Bringing my M15x Back to life (First post)

Hello NotebookReview community. Let me start off by saying I'm new here, and I greatly appreciate anyone's time spent reading this thread.

First of all, I'm a desktop PC guy and always will be, but back in 2010 I ended up getting a great deal on an Alienware M15x, and I enjoyed using it for the first few years as a mobile alternative to some of my much bigger computers. After a while, I lost interest in using the laptop, and it sat for a number of years. Recently, I've got the bug to bring this thing back to life and give it a few new parts, which brings me to the entire point of writing this post. Understand that I come from the world of desktop mods, which [nowadays] encompasses using parts that are plug and play 99% of the time. After a little bit of research regarding GPU upgrades and maximum supported system memory, I'm realizing some of these things might not be as simple as they seem. I will post my system specs and try to organize my questions into a [somewhat] logically ordered list. If someone happens to swing by and drop some knowledge, it would be of great benefit.

Current specs are a bit underwhelming and are as follows:

M15x / Matte Black / 1920x1080 Panel
i7 620m Arrandale
PM55 Chipset
4GB DDR3 Dual Channel @ 1066
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730
128gb Sata III SSD

If any additional info is required I'm more than willing / capable of providing it.

Question 1: Regarding system memory

Is 8GB is really my limit here?

The spec sheet for my CPU, as found on Ark.Intel, lists my CPU [Dual Core i7 620M] as having a maximum supported memory of 8GB. I've been reading around and finding threads where folks are claiming to run 16GB. Maybe this has something to do with other socket G1 Intel CPUs that were also available in that machine, and people are having luck with those other chips for their 16GB configurations.

Normally, I'd just take a look at the spec sheet for the CPU, and just call it a day, but some people seem to be achieving some voodoo magic here. I think there was an extreme edition quad core that was listed at 8GB max, but users are reporting booting into windows and seeing the whole 16? Sounds interesting if it would actually work.

So, I ordered 2x4GB DDR3 204-Pin SODIMMS for now. This will at least get me out of the dreadful 4GB Zone.

Question 2: Regarding the GPU

What are some good options in late 2018 for upgrading the GPU?

What sort of hardware / software modifications am I in for?

I hardly know where to begin here, and this section is my primary reason for making an account / thread, and it's occurring to me that changing out a notebook GPU =/= changing out an dedicated card on an ATX board. At least not always.

I understand you need to be quite wary of the TDP on what card you want to install, and some require power supply mods. I'm not particularly interested in making too many changes, as I just ordered a replacement battery and power brick that just meet factory spec. I think some people end up getting a 250w brick, along with some other mods?

I understand that you need a card with a compatible vBios (one that will work with Alienware notebooks, at least?)

I understand some people find they need to modify their device driver in one way or another. I'm wondering if someone can point me in the right direction, if that's the case.

Do these all meet a standard form factor? I'm totally unfamiliar with notebook graphics, and I'm worried that the thing won't fit in the little space in the laptop shell. I don't see many of the listings on Ebay / Amazon / etc containing physical dimension data, so I've been under the assumption that they all are roughly the same in that regard. (Example: Some are marketed only for, say, an M17x. Others will be listed as compatible with M15x, M17x, and a list of other Alienware / Dell models.) Moreover, do people just guess at the thickness they need for thermal pads on the replacement GPU? I guess you could re-use the original ones if they seemed like they were in decent condition, but I'd like to re-paste the CPU and clean things a bit while I have it apart.

I'd love to try to give this thing a new graphics processor (maybe something with more than 1GB DRAM) but there's a few variables I don't understand quite yet.

Question 3: Regarding Optical Drive / HDD Caddy Swap

This one seems to require some additional disassembly of the laptop, but are people having any luck doing this? Sounds like an interesting little project, even if you did get forced into using SATA II, it would be nice to have the extra storage instead of the useless optical drive.

This is probably the lowest on my to-do list, but it grabbed my attention when I heard the idea.


Conclusion:

If I wanted high horsepower, I'd stick to my desktops. For now, I just want to revive this old machine and have it running at reasonable temps - not looking to overclock this machine or push any limits. It's mostly just a spare machine I keep around that I can boot into a couple different operating systems with, depending on what I need to do in the moment. Then I go back to my desktop. I have all the respect in the world for folks who are into high performance notebooks, it's just not my bowl of cereal.

3D applications and video rendering are not a big focus for me, but I'd still like to get this dinosaur GPU out pretty much more than anything.

I remember as I kid, I thought Alienware was the coolest machine to own. They always had wild and wacky looking outer shells with high performance parts on the inside. As I've grown older and maybe just slightly wiser, I've found that Dell can slap a pretty hefty pricetag on these things. Whether you think they're overpriced or worth every penny, this computer holds a special place in my heart, and brings me back to when I was younger and RGB lighting meant it had to be a "fast" machine.

It's disheartening when you read forums posts from all around the net, and folks just chime with with "just get a new computer," and "you can't swap notebook GPUs, they're directly soldered," and I'm literally asking about a board / card combo that uses MXM. I probably won't buy another laptop for years and years. They just aren't my thing, and I don't know very much about them compared to desktops, and other ATX form factor systems.
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Total plan:

Ordered replacement 6 cell battery (mine would barely hold charge after all these years)

Ordered replacement power brick (mine was frayed and wrecked)

Ordered 2x4GB SODIMMS to upgrade from 4GB to 8GB RAM. (If I can, I'll add more, but currently it looks like this isn't possible. I'd love to be wrong about that though!)

Ordered a replacement SATA III SSD to replace the tiny 128GB disk.

Flashed bios with A09

This leaves the GPU and disk caddy, which I'm primarily concerned with the GPU swap. I'm not even opposed to changing CPUs if it meant I could use more than 8GB system memory. The chips for these machines seem to be reasonably available and affordable.

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this post. I tried to keep the rambling to a minimum, and I hope I didn't leave out any info. I think it's super cool that there's an active community around these legacy machines. I know mine still has a lot of life left in it.

 

1. 8GB is the limit when on a dual core, 16GB is the limit when on a quad core

2. Best GPU is probably the 970m. The 980m works but temps are really high so most settle with the 970m.

3. Dont know about the caddy, I never owned an m15x so not sure on that one.

 

RAM u could go as hi as 16GB. Bios will only detect up to 8GB but windows will recognise 16GB. I slot mine 2x8gb DDR3 2133hz

GPU stay away from GTX 7XX series too much hassle. GTX 970m seems to be the popular choice and pair it with i7-920xm which will need a 240watts power brick. Caution, with the pin-mod it will not charge yur battery and do get an original dell power brick or at least the correct plug head as I found out not only battery wont charge, cpu and gpu were throttled badly.

Drive caddy for extra storage works and hardly any use for optical drives these days.

Have fun and I hope it works out for u.

Cheers!




Sent from my Mi A1 using Tapatalk

 

RAM is limited to 8GB (dual core which you own) or a 16GB for a quad core. I don't know if people ever got 16GB actually working in this machine but I would assume so

As for the GPU, skip anything that isn't a 960M MXM or higher, or a 8950M/M6100 or higher
For a cheap upgrade, a 8950M/M6100 Firepro is neat, but I believe it does need fan control software. GTX 980M is the true limit, but it will be bottlenecked by your CPU and heat up quite a lot. a 970M is good though.

A ODD caddy for a spare HDD seems easy enough, but all the SATA slots on this machine are SATA 2, no changing that.

 

I'd recommend upgrading the CPU as well, you can get replacements for next to nothing nowadays. The 920XM or 940XM are the ones to go for and you'll definitely notice the difference going from 2 cores and 4 threads to 4 cores and 8 threads. The CPU is the main bottleneck of these older Alienwares so you are best trying to mitigate it as much as possible.

 

I ran a M15x with a 920XM, 16gb of ram, a GTX 970M, and a 512GB SSD for years. DDR3 is limited to 1333 speed, SSD speed limited to SATA II. Even though 920XM is an upgrade, it is still a tired chip coming up on almost 10 years of service.

 

as stated above

a 920xm or 940xm (roughly 150 on ebay)
16gb of ram
gtx970m ( roughly 400 on ebay)
and a 220/240/250 watt supply (used ones as cheap as $40)

will bring this laptop into the present

i have mine setup with a 920xm, 8gb ram, and a 770m

im looking to upgrade to a 970m to stay relevant but for another $300 but im hesitant as the cpu is definitly a limiting factor.

playing destiny 2 with my 4 core cpu clocks at 20x i can definitely watch the GPU starve for data and my FPS will fall from 55 to 35
anything higher than 21x causes a thermal shutdown after an hour of play

 

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone, I seriously appreciate it. You guys rock.

Now I shall rev up that plastic money card and pay a visit to eBay. I'm a bit giddy to pimp out the CPU / Memory, and I'll grab a nice hefty power supply. Looks like I found a 940xm really close to my hometown. Guess I should have held back on picking up the 8GB So-Dimms, now that it looks like the system will support 16 with the CPU. Oh well. I'm sure this old gal will benefit from a cleaning and some new thermal paste; from what I understand that CPU can be a little heat factory. Can't wait for the mail to arrive as usual.

Once the system runs happy and nice I suppose I'll look into upgrading the graphics chip. Seems reasonably straightforward, and the search function on this forum is also proving to be extraordinarily useful. I'm curious how far off the beaten path of plug-and-play I'll end up while doing the graphics. Heatsync dimensions, vBios, modified drivers, oh my! Sounds like a fun time either way.

I'll take out the optical drive and hide the second SSD in there while I'm at it. ~$8 for a generic 12.7mm caddy doesn't seem too outrageous, but we'll see how it fits. Maybe that will end up being a job for the Bridgeport mill.

Again, thanks for so many great replies in such a short period of time. I'll post my results with a few pics asap.

 

CPU: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core...f0add6:g:WHIAAOSwXj5XFzlR:rk:22:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

RAM: 8GB should be fine for now, but with a quad-core 16gb is possible.

GPU: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeF...ff6bd17:g:jMEAAOSwi3xb-bqK:rk:2:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

I recommend asking the seller to make sure it is not a G-SYNC card.

A standard 12.7mm HDD caddy should work fine.

You already have the 1080p display which is good. Just get a 240w AC Adapter if you decide to get a 970M.

 

Hello everyone, I'm doing something similar. My M15X has been running strong since 2010 and I love what a tank it is.

I have a 720qm and the GTX 260m and would like to run a simulator that requires a DX11 card or higher.

Would the GTX 680m be a plug an play solution? Would it work with my stock 150W charger?

 

AMD M6100 has native fan control. As others suggest though if you have funds go for 16GB ram, 920/40xm and 970M. Also get the ODD caddy and put a 2TB or larger HDD in there for backup purposes.

Additional to this consider upgrading your wireless card to a new AC & BT4 card. You will likely need aerial adaptors but these usually come with the new card (beware the tiny adaptor cables are fragile)

PSU get a 210W or 240W to allow throttle free gaming.

 

the 680m will just need modded INF files
the 150w charger will work as long as you dont try to overclock the cpu too far

 

Far enough? ^^

 

what i meant to say is you can't sustain those speeds for a few hours with a GPU load without tripping the supply.

my laptop will thermal throttle if i keep my processor above 21x for 4 core in destiny2 for 2 hours. soon as i drop back to 20x on 4 and 22x on 3,2,1 it runs fine for a 6 hour session

 

I recommend a 240W delta power supply. Then get a 90* elbow and pull out the center pin so you can use the full power! (also remove elbow to charge battery)

 

Update! Let me preface this once again with how thankful I am for the attention this thread received. Gave me a lot more confidence to take on a project a little outside of my comfort zone.

-SSD caddy was a great success, even though it basically required disassembly of the entire rig. That gave me a good opportunity to clean pretty much everything really thoroughly.

-Picked up a 240w charger, and promptly disabled the warning message in the bios. (I got this knowing that in the near future I'll be picking up a 970m, and my existing charger was suffering from worn strain relief)

-eBay i7 940xm went right in, booted right up.

-16gb memory, went right in, booted right up.

-Replaced the original SSD in addition to the one that replaced the optical drive, and installed a fresh copy of win7 x64

-Replacement battery because the system could only run for about 5 minutes with the 9 year old OEM one.

In all honesty I think just upgrading from 4GB memory alone was a huge improvement, but the chip is a monster for it's age. I'm nearly certain I've pasted it incorrectly, or the heatsync is maybe just slightly out of alignment. Just sitting at the desktop with afterburner and windows updates downloading i'm anywhere from 70-80C. I knew the higher TDP chip would make more heat, but that seems kinda excessive. I'm used to being spoiled with liquid cooling, and not dealing with the compact [thermal] form factor notebooks, but it seems like most folks are reporting their temps on this chip significantly lower than mine.
Regardless, after I post this I'll be cleaning off the paste job that's there now and trying again. I've never used an extreme edition intel chip, but i've used countless core i7s and i5s and have never seen such a high idle temp. I've been through the ringer on every brand and mixture of thermal interface material, and I'm usually not someone who has any trouble. It's not something I even think about anymore, because it's become so mundane with frequency. I'm chalking this one up to user error, maybe I could use an extra half turn or so on my heatsync screws.

I'll post another update tomorrow, or very soon after I knock the temperature down to a more reasonable place. Next, I'll start shopping for that 970m and I'll be able to call it wrap on this rig restoration. Only thing I didn't do was upgrade the WLAN adapter, but who knows. Can always go back and swap it later.

 

Nehalem (1st gen i7's) ran hot

Very Hot
You likely didn't do a good paste job (not to insult ) but I'm not surprised at those temps

 

Does the 970M work with native fan control in M15x? I have a 680M in mine and been happy so far with that.

 

No insult taken, Grant! I tend to be so lackadaisical with the stuff nowadays.I was kinda hoping someone would reaffirm what I was already suspecting.

Today, I cleaned it up again and tried a nice thin line down the middle, buttoned it up and my temp at idle just staring win7 desktop is stable at 55C. This is with the machine elevated and inch off the desk with 4 rolls of paper tape, and with factory cooling policy. I'm anticipating much higher temps under load but I'm thrilled to see such a dramatic difference. I don't even mind the heat, but 75C at idle just didn't feel right at all. Browsing the net and just doing simple tasks doesn't make it go full Krakatoa either which is nice. something tells me i'll probably start using hwinfo more from now on though.

Ran PCMark10, and CPU was in the mid 70s most of the time, peaking as high as 85, and also spending a lot of time in the 60s. Goes right back to 55C idle. That's still with factory fans, factory cooling policy. So I'm happy with that for now I suppose. I'm sure higher CFM fans and software control will result in further lowered temps. Seems like there's room for some airflow improvement, but I digress.

Thanks again everyone

 

That seems much better!

 

970M gives native fan control in M15x

 

That is how it should be. That said under load don't worry too much about it getting into the 80s or even 90s. These chips can handle it and will perform stably for as long as you need them to. Just don't cross 99C otherwise you system will shut off immediately.

 

You're making great progress. You may want to begin playing with ThrottleStop (Thanks, DrWebb). Many of us learned how to get the most out of our M15x with that useful, free program. There is an entire forum devoted to the program, and an extensive manual. It will also give you an easy way to monitor temps and adjust clocks. Enjoy!
Joe

 

Also keep in mind that if you are upgrading from an i5 to an i7, you will probably have the slower CPU fan on your PC resulting in higher than average temperatures.

-Edit. Never mind. I just noticed he said he had an i7 already.

 

Poor M15x. Time to take it out back.