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    M17x R4 Best Upgrades

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Eddie12390, Jul 4, 2015.

  1. Eddie12390

    Eddie12390 Notebook Consultant

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    I currently have an M17x R4 with the following specifications:

    8GB RAM (Included by Dell, I believe it's Samsung branded 1600MHz)
    60GB SSD (OCZ Agility 3 from many moons ago)
    750GB 7200 RPM HDD
    Intel i7-3610QM
    7970m (Extremely dead, not functional in any way)

    I have to replace the graphics card and I've been looking at my options. The 980m seems like a huge upgrade and from what I've seen Woodzstack has a great price for it. My concern is that my processor will be a bottleneck for this card. I'm just going to be honest in saying that I don't do a whole lot of gaming, I play World of Warcraft fairly often and some random games like GTA 5 every once in a while. Most of the time it's used for light CAD editing and software development.

    My question to the lovely people of the Alienware section: What upgrades would be in my best interest to pursue?

    The absolute maximum that I'll spend on upgrades (including the necessary graphics card replacement) is $1000. I'd like to buy something that is going to last a few years and an AMD card is basically out of the question (I've had 7970s die in the year or so that I've had the laptop while using a notebook cooler in a cool environment. The cards were never overclocked and the computer was never really pushed for more than a few minutes at a time.)

    Thanks,
    Eddie

    Edit: I'd also like to look in to replacing the media bar/keyboard bezel but last time I checked that was around $300 which seems unreasonable.
     
    Eddie12390, Jul 4, 2015
    #1
  2. paradigm

    paradigm Notebook Deity

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    I'd say the 680m. Least problematic and PnP with the R4, I am not aware though but te 780 M might require some tweaking and what nots to get it working

    i myself have the same, but "knock wood" the 7970M is still working
     
    paradigm, Jul 5, 2015
    #2
  3. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    980m should work as well.
     
    thegh0sts, Jul 5, 2015
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  4. Eddie12390

    Eddie12390 Notebook Consultant

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    For anyone who was wondering, I ended up buying a 980m from Woodzstack as well as a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo. I'm going to upgrade the processor and RAM at some point in the next few months.
     
    Eddie12390, Jul 7, 2015
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  5. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    Raidriar, Jul 7, 2015
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  6. Eddie12390

    Eddie12390 Notebook Consultant

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    Eddie12390, Jul 7, 2015
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  7. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    Yes. Directly swappable into the R4. All the trim/bezel/frame stuff is the same. Only difference is the motherboard.
     
    Raidriar, Jul 7, 2015
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  8. Eddie12390

    Eddie12390 Notebook Consultant

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    Just ordered that bezel, thanks for your help
     
    Eddie12390, Jul 7, 2015
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