Alienware M15X Upgrades

Hi, I just bought an Alienware M15X R1 off of Ebay, and I was wondering what upgrades I could make that would make it better suited for 2016. Here are the current specs:
Core i3 330M
GeForce GTX 260M
250GB HDD
8GB RAM

I was thinking about putting in the i7 920XM, but I see the i7 740QM, and while it is lower clocked, Alienwares can OC and thought that this would be a good option, what do you guys think?

In terms of GPU upgrades, I was thinking of the M6000(7870M), but it is not plug and play and was wondering how hard this upgrade might be.

Thanks

Arnav

 

Only XM CPUs a capable to OC, so 940XM is a go. In term of GPU, you could look for some Quadro cards like K2100M, K2000M, K3000M, blah blah blah. And of course, they are all Plug and Play but their P/P are not good as FirePro ones.

 

I was going to get the 920XM, 940XM is more expensive for a slight bump in clock speed. I don't edit video, don't need a Quadro or Firepro. Look for a Geforce or Radeon Card.

 

920XM is still a good choice since I've seen many people using it. M6000 is a FirePro card which has gaming performance between 7870M and 7850M (equal to GTX 570M) for around $100, the same price as the K2000M (which is slower than the GTX 560M) or you can just take the GTX 460M/560M for the same price range

 

anyway, you just have to change the .inf file with the modified one to get the M6000 to work, there's a sticky thread about M6000 in this forum, you should take a visit there
update: you also need Unlocked A09 BIOS to get that GPU works
You can go to THIS thread for more information on getting M6000 to work on M15x

 

Unless you can get the 940xm for a really good price, just go with the 920xm. Not much difference between the two and there are going to be limits on how far you can safely overclock the 920xm on the M15X anyway.

For graphics you have lots of options. I'm running an AMD 7970M and it is fast and runs cool. I also have a Firepro m6000 on my 2nd M15X and it's also a great card and probably the best "bang for your buck" available at the moment for medium to upper performance gaming. I did not have to do any driver modifications, but I did have to do some minor mods to the heatsink to get it to work right with this card. I also had to some heatsink mods to my 7970m as well.

I'd also seriously consider an SSD. Don't get too hung up on speeds of the newer SSDs because you'll be limited to SATA 2 speeds on the M15X anyway. You can then remove the optical drive and drop in your 250gb hard drive in the optical slot (with an adapter) for extra storage.

You should also plan on upgrading your power adapter depending on what components you are planning to install.

For my M15X with AMD 7970M and 920XM combo, I'm using a Dell 210W adapter with the center pin pulled to eliminate throttling. On my 2nd M15X I'm using the Firepro m6000 with a 720qm and a stock 150W power supply.

Let us know what you plan to upgrade and your budget and we'll lead you in the right path and welcome to the M15X family

 

Hi guys,

I am new here and I just saw this very useful thread. I have an old alienware m15x which I have never upgraded but is my only laptop. Looking to upgrade it. System specs are

i5 m430@ 2.27 Ghz
6 gb of RAM
500 gb HDD
SMBIOS 2.6
ATI Radeon Mobility 5000

My budget is 500 euros at max.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cheers!

 

What I would do:

CPU upgrade to 920XM (should cost as little as 130 Euro)
GPU upgrade to AMD 7970M or Nvidia 680M (can be had for around 200-230 Euro)
Hard drive upgrade to a 120GB SSD, then move 500GB to optical bay with adapter (around 60 Euro for decent SSD, another 15 Euro for decent optical bay adapter)
Upgrade Power supply to 210W (can be purchased for around 40 Euro)

If you have any money left over, upgrade your RAM to at least 8GB by replacing the 2GB Dimm with a matching 4GB, or go all out with two 8GB Dimms for a total of 16GB.

If you need links or part numbers, let us know.

 

Yes Sir! That was awfully quick! I would love it if you could provide me links and the exact part numbers ( Don't want to mess up things). I also thought of getting a 9 cell battery, I was reading on the forums about better airflow than the 6 cell because of the design. Also, my old battery is dead anyway.

I'm a noob as my profile says and will need a lot of help.

Cheers!

 

I have heard that you can buy pre modded Heatsinks, is this true and where can I buy them?

 

Here you go mate:

CPU (920XM, Intel Part Number: SLBLW)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cpu-core-i7-920xm-/262330371024?hash=item3d141bcbd0:g:ZcYAAOSwQTVV-Y6S

GPU (AMD 7970M, I bought mine from the following seller, send him an offer, he's a nice guy):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-ALIENW...387481?hash=item1c624e5e99:g:M5sAAOSwPhdU-cwP

210W Dell PA7E Series Power Supply (Dell Part Number : D846D)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Del...730166?hash=item23655207f6:g:SzYAAOSwFNZWxn1P

SSD:

This is up to you,. I recommend the new Kingston V300 SSDnow drives if you're on a budget.

Hard Drive Adapter (something like this should work fine):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-7mm-2nd-...199391?hash=item27f54d299f:g:FzUAAOSwc3ZUoGtw

RAM:

Look for DDR3 1333MHz or above RAM. I recommend Hynix or G.Skill.

 

Whoah! Thanks a lot, going through it now.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-NVIDIA...693774?hash=item4648f47fce:g:GfMAAOSwAKxWX6c8

Is this GTX680m good/better than the ATI 7970m? Don't mind going near 300$ for a better graphic card.

Also, I found a new 920XM. What do you think?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/920X...32358170607.html?spm=2114.40010208.4.2.qZ92OF

I badly need advice on battery. 6 cell is easy to get but is the 9 cell worth it? I don't want to game on it, just want it plugged in. I do carry it around sometimes.

 

I found this

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-...tsid=6aa59251-39a0-47f3-8b03-653827d4d38b#thf

How is aliexpress? Reliable? Also, on that website I saw nvidia gtx 780m for a pretty low price. What do you think?

 

That card won't work. It's a proprietary design used only by Asus. You need to look for MXM 3.0 format cards.

 

Alright. Thanks!

 

I like my 7970m but the 680m may be a slightly better option for the M15X according to many members so you should look at that as well.

If your battery is already dead, and you badly need one, just get a 6 cell, but the 9 cell is worth it not just for the extra run time (which is more or less minimal with high power CPUs and GPUs), but for the way it lifts the laptop to allow better air flow.

 

Hey guys,

I have decided on the following.

Intel 920XM - 150$
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/920X...32358170607.html?spm=2114.40010208.4.2.qZ92OF

Nvidia GTX 680M 2GB DDR5 - 270$
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NVID..._9&btsid=810b031d-2e65-49c5-a464-0e7302bb8f8c

240 gb ssd Kingston - 63 $

http://www.amazon.de/Kingston-Techn...8&qid=1459784578&sr=8-1&keywords=kingston+ssd

210W Dell PA7E Series Power Supply (Dell Part Number : D846D)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Del...730166?hash=item23655207f6:g:SzYAAOSwFNZWxn1P

Hard Drive Adapter (something like this should work fine):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-7mm-2nd-...199391?hash=item27f54d299f:g:FzUAAOSwc3ZUoGtw

and some ram. 8 gig stick maybe.

What do you think? I can get a ATI HD 7970M for 240 $ instead of the 680M. ATI or Nvidia? I want to invest about 300-320 dollars on the graphic card if I have to.

 

If only I could get a 9 cell battery. Everything else is cued up. Do i need to buy brackets for the 680M?

 

You will need a bracket. 680M runs cooler than 7970M and has a lot more overclocking headroom.

 

Any recommendations on where to buy the bracket? I'm assembling a list to order.

 

Actually, you should be able to re-use the x-bracket from your 5850. The dimensions should be the same. The only cards that I am aware of with different shape x-brackets are the AMD series cards from the 6900/7900/8900/R9 series. However, the 680m sometimes come with an extra plate attached to the bracket to help cool the VRAMs on the bottom of the card. Sometimes with one plate for one row of VRAMs and sometimes with two plates for both rows. Like this:

Or this:


But sometimes, it doesn't use any of these plates, like this Clevo card:

 

On the 970M do you have to order a different x bracket?

I also want to cool the vram chip on the back.

I have HD5770M as a stock card

 

Is this the one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alienware-N...027955?hash=item4d38005633:g:cMYAAOSwBahVGo5l

 

Good question. Not sure how hot those bottom VRAMs get. As far as dimensions go, I am aware of two dimensions. The most popular being this:


The above bracket dimensions are the same for my 240m GT, 460M GTX, 5850M, and Firepro m6000. It is not exclusive to Nvidia or AMD, however the following bracket is exclusive to AMD 6900/7900/8900/R9 series cards:



Note the obvious differences in shape. So if the 970m uses the same bracket dimensions as your 5770, I don't see why you can't re-use it. I can't comment on the VRAM heat spreaders that sometimes come with those cards for the VRAMs on the underside of the board though, but if you look at Eurocom's site, the x-bracket they provide with the 970m is a standard type without the heat spreaders.

http://www.eurocom.com/ec/ecv_images(43)ec

 

I have another concern about these brackets with the heat spreaders. The M15X MXM slot is already pretty cramped underneath the card once it is mounted. I am not sure if there's even enough clearance for installing one of these heat-spreader brackets. This may result in the pcb board getting warped due to the extra thickness of the bracket (note the heat spreader plates are taller than the x-bracket itself). The reason I suspect this may be a problem is that when I got my m6000 it had an x-bracket that was only about .5mm thicker than the stock 240M GT /460m GTX bracket and this extra thickness, although small, was still enough to make the card warp when mounted.

I posted about this here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m6000-7870m-gpu-thread.785735/page-17

Remember guys, none of these cards we are upgrading to were designed for the M15X so some things may or may not fit right. I'll say though that my 460m GTX also has VRAMs on the underside and I was running it for like 5 years with no cooling for the underside modules and that card is still 100% functioning to this day.

 

Have you seen the list of things I posted earlier? And any other things you can recommend? I have decided on the 680m. I would like your opinion on the list.

 

hmm, ok then. no heat spreader is ok

 

Have you had a look in the NBR marketplace sub-forum? Lots of good deals there at times. I had a chance to pick up a 680m for $230 shipped a while back but backed out and got a 7970m instead. You can also post in the "Wanted to Buy" section with what you're looking for. That's what I did when I was looking to upgrade my GPU. If you decide on Ali or e-bay, make sure the seller has good feedback.

 

I do not know where that is.
Edit: got it

 

Kosti, do you think this kind of heatsink backplate + heatsink combo would work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alienware-G...caa5a6c0a:g:8nQAAOSwKtlWqVCl&autorefresh=true

I also saw a 970M with the same heatsink model: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeFo...714403?hash=item4af7d818e3:g:x5UAAOSwuYVWoyZW

 

I would definitely start the upgrade with a SSD and then the CPU....

 

The 970Ms on ebay is so expensive tho :|

Saw one for 300usd but wasn't quick enough

 

So first the 920XM, SSD Upgrade. Those are easy. Where I get stuck on is the M6000. This GPU isn't plug and play. How do I make this GPU work?

 

I doubt it my friend, but it's cheap enough if you are willing to try. I don't think there will be enough clearance in the MXM slot for that plate to fit. It looks like this plate is designed to attach to the x-bracket using the available screw post threads on the underside of the card. Not sure what laptop that plate was designed for. Maybe a Clevo model?

The M6000 is plug and play as far as software is concerned. Make sure you get a Dell card and just use the latest Radeon 7800 series drivers and you'll be fine. You may have to do some mods for better thermal management though. I had an issue with one of the heatpipes pressing on one of the card's inductors, and I also had to file down the x-bracket screw posts so that the heatsink's heat spreader could apply more pressure to the GPU die. I posted about this in the following thread which you should read if you are interested in the m6000:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m6000-7870m-gpu-thread.785735/page-18

 

If you are willing to spend over 300 look no further than the 970M at this point. It is faster than the 780M and 880M cards while running MUCH cooler.

Also it can OC up to stock 980M speeds.

 

Is the 780m better or the 680m? To rephrase, which one will be less of a hassle to deal with.

 

IDK, as for me upgrading to K4000M was as easy as it can be. Just dropped in new card and installed new drivers without any hardware or software mods.

 

680M will run a little cooler than 780M but both should work fine.

780M is a full desktop GTX 680 core and a good performer! It also features much better bandwidth than the 680M.

Hands down best mobile kepler card.

Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk

 

Hi,

Iv recently bought pre owned m15x.

Specs are as follows

i7 740qm quad core 8 threads
2Gb Radeon 7970m
750 gb hdd
8gb ddr3

All was running fine but laptop shut down a few times in middle of gameplay. Iv checked and looks like the temp is getting too high. Iv since applied new thermal paste to the gpu and seems a bit better.

Does anyone have any advice on this or other ideas on how to sort. Also what would people recommend upgrading.

Thanks in advance

 

Hello guys , would this work on M15x?
http://m.ebay.com/itm/DELL-ALIENWAR...3D262968872759&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

 

Should work fine. I know some people use 770M in M15x, 765M should be ok. 780M is not ok.

 

Does it not require a modded driver though? And some tweaking in the bios to disable the on-board audio or something like that?

 

all nvidia cards need INF mod. not sure about onboard audio disable then re-enable, some cards need, other's do not.

 

Sounds good. Thanks for the reply.