Buying new Vostro 1500 tommorow!

I am finally buying a Vostro 1500 tommorow! For $679 [Plus tax...]

1.6GHz Core2Duo
1GB RAM
120GB Hard Drive
Nvidia 8400m GS GPU
Webcam
Vista Home Premium
Wide Screen XGA+ LCD [1440x900]
dvd+/-rw

I am going to upgrade the ram to 2gb and the video card to a 8600gt 512mb mxm II soon...but for now, what can I expect to play on it?? I hope the weak 8400 wont be to bad..
I cant wait for this thing to arrive, Ive been looking for a laptop for a long time now.

 

Uhh...you can't upgrade it dude. The 8400 GS. You're gonna be stuck with that. Or you're going to be spending far more than...well way too much.

And I assume you ordered over the phone?

 

Upgrading the VGA later will cost you a lot and probably void warranty. Get it with the notebook (you’ll be definitely lose money upgrading later). And I don't think they'll come up with anything better than a 8600GT for it anyways.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even though DELL cards are upgradeable with a compatible DELL card, I don’t think they conform to MXM standard (I think it’s a DELL’s customized version of MXM)

 

I thought you couldn't replace/upgrade Notebook GPU's, period... Guess you learn something new everyday, lol.

Anyways, the extra 50 bucks it costs to upgrade the 8400M GS to a 8600M GT is WAY worth it if you're planning on gaming with that notebook. With the 8600M GT, you're getting twice the VRAM, twice the unified pipelines (32 instead of 16) and I think twice the bandwidth (128bit as compared to 64bit, if I'm not mistaken).

EDIT: Looks like you can replace the Graphics card in the Vostro according to the Manual. I don't know where you can find a compatible Notebook GPU, though.

 

Almost all the notebook models have NON upgradable graphics cards. But luckily some DELL notebooks (ones with dedicated cards) are among the few exceptions. MXM (Mobile PCI Express Module) is a standard introduced by nVidia to support upgradable / replaceable graphics cards. Here is a list of notebooks supporting MXM cards.

However, AFAIK DELL is using a variant of MXM for their nVidia cards, therefore even though they are upgradable they are not compatible with other MXM notebooks or cards. With DELL, cards that are made available as options on a specific notebook can be changed or upgraded. eBay is a good place to start looking.

 

Thanks for the info PhoenixFx . +Rep.

I'll definitely look into upgrading my MXM graphics card one a 9600M GS/GT comes out, hehe...

It's a horrible shame that Dell doesn't use the standard MXM protocol, though... Might be tricky finding a 9600M for my Vostro 1500 when the time comes... Hmm.