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    Would love some help with my Alienware m15x

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by Jadow, Aug 31, 2014.

  1. Jadow

    Jadow Notebook Enthusiast

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    So hey guys I'm a complete scrub and I have NO idea how in the hell soldering graphics cards work or how to apply thermal paste or any other kind of install HOWEVER! I still want to upgrade my Alienware M15X and at the moment the graphics card I'm using is a Raedon 5770M which in my own opinion is probably the worse thing ever because now that games are requiring much more graphics it's sort of leaving me in the dust and I don't want that just yet!

    Also, I know it's a lot cheaper to buy a Desktop but with my lfiestyle i'm not in the same spot for too long so I need a laptop and I enjoy having one regardless of the cost and it's much easier for me to upgrade piece by piece!

    Anyway, My point is that I'd like to upgrade to the Raedon 7970M however I noticed people are getting issues such as overheating and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth going to get it installed because I'm not quite sure if the person who I pay to install it will go through all the trouble of fixing all the minor issues to not make it over heat.

    I've also noticed a lot of people using the Alienware M17X charger instead of the stock one. Is it actually okay if I use my stock for awhile before switching or is it something that has to be done right away instead of taking my time?

    Anyways, I'm sorry for my poor explaination, this is my first time upgrading a computer and I literally have no idea what I'm doing really.

    Also if some of you are willing to help my lame butt.. Could you also throw in what's the best processor to get? Possibly a few choices for my wallets sake!
     
  2. radji

    radji Farewell, Solenya...

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    You'd get a better response posting in the Alienware forums.

    But to answer your question: if your 5770M truly sucks, then could a 7970M be any worse? If you do update to the 7970M, make sure you get the correct heatsink and a halfway decent thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5, IC Diamond, etc). That will minimize the potential overheating issues you could have.
     
  3. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    Hello Jadow, welcome to NBR.

    radji is right that you may have a better chance of a response from other AW owners in that section. That said, there is nothing wrong with posting here in this section on that topic, so I'll leave the decision to you. Let us know if you want to move the thread.
     
  4. Jadow

    Jadow Notebook Enthusiast

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    Oh yes! Sorry for all this. It's just my first time really trying to work a forum haha but yeah if you can throw this thread over there that'd be great! Also thanks so much for the help guys and I'll make sure to ask the technician what kind of thermal paste he uses too.
     
  5. Dannemand

    Dannemand Decidedly Moderate Super Moderator

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    No worries, you did nothing wrong. Being a longtime NBR regular, radji just knew you probably would get more response in the AW 15x forum. I moved the thread there and left a redirect so you can find it.
     
  6. Jadow

    Jadow Notebook Enthusiast

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    Oh awesome! Thanks again you guys!
     
  7. gotmilk70

    gotmilk70 Notebook Consultant

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    The 7970M is easy to install, provided you buy the right version. It's pretty much plug and play if you buy the version designed for dell/alienware. The MSI/Clevo models you will run into issues on. You may have to flash the video cards bios to get anything to display on those versions, Overheating issues only happen when the thermal paste is not installed correctly or if there is not proper contact with the GPU die and the heatsink. Once you install the 7970M, you can install a video card bios to make it run at a lower voltage, (0.975V) which in turn will allow it to run cooler. If you have any more questions on this, let us know.

    As for the CPU you can go with the 920XM to save some money. The highest you can go is the Core i7-940XM, but that will be around $400-500 on ebay versus the 920XM being around $160-250. There is only a 100-200Mhz speed difference.

    You can also get 16GB RAM when you upgrade to the unlocked i7's. . I would suggest the Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB 1600mhz ram. It will downclock to 1333Mhz fine and will be able to use the faster ram timings. Very reliable Micron chips on it as well.

    As for SSD's I would go with either Samsung or Intel SSD's due to their speed and reliability.

    Thermal paste you should stick with IC Diamond 24.

    As far as a PSU is concerned, try the 210w, 240W or 330W (330W is electronically limited to 240W unless you or someone you know has soldiering skill) PSU's. Do NOT get the 230W, it is not compatible with the M15x. I would personally go with the 240W+ PSU's, especially if you plan on overclocking the CPU/GPU.(which would honestly be a waste if you buy the 920XM/7970M combo)

    Hope this helps.
     
  8. Jadow

    Jadow Notebook Enthusiast

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    That was actually extremely helpful, seriously. Thank you all so much again for helping my dumb butt with all this. I really appreciate it so much. 10/10

    So basically I should get the PSU before I make these upgrades? I was hoping I could hold out for a little while.

    Also.. I know this is off topic but would you guys have any idea as to why my PC won't charge? I already paid for a new DC jack and the guy did a really good job it seems but I'm still having an issue. It was charging perfectly fine earlier today but now it has completely stopped charging and even before hand it had a VERY slow charge I'm talking like 8-10 hours for a full charge. UPDATE: I just removed the battery and pushed it back in aaaand after that it's charging again? Although still a very slow charge.

    I also find this incredibly weird also.. I have a 1TB hard drive and for some reason I only have 300GB of free space after only downloading five games or so. I know this is COMPLETELY wrong but I really don't understand it. (I should have added in that my PC was not allowing me to reinstall windows because my CD drive was also acting)
     
  9. gotmilk70

    gotmilk70 Notebook Consultant

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    You can get the upgrades first if you are able to. I would advise against overclocking the 920XM/7970M until you have a PSU that will support the power demand.

    As far as the charging part, it could be a bad battery, or a faulty PSU. I would try a different battery, if that does not fix the problem, maybe the PSU is not delivering enough power. If that does not fix the problem, it could possibly be something with the mainboard.

    As for the space, I would check the total space available on your drive. Right click on Computer, click manage, From there on the left you should see disk management. Find your drive and see how much total space is on the drive. If there is some un allocated space, there goes your issue right there.

    I would look into possibly trying another windows disk to be sure it's the dvd-drive. If another disc does not work, try creating a windows bootable usb installer. There are plenty of guides online on how to do this.

    Hope this helps.
     
  10. radji

    radji Farewell, Solenya...

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    PSU before the upgrades is the correct order. If the new GPU sucks too much power, it'll trip the fuse in your current PSU. And whilst its not like it can be reset, it can be annoying to have your PSU trip out in the middle of a game. Better to have the higher watt PSU first.

    Dunno about your hard drive space. It's difficult to say without actually looking at the different folders and whatnot to see what's taking up all the space.

    But for your battery. Turn off your system. Unplug your battery, blow out the contacts with the air duster (both on the battery and the bottom of the notebook). See if that helps, it usually helped my M17x. If it doesn't, the battery may be at the end of its life.
     
  11. gotmilk70

    gotmilk70 Notebook Consultant

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    Power tripping is only on the worst case. Most likely what will happen is that the GPU/CPU will throttle if there is not enough power available. (Slow down to meet the power demand) Without an overclock on the GPU/CPU, the 7970/920XM combo will work fine on the 150W adapter.

    You can even undervolt the 7970M to make it use less power. Which at this point would be advisable. You can even look for the right angle adapter on amazon/ebay so It will use the full available power of the 150W adapter. The right angle adapter can give your system a bit more juice. Possibly around max 180-200W.

    Just pop out the data pin (the middle thin pin) on the right angle adapter, and plug it in to the jack on the PSU adapter. Then plug it in to the laptop. While the right angle adapter is in, it will not charge your battery, but it should give a little more power to the system. It is cheap (like $6-10) I will put the link below.

    Right Angle Connector Converter for Dell HP Compaq Laptop Power Adapter LC90B | eBay

    While this can work short term, once you purchase your upgrades...you can buy a 210W+ PSU and overclock the crap out of the CPU/GPU!
     
  12. Jadow

    Jadow Notebook Enthusiast

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    I can't even begin to express the amount of appreciation I have that you guys have been trying to help me like this. I'm going to save that link that you just gave me and just use my 150w for a little while until I decide on overclocking (That's gonna be fun to figure out how to do haha) I'm really glad theres a website like this that has so many helpful people on it and I know now that if I have any other issues regarding my PC that theres a place with amazing people willing to help out.

    Thank you all so much for answering all my questions!
     
    deadsmiley and gotmilk70 like this.
  13. gotmilk70

    gotmilk70 Notebook Consultant

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    It is no problem. We love to help fellow members in need. If you have any questions, post it and we will do our best to help!
     
  14. sashimi101

    sashimi101 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Highly recommended to purchase a 210W adapter as the adapter will run cooler and provide you more power headroom in the event that you do wish to overclock something in the future. Personally i am on a 920XM/7970m combo at the moment.