Can I pick up a bare bone m15x and upgrade via aftermarket?

I am really digging the design of the laptop and the fact that it supports some real high grade parts is very impressive.... but I do have some bills to pay XD

I'm assuming Ram and HDD upgrades are just like every other lappies out there....

But what about the CPU and GPU? Are they upgradable as well?

I'm very familiar with desktop building but I've never done much more than a ram or hdd swap on a laptop before so I'd like to know.

Oh and if these parts are upgradable would it void your warranty?

Thank you very much for all your help in advance!

 

Yes these parts are upgradable. If you upgrade them through AW, it will not void your warranty. However, upgrading by yourself will void the warranty.

 

where would you get the barebone 15x??

 

I was assuming he meant the lowest AW configuration.

 

Well, by "barebone" I meant getting it built with then 8600gt and t8100.

Would that be usable for moderate gaming or am I going to have to invest a few hundred more to upgrade the CPU and GPU a bit?

What would the bare minimum for mid-low gaming be CPU and GPU wise?

 

sure th 8600 isnt gonna run alotta games great ull be at low to med settings on every thing

 

would a bump to 8700 be substantially better for gaming? I'm currently on a Q9400 with a ati 4850. I'm sure gaming won't be comparable but would performance in general be comparable?

 

I believe the 4850 will be better.

 

no, not able to be compared thats a desktop 4850

lol the 8600 to 8700 should be a bit, not huge though

in order from lowest to highest

ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
ATI Mobility Radeon X1700
Nvidia GeForce 8400M-GT
Nvidia GeForce Go7700
Nvidia GeForce Go7600GT
Nvidia GeForce 9500M-G
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450/3470
Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GS
Nvidia GeForce Go7800
ATI Mobility Radeon X1800
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 DDR2
Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT DDR2/9500M-GS
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 GDDR3
Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT GDDR3
Nvidia GeForce 9600M-GT DDR2
Nvidia GeForce 9650M-GT DDR2
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650/3670
Nvidia GeForce Go7900GS
Nvidia GeForce 9600M-GT GDDR3
ATI Mobility Radeon X1900
Nvidia GeForce Go7800GTX
ATI Mobility Radeon X1800XT
Nvidia GeForce 8700M-GT/9650M-GS
Nvidia GeForce 9700M-GT
Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT SLI
Nvidia GeForce 9700M-GTS
Nvidia GeForce Go7900GTX
Nvidia GeForce Go7950GTX
Nvidia GeForce 8700M-GT SLI
Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GS
Nvidia GeForce 8800M-GTS
Nvidia GeForce Go7950GTX SLI
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870
Nvidia GeForce 8800M-GTX/9800M-GT
Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GTX
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870
Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GTS SLI
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire
Nvidia GeForce 8800M-GTX SLI/9800M-GT SLI
Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GTX SLI
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 CrossFire

 

Upgrade everythign but the GPU by yourself and get the 9800.

 

Thanks so much for all the help guys, I really appreciate it! I guess I'll just hold out for a few weeks to see if they'll have any nice free shipping coupons and order when one shows up.

 

I know you dig the M15x design, but there is an alternative... quite a better one IMO.... since it will be much better priced and with up-to-date technology.

The Clevo M860TU / M860ETU sells systems in both barebones forms and fully configured... and would NOT void the warranty since it was designed for user-upgrades.

Its specs are the best for any 15.4"... making it the fastest on the market:
- quad-core CPU support (as compared to M15x's dual-core CPU only support)
..... this has latest Montevina platform, while M15x is using the previous Santa Rosa platform
- videocard: supports up to Nvidia GTX 260M (faster than 9800M GTX)
- up to 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3

I built my notebook from barebones three years ago since I was not able to afford a fully configured notebook.

Check out the barebones at:
- www.rjtech.com (whom of which get their barebones through Sager and Pro-Star)

And fully configured notebooks at the vendors:
.... in the Clevo Guide

 

xoticpc.com as well they offer it

 

Upgrade the gpu and worry about cpu and ram later.

 

I STILL haven't found a site where I can order a Mobile GPU directly, put it in a shopping cart, and check out.... is there ANYWHERE? I have mine with the 9800GTX. But for future upgrading, what is the HIGHEST i can go?

 

Not yet. The 260M GTX will be the next card up (but it's basically an OCed 9800M GTX) and should be available shortly after the NP8662 goes live (early April IIRC).

 

Sounds good, But where will it be available from? Is there ANYWHERE I can ACTUALLY go online and find these parts? Or do I have to call companies about what GPU's they offer? I'm guessing I'll just have to go through Alienware, but I want a more simplistic approach, although I realize this might not be possible.

 

Since the 860TU was upgraded it makes the m15x look like weak sauce.
I mean a 260M GTX card, and Quad core! AW needs to step it up.

 

lol don't worry its comming ... i hope... since the SAVIOR dell is coming :\

the 260m gtx should be avaliable through resellers

rk computer xoticpc.com etc...... not gonna be many shops that have it at first

 

Sorry to nitpick, but the m15x does not have a 9800 GTX option. It's merely a 9800 GT. The GTX has double the memory (1GB), and needs more power (say 10 watts-ish). Because of this, I believe it is too hot for the m15x.

I upgraded my m15x to the 9800 GT and added the AlienFX keyboard because these seemed to be the only upgrades competitively priced or otherwise unavailable. The keyboard is a bit of a slap in the face though. It's an old fashioned PS/2 interface keyboard that cannot register more than two simultaneous key presses in a given region. I believe it's the same for the other keyboard so really it's $50 and tax for the light.

 

lol the 260m gtx is saposed to run COOLER , it is die shrunk and will run cooler 55nm core generates less heat than a 65nm core

 

I can press a+w+d+ space (those are the most important keys) all at the same time, with all of them showing up. Example, wad adw awd awd awd wad wad awd wad wad adw; Even shift works DWA DWA DWA ADW DWA DAW

I hope AW comes out with a 260MGTX for the m15x, The m17x should be able to handle a 280Mgtx SLi and then the m17 would have the ATi 4870CF cards.

 

i think the 280m gtx will not be able to stay cool in the m17x ....... or even fit ... i could be wrong ....beside if AW did put those in there then they would be idiots. They need a new release montevina platform and the goods that come with it ...also SB and alienFX then add the 280m SLI if SLI will be possible

 

Of course they would have to upgrade the rest of the stuff, I thought that was a given, since it should have been done months ago. lol
How about a smart bay fan?
Ok I am just making up pointless imaginary things now, sorry.

 

actually its a rather interesting idea if vent hole were cut in and it pulled air in from the side it would be pretty cool

 

@dwend

Now try walking backwards with S instead of forwards with W. The A and S keys pressed together disables the ~, 1, 2, TAB, Q, W, CAPS LOCK, Z, and X keys. Also, when would you ever need to walk left and right simultaneously (A and D keys used together)? I would be interested to know if anyone is without this limitation on their keyboard.