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    M17x R4 GPU upgrade question?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by treydahn, Mar 12, 2017.

  1. treydahn

    treydahn Newbie

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    Hey guys,
    This is my first time in the laptop GPU upgrade game and was hoping to get some advice from the community.

    I have a m17x R4 with the following specs:

    CPU: i7-3610QM
    Memory: 16GB
    GPU: 660M
    OS: Windows 7

    I'd like to get the biggest bang for my buck while also keeping the process as simple as possible :) It'd be great to be able to use the same heat sink, keep the same OS, etc. The upgrade doesn't need to be top of the line but I'd like to be able to play some of the more recent games out there (Overwatch in specific). Any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thanks all
     
    treydahn, Mar 12, 2017
    #1
  2. MogRules

    MogRules Notebook Deity

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    @woodzstack can probably give you the best idea. My guess would be a 970m? Not sure if the two pipe heatsink can handle that , or if you would beed a larger PSU for that one though. Also not sure on the requirements ( Legacy vs UEFI, Windows 7 vs 10 etc )

    Honestly as you have the 660m you would be better off upgrading a few things ( heatsink , PSU ) and getting the best GPU possible as the cost is going to be up there either way.
     
    MogRules, Mar 12, 2017
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  3. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    I had a 980M in my M17x R4 and it worked pretty well. Now I have a different card in there. The M17x R4 is pretty easy to work on so don't be afraid of it. Be prepared to do a full system reinstall.
     
    deadsmiley, Mar 14, 2017
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  4. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    980M all the way. Don't bother with the 970M
     
    Raidriar, Mar 14, 2017
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  5. treydahn

    treydahn Newbie

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    Hey guys,
    Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad to hear 970 or 980M's are possible. And just to confirm, can I do this while keeping Windows 7?
    @deadsmiley, when you say a full system reinstall do you mean a reformat? If so, I was hoping for something easier :)
     
    treydahn, Mar 16, 2017
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  6. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    Yes, you can keep Windows 7. There is a great guide for doing this on these forums. I did end up reinstalling Win7, but now that I remember it's because my machine had Win 10 on it [email protected] I bought it and it was really flaky.
     
    deadsmiley, Mar 17, 2017
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  7. reechings

    reechings Notebook Evangelist

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    What card do you have in there now?
     
    reechings, Mar 18, 2017
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  8. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    I have been buying different cards and testing them. 7970M, 8970M, Quadro M4000M, etc...
     
    deadsmiley, Mar 18, 2017
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  9. treydahn

    treydahn Newbie

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    Great to hear and thanks for the info. DeadSmiley would you mind directing me to the guide you're talking about? Thanks
     
    treydahn, Mar 18, 2017
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  10. reechings

    reechings Notebook Evangelist

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    Cool, I was thinking about upgrading my 680m but I think I'm just going to use gamestreaming with moonlight from my desktop PC.
     
    reechings, Mar 18, 2017
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  11. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    deadsmiley, Mar 19, 2017
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  12. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    You can stream with Steam too. It takes pretty much nothing to run that, but you probably already know that. :D

    I recently bought a Steam Link during an Amazon sale for $20. Works great with my TV.
     
    deadsmiley, Mar 19, 2017
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