New m15x owner here!

Hi all,

I traded my m11x R3 for a m15x from a local gent and am seeking advice. After perusing the forums I still have not decided what I want to do as far as upgrades.

It current state

i3 2.27
8 gb ram
250 gb hd (7200rpm)
6870 graphics card
dw 1520 super n mini pci.
1600x900

Chassis and screen are near flawless I am currently on the fence about 840qm vs 920xm. I found on Ebay the 840qm is almost half as expensive as the 920 xm. I have never swapped a CPU so I'm a little nervous about it

I assume the 6870 is good for awhile? Also probably planning on a SSD or at least a hybrid drive.

Looking for input on the above items

Thank you!

 

I would suggest get a caddy and a ssd as the primary drive and then expand your 250gig into a 750 or 500gig one. About the cpu its easy as pie nothing to it. Get new thermal pads and paste as well. It's good for the long run.

 

I had never replaced a CPU before the 920xm I put in my M15x and there really is nothing to it! It's just really tedious lol You just have to be careful.
And also, like the above guy said, get a caddy and an SSD! I have a 1TB in the caddy and a 120GB SSD in the main bay and it is totally worth the upgrade! All of the above plus a swapped out video card will future proof it by at least another year or 2.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

If I'm not mistaken, you can only overclock 1 core on the 840 as opposed to all 4 cores on the 920xm. To switch out the CPU, all you need is the dell service manual for the m15x, the processor, and some thermal paste. I just swapped out my old 540m, so let me know if you need any help. You're welcome to send me a PM or whatever

I just got a 256GB Crucial SSD for $170, so depending on how much money you have to spend, you could just use one large SSD instead of going to the trouble of installing a second hard drive. Prices are really good right now.

Lastly, get rid of that wireless card
Amazon.com: Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW IEEE 802.11n (draft) Wi-Fi Adapter - Mini PCI Express - 450Mbps, Bulk: Electronics

or

Bigfoot Killer Wireless N 1103 3x3 half mini-card | eBay

On a side note, does anyone know if we can use this?
Bigfoot Killer Wireless N 1202 2x2 half mini-card With Bluetooth 4.0 | eBay

 

The 920xm might cost twice as much however that is because it is twice as fast once you OC it Really worth the money especially if you decide to match it with a modern high end GPU.

If you look at my sig this setup is really fast and top end. I would recommend for you to wait a few months for prices to drop a little and then drop a 7970M in and enjoy very fast gaming perfomance.

I can't say recommend the killer cards. I upgraded from an intel 5300 to 1103 and so far it has been a downgrade. I am going to to test it on a wireless N network soon I hope and then get rid of it if it isn't performing well.

 

Looks like you got a decent deal.

The only thing that you would want to change now is the CPU, get a 920xm. Easy to install, plenty of theads/guides on it if you need them.

Other than that, get a SSD and you are set, for now

 

I was thinking of upgrading to the 1103 myself, I'll be interested to hear how that works out for you

 

I hate to repeat everyone but the best upgrade(s) would be 920XM (don't go for the 840qm) and using TS for a stable 3-3.2GHz across all cores. The stock CPU heatsink in the M15x is simply magical compared to like a G73jh.

You already have a decent GPU so I think it'd be good to wait for prices to drop on the 7970m

The only item that will require lots of teardown will be a HDD Caddy. Again, SSD performance for your primary games & Windows install is like night and day. And a secondary HDD in a caddy for storage + more games!

The M15x has 2 mPCIe slots (1 half-height and 1 full-height). The full-height is populated with a Dell Bluetooth card. So don't get a wifi+BT card but either a Killer 1102, 1103 or Intel 6300 like others have mentioned. The m15x will already have 3 antennas routed to the card location with the third tucked into a little slot. Personally I prefer the Intel 6300 and am going to replace my Dell broadcom bluetooth with a Intel 6230 (2nd Wifi + Bluetooth) with an extender.

The 1600x900 WLED screen in the m15x is actually very good compared to lots of other displays. Nevertheless, the m15x can take the unbelieveable AU Optronics B156HW01 v.4/v.7. This is not a upgrade for the faint hearted as you will need to get a new front screen bezel (easy) OR remove the existing screen that is adhered into the front bezel without damaging the glass/front (hard)


TLDR: Upgrade to 920xm, upgrade wifi to Killer 1103 or Intel 6300, upgrade to SSD & HDD Caddy

 

Absolutely. Games like BF3 already enjoy lots of cpu power. I ran all cores at 3ghz and still it loaded at over 80%.

You need a 920xm

 

Hi Guys,

First off, thank you for all the carefully given input! It's been invaluable.

My first upgrade I think will be the SSD. I was looking at 128 Samsung 830. It comes with Norton Ghost.

My question is this: Will Norton Ghost be able to condense the files on my current HDD (only 50 gb including win 7) so the copy process will work or will I need a more capacious drive?

I do not have the install disc from alienware as the guy was moving and wasn't sure where it was.

 

Mostly know acronis but ghost should be able to image your existing disk to the new ssd

And your existing disk has less space used so you're fine

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

So is Acronis superior? I was mainly looking at the Samsung 830 due to including Ghost and the cable. Should I instead go for a diff brand and ghosting software?

 

Samsung makes a great hard drive, but honestly you need to stop thinking about transfer software and just prepare yourself for a clean install. You're going from an HDD to an SSD right? There's a BIG difference in how Windows gets set up on each drive and I think mostly everyone here will tell you to definitely do a clean install

 

I did the same thing as well, windows 7 configures better when you clean install on an ssd, and I moved my user folders to the secondary drive. Even though the SSD is sata 3 while the interface is limited to sata 2, the speed difference is quite noticeable.

 

I really do not want to spend the money on a new copy of Win 7. So I guess I'll try a Momentus XT (hybrid drive) and clone to it?

 

Redandblack is right, if you're doing that upgrade then it would be better to do a fresh windows installation. You can find your drivers here once you've finished with that.

 

you dont want to use migration software from a mechanical drive to a ssd, you could run into serious problems. For instance, drive alignment could occur and permanently damage a ssd, system instability issues.
As for buying new windows dont! If you have your oem cdkey for the laptop just legally get the ISO online from the many website's that do provide this.

 

Hi Sups,

yes I understand that portion thank you. However Momentus XT is not an SSD but a mechanical drive. I was thinking copying that image would work on the XT?

I will have to see if the CD key is on the back of the system

 

I understand what the Momentus xt is, I was still trying to help convince you to get a ssd . Getting a full fledged SSD as its still way faster than a XT.

 

Well I just bought a 820qm processor for $50.00 on Ebay. I know it's not as good as the 920xm, but it's also not $250-300 so I'm going to give it a whirl. I would think it much better than my i3!

 

820qms' are usually about $150 so you got a very good deal, normally if you did spend $150~ on the 820qm, the extra $100 for the 920xm is worth it, but in your case, the 820 is too cheap to pass up on. Though, anything is better than the I3

 

Here is the link to the auction I won. If anyone else wants an 820 he seems to have them frequently.

Intel i7 820QM 1.73G 8M Socket PGA988 Mobile CPU Processr Q1TN ES 675901017220 | eBay