!8500 video upgrade

Question

Hi, I want to upgrade my gpu on my Inspiron 8500. Currently, I have a ATI Radeon 9000 (with only 32mb.) I play games/apps like battlefield 2, half life 2, autocad, etc... so I need more GPU power. I called dell and they said they had some M10s, (ATI Radeon Pro Turbo 128mb). However, the guy told me he had a refurbished one that comes with a 90 warrenty. Now, my question is: How well has the m10 held up for you guys? and if it was refurbished or not? or should it be? I don't want to get the gpu then a year later my computer 'poops out' because of the heat the m10 makes, even with the mod. So is it worth paying 229$ for a refurbished M10? If I did get it, I'm sure it would help out a whole lot! This is what I currently have: !8500, P 4m 2.2GHz, 40gig 5.4k HD, 1.5 gigs of ram, Radeon 9000 32mb, 1280x800 resolution(15.4in) omega drivers for gpu. Thanks for you time.   Thanks,   Matthew

ejn63 · Answer

The R-9600 needs a cooling modification to work with the 8500 system. It is designed to work with the 8600 and will cause the 8500 to shut down from overheating unless you modify it.

http://www.bay-wolf.com/8500videoheat.htm

Raptor_D · Answer

Hi matt3D,   I purchased and installed an Ati Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo into my Inspiron 8500, replacing my Geforce 4 4200 go, a few months ago. I plan to use this computer for several more years before, so I did not have much of a choice when it came to video card upgrades. Even though the cost of the card was disproportional to the technology used in its core, I have been satisfied with my decision to purchase the Mobility Radeon 9600.   When I purchased my card I was told by the sales representative that even though the packaging on the card would say it was a refurbished card, it was in reality a new card. Regarding whether or not a refurbished card will hold up, I believe that it would consider that Dell does test these cards before they sell them. However, since I don't think that my card is a refurbished one, I cannot give any guarantees. Performance wise though, the Mobility Radeon 9600 can run most dx9 games quite well with decent framerates. Since your native screen resolution appears to be that of a wxga screen you can probably play most games at your native resolution without any interpolation.   To compare the performance of your current card with the Mobility Radeon 9600 I can go into detail over some of the graphics and resolution settings of two games that you said you played. In Half-Life 2 I can run the game with settings of medium model detail and texture detail, high shaders and shadows, trilinear filtering, reflect world water quality, and no antialiasing at a resolution of 1280x800 without any problems. However, Battlefield 2 is much more demanding; I can only run the game on all medium graphics settings (with the exception that dynamic shadows, dynamic lighting, and antialiasing are off) at a resolution of 800x600.   In the long run though, if you plan to buy a new computer soon, I would not advise getting a Mobility Radeon 9600 because of the cost. However, if you plan to use your 8500 for a few more years then the 9600 could be an acceptable long term solution. I hope this information is helpful to you :smileyhappy:.

matt3D · Answer

Hi Raptor_D,

Thanks for your info! Thats what I wanted to hear! That is kool how you can run HL2 on those settings, right now I can only run them on low, and that goes for bf2 also, in fact, I lag a little even with low settings on bf2, so I think I would be good with the M10 and have the settings be at medium. Also, how are your temps? Does it get really hot or does the mod help out a lot? Now the only thing I have to do is purchace it. But don't I have to say I run a business or somthing? In order to purchace one? Lastly, how is your 7,200rpm hd, does it make a big difference from 5.4k?

Thanks,

Matt

Raptor_D · Answer

My card temperatures vary from 50-53 degrees Celsius when idling to as high as 68-70 degrees when gaming; granted, the ambient temperature and whether you choose to control your fan speeds does affect these values. The mod on the Mobility Radeon 9600 is a must in order for it to run in the 8500 without overheating. In addition, it is advisible to also use an external laptop cooling solution; I currently use the Vantec Lapcool2 to help keep temperatures low when gaming.

When ordering the card you will have to call Dell Spare Parts, they have a home and home office division along with a small business division. However, I do not think the home and home office division has the card in stock, so your best bet would be to use small business division; I believe the card's reference number is F3515. When you call them they may or may not ask for your small business name, however, chances are they will not ask you for a business name so ordering the card should not be difficult at all. In the event that they do choose to ask for a small business name, have one ready just in case, i'll leave the choice of choosing a name to you :smileywink:.

Regarding the 7200rpm hard drive, I am very satisfied with the purchase, I replaced my 40 gig 4200rpm hard drive and noticed a significant increase in performance. A 7200rpm hard drive would also account for a increase in performance when compared to a 5400rpm hard drive; however, I am not sure how significant the increase would be. If you are satisfied with your current performance, then you probably don't need to upgrade; however, if you do desire an upgrade, you might want to wait until the cost of 7200rpm hard drives fall a bit considering their current cost.

Message Edited by Raptor_D on 07-27-2005 10:52 AM

marcelol · Answer

I recently upgraded from my super heated Hitachi 40Gb 5400 RPM drive ( the one that cam e with the I8500 ) to a Seagate 5400RPM 100Gb drive. I used DriveImage from Acronis ( Amazing piece of software, I must say ), swapped the drives in the cradle, popped the 100Gb in, and voila ! So aside from upgrading the video, I would heartily recommend upgrading the HD, as it has made a SIGNIFICANT difference in the performance of that system.

I'm still looking for those copper shims, because quite frankly, I don't plan on buying another laptop for a while.

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!8500 video upgrade

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