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    Upgrade or Buy a New Notebook?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by amark92, Apr 24, 2009.

  1. amark92

    amark92 Newbie

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    Hello! I'm new to the whole DIY Notebooks premise and I've been wanting to upgrade my current notebook for awhile now. I have been debating whether if it would be worth my time and money to buy a new notebook or just upgrade my current notebook.

    The main purpose of my notebook is for gaming. I have games such as Empire: Total War and Call of Duty 5 but they barely run on the minimum.

    I am currently running a Dell XPS M170 17" LCD Display, 2 gigs of RAM, Intel Pentium M processor 2.00 GHz, and a Nvidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX video card. I'm not sure what kind of motherboard I have but I will probably have to get a new one. My OS is XP.

    If I decide to upgrade my current notebook, I was wondering what kind of parts would I need and how would I go about doing it. I have never fully upgraded a notebook (other than the video card and RAM) and I am not sure if I need special sized parts for notebooks.

    Please post any suggestions or guides on how to do a full upgrade of a notebook. Thanks!
     
    amark92, Apr 24, 2009
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  2. Convoluted

    Convoluted Notebook Evangelist

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    You can't upgrade laptops (too much). Best bet would be to bite the bullet and go for a new one.
     
    Convoluted, Apr 24, 2009
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  3. amark92

    amark92 Newbie

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    Do you think I should buy a cheap laptop and upgrade it or just go the whole route and buy an expensive customized laptop such as the Dell XPS M1730 or the Alienware Area-51 m17x?
     
    amark92, Apr 24, 2009
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  4. i.like.pie

    i.like.pie Notebook Consultant

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    10 char ftw
     
    i.like.pie, Apr 24, 2009
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  5. Tippey764

    Tippey764 Notebook Deity

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    You might be able to upgrade that laptop to a 7900 im not to farmiliar with dells though.
     
    Tippey764, Apr 24, 2009
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  6. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    Besides the obvious (to the rest of us anyway) fact that laptops have a very limited upgrade potential, an 'upgraded' cheap laptop will have no warranty.

    You can get a fast dual core, 16" screen, fast ATI graphics, etc, for around $600-. If you spend $300 for a cheap/used machine and spend another $300 for cpu and memory (never mind the un-upgradeable graaphics) you will have nothing more than a really expensive $300 laptop.
     
    newsposter, Apr 24, 2009
    #6