Now really: How upgradeable is the M17x?

A lot as been say about the upgradeability of those "beasts". Beside adding some memory, changing a HD for another and alike, are the fundamental parts: CPUs, GPUs, memory (from 1066 to 1333 to low latency HyperX 1600, etc.) and what are the trade off? Is it possible to extend the warranty to the upgrades?
Or, if you buy an M17x with 4 GB of 1066 memory, when you upgrade to HyperX 1333 aren't you losing/wasting your first investment?
If you buy your M17x with one 128 or 256 SSD and then upgrade to a better brand (256 or 512 SSD) aren't you losing/wasting?
Or if you buy it with one HD can you add by yourself a second HD? do the M17x comes with the caddy and connector for the 2nd HD? or you must to buy it additionaly?
As far as I have read in this rocking forum, I'm sure there are people with more questions (and maybe more deeping ones) regarding the subject of this thread.
The investment is going higher so, when we will see a real upgradeable laptop / mobile desktop replacement with none or minimal trade off? What can we, extrapolatively "preview" in the future of this kind of high end more or less portable machines?
Hope the members of this forum find this topic interesting.

 

With regards to the HDD, it came complete; all I had to do was add a second drive, format as RAID 0, and I was good to go.

I was able to get the 240 watt adapter from Dell, so that I can pop in the second card in CF when the kit is available for sale.

The 4GB RAM, I could always sell to offset the cost of HyperX, if I were to go that route.

The CPU can be upgraded at any point, but I would be leery of Throttling with CF and a 920 CPU.

 

Actually people in this forum have done upgrades for virtually every component. There's been guys who did CPU, GPU, HDD, and even LCD display upgrades.

 

CPU - can be further upgraded to 940XM/840QM/740QM when they are out.

GPU - can be probably upgraded to GTX 480M SLI (provided a bigger PSU and different heatsinks are purchased as well)

If you have a single HDD there's a chance that the system comes with no second HDD caddy, but it's free to get, just call Dell.

If the upgrade parts are purchased not from Dell, you should keep the stock ones (at least the CPU/GPU) for warranty services, AFAIK.

 

Akimox here state that " If you have a single HDD there's a chance that the system comes with no second HDD caddy" Also, if you don't want /need it to be as RAID, is it possible to add the 2nd drive too?
What are the differences between 940XM/840QM/740QM comparing with the actual options? Can you upgrade to a six core CPU (when they become available)?
What are the limitations of a 240 PSU regarding the upgrade of those new kind of CPUs? Will the motherboard support the architectural form of those CPUs? Will the motherborad support a PSU of (to say something) 360 or 480?
There are so many questions...
I'm not against the M17x (how could I be?) I'm just wondering... and trying to understand and "preview" extrapolatively, the potential of those limited upgrades...

 

I take that this had answered all your questions Damn I love this machine(when it arrives ).

 

Not so my friend, not quite, not entirely... let's though a little further (with all the legitime love aside).

 

These are not limited upgrades as these upgrades can make your machine useful for like 3 or 4 years That is a pretty good for any computer

Also the progress in cpu technology might demand us to change motherboards and whether these MB will fit in our chassis(the shell of m17x) is not really clear. I guess this all depends on how Dell will look at it(as well as whether the hardware firm find that it is possible or not to produce a mb that fits the interior design). I have yet to find such a future proof system

 

Thanks my king! but the fact is that I have a Dell Inspiron 8600. Its upgreadability as giving it almost 7 years... (it's designs are from end of 2003) I buy it with the basic options and 4 years of total premium warranty in 2004... and still rocks! Have an m6500 Precision at work. the future ot its archeture allow me to think of giving it as fully working machine to my grandsons... (well, I must say it, it's cost at buying time excede the 7000 U$A)
Why can't we, the end users, think expect upgrade potentials to such a heavy investment like we think and expect from a mighty Volvo or a state of art Saab...

 

Well I am glad to hear that your machines are still alive and kicking But when I said 3 or 4 years then that was an estimated guess build on how fast the hardware development within CPU technology has progressed. And please bear in mind that an Penry(I think that cpu hit the market in 2007 or 2008) Core 2 duo T9600 is still good for running around 95 percent of the games on the market. So all this talk about upgrades is only if you always wish to have the newest of the newest on the market(wish is not really necessary as most game and software developers wish to have a huge customer segment and there aims for the middle specs of the market). When the new generation of i CPUs hit the market the motherboard also changed and they would apparently not fit the older models from Alienware, but the demand you have here about being able to upgrade no matter what would mean that you will need to force a unified standard down upon the whole CPU and hardware industry. They do indeed have a international standard but when new technology shows up you might have to change the design of a motherboard(form and position of screws, power supply(transistors and chips), number of pins etc.) and that again might have to change the design of a chassis etc. Also I have a hard time to believe any laptop from 2003 would be able to fit a new MB with an i cpu However I dare to claim that if my machine(when it arrives ) will do fine(do fine = useful) for the next 5 years(plus a few upgrades from time to other) if it has not fried itself before(you know that sadly can happen with electronic).

 

Could you give the specs on that? I kinda doubt it still plays the latest games well, as my fully upgraded xps m1710 (4 years old) hits a cpu bottleneck in crysis and fallout 3, and I couldn't even get gta4 to run faster than like 5fps. Lucky I'm getting it replaced with a m17x

As for the upgradeability of the m17x, here's what I've gotten from this forum in the past two days (assuming you have a fat enough wallet, these upgrades should all be possible):

i5 520m -> i7 920xm
Single 4870 -> XF 4870
Single 5870 -> XF 5870 (MAYBE, no ones done it yet so we'll see)
250gb 7200rpm hdd -> 2x 500GB SSD (not sure if you can set up raid if your original system only had one hdd, should be able to though)
4gb ddr 1066 -> 8gb ddr 1333
DVD Burner -> Bluray Reader/DVD burner
1440x900 lcd -> 1920x1200 led

I think it's fair to say that that makes this laptop one of the most upgradeable... Plus the potential to get the i7 X40 procs when they're available... I think speculating about upgrading to a 6 core notebook processor is a bit ridiculous at this point as, correct me if I'm wrong, we don't even know what socket they will use, right?

That said, if you really want a machine that will be easily and readily upgradeable for years to come, then you should build yourself a desktop.

 

Yes

The only difference is higher clocks. Same TDP.
Nope, you won't be able to upgrade to 6-core CPUs, those are supposed to be a part of the Sandy Bridge platform and will require a different chipset/mobo (Huron River) and will be available in Q1 2011.

GTX 480M is a 100W GPU, so to have SLI + extreme CPU (another 55-60W) + RGB LED, AlienFX,etc - you need well above 240W, maybe even close to 400.

 

If you purchase the upgrade parts from Dell, the part can be covered under the laptop warranty as well.

It's is one of the nice things Dell does, many others would void your warranty for any "upgrades"

But as I have had it explianed to me from Dell, any non dell part installed would not void the warranty so long as you don't cause the problem with your part and or installation of the part.

Only problem with Dell's parts is the price can be significantly higher than places like the Egg or Ebay etc. So if you ever had to do an exchange or return you may want to keep the original parts just in case.

 

Well, that's allways a good reason to buy Dell.
Maybe in a future customer oriented design the principal producers of MoBos can define some standars, not regarding the internal logical-electronic architectural design but regarding the form factor and the possition of the screws, etc. as pointed by our lord the King Dwarf?
There are already some useful standards (USBs, Firewire, 2.5" HD, 3.5", Bluethot, etc.) It's so difficult to think/ask of /for a standard that will give a better upgrade options and chances to the consumers? Or is it more a matter of mantaining limitations so the consumer must buy new products instead of upgrading the existing ones?
As you can see I think, and maybe I'm wrong, that it's a matter of an economic conceptualization of the market. From a compulsive renewing race (oriented to "squeeze out" the consumers) to a more "Sustainable Upgrading"...

 

Of course the corporations will always consider how to make us the consumer spend more money but what will you do about it? If you find that the m17x machine is made for making money on us then you are probably right. Here is my million dollar question: What are going to do about it? Well this is your options:

1. Don't buy the product and buy another product.
2. Buy another brand that match your requirements better.
3. Do not buy any products at all.
4. Create your own firm to create a better solution for us the customers(and realize how hard it is to compete with other firms).
5. Bring forward your suggestion to Dell and see what they say...

To believe that Dell does not wish to find new ways for us to spend money is like utopia. I mean even an ice cream stand would try to attract our attention by having a few new tastes. That is the same as when ATI and NVIDIA and Intel in cooperation with Dell introduces new hardware and new design that is suppose to be better. That is the real world we live in

Oh forgot to ask you to fit a ATI HD 5870 for a desktop in a m17x (which could not be done and therefore we have the ATI HD Mobility 5870) I think I have made my point regarding form and shell

 

So, it is not a kind of "fatalism" to accept it as God "commandment"? I really think that forums like this, have some influence when the expression in it comes to the "decision makers". This is the modern way of live, where the consumers also have some "power" and ways to make their opinions be heard and validated against statistical considerations.
I do belive in the power generated by forums like this one.

 

well that is true words Except the words of god as I believe in science rather than gods commandment So yes the m17x is upgradeable but whether that fits your needs or not is something else...

 

Me too am a science believer, but sometimes it seems that we, the consumers, accept the "things" without questioning about... I also I'm a believer of the social influence that consumer con apply on the decision makers... I have seen a lot of this in many situations. I have been working in 32 countries... The expression of disagrements in forum like this have an increasing and sustantial influence. Let's do it'!!! asking questions, asking for rational answers and solutions... Look we here, from different part of the planet are already providing a global "input" to Dell and to other producers...
That's the power of democracy in the hands of the consumers!!!

 

The day I got my laptop, I put a 500gb Scorpio Blue drive in the secondary slot. After reading on some forums about some laptops not coming with the secondary caddy, I was nervous, but pleasantly surprised when the caddy was there with the adapter and screws in a piece of foam in the empty bay.

The i7 720qm with 8gb of 1333 and the single 5870 is plenty fast for me. I'm running Borderlands at full rez with high on everything and getting at least a steady 30fps as far as I can tell. Looks nice and smooth to me. That said, I'll eventually upgrade to crossfire and a faster CPU when the prices drop. Looking forward to SSD prices dropping so I can have dual SSDs... The primary 128gb Samsung SSD is nice. I put the rest of my stuff (pics, movies, general non-gaming stuff) on the secondary. I went with a 5400rpm drive to save power, keep the heat down, and save some $$$. Seems to run plenty fast with the SSD as primary.

One major thing I've noticed with the m17x is that is runs MUCH cooler than my old m1710 XPS. That thing would cook my legs and the keyboard would get hot even just browsing the web. I have yet to notice any major heat issues with my m17x, even during firefights in FPS games.

 

That's good to hear, my 1710 couldn't play most games for longer than 20min before overheating and shutting off...