Can the M17X-R1 be upgradeable to Core i7?

I have a M17X-R1 with a Core 2 Duo 2.4 and a single GTX260m. Not that I'm unhappy with the current config, I was wondering if it's possible for me to upgrade to the Core i7's.

Any ideas?

 

No the r1 is a different chip set core i7 chips will not work.

 

What Clax said, the best you could do would be a QX9300 or X9100 unless you sell the machine and buy one based around an I7 mobile chipset.

 

If you could manage the "R1->R2" upgrade, then yes!

 

where can I find the QX9300?

 

In order to do a core i7 conversion you'll need the following;
1) at least Radeon 4870 Graphics card(s), Nvidia cards are not bios compatible with the R2
2) R2 mainboard, the daughter boards look visually compatible, but don't quote me on that
3) New CPU HSF, the R1 has an extension for the nvidia MCP79 chipset, the R2 has a separate small Heatsink for the Intel PM55 chipset, they're generally in the same location, so it *might* be possible to reuse the R1 heatsink but the difference is there, so in all likely hood they're not compatible.
4) everything else, the ram, hdds, dvd player, wireless cards and antennas, blue-tooth card are swappable.

the least expensive place would be Ebay engineering samples, retail QX9300 outlets can be found @ RJtech, through dell, and a few other places.

 

There was a time when you could grab a OEM from HP for 500$

 

Actually i talked to a dell sales rep. they said that i can upgrade my r1 to core i7 and she said that it would be compatible. in fact, i think i saved the conversation.

 

I have an X9100 for sale for 185 shipped it is an oem one...

 

Only way you could upgrade the machine would be to have the entire mobo etc replaced.
Most likely the sales rep speaking out of their (again), you CANNOT just put the I7 cpu into a M17xR1 motherboard.

 

The i7 CPU has a different size than the C2Ds and Quads.

 

^^ exactly.

On the other hand, it's not too difficult nowadays to the R1 to R2 replacement from Dell.

 

yup..

i7 is ppga998, Core2 is PPGA478, and the whole MCH being on the i7 thing versus in the NB in the core 2.

 

Those we good times. Thats when I got mine.

 

hopefully they're not gone forever and we just need to wait a bit more.

 

the only way this happens if they change the Motherboard, there is no way to fit an pGA988 chip on the r1 Mb. if they said they could, they were wrong, which is not surprising at all, chances are however that this conversation never took place.

 

agreed.. infact I can't imagine that their system would be *that* un-orginized. They use your service tag to identify possible upgrades, so that compatibility is assured.

 

yea the conversation actually happened... had to replace some of the info i have given though but its legit...

its dated on April 10, 2010

8:41:22 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx Initial Question/Comment: [email protected]
8:42:02 PM System System You are being transferred to another Agent. Please stand by...
8:42:17 PM System System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
8:42:17 PM System System Connected with E&A_Raymond_R
8:42:22 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Welcome to DELL CONSUMER SALES CHAT! I hope you are doing well and thank you for waiting. My name is Raymond and I will be your Sales Agent today. Dell now offers secure Payment via Chat for our chat customers for faster and secure way of ordering consumer products. Hi there. In line of unavoidable disconnection due to connectivity issues between server and browsers, feel free to provide your phone number so that we can contact you in case we get disconnected. Thanks. How can I help you with your purchase today?
8:42:46 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx my phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx
8:43:08 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx im planning on upgrading my laptop's processor and, maybe, my GPU
8:43:35 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx can i upgrade those parts for my alienware m17x?
8:43:48 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R I'll be glad to assist you on that. To be able for me to check and recommend the compatible part, may I have the system's service tag number, please?
8:44:43 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx 221v4k1
8:45:10 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Thanks. one moment please.
8:52:09 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Thank you for patiently waiting and sorry for the long wait.
8:53:04 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R As per checking, highest you can have is the Nvidia GTX 280M a as for the processor, you can have up to 2.93GHz speed. (Intel Core i7-940 Bloomfield 2.93GHz)
8:53:37 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx ok. is the processor a core i7?
8:55:10 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Yes it is.
8:56:23 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx ok. where can i buy the GPU and the CPU?
8:56:41 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R We do have it here. Let me check the stocks.
9:01:16 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R As per checking, the video card is for $45.99 (91.98 SLI) and the processor is for $1,239.99
9:02:04 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx do i have to install both of those myself?
9:02:25 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Yes. We do can only provide the part.
9:03:58 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx and the parts are going to be compatible with the first m17x that was released june 2009?

9:04:22 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Yet it is.
9:04:53 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx is it compatible?
9:05:16 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Definitely.
9:05:52 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx ok. alrighty then
9:07:11 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx ill think about buying the processor some other time. NVIDIA came out with a new product called the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360m. can i put that on my m17x?
9:08:06 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R Unfortunately, it would not be supported by the M17x
9:08:35 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx why can i not?
9:08:50 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx err why does it not
9:09:58 PM Agent E&A_Raymond_R We still have not yet tested if the laptop would be able to support it so we still could not guarantee compatibility for that video card.
9:10:43 PM Customer Kevin xxxxxx ok thanks for your support.

so yea... read it and weep...

 

I think it's pointless to dispute what a support person says or doesn't say - when we all know how much their opinion is actually worth.

But I think it is safe to say that from a technical standpoint, fellow forum members / tech geeks are more likely to know the correct info than some minimum wage person answering the phone and reading off of a script.

 

I am sorry but I am going to be mean here... I still cannot believe the amount of users that do not the information given to them by Dell/AW reps. They are just idiots.

First of all in your discussion it states: (Intel Core i7-940 Bloomfield 2.93GHz). Before posting this did it come up in your head that what the rep linked you is a desktop CPU and that obviously it won't fit into the R1.

Even if the rep made a mistake and meant the i7-940XM the frequency would have been 2.13Ghz not 2.93 which is the desktop 940 frequency and on top of that the 940XM is still not available in the USA and most of the world except for UK and Australia. At the time of your conversation it was not even announced yet...

So please people we are all humans and we all make mistakes but it would be nice that you do not post wrongful information all the time...

Yes I am in a bad mood today... Trying to be more like Lozz

 

Closing this thread now...