M17x upgrade to 485m?

Hi folks,

I'm trying to decide between an Asus G73SW and AW M17x...

The things thats swayed it for me is that I believe the AW M17x can in the future be upgraded to have a 458m GPU, even if brought with a 460m, am I right thinking that?

Also, I can currently only find the M17x available with a 460m, is that right?

As a side note, what exactly defines the M17x as an 'R2' or 'R3'?

My thanks if you can help with those Q's

 

I was considering upgrading my laptop with dual ATI 4870's to the Nvidia 460m cards.

They're available, but not from dell for the R2 which has dual GPU (r3 has single GPU and some other differences)

 

If Dell uses the Gforce 485, Alienware should have. Right now they are offering the 460 and the AtI 6870 GPU for the R3 computer.

The diffrence between the R2 and the R3 is that the R2 had the RBG screen 1200p wich a lot of people (my self included) rave about. R3 does not have this option available but does have the 3d option.

The next is that the Rev2 has SLI on the 285 or Xfire on the 5870 option for the GPU. The rev 2 is also on the generation 1 of the I7 line of proccessor where as the R3 is on the new generation 2 or Sandy Bridge I7.

THe R3 also can hve up to 32gb of ram in four memory slots, the R2 8gb on two slots.

Those are the major diffrences there are some other smaller ones also. The R3 is a tad bit smaller and does come with the 12 cell battery.

Hope this helps.

 

Would the new sandy bridge procs fit the P55 in the R2?

 

No, it's a different socket type, check the intel site. (Well, it actually may physically fit, but the pins are definitely differently wired...)

 

Thanks for your helpful replies!

When upgrading a M17x, this does not void the warranty(I've read not)?
-I assume you would have to get a professional to do it and keep proof? Does AW have to do the upgrade themselves?

 

Sandy Bridge uses the socket 988 (PGA 988) in laptops.

Nik as far as i know it does not void the warranty, i have not had a issue with that. They also allow customers to repalce parts as well.

 

So, but, I'm guessing that means they wont fit? =P

 

You can do it yourself if you fell comfortable doing so... otherwise let Dell do it, htey should send a technician, however this will cost extra afaik.

Upgrading GPU and CPU isn't too hard, check out the service manual or the teardown video from Alienware.

However, ESD protection is a must.

Now when you for example upgrade the CPU and one day your GPU dies, Dell will send a technician to replace the GPU and I'm sure the technicia won't care at all about your CPU. It may be a different story when the part you changed yourself fails, but so far I haven't heard about a technician who actually cared about the parts in your notebook.

 

Thanks again folks! Thats all good news

 

Exactly this, the technicians are generally very good at what they do and don't care too much about whats what =]

 

Always keep your original parts (don't sell them on ebay), so you can always bring the computer to original specs in case you have to return it or if needed for the technician, it's also handy to have a spare HDD with standard dell/alienware install and official drivers, spares you from reinstalling your system when you do a service call

 

This should be posted here (all comparison or vs. type posts go there):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/

Review the stickies before posting in that section and check the section first. I imagine this question has been asked numerous times.

Also, keep in mind, AW has not stated the 485M will be available.

Thanks.