Alienware M14x Disassembly/Teardown and Upgrade Guide!

During running test for both CPU and GPU at the same time (for as long as possible) when temp hits 95c on CPU I would stop the test and order some paste. If CPU stays under 85c, there is no need for re-paste YET.

The GPU has never gone over 75c for me even on Dell paste.

I was hitting 99 on CPU and 75+ on GPU with Dell paste during gaming (BF2). Now it is CPU 83c and GPU 66c MAX EVER.

 

So I ran Prime95 and Furmark at the same time for over 10 minutes. The GPU was fine, didn't go over 72 degrees. The CPU worries me a bit. It reached a reasonably stable 90-91 degrees. To repaste or to not to repaste is the question

Here is a screenshot I made:

 

i mean... you're in the "ok" range (even though i prefer to keep my stuff a little less sizzling lols), and since you're stress testing you're probs seeing higher temps than you would normally see during regular usage... do you plan on overclocking any? try watching that youtube video a couple times, seems to get simpler every time i review that and this guide's teardown (would be 3x easier to see them assemble though LOLS)

 

@ Vortexblade I think you do not need to repaste yet. I forgot, my GPU is overclocked 750/1500/1050 when gaming with Afterburner and also CPU is OC to 55-56-99 in Bios.

 

Nice manual. Would help the dell techie if he ever visits me again for a service( not that i want em to ).......

 

any further info on installing the 3G card?

 

hi, i have a question. if i only seek to replace the thermal compound for both the CPU and GPU, is there a need to remove the bottom components? can i just do the steps from removing the keyboard onward? if not, could you point me in the correct direction for the above purpose only? thanks! i don't wanna do any redundant steps and increase the possibility of reassembly error. heh.

 

any driver change needed from the n1000 to the 6250?

 

Is that with OC CPU and OC GPU? Because those numbers seem really low for all OC...

What are your current OC settings as well.

Thanks

 

Both, cpu 55-56-99, 103.1, gpu 750/1050. The key is Bios A03 (unlocked) and with overvolted graphics. A03 kools 5-10c off at load compared to A05 and fans do not come up so often during browsing. However, during gaming hairdryer starts, I have no hair so I like it. The GPU overvolted bios A03 heats up my GPU to 68 Max compared to previous (posted) unlocked A03 showing 66c. Funnily enough my MAX CPU temps dropped from 85 to 79 after flashing to GPU overvolted A03.

These are BF3, MW, Crysis2 Hard Reset temps after an hour.

I hope this helps.

 

Sounds like a good pasting job.

So I am assuming that is with turbo on? I am not sure how CPU OC works for the m14x besides the inbuilt turbo.

If it is turbo on that makes the temperature even better...

I am still waiting for my Arctic silver 5 to set again after i decided to repaste it again. Getting 78 max for CPU and 71 GPU @ 750/1500/1080 but that is only on Starcraft 2. My experience with Battlefield 3 is that the temps go very high both for GPU and CPU around 90 for CPU and 76 for GPU.

All temps are without turbo and I am using Unlocked Bios A03. With overvolt it increases temps even more so not even looking at that for now.

I will try again in a couple of days and report back, but right now my temperatures don't look no where near yours.

 

Yes, turbo is ON. And I also included a pic from my Bios re. 55-56-99 setting for you.

 

No idea what those things are... haha but I see that turbo is on. I also noticed that you have a 2630qm. I have 2720qm maybe that would affect the temps abit...

Did you use IC Diamond? I ordered some IC Diamond the other day but I will see if I will repaste again... Kind of cant be bothered anymore done it a couple of times already.

EDIT: Noticed in your signature it says you used IC 7 Diamond. Also you have GT555M 1.5GB edition. Does the memory of the GPU matter because I have the 3GB one.

 

If you wish to overclock your 2720qm processor you must use different Bios values from 2630qm especially for maximum value for multiplier frequency.

For 2630qm I can set 55-56-99 in Bios which basically gets more power to the proc and for longer duration of time (=more heat) compared to stock. I also have multiplier at 103.1. (=more heat) All these values are the maximum allowed for 2630qm. If i go over it, the value resets to defaults.


I do not know if more memory on GPU = more heat, but I guess it is some really small difference if any. I should point out that I have dvd drive, battery and RAM cover taken out from my machine, which I believe helps lowering the temperatures. Plus, my M14X is 2 cm above my table as I put 2 thick marker pens underneath for better cooling.

peace

 

download link for the A03 unlockes bios???
thank u!

 

hello, newbie here.
i'm not sure if this is the right place for my question but ill try anyway.

i have an Alienware m14x with a defective display panel so i called Dell and they send a technician to replace the whole panel. everything went fine but one thing i notice is the newly installed panel have an extra cable that even the technician have no idea what is that cable for. he just run that cable along with the WLAN antenna because it's obviously intended for some device that is connected beside the WLAN card. all i can think is it is for WWAN card (which i don't have yet) but still, i'm not sure. take a look a this picture, if anyone have an idea what is it, pls let me know. Thanks

 

I am very late with your request, did not see your post. I switched back from A03 unlocked with overvolted GPU 0.92V to A03 unlocked.

Here it is (link to M14X A03 unlocked).


After clicking the link below, please click tab called 'Insyde':

fileNice - [http://www.bios-mods.com/BIOS]

Name of file to download (I tested it for 5 months already, no problems):

Al3x_6ix_AlienwareM1-ulkd-specta03-W64_By_Camiloml.exe

Please run as administrator when flashing (right mouse click on InsydeFlash.exe). Have a nice weekend.

 

nevermind, i figure it out. it's for Wireless HD (Sibeam) card that I thought I already have.

 

Thanks for the guide! I tried this and used Arctic Silver.

Now my GPU doesn't go above 68 deg with furmark. I get 13 FPS with the following EVGA Precision settings:
Core: 800
Shader: 1600
Memory: 1080

That's at least 5 deg lower than what I was getting before. Surprised you get this much of a difference. Dell was pretty sloppy!

Cheers,
RP

 

Ive been playing ffxiv on mostly high settings, and my temp is hitting between 94-96c, at which point my gpu mhz drop from 720 to around 360. I was wondering how much a repaste would help me since im pretty sure nearly 100c is ridiculous, btw im using 3gb 555m and i7-2670. current paste on the machine is stock.

 

I've cracked the back panel of my M14X and i wanted to replace it. How hard is it to detach the screen/lid of the laptop from the base part of the laptop? I'm quite confident with building PC's and i actually changed my HDD following the guide on this site. Has anyone tried to do this themselves before?

 

I also want to know if there are any guides out there for replacing the screen coverings (Other than the crappy video on YouTube). I accidentally warped part of the top of my screen, thanks to a stupid light I didn't notice was above the screen while i was working. I want to replace it badly, but i don't have the guts to take it apart without and actual definitive guide for it.

 

I noticed the M14XR2 has a Bluray option. Does anyone know what drive Dell went with for it, or where to find a similar one?

 

Dudes, I have a huge problem. I've notice some particles of dust or something alike between my screen and the glass infront the screen. I don't know how to fix it. Does anyone know how to remove that glass in order to clean my screen? it's pretty anoying!

 

I just repast this afternoon with Artic Silver 5.It tooks me 3:15 taking my time.I will wait 8 days + 8 hours = 200 hours before Overclocking both CPU and GPU (M14X R1). thanks for this very, very good Walkthrough.

I will post my TEMPS after that.



I expected from Dell that there is little dough thermal past.But there were, certainly poor quality.


I found the job easy.

 

hello
i recently purchased a full height pcie wifi card for my alienware and it didnt fit where my half mini wifi card used to be. so i saw the other slot ,there was a spot where i can install full height pcie card, so i installed it there.it got detected properly and the drivers got installed, but now the problem is that it is not showing wifi accesspoints because it is showing i need to turn on wireless capiblity..
the message windows diagnostic shows is - turn on the wireless capiblity from the switch or fn keys.
i tried fn + f3 , nothing happens, just bluetooth turns off

methods i tried -
tried to fit it into my half mini pci slot ,, tried to hold it with my hand and started pc... and it worked..


i think there must be something to activate that pcie slot ...
please help me any ideas or workaround the feel free to say..'
thanks

 

Hello mate, i just had to register on this place for saying you thanks for this really usefull guide, it helped me to fix my Alienware and i just think i wont be able to do by myself without that really nice guide!!!

Thanks bro

 

Hey i follow your guide! i repaste my alienware and the temperatures low down at full load between 5 and 10º degrees celsius, but i don't know if before dissambly all the laptop when the fan spin faster ( + 3200 rpm ) i feel the vibration on the keyboard above the fan, maybe is normal, because i did all the reassembly good, i mean all the conections, all the screws adjusted. Someone have this annoying thing ? And i forgot to put 1 screw somewhere and don't know where, because i check everything and all have screws..in your pic shows 1 screw for the SSD, i have normal HDD i don't know if it need screws apart the 3 that are assembled to the thing. Someone can help me ? thx!

 

I'm undertaking this tomorrow or the next day on my R1. It's up to 95C regularly while playing Far Cry 3. Game looks great, but that's too damn hot. I'll be using Tuniq TX-4 and going really slow.

Wish me luck (and thanks for the guide; this looks amazingly complicated)!

 

Holy crap, I just did it. Took 2 hours and 15 minutes, but man, I repasted this . MAN that gets nerve-wracking when you get in there with the motherboard and all those tiny, tiny little cables. Whoo!

My only concern is that, to check that the new paste had spread enough, I lifted the heatsink back up. The new paste was well spread across the surface, quite thinly (just from the pressure of the heatsink; I didn't do any spreading). Could my lifting the heatsink have screwed up the even-ness of the spread? Or am I just being paranoid?