MXM 2.1 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850 In An Older M15x?

Has anyone ever successfully installed a 2.1 MXM ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850 into an older M15x? I have one with a T9300 CPU, 4 GB of Ram, X36 BIOS, and a dying 9800m GT GPU running 64 bit Windows 7. Thanks in advance.

 

haven't seen anything to confirm that it works. just worried about the bios support for the card.

 

in theorie it should be possible but there are 2 possible issue heat and bios suport but if you have the ocasion go for it and if it does not work you can still resale the card and try to get your a hand on a 3870

 

where can i get a 4850 at? i have an older m15 and i would try it out to confirm. out of the gtx260, ati 4850, and ati 3870 how would you rate them highest to lowest?

 

one person claimed that it worked, another said no. both claim to have tested it. i didn't have my m15x when had 485os avail so i didn't test it. i would also be worried about the bios support on the older m15x. the mxm connector is right but the bios prob doesn't support it. if you can find one and dont mind shelling out $400 for a graphics card, then give it a go, worst case you sell the 4850 for what you paid or more, cause there almost extinct

 

Unfortunately, the 3870 is a downgrade in performance from the 9800. It is also the only thing that Alienware/Dell will offer to sell you now.

This is a far cry from my Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop which was massively upgradeable and ran strong for six years before getting obsolete (in fact it is still running now as my daughter's internet computer).

I never thought I would blow this much money on a "high-end" laptop only to be at a dead end in less than a year and a half. I think some increased upgradeability or at least a BIOS tweak is the least they should do for our investment. It would be nice if the GPU lasted a little longer as well. I think I am through doing business with these folks.

 

if you rally wan a 4850 keep calling them until you find a rep that will sell them to ya it's always been like that


on paper there is a benchmark difference of 1k points in 3dmark 06 between te 3870 and the 9800 in other words there is no real world diference between them as nvidia got futurmark taillored

 

You cant really expect any laptop to be upgradeable 2+ years down the line anyway!
Great you found an odd one out in the Inspiron 8100 but it isnt the "norm"

If they have any 4850's still in stock then as granyte says keep calling up and you'll eventually find someone who'll sell you one.
The 3870 might be a **small** downgrade but you've totally missed the pluses:
It Runs a LOT cooler than the 9800
It doesnt cost as much
It's a lot more reliable

 

ya the inspiron 8XXX series where a class apart i had myself a 8600 but the reason whey they are stilll upgradable and finding parts is still possible today is because at that time the latitude and precison serie shared the same motherboard then the inspiron making all the part interchangable and allowing ccustomers to benefit from the fact that they must keep part for thier buisness lines (laitudes and precison) much longuer
but as the above said it's not the norm

 

A 4850 would almost definetely have heat issues and there is always the risk of it not being supported in the BIOS.

A 3870 is definetely the better way to go. It's only a minute performance drop from a 9800GT in games, which you pretty much will never notice or be affected by. (It's not extreme enough to make a previously playable graphics setting unplayable, just a few FPS slower, that's all) Plus as the others have said it runs cooler.

There's also the reliability factor: All of the nVidia mobile 8000 line as well as the mobility 9800GT are defective right from the factory, they're destined to burn out giving time. The 3870 is a rock solid, highly reliable card. (The 4850 would also be reliable, but it WILL run hotter and there's no guarantee of any BIOS support for it so it might not work at all)

 

OK, thanks for all the answers. Point taken on the upgradability on laptops today. However, imo, there is a huge difference between upgradability and support for what you already have. If the radiator blew out on your five year old car, should the only option be to buy a new radiator on ebay for $5,000 to $10,000 (1/4 to 1/2 the original price of the car) or buy an entirely new car altogether? Of course not. Therefore, I think it is totally unsat to have a GPU fail on an 18 month old laptop (not that old at all) and have no options to purchase a suitable replacement for a reasonable price from the original vendor, and actually have their tech support tell you that you have no choice but to try Ebay, Ztronics, etc. If this laptop was over three years old, I would understand then. But to have this problem after only a year and a half is inexcusable. Companies that sell laptops have a responsibility to support the products they sell for a reasonable amount of time and I am of the opinion that Alienware did not in this case.

In any event, I ended up purchasing a mxm 2.1 GTX NVIDIA 260m for $500 (1/4 the original price of my 18 month old system).

 

God luck Here's a tutorial's


http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/439789-how-install-260m-gtx-into-area-51-m15x.html

Alienware m15x upgrade guide