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    Thinking about upgrading from an Q820 + AMD 5850 need some advice.

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by EGM92, Nov 14, 2017.

  1. EGM92

    EGM92 Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey everyone,

    Longtime M15x owner. I've done a few upgrades over the years, but haven't done so since the 5850s were a decent card to get for the M15x. I'm thinking about maybe upgrading to a 920/940xm. Would I require a new Heatsink/fan setup? I remember reading there was some issues with throttling, is that still an issue?

    As for the video card. I rarely ever game on this laptop anymore, the 5850 is still pretty good for what I use it for but I've noticed that I've been getting driver failures and black screens happening more and more. I'd also like to be able to use the display port if possible. Are there any non-Dell cards that can take advantage of the DP and not require manual clocking tools for the card to change frequencies? Current 5850 is a Clevo that I have to use "AMD GPU Clock Tool" to get it to go above the base 200/250mhz.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. bartuc66

    bartuc66 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Getting a 920xm is a definite must in my opinion. I upgraded mine from a 720qm. Running at stock clocks/settings for normal browsing/media habits, the temperature stays below 65 Celsius (around an 18X multiplier) and with a max fan speed of about 3K rpm. At full load (24x muliplier across all cores) I have yet to exceed 75 Celsius. My point is, even with stock settings, I easily noticed an improvement in my daily usage for very little temperature gains when compared to my 720qm. I am currently using Arctic MX-4 until it runs out. This means if you already use a better thermal paste, you will get even better temperatures (and fan noise) than me. Furthermore, if you do a fan mod, you can expect even better thermals.

    I strongly recommend getting a 920/940xm.

    Out of curiosity, does anybody know what causes those black screens during boot-up? I was also experiencing them when I had my amd 5850m. Are they the result of a bad driver or are they a sign of hardware failure?
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2017
  3. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    Posted to the wrong window.