Upgrading my Alienwares processor/video card question

I have an M17x R1 (I think, it was about a year ago when I bought it) and I'm thinking of upgrading the processor and or the video cards (Processor is Intel Core Quad Q9000 @2.0GHz and the Video Cards are NVIDIA Dual 260M SLI enabled.) First question, is it worth it to upgrade to a i7 processor or better video cards (if it's even possible to switch a NVIVIA with crossfires...) And second question, will it void the warranty?

Thanks in advance.

 

you will not be able to unstall an i-series CPU in the R1. Max for you will be the QX9300. You can move to the Dell AMD 4870 cards.

Will it void the warranty? No - provided you do not damage any components during the install. if you do, the damage will not be covered. Any CPU/GPU or other components you decide to replace with aftermarket items will also not be covered by your system warranty.

 

You can't upgrade the R1 to the i7, the i7 won't fit in the motherboard, you would have to buy an R2 to go to the i series cpu's. You can upgrade to a qx9300 which is an overclockable extreme core 2 quad. You can upgrade the cards to crossfire 4870's as well but it's not a huge jump. If you're looking at that many upgrades why not sell your R1 and just buy an R2? If you decide to do the upgrades as long as you don't harm anything or do the install incorrectly it shouldn't void your warranty but the new parts will not be covered under that warranty unless purchased from Dell.

Edit:Beat me to it Batboy

 

Do you think i should upgrade? Is it worth it?

 

Realistically you would be looking at probably $400-500+ for a set of 5870's and probably $400+ for a QX9300, for me if I were you it wouldn't be worth it. Sell your current rig and use the money you would have used on the upgrades to buy an R2 which is more current.

 

Okay, but my question is are my specs worth upgrading, are they good enough to last me longer? Or do you recommend upgrading right now?

 

Let me know where you're finding QX9300s for that cheap, I haven't seen them for less than $6-700

 

The upgrade i want to do is the RGB LED but is crazy expensive .. $1000 ... is just too much.

 

Yeh it is really expensive to change screens.

@ the OP,

Well upgrades would be nice. However you could try a little overclocking 1st and see how you go or like the performance. If your not really having any trouble or performance problems with your gaming or tasks then your system should still be good to use. It should still hold you in pretty good stead. I have the same system specs as you and I keep it up to date as well as OC it a little bit.

You can use the BIOS to OC the CPU Q9000 from 2.0Ghz to 2.4Ghz and overclock your GPUs using Nvidia System tools. You can dl that from Nvidia.com

NVIDIA DRIVERS 6.06

Also search for a Q9200 if the QX9300 is too expensive for you. It is much cheaper with similar performance. Quite a good bargain really.

Cheers.

 

I've read recently that 5870 works with R1 with the latest bios update.

 

Oh really thats news to me, No kidding ey. Where'd you hear this chiefs?
Interesting.

I wonder would I have to disable the 9400m then. I'm thing I would do.

Hmmssss I guess I could try that out.

Cheers.

 

I found it in a foreign forum along with a few benches. Why don't you give a try as well since you have both?

 

Hi agains,

I just wanted to double check which system BIOS they were running in the R1 when they used the 5870s?

The A05 was it?

Cheers.

 

I have no idea as to which version was used. The user just mentioned "with the latest bios."

 

A guy in in the alienware community confirms that the 5870 works fine in his R1. BUT: it seems that only one card is supported - CF is not working.

 

Ohs trues trues I see. Thanks for the info.

I've been too busy and lazy to try as of yet lol.

Cheers.

 

if one card work then the second should his slave was likely defective

 

Cannot use the RGB screen on R1 mobos i thought?

 

it can it's been done by some one on the forum but the screen cost 1k so it's not worth it

 

while we are on the subject, i am getting a sli config installed later in the month. what can i expect as far as video playback like netflix and espn3. will it be 1080p?

 

is getting 180p possible?

 

Ressurecting a dead thread woot go me! Anyways hows everyone been just got back from my deployment and orderd 2 5870's for my laptop. i see there are some extensive threads on here about the vbios and mobo bios. Well My question is when i get these cards how do i install them i got a good teardown video courtesy of Techinferno but what do i need to do system wise to get everything working perfect?

 

Hey there buddy,

Once you have successfully installed the new 5870s into your system you can use GPU-z to check the vbios version. All you will need to make sure is that you have the 012.020....... attached picture to see the vbios version.
If the GPUs both don't already have the vbios version installed then you can update them via dell support drivers page.

Dell - Support
AMD GPU 5870 Vbios

Dell - Support
M17x R2 System BIOS

Also then you can update your AMD GPU drivers to the AMD 11.3 or 11.4 version.

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the quick reply reborn. I was wondering also so its that easy no prep work before i install them just turn the system off take it apart swap then turn on and install cat 11.4 ,mobo bios then vbios? I understand vbios is always last.

 

Yup ahuhs.

It is pretty much that easy. Install the 2 new cards and bam then you can check the vbios on the 2 new GPUs. If they match the one as shown in my picture then your golden and one less step to take care of.

The main reason that you are checking the vbios on the GPUs is because the older vbios version had quite a few bugs and they didn't support users installing AMD reference drivers on them. That was a major bummer because as you know AMD releases on most occasions at least 1 new GPU driver per month. Without the new vbios update from dell we were hindered to only using dell GPU drivers and waiting for them to release updates for us. Those updates as you know are like once every blue moon or even less.

Then its pretty much install or update your GPU drivers to which ever version of your liking and start gaming away.

You can update to the new system BIOS A10; at any time. Before or after the new GPU installation. It doesn't really matter for this one.

Enjoy your new GPU upgrades!

Cheers.

 

good to hear thanks! Also im still under warrenty so i can do this myself right dell said they would pay for a tech but i dont want him breaking a laptop thats worked perfect for 1 year now. Also i was getting 12098 on vantage with my 4870's what can i expect with the 5870's since your system pretty much mirrors what i will have?

 

Yup deltaone45,

You can do the upgrade yourself. It is really quite a simple changeover which is good. If only they allowed for some 6970s to go into our R2s ey eheheheh

In terms of Vantage scores I can't remember exactly the score I got. It should of been around 14k though. However for 3d mark 06 you can expect 19k + and even close to 20k.

Oh yeh and don't forget to install the latest CAP profiles after your main GPU driver installations.
http://www.rage3d.com/cap/

Cheers.

 

cool thanks for all the help. I purchased these cards to be sure i could play SWTOR at MAX when it comes out and it should so excited about that.

 

Here you go:

Intel Mobile Core2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53Hz Socket P FSB1066 12MB QGNG QS | eBay

AlienWare M17x Processor/cpu QX9300 2.53 GHz | eBay

Ati 5870:
Alienware ATI HD5870 video card | eBay

Have Fun.........

 

You do realize that Luminair posted that one year ago, right?