Laptop Video Upgrade

captainstupid writes "The friendly folks over at GotApex? have a walkthrough of an interesting hack. They upgrade a Dell Inspiron's viedo card! It's cool to see the heat transfer mechanisms that they use to pull the heat away from the CPU as well as the GPU. Another fun way to void your warranty!"

Comments

Upgrades

[BurritoWarrior]

Now if we could only get them to upgrade their web server...slashdotted already. :(

The Dell "Brand"

[dkresge]

I've learned to never, ever, use my 7500 as an actual "lap top" -- after a while the hair burns off, your skin starts to melt, and you can read the word "Inspirion" backwards on your right leg. Interesting early engineering solution to dissapating heat though.

It's wonderful to see they're handling the CPU/GPU thermal load much more intelligently in the 8500.

Re:The Dell "Brand"

[DTC]

Quoth the parent poster: "I've learned to never, ever, use my 7500 as an actual "lap top" -- after a while the hair burns off, your skin starts to melt, and you can read the word "Inspirion" backwards on your right leg."

DUDE! What's that funny smell?

Bullshit.

[dbarclay10]

The article isn't that bad. The Slashdot post sucks. The entire "hack" can be summed up by this quote:

The process was not even that difficult - four screws on the bottom of the laptop removed the keyboard and three more and you were able to get the video card off of the motherboard. Right next to it lies the socketed CPU which can also be changed.

The rest of the article details the performance difference. This isn't a hack - it's a standard upgrade. The article isn't that bad, but the Slashdot editors have SORELY misrepresented it.

(And before you tell me that the Slashdot editors didn't write that blurb, keep in mind that I know that. The writer of the blurb, however, did not post it to the front page. EDITOR. The job of an editor is to proof-read the submisson for accuracy and legibility.)

Re:Bullshit.

[Phexro]

Also, upgrading the video card on a Dell laptop will not void the warranty. It's considered a user upgrade, just like if they upgraded the RAM.

I'd provide a link, but I can't find it right now.

Old, laptops with nice displays...

[luiss]

Any info out there on converting laptop LCD into something with a VGA or DVI plug? I got some old rather worthless or broken laptops with nice displays that just seem like such a waste.

Mirror

[zsazsa]

Mirror here:
http://kwak.polpo.org/mirror/gotapex/

I had to do some quickie html hacking but it mostly works.

Old news...Sorta

[Stonent1]

People have been doing this since last year. The 8x00 series systems all share the same video card interface. No you don't void your warranty (the delltalk moderators have confirmed this) however it is strongly advised that you replace your old card if you have to send it in for service. One guy reported his GF4GO card disappeared after it being serviced.

To order the card call Dell's spare parts line. More information is available in the Delltalk forums at http://delltalk.us.dell.com Please be smart and use the search function before asking a question that is answered 9000 times already. We'd appreciate it. I'm known as Stonent in the delltalk forums.

update re slashdotted:

[Alien54]

They did manage to post this notice

• Update: Yeah, the site is a little slow...We've been Slashdotted. Emergancy Personal are standing by, should the server in fact explode into lil' tiny bits. Which would be kinda cool to see.

I'm actually voting for a meltdown into a slag of molten ash, with the scream of twisting metal collapsing under its' own weight.

but I'm willing to consider other options ....