Just bought a M15x

Here is a link, I think I got a good deal, $400+$15 shipping.

Dell Alienware M15x Laptop/Notebook (884116030829) | eBay

I have a M11x that is maxed out (except for cpu pin mod) and I was looking for something that is a little quicker (M11x only gets up to the 1.73ghz ).

My question is, I see this one has an I3, and some on here say that it does the job, would upgrading to an I7 be worth it (can they be swaped?).

 

The price is quite good, although the spec is the lowest it can be as well

u can swap it to i7 (720QM - 940XM) all able to ported in...

u would like to look for a GPU replacement as well.. 240M is frickin old.. hehe

 

Yeah I seen that I wasted no time buying it, looks like a M15X with an I3 are still bringing $600~. The guy also seems to have taken care of it, it looks flawless. I can also build up with whatever I want with it so I am happy

I already have my sights set on a 720QM as soon as I get my computer. I will order some new ram (maybe 4gb x 2 for now). As for the video card, what would you reccomend? I see hundreds of threads on here talking about them but I learned nothing new

I am also taking the Vortex SSD out of my M11x and swaping it over to the M15x as well

What video card would go good with the 720QM? I see the 260m is a swap done often enough, but is it worth it?

 

Are all of the "upgradable GPU's" ok for all M15x? Say the 6990 or 560M, will they work in any old M15x? Haven't followed the M15x at all until here recently.

 

How much money are you really looking to put into this thing, as far as CPU and GPU upgrades go?

 

I do not want to go crazy, but if the upgrades are there, I am willing to spend(I do not need anything too crazy, but I want to play my games at max settings at a very high FPS).

 

Just got a quote for a 7970M for $450, so there's always that option, and you'll have a beast of a laptop for years to come, if you pair it with a stout CPU.

 

That is something I would be interested in.

 

6970 or 6990 would be a good choice for nowaday..

 

given the scores of the 7970m, I wouldnt touch another thing with a 10 feet pole, except the 680m

 

a 6970 is a $250 card, its still a good choice. Its easy to say spend 500 bucks but if you are not going to make use of it there is no point.

 

Wonder if my m15x is worth a little more, now, that the 7970 seems to be working fine in it??? Hmm..

Higher-level specs, minus a 920xm. 720qm, 1080p screen, 8 gb ram, 500gb hard drive, 9 cell batt, 5850m GDDR5

Whatcha guys think??

 

It would be worth more if you put the 7970 in there

 

Well as soon as I get the computer, I am going to order the bigfoot killer 1102 and 16gb ram.

For the cpu, I am going to buy a 840QM.

For the video card, I think I will see how the 240m works, then maybe upgrade to the 260m to start off with.

 

U should really go with GPU 1st if i would suggest... 16gb can wait...

 

Check out the link in my sig for the performance of your 240M, the 260M and the 7970M. The 2xxM series is old so you'll have to uncheck the option at the to show archived cards. They don't show exact FPS for these models, but it'll still give you a decent view of how your options will perform for various games.

You got a pretty good deal on that 15x, so I'd grab that 840QM or the 920XM, 8GB ram, and the 7970 if you can swing it. you'll be able to game for quite some time.

 

Man, don't get a 260M. A 5850M is much, much better for the same or less price, with the 6900M cards providing another large leap (~50%) and the 7970M breaking new ground.

 

I am a nvidia fanboy btw....

I love that chart!

What can I get for $200-300 range in terms of a nvidia card.

So this is what I am at...

840QM
Video card goes here....
16gb Ram
Bigfoot 1102
The SSD from my m11x

I plan to order everything in two weeks~

 

AMD is the way to go in the M15x if you really want power. You're pretty much limited to a 460m or 560m with Nvidia, but with AMD you can use a 5850m/6970m/6990m/7970m. A 5850m will outperform a 460m or 560m for less money, so you decide if Nvidia is worth it. Personally I wouldn't get anything except a 7970m unless you find a good deal on another card. If money's an issue, skip the 16gb RAM and bigfoot 1102, and get a 720qm or 740qm and 8gb RAM.

 

I see that with some of the AMD cards, you need to modify the software/hardware a bit, to what extent exactly? The 7970m thread is not very clear on this...looking through the stickys I did not really learn too much more about it. If the 7970m is going for sell the price I have seen on here then it is the best buy for a video card right now.

If anything, upgrademonkey has the 460m for $270 right now (that is where I was going to buy the 840QM from as well). I have already sold my M11x and the M15x is going to be my only computer for the time being so I can not have much downtime if any. I may just get the 460m for now and if I need anything more then I will go ahead and buy it later on (I need something plug and play). The 460m plays all my games good which is all that matters to me

Also for the 460m, will the clevo card will work okay? (here is the link) http://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-GeFo...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item20c4dc5155

 

Wow, this computer is amazing, it blows my maxed out M11x R1 out of the water. I just took out my SSD out of my M11x and stuck it in the M15x, fired right up (of course, I need drivers, but most work except for the video card). Can not wait to get my new toys for it.

It looks new, it just came from a smoking home, the smell will go away so it is okay (nothing againist smokers, I just can smell smoke too well )

 

Ah, congrats thehunterooo. I just got mine in as well today. Typing on it as we speak. Ordering a Optical HDD bay, SSD, 8GB of Memory, along with my 7970M which will hopefully be on it's way shortly Right now I'm stuck with the 240M, blah. Overall, pretty snappy PC. I like the build quality MUCH, much better than the M17x R3, and it's on par if not better than the MSI GT783. Really liking what I see. The only problem, is that it's silver instead of the dark grey, but I'll live with that. May paint it in due time, who knows

Congrats.

 

Thank you, we shall enjoy our M15xs' together!

But wow, I had that M11x for a year and a half, I have been missing out.

I will tell you one thing though, if you are upgrading from a HDD to the SSD, you be not regret it for one second, I picked up my 120gb vortex for $120 used, the speeds are a little slower than some of the more expensive SSDs but who knows the difference?

 

It's my understanding that the M15x can only utilize SATA II speeds anyway, so the speed really isn't that much of a difference if you would have purchased a "faster" drive. Yeah, SSD's make a huge difference. In my GT783, it was night and day. MUCH quicker than the RAID setup in the M17x R3. I didn't like that machine at all. This one is a pretty slick piece of machinery though. It's just about the right size for me.

Hopefully in a week or so, we'll get to see how much this baby can do, when the 7970M gets in!

 

I can't wait to see it

I will be loaded up as well in the next couple of weeks, I pretty much bought a blank canvas, time to paint ;o

 

Holy cow the 240M stinks, ha. For a "gaming card" 2 years ago, it doesn't pack much power.

Also, updated the BIOS to A09, all went smoothly.

 

I need to update my bios still.

I had the 335m in the m11x so it can not be much worse, I had to take one of my many finals so now I can really dig in and see this beast in action

 

Well, the 240M has 50% less shaders than the 335M (335M = 72, 240M = 48)

 

Oh god, it is bad. I just ran ME1 for the heck of it and wow, the 240m really does suck.

Edit:Nevermind, it runs okay, I just had stealth mode engaged, why in the world is it so easy to touch?

I can live with this for a week or two.

 

About SSD, errel is correct, this M15x only support upto SATA II, so better buy SATA II SSD as well, except u plan to jump to another system in short time, ahahah

SSD is indeed really boost the whole system (as it does in any computer )

After own this machine i actually feel like bought a desktop after realize how far u can customize it... (CPU, GPU, Storage, Network, Memory)

maybe Dell should re-released M15x with new motherboard but just like that, ahaha, let the buyer customize everything else their own..

 

Yeah, going from the m11x (where you can not really upgrade anything) I am happy I can build the computer the way I want/need it. Even as it sits now, it is running on par with my maxed out R1, can't wait for my parts to start coming in

 

Well hopefully my 7970M will be shipping out this afternoon, and hopefully here early this coming week. Also buying a PCMIA USB 3.0 adapter on the way, new thermal pads, have some prolimatech PK-1 thermal compound..

I'm ready to roll, ha. I tried playing NBA 2k12 on the 240M, and was getting around 45FPS with AA off, and crowds on medium. Blah.

 

Updates on that 7970m?

I bought my 16gb ram and the bigfoot killer 1102, next is the CPU, it seems like I should just buy the 920xm instead of the 840qm (it is only $100~ more). This I3 is doing a good job though, it is a lot better than I thought it was going to be lol

 

I've got the GPU, just can't use it until my screws come in to attach the heatsink to the xbracket, haha.

 

Mate if you are going for a 840qm skip it and buy the 920xm. It is capable of delivering high end sandy bridge chip performance when pushed equivalent 2820 and 2860qm. Considering the M15x can use the 7970M it needs more power in the cpu department.

The 840qm simply is far inferior.

 

You don't have to tell me twice

Upgrade monkey just stuck some on at $268, that is a good deal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-i7-92...key-/160793382155?pt=CPUs&hash=item2570084d0b

 

Man, and we have to travel next weekend, taking my "fun money".. boo.

 

When you wrote "PCMIA", but you meant "expresscard", right?

 

Indeed I did

 

Installed the Bigfoot Killer 1102 (and cleaned my keyboard ), it is a great upgrade for the $45.

I tried installing ram for fun with the I3 and no dice, I have to wait for my 920xm to get here ;/

I also wanted to check, I am at A03 right now, any need to update to A09 with the 920xm and most likely a 460m?

 

Would the CPU really slow it down?
What about wattage? Is there enough watts in an old m15x to run the 7970 and a new CPU, or even an old CPU?

 

Yup. A Dell 240W flextronics PSU can be used and works perfectly with the machine. Plus it is no bigger than the 150W if not smaller as it is a slim adaptor!

With this adaptor you can easily pair the 7970M and 920XM in the M15x.

 

I bought a 920xm and 460m for a good price with upgrade moneky (was going to wait on the GPU, but oh well).

Hopefully they get here soon, I only have 3GB ram and it sucks....

 

8GB (2x4GB) 1333mhz ram is dirt cheap nowadays. Treat yourself.

 

I already have my two 8GB ram sticks sitting next to me, but cannot use them with my I3, I need the 920xm to get here

 

Nice one! What brand did you get? Expensive? Thinking of doing the upgrade when it is cheap.

 

I bought the sticks for $85 on ebay, it is komputerbay, nothing fancy but ram is ram. I have used komputerbay ram before and it did the job

 

Got the 920xm today, put it in along with the 16gb ram and everything works.

I think there is an issue though, my windows exp score went from a 6.2 with the 330m i3 to a 5.5 with the 920xm, that alone tells me something is not correct, any ideas? Without no paste, my idle is around 55, I will see what it gets up to with a game running.

Edit: After playing ME3, the temps never exceeded 60c for any of the four cores, I assume that something is bottlenecking it? It is running too cool without paste

 

You didn't put paste on your CPU??? That's your issue right there. Its temp throttling. Not safe man. Get some paste!

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS using Tapatalk 2

 

Not using TIM on a CPU is like not putting oil in your car engine. Something is going to go wrong sooner rather than later.