Questions about upgrading

So, i currently have an m15x with these specs:

Nvidia GeForce GT 240m
Intel Core i5 M 430 2.25 ghz
4 gb ddr3 ram

Planning on getting either a GTX 460m or a 5850 and a i7 740QM

Anyways, my questions are:

1) I remember when i first bought my notebook, if i wanted to upgrade to a gtx 260m then i would have had to buy an i7. I'm not too sure if this is true or not, but if i want to upgrade my GPU, would have i also have to upgrade my CPU?

I'm planning on upgrading both, just rather get a new GPU first before a CPU.

2) I found a 460m on ebay for $320, i can get that or buy a brand new 5850 from dell for about the same price, which is a better deal?

Ugh, the regrets of buying crappy computer parts.

 

I strongly recommend the 5850M. Faster, cheaper, Dell warranty. It will make a remarkable difference in the speed of your M15x, particularly for gaming.

 

For the GPU upgrade - there are a number of threads here discussing pros and cons. Since I have neither (so far), I can summarize (I am sure others will correct me): If you mostly play games, the consensus seems to be 5850, 5870, or (extreme) 6970. Those who do mostly video editing and applications seem to feel the 460 is better. I don't know for sure, but I do not see any reason these cards wouldn't be usable with an i5.

For the CPU, if you are going to upgrade, you might want to consider a i7-920mx. It's much faster stock, and is very easy to push the speed up.

Joe

 

the reason i was going to go with the 740QM was because of the price, they're all over ebay for sub $200 vs the 920mx which is around 300-400.

 

Hey if your getting either a 460 5850 CPU change is not needed not sure about the 260 but of course don't upgrade to that card its old and a waste of money.

The 5850 is the best card for gaming and can be over clocked a lot saying that the 460 is still a nice card.
If your feeling brave you could buy a 6970 which is by far the most powerful card but is not officially supported by the m15X all the information you need on this card is here http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...u-need-know-upgrading-problems-solutions.html
For the CPU i would say don't get a i7 740qm instead get a extreme quad core for your laptop and max this baby out a i7 920/940xm is the way to go get froM ebay for a good deal. i got mine from here New Intel Mobile Core? i7-920XM Extreme 8M Turbo 3.2GHz | eBay UK
with fast delivery and the chip works great.also use this program with the extreme processors to get the most performance out of them http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...et-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide-42.html
After you have done all this it will feel like a new laptop the performance increase worth every penny

 

Thanks for the advice, ill look into the processor some more, but i desperately need a GPU upgrade right now.

I would love to get a 6970 but the only problem is really the price, what attracts me to the 5850 is the price/power ratio.

 

well i can say this about the card i own the 5850 is a great card very powerful but recently some games have come out that just beat it :S Dragon age 2 The Witcher 2 and Fable 3 believe it or not and yea tweaking the graphics you can still make them look nice and have good frames but i'm playing with a 5850 wishing i had a 6970

 

Again, if i give up and buy a 6970, a processor upgrade is still not needed to use it, right?

Just making sure.

 

No, not needed at all. It has even a little advantage regarding the power consumption... having a non-extreme CPU will allow you to overclock the card easier without running in power issues.

 

Good luck on the upgrade man, I'm in the same dilemma as you.