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    Motherboard Swap

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Terrablade, Oct 27, 2014.

  1. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Guys can a regular m17x have an R1 motherboard? I need a card that supports dx11 and this garbage ( gtx 280m ) does not.

    If it is possible, do all the components need to be changed too? or will the components that the regular m17x has will fit perfectly on the R1 motherboard?
     
    Terrablade, Oct 27, 2014
    #1
  2. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    You can swap the R1 motherboard for an R2 motherboard... You'll need to get a i7-720/740QM processor at least... You should be able to install 8GB DDR3-1066MHz RAM easily and as for DX11 GPU's, you can easily do dual 5870Ms (which will be the cheapest) or a single 7970M (dual 7970Ms are a pain and really expensive)... alternatively, you can stick with the R1 motherboard and have dual 5870Ms at most... I would only do that if you have a QX9300 processor...
     
    TomJGX, Oct 28, 2014
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  3. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    You did not read correctly. I have the normal m17x as shown here Screenshot by Lightshot
    I want to know if i can switch to an R1 motherboard and if the hardware I have on this one works OK with the R1 motherboard aside from the video card that I would change.

     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
    #3
  4. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Anyone please?
    Is this the R1, the one that has this strip of options for volume etc? 524113_10152792540288431_3984315292180954415_n.jpg
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  5. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    Yes this is the R1... you can already upgrade to 5870M crossfire on this laptop, no need to swap motherboard.
     
    maxslo, Oct 29, 2014
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  6. mikecacho

    mikecacho Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes it is, i own that one and my wife uses it for school. The GTX 280 is has high as you can go, i would look for a R2 at a reasonable price around $350-500
     
    mikecacho, Oct 29, 2014
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  7. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    Nope, officially the 280M SLi or 4870M CF are maximal upgrade, but it supports 5870M CF unofficially :)
     
    maxslo, Oct 30, 2014
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