Dell Latitude D610 Modding

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by thing.1989, Sep 10, 2013.

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  1. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    im currently in the process of modifying my Dell Latitude D610 Laptop for gaming purposes. i have done all i can on the software side of things.

    i use Game Booster to make certain programs the only thing running.

    i use as my operating shell the Emerge desktop so even more resources can be used for actual programs

    i use firefox as my main browser.....

    im guessing by now i try as much as i can to use lightweight programs that use very small CPU loads.

    i know that the highest "supported" CPU clock processor replacement only runs at 2.26 GHz but i found one that will run at 3.02Ghz that i will install

    i already ordered a SSD drive replacement for my computer that i can upgrade simply by replacing the SD cards that will be installed to serve as the hard drive. through this the highest disk space i can achieve through a single drive is 512GB. if i get an adapter to stick in the modular bay i can achieve 1TB worth of space.

    im also going to experiment with going beyond the 2GB ram limit since there are 2GB DDR2 ram chips out there online.

    i also want to get a dedicated video card for my device
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Genuine Dell/ASUS ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 128MB DDR2 DVI VGA S-Video Video Graphics Card For Systems with Full Height PCI-Express x16 Slot Part Numbers: WX085, ad-rv610le
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    thats what im gonna try to buy october 2013

    so what do you guys think? any advice?:confused
     

    Attached Files:

  2. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire



    There may be issues because of Front Side Bus speed and overheating.

    [QOUTE]
    i already ordered a SSD drive replacement for my computer that i can upgrade simply by replacing the SD cards that will be installed to serve as the hard drive. through this the highest disk space i can achieve through a single drive is 512GB. if i get an adapter to stick in the modular bay i can achieve 1TB worth of space.[/QUOTE]

    The computer may not be able to access all of it.

    You can install up to 4GB of PC-2 6400s RAM but you'll only see 3 - 3.5GB.

    Do you have a Torx screw driver to remove your current graphics card from the cooling unit? What about thermal paste for when you put in the new graphics card (if it fits)?
     
  3. Colemanguy

    Colemanguy MajorGeek

    I think you would be far better served building a new pc part by part.
     
  4. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    From the point of view of someone who refurbs e-waste and builds "Frankenputers", you're asking for trouble. Even with the latest BIOS update from Dell, there is no guarantee that the Unicode to support the alternate CPU will be contained therein. The other issue is if booting from a card is even supported by this laptop. And, as mdonah pointed out the cooling solution will probably be inadequate.

    You'd be better off selling it to someone who really only needs it for light duty use, plus the money you were going to use for parts, and get something affordable which would do the job.

    Like this:

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8149551&CatId=4935

    ~ or ~

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5524207&CatId=4935
     
  5. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    Swagless

    You obviously dont know my budget do you. trust me if i could afford a $400 to $500 laptop i would be modifing that instead.

    no my budget is $200 or less. thats all i can spend with my social security because the rest goes to bills
     
  6. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    How long did it take you to save the $200 for upgrades?
     
  7. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    i didnt have to save the money, my budget is $200 a month for spending on whatever
     
  8. Puppywunder58

    Puppywunder58 Master Sergeant

    I guess I don't understand how you're going to upgrade the video card in your Dell Latitude D610. These laptops usually have a soldered in (non-replaceable) graphics chip.
     
  9. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    Clearing The confusion

    i will use the mini pci slot basicly
     
  10. Puppywunder58

    Puppywunder58 Master Sergeant

    Somehow, I don't think it's gonna work quite the way you think it will. The card you are thinking of using goes into a desktop computer, not a laptop.
     
  11. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    Video Card Research

    well maybe you can do some research on what would be the best for my situation possibly? :)
     
  12. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    OK.

    So could you scrounge up $500 in six months? Not to be the harbinger of bad news, but laptops aren't really designed to be upgraded like a desktop. When a computer boots, it's designed to look for a hard drive, or possibly a PCI slot in some cases to find the operating system. I don't know of any as old as your Dell which will boot an operating system from a card reader.

    Also, your operating system has a memory addressing limitation as it is 32-bit, not 64-bit. You will probably only be able to use 3/4 of the memory if you install 4GB, AND if the motherboard can only recognize 2GB, it will be a waste of a memory module. In addition, the graphics are not upgradeable on this laptop board. You will be hard pressed to find a PCMCIA graphics card of any sort, if at all. The other issue will be if you ordered the right SSD drive. According to the images in the service manual, the hard drive in this laptop is EIDE, not SATA.

    Do you need the mobility of a laptop, and what kind of gaming will you be doing?
     
  13. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    i know that it is an ide drive so i bought a specific adapter for the drive basicly that will trick the computer into thinking that it is a hard drive. i just like to make sure that i have the means to go work on stuff if i need to show off at a college my car models so i can get help on learning on how to use zmodler2 for instance
     
  14. mdonah

    mdonah Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I totally agree with the mekanic and puppywonder.

    I've got a Dell Precision M70 (AKA Latitude D810). I had to replace the system board because of problems with all 4 of the USB ports on the original system board. While it wasn't too difficult to do with the service manual in front of me, I soon realized that there was no way to "upgrade" the workstation internally with the exception of a bluetooth card and faster RAM modules. All other "upgrades" were done using USB connectivity and/or a modular bay caddy.

    Yes, you can install 4GB of RAM. But should you need to re-install Windows for some reason, you'd have to pull the "B" module because Windows won't install with 4GB of RAM in your (or my) computer. You could put the "B" module back in after Windows is installed but, as stated previously, you'd only have 3 — 3.5GB useable.

    You can boot from USB storage, but not from an SD card reader. It would need to be a USB connected CD/DVD ROM or a Flash Drive.

    As far as the modular bay, Dell says the maximum size of a modular bay hard drive is 40GB. But, I've used an 80GB drive in my Precision M70 without issue.

    I've got an nVidia Quadro FX Go 1400 video card with 256MB of RAM in my Precision M70. It is a PCI-16 BUT, the connector sits at a right angle to the board and the cooling unit is attached to the card with 4 Torx head screws not Phillips head like the cooling unit for the CPU.

    I guess what we're all trying to say is that the Latitude D610 is not upgradeable in the way you want it to be. It was never designed to be a "gamer".
     
  15. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    thank you

    well i will upgrade this as much as i can and get what all will work on here. im also thinking of possibly buying a latitude d610 without the screen and having a shop modify it to make it into a processing module that i can attach to the bottom of the machine to boost the computers processing capabilities
     
  16. Puppywunder58

    Puppywunder58 Master Sergeant

    I think you'll get more bang for the buck if you just buy a new laptop instead of spending all that money on schemes that may not work quite the way you expect/wish they would.
     
  17. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    It is easy to totally upgrade a Dell computer. You start by upgrading the case to a nice Antec. Then you replace the motherboard with a nice Gigabyte or Asus board, and populate it with a new Intel or AMD CPU (depending on the motherboard), and Crucial or Mushkin RAM. If serious gaming is a requirement, you install a decent AMD or NVIDIA graphics card. Install a decent Samsung Pro SSD, then you calculate your power requirements and replace the Dell branded PSU with a quality PSU from Corsair or Antec.

    Finally, you buy a new Windows license and you are good to go. ;)

    *************
    9/11 Never Forget!
     
  18. thing.1989

    thing.1989 Private E-2

    Devious Skeme

    well i did see a slightly better dell latitude d620 for the same price i got this one for. that one has a core duo processor. i could always make this computer into a video game concole unit or gut the whole innereds and use the space to install some rasberry pi units and hook em together and do my computing that way. or i could do both basicly.
     
  19. Colemanguy

    Colemanguy MajorGeek

    You can only polish a turd so much, save your money and buy a decent pc piece by piece, i feel like if you had the ability to make a few a rasberry pi units work togather and do your computing that way, you wouldn't really be asking for advice here on mg's about a laptop like you are. Good luck in what ever you decide.
     
  20. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek


    If you are asking your PC to utilize graphics intensive software, your best bet is to save some money, and sell your current laptop for about a hundred bucks instead of screwing around with dated hardware.

    :major
     
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