Is it possible to put a newer graphics card in my M17x?

New to gaming laptops and Alienwares but I am curious if its possible to take out my current graphics card and put someting newer in it. I currently have the GeForce 460M. thanks

 

should be able to. I put a 7970 in my r3. which model do you have?

 

He should be able to. 460m usually means an r3. Depending on how much your looking to spend you have quite a bit of options. I upgraded to the 6990m and I haven't had an FPS issues. It also won't break the bank if you can find one. Other options include the 7970m, 680m, and 580m. All of these cards have at least double the performance of the 460m.

 

you definitely can improve it, say with a 7970m or a 6990m or even an nvidia card, however you need to make sure that you find a good reliable vendor for it (there are many like upgradeyourlaptop or other stores on ebay). And make sure that you have all neccessary parts like a compatible heatsink, screws, etc. Also check out guides on how to do this on this forum.

EDIT: here is one relatively detailed guide, that I found, including pictures, for installing a 7970m in an m17xr3
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-mobility-7970-m17x-r3-illustrated-guide.html

 

It's totally possible.

The 6990m and 580m are the highest validated cards for the M17x R3 so far, both of them will give you a huge performance boost.

You can use a teardown video or step by step guide like the one provided above to replace the GPU, or if you'd like some assistance just send us an email at [email protected], include your phone number and a link to this thread and I'll contact you soon.

 

I have seen some people upgrade from 260m to 460m. It all depends on you bios version and if it will support it or not.

 

Could you give me a link to a website that sell these graphics cards and is reliable and trustworthy? I think I want to purchase the AMD Raedon thanks!

 

well there is no real dedicated website, you can get it several ways, like calling a specific dell number and ordering parts (I dont know) or by going to ebay and finding someone there
in terms of link I found this
ALIENWARE M17x R3 Upgrade VGA Kit AMD HD7970M/2GB DDR5; X-bracket; Thermal Pads | eBay
(you can also go to ebay and search "amd 7970m" and look for individual cards sold)

upgradeyourlaptop is the ebay page for eurocom, this particular listing is a kit which I think includes all parts needed to install this on your system (though I am not 100 percent you may need 7970m heatsink), but it is quite expensive.

wherever you buy from make sure it is COMPATIBLE WITH AN ALIENWARE M17X SYSTEM!!! Some cards are only tested for clevo.

Of course before you purchase read through upgradeyourlaptop listing info and the guides on this forum, and make sure you feel like you could perform this and that you have appropriate tools.

 

Holy $625 is that the cheapest they come I was looking to spend 200-250 lol? I am looking just for the graphics card. Is that just the graphics card or are there other components included with the package?

 

In most cases no... just the card.

 

well the 7970m card itself is around $550 with like 50 bucks shipping so it is not very cheaper... Also seeing that you are coming from an nvidia card you may need the kit, because nvidia and amd have different x brackets or screws typically, you may also need a different heatsink (for example I have an amd 6990m, so I probably just need the card itself to make the exchange) .