Dell laptop with at 7900GS

BadCharlie

Im looking at a dell laptop and the video card is a 7900GS nvidia. First i want to know is this card good for gaming ?

Second would i be able to change this video card out in a few years time as video card get outdated fast. I plan on using the laptop for everything but mostly want it to run games with high detail.

Laptop is a 17inch widescreen and comes with 2gigs ram and a core duo intel chip at 2ghz and 4meg cash.

Saruman

Would help people if you actually mentioned the model
Usually you cant change a video card in a laptop but you can on some of them. So if someone has the same model on here they might be able to tell you.

As for gaming.. its not the best card but for a laptop its grand. Its possibly the best Laptop GPU you will get though i could be wrong.

AlmightyCushion

The best laptop graphics card would be the go 7950gtx. The spec of the laptop is similar to mine which plays games great at the moment. Whether or not things like crysis and the like will look as pretty is another story.

Saruman

I wish all laptops had interchangable GPU's. Be so handy to get one know safe in the knowledge that when the 8800 series (and beyond) comes out you can pop in a new card to keep up to date. Right now though laptops are a bad buy for gaming as they cant be upgraded like a PC and are worth feck all these days to resell.

Sephiroth_dude

Go for the xps m1710 thats a great gaming laptop and it has the geforce 7950gtx,but i agree it sucks that you cant upgrade laptops,im definitely gonna get a desktop next time

AlmightyCushion

Saruman wrote:

I wish all laptops had interchangable GPU's. Be so handy to get one know safe in the knowledge that when the 8800 series (and beyond) comes out you can pop in a new card to keep up to date. Right now though laptops are a bad buy for gaming as they cant be upgraded like a PC and are worth feck all these days to resell.

Yeah it sucks all right. Some day though hopefully.

BostonB

BadCharlie wrote:

Im looking at a dell laptop and the video card is a 7900GS nvidia. First i want to know is this card good for gaming ?

Second would i be able to change this video card out in a few years time as video card get outdated fast. I plan on using the laptop for everything but mostly want it to run games with high detail.

Laptop is a 17inch widescreen and comes with 2gigs ram and a core duo intel chip at 2ghz and 4meg cash.

Don't buy a laptop if you want to upgrade. In a few years time the rest of the machine will be obsolete, they'll be no point in sticking a new gfx card in it. After one year maybe. No longer.

I've a laptop with a 7900GS. It plays most things but not at full quality or resolution. The 7950GTX is much faster. But a desktop is best for gaming.

BadCharlie

Have 2 desktop computers as is. But just want a laptop.

When making a computer on the dell web site i dont seem to be able to select the 7950gtx video card.

All i get is some 8600 video card which i never heard about.

I don't care what model of laptop i get but has to have a good video card and a 17inch monitor with 2gigs ram. Might try the Acer web site and c what they have.

BostonB

You might want to wait just a little everyone waiting for the new XPS with a newer verison of the 7950 to appear. Might be a 8800.

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread200601.html

You could always go alienware. They have SLI setups.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3840

Or one of these
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3783

legs11

got a 7900gs over clocked on my xpsm1710, as good as a 7950. i am almost sure you can also swap this card for newer ones, thats if you can get you hands on a card........

BadCharlie

Ok thanks for all the imput so far. Im going to make my mind up in the next month on what im going to buy. If i were to go for the cheaper video card but knew that i could change it in time i'd be happy.

Can the dell xpsm1710 video card be changed ?

Sephiroth_dude

I dont think you can change it,and if you could it would be costly id say :-/

BostonB

Yes its possible to change it on 9400 and M1710 but IMO its not economical to do so. Hunt around the web and you'll find people who have done it. Mainly in the US as the prices there are better.

But thats a crazy route to take with a laptop. Buy the right spec at the start.

BadCharlie

I know i keep harping about dell.

But this is the video card that i can select
nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB DDR2

There is also the Go 8400.

Never heard of these cards so im going to go and google them.

BadCharlie

Back again and i have found this. I know its the older model but its very much what im looking for.

XPS M1710 Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB
English - Vista Ultimate (32Bit OS)

I found it in the dell outlet part but it has all that i want.
2 gig ram
Big HD
7950gtx 512meg
17inch display prob not wide screen...

All for a little over €1100 which is very good i think.

Dont like Vista my self so i could see my self puting Winxp pro on in the future.

DemonOfTheFall

Nice spec laptop, it'll be an absolute rocket.

Look forward to about an hour of battery time if you're playing games though.

AlmightyCushion

BadCharlie wrote:

Back again and i have found this. I know its the older model but its very much what im looking for.

XPS M1710 Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB
English - Vista Ultimate (32Bit OS)

I found it in the dell outlet part but it has all that i want.
2 gig ram
Big HD
7950gtx 512meg
17inch monitor
and also a 17inch screen.

All for a little over €1100 which is very good i think.

Dont like Vista my self so i could see my self puting Winxp pro on in the future.

Go for it. It's a beast of a thing.

patmac

Hi on a related topic what level of gaming can I expect to play on this Inspiron 1501 I recently purchased.


BASE AMD® Sempron™ Mobile Technology 3500+ edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 90 Day Base Warranty - Collect and Return edit
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display edit
MEMORY 1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512] edit
HARD DRIVE 120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI ® Radeon® Xpress 1150 HyperMemory™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software edit
PRIMARY BATTERY 4 cell Lithium-Ion Battery (29 Whr) edit
CARRY CASES No Carry Case edit
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Dell™ Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini-PCI Card (for AMD Processors) edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee® Security Centre™ 8.0 - 24 Month Protection - English edit
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English edit
Also included with your system
Gedis Bundle Reference List N07152 - BSD 1501 (2)
Order Information Inspiron Order - Ireland
Shipping Documents English Documentation with English Power Cord
Dell System Media Kit Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers
Power Supply 65W AC Adapter
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - Ireland/Spain
.
Ta

BostonB

Minesweeper?

Its not a gaming card.

BadCharlie

Well i have lost internet connection at home the past 3 days. When i did get back on line the laptop i was looking at has gone . I will just keep looking... But i think i know what i want.

Also i found out that the Nvidia 8600 card is ment to be on par with an ATI1900 video card.

TerrorFirmer

patmac wrote:

Hi on a related topic what level of gaming can I expect to play on this Inspiron 1501 I recently purchased.


BASE AMD® Sempron™ Mobile Technology 3500+ edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 90 Day Base Warranty - Collect and Return edit
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display edit
MEMORY 1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512] edit
HARD DRIVE 120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI ® Radeon® Xpress 1150 HyperMemory™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software edit
PRIMARY BATTERY 4 cell Lithium-Ion Battery (29 Whr) edit
CARRY CASES No Carry Case edit
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Dell™ Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini-PCI Card (for AMD Processors) edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee® Security Centre™ 8.0 - 24 Month Protection - English edit
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English edit
Also included with your system
Gedis Bundle Reference List N07152 - BSD 1501 (2)
Order Information Inspiron Order - Ireland
Shipping Documents English Documentation with English Power Cord
Dell System Media Kit Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers
Power Supply 65W AC Adapter
Modem 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - Ireland/Spain
.
Ta

Nothing too heavy. You'll get Half Life 2, Far Cry and the like out there at good settings but anything else newish like Battlefield 2 wouldn't be such a great experience at all....

bennyc

BadCharlie wrote:

Im looking at a dell laptop and the video card is a 7900GS nvidia. First i want to know is this card good for gaming ?

Laptop is a 17inch widescreen and comes with 2gigs ram and a core duo intel chip at 2ghz and 4meg cash.

I have a 9400 , with 7900 , 2.16 Core 2 Duo @667MHz 2GIG 667 RAM 100GB 7200 HDD , True Life Screen.
SO far brilliant for gaming the only thing is I am getting some mixed results on 3d mark 06, I ran 5 tests in a row the other night and got 3001 3800 3001 2800, 3001. I may have some unwanted crap on the system and have pretty much filled the hd , using avast av and turned it off so doesnt make sence why the tests are up and down.
Long story short Half Life 2 on full settings, PES6 on full settings, DIRT on High settings. GRAW2 on medium to high settings (but dont really undeerstand the physics driver requirement for this) and still looks pretty cool.

If i was buying again i would have got the best screen I was on a budget of 1500 last time

The best advice I can give to you is call dell and ask for the hard drive and better ram you will get this free.

PS If anyone can help with the 3dmark problem let me know