Suggestions to upgrade my M17x R2

I purchased the M17x R2 when it was launched nearly two years ago. It was able to handle any game I threw at it on High or Ultra settings. And most were buttery smooth. I am very happy to have this machine. However, with recent games it seems to be showing its age abit and it can't play games as smoothly as I'd like it too. The Witcher 2 is the game that made me realize this. And I have Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on pre-order so I'm abit jumpy how my laptop will handle it. The specs are as followed:

CPU: i7 820QM
RAM: 4GB RAM 1066MHz
Hard Drive: X25-M 160GB
GPU: Dual 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870
OS: Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit

Any suggestions on what would be the most worth while upgrade to prolong the life of my laptop? I'd very much like to have it for another few years.

 

You could upgrade the cpu to the extreme versions like the 920 or the 940xm, both which can be safely overclocked.

Gpu, u can go for the dell supported warranty wise 5870's, or you could look into this guide to upgrade to 6970/6990's

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...6970m-your-m17x-r2-single-gpu-crossfirex.html

Ram you should be fine, but for running multiple programs and games, most people seem to get 8gb-ish. The Kingston HyperX is also a common favorite and used quite frequently.

Like this one should be nice.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kingston-Hy...ultDomain_0&hash=item3a6a698918#ht_2993wt_901

Or you can go all the way for 1600mhz ram sticks also.

Good luck and have fun upgrading

 

I'd love to do all of that to be honest. Is great to hear I could upgrade the whole laptop. I'll do some price checking and see what I can afford at the moment. Thanks for the quick response!

 

Np, have fun, and make sure you dust your laptop

 

Just make your laptop like mine, than you wouldn't have to worry about upgrading for another few months

Sidenote: 1600MHz RAM will only run at the motherboard max of 1333MHz. Anything higher the system will downclock.

 

You don't need more than 4GB of RAM for gaming, but the stuff is so damn cheap these days that getting a nice 8GB kit doesn't destroy the wallet.

And again, for gaming, your CPU is more than enough. You have a great SSD.

Like DR said, a pair of 6990s will almost triple the gaming power of your 4870s. 6970s are slightly less powerful, and cost a bit less too.

6970M.

6990M.

And remember, a single one of either of these cards is still going to outperform your 4870s, especially if you slap a mild overclock on them. You can use your current heat sinks and fans with them too.

 

Compressed air on standby.

Challenge excepted!

I did run with my current setup for two years and only now have been let down with it's performance. Only thing I changed was the hard drive. SSD's are awesome.

Glad you mentioned 1333MHz is max. Saving me a few bucks there.

I don't know why I never upgraded to 8gigs. I always ment too. Guess when you're satisfied with what you have it slips your mind.

Check and check. Meaning GPU should be first and highest priority for my gaming needs.

I'm going to have a hell of a time choosing between the 6990 or 6970. I'm a sucker for running two graphics cards ever since it was an option for pcs. Let alone laptops. Seeing how powerful both of those are I'm almost considering going with just one. Could always get a second later. Would my current crossfire cable work with either card?

Thank-you for the great replies everyone.

 

Yeah, same CF cable. You have to carefully cut away that clear plastic sheath to reposition it though. The CrossFire connector on the 6xxx series cards were repositioned, so the CrossFire cable ends up being too long. You have to do a bit of rerouting.

 

I would upgrade to 920xm or 940xm, the price of these used CPU is not bad at all. Ram is cheap, so 8GB for sure.

 

Look what I just purchased

 

hahahahaha...

can we say someone has a..."computer addiction"?

We'll probably end up meeting at some AA meeting (Alienwares Anonymous meeting lol)

ya...change everything!

I have an R3, but i've already uppgraded the CPU,Ram, SSD, and Sound. I'm waiting for the AMD 7000's for my next upgrade

PS...if you're going to an extreme processor, shop at ShirleyFu's! Shirley still has 100% customer rating which is incredible. PLus the price is negotiable, so put in an offer. I think the current price of the 920xm is about $260 shipped

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-Intel-Co...333-/250872489071?pt=CPUs&hash=item3a692a646f

 

How much did that cost? And does it come in gold?

That's basically the idea. I'm starting with the GPU and going with the 6990m. See how one works out for me and I can't afford two at once. If I'm satisfied I'll go to the I7 920xm/940xm. ((Can't decide which yet.)) And the 8gigs likely at the same time since they're cheap. Then after all that it'll be crossfire time. Will take three months but, it'll be a whole new machine without the price tag.

I will definitely go through ShirleyFu. Thanks for the recommendation.

I'll be happy if my R2 can use anything past the 6990m. But, since stock lasted me two years maybe this next setup with get me through another two years? I really don't want to say good bye to my precious R2.

 

Total damage was about $70 shipped for both.

Link to where I got them from

 

Bit sad at the moment. I got my supposed 6990m from a seller on ebay. A quick look at the card I see NVIDIA written on the card. Since it's a laptop gpu I have no way of knowing which one it is at that. I've contacted the seller to hopefully swap the card for the right one. Just sad I now have to wait longer to upgrade my laptop.

 

AMD = Red
Nvidia = Green

The cards are actually color coded that way.

 

My 6990s are on green pcb boards

 

What the hell? My 6970 was on a turquoise PCB, and my 6990 ES was on a purple-ish PCB. Odd. Guess we'll see what color the 6990 coming in the mail is.

 

The clevo 6970s i had and clevo 6990s i have are green. I think each manufacturer makes there own boards.

 

OK, weird again then. The cards Upgradeyourlaptop sells are supposedly Clevo cards though. They are not on green PCBs.

 

6990m should be green. But, of course with ATI badging. Not NVIDIA. It's possible that's how they got mixed up since they're the same color. But, a few seconds you can tell it's not the right card.

Yes that seller said the card was Clevo and even the paperwork says they were Clevo. But, we'll see since I got the completely wrong card.

 

If a seller 'accidentally' sent me a 580M instead of a 6990M, I probably wouldn't get too upset over it.

 

I think it's a 560m. I looked on the sellers page and my card looks like this one if it looked like this one I'd reconsider returning it. But, he did agree to swap the cards. So here is hoping it's the right one this time.

 

I'm a little more than sure that the one I am getting a 6990M because the seller has a buy-in to my getting it. They want me to document the install procedure so they can advertise that the card works in an R2 on their website.

 

Keep me posted.

It'll be close to two weeks before I see mine at this point.

Happy days are here again!!! Eurocom replaced my card for the right one. Atleast, it's an AMD card. Once I look over the installation guide and teardown video here shortly I'll hopefully, have the card installed and ready to abuse. . .I mean use.