M11x r2 processor upgrade

Hey, this is my first time on these forums so I'm sorry if I do something incorrectly. About 2 years ago I bought myself the M11xr2 because I was going off to University and needed a laptop with a strong battery life for school. I also play video games on my computer, but didn't know much about buying laptops because it was my first time doing so. I did not realise that there was a difference between the i7 processor in say the 14 inch opposed to my 11.

I was just wondering if there is a way to upgrade my M11x's i7 to something with more then 1.2GHz. I have 8GB of RAM and a 1GB videocard (not amazing but enough). My processing speed is really limiting my ability to play video games with even low requirements. Any help would be really appreciated as it is getting very frustrating. Thanks.

Alienware M11Xr2
Intel core i7 @ 1.2 GHz
8.00 GB RAM
Nvidia335M 1GB video card

Also, if you guys have any suggestions for increasing the performance of my computer that would be great. I am by no means an expert at computers so any help would be appreciated. Would I see any Benefits from Overclocking for example?

 

Hello, Deek, welcome to NBR.
First of all, the processor is not upgradeable because it's soldered to the motherboard. Same goes for the graphics card.

Overclocking is an option, just search around a bit and you'll find what you need.
Have a look here on how to work with the CPU (processor):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/524257-how-supercharge-m11x-core-i5-i7-um-cpus.html

Please read the disclaimer first.

 

Thanks. Ill try that.

 

I had an R2 before upgrading to the R3 and I can also recommend using Throttle Stop to "Super Charge" your laptop. It makes a pretty big difference in CPU intensive tasks. You can also overclock the CPU through thew BIOS. You should also use something CPUID's HW Monitor to check the temperatures on your CPU/GPU. You could be experiencing throttling due to the CPU getting too hot. If it's getting too hot I would recommend taking the laptop apart (it's not hard at all, just have to be patience and precise) and applying new thermal paste as well as cleaning out dust from the heat sink.

 

I have the same spec as you, but I play games fine. I never OCed my laptop and I play games on medium/high. Maybe you should tweak your settings better such as playing at 720p and turning off AA/Vsync. Also, make sure you are really using your NVIDIA graphics card, not the Intel graphics.

 

Rocketcharge It turns out I am receiving throttle. I am going to buy compressed air tomorrow and take the back off and spray the computer. I also am supercharging and over clocking the laptop after I finish cleaning the inside. What clock speed would you recommend that's stable but a noticeable difference in performance? I am reluctant to apply new thermal paste as my friend did that 3 weeks ago and completely fried his motherboard. How important is that step? He said it was because he did not wear a bracelet and ground his charge or something.

Xsonic I am playing at the laptops native resolution so i'm sure its 720p. I will turn off AA and Vsync. I have my NVIDIA graphics card set to the preferred graphics processor in Manage 3d Settings in the NVIDIA control panel so I think it should be running on that. is there a way to double check?

Thank you guys for your help. Its really making this go much easier, I would not have been able to figure out my problem without this forum.

I took out the back and cleaned it. Then I overclocked it to 166 Mhz and overclocked my GPU aswell with msi afterburner. The laptop is running things much smoother. im able to run DOTA2 at full graphics on my 1080p monitor perfectly. However my temperatures are still a little high and it throttled twice during the game for about 16 seconds each. not bad at all. The throttling is the chipset clock modulation. Im assuming this is the CPU so ill just turn down the overclock to 150 and this will fix the small amoutn of throttle. I think .