Pimp Your Dell Laptop with a GeForce Dual 8800M GTX Graphics Card
Video instructions included
By Alex Vochin, Technology Editor
26th of June 2008, 20:26 GMT
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Are you the proud owner of an XPS M1730 laptop unit from Dell, which you've purchased before January 2008? Do you want to enjoy better quality graphics on your portable rig? Well, in that case, you're in luck, because the company has just announced that now the GeForce Dual 8800M GTX card is also available as an upgrade option and not only for new machines, as it happened up until now.
As a blog entry by John Blain, Consumer & Gaming Liaison, on Direct2Dell, informs us, the card is now available for purchase directly from Dell, either as a standalone part or with an installation service. However, as expected, the prices for the two options are pretty different. Thus, as a standalone part, this thing will set you back around $1,100, while the professional service will cost you up to $1,218.99.
As Mr. Blain points out, the GeForce Dual 8800M GTX graphics card is actually able to boost the performance over the older Dual 8700M GT cards by no less than 49%, and can score a very impressive 13,496 3DMark '06 points. Furthermore, the same source informs us that Dell Labs noted an average of 43 frames per second in Crysis as opposed to 30 frames per second on an identically configured XPS M1730 with a Dual 8700M GT, and 21 frames per second on an XPS M1730 with the single 8700M GT. Which should be reason enough to try to get this thing, even if it's quite expensive.
Last, but certainly not least, here's the latest goody from Dell: a vlog (video log, or video guide) of how you can install the GeForce Dual 8800M GTX yourself. So, if you're the DIY type of person, watch the video (courtesy of Dell's Louis Bruno) and start working on the guts of your laptop. In the end, it will be all worth it.
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