Laptop video card question.
 

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop that I've had for about two years. It is the main PC that I have for personal use. I recently picked up Civilization 4 (used to be a diehard Civ junkie) and found that my video card is inadequate to run it. :( I have a Radeon 7500 with 16mb of memory, and according to the game, I need at least a 64mb video card. I've done a bit of research online and it does seem that the video card is removeable (unlike many laptops), and they make a Radeon with 64mb for the Inspiron 5100. Anyone here done a swap like that? Anything to be wary of? I am fairly competent with minor hardware issues, I'm imagining this will be a pretty easy swap since the video card was made for that specific model?

This is what I'm looking at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...54&refid=store


Any feedback is much appreciated. :)

Shouldn't be too much of a problem, but if you haven't disassembled a laptop before be warned, they can be tricky little buggers. Looking at the card it would appear that it's designed to handle it, though for that money you may want to consider getting a PCMCIA card instead that will give you the acceleration that you're looking for.

My only real caution is that if it takes more than 2 screws in the bottom to get to the existing card and 2 screws to mount it be careful. These things don't like to come apart and are even less inclined to go back together, a map of what went where as you break it down is always a good idea.

I've had this one apart before......I believe the video card can be accessed through a small cover on the bottom, without actually splitting the laptop open. I'll have to verify that when I get home this evening.

Not sure about the PCMCIA card, or what would be compatible with my laptop, part of the reason I was leaning towards this card is because it was an option on this specific machine, so I can be reasonably certain it should plug and play with little tweaking. If there is a better/cheaper way that is as sure of a bet, I'm all ears.

After researching everything and checking out info from Dell, I went ahead and ordered it. We'll see what happens. :) Obviously I'll let you all know if it's a problem. :p

if you'll ever have to do the work yourself try taking a picture of how you did it step by step as you'll have some resources of putting it back as it can be tricky as posted above

Replacement done, works like a charm. :cool:


Was not a huge deal to do, the main thing was just getting it apart to get to it. I have a buddy with a bit more skill/experience than I that I had offer some help (and gladly took him up on the offer), but it was a 20 min job, not tough. :)