Does anyone know a reputable UK based seller of non-refurbished CPUs/VGA spares for m18xr2?

Hi guys

I have an m18xr2 which i purchased ages ago (think 2012/3) and its still going strong and i love it. the graphics card got fried (apparently, dont really trust the repair shop when they removed it to make laptop work again 1 year or so ago - been running on integrated since) but otherwise it has been solid all these years.

i've recently been thinking of buying a new laptop...namely either a Razer Blade Stealth + Core / Razer Blade 15 or an MSI GS65/75 but i've also remembered that the m18x r2 is upgradable.

i tried searching online for various graphics cards (680m, 780m, 880m) but pretty much all the hits im getting are either second hand / refurbished or from outlets based in China which i dont really feel safe ordering from (not least of all because of warranty issues).

Does anyone have any recommendations? there are some laptop repair shops in London where i guess they might store parts which they can upgrade the laptop with (& charge service) but i imagine this will not make sense economically...

ive also had same issue with looking for 3940xm / 3920xm CPUs (although im not even sure i can upgrade mine because it was the 3630qm (i think?) which from memory i seem to rmb reading was un-upgradable (although not sure)

alternatively i guess i could get best of both worlds and just get Razer blade stealth 13" and get external thunderbolt connection + desktop VGA and use that on my Alienware since im not travelling around with it....

would love to hear any thoughts / suggestions

many thanks

 

also if im being totally unreasonable expecting anyone to still stock these items and that my only choice is 2nd hand ebay or not to actually be afraid of ordering from China please do say so.

would it just make more sense to get something like Core 2 (or equivalent) + desktop card i imagine? funnily enough whole systems with these sort of specs are being listed on ebay for quite a cheap price...i haven't been following latest tech trends for few years now so dont know if my CPU would be a throttling issues on modern games (im mostly interested in Total War series latest releases)

 

You can upgrade to an i7-3940XM and also you can upgrade the gpu. You can also run two gpu in sli with nvidia or crossfire with amd cards.

 

hi. thanks was aware that i could do 3940xm & 980m but issue was where to buy them. everything was either refurbished or from china which i wasnt so keen on. i called up some repair shops in London and they quoted me like 400£ for 780m and £600 for 980m plus vat plus cooling system for 100£ plus labour of ~120 or so...but id also need to wait for delivery etc etc...tbh afte all that it would probably add up 900-1300 depending on if i got 3940xm as well...and at that point tbh its in the realms of new laptop price territory. plus not sure how performance would compare vs 2080m rtx....i think the most sensible option would be to keep my 18xr2 as back up ...perhaps see if i combine it with eGPU if i get something like Razer stealth or just keep it as it is....

alternatively i can just take a punt on ordering a 180-200£ 780m from China....see if i actually do need to install extra cooling and keep it with that + existing 3630 processor...hopefully its plug and play type install and would be enough for latest Total war games?

 

Buying ex-lease Dell's and Thinkpads is a good source of XM CPUs though due to their age these are pretty much dried up now. Swap the CPU and flip and they can be a lot cheaper than the CPU-only listings. Plus if they're from a Precision or other non gaming/non OCable unit you can be pretty sure they've not been flogged or fed high voltages.

 

i actually saw a Alienware M18xR2 which already had a 3920xm and a 1060GT installed! for £700! pretty much max maybe like 100-150£ more than if i bought the parts separately but labour already done....and a laptop to go already lol...