Looking to upgrade you M17? Not now says AW

So upon hearing the news and spending a half hour clapping and screaming like a little kid to myself, i called AW to make the order, and after spending 10 minutes of on and off hold's I finally was told that they have the 4850's for new systems only! ! How does that work? Anyway I spoke to a supervisor and was told the same thing.

Apparently the modules either come with a new motherboard or something, that is prohibiting older M17 owners of purchasing the upgrade. Sad day in the AW forums, after waiting 6 months, we have to wait another month, for another IF.

 

they just told us that it was waiting for the stock to settle down, give it a month and it will be fine

 

Still it doesn't make much sense as to why they can't allow us to order them now, if what you say is true. I have a feeling that they can't let us order them because there is some sort of compatibility issues with our models.

 

there would be uproar if they didnt allow the retro respective upgrade

 

I personally don't care about a delay as I've gotta wait 5 months before I can get them anyway...lol

 

they are keeping them to make sure they have enough for initial release i posted that already

 

Is there a tutorial for replacing the GPUs in the M17.

Ive never even opened up my M17 so changing graphics cards seems quite daunting.
I take it that things like thermal paste are not needed for this?

 

The initial inventory always covers new orders. Shipping out a pair of 4850s to you, while delaying a new system buyer's order by two weeks would show poor business sense.

Open your system and look around. It's really simple.

 

Thanks Kevin...think I will take a look under the bonnet later this week.

 

yes their is .... AW made one

 

You would need thermal paste. It will seem daunting at first but as long as you're careful, little can go wrong.

The proceedure is fairly simple, You'll find guides online but it basically goes like this:

Firstly, you'd remove the back of your M17. Obviously for this you'll need a screwdriver, and a good place to keep the screws, make sure you don't lose them.

Secondly you'rd remove the heatsink from the two graphics cards. It'd be situated in the middle of the rear of the laptop. You'll notice it easily as it has two huge heatpipes taking heat from the GPUs to the fan.

Thirdly you'd remove the old cards and stick the new cards in.

Fourthly, you'd use a good thermal paste remover to get rid of any residue left on the heatsink. (This is fairly easy, don't worry)

Fifthly, you'd spread thermal paste on the GPUs at about the size of a grain of rice or less, and then spread it around the GPU. I'd recommend a good non-conductive thermal paste so that even if you mess up on where you put it it won't cause much harm.

And lastly, put the heatsink back on, connect up the Crossfire cable, screw the back back on and you're ready to go.

It sounds complicated at first but it really isn't.

 

Has anyone else confirmed the need for a new mother board? It would suck very much if they had to change the slots from one MXM III and one MXM IV to both MXM IV's. That would leave original owners out in the cold again as far as Crossfire went and would limit them to a single card.

 

no you do not need a new motherboard

the cards are the same slots as the 3870's

The reason you cant order the upgrade package YET is due to demand for the cards for new sales, in a month or so you can order the upgrade kit

 

OP is completely talking out his behind on this. Just wait a month and you can order them.

 

Cheers EvilCorsair,

I shall investigate further and take Moos advice and look for the guide that Alienware have made...does sound quite simple though.

Thanks.

When the time draws nearer some advice and links for some good thermal paste as well as thermal paste remover shall be requested.

 

arctic cleaner for the remover

OCZ Freeze for the paste

Both excellent and cheap