Upgrading Dell 9400 GFX Card

Jonchilds · 26th September 2009, 7:50 PM

I'm looking to upgrade my Dell 9400 to get me into 2010 before buying a new laptop as there's nothing particularly 'good' value at the moment in my eyes.

I've got a 9400 with a 2.0Ghz/4MB Core 2 and a 128MB X1400 graphics chip.

The best I've seen people slot into the 9400 has been a 512MB Nvidia 2500M which is nice, but have any better cards been fitted, even with some modification to the card/heatsink?

Hoping to play Fear 2 or similar at low-medium detail if possible, but I fully recognise it's a 3 year old laptop I'm dealing with.

Narcoticx2 · 26th September 2009, 9:23 PM

Thing is you will be forking over 3 to 4 hundred dollars for a 7800 or 7900 when for the same price you can grab a luch better 2nd hand desktop. Anyway, to upgrade the card, eBay is your best bet but be prepared to pay

Jonchilds · 27th September 2009, 12:22 AM

Yeah, the 2500M is around $350.

For a laptop with a 4670 in it I'm looking at $2200, and $2800 for an Alienware M15x with a GTX260M in it.

The way I see it is that the new generation I7 mobile CPU's will be out then, as well as a better generation of mobile GPU's.

I'm happy to pay $350 for a 6 month upgrade at this stage - I've got things other than a new laptop that could better have money spent on them at the moment.

Narcoticx2 · 27th September 2009, 8:42 AM

Well there are some other options to investigate - external graphics card? if its viable for you i can dig up the link, essentially uses expresscard slot to output at pci-e 1x to any gpu you want.

Jonchilds · 27th September 2009, 1:21 PM

Unfortunately I work on a mine site and it's important that I keep the laptop as a discrete unit rather than adding extra peripherals as it needs to be easy to pack up when I fly in/out.

I've found a Quadro FX3500M which seems to be about the best card that will fit into the unit.

Will this run on a 90W power brick coupled with a 35W processor, or will I need to find a 130W power brick to run without problems? My battery is screwed, so not interested in 'charging' the battery quickly.

26th September 2009, 7:50 PM	#1
Jonchilds Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perth Posts: 637	Upgrading Dell 9400 GFX Card I'm looking to upgrade my Dell 9400 to get me into 2010 before buying a new laptop as there's nothing particularly 'good' value at the moment in my eyes. I've got a 9400 with a 2.0Ghz/4MB Core 2 and a 128MB X1400 graphics chip. The best I've seen people slot into the 9400 has been a 512MB Nvidia 2500M which is nice, but have any better cards been fitted, even with some modification to the card/heatsink? Hoping to play Fear 2 or similar at low-medium detail if possible, but I fully recognise it's a 3 year old laptop I'm dealing with.

26th September 2009, 9:23 PM	#2
Narcoticx2 Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 4158 Brisbane, Queensland Posts: 3,931	Thing is you will be forking over 3 to 4 hundred dollars for a 7800 or 7900 when for the same price you can grab a luch better 2nd hand desktop. Anyway, to upgrade the card, eBay is your best bet but be prepared to pay __________________ 40+ Successful Trades :: Pixel Art Collaboration - Currently dead ... will be revived Intel Core i7 2720QM - 16GB DDR3 - nVidia Geforce GTX675M 2GB - 256GB Samsung 830 SSD - Ext. DVDRW - 95% Matte 1080p

27th September 2009, 8:42 AM	#4
Narcoticx2 Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 4158 Brisbane, Queensland Posts: 3,931	Well there are some other options to investigate - external graphics card? if its viable for you i can dig up the link, essentially uses expresscard slot to output at pci-e 1x to any gpu you want. __________________ 40+ Successful Trades :: Pixel Art Collaboration - Currently dead ... will be revived Intel Core i7 2720QM - 16GB DDR3 - nVidia Geforce GTX675M 2GB - 256GB Samsung 830 SSD - Ext. DVDRW - 95% Matte 1080p

27th September 2009, 12:22 AM	#3
Jonchilds Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perth Posts: 637	Yeah, the 2500M is around $350. For a laptop with a 4670 in it I'm looking at $2200, and $2800 for an Alienware M15x with a GTX260M in it. The way I see it is that the new generation I7 mobile CPU's will be out then, as well as a better generation of mobile GPU's. I'm happy to pay $350 for a 6 month upgrade at this stage - I've got things other than a new laptop that could better have money spent on them at the moment.

27th September 2009, 1:21 PM	#5
Jonchilds Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Perth Posts: 637	Unfortunately I work on a mine site and it's important that I keep the laptop as a discrete unit rather than adding extra peripherals as it needs to be easy to pack up when I fly in/out. I've found a Quadro FX3500M which seems to be about the best card that will fit into the unit. Will this run on a 90W power brick coupled with a 35W processor, or will I need to find a 130W power brick to run without problems? My battery is screwed, so not interested in 'charging' the battery quickly.