R1 CPU/GPU Upgrades

Over the past few days I found myself considering a brand-new M15x with a 740QM, but had the opportunity yesterday to snag an m17x with a Q9000/GTX 260 previously ordered new for 1100 shipped (thanks Dell Outlet).

My primary weekday machine is my m11x in my signature, and I expect to get much better performance from my new m17x. However, where am I going to benefit most when it comes to upgrades? Unfortunately, I don't think a QX9300 is going to be an option; the lowest I've seen them priced is over 1k. Personally, I don't feel like spending more on a processor than I did on the entire laptop for an increase in processor speed which may not blow me away. I understand that I should easily be able to reach speeds of 3.0ghz with the Q9000, so that's a good starting point for me.

I do understand that the GPU may be a bit dated, and I wondered what card I should consider - I do not have SLI in my new system, but what will be the biggest bang for my buck? What single card will give me the biggest upgrade, and how would it compare to SLI GTX 260s? I believe the 260 does not have PhysX support, so that's something that I'd like to get if possible (though I'm not opposed to anything ATI/AMD makes).

 

I would spend about 500 more and look for one with R2, WUXGA RGB. Upgrading 260's to something better will cost you about 500 anyways.

Don't get too hung up on previously ordered new thing, it's just luck of a draw when it comes to Dell product.

fyi, my previously ordered new replacement system didn't even boot up on battery.

 

I was only looking to spend about 1000, so 1100 was pushing it for me. I'm only looking to get about a year and 1/2 out of this at fairly high ranges.

Essentially, as long as I get a reasonable bump in performance from what the m11x was doing, I'm happy. I know that the configuration on its own will probably do that, but I'd like to extend the product lifetime to suit games that may be coming out early next year.

Of course, there can be problems with any system. We'll see how this system arrives - in the meantime, I can only hope for the best.

 

I have no doubt it will be a huge jump from M11x to M17. GL with the system.

R1's also come with integrated GPU and dedicated GPU's, so beware of that when you get it.

 

Here's a CPU option if you are willing to buy an ES processor on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140425013319&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

The Q9200 and QX9300 are almost identical. The QX9300 has a default multiplier of 9.5 while the Q9200 has a default multiplier of 9.0. This is not really a difference though because both CPUs have unlocked multipliers so by using ThrottleStop, you can set them to whatever you like. Adjusting the multiplier higher and running either of these up to 3.4GHz is not unusual for gaming.

The Q9200 would have been called a QX9200 if Intel ever officially decided to release this model but they didn't. It is only available as an engineering sample but the one listed above is an E0 stepping, the exact same as a QX9300. Picking up one of these and then selling your Q9000 off would be a hell of an upgrade and would cost you nothing.

The only problem with the M17x R1 is that some of these have severe performance throttling problems. You'll need to check for that first before deciding to upgrade the CPU. If there is not enough power available to fully power the hardware you've got, there's no point in overclocking or getting a faster CPU.

 

As far as the performance throttling issues go, is that due to a smaller power supply, or faulty hardware? I don't have any problem with using an ES, particularly for a reasonable price like that.

 

The M17x R1 bios can use clock modulation throttling which can instantly kill 90% of your CPU's performance which will turn any game you are playing into a slide show. It is usually triggered by power consumption and it will take a while for your CPU to get back up to full speed even after power consumption decreases. Dell has no solution for this issue at the moment as far as I know.

A synthetic test like Prime95 + Furmark will often times show this problem but it can also happen during normal use or while gaming. When you get your R1, you will need to do some testing and you will need to run a ThrottleStop log file to check for this. If the CKMOD column in the log file does not always show 100.0% then you have a problem. There was a big thread about throttling in the R1 on NBR but I don't have a link to it at the moment.

 

Hi..

you can't really overclock Q9000 nowhere near @3.0 GHz the top is 2.4 GHz in M17x, nobody got any stable clock over 2.4 GHz.

For the cards you can upgrade to a GTX 285M, but you may need to mod a bit the conector of the cards.

 

Have you used throttle stop to boost the voltage? I've seen the QX9300 clocked up to 4.333GHz, thought not stable, it did hit that clock.

QX9300 CPU-Z validation by Scook. 4.333GHz

 

I'm not looking for some mind-bending clock speed, something over 3ghz would be preferable. At this point, my goal will be to check the system when I receive it for any issues - are any of the BIOS problems repairable through flashing it, or does it really just depend on the unit that you get?

It seems to me that the issue tends to be with the amount of power draw, but admittedly I haven't dont a lot of research. If that's the case and I only have one GPU, it seems like that would at least give me some buffer room for a higher multiplier/voltage draw from the CPU.

Hopefully I don't end up with a problematic unit. At that point, I'll probably go for the QX9200. In terms of drop in, ready to go cards without any sort of modding, what would be my best bet in a single card setup? It would seem to me with a CPU overclock drawing extra power, adding a SLI setup might be stressing the system.

 

I would leave the Q9000 as that will be more than enough cpu power. If you are looking for best value, throw in a 2nd GTX 260m and call it a day. As for overclocks, expect about 2.4 GHz on the Q9000. The highest you can achieve is 2.5 but that is unstable. I have a Q9000 I will be doing tests with when I have more spare time, you saw what I did with my QX9300

And it was semi stable, I could run 06 fine for the 3d tests (with amazing fps haha) but the cpu test would crash. That was in a chest freezer though, do not attempt that voltage without extreme cooling measures.

The power throttling is not going to be a concern until you are pushing the system pretty hard. With a Q9000 and GTX 260m SLI you will probably stay below the threshold as long as all are stock. Really for gaming no overclocking is needed on the cpu or gpus - that is only needed for benching.

I like to think I know more about pushing this laptop than probably anyone else here

 

Is it the exact same model for both the primary and secondary GTX 260M? I guess it's somewhat obvious that two of the same lower budget cards would outperform say a 4870.

 

The 2nd 260 card should be a slave card I believe otherwise it is exactly the same. Just the opposite fan fitting and heatsink, kinda like your left from your right hand lol. You will also need an SLi cable to connect them both.

I'm running the Q9000 as you can see in my Sig and it is OC to 2.4Ghz. Runs like a dream at that OC setting. Very Stable. Also I have the GTX 260 SLi GPUs and they still perform really well in all the games. Even better in some games compared to my R2.

2X 4870s would be the best performance for the R1 machine. I agree with Scook though if you want to get the cheapest upgrade go get another 260m and just OC your Q9000.

Cheers.

 

At this point, that seems like the way to go! When I bought my M11X I felt like I knew the system inside and out, whereas with the M17X I feel badly as I've had to pester the forum users for answers. Sorry, all!

Does Dell still sell GTX 260ms with heatsinks? I've only really seen one or two of them on Ebay (such as this: Dell Alienware M17X M15X NVIDIA GTX 260M 1GB Video Card - eBay (item 270639359241 end time Sep-30-10 12:10:30 PDT), usually without the heatsinks or SLI cable (though I'm sure the cable isn't too terrible hard to locate).

Also, I've seen conflicting reports on whether or not the 260m supports PhysX. Yay or nay on that?

 

That is a affirmative YAY chiefs on the 260 support for PhysX. It depends on some of the drivers that is all. Some may break it or not show it ticked in GPU-z. However it 100% supports it.

You could try ringing up dell and seeing if they have any in stock and purchasing from them what you need. It really shouldn't cost that much these days since it is quite old now. Otherwise yeh on ebay or see if any forum user has them lying around from a past upgrade and if their willing to sell to you.
No worries on asking questions here chiefs. Thats what forums are for ey So feel free to ask away oles.

Cheers.

 

Very cool. I'll keep my eyes peeled on ebay and NBR's forums for anyone that might be selling one. Is there a sweet spot for the drivers or is it just trial and error? I've heard some people have issues with anything in the 2xx range. I also understand that the A03 BIOS seems to be the sweet spot - any truth in this?

Something else I'd like to do is drop in an SSD boot drive. I believe there's a dummy card in the secondary slot, but do I need an adapter/tray for the secondary HDD?

 

Yep system Bios A03 is the current sweet spot. Although some are running okay with A05, the majority and myself prefer A03. Hopefully A06 can bring in all the fixes as well as a touchpad polling rate fix.

In terms of the drivers, its quite odd really. I've never had much trouble if any with the 2XX.XX range, I always uninstall the drivers clean and then update to the new ones. All is working great. Others are also enjoying them however there are quite a few that have had ongoing problems and do see a much stabler system when using P06 Dell Nvidia drivers for example. You'll just have to give them a try I guess and see how you fair.

I'm not to sure if you have another tray full of the stuff that you need in the 2nd hdd slot. If your only getting a system with a single hdd to begin with then it may or may not ship with the 2nd hard drive bay and stuff. It should do though. If not just give dell a ring and tell them to send you out the 2nd hdd bay parts for free.

Cheers.

 

In my opinion the best card "supported" in R1 is the GTX 285M.. you may consider on selling the GTX 260M then get a GTX 285M, then in the future get another GTX 285 + a sli conector.

@scook9 ... why is 2.5 GHz the limit for Q9000?? is becauses the limit in FSB, lets said (1333/4)*7.5= 2.5 GHz ???????? is there any way to get a higher FSB?? and what about the temperatures without any extra cooling?? my Q9000 @ 2.26 GHz never go higher than 72C playing. Once i overclocked @ 2.3 GHz but I didn't see any gain in frames per second in games really (compared to 2.26 GHz)

 

Yes the limit is due to the BIOS limit on the fsb. I cannot comment temps yet but will at some point work on my q9000 and then know what temps to expect at stock volts and with the voltage raised.

 

Out of curiosity, what is the modding that is required to use a GTX285?

Additionally, what is the method that is used to OC the M17X - is it a multiplier setting in the BIOS?

 

With unlocked extreme cpus, you can BIOS overclock both the multiplier and FSB

To upgrade to a GTX 285 you simply buy the card and put it in (drop in replacement) - although this is pretty much a waste of money as it is the exact same core

 

This is what you need to get the GTX 285M to work in M17xR1

Re: is the GTX 285m supported by M17x R1?

Of course you can find now Dell's GTX 285M which should feet peerfectly without any modding. (because M17xR2 is now avalieble with GTX 285M)