Come to think of it i look like a total newbie here got 8600GT nvr overcloak before
Don't even know how to dismantle my laptop to clean the dust inside
Any sites to recommend to guide noobs like me?

well..tht depends how much u oc..mostly ppl oc just for benchmark or can get slightly better in high requirement game..
like last time b4 i bought this laptop..i got 1 low end pc with 6600gt gc..hard for me to play NFS:Pro street in medium setting..but after oc then it playable..not so lag than b4..but still depends how much u oc

i think alex can guide u

to OC, you need an OC compatible driver. usually the ones from 175 and above will do. as Demonic Wrath mentioned, the newer the better. 177.83 will OC just fine and has physX enabled. you can grab them from the front page of this thread.

8600M GT core can generally OC to 600MHz without any issues. the RAM however, depends on the purchase date/ batch you got. from my personal investigation, any system purchased after JAN 08 will be able to OC above 500MHz (threshold 550MHz). system purchased before Jan 08 will have a less OC'able DDR2 RAM, and the limit is 500MHz and below. a trial and error will reveal the OC capability of your RAM.

eg. first set your RAM speed to 500MHz, the slowly increase 10MHz and run a full 3DMark06 test. LOOK for artifacts. if non, increase another 10MHz, until u reach 550MHz. the same goes to GPU core. start at 600MHz, then increase by 10MHz and so on (until 650MHz). when you reach those speed, i would recommend you to slow down a bit, increase by 5MHz, monitor the temp to make sure they are within acceptable range, and look for artifacts and system stability issues.

ok, OC issue aside, to open up your laptop, you need a philips head screw driver and a flat head screw driver or plastic tool AND some guts. start from the front plastic cover on the top (the one with power and MD button). look to the right, you'lll see a dent, insert the flat head screw driver and it will pop up. remove the plastic lid carefully, then work your way to the back. almost all the screws are located on the back. there are about 4-5 screws on the top front (after u remove the plastic lid). never use force, always double check if you've removed all screws. after removing all the screws, the front plastic lid should easily come off, and that goes to the LCD and hinge as well. ALWAYS make sure u removed all connectors and NEVER pull the wires with force. remove the keyboard next and you'll see the massive CPU and GPU heatsink. remove them and clean them up properly, reapply the thermal paste with high performance ones, and assemble your lappy back.

WARNING. OC and disassembling you laptop are NOT for the faint hearted. you can easily damage your laptop if you dont know what you are doing, so PLS PROCEED WITH CAUTION. nobody can other than you can take responsibility for the welfare of your laptop and actions, so do it at your own risk..

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Added on August 20, 2008, 2:03 amCONGRATULATIONS! you hit 5K MARK! very very impressive indeed!

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Aug 20 2008, 02:03 AM

just wondering ... Inspiron 1525 has no "Centrino" technology?

inspiron 1525 is Centrino system if you opt for intel wireless card when purchased.
if you select dell wireless card then no lor...

Yea, FYI, Centrino is just a package combination by Intel to make things easier for the user..

As long as it's Centrino technology, it means it has a Core2 Duo, Intel Wireless 4965AGN and Intel chipset.

to get the centrino branding, u need 3 components.
1. intel pentium m/core cpu
2. intel chipset
3. intel wireless card

missing any of the above will be disqualified for centrino logo. there's no specific model of any of the above 3 items you need to purchase. as long as it has an intel logo slapped on them, you'll get your centrino sticker. very often, dell bundles system with their own dell branded wireless card, which explains why you become "disqualified" for the centrino logo

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Aug 20 2008, 12:48 PM

Hmm, AFAIK there is Centrino and Centrino 2. Centrino is Santa Rosa platform while Centrino 2 is Montevina platform. You'll need a specific set of components to get the Centrino 2 branding.

yes u r right. centrino2 is a bit choosy, the "flexibility" is a bit limited. here's an example,

1. you can use any of the new 45nm penryn processors (not the santa rosa refresh cpu, but the montiviena ones with 1066 FSB)

2. chipset is fixed, which is the latest intel PM/GM45 chipset

3. any 5000 series intel wifilink wireless card.

Hello all Dell owners and (Dell employees lurking in this forum)
I just updated my blog on a story on Dell customer service. Feel free to come in and comment or share your experience

http://xcarpathia.wordpress.com/

Hey every1,

Just drop by to say something.....honestly, this 1520 is one of my BEST investment in a laptop. I mean....till now..(from 1 yr ago)....the 8600M GT is one of the best graphics for a laptop.

And it has served me well, I have traveled to the harshest places in the world...coldest to the hottest.

With the awesome 8600M, i could play all the latest games and do everything in between. Also the extended battery was a good deal. Could go on for 5-6hrs.

Well, that's it. Hope u guys are happy with your 1520 so far.

Shalom

Lol we are the remaining proud owners of 1520

the thing im not happy with 1520 is silver colour for keyboard part thr..lol

I see, so that's why I don't have "Centrino" cause they bundled mine with Dell™ Wireless 1395 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless Mini Card.

Thank you.

What about the battery, if I want to preserve it's power and leave it out of the notebook, is that alright to do so?
cause I'm connecting the power cable to the notebook (without the battery inserted) at home.

the place to rest my palm part started to fade off oredy the silver part.. haha.. and my wifi catcher seems to be not functioning no more.. lol..

true...should make the keyboard black color then it'll be damn nice....i put a cloth on the palmrest so wont fade so easily

my laptop still ok except on the power,batt,wifi,etc status light thr..got 1 skin protector..i tot don have skin at thr n try scratch abit but the skin came out..

whats the latest driver for our 8600m gt? i try to find at laptopvideo2go.com but coudnt....where to find it?

How to install the new drivers with the supplied modded inf? i'm lost.

The driver links are provided in the first page by alexnvidia.

How to install using modded .inf
1) Extract the driver to a folder. (Right-click on the EXE and choose extract) OR if you've downloaded from LaptopVideo2Go, then just double-click it to extract the files.
2) Go to where you've extracted the files to.
3) Replace the nv_disp.inf in the folder with the modded nv_disp.inf
4) Double-click the setup.exe in the folder.
5) Choose Install This Driver Anyway when it asks you
6) Reboot

This post has been edited by Demonic Wrath: Aug 20 2008, 08:56 PM