Need help to find a better video card for my laptop, a Dell Ins 9300

[videopho]

I've travelled much lately and my desktops are way too heavy to carry along.
So comes along with me on the road is the Ins 9300 but its ATI X300 card just won't cut it when it comes to gaming.
What would you recommend (though not many) to replace the X300? When travel, I do play some Sub-sim/FS2004 and some FPS in my laptop.

 

[michal1980]

a new lappy?

I don't think many lappy video cards are upgradable

 

[RajunCajun]

That 9300 should be capable of accepting a 6800 Go. 12 pipelines, 300mhz core/600mhz effective memory would make a substantial gain in gaming performance. My m170 (mechanically the same as 9300) runs a 6800 Go Ultra. There have been people that have fit the Ultra in 9300, but the power supply has to upgraded. Search this forum and Dell's Community Forums for ideas.

Cost may prohibit this though. A 7800GTX Go module for my m170 costs a cool $499 unless it's on sale.

 

[thescreensavers]

laptop GPUS are not upgradable period get a new one .

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
laptop GPUS are not upgradable period get a new one .

Recent Dell laptops can have their GPU swapped out. The post before yours speaks the truth.

 

[videopho]

I'm at a shock to learn how many of you out there keep on saying laptop's gpus aren't upgradable. In fact some of them are and they are too PCI-E x16 compatible GPU. If dunno, don't post, please. Anyway for those who know your stuff.
What do you think of the 6800GO vs 6800Ultra?

 

[RajunCajun]

Last year Hardocp reviewd the XPS Gen 2 (same as m170 except name) with the 6800Go Ultra HERE. They compared it to the 6800 Go HERE. Numbers tell the story. Both cards have the same features - the difference is in type of memory used and far greater GPU & memory speeds. In fact, the 6800 Go Ultra is exactly like a 6800GS, which is roughly equal to 6800GT/Ultra.

My m170 runs older games (HL2, Far Cry, Doom3, Quake4, etc) at 1920x1200, 1680x1050, or 1600x1200 fine for me. Call of Duty 2 needs to run at 1440x900 with details maxed out or higher res with textures set to "high" instead of "extra". BTW, Prey demo runs great at 1600x1200.

If your 9300 has the base LCD (1440x900, I think) the 6800 Go will probably work OK. If you have the TrueLife LCD (1920x1200) and want to run at max or close to max res, you'll need the Ultra. I believe you might be able to stick a 7800GTX Go module in there also. That is an upgrade path for the m170, and the physical chassis of both m170 and 9300 are the same. The only issue would be the power supply & adapter. IIRC the base 9300 has 90 watts, where the m170 has 135 watts. Also, my LCD panel seems to scale lower resolutions pretty good in games, but regular text can be pretty fuzzy.

There are laptops where video can be replaced - my old Inspiron 8200 had replaceable modules built in. Dell is not alone in this - higher tier/boutique lappys have upgradeable GPUs also.

I didn't find any Go modules at Dell. You can call them and find out availability/pricing. Ebay might also help.