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    Which should I upgrade first?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by harmfuladam, Oct 31, 2016.

  1. harmfuladam

    harmfuladam Newbie

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    Current specs (plus I've switched to SSD):

    [​IMG]

    I'm looking to eventually go to the 920XM processor and M6000 video card as almost everyone has done. Also will go up to 16Gb of RAM as I do quite a bit of 3D modeling.

    My budget doesn't allow for all to be done at the same time, so which would be the best to start off with?
     
    harmfuladam, Oct 31, 2016
    #1
  2. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    I'd say the video card. The 920xm is very power hungry so you may also want to consider upgrading the power adapter to a 210W or 240W adapter with the XM, especially if you plan on overclocking it. The M6000 is more or less plug and play and will be a nice upgrade from the 5850M, and is not very power hungry so the stock 150W adapter will be fine.
     
    kosti, Nov 1, 2016
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  3. harmfuladam

    harmfuladam Newbie

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    Thanks for the input, that's how I'm feeling as well. I keep reading about needing/not needing shims (which I have no idea about) when installing, do you have experience with that?
     
    harmfuladam, Nov 1, 2016
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  4. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

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    I agree. Since you have an SSD already, I would upgrade the GPU. I went the CPU route from an i5 and I didn't notice much of a difference to be honest. It is fun having a CPU that can overclock, though.
     
    MatsueMaiku, Nov 1, 2016
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  5. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    With a 5850M you wouldn't notice much difference between the i5 and XM. However if you were to put a 7970M or 680M or faster you would big time.
     
    King of Interns, Nov 2, 2016
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