Need some help with upgrading...

Before I go on, just want to explain that I did quite a bit of research on this forum and on the web and was unable to find the specific answers I need and only then did I decide to resurrect this often asked question.

I need to upgrade my M15x which I bought at the bare bones basic model about 7 months ago. However, my issue here is that I can ONLY upgrade it with parts supported by dell AND that would have been normally available on an M15x when customized. That's the tricky part for me as I cannot find any more info on the M15x from Dell as to was was available.

So with that in mind, I am looking for a top of the line CPU, which one you guys think would be best (not taking OCing into consideration as I wouldn't have an idea lol). Top of the line video card. And RAM and Harddrive (is it 8GB that is max on m15x? and SSDs are completely fine).

Thanks in advance for all the help and I really appreciate it since I have been getting a head ache trying to figure this out!

 

Ok well the top CPU would be 920XM or a 940XM. They have unlocked multipliers for overclocking but if you aren't interested in that you'd be better buying a 840QM (much cheaper and decent performance) be sure to get OEM or retail and not ES/QS. As for GPUs, if you have to stick with Dell supported ones, then I suggest the 460m GTX or a Mobility 5850 and they have to be the Dell versions. This would be a lot easier if you didn't want to stick with Dell supported parts as you could go with ES/QS CPUs which cost a fraction of the price and the 6970m or 6990m as they offer twice the performance of the GPUs mentioned above. RAM is 8GB which is more than anyone needs. Any SSD is better than a platter HDD. If you insist on sticking to Dell supported for warranty purposes, just get the unsupported parts and when you need, just put the old parts back and your warranty will still be intact.

 

Thanks for the answer Widezu69! Much appreciated.
I'm not insisting on sticking to Dell supported for warranty purpose. The reason is that I'm able to ask for whatever part from Dell as long as it was provided at one point or another on the m15x (free of charge too, so price isn't an issue).

So based on your post:
I should go with the 920XM or the 940XM. Is the 940XM more desirable as it seems to be a later model?
Go with a 460m GTX or a 5850. I remember 460m costs more but I read in many places the 5850 is preferable? If price isn't an issue which should be chosen here?
And are there any specifications on what type of RAM I should go for? Other than DD3?

Again, thank you very much for the help!!! I tried adding to rep but it seems I did this already some time ago and can't until I "spread it around".

 

Right I see, well if pricing isn't an issue then go with the 940XM. Both XM CPUs are the same, the 940XM is slightly quicker but the 920XM can be overclocked to that level and higher (the 940XM can also be overclocked).
Well, now you see, the 5850 has higher overclocking potential but the 460m offers CUDA and PhysX, if you are into that kind of thing.
RAM wise, 1333Hz DDR3 RAM will do you nicely.

 

Just one more thing that my help. If I am looking to run The Elder Scrolls Skryrim (if you don't know it's an sandbox rpg, the sequel to Oblivion), knowing this, does the CUDA and PhysX from 460m help or the 5850?

 

Well Skyrim uses the Havok engine which is for the CPU so no, PhysX is not needed. To be honest, just go with the 5850.

 

Awesome! Thank you thank you thank you! You've helped so much, very appreciated!

 

im gonna hop on here and add some questions too, if you dont mind .. hehe =)

- so if we run a game that requires physx, will the 5850 or 6970/6990 make up for it in terms of raw power or will we just not get any of the extra physics decals that you would normally get from physx? =(

- if the 920XM is overclockable to reach 940XM speeds, is there any reason to get a 940XM? can the 940XM be overclocked even greater, beyond the reach of the 920XM? =)

- i've read somewhere that using a 920/940XM and a 6970/6990 is not possible because of the immense power draw? .. is there a power limitation? coz i was thinking of eventually building a M15x with the following config:
940XM, 6990, 256+GB SSD, 1TB platter HDD (replace the DVD Drive with a HDD Caddy) .... would that be too much power drain (especially if i tried to overclock)? =(

 

Right well the 920XM can reach about 26x which is 3.46GHz on all cores where are the 940XM can reach 27x on 4 cores. Both of which are overkill. I have the 920XM with the 6990m and what I do is that I use a mildly OC'd 920XM for most use (22/22/26/27) and stock clocks and power for gaming. This prevents the throttling.

 

haha here's the catch 22. when a game has physx available... enabling it will actually reduce performance! this is because they add extra eye candy which stresses the gpu even more... not to mention that now the gpu has additional stress of physics as well as graphics and has to divide tasks.... see where this is headed?

disable physx will in turn yeild higher performance with less eyecandy.

because the 940xm came out later, the process has been refined somewhat. that's not to say that the 920xm is of inferior quality however there's a slightly higher chance of the 940xm being further refined. still, they're overclocked way beyond stock so anything can happen in the high end.

that's exactly my config. Yes there's a power limitation and using the 920xm + 6970m i've hit a brick wall with mine. I find myself running both the 920xm and 6970 at stock settings to avoid throttling and/or power resets.
having said that, the performance even at stock is VERY impressive.
I too am looking forward to skyrim and expect to be able to play on high with this rig.

 

thanks for the input guys! ... ;-)

ill be starting my own upgrade thread soon, and compiling as much info as i can remember so that I can plan an upgrade path and hopefully provide a base for other M15x users planning upgrades to max the M15x can handle =)