Laptop GPU upgrade: Dell Inspiron [Archive]

StAndrew

04-25-2009, 05:10 PM

About a year and a half ago, I bought a Dell Inspiron E1705 for myself and my wife to use around the house. I had a limited budget and never planned on any gamming:

Intel T7400
1GB Ram
ATI X1300

I bought a 2GB set of ram as I quickly learned Vista was a memory hog. It served me well and I eventually took it on my last Navy Deployment for DVDs, etc... on those down times. I started game playing but was limited due to the GPU department. The X1300 was able to overclock to ~560 core and 524 memory (stock: 432 core and 250 mem... closer to the X1400 clock speeds) which as you can tell is rather massive of an overclock and made quite the difference in some games, however it wasnt enough.

3D06 mark: 822 stock and 1060 with GPU overclock

I decided to get a new laptop recently, however my budget is tight. Looking on ebay, I found a Dell FX2500 GPU (7900GTX Go equivalent) and decided an upgrade was a bit cheaper. On top of that, I got a 4GB memory kit as well (3.5 usable on the 32bit OS).

Just got back to VA from RI so Im a bit tired, pics as this project progresses.

StAndrew

04-26-2009, 03:58 PM

Got started last night (GPU came in).

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/2.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/3-1.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/1-1.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/4-1.jpg

Got the keyboard off:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/5.jpg
Already seeing a problem...

Screen off:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/6.jpg

Guts fully exposed:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/7.jpg
Yup, we got a problem. The original GPU has only one heat pipe...

The GPU is labled as an FX2500 which i read is equivalent to a 7900GTX Go, however the seller sold this as only having 256MB of memory which leads me to believe its a 7900GS/GT. The GTX would be nice but this is still better than the X1300. There appears to be some room for the second heat pipe but I also read that the dual pipe version is actually for the XPS laptop, while the Inspiron version only has one heat pipe. I hear you need to cut the second pipe for it to work, however I see some extra space behind the CPU heat pipe and will try to fit it in (it might not clear the NB but I would like to keep the second pipe for the extra cooling).

More to come...

ExodusC

04-26-2009, 05:41 PM

Awesome, I've always wanted to see this in action.

My Acer Aspire 6930 has a 9600M GS, it would be awesome to find a cheap 9800M GT or something.

StAndrew

04-27-2009, 02:37 PM

Thanks, If you find a Mobile GPU that was designed for that laptop, you should go for it!

Here's the update. Stayed up late last night to try to finish up but ran into a few problems:

First some pics:

More internals
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/8.jpg

CPU fan removed:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/9.jpg

CPU heat pipe removed; the thermal paste they use is crp. Replacing with AS5:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/10.jpg

Removed the GPU and GPU fan. Started knocking out some of the vents for better air flow to the fans (did this on both sides):
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/11.jpg

Initial fit testing reveled problem #1. This was easily resolved, just cut the part in the way (I hope this is easy to see):
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/12.jpg

New GPU Fits!!!
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/13.jpg

Im pretty excited up to this point as its all working well, however when I try to replace the laptop cover, the heatsync on the GPU is sticking up just a bit higher than the CPU heatsync and Im unable to close the casing all the way on the left side of the laptop (it was late and I wasnt too concerned about pics at this point so sorry not good pics to illustrate this). After about an hour of fidgeting I decided to sleep on it before breaking something. The sleep worked and this morning I decided to bend the heat pipe in two places: once next to the GPU, bending it towards the laptop moboard, and once by the heat sync at the end, straightening it to match the CPU sync. Worked like a charm and fits nicely. Got it up and running, screen shots to follow!

Final:
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u171/csaur001/14.jpg

ExodusC

04-27-2009, 03:13 PM

Awesome! So everything is working well?

I'd love to replace my laptops GPU, or even the CPU to something a little faster, but laptop parts are very expensive...

alucasa

04-27-2009, 03:19 PM

Awesome job.

luie

04-27-2009, 03:48 PM

Congrats, how much does that graphics card for laptop cost?

That's interesting.

shoota

04-27-2009, 03:49 PM

we want results!!! good work, can't wait to see how the lappy handles the extra power consumption and heat. post up some 3dmark scores as well as some gaming scores.

cdawall

04-27-2009, 04:40 PM

talk about a sleeper mod that is looking very nice can't wait to see it finished

StAndrew

04-27-2009, 05:48 PM

Thanks, yeah it was def a new frontier for me and a lot of fun. Here are some screen shots of it working. My pants practically flew off when I discovered this is actually not the 256MB card as advertised but a 512MB 7900GTX Go!!!

Working on getting 3D mark installed and tested. Temps are great for CPU and GPU. Overclocking is 600 core and 700 memory (with both fans set to high). The temps displayed are the Dell sensors and about 10C cooler than actually GPU temps. I keep both fans set at low and idle temps on CPU is about 40C (down from 50ish!) so the AS5 is working great. GPU idles at about mid to low 50s.

First impressions: Dawn of War is the only game. Used to game at 1440x900 with settings ranging from low to med and one or two high (forgot the exact settings). All ATI settings set at max performance. Now game with x2AA, x8AF, SupperSampling, Gamma AA on, etc... with all settings on high and at screen native res of 1920x1200 (one thing dell does very well are its screens. This screen is a beauty at this res). The game looks amazing (yes its old, but its all I had to work with before). As soon as I can, I will look into installing some newer games, etc...

Screen shots (unfortunately, due to Photobucket constraints, this is the biggest I can get these pics. Any other way to upload?): Displayed as an FX2500. Dells equivalent of a 7900 GTX Go. Made by Foxconn if anyone is interested.

http://img.techpowerup.org/090428/G71 Stock.jpg

Overclock:

http://img.techpowerup.org/090428/G71 Overclock.jpg

cdawall

04-27-2009, 07:13 PM

upload the files to techpowerup.org its free image hosting no dimension limits but a size limit

shoota

04-27-2009, 07:27 PM

all i can say is that i'm jealous.. i'm stuck in canada for almost five months without my pc, all i have is my netbook which isn't gonna do much in the gaming arena :(

StAndrew

04-27-2009, 09:02 PM

upload the files to techpowerup.org its free image hosting no dimension limits but a size limit

Much better, thanks :)

The GPU name is screwed up in the above pics (for some reason they get like than when installing RIVA Tuner). I reinstalled the drivers and removed RIVA tuner, it now reads Quadro FX 2500M. I dont know why Dell named them after workstation cards... maybe it is one. Oh well, works fine and performs about as well as a 7900GTX should (used to have two of those babys, my second favorite cards of all time). 3D marks shortly!

Jamesrt2004

04-28-2009, 12:07 AM

shoota

04-28-2009, 06:35 AM

how well would this work on an e1505? since the chassis is smaller how do i find a card that is built for it?

StAndrew

04-28-2009, 08:45 AM

insane, guessing only way to do this is to have a dell that already has a gpu which can be swaped ?

infact.. my moms inspiron has a x1300

WIN!

wow found one on ebay for ~£180 give/take =O lets see if she wants to give me her laptop for a while ;)

Go for it! Watch out as Im finding out that my card is actually a workstation card (you can work around this though). It still beats the X1300!

how well would this work on an e1505? since the chassis is smaller how do i find a card that is built for it?

Not sure. I think the chassis is a bit smaller fo rthe E1505. Call dell and see what cards they used to offer for this laptop then look for them on Ebay would be my suggestion. Dont do what I did and crack your case BEFORE buying the card so as you can make sure they match.

Just a quick update: the card IS a Quadro FX and not a Geforce. The drivers installed with Quadro functionalities, etc... which made me upset. My initial 3dMark06 runs gave ~4000 stock and ~5000 overclock (its only a 2.1 C2D with a 667 FSB :shrug:). I uninstalled the drivers and used RIVA tuners strap drivers to trick the computer into thinking this is a GeForce and then reinstalled. I now have Geforce functionality in my drivers, though the name of the card is screwed up again. Oh well.

I checked other 3D06 scores as mine looked a bit low but only found a Go 7900GS score of about 3000. I am about to bench again, using the Geforce drivers and will display screen shots of these scores when Im done.

On a side note, my battery died (it was old so Im not sure if its the GPU) and my Power Supply is getting very very hot. I might need to order a more robust power supply from Dell for this GPU. Thanks for the interests!

If you are looking to upgrade your Laptop I can tell you its not very hard if you have one that fits. Check Ebay would be my suggestions and crack open your laptop to see what your card looks like and look for a card that can fit. The hardest part was forcing my self to open the dam thing (its a bit nerve racking) and once I crossed that bridge, figuring out HOW to open it.

Nanometer

04-28-2009, 12:34 PM

a most impressive job on the gpu modification. very impressive. ive considered doing something like this for my next laptop, might save some money just to install a nice video card myself :)

StAndrew

04-28-2009, 12:55 PM

Thanks! Its a bit diff from Desktops. Maybe with a bit more money I can screw around more with laptops (and my wife's permission :))

I had some issues switching the Quadro over to a GeForce but was eventually able to due it with RIVA Tuner. I forgot to check the "Use ROM Straps..." box at first and had lots of issues (another driver reinstall).

http://img.techpowerup.org/090428/NVStrap.jpg

Here are the benches; not too impressive, but deff an improvement and plenty for what I need:

Used XtremeG 181.22 Desktop drivers converted for Go GPUs

Stock:
http://img.techpowerup.org/090428/3DMark06.jpg

Overclock:
http://img.techpowerup.org/090428/3DMark06 Overclock.jpg

Just a reminder, the X1300 scored a 822 stock and 1060 with GPU overclocked. Also, CPU = 2.1, 4MB L2, and 667FSB with 667 mem @ 5-5-5-15.

cdawall

04-28-2009, 01:56 PM

now you just need to pin mod the cpu to 800 FSB

StAndrew

04-28-2009, 02:26 PM

now you just need to pin mod the cpu to 800 FSB

If you can tell me how to do that, Id do it in a second!

cdawall

04-28-2009, 03:31 PM

If you can tell me how to do that, Id do it in a second!

did some research wont happen on your notebook thanks to the i945 chipset not supporting 800mhz chips

shoota

04-28-2009, 03:41 PM

there's gotta be a way to oc that cpu tho.. setfsb?

StAndrew

04-28-2009, 04:39 PM

there's gotta be a way to oc that cpu tho.. setfsb?

Yeah I looked around. I can upgrade to a T7600 but thats getting way out of budget (and it still a 667 FSB. Clock speed isnt the issue so I dought the gain of ~100MHz would be worth it)

Update: My overclock is dismal compared to what others are getting (650-700 core and ~800mem). My powersupply is a 100W p.o.s. and I think its not quite up to the challenge. Getting crashes and such sometimes during game play... Im looking into a Dell PA 15 (150 Watt) or PA 130 (130 Watts)powersupply but have no way of knowing weather or not they are compatable. Dell support isnt much of a help...

Dell support = :confused:

On top of my new battery I had to order, this is getting a bit $$$ but still much cheaper than a new lapy :D.

FYI: A nice little site I found on Mobile GPUs:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Quadro-FX-2500M.2130.0.html

saaya

04-28-2009, 08:43 PM

wow, awesome! :toast:

crio

04-28-2009, 09:19 PM

Amazing man.Great idea and great work.
(i am already seraching ebay too for vga for mine!!!!)

Jamesrt2004

04-28-2009, 10:42 PM

StAndrew

04-29-2009, 08:05 AM

I found this website ...

http://www.mylaptopbattery.co.uk/dell-inspiron-e1705.htm

it list's batteries compatible with your laptop ;) just use the biggest/best one =D

oh notices it says the XPS M1710 batteries will fit same laptop, so easypeasy grab one of those =)
interesting the m1710 only uses a 80w 9cell battery at stock with the 7950gtx etc... =O

Thanks! I just got a Dell Inspiron 6000 off of Ebay though so a bit late on that one ;). Funny thing is this GPU came from an XPS M1710. I think they are pretty much the same computers with diff options :shrug:.

Jamesrt2004

04-29-2009, 08:36 AM

you keeping the 6000 or did you mean just the battery?

StAndrew

04-29-2009, 11:10 AM

I bought a 9 Cell Inspiron 6000 battery. Its has the same stats as the Inspiron 6400 battery. Not sure what the difference is...

Edit: Im dumb. Same battery, diff system.

Jamesrt2004

04-29-2009, 12:06 PM

ahh that's cool, lol

actually really interested in this mod! with the battery though I read, http://eduncan911.com/archive/2007/12/11/why-the-inspiron-is-a-king.aspx .... And it said he upgraded his power brick to a Dell 150w PA15 Power Adapter to help out power wise, if its any good to you =)

StAndrew

04-29-2009, 04:48 PM

Yup, thats what I ended up getting (the PA 15). I didnt want to commit until I was sure it was completely compatible, however could get the question answered. I ended up getting it anyways as it was $20 on ebay. Now that I know its compatible, I dont have to worry about wasting $$$. Thanks for those links! As soon as the new power adapter comes in, we'll see just how far this thing will go :).

Edit:
Ok, you officially suck. I would have loved to have this link about 3 days ago. A lot of head ache went into figuring this thing out! Oh well, it was a good ride :p:.

Better late than never I guess.

Jamesrt2004

04-29-2009, 11:51 PM

haha what sort of headache's? surely it's just plug and play?

(or do you mean the whole system?)

StAndrew

04-30-2009, 05:55 AM

It was a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: figuring out how to open the case :p:. After that, things were easy.

shoota

04-30-2009, 08:30 AM

yeah i remember the first time i took apart my I6000. i just knew i wasn't going to remember which kind of screws went where. i couldn't believe how many little screws there were!

Jamesrt2004

04-30-2009, 10:50 AM

It was a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: figuring out how to open the case :p:. After that, things were easy.

haha when I refurbished my mums inspiron with new lcd plus casings it was a bloody pain...!!

StAndrew

05-03-2009, 04:36 PM

Ok, last quick update, got my 150Watt adapter to replace the Dell 90Watt. I knew it was going to be big, but I was still supprised:

http://img.techpowerup.org/090503/DSC00686.jpg

Certainly degrades the mobility...

Overclocks on the Core are the same (~590-600) but the Memory was able to shoot all the way up to a wopping 850. Not much of a gain on 3DMark06 though (~100-200 points).

http://img.techpowerup.org/090503/GPUz Overclock.jpg

Overall, Im very happy with this setup! I recomend anyone with an Inspiron to check out ebay. There are scores of these cards for under $300!

drizzt5

05-04-2009, 08:20 AM

Very nice thread :) Good job, I am interested in what your 3dmark06 score is now.
edit: Ah woops, I missed the new 06 score. Very nice!
Did you say they sold you the wrong card that they advertised on ebay? If they sold you a worse card I would of got my money back but maybe I misunderstood your post...

Once again nice job

StAndrew

05-04-2009, 10:51 AM

It was advertised as a 256MB 7900 GeForce Go. There was also a 256 Go 7900GS for a bit more money, so I figured it was a 7900GS. Needless to say, I was supprised to see it was a 512 card and Im not about to return it :).

I cant find the listing anymore but for those that are interested:

For those that want to go big, this is the fastest card for this laptop (fastest DX9 mobile card): Its pricey as hell so I didnt even give it a second look
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Nvidia-Geforce-Go-7950-GTX-512MB-p-n-GU067_W0QQitemZ320367820331QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9768fe2b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Heres the card I got: Mine was about $10 cheaper
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Nvidia-Geforce-Go-7900-FX2500-Video-Card-YF209_W0QQitemZ370197110887QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_ Video_TV_Cards?hash=item563177a067&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
-Note, this is NOT a GEFORCE but a Quadro (workstation card). The GeForce capabilities can be unlocked via Riva Tuner rather easily.

7900 GS:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Nvidia-G7900GS-Geforce-Go-256MB-Video-Card-UF814_W0QQitemZ230341030690QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_ Video_TV_Cards?hash=item35a1653322&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Just type "Dell Go" and you'll get a few pop ups.

Jamesrt2004

05-05-2009, 08:53 AM

actually going to do this =D

StAndrew

05-05-2009, 04:32 PM

actually going to do this =D

Nice! Good luck. If want to upgrade your ram, PM me and Ill send you a set (I got a Corsair 4GB DDR667 @ 5-5-5-15 kit and GSkill 2GB 667 @ 4-4-4-12).

drizzt5

05-05-2009, 05:00 PM

Hmm... If my laptop wasn't so old I might consider doing this to it if it was possible. Either way, I didn't realize you meant you got a better card then advertised. Nice!

StAndrew

05-06-2009, 05:41 AM

Just an interesting tidbit, the Standard 2D clocks on this card were so low, Vista was running horribly. Opening and closing windows was way to choppy. I overclocked the 2D to 150 on mem and core (up from 100 on both) and everything seems fine.

ToTTenTranz

05-06-2009, 05:59 AM

I also changed the original 7900GS 256MB for a Quadro FX2500M 512MB, on my Inspiron 9400. I did it mostly because 256MB started being too much of a bottleneck in most games, and the Inspiron was my main gaming machine during my Erasmus.

The graphics card exchange in the Inspiron E1705/9400 is actually well documented here (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Case-Study-Replacing-the-Video-Card-of-a-Dell-Inspiron-E1705-9400.4187.0.html), so it's not that hard. I did the job in about a hour and a half.

The biggest problem with Dell laptops is that they need to have the BIOS recognizing the GPU. So even if the old high-end Inspiron series use the same graphic card form-factor as the new XPS, having a DX10 card is still impossible, and we are stuck with a 7900GTX (which is as slow as a 9500GT in modern shader intensive games).

diredesire

05-06-2009, 10:36 AM

Just wanted to chime in and say props: Lucky you got an upgrade, if anything, it's karma for posting a work log :)

Jsunn

06-02-2009, 05:52 AM

Your thread has inspired me.
I have an older Dell Inspiron 8200 that I purchased in 2001. I had been running XP Home but had become so bogged down that is had been collecting dust for the last few years.

I decided to try and install Ubuntu not that long ago and I was impressed enough to sink a little money into it.

I have upgraded the orgional 256MB of RAM to 1 GB. I have replaced the old 1.5GHz Pentium 4 (M) with a 2.2GHz Pentium 4 (M), and I just purchased an upgraded video card from ebay.

The 2.2GHz proc cost me $22, 1GB RAM, was $30, and the video card was $15. All three were purchased from e bay and I have no issues.

I now have a relatively snappy Ubuntu 9 "netbook/laptop" that only cost me $70 bucks.

I am going to be installing the new/used video card this weekend.

@ the OP, "Great Job!"

-Jason

trekie86

06-03-2009, 06:33 AM

Your GPU replacement/mod is pretty sweet. I've always been too afraid to try and replace anything in my laptop besides RAM or the CPU which are readily available in my Gateway M675X. Keep it up, I'm hoping to screw around with my laptop once I make sure I've gotten everything ported over to my desktop.

Jsunn - good work on the Ubuntu setup. I'm sure that thing is really fast.

Gamer

06-03-2009, 08:17 AM

Cool, I've done the same thing on my Dell Inspiron 9400 a few years back.
I upgraded it to am 160GBHDD and 4 GB ram.

I started out with a 7800GTX, then a 7950Go GTX (that died after a year) and replaced it with a 7900GTX.
The only hard thing is desoldering the fix on the motherboard when you change the ATi 1300.

I sold it for € 700 a year back :(

Dell laptops are fun to upgrade, I even upgraded this 1730 with an X9000 cpu, I had to take all screw out to only replace the CPU :)

Next on my list is the 9800M GTX, only the price $1400 is stopping me :(

Jamesrt2004

06-03-2009, 09:20 AM

Gamer

06-03-2009, 11:17 AM

In my 1730 ?
There's a 8800M GTX SLI in now.

Jamesrt2004

06-03-2009, 01:03 PM

ahh you have an xps, no worries.

MiKA7

06-03-2009, 02:06 PM

diredesire

06-09-2009, 09:50 AM

is it possible to change vga on dell inspirons and xps's only, or is it possible with hp's aswell??
currently have hp tx1320eo with a geforce go6150 with 128mb shared memory and it sucks really hard.. want to upgrade it aswell if it is possible.....

If your GPU is integrated on board, it is not possible. I googled the motherboard for your laptop, and it looks like you are out of luck. It's generally more likely for higher end laptops that are built for gaming, or high end graphics, simply because it is beneficial to be able to configure them for higher end while keeping costs down..