Upgrade Dell Inspiron 6400 Graphics

[Jaunty]

I hope BG's great tech squad can help me out here.

Due to FFXIV's realise I've been looking towards upgrading my laptop, as dont really have the money to spend for just one game. Yes I know FFXIV sucks and such though I still want to try the full version.

Anyways, onto the question. Been searching online etc for a way to upgrade my Dell Inspiron 6400's graphics to find that its not possible without also changing the motherboard. My experiance with computers doesn't take me quite that far.

Found the perfect graphics card for a very fair price (ATI HD3650 DDR2 512MB) which I'm sure is more than enough for the game, the rest of my specs are fine too. Problem is that this graphics card requires a MXM connection.

So bg experts, can you help me? Ether need to know of a motherboard that will fit into my Dell Inspiron 6400 and a graphics card which will do the job, or a motherboard which will fit with an MXM connection.

Soldering etc I can do with ease so no problems there. I know I'll probably need to buy a new computer but figured I'd ask you guys first.

Thank you in advance!

[Olo401]

First thing - a Radeon Mobility 3650 will not play this game well. The minimum requirement for desktop PCs is a Radeon 2900, so even a normal 3650 wouldn't work well. A laptop version of any GPU is a deliberately stripped down version of their desktop counterpart, because it has to be able to run with less power and to put out less heat. You'd probably need to get a Mobility 3870 (or Geforce 9800GT-M) at the very least to get equal graphics performance to the desktop minimum.

Now onto your question. MXM is the universal GPU interface for laptops, so far as I can tell. Dell not using it is a really bad sign - not only will you have to change the motherboard, but probably most of the internal components as well since a different board means different power requirements, different cooling requirements and configurations, etc. Also there no guarantee another board (even another Dell board) is gonna fit into your laptop's case. Your best move here, and without question the least expensive option, is to just get a new laptop that has a decent GPU in it.

(sry I was editing when you replied.. I missed where you said this was for a laptop.)

[Jaunty]

This is a laptop?

Yes sorry.

Also, it may just be easier to upgrade my Medion Akoya P4010 D (which is one of those desktop touch screen things) but cant find any info what-so-ever on if its even possible to upgrade its graphics card.

[Isiolia]

Laptops don't really work that way with motherboard upgrades. Sometimes they have multiple versions of the motherboard, IE, one with Intel graphics, one with discrete, but most of the time not. Either way, they tend to be model-specific.

[Jaunty]

First thing - a Radeon Mobility 3650 will not play this game well.

Even if it runs on minimum specs at a decent standard I'd be ok to try it. Then I can decide wither to splash out on a new machine for a single game or not.

Your best move here, and without question the least expensive option, is to just get a new laptop that has a decent GPU in it.

Figured as much unfortunalty, just nice to have someone tell me as much so I can stop kidding myself that it was possible. So thank you to both yourself and Isiolia.

What about the Medion Akoya P4010 D I have, is that upgradable do you know? Cant find much info online unfortunatly. I know its specs arn't so great but all meet minimum except the graphics card (I'm think anyway, didn't want to turn this into a FFXIV spec thread). Never opened it up as didn't want to damage anything when it works fine and only 6 months old, though if I knew the card was changable I would.

[fishstix]

Looking around, it has an nvidia 9100M which is an integrated chip, so you won't be able to pop in a new video card or anything. That desktop is practically a laptop and will run into the same upgrading problems.

[Jaunty]

Looking around, it has an nvidia 9100M which is an integrated chip, so you won't be able to pop in a new video card or anything. That desktop is practically a laptop and will run into the same upgrading problems.

Drat. Thanks for finding out for me.