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    Upgrading Alienware M17x.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by JimmyAlienware, Nov 16, 2012.

  1. JimmyAlienware

    JimmyAlienware Newbie

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    Hey guys! I am new here so I thought I would start off with making a thread. I've got a Alienware m17x and I am not sure if there's anyway to upgrade it except changing the RAM. I wanna play all the new games like CoD black ops 2 and MW3 and so on. If there's a way to upgrade it just post a link of what I should buy and if you know how to do it that would be very helpfull aswell!

    Yours Sincerely, Jim!
     
  2. maverick1989

    maverick1989 Notebook Deity

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    Which revision of the M17x do you have?

    Also, what are your current specs?
     
  3. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    Yes as maverick1989 pointed out, there are now 4 iterations of the M17x. M17x R1 is Core 2 Duo/Quad/Extreme. M17x R2 features 1st generation i3/i5/i7 processors. M17x R3 features 2nd generation Sandy Bridge CPU's. And the current R4 is Ivy Bridge.
     
  4. JimmyAlienware

    JimmyAlienware Newbie

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    It's the m17x with intel core DUO, 8gb ram and I am not really sure about the rest of the specs. I think it's first generation duo core :s
     
  5. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    There are no Core Duo Alienware laptops that support 8 GB RAM. You probably have an M17xR1 with a Core 2 Duo Penryn.

    That being said I don't think PM45 chipset supports 16 GB RAM, but someone correct me if I am wrong.
     
  6. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    It does not, also you can try upgrading the Video Card as some users have done here. The 260m, 280m are the only ones officially supported but I've seen better video cards in there. Maybe an actual user can let you know which one he/she upgraded to.
     
  7. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I think the best cards available with dual GPUs is 5870M.
     
  8. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    Download GPU-Z and post what card it says you have. Or better yet, get HWiNFO32 and list what is under Central Processor, Memory, Video Adapter, and Drives.
     
  9. kingjames

    kingjames Newbie

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    Stumbled upon this thread and thought I might see if I could get some advice. I purchased a m17x from a friend and I'm looking to make some upgrades, if possible. I got the laptop for $200 so I feel I could put around $600 in it and have something perfect for me. I understand I could buy a newer laptop but I really like the look and feel of this chasis. I do want to have a decently bad machine when done. I'm not very experienced in this world of things but I have been doing research to educate myself. I have already replaced the hard drives ad have a 256gb Western Digital SSD and a 1tb Seagate. My uses will be some casual gaming and mainly record keeping for my business. I took your above advice and ran the two programs you suggested and here are the results below. Thanks for any help/tips you can offer.

    Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G, with (2) Samsung ddr3 2gb clocked @533mhz a piece