M15x with a 920xm - GPU upgrade advice required

Hi guys,

My furst post in the forums so go gentle on me

So I am an owner of a Alienware m15x. Recently I updated the processor to a 920xm however spending some times in the forum and reading a few threads it turns out that the 920xm isn't that compatible with the ATI/AMD 7970m.

With this in mind, i was wondering of someone can recommend a suitable alternative to the 7970m?

Currently I run a Nvidia 460m.

Many thanks

 

Welcome! You got things wrong, 920xm is great with everything. However, once you overclock it draws a lot more power, so you will need a bigger PSU then the 150W or 180W ones. Also check this thread for the L shaped adapter that will cut the connection to the middle signal pin, which will allow unlimited power from the PSU(to the point on which the PSU will trip - point that will not be reached with a big PSU). Hopefully you're from a country in which Bixnet delivers (I am the one that found the L shaped adapter and still don't have it...).

 

Exactly what he said. My 940xm and 7970M work perfectly together. I'm amazed that my 4 year old laptop (with upgrades) can run Watch Dogs on high detail, high textures, FXAA and lots of other nice things at a very nice 40-50fps with only slight stutters when game autosaves (probably avoided if installed on SSD?)
Anyone playing this game should check out TheWorse texture mod too

Also the whole Intel runs better on Nvidia is nonsense...probably. Drivers have come a long way and this is an old CPU architecture we're talking about.

 

Ok so I would be good to go with a 7970m as long as I upgrade the PSU? If so which PSU do you recommend?

 

The 940xm is different to the 920xm

 

Not much noticeable difference. BIOS doesn't support the extra features of 940xm anyway so they are effectively the same.

Sent from my One S using Tapatalk

 

920xm and 7970m combo is excellent. Simply follow the guides on how to overcome throttle and even the base 150w will let you game. This providing you don't overclock the 7970m.

I recommend undervolting the 7970m to 0.975v and leaving it stock clocks. It runs very well and cool if you do this.

Currently Iam playing wolfenstein new order at max settings and it runs well. This game is more gpu intensive than watchdogs at max settings so it is quite impressive.

 

Yes the 920/940XM are both compatible with the AMD 7970M! But if you want less of a headache personally I'd go with the 680M as it is a very powerful card and is quite easy to install!

 

Yes, you will need that upgrade to be able to handle that + the 7970m.

 

I would recommend at least a 210W or higher PSU (Dell PA-7E or greater but DO NOT get the 230W one, does not work with the M15x) and the L-shaped adapter. Search our forums for the links to this stuff. The 7970M (and the 8970M, Like I have) should work wonderfully on the M15x. You may need to OC the 920XM to see the GPU's real power, but with the right PSU and l-shaped adapter, you should be fine! Good luck!