M17x r1 to r2 upgrade

Hello all, i could really need some help, as i am confused as what to do with my old alienware m17x-r1.

Yesterday i bought an m17x-r2 with a broken screen for 100 dollars and thought i could use the 5870 which is installed in the newly bought laptop, back in my old m17x-r1 instead of my gtx 260m.
But after a lot of thinking i am now considering to swap the motherboard all together, and have the r2 motherboard in my r1 laptop. I am interested in your guys opinion as i am really in doubt.

Here is a list of the specs for the two laptops.

M17x-R1 (My computer, with good looking chassis and non-broken screen):
Processor: Core 2 quad Q9000
GFX: Single Gtx 260m
RAM: 4 GB 1066 Mhz
HDD: 120 GB SSD + 500 GB HDD


M17x-R2 (New computer, scratches and dents all over and broken screen) (Every component inside works, can be used with an external monitor):
Processor: Core i5 m520
GFX: Single Mobility Radeon 5870
RAM: 4 GB 1333 Mhz
HDD: 200 GB HDD

Also i read somewhere it should be possibly to run both gfx cards in one computer with something called "hybrid physx". I would like your suggestions on how to upgrade my current pc the best way

Thanks in advance!

 

Nice deal! Only $100, the 5870M alone is worth that much :thumbsup:

Since the R2 has a dented up chassis, the best thing to do is put the guts of the R2 into the R1 chassis. I would also combine both ram sticks in one for you have 8GB, you will have to run both at 1066Mhz, but really when it comes down to it you will not see a performance increase in gaming at that speed, but 4GB to 8GB will really help.



Here is a tutorial on how to do the motherboard swap: ¹ýÄêÀ²£¡Ë͸øËùÓÐM17X R1µÄÐÖµÜÃÇÒ»·Ý´óÀñ£¡R1¸ÄR2³É¹¦£¡£¡£¡£¡_´÷¶ûAlienwareÍâÐÇÈËÂÛ̳

But it is really straight forward, just take everything from the R2 internals and put it into the R1. You can after sell your R1 on Ebay with a broken screen, no ram, and R2 chassis, that should fetch you roughly $300 if you put it on a week-long auction. With that money you can buy a better CPU after .

 

Well thank you it's nice to know im not the only one who thought that was a good deal! :-D

Do you know anything about running nvidia and amd cards in the same laptop? I thought it would be nice when running physx games, but i wonder if the r2 motherboard is compatible with the 260m and would if I see any difference in performance or graphics for that matter?

Also what about the core i5 compared to the core 2 quad i have in my r1, should i upgrade the cpu too or is that unneccessary?

Thanks for the quick answer too ;-)

 

The core 2 quad Q9000 will be marginally better in multithreaded 64 Bit apps, where the Core i5 520 will be a lot better in single thread apps. If you can find a core i7 1st gen for cheap, I would recommend you stick that in it. You cannot run two different cards in SLI or Crossfire. My suggestion would be to get a second Mobility Radeon 5870 and run it in Crosfire as it is a better card than the GTX 260m. On that note, if you are willing to invest much into your new R2, it can support even 2 AMD Radeon HD 6990M's.

 

Then what about running them separately? The ATI as primary and the nvidia as physx processor?

I don't think i want to go out and buy a 6990 just yet, as the 5870 is a significant upgrade if i understand it correctly, but it's nice to know the opportunity is there if i want to later on.

Which I7 processor would you recommend for the R2 board? And where would i go about finding one?

 

I don't think it would work. the way it is supposed to work is you have 2 GPU's one primary, and one slave. I've never heard of 2 seperate brands being run in one machine. I wouldn't risk bricking your new system. On that note I was browsing Ebay and found a second 5870m:

ATI HD5870M C8245 Graphics Card from Alienware M17x R2 M15X | eBay

The best CPU you can get is the Intel Core i7-920XM for the R2. They will run you from $250 to $500 on ebay. Something cheaper and decent would be the Intel Core i7 740QM, you can get those from $50 to $150 on ebay depending on new or used (I tend to use Ebay, Newegg, or amazon for all my electronics parts).

Intel Core i7 740QM 1 73 GHz Quad Core Processor | eBay

 

Well that was some useful information! Thanks a lot!
I think i will buy the 740qm processor, and then wait with the GPU upgrade. I guess i could buy one or two 6990's a lot cheaper when the 5870 doesn't perform well anymore og if i stumble upon some cheap cards
Again thank you, it was really nice of you to help me out!

 

In my honest opinion I would not use the 260M anymore, it is a really bad card from my experience, the worst Nvidia card that I have ever owned. When I first bought my M17X R1, I had 2 of them in SLI, ended up just selling them and getting a single 5870M because of all the issues I had with them. To my surprise (I was not expecting this), a single 5870M completely destroyed my 260M SLI configuration in performance, the 260M's were able to game on good settings, don't get me wrong, but the 5870M just ran everything I threw at it with max settings at 1440x900 res. Now that I have upgraded to a better screen and 2nd 5870M, I'll see how these cards hold up.

To get the most out of your card, and to be able to use new drivers, you will have to flash the vBios of the card, because if you don't you will be stuck using outdated drivers from the Dell website, which are from 2010 . Flashing the vBios is very easy though, here is a tutorial on how to do it:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...e-undervolting-work-progress.html#post9468543

You can download the 5870M vBios that I use here, it's the lastest version: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...undervolting-work-progress-3.html#post9502396 <--- this post has updated instructions specifically for your card, be sure to use this.

 

Well i put the 5870 in my r1 last night, and i have to agree with you, it kills my gtx card! Right now i am just cosidering selling the newly bought alienware with my old mobo and graphics card in it.

But the vBios you linked to, isn't that for the 4870?

 

The link I gave you is indeed a thread for the 4870M, but the vBios itself in the 2nd link is for the 5870M - maxslo just hasn't made a separate thread for it lol.

 

AWESOME! I'm glad you could make it happen and that the new performance is better than your previous machine.