Dell Precision M4800 best GPU and upgrades?

[ncurses]

Hello everyone, i have been eyeing a Dell Precision M4800 on Facebook Marketplace for quite some time, before i pull the trigger i would like to know what is the hardest this machine can be pushed? AFAIK when i last looked into it the best GPU someone managed to put in this was a T2000, has this changed? Besides that if anyone could enlighten me on display options i would be very happy. Thanks!

[panda_zzz]

There hasn't been any major news since then. The latest confirmed working upgrade is the HP T2000 MXM. I didn't risk using the 4060 from x-vsion - it runs too hot and has too much power. A 3050 6GB option from X-Vision has recently become available in MXM-A form, but I haven’t ordered it yet, although it will most likely work.
As for displays, it depends on the connector on your motherboard - LVDS or EDP?

[ncurses]

59 minutes ago, panda_zzz said:

There hasn't been any major news since then. The latest confirmed working upgrade is the HP T2000 MXM. I didn't risk using the 4060 from x-vsion - it runs too hot and has too much power. A 3050 6GB option from X-Vision has recently become available in MXM-A form, but I haven’t ordered it yet, although it will most likely work.
As for displays, it depends on the connector on your motherboard - LVDS or EDP?

as far as i know all non 4K display models are LVDS correct? in that case it would probably be LVDS.

[panda_zzz]

3 hours ago, ncurses said:

as far as i know all non 4K display models are LVDS correct? in that case it would probably be LVDS.

No, not necessarily - there was also a model with an FHD EDP panel. To be sure, you need to check what kind of display is installed in the laptop.

[JadeRover]

15 hours ago, ncurses said:

as far as i know all non 4K display models are LVDS correct? in that case it would probably be LVDS.

 

There is some (understandable) confusion regarding that.

 

M4800 has 3 different motherboards with 2 different QHD capable cables (giving 4 lanes of eDP required for running a QHD/4K display):

 

MOTHERBOARDS :

 

-one "early" one (2013) with LVDS connector (JLVDS1) for the standard display - LA-9771p - WITH  JEPWR1 connector SOLDERED  motherboard ! has option for a QHD eDP display using the appropriate LVDS QHD cable. See following picture :

 

 

- one "early" one (2013) with LVDS connector (JLVDS1) for the standard display - LA-9771p - WITH JEPWR1 connector NOT PUPULATED on motherboard ! has no option for a QHD eDP display UNLESS you modify this motherbard by adding the missing JEDP connector and 2x100nf capacitors. Then you can use the appropriate LVDS QHD cable. See following picture :

 

 

- one "later" motherboard (2014) with eDP connector (JEDP1) for the standard display - LA-9772p - has option for a QHD eDP display using the appropriate eDP UHD cable. See following picture :

 

 

CABLES :

 

- "LVDS QHD" cable -> it has extra wires going to JEPWR1 next to the motherboard LVDS connector. See picture below :

 

- "eDP UHD" cable -> it does not has extra wires going to JEPWR1 next to the motherboard LVDS connector. See picture below :

 

Schematic extract showing the wiring of jEPWR1 that brings aux edp signales requires for eDP display. The 4 lanes of eDP are merged on the JLVDS1 connector.

 

 

TLDR :

- If you have the LVDS "not QHD capable" motherboard : you can't upgrade to QHD/4K unless you soldered the following to the missing spot on the motherboard : connector + 2x100nf capacitors. Then you can upgrade your standard LVDS display to eDP with the "LVDS QHD" cable

- If you have the LVDS "QHD capable" motherboard, you only need the 'LVDS QHD" cable, however I believe that all the QHD capable LVDS motherboards had a QHD screen out of the factory

- If you have the eDP motherboard, you only need the "eDP UHD" cable. I think this one is harder to find than the LVDS QHD cable unfortunately.

 

Hope this clears things up !