Are all AW laptops upgrade able in the future?

For example, the M18x; can you upgrade the CPU and GPU after 5 years of future CPU/GPU?

 

In that time frame i believe we'll change sockets at least once for each.

 

What do you mean?

 

katalin_2003 is probably referring to the CPU socket pins - meaning that during the 5 year time frame the CPU architecture will probably change usually requiring a new mainboard to utilize the new CPU.

What that means is that depending on the tech. a couple of years from now - you may need to update the mainboard itself in order to use the CPU. I don't know too much, but the next generation should be Haswell, intel's next CPU architecture.

 

Yeah, you'll have more luck with the GPU but the current CPU sockets are at a dead end.

 

I believe the M14x's are the only one's that are not. Their CPUs and GPUs are soldered to the motherboard.

 

If you put enough money into an Alienware (3 grand or more), in 5 years time that system will still be capable of playing high end games; though perhaps not on ultra but still capable.

7-8 years is when you'd be looking to upgrade, and you would likely just buy a new laptop.

 

. In 7-8 years I hope that gaming laptops and ultra books will have become a single entity.

 

CPU sockets change every 1-2 years with Intel. GPU sockets, assuming the notebook uses the MXM standard, change a little less often but I wouldn't count on 5-years. In any event within 5 years the system will be so outdated that a new one will run circles around it and probably cost less to get, too.

 

That's one good thing about old computers. They can be worth a lot more money parted out for repair components than they are worth fully assembled and working. When parts become obsolete, there can be a demand for repairs.

 

To answer your question, yes and no.

M11x has BGA soldered graphics and CPU, no upgrading unless you know how to do BGA soldering. M14x as far as I know has soldered graphics. Big DTR Alienware laptops have PGA CPUs and MXM graphics cards. Yes they can be upgraded for the most part, however you might need to jump through loops and hoops (heatsinks, vBios, etc). Is it worth it? Normally no, look at 580M SLI in it's prime, 1000 bucks to jump to 580M SLI. Would you drop that kind of money into an older Alienware? Might as well sell the current one and buy up, or invest in the warranty.

 

M14x CPU is not soldered. Only the GPU.

 

This is true, but there are downsides to it too as I've recently experienced. I gave my 1st computer away, the thing was ancient, it was one of those brown boxes (hah).

2nd computer came from a college, it was 15 years old, and I tore it down for parts, decided it was worthless and chucked it, it had an AGP single core mobo, just as an example, so you can understand why it would've been improbable to keep it as a replacement.

Point being, computers after 15 years of use are worth nothing, it's troublesome but, we pick our passion.

Personally though, we had so much to improve on back in 1990, graphics didnt even really exist, pixel blocks were games, now we've advanced to a level that I think it might take a while to pass, or indeed, if it could be passed at all, when your looking at a game, and the wind affects your surroundings, down to blades of grass, and people's faces are so real, that's the level we're at now.

This is just personal opinion but it reflects to upgrades ~ 1985 to 2010 we saw some of the most rapid, extreme development anything has ever seen on the planet (think how slowly car engines have developed, it's taken 100 years and 300 horsepower is the average car), 2012 to 2035 will not produce the same level of advancement we've seen, there will be alot of going sideways, alot of rebadging, little tweaks and such, but no the great leaps and bounds in most releases we're seeing now. It will become rarer and rarer as we progress or untill a new base for computers is discovered (PCi's successor, so to speak, would be something I'd consider a great leap that we have made)

Atleast I think that's what's going to happen, we can't replicate the development period from 1980 to 2010 in terms of upgrades, now the reason you buy a high-end PC isn't because performance is an issue it's because of a failure of some kind. Unless your in my situation, sitting on a 8 year old computer going "Duel core was top line, once..."

 

anything is upgradeable if u put enough $$$ and effort to it but it probably won't be cost-effective. however, if buy something of a top of line stuff from alienware (or from any other "quality" manufacturer for that matter), it will last a long time.

i have w700ds with nvidia 3700m and it was top of the line stuff in 2009. 3 years later, i can still play most games in decent settings.

i see no reason why 7970m stuff from alienware won't last as long...

 

Very true. But I think IBM may have some stuff up their sleeves that's going to knock our socks off in about 20 years. They have A LOT of secret or vague stuff being worked on right now for tomorrows computers.
As a side note, IBM employees are not allowed to use Siri because Apple records everything you say to it.

 

So real quick, the next generation CPU, is it coming out next year? And is that compatible with the M18x?

Sorry for the questions. I just want to learn stuff from Alienware stuff.

 

The simple fact that fifteen years ago computers had, on average, less power than the "dumb" phones of today really sets the mood of this entire issue, in that it's only an issue if you refuse to understand the way the computer market works. If computers were still useful after five to ten years, then the market would be a great deal slower, and we'd have a lot less in the way of development.

~~~

That's a "no".

 

Ok, so for upgrade purposes, the only max CPU i can upgrade is the i7 XM series,right?

For GPU, is it best to upgrade( for maximum upgrade) after 5 years or 3 years?

 

Yes, your right, but I've got a good example of why that's not something to be worried about.

Some people simply might not want alternatives to what we currently have. Case in point, 3D T.V. I know a lot of people think it's stupid, they stick with their normal LED LCD's, so it's "revolutionary" technology that's being ignored on a main scale by the public.

Same situation with computers, if they introduce virtual reality goggles or some crap, it's just going to mimic 3D sales, which is to say, terrible.

Just an example off the top of my head, but your absolutely right, if there's one thing the major computing company's are good at, it's keeping secrets.

 

You guys are still really bloody lucky! See here what I mean... :/

 

Anyone please help me on this?

 

It would probably cost less to buy a new laptop.

 

^^^. OP, in 5-6 years when your laptop (which is very powerfully configured) is no longer preforming well on newer games, it will be better and cheaper just to buy a new one. Serioulsy; By then we wont even be using Haswell CPU's and Nvidia will be on their 1100 series. Laptops will also have gotten thinner and lighter, and displays will be leaps and bounds ahead of what they are now. even low end laptops will be using 1080p and higher end ones will be far beyond that, and will probably all be 120-240 Hz. 3d will also be better and cheaper.

People also said the same thing when the first smart phones started coming out though. Most people thought they were over priced gimmicky high class garbage. "all phones need to be to to be able to call, and maybe text and take the occasional picture" was what most people thought. then 2 years later that sentiment was almost completely reversed. Mostly because of the Iphone. now only 3 or so years later almost everyone has one and some decent ones are almost as cheap as the old flip phones were, and some people can't even live without them (which is kind of sad really). I think 3d TV's and to a lesser extent, virtual reality goggles (which will probably still be a gimmick even in 20 years) are in the same boat right now. its just being rowed to the finish line at a slower pace. The reason being is that those products, and others like them don't have long term carrier contracts that allow sellers to take a loss on them (a loss that will later be recovered by the bills those phones accrue). Eventually as tech gets better and prices fall people will start buying 3d TV's in larger numbers. Especially once they don't need glasses and they won't give you nausea. Once there is only 5-15% of a price difference between normal TV's and 3D tv's of the same size I am betting that most people will make the switch next time they go out to by a new set. Especially if you can turn the 3d off easily so people who don't like 3d can enjoy them.


Thats the way the electronics market works. Everything, particularly products that are an improvement on others, starts out as an expensive little used gimmick that people don't want at first but then become inseparable from within a generation. From the light bulb (WE ALREADY HAVE GAS LAMPS! WHATS THE POINT LOL!??!) to TV's (WE ALREADY HAVE RADIO LOL WHATS THE POINT!?!), to even the telephone (WE ALREADY HAVE THE TELEGRAPH, WHATS THE POINT LOL!??!).

 

So if I'm going to upgrade, the best time is after 3 years,right?

Is CPU necessary to upgrade after 2 to 3 years or just Dual GPU will be fine?

 

If you keep upgrading the GPUs to the max, your bottleneck will be your CPU.

 

I see, so I have to upgrade my CPU (if I'm thinking of upgrade). But the max upgrade I can for my CPU is the 3980XM, right?

 

You don't HAVE to, but eventually your CPU will bottleneck your performance, even with an insane overclock. Yes you could upgrade your CPU, but you are dumping quite alot of money upgrading SLI/CF cards on top of an extreme processor.

 

Hmm... I'm thinking if I upgrade 3 years, I'll just upgrade my GPU so it won't bottleneck then on 2018, I'll get new laptop. I'll get a new laptop if it can play next gen 60fps max.

 

Depending how powerful your GPU is, it would still bottleneck the CPU.

In fact it's something I'm worried about purchasing my R2, I'm quite worried someone might need an extreme to power those 7970's. I know it's rare but some people have said that their Ivy's are bottlenecking their 7970's even in today's laptops. It's just gradual, but you see a XM3920 power those 7970's, oh baby, it roars!