Can someone help me?

I just received a M18x R1 yesterday. I got it for free from a rich lady - It's virtually new, and it's been completely replaced once or twice due to warranty. It seems a bit dated, and I was wondering if I should sell it or upgrade it. If I have to upgrade it, I would prefer upgrades that aren't too expensive because if they are, I might just be better off buying a newer laptop right?

Here are the specs -

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core I7 2670QM @ 2.20 GHz (Quad Core)
Ram: 8GB DDR3
Graphics: Dual ATI AMD Radeon HD 6900M (From Dell)
Storage: 690GB Seagate Harddrive

I couldn't find anything on the graphics cards - Which really annoys me.

Also, if I have to sell it, how much should I ask for it?

 

Damn.....I could have used a free M18x. I'll trade you a M15x with a 780M

 

Anyone? ;_;

 

You can probably sell it for a good dollar and then add a bit more to get into something with more powerful graphics. The r1 sre very nice laptop, but even the best new laptop needs a good ssd to make it quick. If you dont mind selling stuff then sell it. Would it hurt your rich lady friends feelings if you sold it?

 

Probably - I'll most likely keep it. But yeah, I was thinking an SSD would do it alot of good. Will any SSD work? I was thinking a Samsung 500GB SSD from Amazon. Looking at the specs posted and other than the SSD (Going to be the first thing I get for this laptop), what should I upgrade next? I can't find anything on the graphics card, which makes me wonder how old/obsolete it is, and the low GHz on the processor makes me a bit dubious on how good it actually is, despite it being an I7. Any advice/knowledge? Thanks.

I was thinking a Nividia 780M, but I dunno if there are better/more cost-effective options out there.

Although, if I were to sell it... how much are we talking here?

 

unfortunately the 780M is the highest you can go...you might be able to get more juice out of it by overclocking them though.

 

At least you have 2 6900 series cards. The hd7900 series is a step up and fully compatable and places like aliexpress they are getting cheaper all the time. I think that it would be better to just sell it and buy a machine with better graphics or just get a desktop for high end graphics. The cpu isnt going to make a lot of difference. The sdd with give the most seat of the pants speed increase for normal day to day use. Yes the 500gb sammys are a great buy, if you bought 2 and put them in raid 0 it would be very speedy. Only problem with raid is if a single drive goes bad u lose all data.

 

Is there anywhere I can buy mobile graphics cards (780m, 880m) cheapish? I've looked around and every card, even if it's inferior to another card, are all around the same price. It really makes no sense to me. Shouldn't a worse card cost less and vice-versa?

 

I wouldn't do a raid as a samsung 850 evo or pro is fast enough on its own. Just doing the hard drive is super easy as the Samsung's come with cloning software. Going to a SSD will make your computer feel much more responsive. Though its not going to help with games other than the loadtimes. I'm sure you could find some cards on ebay or order them through someone like eurocom. FYI if your not going to overclock them then the amd m290x cards are almost as fast as the 780m's and ALOT cheaper. Also your processor turbo's at 3.1Ghz and that's what is going to run at under load. Its more than adequate. You could also overclock it if you feel the need.

 

I have both 780M and R9 M290X fors ale.

 

I've got 680m SLI setup I could sell, which would push me to the 980 SLI setup I have been thinking about.

BTW, why is an R1 locked out at 780m but an r2 can go to 980m ?

 

M18x R1 does not support UEFI, M18x R2 does. UEFI required to run 980M SLI because the legacy BIOS VGA support is incomplete.

 

Thank you for the explanation!

 

I don't mean to slow everything down but I think its a good question ask... what do you want your computer to do? And is it doing it? For example if all you want to do is play CS:GO or Dota2 at 60fps, an ssd will be a nice upgrade in general usage but you might be wasting money upgrading your gpus/cpu, but, if you got a 144hz @2560x1440 monitor to power with AAA titles you will need the the best gpus you can get your hands on or another computer..... just something to think about.