Upgrading graphics on the Alienware 14...

Sorry if this has been asked somewhere before. Did a quick look through the topics and didn't see it. Wondering if it's possible to upgrade the graphics on the Alienware 14? I notice the processor is the MQ and not the HQ, which should mean that the CPU and graphics cards are upgradable (and the Dell site does offer some limited upgrading), right? Does that mean I could plug a GTX 870M in there or something?

I love the AW design, and I want a 14, but I don't want to wait for a refresh, and the 765M is just not doing it for me.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sorry, but the graphic card on Alienware 14 is soldered to the motherboard. The most powerful graphics card on the Alienware 14 is gtx765m and it's like I said soldered on the motherboard.

 

Well, that killed that dream really fast. It's sad that their "gaming laptop" has such an out of date graphics card. All the competition seems to use 800 series.

Thanks for the quick reply, I guess I'll look at another laptop.

 

The 14 is already over year old and they never were updated with the 800m series (never understood why :/ ). If you need a faster GPU you can only really just sell it and move to a 17 or up if you want another Alienware. I would wait for the refresh and maybe pick up a 17 with the 980m. The 14's with the 765m's are still selling for a decent amount though so you should do okay.

 

Oh, I haven't bought it. I was only going to buy it if I could upgrade the graphics. I'm looking at the Lenovo Y50 and the Gigabyte P35W v2 now (both with 800 series graphics). I appreciate the advice though.

 

If you would like to upgrade it later you can go for the Alienware 17/18

 

I appreciate the suggestion, but 17/18" is just too big for me. I'm looking for 14-15".

Believe me, I really wish I could buy the Alienware 14 (I've had 4 Alienware desktops/laptops in the past, and loved them), but that 700 series GPU is really a dealbreaker.

I don't suppose you have any idea if it'll be updated before the end of the year?

 

What about the new 13 "Alienware laptop that will be available? Thin, Light Alienware 13 Gaming Notebook Coming With Intel Core Processors And NVIDIA 860M Graphics

 

It has a soldered GPU, as well. Though so does the Y50; maybe the Gigabyte one, but I'm not familiar with that laptop. The thinness suggest a soldered GPU, but I could be wrong on that.

 

The Gigabyte P35X V3 just came out with the new GTX 980M 8GB. Holy crap, is that thing a beast. Makes it an easy choice, that's the one I'm getting. Nothing Dell has can compete with that (15" and under). It Dell ever updates, it'll be months away, and I just don't want to wait that long.

Thanks for all the advice though, guys. I appreciate it.

 

Oh, and to be clear, I don't particularly need one that can be upgraded later, I just wanted one that had 800 series graphics or up. If the Alienware 14 was upgradeable, then I would have gotten that and upgraded. Since it doesn't, I'll get the Gigabyte with the 900 series. Even though it's not upgradeable, it's the best possible mobile graphics right now, so I'm happy with that (whereas the AW14 is already obsolete with it's 700 series GPU).

Thanks again, all.