Upgrading my M15X, need advice

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of upgrading the vga and the processor of my M15X.

Current specs are:

4gb ram
nvida 260 PCI express (2gb I think)
i7 Q720 @ 1.6Ghz.

I don't really have a budget, but would like to keep cost as low as possible.

My question: what kind of vga/processor should I be looking at? I use my laptop for gaming most of the time.

Do all vga designed for laptop can fit in my m15x? Is there any constraint I should be aware of?

Thanks,
Tim

 

Well you can upgrade to a 920/940XM CPU, and the highest GPU you can get is 6990/6970m. There are some constraints. Search around this forum and you will see.

 

Thanks, I was worried if I buy components externally they won't fit in my laptop or it won't run. Would this happen? Is there specific type of component only for Alienware or all laptop-designed processor and VGA would run.

Sorry for asking this, this is my first time upgrading a laptop, just want to make sure I'm buying the right items.

 

There are limited options. The M15x uses an Core i7 CPU. The only upgrades available are the Core i7-820QM or 840QM or the extreme processors Core i7-920XM or 940XM. The 920/940XM chips are really the only ones worth considering, are highly overclockable and provide nearly double the power available from the 720QM you currently have when pushed to its limits. ES versions of the 920XM are generally available on eBay for about $300; the 940XM's are somewhat more. OEM and retail versions of the chips are sometimes available, usually for $500 and up, but prices are flexible and fast moving.

Similarly, there are limited choices for GPU upgrades. Essentially, if you are married to Nvidia, you can get a 460M (officially supported) or a 560M (new, not supported). On the ATI/AMD side, you can upgrade to a 5850M (officially supported) or 5870M (not supported, sideways move) or the much more powerful (and expensive) 6970M or 6990M (not supported). The 5850M is a substantial upgrade from the 260M and installs and operates with minimum fuss. The 6970M provides a massive upgrade, but is reasonably well-behaved. The Dell 6970M is the prime choice, but is both rare and expensive; the card is also available from AMD/Sapphire/PCPartners, Clevo and Eurocomm (Clevo base). Extensive discussion of the 6970M cards, performance, installation and use is available in this forum. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...u-need-know-upgrading-problems-solutions.html. The 6990M is a big brother of the 6970M and provides still more performance, but its power requirements can overwhelm the M15x and limit the performance which can be captured. Only a few 6990M's are in use in the M15x so far.

My upgrade choices were the 920XM (940XM not then available) and the 6970M. Delighted with both.

 

So here's my question, as someone who feels a bit..restricted..by the 720 in his M15x - where does one get his hands on an upgraded processor considering these are a bit older now.

Thanks!

 

A few places. Ebay for example. You can get ES/QS version for pretty cheap. Check the market place.

 

If you're looking for a 920xm, I just ordered this one. It's from a relatively new seller, so I'm a little wary, but it's already on its way! $255 + free shipping is a darn good price if you ask me
Also, I'll be selling my 840QM when I successfully replace it with the 920xm Just a thought
As for the GPU's, The Rev's covered that pretty well. If you have any applications that can successfully take advantage of Nvidia's CUDA, you should really look into the 460M/560M. If gaming's your thing, go ATI, no doubt.
Good luck with your upgrade!!

 

The guys that are the most long-term sellers of Intel ES/QS processors on eBay are "laptopmonkey", "extremeprocessor" and "shirleyfu1117." They have sold a lot of extreme processors to forum members, and I can't remember any issues or complaints. I'm always a little nervous about eBay transactions, so it's worth a premium to me to deal with established sellers, but there is no doubt that prudent cherry-picking can result in some great deals.

 

I know what you mean. I'll update you all with how this plays out and if he/she's a reputable seller.

 

Just an update! I've received the chip finally I still need to swap it out and verify it's working condition, and I'll be doing that later today!

 

Congratulations. Let us know how it goes.

 

Ok, so I've got it installed, but it's not making any sense to me. CPU-Z is telling me I have a Core i5 X 920 @ 2.00ghz
Check the attached file for more clarification

P.S. Check the msconfig there as well, I didn't change anything

 

Well, after leaving my laptop off for about 2-3 hours, it somehow gained 2 cores and 6 threads. It still reads an i5, but it's running! Whoo-hoo!

 

How peculiar. What system bios are you currently using? What is the performance like?

For comparison:

​

 

This mainly seems to be an issue with the hardware info software, it may not be able to display your CPU correctly because it doesn't necessarily have the same IDs as regular 920XM versions.

Also I see you CPU-Z version is totally outdated, get the latest version and it might display everything properly.
As long as the performance is up to the expectations everything is fine, you can easily confirm this by running some wprime 1.55 32M runs.

 

also what does your device manager display?

 

I'm running A09, the updated CPU-Z correctly displays all the info in the Rev's screenshot, and as far as I can tell no major boost in performance on day to day tasks, but I haven't tried any CPU intensive things as of yet.
The Device Manger shows same as yours, Mexic00ls.
Thanks everyone!