Alienware M15x - Overclocking i7 740QM and GTX460M or Upgrading or Buying new laptop

I have a Alienware M15x which I bought in 2010, the only upgrade done is to replace the 4G RAM with 8G RAM.

I don't play games anymore but I do run virtual machines, work on softwares like Photoshop/Lightroom and also connect my laptop to 47'' HD TV on which I watch 1080p videos.

I see that while using photo editing softwares and even while watching the videos in the TV on 1080p format, the CPU usage is at 100% constantly. I can't run any other programs at the same time as this would result in slowness.

May I know if there is a possibility to overclock the CPU (740QM) and GPU (GTX 460M) ? If so, is there a guide/video explaining the process?
If overclocking is not an option, would upgrading the CPU and GPU help? Should I upgrade both or any one upgrade should do?
Is upgrade worthy enough or should I consider purchasing a new laptop?
Suggestions please.

 

You can only overclock extreme edition CPUS (920/940XM).

Others will disagree because they love their machines, but I say just save for an upgrade. Even the base level Haswell quad will destroy anything a 940XM can do, and the GTX 765m is much stronger than the 460m as well.

 

The upgrade is definitely an option as JohnnyFlash said. I'm searching for parts for an upgrade atm . Gonna get a gtx 680m or 7970m first, then a new CPU and 16gb ram

 

Is overclocking GPU an option at all?

I have just updated the graphics drivers and also looking at overclocking the GPU as I can find few posts on how to overclock the GPU.

I've also ordered Samsung 840 SSD Evo 250GB which will replace the existing 500G hard drive.
I have two partitions and want to clone the primary partition which is around 100G to the new SSD.
I was looking at a few posts/guides to see how I can perform the clone, I found that I need to connect the SSD to the computer and then copy the cloned partition to the SSD. Now my question is will I able to use the eSATA/USB port in M15x to connect the SSD?
What components are required for this?

 

You can overclock the video card, but you should read through this thread before you try. It will try to throttle you under stress.

As far the the SSD goes, you can connect using the esata port, you just need an esata enclosure for the drive. I use a combo esata/usb cable, so I don't need to waste another port powering the drive.

 

Thanks JohnnyFlash.

So do you think the following cable would work?
TRIXES eSATAp Power over eSATA to 2.5" SATA cable e-SATA 5v for Notebooks | eBay

I don't even need the enclosure in that case right?

 

Have successfully upgraded the system to SSD - the whole cloning process took around 20 mins and was quite simple.

System boot up and application opening times have benefited substantially due to SSD.

But unfortunately the CPU usage is still at 100% while running applications.

The reason seems to be CPU overheating as I see that the cores hover around 80-85 degree. I have used HWInfo to confirm this. Also I've noticed that the applications run smoothly until the CPU temperature touches 80, but once the temperature crosses 80, CPU usage is more than 50% (does hit 100% frequently) and the applications begin to slow down.

I have used Air duster to get rid of the the dust around the fan, but it hasn't helped much.

Any suggestions to reduce CPU overheating?

 

Repasting would help.

Have you tried setting up manual speed profiles for the CPU fan in HWinfo?

 

Yes you need to repaste your CPU and clean out the dust from the heatsink radiator

 

Please do that. Also you could consider upgrading the video card. I've seen many success stories with 500-600 series.