7800 GTX Go

[Ronin]

I'm keeping in constant contact with Dell about this card and it's availability for the XPS Gen2. As of yesterday, it's still not available, but as soon as it is, those of you who have these laptops may want to know. I've heard the pricing is going to be similar for the desktop variant as well (read: ~$600).

Yes, it's expensive, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a new XPS (or some other company's variant).

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

How would you go about buying a 7800GTX Go? I find it almost impossible to find Mobile graphics cards on sale online . . .

 

[fbrdphreak]

You would buy it directly from Dell, specifically for the XPS2 and maybe even the 9300.

 

[Ronin]

Dell has stated they were going to offer it to the XPS Gen2 owners (not sure about the 9300, since the 9300 *may* not be equipped to handle the heat/power of the card), with the option of either having Dell come out and swap it for them with the purchase, or having them do it themselves. I was told this ~ a month ago, so I checked in yesterday to find out the deal.

fbrdphreak is right, though. Just get directly in touch with Dell when you're ready (or when I post that they're actually available), and you should be able to pick one up.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: Ronin
Dell has stated they were going to offer it to the XPS Gen2 owners (not sure about the 9300, since the 9300 *may* not be equipped to handle the heat/power of the card), with the option of either having Dell come out and swap it for them with the purchase, or having them do it themselves. I was told this ~ a month ago, so I checked in yesterday to find out the deal.

fbrdphreak is right, though. Just get directly in touch with Dell when you're ready (or when I post that they're actually available), and you should be able to pick one up.

I am hopeful, and optimistic, that the 9300s will be able to handle a 7800 gtx. I have heard that the powerbricks are exactly the same and as long as you have a 9-cell battery, you can do it power-wise. Hacking the bios is another situation. People have hacked the bios of 9300s to support a 6800 ultra so i would be suprised if a 7800 gtx hack did not surface. The biggest problem, it seems, will be the heat issue and i don't know enough about the design of the different cards to be able to tell you that. That being said, i have heard that the 7800 gtx go runs on less power and generates less heat than a 6800 ultra, so my feeling is that it will be compatible.

 

[Ronin]

It does, primarily due to the latest inception of nVidia's PowerMizer (updated to version 6.0 with the 7800), bits of which are actually in use in the desktop card. I can give you an idea of what the 6800 Go Ultra looks like as it was shipped to me:

http://server.counter-strike.net/images/misc/gddr36800gou.jpg

While the 7800 generates less power when idle, I do believe it's still slightly more 'power hungry' under load than a 6800 Go Ultra. I'm not 100% sure, and I'll have to do some more checking in order to verify. Until I've seen Dell's incarnation of the 7800, I can't say for sure how it differs, but I'll be happy to provide screenshots and whatever information I have once it's made available to me.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: Ronin
It does, primarily due to the latest inception of nVidia's PowerMizer (updated to version 6.0 with the 7800), bits of which are actually in use in the desktop card. I can give you an idea of what the 6800 Go Ultra looks like as it was shipped to me:

http://server.counter-strike.net/images/misc/gddr36800gou.jpg

While the 7800 generates less power when idle, I do believe it's still slightly more 'power hungry' under load than a 6800 Go Ultra. I'm not 100% sure, and I'll have to do some more checking in order to verify. Until I've seen Dell's incarnation of the 7800, I can't say for sure how it differs, but I'll be happy to provide screenshots and whatever information I have once it's become available to me.

In your opinion, will 9300s be able to take a 7800?

 

[MrBaseball]

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=113866

 

[Ronin]

Answers that question, but there's quite a bit of risk involved there. I'd probably avoid it if I could.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Go7800GTX uses the same amt of power under load as a Go6800 Ultra. Both are 66W TDP. The Go7800GTX is made on a smaller process with much more efficient power saving implementation.

 

[Ronin]

Finally, after much time (considering they were available at the beginning of November), my 7800 Go GTX is on it's way. Should be here from the 14th to the 16th (knowing the way Dell ships, it's more likely that it'll be here tomorrow, since I've got confirmation that it shipped yesterday). Once I swap out, I can do some comparisons.

 

[Dangerer]

You simply need a 9 cell battery and a 130 watt power brick to run a 7800gtx on an i9300

also a 7800 gtx can be had for around $275 shipped

 

[Ronin]

The card is here, and I'll be swapping out tonight. I haven't opened the XPS yet, so not sure how easy/difficult this is going to be just yet.

Box came with the card and a CD with drivers and an updated firmware for the laptop.

 

[Ronin]

The installation took maybe 15 minutes (you pretty much have to take the top half of the laptop apart in order to swap cards).

I've spent some time today doing some benchmarks (purely synthetic right now), and these are the scores I currently have. I'm going to start working on creating bioses for higher clock speeds to see what I can really do with this card.

7673 - 2k5
16805 - 2k3
24803 - 2k1
77553 - AM3


Stock clocks are 400/550, and I currently have the card running at 470/1300 (as shown in the pics).

Thus far, I'm very impressed with the performance of the card in comparison to it's desktop counterpart.

 

[fire400]

Originally posted by: Ronin
The installation took maybe 15 minutes (you pretty much have to take the top half of the laptop apart in order to swap cards).

I've spent some time today doing some benchmarks (purely synthetic right now), and these are the scores I currently have. I'm going to start working on creating bioses for higher clock speeds to see what I can really do with this card.

7673 - 2k5
16805 - 2k3
24803 - 2k1
77553 - AM3


Stock clocks are 400/550, and I currently have the card running at 470/1300 (as shown in the pics).

Thus far, I'm very impressed with the performance of the card in comparison to it's desktop counterpart.

nice scores

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Ronin
The installation took maybe 15 minutes (you pretty much have to take the top half of the laptop apart in order to swap cards).

I've spent some time today doing some benchmarks (purely synthetic right now), and these are the scores I currently have. I'm going to start working on creating bioses for higher clock speeds to see what I can really do with this card.

7673 - 2k5
16805 - 2k3
24803 - 2k1
77553 - AM3


Stock clocks are 400/550, and I currently have the card running at 470/1300 (as shown in the pics).

Thus far, I'm very impressed with the performance of the card in comparison to it's desktop counterpart.

Wow, nice scores. What were your 6800Go Ultra scores? My iXPS2 only does 5100... so that would mean it would be almost a 50% increase in performance?

 

[Ronin]

5979 in 2k5 - http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1016906
12k range in 2k3 (I seem to have deleted my ORB link for that one)
Not sure about 2k1 at all.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Nice 3DM05 score. My desktop w/7800GT gets like 8-8.5K, so that's not shabby at all :thumbsup:

 

[fbrdphreak]

How are your temps doing? TDP of the Go7800GTX should be a little higher than the Go6800 (same as Go6800 Ultra) due to the higher clocks.

 

[Ronin]

Idle temps are in the mid 60's (64-65). Load temps are mid 80's (84-85).

Even with the card running at 470/650, there is no artifacting, and there's no noticeable heat increase with the laptop, either.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Sweetness. Good to know.

Sounds like you got yourself a sweet little gaming laptop there

I assume your 3DM05 scores are with the OC? What drivers are you using?

 

[Ronin]

Yeah, stock scores were in the 6500 range on the laptop.

81.95's, grabbed from LaptopVideo2Go.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Cool. Might give the ExtremeG drives a go, they're pretty nice for desktops!

 

[Ronin]

Yeah, I've heard some good things about the drivers. Might be able to push 7800 with em. I have no intention of modding the laptop in any other way, so the 2GHz Dothan is going to have to do.

 

[Dangerer]

you lucked out with that card, my 7800 card must be fubared because it's only getting 6100 even with the clocks set at 440/1200