Upgrading an M15x under warranty?

I currently have an M15x with a 260M and I'm looking to upgrade to either the 460M or 6970M. The issue is that I still have about 2 years of Dell next day warranty on this laptop which I obviously don't want to void...

I've been on the Dell website and looked through the upgrades you can buy. One, everything seems to be massively overpriced and two, there are no graphics cards upgrades.

Does anyone have any experience with Dell and whether they'd install a non-Dell part for you without it affecting the warranty? I'd really like to upgrade my gfx card but Dell is literally only offering 3 upgrade parts on their website: 500gb hdd, 4gb ram and a 150w power adapter, which seems.. Limited to say the least.

I'm about to drop them an email but I figured I'd ask on here too since a lot of you guys have some great advice. Thanks

EDIT:
(Also I'm in the UK, probably should've mentioned that)

 

neither of those cards are officially supported so bad idea if you care about the warranty.

 

Well you can swap back in the stock graphics card if a problem were to occur. Just like I did

 

UMMMM yes the GTX 460m was supported. It was an option a few months before the end of the M15x life. It was the card I had recieved my system directly from dell with just over a year ago. NINA you will be fine with a Dell gtx460m. I just sold mine when I went to a 6990m but Im sure you can find dell 460's cheap nowadays.

 

Howdy,

I second that statement, the GTX 460M is a supported card for the M15x. I upgraded my M15x from a 260M to a 460M under warranty last year. Check this link:
Re: Upgrade? - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

There is a post from Dell Chris-M listing the compatiable video cards for the M15x.

Good luck!

Rich S.

 

I too am interested in upgrading while still under warranty.
However I plan to upgrade the CPU to 920XM in a few months time.
The need for a better processor is starting to out-weigh my need for warranty...

Even the GPU to 7970 when they get stable drivers.

 

The 460m is fully supported by this platform, as some say here if you have a problem you can go back to stock and have it repaired. If you would like to get pricing information you can send us an e-mail to [email protected] and I'll personally take care of your request.

 

Go with a 460m and a 920xm/940xm, decent combo and you know your warranty be good.

 

Sad you can't get a better card than the 460M under warranty.

Alienware chappy you surely know that the 6970M, 6990M and 7970M are also fully supported by this platform?

The 460M is a tad lowly especially at 1080p! Perhaps it would be cheaper for you to replace your 260M yourself and then put it back if you ever needed the warranty. What's the point of a warranty if you can't properly fulfil the machines potential before it is totally outdated!