Building/Assembling m11x r1, Advice?

First post!!

So, some background info first i guess...
I wanted a small portable computer but hate netbooks because they are painfully slow and way overpriced in my opinion (at least in Australia) then I came across the m11x and fell in love haha. I looked at secondhand but being in Australia people wanted upwards to 800-900 for a r1 which is just insane, I noticed the abundance of m11x parts on ebay and have decided to build one!! I've been reading through forum posts for the past few days and have probably watched all the teardown videos on the internet today ordered the palmrest and keyboard and plan on compiling all the parts over the next month or two (btw im 17 and broke ) just wanted some advice on my new venture any would be helpful!! mainly about the assembly and if the su7300 motherboard fits them all and also about the lcd assembly, if i can get a r2 screen assembly (with the better hinge) will it fit? but really any general advice would be helpful......try not to be too abusive haha only built my first computer the other week.

 

Any lcd you find on ebay will have the old style hinges, unless you get a r3 lcd, but that wont work with the r1 anyways due to the camera being diff.

So, first off, make sure you get all your parts from the model you wish to build.
Find someone selling a "screw kit", you will need them all.
When you get your LCD, take the cover off and epoxy the hinges, they will be stronger and feel much better than the new style hinges do anyways.

Most r1 parts are going to be r1 only except for
daughter card (usb/headphone jacks) can come from a r1 or r2, no r3
ram, 8gb max
power jack (universal for all m11x)
battery (m11x and m14x all use the same battery)

 

Wow, fast reply Thanks!!
I was planning on getting something like this

New Original Dell Alienware M11x-R2 Laptop LCD Back Cover w/Alien Head - MP61M | eBay

I think it has the new hinge mounts, and then the bezel and lcd screen then assemble it...i also read somewhere that some screw sets had the wrong sized screws hmmm...

 

That is the old style hinge mounts.

For the screws, find a salvage place on ebay, they usually sell it listed as "all screws for m11x"

 

Ok, I'll keep an eye out.
One last thing do you know anything about the actual lcd screen that I should get because there seems to be a hundred different model with different serial numbers, is it true that the Samsung manufactured ones are the best? and do they all have the same mounting screw holes for the back screen assembly? if you can be bothered answering haha that re-paint that you did on your r1 is amazing btw!

 

The screens dont have screws on them. There are 2 metal rails on either side that hold the screen in.

I would actually recommend you find someone selling a full assembly screen. There are a few parts in there that may be hard to find.

all the screens are pretty much the same sub-par image quality. but there is a thread in here talking about what people think is best, but its subjective since everyones eyes are not the same.

 

I just got my own SU7300 board in the mail today. Gonna try to pick up some cleaning supplies, fresh thermal paste etc. on the way home. Maybe I can try rebuilding my R1 if I can put my m14x down for a second. That Ivy Bridge kicks the Core2Duo's shiny alien buttocks, but it would make a nice upgrade when I try to sell it.

 

Yea..a full assembly would be much easier... thanks for all the help might post pics of the build in case anyone else is curious haha. and I'm mainly doing if for the battery life, have a desktop for gaming

 

My AUD$00.02 - Don't build one. I can almost guarantee that it will overall cost you more than what you could buy a complete one for.

You can get an R1 for $400 shipped, i doubt you'll be able to build it complete for less than $500.

 

On this topic (rebuilding mine), would I need to save any of the sticky film heatshield plastic? What about the metal fixture on the rear of the motherboard? I'll post photos below to illustrate:

The film covering the CPU and GPU's
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o293/ebondefender/Alienware/IMAG0141.jpg

rear of the heatsink?
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o293/ebondefender/Alienware/IMAG0142.jpg

Both boards next to one another
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o293/ebondefender/Alienware/IMAG0145.jpg

Anything I may be missing? Thank you all for any advice! This is my first laptop teardown. Took me an hour and a half to get the darn thing apart- I was being meticulously careful.

 

Well the heat shields do just that - they shield the board from exposure to direct residual heat. So you don't NEED them, but you would probably see an increase in temps without them.

As for the bracket, i can only assume that's the mount for the heatsinks? Not too sure, haven't taken the board out in quite some time.

Basically just move whatever isn't on the new board onto the new board. Stuff like the little spongy heat pads wouldn't be transferable (the adhesive would come off when removed), so if you don't have those on the new board you may need to get some.

 

Yeah those little pads are now in the garbage. There were two long ones on the fan and heatsink, and one small square one on one of the processor dies in place of thermal paste. Could I get away with just more thermal paste instead? Where would I find heat pads, in a Radio Shack or something? I don't think I've ever used new ones before- I always tore apart desktops.

Edit: What about using Arctic Silver paste in place of the pads themselves? Or would a gap pose a problem? The pads are a few mm thick.

 

When metal heats up, it expands. It's possible that they specifically put a thermal pad on the southbridge/chipset die to account for the heatsink expanding at higher temps, so it needed a gap there to "grow" into thus a spongy conductive pad was needed. Using just thermal paste may not fill the gap and allow for proper thermal conductivity, and also once the metal contracts and expands again the paste would have been squeezed out so no more surface contact.

I would try and get the pads, though i have no idea where you would buy it from in the US, other than online retailers (Newegg, Ebay ect). I'm sure you have specialty stores which would have them, i just wouldn't know of any.

 

Thanks Rishwin! How do these look? I could possibly cut them into thin strips. Oh and I forgot to ask earlier, how does one affix them to the copper sink? Do they come with adhesive or is anything else needed?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9420/thr-64/Thermal_Pads_-_30mm_x_30mm_-_5_Pack_HSFPHASECM.html

I just re-glued my car's rear view mirror to the glass and the hot sun made it pop right back off...pain in the butt. I'd rather strip the glue off a DeLorean's windshield with a razor than tear apart the m11x after I put it all back together again lol, now I'm all paranoid about stuff not sticking properly.

 

Yet another unfortunate update, the hard drive I had in the m11x died too. This is not my day...posting on that over at deadharddrive.com. Maybe I can find a logic board for it. It's a Samsung Spinpoint 640GB HM640JJ board. I get the "beeps of death" when hooked to a Sata/USB hookup. Hopefully once I get the m11x rebuilt it will still be functional! Otherwise, I may just have to part it out.

 

One thing about buying parts and DIY the system is that you can work it over time rather than all at once. That said, put me in the "buy it in one shot" camp

 

Yea, I would prefer to build one with new parts than buy used. I will probably cost me around 500-600 because of shipping but to me its still worth it. I'm buying the motherboard last in case I get defective unit, dont really want to find out a couple of months later haha.

Need some advice on RAM...
Kingston hypers is sorta hard to find in Australia any alternatives? something fast...

 

There is no point buying the motherboard last, all you need is a stick of RAM and a HDD (don't even need this unless you actually want to boot into windows) and any monitor with a VGA port to test if the motherboard (which has CPU + both GPU's integrated) works. If you leave it for last you can't exactly "build it as you go" and if it IS faulty now you have to wait another few weeks for a replacement. It's better to know as soon as possible if you have a working motherboard or not.

As for the RAM... absolutely anything. The R1 & R2 have RAM speeds throttled at 800MHz, so regardless of what RAM you put in it will be downclocked to 800MHz which will make it run at faster timings. Just choose a brand you like with a cheap DDR3 kit, it honestly does not matter what you put in it.

 

Okay cool, corsair is easiest for me to get.
I'll need a battery charger and battery too won't I?
At least motherboards seem to be plentiful... palm rest and keyboard should be here tomorrow will probably order the motherboard in a few days with the screen assembly.
will post pics!