buying parts to upgrade my m17x r1

i have a list of things i need to buy in order to upgrade my m17x r1 to r2.

so far i plan to buy:

r2 motherboard
core i7 920xm
r2 audio board
r2 magnesium tray
heat sink for 920xm

anything else that i might need? i found this is it 'safe' to order parts from that website? most of it is outside of the US. i dont want to run in to any problems.
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for the cpu, is there a significant difference between these 2 cpu?

Intel Core i7 920XM Q2C7 Extreme Edition ES CPU | eBay

SLBLW Intel Core i7 920XM 2 0GHz Laptop Processor Tested | eBay

the q2c7 is cheaper, so does it mean its not as good as the slblw one?
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would the magnesium tray for the r2 fit on the r1 chassis? would the audio board fit as well?

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thanks for reading.

 

SLBLW is the code for OEM 920xm. ES Versions are cheaper because they may sometimes be crippled in various ways, being pre-production versions. Many times this is a non-issue (I had a complete beast of a 2600k cpu) but you can never be sure. Buying from a reputable vendor is important in that case.
Are you sure you need the r2 audio board? What's wrong with the R1 one? Afaik r2 mobo fits pretty much native in r1 chassis.

Why do you need a different heat sink for 920xm? is the dimension significantly different to your current CPU? What TDP does your current CPU have?

 

ive read somewhere that the audio board on the r1 does not work on a r2 motherboard. the cpu is a different socket in the r2, the tdp of a q9000m is 45 W

 

If you're referring to the thread with the guy that switched boards trying to upgrade to 6970m, i recommend dropping him a PM and asking. He never did mention audio board incompatibility after switching. What he did have problems with was the lcd brightness. Although he said he had that problem on both boards. To me it sounds lcd-related.
Regarding the CPU heatsink, the scoket itself is irrelevant. What's relevant is whether or not your current CPU heatsink or the R2 CPU heatsink also has to cool down VRM's nearby, like mine does on the GX660, or if the CPU position has been switched on the R2 Mobo.
I recommend finding pics of the R2 heatsink and comparing them.

 

Is it not cheaper to buy a barebone m17x-R2 (maybe even with processor) instead of upgradeing an R1 with the above parts?
Costwise it sounds cheaper to me...

 

the cpu socket is in a different location on the r2 motherboard.

i couldnt find a cheap r2 for less than $600 this is still cheaper.


i found a post from someone that the audio board may not work.

 

I've heard of both, but let us know what you find out. I plan on doing the R2 upgrade in a while, so it would be interesting to hear any tips/info you find during the process.

 

I would say the same as jiggymf, I think that getting an R2-R3 would be easier than doing those upgrades.

 

If I do a quick math, without looking up prices but just going by averages, not included postage of these items, extra stuff needed (thermal paste), possible audioboard problem, and actually building them in, and possible problems you will run into/stuff you forgot etc:
r2 motherboard 200$
core i7 920xm 300$
r2 audio board 50$
r2 magnesium tray 50$
heat sink for 920xm 50$

I think you're looking at around 750-800$ worth of upgrades, just with what you mentioned, without anything special.
And not sure what GPU you have, but likely you'll run into that next (fast cpu, old gpu, or old gpu's that won't even work in the R2).

I'd still make some math and look what total upgrades you really want to do, it doesn't take a lot of upgrades to have buying an R2 or R3 be a better choice imo, it all adds up really quickly.

 

the total cost for the mobo upgrade is $556.80 with shipping. the reason for not wanting to go for r3 is because i was to do a 680m sli eventually and m18x is too expensive for me.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe anyone has gotten two 680ms working correctly in an r2. Even with two 240w PSUs, I'm pretty sure there are still issues with going sli in these older systems.

 

Jeez, I should do this and just resell my QX9300 and ram, then upgrade. I think I'll wait until my CFX 5870 set up ages to poorly, but right now I'm able to run everything I throw at it at least on high. Crysis 3 runs on ultra, then I turn on AA and it runs 10 FPS (unless I use ccc)

 

so finally following up with this, i got the new mobo and cpu installed and running nicely. i ran in to some trouble though. the fans on my gpu is not automatic. it runs strictly on low, unless i use hwinfo to control the fans. even then, sometimes the fan doesnt run properly. is this a common occurence or am i doing something wrong? btw im still using one 260m