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    Area-51 m15x + ATI Mobility 4870

    Discussion in 'Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems' started by benfclark, Sep 19, 2011.

  1. benfclark

    benfclark Notebook Guru

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    Hey.

    Been looking into a replacement for my Area-51 m15x's tanked 8800M GPU. I have my eyes set on the Mobility Radeon 3870 due to the better driver support, however I have been told that the later 4870 mobility is compatible with the laptop. Can somebody verify this?

    Thanks in advance.

    -Benfclark-
     
    benfclark, Sep 19, 2011
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  2. kobe

    kobe Notebook Virtuoso

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    Do you know if the 4870 is mxm 3.0 connectors? If it does then it would fit in the m15x gpu slot. If you test it on the m15x it would be awesome. I, too, have the m15x - r1 with the ati 3870 card. And I'm hoping to resurrect this laptop with a stronger card.
     
    kobe, Sep 19, 2011
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  3. SkittlesXD

    SkittlesXD Notebook Consultant

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    The Mobility 4870 is MXM 3.0, you can find them on MXM upgrade but isn't the Area-51 M15x MXM 2.1? Best card you can get is the Mobility 4850 I believe.
     
    SkittlesXD, Sep 19, 2011
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  4. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

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    ya 4850 only in mm 2.1
     
    granyte, Sep 20, 2011
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  5. benfclark

    benfclark Notebook Guru

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    The 4870 is indeed a 3.0 card. I was thinking about that when I was offered the GPU. I'll get some verification from the seller (a high-rep forum member) about whether or not the card will work. If not I will look for a 4850.

    Thanks for your advice so far.

    @Kobe: I will certainly make a thread with test results for the card, inform other m15x users of whether it is a solid upgrade choice.
     
    benfclark, Sep 20, 2011
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  6. kobe

    kobe Notebook Virtuoso

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    Good luck and thanks for giving it a try ;) . I hope it works out. Let us know if it works so that we can bring the m15x back to life!
     
    kobe, Sep 20, 2011
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  7. benfclark

    benfclark Notebook Guru

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    Thanks, I am yet to acquire the card, but I will set to work as soon as it arrives. I'll make a thread if the results are favourable, listing temperatures and benchmarking results, as well as a few video game performance tests.

    Yeah, it's a great machine, and despite the fact that I had a multitude of problems during its life, it performed spectacularly otherwise. It even exceeded the performance of a Quad-Core Crossfire Desktop in many areas.
     
    benfclark, Sep 20, 2011
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  8. kobe

    kobe Notebook Virtuoso

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    How did that happen?
     
    kobe, Sep 20, 2011
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  9. benfclark

    benfclark Notebook Guru

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    I have no idea...
     
    benfclark, Sep 21, 2011
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