15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

[dmill89]

Re: 15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

Heh, I think you're being a little TOO paranoid here.
You shouldn't have to completely give up on GPU's due to the RoHS / solder bump issue, especially when you have a MXM GPU which you can just replace if it fails... keep another one for backup just in case. Plus you get the benefit of better driver performance and no glitches like I've written about even if you decide to significantly undervolt it for longevity.

^This, especially since those Precisions use a separate heat-sink/fan for the GPU (with intake/output on the opposite side of the laptop) so it isn't like you're putting more heat into the CPU cooler either. My Precision M4600 uses the same basic design as the M4800 and I've never had an issue with it. They run switchable graphics too and the Quattro only really kicks in when I run something graphically intense, it runs on the integrated intel graphics for normal web-browsing, MS office, etc.

[mockingbird]

Re: 15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

Heh, I think you're being a little TOO paranoid here.
You shouldn't have to completely give up on GPU's due to the RoHS / solder bump issue, especially when you have a MXM GPU which you can just replace if it fails... keep another one for backup just in case. Plus you get the benefit of better driver performance and no glitches like I've written about even if you decide to significantly undervolt it for longevity.

Maybe you could somehow rewire the outputs direct to PCH though, assuming there's required traces? Sounds like an annoying job though, unlikely to be possible now that I think of it.

Yes you make a good point of course... Just to clarify, the output to the internal LCD would be fine, it's the external outputs which wouldn't work... I also considered just getting an E6540 with the Radeon 8790m, and then desoldering the GPU... But there are probably other things on the motherboard which have to be modified as well. And this was because a good E6540 without the 8790m but with the 1920x1080 LCD was becoming difficult to find... Mind you, this would have had to been a machine where someone customized it at Dell with all the bells and whistles, but then for some reason chose NOT to add $20 or so for the Radeon 8790m... Luckily, there was this one.

...and it had accidental protection until the end of 2018... but getting Dell to transfer the warranty is a nightmare.

[dmill89]

Re: 15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

Otherwise, the only other option is the 800mhz FSB T9300 which is expensive.

The T9500 is also 800mhz FSB, but they are even more expensive and difficult to come by than the T9300.

[ratdude747]

Re: 15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

T9300s do show up cheap once in a while. I paid under $50 ($30) on a eBay auction for one. I got another from a University surplus sale for $25 in a nvidia ridden (bumpgated) Latitude D630; it also had the agn WiFi, 1440x900 Lcd and Bluetooth options, which I combined with a beat up low-features GMA d630(also a 25 USD score and gave to my dad who still uses it to this day.

Point here is to shop around and also check for parts laptops... You might get lucky.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: 15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

Nowadays Intel CPUs and chipsets are failing left and right, especially the 4th and 5th generations - so the point of a discrete GPU being less reliable than integrated is now moot.

[Topcat]

Re: 15" laptops - A 2017 Odyssey

T9300 would be the max for my M6300, as it does not support 1066FSB. I'd have to move up to a M6400 for that, which isn't a bad laptop either. I found plenty of cheap T9300's in china, none in the US.