Dell Inspiron 9300

[SassygalNC]

hi I have a Dell Inspiron 9300 and it has a geforce go 6800 graphic card. I need to upgrade it to run the online 3D game I play in. I am a bit confused and have read the forums and haven't found out what I'm suppose to d/l and install. any info would be much appreciated. if there is a website with the type of driver i need plz post it to me. and thanks bunches in advance to you.

[Fabrice Roux]

What is wrong with those yankees keyboards??? Are they all missing both the SHIFT and RETURN keys?

I have the same hardware the best driver you can find is the latest Dell driver... 84.30. Head over to Dell support page and install it.

If you need more juice you can overclock your card... the Geforce 6800 Go has a LOT of overclocking headroom... when I say lot... I mean LOT. If you want to overclock you might want to use Rivatuner and only overclock when needed. You just select the UBER POWER profile you created and enjoy the extra speed.

ps: my 6800 Go defaults are 290/590... my base overclock setting 375/860.

[Guest Guest]

375/860???

Did you do a voltage mod?

I get a best of 370/770 on my i9300.

The best benchmark I got to date was with 77.62

[Fabrice Roux]

Typo... 760 MHz for the RAM

[SassygalNC]

What is wrong with those yankees keyboards??? Are they all missing both the SHIFT and RETURN keys?

I have the same hardware the best driver you can find is the latest Dell driver... 84.30. Head over to Dell support page and install it.

If you need more juice you can overclock your card... the Geforce 6800 Go has a LOT of overclocking headroom... when I say lot... I mean LOT. If you want to overclock you might want to use Rivatuner and only overclock when needed. You just select the UBER POWER profile you created and enjoy the extra speed.

ps: my 6800 Go defaults are 290/590... my base overclock setting 375/860.

Im sorry but I'm not understanding what is overdocking? Sorry but I don't know much about this stuff. I'm the type that needs step by step directions LOL!!!

I do want my online game to work alot better than it is this is why I;m asking how to do this cus I have updated it thru the dell site but it hasnt updated since april and it would be nice to have something better and newer

tyvm

[Fabrice Roux]

I do want my online game to work alot better than it is this is why I;m asking how to do this cus I have updated it thru the dell site but it hasnt updated since april and it would be nice to have something better and newer

The current driver that Dell offers is probably the best you could get... the performance of your games is probably at the max your graphic card can give you.

There is nothing called MAGIC BULLET in the driver world. The GF 6800 Go is old enough so the driver handle it at its best.

Now you need to throw us some bones here... which games gives you hard time? If you want more frames per seconds... your best move will be the game menu called Video settings.

ps: next time try to put all the useful information in the first thread.

[rwm32]

Hi SassygalNC,

Thought I'd catch up with you here rather than on the Dell forum. Before you let Fabrice persuade you to get into overclocking (OK, so that's probably not any time soon...), I wonder if you may be getting some performance degradation from overheating on your 9300 -- the CPU could be throttling back to reduce the heat output if it thinks it's getting overly warm.

So the question is: if you start with a cold machine, do you get initially good performance in your game, with a noticeable slowing down after a few minutes? If so, overheating may come into it.

But if the performance is poor right from the word 'go', then it's probably not caused by overheating -- in which case, forget this post!

If you think it might be overheating, there are some options to make the 9300 run cooler: have a look on the Dell forum by searching "Inspiron 9300 overheating".

[SassygalNC]

Hi SassygalNC,

Thought I'd catch up with you here rather than on the Dell forum. Before you let Fabrice persuade you to get into overclocking (OK, so that's probably not any time soon...), I wonder if you may be getting some performance degradation from overheating on your 9300 -- the CPU could be throttling back to reduce the heat output if it thinks it's getting overly warm.

So the question is: if you start with a cold machine, do you get initially good performance in your game, with a noticeable slowing down after a few minutes? If so, overheating may come into it.

But if the performance is poor right from the word 'go', then it's probably not caused by overheating -- in which case, forget this post!

If you think it might be overheating, there are some options to make the 9300 run cooler: have a look on the Dell forum by searching "Inspiron 9300 overheating".

Hiyas rwm32

well sometimes it does it from the start. I do have a chill pad also but at the moment it has stopped working and its only about 2-3 months old. But then again it does run worse when it gets hot but mostly its from the first get go

glad to see u here also :)

The current driver that Dell offers is probably the best you could get... the performance of your games is probably at the max your graphic card can give you.

There is nothing called MAGIC BULLET in the driver world. The GF 6800 Go is old enough so the driver handle it at its best.

Now you need to throw us some bones here... which games gives you hard time? If you want more frames per seconds... your best move will be the game menu called Video settings.

ps: next time try to put all the useful information in the first thread.

the game I play is an online game called secondlife and can be found at www.secondlfe.com

[rwm32]

Sounds like you could get at least some improvement by cooling things down. Can you get the chill pad working again?

Two other things to do:

Download and install a utility called I8kfangui from here. This will let you see what temp your CPU and possibly also your video card and hard disk are running at. It will also let you set the temp at which the fan comes on. I have mine set to come on at 50C. Without I8kfangui, the temp gets up to 70C before the fans kick in on my I8100, which is too hot. Don't know how hot the 9300 gets before the fan comes on -- Fabrice will know, I'm sure.

Buy a can of air from a computer store and blast air through the fan vents to clear out dust.

Hope this helps.

Edited June 17, 2006 by rwm32

[Fabrice Roux]

Don't know how hot the 9300 gets before the fan comes on -- Fabrice will know, I'm sure.

*cough*Mine never went past 60°C... I believe it never reached high speed... it rarely turns off. I believe it will not turn off before november. Ambient is way too high... 26°C right now in my living room.

I'll try to find the temps where the fan goes in high speed... then back to low speed.

the game I play is an online game called secondlife and can be found at www.secondlfe.com

Well I checked the website... my guess is that the game is REALLY poorly programmed and using it in full screen full resolution is too heavy.

The screenshots feature a lot of prostitutes...

Since the 3D seems SO BAD... you might have a FPS cap from a poorly implemented netcode.

[SassygalNC]

*cough*Mine never went past 60°C... I believe it never reached high speed... it rarely turns off. I believe it will not turn off before november. Ambient is way too high... 26°C right now in my living room.

I'll try to find the temps where the fan goes in high speed... then back to low speed.

Well I checked the website... my guess is that the game is REALLY poorly programmed and using it in full screen full resolution is too heavy.

The screenshots feature a lot of prostitutes...

Since the 3D seems SO BAD... you might have a FPS cap from a poorly implemented netcode.

PROSTITUTES???? OMG lol well im no prostitute!!!

the game has alot of different things for ppl to do in there as in u can role play with guns and stuff or u can build buildings and all kinds of things..yanno its just like real life but this is more of a role playing game i guess you can call it that. lol

Sounds like you could get at least some improvement by cooling things down. Can you get the chill pad working again?

Two other things to do:

Download and install a utility called I8kfangui from here. This will let you see what temp your CPU and possibly also your video card and hard disk are running at. It will also let you set the temp at which the fan comes on. I have mine set to come on at 50C. Without I8kfangui, the temp gets up to 70C before the fans kick in on my I8100, which is too hot. Don't know how hot the 9300 gets before the fan comes on -- Fabrice will know, I'm sure.

Buy a can of air from a computer store and blast air through the fan vents to clear out dust.

Hope this helps.

Ya I have can of air. I use it alot. I have no clue why the chill pad quit working. Ive tried a few diff things but still wont work so guess I am gonna have to get a new one

Oooooh something i forgot bout..my laptop runs on a wireless router...could that be a culprit too???

[rwm32]

Oooooh something i forgot bout..my laptop runs on a wireless router...could that be a culprit too???

Yes. If you don't have a strong signal from the router, then the speed of the wireless connection will drop.

Most wireless routers have ethernet ports as well, so you could try connecting direct to the router via ethernet cable to see if the performance is better. If it is significantly better when you're on a wired connection, then maybe there's something we can do to improve the wireless speed.

However, despite anything else he may have said (!), take what Fabrice says about the technical aspects of the game seriously. With this sort of 3D rendering, slow frame rates are pretty common. There may be no real fix to your problem....

[SassygalNC]

Yes. If you don't have a strong signal from the router, then the speed of the wireless connection will drop.

Most wireless routers have ethernet ports as well, so you could try connecting direct to the router via ethernet cable to see if the performance is better. If it is significantly better when you're on a wired connection, then maybe there's something we can do to improve the wireless speed.

However, despite anything else he may have said (!), take what Fabrice says about the technical aspects of the game seriously. With this sort of 3D rendering, slow frame rates are pretty common. There may be no real fix to your problem....

I will try the direct connect and I know ive talked to some of the other members in game and they have said that laptops and especially wireless internet makes the game run laggy but I was wanting to upgrade the graphics card cus they have just updated the software and said we needed to update our card sooo that is main reason i started the post hoping i could find a newer version to update

thanks for all your help i do so appreciate it

[rwm32]

I will try the direct connect and I know ive talked to some of the other members in game and they have said that laptops and especially wireless internet makes the game run laggy but I was wanting to upgrade the graphics card cus they have just updated the software and said we needed to update our card sooo that is main reason i started the post hoping i could find a newer version to update

thanks for all your help i do so appreciate it

Well, we kind of got sidetracked on the heat issue, I guess. There is no reason for not trying a new driver.

Go to this page and download the 84.21 driver and the Pieter's modded INF file.

Note that this is Bill's recommendation and is in fact earlier than the 84.30 driver from Dell!!!!!!!

Alternatively, go to this page and select Release 90's or Release 80's and drill down until you find a driver version you like. Then download it and the modded INF file that goes with it.

Unpack the driver by running the file you downloaded. This will create a new folder with the driver files in it.

Copy the downloaded INF file into the folder created in the previous step.

Uninstall your existing driver (Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs). Reboot.

Go into the folder containing the new driver files and the new INF file, and run Setup.exe.

If nothing else, this should give you the option to overclock your card (Dell disable this option in their version of nVidia drivers). Post back here if you want to try overclocking.

Edited June 19, 2006 by rwm32

[SassygalNC]

Well, we kind of got sidetracked on the heat issue, I guess. There is no reason for not trying a new driver.

Go to this page and download the 84.21 driver and the Pieter's modded INF file.

Note that this is Bill's recommendation and is in fact earlier than the 84.30 driver from Dell!!!!!!!

Alternatively, go to this page and select Release 90's or Release 80's and drill down until you find a driver version you like. Then download it and the modded INF file that goes with it.

Unpack the driver by running the file you downloaded. This will create a new folder with the driver files in it.

Copy the downloaded INF file into the folder created in the previous step.

Uninstall your existing driver (Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs). Reboot.

Go into the folder containing the new driver files and the new INF file, and run Setup.exe.

If nothing else, this should give you the option to overclock your card (Dell disable this option in their version of nVidia drivers). Post back here if you want to try overclocking.

hey thanks agian im gonna try this too

but i want u to know what the heat temp got up to...it got up to 61 in the game and around 47-50 ish when not in game. is this good or bad??

also sorry to ask but what does it mean to overclock??

k am editing this cus i was just in game and it went up to 66 and as soon as i logged out it went down to 47 just thought i should let u know how its doing temp wise

thanks

Edited June 20, 2006 by SassygalNC

[rwm32]

hey thanks agian im gonna try this too

but i want u to know what the heat temp got up to...it got up to 61 in the game and around 47-50 ish when not in game. is this good or bad??

k am editing this cus i was just in game and it went up to 66 and as soon as i logged out it went down to 47 just thought i should let u know how its doing temp wise

Those temps don't sound too bad -- 66 as a peak temperature isn't really overheating, though it's a bit warmer than I would want my system. So the only thing I would suggest is that you could set the fan to come on at around 55 or 60 and go off again at 45 or so.

also sorry to ask but what does it mean to overclock??

thanks

Overclocking is a way of running a processor and / or memory at a higher speed than the manufacturer set. In this case, it means changing the clock speed (speeding up) the graphics processor and the video memory on your video card. This gives you a performance inprovement. However, overdoing it can damage / destroy your hardware.

Have a look at the FAQs; otherwise, Fabrice will know much more about overclocking on the 9300 (see his earlier post in this thread).

[Fabrice Roux]

Have a look at the FAQs; otherwise, Fabrice will know much more about overclocking on the 9300 (see his earlier post in this thread).

The Geforce 6800 found in the Inspiron 9300 (it can be found elsewhere too) has a lot of head room for overclock. First of all it's default 3D speeds are GPU 290 and RAM 590. Instead of the more "standard" 300/650.

The second point is that the tough brother of the 6800 is the 6800 Ultra which is EXACTLY the same chip with a better cooling. The press release of the 6800 stated that with proper cooling it could reach 450/650. Which happens to be the default speed of the 6800 Ultra.

A lot of OEM that used the 6800 boosted the chip to speeds in the 350... mine runs steadily at 375.. I haven't got a chance to try and test the limit of my card.

If you are interested in overclocking... be sure to use I8kfanGUI to force the high speed fan when 60ish temps are reached... and RivaTuner to overclock your card only when needed.

Profiles are your friends with those 2 apps. Normal profile for default behaviour... high speed for steroid mode.

EDIT: added links.

Edited June 20, 2006 by Fabrice Roux

[rwm32]

Thanks for that, Fabrice. Do you have a link for SassygalNC for downloading the RivaTuner application?

[Fabrice Roux]

Thanks for that, Fabrice. Do you have a link for SassygalNC for downloading the RivaTuner application?

I edited my previous post to include the links to the 2 apps... but there is something called Google that would allow to find the software in one click. (in Firefox select word right click "Search web for ...")

Edited June 20, 2006 by Fabrice Roux

[SassygalNC]

I edited my previous post to include the links to the 2 apps... but there is something called Google that would allow to find the software in one click. (in Firefox select word right click "Search web for ...")

ok you guys I want to try all this but I'm trying to get my nerve up to do it LOL,, Im afraid im very afraid LOL

actaully i'm just weary of it messing up my system yanno. But if it would help the performance that would be worth it

i do appreciate you guys for all the help and explanations

:) :)

[Fabrice Roux]

There you go... I just posted a small How to smartly overclock a laptop procedure.

[SassygalNC]

Well, we kind of got sidetracked on the heat issue, I guess. There is no reason for not trying a new driver.

Go to this page and download the 84.21 driver and the Pieter's modded INF file.

Note that this is Bill's recommendation and is in fact earlier than the 84.30 driver from Dell!!!!!!!

Alternatively, go to this page and select Release 90's or Release 80's and drill down until you find a driver version you like. Then download it and the modded INF file that goes with it.

Unpack the driver by running the file you downloaded. This will create a new folder with the driver files in it.

Copy the downloaded INF file into the folder created in the previous step.

Uninstall your existing driver (Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs). Reboot.

Go into the folder containing the new driver files and the new INF file, and run Setup.exe.

If nothing else, this should give you the option to overclock your card (Dell disable this option in their version of nVidia drivers). Post back here if you want to try overclocking.

Hiyas

can you explaihn what the release 80's and 90's are? Please forgive me as this is foreign to me lol.. Ive not d/l and install any of this yet. I'm confused to which items i should d/l...which do you guys recomend? and should i overclock?

I',m afraid to do this because i'm afraid it may screw my pc up and make things worse. What do you think?

[SassygalNC]

There you go... I just posted a small How to smartly overclock a laptop procedure.

Great thanks!!!

I just posted about that and didnt even see your post so you read my mind!!

[rwm32]

can you explaihn what the release 80's and 90's are?

This just refers to the way the various different releases of drivers are stored on this site. For example: the most recent driver from Dell is release 84.30. That would be a Release 80's driver, since the first two digits are eighty-something. I'm using release 77.77, which is a Release 70's driver.

As I posted earlier, there is no 'right' driver for your card, and so you have to make a decision on which driver you want to use, based on what other people with similar video cards have experienced and posted in this forum. One such recommendation comes from Bill, who suggests using 84.21.

However, you don't have to go by this recommendation. You could download a more recent (for example, ninety-something) driver and see if it improves things for you. If it doesn't, you can always uninstall it and try a different one. I'm afraid that there is a large element of trial and error in finding the optimal driver for your exact requirements.

[Fabrice Roux]

As I posted earlier, there is no 'right' driver for your card, and so you have to make a decision on which driver you want to use, based on what other people with similar video cards have experienced and posted in this forum. One such recommendation comes from Bill, who suggests using 84.21.

I don't agree with you... there is a 'right' driver... Dell's latest official for the 9300 is the 84.30 which is rock solid. It has PureVideo, Oblivion, PowerMizer and all the bits and chunks expected in a serious driver. In fact the only thing missing is the new 91 series advanced PureVideo filterings.