inspiron 8200

hi, i wanted to know what is the highest upgrades avaible for this model......thanks for any help...btw, i have the g2 go in now with 512mgs of system memory.....i also have a 100gb hard drive....1.8 proc

so i guess what i want is the best video graphic upgrade i could do ....and the most system memory[can i put 2 gigs instead of 1 in..???]....and best proc i can put in

 

Having owned an Inspiron 8200 for 3 years myself, let me see if I can help you out.

The Inspiron 8200 shares the basic same chassis/motherboard as the Latitude C840 and the Precision M50. Therefore, parts for those would technically work as well.

Processor:
It bascially supports the Intel Mobile Pentium 4 Processor-M upto 2.60GHz on a 400MHz Front Side Bus with 512KB L2 Cache. (TDP is 35W)

However, finding one of these to upgrade to these days are rather difficult, as Intel didn't ship too many of those to begin with (it was a rather short-lived speed grade), and sellers would still charge a premium for them. Slower clocked variants at 2.2GHz and 2.4GHz are much more common on places like eBay.


Graphics Card:
These are the cards I know which was an option for the Inspiron 8200 and Latitude C840 series (from least to most powerful):
- NVIDIA GeForce2 Go (16MB 32-bit or 32MB 64-bit) (DirectX 7, 2x1 pipes)
- NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go (32MB 64-bit or 64MB 128-bit) (DirectX 7, 2x2 pipes)
- ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (64MB 128-bit) (DirectX 8.1, 4x1 pipes)
In addition, the Precision M50 offered the following:
- NVIDIA Quadro4 500 GoGL (64MB 128-bit) (DirectX 8.1, 4x1 pipes)
- NVIDIA Quadro4 700 GoGL (64MB 128-bit) (DirectX 8.1, 4x1 pipes)

Clearly, the best choice you have would be the Quadro4 700 GoGL, however, don't expect them to be cheap ( this listing here on eBay goes for US$250).
Otherwise, the Mobility Radeon 9000 is also an option (it sits in between the 500 GoGL and 700 GoGL performance wise), but again, they don't come cheap ( goes for US$150 on this eBay listing).


Memory:
It has 2 SO-DIMM DDR slots and supports DDR 200MHz or 266MHz (it uses the Intel 845MP chipset). It does support 1GB modules for a maximum of 2GB total system memory. However, do note that there might be compatibility problems with certain modules at 1GB. As a rule of thumb, low density modules provides better compatibility (modules which uses physcially more RAM chips, say, 16x64MB with 8 chips per side).

I used to have 2 high density 1GB modules (8x128MB with 4 chips per side) and while they worked, gave me occational BSOD and system instability every other day. When I swapped back in my old 512MB sticks everything was fine. The 1GB sticks were then tested on my newer Pentium-M based Toshiba notebook and never had any problems whatsoever.


So, if you were to go and upgrade to the best processor (Mobile P4-m 2.6GHz), graphics card (Q4 700 GoGL) and 2GB of DDR memory, it'll probabally set you back US$500-US$600 or so...

...which brings me to my next point. While it is technically possible to upgrade your system, the Inspiron 8200 is just outdated and not worth the money upgrading in my opinion (look at my signature below, I've since changed my notebook twice now!). You'd be better off selling your current system for a few hundred dollars (probabally US$200-US$300 or so), and then spend the money on a newer system.

 

thanks alot for the detailed info.......i was hoping someone new these models....my dad just gave this to me....and its a great comp....but i see what you mean about upgrading....but i would like to spend 250 on a better graphics[4 pipes]and more memory.....its really fast enough now for what i mostly do....searching the internet....but i do play moh and battlefield 1942 sometimes.....plays both right now.

i don't want to spend alot if the 1.8 proc will be a bottleneck though...and i guess the 2.2 or 2.4 would'nt be that much of a difference, or will it???

but if i go over 2 or 3 hundred it would be better to just wait and go with a new one?

right now i would like the card you linked at 150 and just another 512meg of ram .....for the best improvement and least money.

thanks again for your help

 

The Radeon 9000 would be a good improvement over your GeForce 2Go, although $150 is a good deal of money . .

I think your best bet is to put in more RAM - go to 1GB, you will definitely see a difference in performance.

The processor as noted will not help your gaming performance much; the bottleneck is your graphics card.

I'd just upgrade the RAM for now and see how it works.

 

ok ...thanks,i'll go with the ram first,then the card.