The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Any help is Appreciated.

    Discussion in 'Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems' started by willis23, Oct 7, 2010.

  1. willis23

    willis23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hello all,

    First post here. I am looking for some help regarding my gpus. I currently own an M17-R1 alienware laptop. Specs are as follows:

    CPU: Intel X9100 3.06GHz
    GPU: ATI Mobility HD 3870 X2
    Ram: 8GB PC3-8500 DDR3
    HDD: 128 GB Samsung SSD
    OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit

    Now I have been on the phone with Alienware a few times, they don't seem to have their poop in a group. One guy tells me I can't upgrade my GPUs, the next guy says I can with 4870's but no Nvidia stuff. The guy after that says that Nvidia GTX 9800 will work along with 4870's. I just want to know what my best option is that will work at this point. I also have read that dual 260m's would work as well..... So much confusion. Please help me clarify if at all possible. Thank you all very much in advance.

    Willis
     
    willis23, Oct 7, 2010
    #1
  2. Baka

    Baka (・ω・)

    Reputations:
    2,228
    Messages:
    2,111
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Ah~ The usual "Tech support guys are clueless" :D

    I think you're able to upgrade to any GPU as long as your motherboard and BIOS supports it ._. I'm not exactly sure for the M17x though...
     
    Baka, Oct 7, 2010
    #2
  3. willis23

    willis23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Mine is actually an M17-R1 a series previous to the X model, just wanted to clarify that :)

    Does anyone know if at GTX 280 single card will work in my system? Thanks again.
     
    willis23, Oct 7, 2010
    #3
  4. Laeadern

    Laeadern Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    144
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Laeadern, Oct 7, 2010
    #4
  5. Marvie100

    Marvie100 On a Mission

    Reputations:
    394
    Messages:
    1,221
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    55
    You cannot use the GTX 280 as the BIOS won't support it, the best you could hope for is to find some 4850's on ebay but your chances are slim to none as they were limited in their production of them.
     
    Marvie100, Oct 7, 2010
    #5
  6. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

    Reputations:
    357
    Messages:
    2,346
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    +1 to what Marvie100 said

    unless you know how to add suport for a card in bios
     
    granyte, Oct 7, 2010
    #6
  7. willis23

    willis23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    hmm, well that sucks. Guess I will have to get a new one next year then for sure. Damn laptops and their lack of options :)
     
    willis23, Oct 7, 2010
    #7
  8. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    613
    Messages:
    6,705
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    if u get a clevo , no lacks of options... but u get an ugly laptop :D
     
    sean473, Oct 7, 2010
    #8
  9. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

    Reputations:
    357
    Messages:
    2,346
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    that alienware would have suported it only dell eated it with thier m17x 1 month after release
     
    granyte, Oct 7, 2010
    #9