Dell XPS M1710 gaming laptop

Four of a kind

I've the above laptop with the following specs:

CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7600 @ 2.33GHz by GenuineIntel
2330Mhz L2 Cache 4096KB 32 bit
Iin Microprocessor Socket @3.3V

Memory Modules
1024MB DIMM
1024MB DIMM
Total physical memory 2145MB

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX
Chipset NVxx
512MB


Is it possible to upgrade my graphics card? I read somewhere that you cannot change graphics cards in laptops???

leninbenjamin

theoretically possible. the reality is it's much, much more difficult that upgrading a desktop and the cards themselves are very hard to come across.

Lab_Mouse

the GPU are normally soldered on to the motherboard and thats done by robot.

Its one of the big disadvantages to gaming laptops

Four of a kind

Lab_Mouse wrote: »

the GPU are normally soldered on to the motherboard and thats done by robot.

Its one of the big disadvantages to gaming laptops

Thats a joke. So the graphics card I have cannot be replaced?

Voodu Child

The GPU is replaceable (if it fails) but I think the 7950GTX was as high as you can go in that laptop. The BIOS will only support what Dell intended it to.

Four of a kind

€3,500 I paid for it 3 years ago, and now I can't even upgrade it so that it plays the latest games. A shocker by all accounts.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

kenon

Four of a kind wrote: »

€3,500 I paid for it 3 years ago, and now I can't even upgrade it so that it plays the latest games. A shocker by all accounts.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

OMG, €3500 is an excellent laptop and an excellent, upgradeable gaming PC.

Alanstrainor

Four of a kind wrote: »

€3,500 I paid for it 3 years ago, and now I can't even upgrade it so that it plays the latest games. A shocker by all accounts.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

It's still a very capable laptop even now. But it is a laptop, you'll never have a laptop that will be easily upgradable to play the latest and greatest after 3 years, not matter how much it cost.

leninbenjamin

Four of a kind wrote: »

€3,500 I paid for it 3 years ago, and now I can't even upgrade it so that it plays the latest games. A shocker by all accounts.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

a harsh learning lesson, but tbh it's fairly well documented how restricted the upgrade capability of laptops are. the situation today is no different from when you bought it had you done your research.

anyway, move on and consider building a gaming machine if you've got a grand to spare. 3 years isn't a bad lifespan at all for a high end laptop, so you still got your money's worth.

Four of a kind

leninbenjamin wrote: »

a harsh learning lesson, but tbh it's fairly well documented how restricted the upgrade capability of laptops are. the situation today is no different from when you bought it had you done your research.

anyway, move on and consider building a gaming machine if you've got a grand to spare. 3 years isn't a bad lifespan at all for a high end laptop, so you still got your money's worth.

Very true! So would you be able to list the ingridients that I would need if I was to purchase a desktop machine? I have a monitor so I'd just need the desktop.
This would be a great help.

Overheal

Four of a kind wrote: »

€3,500 I paid for it 3 years ago, and now I can't even upgrade it so that it plays the latest games. A shocker by all accounts.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

2 years ago I bought something comparable for less than half that

Its a hard way to learn. GPU upgradability should have been one of the things you asked around about before deciding to go with a laptop.

For what its worth, in the future I strongly recommend never going over 12-1500 TOPS for a laptop. Anything higher and the price : performance ratio gets incredibly dicey.

Actually the same prie point is true of a PC.

I'd start with a decent case, a good Motherboard and a name brand PSU of around 600Watts. Unless youre going to be doing crazy things that should be more than ample juice. And a Quaddie.

If any one of those single components costs considerably more than $200 US, then you're probably doing something wrong. Again, the Price to Performance Ratio. I'd do 8 sticks of smaller but faster RAM (512 or 1gb) and go with an OEM license of windows 7. The GPU is an afterthought once the rest of the machine is built right. I'd go with an ATI at the moment though. I think the 5870 just launched. Not that I think spending 350 on a card is wise. Buying last years card saves you a ton of money and gives you a lot more review material to read through.

Four of a kind

I appreciate the pointers guys.

if I could get some recommendations for a desktop with ample juice inside that would be great? I'm a little bit of a noob when it comes to hardware.

Overheal

@four of a kind: you do more favors for yourself in the long run by reading into hardware. Learning about memory caches and Front Side Busses wont hurt.

Actually FSB is probably one of thee most important aspects of a build. Often overlooked. This article should only take you 10 minutes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-side_bus

leninbenjamin

Four of a kind wrote: »

Very true! So would you be able to list the ingridients that I would need if I was to purchase a desktop machine? I have a monitor so I'd just need the desktop.
This would be a great help.

Sure! Figure out your budget, and any other intended purposes or restrictions on the machine, then post up a thread in the building and upgrading forum and a few like myself will be happy to spec you a build.

Four of a kind

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Sure! Figure out your budget, and any other intended purposes or restrictions on the machine, then post up a thread in the building and upgrading forum and a few like myself will be happy to spec you a build.

That sounds the best way to go. Well thanks guys to you all. I'll do that in the upgrade forum.

Cheers.

Sephiroth_dude

Four of a kind wrote: »

€3,500 I paid for it 3 years ago, and now I can't even upgrade it so that it plays the latest games. A shocker by all accounts.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I paid 2,500 for the same model 3 yrs ago too,it was not worth it.I built a pc last yr for 1500,I will never buy a laptop for gaming again.

Four of a kind

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I paid 2,500 for the same model 3 yrs ago too,it was not worth it.I built a pc last yr for 1500,I will never buy a laptop for gaming again.

Me either! Lesson learned. When you say you built your own....you got all the hardware etc and put it together yourself???

I could'nt do that as im a noob. So my only other option is to get some info from the upgrades forum and tailor make one from somewhere like dell.

Sephiroth_dude

Four of a kind wrote: »

Me either! Lesson learned. When you say you built your own....you got all the hardware etc and put it together yourself???

I could'nt do that as im a noob. So my only other option is to get some info from the upgrades forum and tailor make one from somewhere like dell.

Yup and now I realise why my brother was giving me strange looks when I told him I brought a laptop for gaming.

Yup I brought everything and my brother built it for me,I watched him of course and took notes,If you dont fancy building a machine yourself,you can buy prebuilt gaming machines off websites with desecent specs if you dont fancy building one yourself.

Four of a kind

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Yup and now I realise why my brother was giving me strange looks when I told him I brought a laptop for gaming.

Yup I brought everything and my brother built it for me,I watched him of course and took notes,If you dont fancy building a machine yourself,you can buy prebuilt gaming machines off websites with desecent specs if you dont fancy building one yourself.

Any links so that I can get to work researching?

Sephiroth_dude

www.elara.ie is where I got all my parts from,I think they also sell pre built gaming machines.worth a look anyway.

AlmightyCushion

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I paid 2,500 for the same model 3 yrs ago too,it was not worth it.I built a pc last yr for 1500,I will never buy a laptop for gaming again.

Ha ha. Same here. Spend nearly 2000 on a similar but lower specced machine 3years ago. I won't be doing that again. Good desktop, decent laptop from now on for me.

BostonB

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I paid 2,500 for the same model 3 yrs ago too,it was not worth it.I built a pc last yr for 1500,I will never buy a laptop for gaming again.

You only buy a laptop if you don't have room for a desktop, or don't want the clutter, want to be able to put it away easily or transport it. AND money isn't a problem. If thats what you want then theres nothing wrong with a laptop. Its compromised, but unless you haven't done your research properly , you should know that. I used to build my own machines, and overlock them. But over the last few years, I've had gaming laptops instead and don't regret them at all. Though I tend to hunt out a deal from the outlet or used etc. i wouldn't pay more than about 1500 for one.

Captain Flaps

I paid 2100 for the same model and spec 2 years ago, later upgraded the ram to 4gb for about 60 quid.

On the whole gaming laptop/desktop argument, obviously the PC is the better choice due to being cheaper and more upgradeable. As someone else pointed out however, A desktop is only good if you're leaving it in one place and have room to do so. I regularly bring my XPS into college and use it around the house, and it's handy to be able to bring it round to a friend's if they're having problems. I'm a photographer and would regularly have a lot of fairly intensive applications running (Photoshop CS4 with a few 100mb+ tiff files open, Lightroom with my 200gb image library) so until I have the space for a decent PC, a gaming laptop is the best option for me.

On another note with this laptop, you're right, the GPU can be upgraded, but a 7950gtx is as high as you can go. The bios don't suppor any higher and the newer mobile cards won't physically fit. I've been looking into this in a while.

On yet another note, I'd be interested to hear how many other users are suffering from the drreaded GPU failure rate on this model. Mine died once in warranty, once out of warranty that I got covered by my home insurance, then twice subsequently in the last 3 months which were both dealt with by my insurance. They're now coughing up 1400 towards my new MBP

leninbenjamin

Captain Flaps wrote: »

On the whole gaming laptop/desktop argument, obviously the PC is the better choice due to being cheaper and more upgradeable. As someone else pointed out however, A desktop is only good if you're leaving it in one place and have room to do so. I regularly bring my XPS into college and use it around the house, and it's handy to be able to bring it round to a friend's if they're having problems. I'm a photographer and would regularly have a lot of fairly intensive applications running (Photoshop CS4 with a few 100mb+ tiff files open, Lightroom with my 200gb image library) so until I have the space for a decent PC, a gaming laptop is the best option for me.

It's also fair to say though that there are a lot of people who spent a lot of cash in gaming laptops who would have been better served with a desktop - cheap laptop combo which can be got for around the same price. Most people tend to do most of their heavy work in the same place.

At the end of the day, it's just about doing the research.

Alanstrainor

leninbenjamin wrote: »

It's also fair to say though that there are a lot of people who spent a lot of cash in gaming laptops who would have been better served with a desktop - cheap laptop combo which can be got for around the same price. Most people tend to do most of their heavy work in the same place.

At the end of the day, it's just about doing the research.

Also, things have changed a lot in the last 2/3 years. Netbooks and thin and lights laptops either weren't around or were very expensive so it didn't make much sense. Now that thin and light laptops and netbooks have come out it makes perfect sense to buy both a desktop and a laptop/netbook combo.