Upgrade Lappy or New Lappy?

[88keys]

SO I have a Dell Vostro 1700 that I really like. I've had it for several and I'm unsure about whether I wish to part with it.

It's current specs are:
C2D 1.6GHz
2GB DDR2
nVidia 8400m GS 256MB
160GB 5400rpm hitachi deathstar HDD


And I wish to upgrade to:

C2D T9500 2.6GHz
4GB DDR2
nVidia 8600GT 256MB
128GB Samsung 830 SSD

The Samsung $830s are on sale at $99 so that's a no brainer, the total cost of upgrades is $230 which of course is much cheaper than a budget laptop and should be able to keep up with todays most low to mid end lappys. The only other expensive upgrade is the CPU at $90 My main reason for wanting to hold on to my current system is the high res screen (1900x1200) and I'll be damned that I can't find any consumer grade laptop with a high res screen whether stock or purchasable as an upgrade. That was why I bought my laptop way back when. I would have figured higher res screens would be common by now, but they seem to be even less common unless you get a business oriented laptop which is going to have a Quattro chipset so thats out of the question...

Sorry I got ranty, but anyway, I do some light/moderate gaming on this laptop mostly WoW and Dolphin. Also watch HD video when traveling and stuff. And of course it's running Win7

 

[lakedude]

SO I have a Dell Vostro 1700 that I really like. I've had it for several and I'm unsure about whether I wish to part with it.

It's current specs are:
C2D 1.6GHz
2GB DDR2
nVidia 8400m GS 256MB
160GB 5400rpm hitachi deathstar HDD


And I wish to upgrade to:

C2D T9500 2.6GHz
4GB DDR2
nVidia 8600GT 512MB
128GB Samsung 830 SSD

The Samsung $830s are on sale at $99 so that's a no brainer, the total cost of upgrades is $230 which of course is much cheaper than a budget laptop and should be able to keep up with todays most low to mid end lappys. The only other expensive upgrade is the CPU at $90 My main reason for wanting to hold on to my current system is the high res screen (1900x1200) and I'll be damned that I can't find any consumer grade laptop with a high res screen whether stock or purchasable as an upgrade. That was why I bought my laptop way back when. I would have figured higher res screens would be common by now, but they seem to be even less common unless you get a business oriented laptop which is going to have a Quattro chipset so thats out of the question...

Sorry I got ranty, but anyway, I do some light/moderate gaming on this laptop mostly WoW and Dolphin. Also watch HD video when traveling and stuff. And of course it's running Win7

Where did you find a mobile nVidia 8600GT 512MB part so cheap? And DDR2 so cheap?

Total cost $230 - $99 SSD - $90 CPU leaves $41 for RAM and a video card??

 

[88keys]

eBay,

and i mistyped it's 256MB version not the 512MB version. The 512MB version goes for $150+ on eBay.... And that's just not worth it considering my 8400m gs plays wow on low res (1440x900) at mid settings, so if I can at least get the res up and use the same settings with the 8600m GT I'd be very happy

 

[MontyAC]

I would recommend getting a new laptop. One with either an i5 or i7, a dedicated card and an SSD.

 

[lakedude]

I would recommend getting a new laptop. One with either an i5 or i7, a dedicated card and an SSD.

That would be very expensive, especially with a high res screen.

 

[lakedude]

eBay,

and i mistyped it's 256MB version not the 512MB version. The 512MB version goes for $150+ on eBay.... And that's just not worth it considering my 8400m gs plays wow on low res (1440x900) at mid settings, so if I can at least get the res up and use the same settings with the 8600m GT I'd be very happy

So you are getting a 256MB video card and DDR2 RAM for $41?

You sure the GPU will fit in your machine?

If you really can get all that for $230 it might be worth it.

A real high res gaming laptop with a good modern GPU will come in at or north of $1k...

 

[88keys]

So you are getting a 256MB video card and DDR2 RAM for $41?

You sure the GPU will fit in your machine?

If you really can get all that for $230 it might be worth it.

A real high res gaming laptop with a good modern GPU will come in at or north of $1k...

Yes, checked all of this. The GPU is a Dell part and The T9500 is the highest clock CPU that my lappy will support. I've heard of ppl modding this to make the BIOS support a T9800 @ 2.93 GHz but I'm not about to do all of that.

And yeah everything else is as stated.

 

[lakedude]

The CPU and SSD will be huge increases in speed and responsiveness. Of course it will not be in the same league as a new i7 but I suspect you know that.

Too bad you can't shoehorn just a little better video card in there...

 

[88keys]

Yeah, it'll take better vid cards, but none are to be found at a decent price. I know I'm not gonna bring this lappy back to the high end league as it once was when I bought it, but in my searches, I just cant seem to find any lappys out there with high res screens under $1,000. I'd rather chip away at some more credit card debt before I spend $1K plus on a lappy with the specs that I'd want.

I might keep my eyes peeled on ebay and if I manage to find a 512MB 8600m GT for less than $50, I'll probably get it.

 

[N4n45h1]

If you're fine with the form factor of your laptop, then this sounds like a good idea. You will save loads compared to buying a new computer and still gain the majority of the performance benefits, which come from the ssd.

 

[88keys]

Got the parts yesterday, installed it this morning. I can say this is the best $230 I've ever spent on upgrades. Obviosuly the SSD can take most of the credit, but increasing CPU speed by 70& and doubling the RAM definetly had an impact..

And the video card exceeded my expectations, Playing at mid/high settings under 1680x1050 resolution with 30-35 fps which is respectable for 5 year old mobile video card, it can even handle 1920x1200, but the FPS isnt as steady and dips below 25 during intense load which I can't handle. But I think I like 1680x1050 better on the 17" screen anyway.

I even scraped off the thermal pad and applied arctic silver 5 which is said to be a major cooling improvement. Might try a modest overclock later.