS M1530 and the 8600M GT has enough power for you, here are the best deals at the moment-

*All three share the following specs- 2.1GHz Intel T8100, 256mb nVIDIA 8600M GT, 6-cell Battery, Fingerprint Reader & 2.0mp Webcam. The other specific (varying) specs are noted for each one-

XPS M1530 - $1099 (after $424 instant discount)- Vista Home Premium 32-bit, WXGA+ (1440x900) LCD, 3GB RAM, 320GB 5400rpm HD, DVD RW, Intel 4965AGN wireless card, 2-year Warranty, 36mos McAfee Security- http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&kc=6F967&oc=dypchy1&x=9&y=9

XPS M1530 - $1324 (after $599 instant discount)- FREE Magellan 1400 GPS unit, Vista Home Premium 64-bit, WXGA+ (1440x900) LCD, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400rpm HD, Blu-Ray Drive, Dell 1395-G wireless card, 2-year Warranty, LoJack for Laptops, 15mos McAfee Security (or Trend Micro or Norton). http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&kc=6F967&oc=dypchy4&x=9&y=9

or XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED- $1089 (after $324 instant discount)- Vista Home Premium 64-bit, WXGA (1280x800) LCD, 3GB RAM, 500GB 5400rpm HD, DVD RW, Dell 1395-G wireless card, 1-year Warranty, 36mos McAfee Security. http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&kc=6F967&oc=DYPCHY3&x=0&y=0

If the 8600M GT doesn't make the cut, I'd suggest taking a look at the ASUS N80 and N50 models at NewEgg.com. They have the nVIDIA 9650M GT graphics card (it's a 9600M GT with a slightly faster core speed and shader speed)- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=32&Description=&Type=&N=2004940032&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PropertyCodeValue=398%3A6691&PropertyCodeValue=398%3A6694&PropertyCodeValue=402%3A44056

 

they are not full of crap. they DEFINE crap. I had their tech rep Lying in my face when I was dealing with the marketing error they made on my vostro.

 

The XPS1530 does not have a removable graphics card. Their are two options the 8400mGS and the 8600mGT. The nVidia 8400mGS is a low range card which is a step above Intel integrated solutions, and the nVidia 8600mGT is a decent midrange nVidia GPU's.
A 9600mGt upgrade is more than likely plausible, but I have not seen Dell ever sell one with a 9600mGT.
On a lot of other platforms, like the ASUS C90, you can upgrade from a 8600mGT to a 9600mGT.
However Dell never offered a 9600mGT for the XPS1530, so upgraing to a 9600mGT is most likely possible.

Apparently the XPS1530 has a dedicated graphics card which is integrated into the motherboard. SO the 8600mGT is soldered directly to the motherboard.
You can see it in this image:


The graphics card is the nvidia chipset below the pink cpu socket.

K-TRON

 

I thought the XPS 1530 had a soldered-on GPU? At least that was the answer I got when I asked the Dell XPS forum if it would be possible to put an XPS 8600M GT in a 1520 - that it wouldn't be because the XPS ones are soldered on and thus not removable to put in another laptop. At any rate, the question of whether the XPS 1530 GPU is replacable is best asked in the Dell XPS subforum; I'd suggest asking there as they're the most likely to actually know, owning the machines and all.

The Inspiron 1520/1720/Vostro 1500/1700 do have removable GPU's - I know someone who has replaced his GPU in one of those.

Even if it is not soldered on, the 9600M GT would have to have a connection that's compatible with Dell's interface on the 1530. And as Dell's never offered a 9600M GT on the 1530 (nor any other notebook that I know of), I very much doubt you'd be able to upgrade to it - you can't use just any old eBay 9600M GT on a Dell notebook.

 

Why do you think that when your gpu dies they replace your whole system board?

 

I stand corrected, sorry guys

That really sucks that the graphics card is integrated. I would have instantly though an 8600mGT was a separate card

K-TRON