Upgrade GPU before it is too late??

Howdy Everyone,

I have an Alienware M15x that I purchased new in December of 2009, and at the time of purchased maxed out the GPU. At that time the top-of-the line GPU was the nVidia GeForce 260M, which is now starting to show its age. As an example of the performance issues, I am now having: before the Burning Crusade "upgrade" to WOW, I could run it at 1920x1080 on the 260 with very good framerates, and now I have to lower the settings. So, I decided that I should probably upgrade my GPU before they become unavailable. I am under warranty until 2013, and do not want to forfeit that. I have seen several posts where people have posted part numbers and various phone numbers to call Dell to order a new GPU. However, there are several inconsistencies with the numbers, and even with success. Some people report that Dell will not sell them the part, or that there are no upgrades for it. So does anyone have recent experience with sourcing a GPU from Dell, and the specific phone number and part numbers to ask for? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Rich S.

 

the fastest official dell video card for the m15x is the ATI 5850 and it's correct part number is K6654.

i guess it's luck of the draw who you get on the other end. personally i just bought parts outright from other sources but since you state the importance of your warranty i guess that's out of the question.

good luck

 

seriously, buy it from other sources,when u need your warranty,just put your stock hardware back in ,they'll never know i bet
coz i've done that twice already lol

 

Unless he wants the card under warranty as well. Just call and tell them you wish to purchase the card . They'll more then likely transfer you to sales.

 

UPDATE!!!

After around 20 minutes of searching, I finally found the phone number to call Alienware to see my options for an upgrade. I am surprised the number works, as it is too many digits (1-800-ALIENWARE). I spoke with a gentlman who had a thick Spanish accent, who took around 10 minutes to tell me that I could upgrade to the GeForce 460M, for a total of $430 (includes shipping and tax). Plus, he assured me that it would be covered under my existing warranty, which is pretty cool. Granted $430 is not cheap, but considering that I anticipate getting another 18 months or so before performance suffers again, it save me from having to buy a new laptop I thought about asking for the 5850M after the chatter on the board, but ultimately decided that having CUDA support, would be a benefit. Plus, I do not overclock my components, and most of the people who rave about the 5850M seem to be overclocking it.

I have not actually opened up my M15x, except to take the bottom off to dust. I did observe a very inept tech take it apart to replace the motherboard, but have not actually done it myself. I am a little nervous about it. The "guide" that I read provided by Dell a year ago, talks about needint a "plastic scribe" to detach the (very fragile) touch-control panel. I remember hearing people here in the forum having this part broken. Any advice on the installation of the card? Thanks in advance!

Thanks!

Rich S.

 

That's expensive... but still cheaper than over here, hahaha. But since it'll be covered by the system warranty, it's not a bad option.

Though to be honest I don't think you'll ever use CUDA unless you work with professional photo/video editing software.

Here's my guide for the GPU replacement: http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...olutions-m15x-gpu-replacement-guide-svl7-.pdf

Inap has a guide as well, can be found in his signature. Make sure you have thermal paste around and some stuff for cleaning the heatsink.

 

nice guide svl7, short, sweet and to the point +rep

 

LinkRS, yes it's a little pricey but it will be covered under warranty.
the 460m's a good performer and if you have apps which can take advantage of cuda that's a bonus.

the plastic scribe you talk about is something like this.

it's practically a plastic chisel which can be used to pry plastic parts with a firm grip without leaving marks in the plastic like a metal tool would.

the m15x can be opened without it since you can get a grip of the front panel using your fingers in between the lcd (fully open) and the front panel.

the m17x however i found needs this tool since there's an edge covering the entire panel and you need to pry it from the lower section between the keyboard and panel. without the tool it would leave indentation marks.

 

Also search youtube for alienware m15x teardown, i found it pretty helpful

 

hmmm for that price, you could get a 6970 on ebay =D

 

Grrrrrrr! I orderd my 460m last Monday (8th of Aug), and was given an initial delivery date of 12 Aug. On the 10th Dell notified me that there was a dealy, and I should get it on the 17th (today). They actually shipped the card on the 12th, and UPS got it to within 200 miles of me by Sunday, and then it sat there. Until yesterday, and then the "routed" it to the wrong destination, and I am now supposed to get it tomorrow (18th). I am an unhappy camper grrrrr.....

Rich S.

 

Got the card today, and got it installed. Used some fancy Antec Formula 7 thermal paste, and booted up. I must say that I am a little underwhelmed. I ran a quick 3DMark Vantage and got a P6853, and then a 3DMark 11 with a P1676 (yuck!). Plus it seems like the texture fillrate on the 460m is about half of the 260m, this is a better card? It seems to have traded DirectX 11 for texture fillrate. Not sure that is a good trade....

 

that doesnt seem right at all ... running my 260m on stock clocks, my 3dmark vantage score is P5666 ... 1200 increase doesnt seem like much ...

i just tried looking for the official benchmark thread pt2 with the benchmark scores for the 460m but its gone! 0.o

 

there has to be something wrong with the card / drivers /setup ... i just o/c my gtx260m and im getting a P7000 score in 3DMark Vantage ...

Also, there are two scores for the 460m in the benchmark thread at P7400 and P9500
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-powerful-m15x-benchmark-thread-part-2-a.html