New Poster here...help with upgrade...

Howdy peeps, I bought me an m15x back in June with the following specs:

Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black
Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz (3.33Ghz Turbo Mode, 4M cache)
6GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 1 x 2048MB + 1 x 4096MB
15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED
1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
500GB SATAII 7,200RPM


I was just wondering what kind of upgrades could you recommend for me? I have about $450 to spend

So far I'm definitely interested in an 128gig SSD and maybe an ATI 5850...also if you have any buddies that are selling either or both of these, let me know.

I'm also assisting a friend with his purchase of a M11x so if you know anyone who's selling one, let me know(he has about $1,000 to spend and wanting atleast an i-5 processor and 4gigs of ram.)

I've definitely gone through the threads and such, I just thought my situations would be a great chance to open the lines of communication.

Thanks for any time invested in assisting me...

 

i would suggest a new graphics card 5850 or 460 whatever yor preference is and also this Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

 

You could check out for the GPU and SSD over here http://forum.notebookreview.com/computer-components/

If you are buying from NBR marketplace, there is a good chance of you snagging a 5870 which is a little more powerful than a 5850.
SSD is a really good option but the price and capacity factors have turned me down. If you wanna have a more powerful alienware even after these two, you could go for an XM CPU, they are rarely sold on NBR marketplace but easy to get on ebay.

 

Find a ATI 5870 and or a SSD !

 

Awesome, thanks for the replies.

I've got a birthday coming up so with the money I get there+what I have saved up I'm going to go with a 5870 and a 128gb SSD to boot off of and install games on and then keep my documents/music/videos on an external.

 

^ great idea, what GPU do you have now? how old is your system ?

 

I've got the GTX 260m right now, system is about 6 months old...

 

If you check out dell.com here Alienware M11x Laptop Details | Dell you will see your friend can get the top model with i5 and 4gb ram for exactly $1000. Also, if you find the 15% dell employee discount and the discount you gave me (many thanks ) it would net you $750.

 

Just checked out the dell outlet, and they have a M11xR2 for 869.99 at Dell Factory Outlet

These are the specs:
# Alienware M11x R2 Laptop
# Processor: Intel Core i5-520UM (3M Cache, 1.866 GHz Max Turbo Frequency)
# Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
# 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
# 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
# 1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 335 M

 

Sweet, thanks for the help. It looks like my buddy will b be getting that m11x for $869. That's the best deal I've found anywhere so far...

I totally forgot about the Dell Outlet store so thanks for reminding me...

 

Why do you want to upgrade now? You should wait till the 260 is dated then get the bleeding edge gpu out . Imo.