The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Upgrade GFX Card

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by lancegaydon, Dec 15, 2014.

  1. lancegaydon

    lancegaydon Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    How difficult would it be to upgrade my M14XR2 from a GT 650M? Is it simply removing the old one and adding the new one? I have not really done any hardware replacing on an Alienware before.

    Also, what are my options for a new Nvidia card that would be compatible? Looking for suggestions that hopefully don't go over say $500.

    Thanks in advance.
     
    lancegaydon, Dec 15, 2014
    #1
  2. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

    Reputations:
    827
    Messages:
    2,278
    Likes Received:
    104
    Trophy Points:
    81
    Its soldered, so, you cant upgrade it.
     
    ejohnson, Dec 15, 2014
    #2
  3. lancegaydon

    lancegaydon Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    That is what I was afraid of, thanks for your feedback!
     
    lancegaydon, Dec 15, 2014
    #3
  4. rtnlsltn

    rtnlsltn Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    19
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Your other option would be to upgrade to an i7 motherboard (with the graphics chip on it). May give you a little extra performance, if you have an i5.
     
    rtnlsltn, Dec 17, 2014
    #4
  5. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

    Reputations:
    827
    Messages:
    2,278
    Likes Received:
    104
    Trophy Points:
    81
    The cpu is socketed, so upgrading the motherboard would be pointless.
    You can just buy a new cpu.

    The closest thing that you can do would be to find a motherboard with the 650m 2gb gpu on it. BUt thats as high as you can get.

    soldered vs bga chips per laptop

    m11x soldered cpu and gpu
    m14x socket cpu soldered gpu
    m15x socket cpu and gpu
    m17x socket cpu and gpu
    m18x socket cpu and gpu

    THe 15 and up were the only models you could upgrade both cpu and gpu. the 14 was a middle ground, and the m11x was all soldered.
     
    ejohnson, Dec 18, 2014
    #5