Upgrade Suggestions for Alienware M17x-R2

Guys,

I bought my Alienware M17x-R2 in June of 2010. I've had the notebook for 2 years now and I'm looking to upgrade it if possible. It's obviously out of Warranty right now so I'm more inclined to attempt some hardware upgrade myself.

These are the main components in the current setup:

224-8107 1 Space Black - Anodized Aluminum $2,854.29
317-3658 1 Intel Core i7 820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
317-3665 1 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
330-7841 1 Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
320-8856 1 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
320-8988 1 Crossfire 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870
342-0678 1 1TB Raid 0 (2x 500GB 7,200RPM HDDs)
421-1398 1 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
313-8569 1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
313-8944 1 5.1 Channel Audio
430-3739 1 Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
430-0628 1 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR

I'm not really looking to upgrade the GPU; I'm pretty satisfied with the Dual HD5870 Crossfire setup. Mainly I'm looking to upgrade CPU and maybe Memory.

So my first Question - what is the absolute BEST or more powerful CPU that I can install in this notebook to replace my i7-820QM? Would the processing power of the replacement worth the upgrade? And also, is replace the CPU very hard or doable?

Also, how much more memory can I add? I have 2 * 4GB sticks right now, if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks guys!!

 

Hi Luci5r,

Regarding the CPU...the absolute highest that can currently be put in the R2 is an I7-940XM. The CPU is fairly inexpensive and is a pretty easy upgrade. I replaced my 720QM with a 920XM and have been pretty happy overall.

However, I don't think that your processor is much of a bottleneck as most games these days are GPU dependant and less CPU dependant. So your mileage will vary as far as how much of an improvement you will see.

Officially the R2 supports 8GB of ram. That being said, several folks have put 16GB of ram in their systems with no problems at all. So the maximum ram allowed would be 16GB. Again, depending on your applications you may or may not see much benefit from this.

To be honest, the GPU upgrade would be the biggest and best bang for your buck...I know going from a 4870 to a 6970 dual config for me was a HUGE step forward (much more so then the CPU upgrade), although the 5870s are pretty powerful so may not be as much of an improvement if you were to go to 6990's for example.

However you may see a much bigger improvement upgrading GPU's then you will upgrading the CPU or the memory...maybe a few other folks can comment on that. My experience was that the GPU upgrade was a significant improvement where the CPU upgrade was a minimal improvement.

 

Hi Grey!

Thanks for such a detailed post and helpful information. I should have clarified at the very outset -- My primary usage is not Gaming, and that's why I think GPU upgrade doesn't make too much sense for me. For the little bit of gaming I do, the HD5870's in Crossfire have no trouble at all.

My primary usage consists of Web Development / Design / Graphics & Animation / Some 3d/CGI (Maya, etc.). I just upgraded to the new Adobe CS6 Suite and due to the excellent integrated workflow that CS6 offers, I found myself running some of it's applications like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash & Illustrator simultaneously -- with some other applications running in the background. For the first time I noticed some stress on the system. It is for this reason that I started thinking about processing power upgrade.

If 16GB is supported; I will definitely jump to it. Memory is really not all that expensive. I just need to make sure I get the right modules.

In terms of CPU -- I would be very interested in upgrading to the i7-940XM if that's the highest I can go. I had a couple of quick questions ...

Firstly, I noticed that the price difference between i7-920XM & i7-940XM is abot $200. Is the difference between the 2 CPU's worth $200?

Secondly, I know these are the 'Extreme' editions -- Is it possible to actually Overclock these CPU's? (I have experience OC'ing Desktop CPU's -- but none in a notebook). Have people been able to OC an XM in an Alienware & run it stable?

Would eBay be a good place to grab such a CPU? I've seen prices at laptopmonkey/upgrademoneky @ eBay.

Although I'm still trying to determine how much processing power I will gain over my existing 820QM by upgrading to one of these 920/940 XM ... I'm definitely very interested in such an upgrade.

Thanks again!!

 

the xm cpu's are pretty much made for overclocking and the 920xm can be overclocked (throttlestop application, check it) so its close to a 940xm(non-overclocked of course). Beware you need good cooling as temperatures will climb higher.

I purchased my 920xm from laptopmonkey/upgradeyourlaptop (same person). There are OEM/QS/ES versions and OEM is pretty much the "official" cpu but there's plenty of people using a QS(Quality sample) or ES(engeneering sample) here on the forum.I took the QS for +- €250 shipment to Belgium included. I'm coming from a 720QM and it's coming short in certain current RPG games which are very cpu demanding so it might give you alot of fps boost on some games, and less on others.

the biggest difference between the QM and XM cpu's is that xm can turboclock on highest speed on each core, while the clockspeed of the cores on the qm are lower, the more cores you use.(at least that's what I understand from what I've read on the forum.

About a gpu upgrade, you could wait untill there is some feedback from someone who's gonna test the amd mobility 7970 in a M17x r2.

Also concidering the higher temperatures you're gonna get when updating cpu, you should check on this forum, there's a thread of a "m17x r2 cooling modification" and all you need is some tape and specific kinds of coolpaste.(since you are gonna open up your laptop anyway, it might be a great moment to look into it )

 

INTEL i7 920XM 3.2GHz OEM SLBLW mobile CPU processor for55 chipset upgrademonkey | eBay

Here is the link for the 920XM OEM CPU. There is no need to get the 940XM. You pay $100 more for a 25x multiplier instead of 24x which gives 100mhz more clockspeed. Also you can def. overclock the CPU because of the unlocked multiplier.

For 16GB of RAM, you will need 2 of these modules:

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model F3-1333C9S-8GSA

Best price and best reliability.

 

First of all -- You guys are AWESOME!! Some excellent advice & info here. Thanks.

This is great!!! This is pretty much everything I need; I'm definitely thinking about going with 920XM instead of 940XM and just OC'ing it a bit. I don't think the additional 100mhz is worth the $100+.

Plus I can get the 16GB for the difference!

That is good advice! I need to look into pretty much everything you've written here -- from ThrottleStop to Cooling solutions! Unless I can find some drastic reason for going with 940XM ... I think I'll go with 920XM and I'll compare some prices between OEM & QS. I did see some other posts from people using QS editions and didn't seem to have any problems with it.

Again - thanks for all the input. This has given me credible guidance.

 

One thing to add...laptopmonkey on ebay is a great vendor and really stands by his product. I purchased my 920 from him about a year ago and it's been rock solid. For everything you are looking to do I think you'll be very happy with a 920 and 16GB of ram.

And has you stated, the 5870M's are definitely capable gaming GPUs.

Enjoy!!