Upgrading the M15x

Hello,
I've had the Alienware m15x for a little over two years now, and I've recently been noticing a downgrade in performance, a rather steep one at that. I was wondering if upgrading some of the parts would be a good idea, is it worth it, and what should I be looking at getting?
Here is my processor, and card
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 740 @ 1.73GHz (8 CPUs), ~1.7GHz
Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6570M/5700 Series

On top of that I have 6gb of RAM.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks!

 

What games are you playing? What are your gpu temperatures like?
Might be something simple like you need to have a good clean internally and re-paste the die on gpu.
Alternatively think about getting a solid state drive. I love mine!

To upgrade from that spec you'd be looking at a i7-920xm or 940xm with a 7970m. Expect that to cost a lot! Prices will depend if you buy used or new but anywhere from $500-700?

 

Thank you for answering. I am playing games like Starcraft 2 a lot recently, but also LoL. Starcraft 2 I have to run on low - otherwise it is so choppy I can barely play. LoL runs fine, but my fps went from 60-30 recently. I've done virus scans and the like, but really I've changed nothing about my computer and there were no viruses. I'm not sure what the gpu temperatures are, but I do have a cooling pad so it shouldn't be getting too hot. How costly is it to re-paste the die? How would this solve the problem?

 

Thermal paste is dirt cheap. A good tube will cost less than 10 bucks.

You should download a monitoring program like HWINFO64, GPU-Z, or MSI Afterburner to monitor temps and update us as to what your temps look like under load. If they're higher than normal, it could cause the drop in performance. Along with thermal paste, it may also be dust or grime clogging the vents/heatsinks. This is especially common as a laptop ages and when using a cooler. You should also invest in a can of air duster to clean the internals.

 

Actually a bump up to a 6990M which runs well in the M15x is a pretty decent performance boost while costing around $200 in NBR marketplace. Equally if he keeps his eyes peeled I reckon he could have his hands on a 920xm for $250 or less.

Especially if he sells the old parts and contributes the earnings towards the new purchases. This is something I always do and I always count the money earnt as a direct discount on my next purchase ;D

 

***Cough*** buy my 6990m so I can buy a 7970m lol!
I put money from selling old components into a special bank acc. labelled 'Toy money'. Pretty self explanatory really.

 

Lol you toy boy!

 

Hey guys. First thanks again, for all the good info. I will keep an eye out for new parts, but it really isn't gonna fit into the budget right now I'm afraid. I took apart my laptop and cleaned the fans/vents out. Both were almost completely dust covered. Surely enough after this clean up my fps went back to normal. From about 20-40 on low to 30 on high Thanks for the help.