m15x freezing, LEDs blinking

Hi there,

My m15x freezes whether I'm playing a game or not and then needs to be shut down by holding the power button. Often when I try to boot it, the caps and scroll lock LEDs blink while the num lock is on solidly. I'm not sure if this is a related issue but if I tilt the laptop the pixels go yellow.

I spoke to Alienware and they said it was either a problem with my graphics card or the motherboard. They said I could send it to them and get it diagnosed which would cost £89 and then either buy a 260m graphics card from them for £330 or a new motherboard for around £370 which is out of the question due to the costs involved.

I've been reading through posts on here and I've seen that I can upgrade to a 460m, 560m, 660m but I also read that upgrading could require a new heat sink?

Any suggestions of what I should do next/ where I can buy a new card would be great!

Thanks!

 

Upgrading doesn't require a new heat sink and those AW prices are completely absurd!
I'm about to sell my old 460m to a forum member for less than £70! This was plug and play.
All AMD cards are plug and play such as the 6970m, 6990m and 7970m. GTX 660m is plug and play with a minor driver modification and these can be bought new for around £200!

It could be a simple driver issue although I have no idea about the LEDs blinking. Try updating the driver? If you do need a new motherboard I found this UK company that will do it much cheaper than Dell.
Alienware M15x Motherboard Repair | Alienware M15x Motherboard Replacement

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for replying!

I haven't ever used an AMD card to be honest but I think that I would prefer to spend a little extra and get a 660m although I wouldn't be opposed to going for a 460m. Is there a particular company that sells the new 660m? And do you mind explaining what you mean by 'minor driver modification'?

As for the blinking, I've tried just about everything: updating, reinstalling drivers etc I also reinstalled the OS which hasn't made a difference.

Also thank you for the motherboard link, I'll bookmark it and if it does turn out to be a motherboard issue then I'll get in contact with them.

 

You need the modified inf file. You can become a member and get it here.
[Guide] M15x with Nvidia GTX 660m

Or modify it yourself
My Files The bottom download is a guide.

Or PM batfinks as he has a 660m working in his M15x.

I found this seller on eBay. Its in the US but still cheap with shipping
ALIENWARE M15x/M17x/M18x VGA Graphics Video Card GTX 660M 2GB GDDR5 MXM 3.0b | eBay

 

That's great thanks.

I was actually just looking through that ebay seller's items and they also sell the 460 and 560. I read that the 660 requires a small piece of copper to connect the card to the heat sink (I think) which I might mess up. Does the 560 also need that?

 

I'm gonna go ahead and buy the 560m. I think that this is the correct model for an m15x, but if I could get a second opinion that would be great.

ASUS Alienware M18x M17x M15X Nvidia GTX 560M N12E-GS-A1 1.5 GB Video Card YT99J | eBay

Thanks!

 

its always best to get a dell card, that way everything works from get go and they are just plug and play.

erm no the NVidia GTX560m doesn't require a copper shim, just the Nvidia GTX660m which is a great card, runs very cool, great overclocker if your into overclocking and doesn't suffer any throttling at all.