Is the video card upgradeablein the 8600 notebook? Is it just limited in what graphic cards are available for the 8600 or the entire Inspiron notebook line?
Yes, its upgradeable, but as PYROTAK mentioned the upgrade are limited to video cards in the same form factor. The best three cards available in the i8600 (hence best upgrade cards) are the 64MB GF4 4200go, 128MB GFFX 5650go and 128MB Mobility Radeon 9600Pro.
I e-mailed tech support about upgrading my FX5650Go to a mobility Radeon 9600 and they told me that they were not offering any upgrade options? If I want to upgrade, how do I do it?
You have to call or e-mail Spare parts and order through them. They are usually reluctant to sell (Dell doesn't support video upgrades) so don't mention thats what it is for, just try and straight-out order the card. If one person doesn't do it, just ring back again and try with someone else.
But why upgrade the FX5650? Its probably not worth the money upgrading from that card, as with the latest Nvidia drivers it has caught up a lot of ground with its ATI bretheren and is very close in performance. Just install the 53.03's using an INF from Teraphy or Pieter instead of the Dell drivers.
PYROTAK
99 Posts
0
February 15th, 2004 15:00
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
February 15th, 2004 20:00
Yes, its upgradeable, but as PYROTAK mentioned the upgrade are limited to video cards in the same form factor. The best three cards available in the i8600 (hence best upgrade cards) are the 64MB GF4 4200go, 128MB GFFX 5650go and 128MB Mobility Radeon 9600Pro.
stu
aye29
20 Posts
0
February 16th, 2004 00:00
I e-mailed tech support about upgrading my FX5650Go to a mobility Radeon 9600 and they told me that they were not offering any upgrade options? If I want to upgrade, how do I do it?
sakor1
2.2K Posts
0
February 16th, 2004 00:00
You have to call or e-mail Spare parts and order through them. They are usually reluctant to sell (Dell doesn't support video upgrades) so don't mention thats what it is for, just try and straight-out order the card. If one person doesn't do it, just ring back again and try with someone else.
But why upgrade the FX5650? Its probably not worth the money upgrading from that card, as with the latest Nvidia drivers it has caught up a lot of ground with its ATI bretheren and is very close in performance. Just install the 53.03's using an INF from Teraphy or Pieter instead of the Dell drivers.
stu