Dell D630 modifications

I have modified my computer Dell D630 by adding to it some extra elements.D630 is very similar to Dell Latitude D620. They are difficult to distinct on the first look. One of the differences is motherboard. that in D630 works on FSB 800 MHz and in D620 FSB it 667 MHz. Because of that different processors work with them. D620 has different location for security  cable and has IR (infra red) port while D630 has different socket in that place.Most parts fits between those computers, but mother boards can not be switched between them without modifying the casing in place where IR port is. Palm rest can not be changed too, because screws are located in different places.D630 as well as all it variants have very resistant magnesium alloy body.Based on Latitude D630 following versions were build:
  • Reinforced (semi rugged) D630 ATG (All terrain grade) – housing base is the same. It has only in addition rubber sockets covers. LCD is fixed in far more resistant cover and has elastic mountings. Screen has outdoor daylight visibility due to 500 nits bright LCD. Apart from that screen is protected with gel layer that increase its resistance to hits. Computer has red colour lamps to light up keyboard.
  • Rugged D630 XFR. Attested – different special housing also from magnesium alloy, waterproof laptop, protective rubbers, transport handle, flaps for ports. Screen similar to ATG version – bright for outdoor use, similar lighting by red LEDS. Elastic mounting of LCD and port seals much better than in ATG. Extra socket for external GPS and Wi-Fi antenna. Water resistant keyboard. Available versions with backlit keyboard and touch screen. Finger prints reader in standard configuration.
  • Workstation version – Dell Precision M2300 – for working with high requirements graphic applications like AutoCad. In standard LCD resolution 1440 x 900 pixel (WXGA+). Different design of the cover, dedicated graphic card Nvidia Quadro XF 360M 128Mb.
  • D631 with Radeon graphic card  and Athlon processor

D630 Was produced in variants with Mobile Intel GMA X3100 orNVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M graphic card. Nvidias cards from that period often had a defect and broke after few years. That was due to change of soldering technology to lead less tin. So D630 and M2300 that had Nvidia graphic chips had graphic card failures often. With Intel graphic chips D630 did not has actually any failures. It is very resistant version. ATG and XFR were available only with Intel graphic variant.

Nvidia has produced chip without this failure (from year 2009 onwards) – motherboards where defect was eliminated should have no problem with graphic card.

1) Memory and processor

Latest version of BIOS support 8GB RAM memory and better processors. Condition to use 8GB RAM memory is 64 bits operation system. I installed Windows 7 Professional 64Bit. Latest bios for D630 is A19 and for M2300 is A11. Most powerful processor that can be installed in those laptop after BIOS upgrade are dual core C2D T9300 (2,5Ghz), T9500 (2,6Ghz) and X9000 (2,8Ghz).

At my laptop I have installed X9000and 8GB RAM.

2) Graphic card.

All graphic cards in D630 series are integrated with mother board. They can be only switched by changing whole motherboard. I have installed main board from Dell Precision M2300 with Nvidia Quadro FX360M graphics – the strongest that could be inserted into this computer. Chip is from 2011, improved version, so there should be no problem with graphic card failures. Chip is identical in Quadro NVS 135M and Quadro FX360M. Improved chips can be recognized by production date – with year and week of the year and also Nvidia logo looks different – frame of letters instead of full letters.

3) Hard drive

I have installed 1TB hard drive with 7200 RPM speed

4) Finger prints reader

I have installed finger prints reader that was available as variant for this laptops.

5) SD card reader

In laptop there is no memory card reader.  I have installed PCMCIA SD 17in1 card reader by CONRAD. Extension card hides completely in PCMCIA port and is no sticking outside   housing. SO I have SD card reader

6) Modem WWAN – GSM i GPS

I have installed WWAN 5530. I was able to activate GPS thanks to drivers package for Windows 7 with GPS support. I have installed AutoMapa. All works very well. But it was not simple to achieve as 5530 modem drivers on Dell D630 on default do not support GPS, but I managed to make it work.

7) WiFi card

Instead of standard card I have inserted one with 3 antenna inputs instead of 2. Extra antenna allows to use additional WiFi frequency. Antennas are from ATG version of the laptop (same like in XFR version), they are bigger than in standard D630 Latitude. Improvement of WiFi signal range is significant.

8) Mother board extension

Part of mother board  – with 2 USB ports and LAN and telephone line sockets and microphone is called I/O board. In Dell D630 version XFR this board has touch screen and back lit  of keyboard connected to it.I have found that this board (it can be detached from motherboard) there are 3 extra internal USB ports, that other versions of D630 do not have. So I switched I/O board in M2300 main board to one from D630 XFR getting possibility to extend laptop further. New board is a couple of millimetres longer than the old one so I had to grind alloy housing to fit it in.

9) Covers and backlit

I have put on rubber port covers and screen cover from D630 ATG. There are red led lamps installed in the cover to lit the keyboard. I prefer this solution to back lit keyboard. Red colour of the light is supposed to be optimal for eye focus in dark environment.

10) LCD Screen

Cover from D630 ATG was needed by me to be able to install LCD with touch screen from D630 XFR. I connected touch screen to internal USB available due to motherboard extension. LCD in D630 ATG and XFR are thick due to extra light source that provide high brightens. It would not fit in regular D630 LCD cover. Thanks to that I have a touch screen in my laptop.

Dell LCD reinforced with Dupont gel have disadvantage that gel can flow out from it on the edges leaving air bubbles under protective surface glass.  I filled in bubbles with transparent LCD glue that is hardened by UV light.   This glue smell was very similar to glue in LCD so I assume that it is similar substance. I injected the glue with syringe. Sides of LCD I have covered with car wind shields glue to protect it from further outflows. There is no trace of the bubbles left.

 

11) WebCam

Using free USB ports on I/O board from D630 XFR I connected to laptop web camera of 1,3 MPixel resolution. I have placed it below LCD bezel and drilled holes for camera LED and camera lean. Webcam is from Samsung laptop. It required drivers, but now it works flawlessly. Basically any camera from laptop can be connected via USB plug. What I required was small size and good resolution of camera.

I have also installed webcam in another D630. This time camera from Lenovo with 2MP. The problem was lack of space under bezel for such a  big camera. To make place for it I have moved antenna from top to side of the screen. I have checked signal and there was no decrease of WiFi signal force. I had to grind cover a little bit to have sufficient space for antenna at the side. Drivers for camera are from Lenovo web page.

Alternatively in another laptop still, I have don it differently – without moving antenna to the side.  antenna is in fact strip of foil with flat wires on it. It is rolled up on plastic core. It is possible to unfold this foil and grind down plastic core so antenna will become more flat and camera can fit on top of it behind LCD bezel .

12) Cooling system

I have noted that laptop heats up significantly. After disassembly I noted that a lot of dust was gathered between dan and radiator. It was not visible before disassembly. Nevertheless having another sets of cooling system from another D630 I have added extra cooper heat sink pipes on top of original ones to distribute heat more efficiently. Temperature of processor and graphic card has decreased by 20 degrees.

 

I also added to this laptop backlit keyboard that can be seen by clicking here.

10 Replies to “Dell D630 modifications”

  1. Very nice custom build,
    I was wondering if it’s possible to install a Dell Precision M2300 motherboard into the D630 XFR shell casing and still have it functioning as if it was Dell Precision M2300 with all the bells and whistles.

    Cheers.

  2. How did you get the copper heat pipes off of the spare heatsink? I’m trying to figure it out but I don’t want to damage it. (So I can have the second set stacked on top)

  3. Very nice work! I love these D-series Latitudes, I have 2 ATG 630s, 2 D630s and a D620 which no longer works (MLB failure). I hope to be able to keep using them for many years. Thank-you for posting – your work is an inspiration!

  4. Nice Review and a lot of work. What you have did probably was your dream. Can I ask why you left this laptop and didn’t sell it, does this laptop has some unique thing that you stay with?

    The reason I am asking is that I own Dell D620 and also want very big upgrades, cause this laptop I need for diagnosting my old second car Bmw e-34 model. And I am not planning to sell this car probably never. And thinking to use this laptop other than this car in normal life. So for me it is very interesting why you have done such a big job. Till this time I spend probably 20 hours of reading about this laptop to have an idea how much maximum I can do an upgrade.

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