Alienware Area-51 m15x Video Card Compatibility

Ok, so I just bought an Alienware Area-51 m15x on eBay. It has an GeForce 8600m in and I want to upgrade it. Ive seen the threads with people who have put GeForce 260m and 280m in their laptops. But I want to know if I can put other video cards in and it will work. Here is a link to MXM 2 cards on eBay: can I use MXM 3 cards?
-
mxm 2, Computer Components. Great deals on eBay!

I want to use the 160m GTX card as its the cheapest. I would also like to try other cards like the 4870, but I heard someone say it wont work. I would also like to try the 250m. Basically any card that will fit and work. Please let me know of any cards that work in this laptop.

Thanks, Nick

 

the gtx 280m, in this page, but its really hot and expensive
Alienware m15x upgrade guide

 

sorry you can't use mxm 3 type b card won't fit. man for those prices, i would just try to sell the lappy and buy a newer one.

 

the 260m 2.0 in mxm upgrade costs around 350 $, i dont say that its cheap, but if he wants it will be a performance increase, and if he had 450$ the 280m is the best he can put in his laptop

 

i wouldn't recommend doing that upgrade, the thermals on the area 51 model is real bad, if your planning on using it with a laptop cooler than maybe.

 

he has the 8600, he can put the 8800gtx that is designed to work on the area 51 m15x and the performance will increase a lot

 

yeah 8800 or even 9800 would be good but looking at the prices, i don't think he would like to go that route, hahaha

 

yes, the money is always the problem, and nvidia cards are always expensive, there was no option to take an ati card with the area 51 m15x?

 

wasn't there an option for a 3 series card, too long ago so can't remember.

 

at this point, your suggestion to sell and buy a new laptop is the best option XD

 

hahahha yeah you would expect the prices of the card to drop by now but they seem to actually cost more, hahaha

 

ya, se convierten en piezas de museo y los precios suben como la espuma

 

to the op i saw some cards on nbr market place that could work, so check it out.

 

inao whats the intel paper clip baby hemi edition and why you have a m18x? XD

 

hahah just having fun bro. M18x-3 = M15x hahahha
the paper clip thing is an inside joke for babyhemi, i paid him extra 1 cent and he gave me an intel paper clip. lol

 

hahahahahahahaha i understand XD

 

Hi, I don't really want to buy a new laptop, I like this one. But, I don't want to put much money in it. Is it possible for me to put an MXM ii 9600m GT or the 9650m GT? They're pretty cheap on eBay. I not an extreme gamer, so 30 FPS on Far Cry 2 is good for me. Is mxm 2 even compatible? I heard it uses mxm 2.1

Here's a link to MXM 2 cards: http://computers.shop.ebay.com/Comp...s&_ipg=200&_sop=15&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1514

Thanks

 

I just called alienware to see how much a HD 3870 would cost. Its $450. BUT, the representative from alienware said I could put a HD 5770 in it for only $200? Is this true?

 

u can find 3870s cheaper than that i got one a month or so back for $200 from a fourm member, just search around, and ask around

 

Odd that alienware are trying to sell it for $450 now, i'm sure that it was £120 over here in the EU last time I checked.

 

if you'r extremely lucky the 4850 could fit to but GL finding them

 

so whats the fastest card i can put into this rig?

 

From what I understand the fastest Official video card is the 9800m GT. Some people have put the GTX 260m and 280m in, but the HDMI plug won't work. Also the 260m will run hot and the 280m will run REALLY hot.

I think the order is like this: 8600m<8700m<HD 3870<8800m<9800m<260m<280m

 

8800m and 9800m are the same card just rebadged

 

Actually the 9800m is almost, but not quite, a re-badged 8 series. The 9800m GT score 9416 points on 3dmark06, while the 8800m GTX score 9194. These score are the average. The 8 series cards are also very faulty. The 9 series rarely fail. The 9 series games better and they fixed the GPU so it doesn't go bad quick.

The 8 series is so faulty, I would never buy a laptop with one in it. I think its something with the faulty soldier. Most 8 series cards only last 1-1.5 Years, some longer some less.

 

Yeah your right, i had the 8800M GTX in mine and what a mistake, if only i knew ........ I had it for 19 months and it just knackered one day with no warning, i then got the 9800M GT from alienware as it was still in warrenty and then i seen the amazing power of the 280M GTX. I had, and have still got the 9800M GT card, and to be honest i could barely tell a difference in performance. I then went and bought the 280M GTX from MXM-upgrade.com, fitted it and WOW, what a performance burst. It now kills all the games i got, including battlefield bad company 2 which doesn't work i beleive with mobile graphics cards of 512MB of ram or less.

But the 9800M GT would definatly give a huge increase and is the top line card still supplied as a top of the line replacement for the area 51 m15x.

 

Hey I am in the same boat here lol! I have an older M15X also. So far on ebay I have found a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 MXM for $249 and a 9800M GTS MXM for $325. One question guys does it matter on the 3870 if you are just going to put one in, if you install a Master or a Slave version? They have one of both and are asking same price.

Thanks

 

the 280 must be making this laptop a furnace

yes the 3870 M or S mathers cause if you can't get a system to flash the slave to master your system jsut won't boot

 

Yeah it does run hot but I keep it cool, after playing modern warfare 2 on max settings, it was reaching temps of 87' degrees which to be fair isn't much hotter than the 9800M GT I used to have in there.

As far the choice of cards you need a master card. I prefer Nvidia graphics to be honest, and your best performance choice is the 9800M GT.
I've just had a look on eBay and can't really find a cheap one. Note though that the 9800M GTS is not as good as the GT!

Depends how deep you can your hand in your pocket!!!!!

 

only 87 tha's cooler then my 4850 ion my m17

 

What temps are you getting in yours? I never know really what actually is a killer temp, so what are you hitting after a few hours?
The hottest I've got my m15x so far is 89'. I tend to have cool air circulating around, so I never generally reach that temp often!!

 

sc2 can get me to 107 XD but generaly i hove around 90c with cfx

an killer temps is over 100 or when your computer crash

 

Crikey that is hot, mines never got that hot. And a few people reckon that the 280M GTX isn't really a great choice for this notebook, its done nothing but make it sh*t loads better.
That along with my other hardware im sure this is just as quick and as powerful as the newer models????