Old C640 + New 128 MB ATI Radeon Mobility 9000

Hi everyone,

I have a 4 year old C640 with a 32MB ATI M7 video card. Plainly stated this cards sucks. I have talked to a dell representative and he informed me that my C640 MBD should be able to accept up to 128 MB of Video Memory. Therefore I was wondering if it's at all possible to sodder on the ATI M9 into its place. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Thanks,

~Manogamez

Opening up a laptop and then stuffing everything back into place is daunting enough for me, given the heat problems one can create. Soldering on these "pancake" boards, in my opinion, is something only a technician has the competence to do. I am not sure what you want to do on this laptop (play games?), for the most part, when you want to "upgrade" them, it really means that you have outgrown them and need to get a new one. And, if you don't have the money for a new one, keep in mind that the alternative you are contemplating might be heading you in that direction should it fail.

Your Dell representative misinformed you, I'm afraid.

About your only chance of running a half-decent graphics card with a C640 is to get a Dell C-Dock 2 and a compatible PCI card and boot from the Dock graphics to an external monitor.

I use a PCI FX5200 128Mb with my Inspiron 4100 (modded to C610 spec.) and C-Dock 2. Runs Far Cry reasonably well.