M17R1 needs more life

My m17r1 needs to get me through another year. Im looking into upgrading with a few bucks so Im thinking of going from Vista to Windows 7. And also adding an SSD into my second hard drive bay. My question is what steps would you recommend first second third. I realize with going to an upgraded operating sytem my drivers are going to change and I'm certain they are still available somewhere here on the web. Would it be wise to take a new SSD install fresh Windows 7 Pro and then drivers? Or go with the upgrade version. I'd like to stay under 200 dollars wich would give me about 128 gb of SSD and upgraded windows 7. I m looking through the threads but there is a lot to gather. If you reply I appreciate the comments. I have liked this machine very much and would love it even more with two 4850s hehe

 

Most (if not all) vista drivers will work on win 7 as well since they run on the same Kernel. As long as you are going from vista-32 to 7-32 or vista-64 to 7-64. If you play games though you will fill that 128GB quickly given the size of new games.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah your correct about the 128gb space. I would only use the SSD for windows and one specific game called ARMA 2. My other hard drive has more than enough room to hold other game and programs. If you were in my shoes and you only had 200 dollars to spend on laptop upgrades would you upgrade from VISTa 64 bit to Windows 7 64 pro. And also a SSD to get quicker response time with windows and one specific game.

 

Since Vista SP2, performance wise it is not that much different from Win 7 anymore. If you can get a great deal on a Win 7 license then go for it but at full price I would say forget it given you have a limited budget. SSD will help load games but unless you upgrade your CPU or Video card I doubt you would see additional FPS in them. What are your current specs?

 

Huh I thought I put my specs in profile must be a signature.

Alienware m17r1 Illuminated keyboard
4gb Memory
Intel Extreme qx9300 2.5ghz
Ati mobility 3870 x2 Crossfire
512mb hard drive @7200
(I had another 512 hrad drive but smart check showed failing)
All my drivers are stock from alienware 2009
The comp suffers from the stuttering
Im able to overclock up to 3.2
The 3870s do a fair job at games but 4000 series would rock if had money and available.

I agree with Vista sp2 being close to windows 7 but I get a lot of inconsitnecies while playing other gamers with Arma 2 mods. My laptop has been awesome since I bought it but it would be cool to upgrade at least one thing hehe maybe two on low budget.

 

Wasn't there something out there with the Xtreme processor in the M17, and higher end video cards that stuttering was to be expected? I feel as if I have read this before and downgrading the CPU a notch was the solution. Don't quote me.

I would update the ATI drivers from the website if they are still from 2009. Also how many watts is your PSU rated for? Have you tried hooking up a meter (like the Kill-A-Watt) to it to see if when your laptop is under max load you are pulling the max watts from the PSU?

Given your current specs an SSD is all I would do being in your shoes, again unless you can get a heavily discounted Win 7 key.

 

hey man, you should check out my restoration thread. I'm doing the exact same thing. you really only need the SSD for a boot drive. I have a 64gb Crucial M4, When I bought it about a year ago it was $90, I'm sure they are even cheaper now. did a fresh install of windows 7, then installed the drivers. you should really consider upgrading to 8gb of ram probably the best thing you can do besides an SSD. you'll need to update your M17 bios to B14 version for the motherboard to accept more than 4GB of ram though. also consider for more than 4gb of ram you need a 64 bit operating system.

 

All good stuff thanks guys. Thanks. Two 4850s for under 500 bucks or parts for a new desktop is my next debate hmmmmm But that will be maybe christmas time.

 

these are the part numbers for the 1GB 4850's that fit the M17-R1
MOBL-VM981GBMST
MOBL-VM981GBSLV
shop around, send requests to different parts vendors they will email you prices...
if you currently have 3870x2 you could get $250-$300 for those Gpu's on ebay still ($125-150 each), so upgrading to 4850's wont be as expensive as $500.

 

Will the 3870's get sold? Considering being over three years old... I would think people would buy the 4000 series over 3000.

 

the 4000 series is way more expensive... also you have to consider, Mostly all HD 4000Ms are MXM3.0 or above. finding MXM2.1 type III is really tough, the upgrade is rare that is why I provided you with the part numbers. 3870Ms will still sell just for that fact that people need a good replacement if their chip died or it could even be considered an upgrade for people with smaller laptops like the m15

 

Correct, you will have to hunt ebay daily just for a chance to buy a mxm 4870 / 4850. The FS threads here also pop up with them here or there. Last winter user Table21 (I think that was the name) had 10+ 1GB mxm 2.1 4870's for sale and on ebay the seller who I got mine from had 3 4870's and 1 4850 all mxm 2.1. Lately though I have not seen many for sale.

 

I had better luck contacting part vendors directly with the part number. they will email back with how many are in stock, if it is new or refurbished, and the price. the cheapest pricing I got was $295 for the 4850m master, and $200 for the 4850m Slave. total of $495 for the upgrade, on top of that the chips are "refurbished" so it looks like a real crapshoot.

 

It doesn't help but a year ago Table was selling his for $100 + ship, and I bought mine for $125 shipped. Good luck man.

 

What do you guys do to keep you GPU driver's up to date? I had poor performance a while back with new drivers and just stick with what came with the sytem.

 

AMD wise I have never had issues with the latest drivers from the site.