Which part of Alienware M17x Upgradable?

Hi Guys, I just ordered my Alienware M17x. I would like to know few question about this model. Please enlighten me

Q1) Which part of M17X upgradable? is GPU and CPU upgradable?

Q2) If possible where can I buy or upgrade GPU or CPU in near future? Does dell provide this service?

This question is raised because Im getting a Ati HD 4870 and I would like to upgrade to Ati HD 5870 in future? Do you think is possible and whom can I buy or upgrade with?

Thanks mate!

Your answer will be very appreciate, I guess lots of people might want to benefit from this question too.

 

1) Yes you can upgrade the gpu and the cpu, as long as they are the same family and class

2)Dell does provide the service of selling parts, but they are expensive. Search the forums and you will be able to find others that want to do the same in terms of upgrading to 5870's when they are available

Edit: Here is the thread I was referring to:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=460138

 

Thanks for your answer. Do you have any Info if there is possible alienware m17x with ati 4870 upgrade to 5870 in term of there class and family?

 

You more than likely will be able to. Keep searching the forums in the next couple weeks as dell is likely to release them soon.

 

EntityX looking at your signature what does m17x-r2 mean?

 

What specs did you get on the M17X? RAM, CPU, GPU, HDD are all upgradeable. Dell provides the service, and it may be expensive, but your warranty will cover the upgrades, where as if you upgrade yourself, dell will not cover damage due to installation or damage caused by the third party item.

 

r2 means the second revision. Did you just order your m17?

 

yea i just did yesterday. So by means R2 version would be less bug than R1 right?

 

Haha you could say that. What spec's did you choose?

 

haha I did not have the best because budget!!!

i have a i7 720QM 6GB 1333, single HD4870, 500 GB7200, with 1920x 1200

That why i plan further upgrade for my CPU and GPU.

I would want to buy i7 820 QM but too pricy and I'm just worried I cant upgrade my GPU

I want to do it near future.

Between how to determine the class and family for graphic card if it is compatible?

 

R1 model is the one that utilizes a Core 2 Dual or Core 2 Quad CPU such as P8600, T9600, Q9000, QX9300 ect. The R2 Utilizes the i-Core processors such as the i720, i820, i920xm. They are differant architectures as far as CPUs got and thus the R2 required and entirely new motherboard that was designed by intel. The R1 motherboard was an nvidia chipset and suffered latency issues. The only issue so far for the R2 was the screen flicker under heavy powerdraw loads such as the 820, 920 cpus. The new BIOS released less then 48 hours ago has solved the screen flicker and the R2 as of now is as perfect a machine as one can get now days. That is until NBR users discover something else. But right now it should be problem free.

 

cancel your order.

The ram and HDD is the easiest to upgrade.
So go for 4 gigs of Ram right now and a low HDD.
What you do need is dual Ati 4870. A single one just won't cut it as you won't get much of a frame rate when you play games at 1920 resoultion. Sure you might say i will upgrade to a 5870 and just tough out the couple of month. But if you are going to comprimise with a single GPU might as well wait for the 5870 to be included in the system then order it again.

 

I would drop the RAM to 4GB as well and use the money to go with dual 4870's. Even drop the HDD to save money for it. Read the link in my sig, it has a link to sign up for dell email coupons. Subscribe now and you'll save another $50 because they email you a $50 off coupon just for signing up for thier offers. 4870's will give you the best gaming experience. And Dual 4870's will crush a single 5870.

 

Yah I agree with the above comments. Especially since the memory come as a 4gb stick and a 2 gb stick. Order 4gb @ 1333, get the cheapest hard drive and upgrade to two gpu's. The 720 is a really good CPU and is plenty powerful. You can always upgrade it to 820, 920, or even the upcomming 940, assuming it uses the same power tables as the 920.

 

ok but can i still cancel it? i order yesterday. I'm still work in progress ?

please reply as soon as possible.

 

Yes, call and cancel it as soon as you can. Then re order. If they don't let you cancel, when YOu get it call them and let them know you want to return it. Doing it within 21 days you can avoid a restocking fee.

 

ok. by the way can i reduce my processor to i5 to get the dual ati 4870 ?

is it worth reduc the processor? my budget is £1800

 

Yea it's worth it. If your gaming, GPU's are much more important then the CPU. CPU intensive games are not as common as GPU games. CPU intensive games can be games such as GTA and WoW. Games like Modern Warfare 2 and other first person shooters rely on the GPU. If you can save enough by getting that $50 discount coupon, going to 4GB mem, and dropping the HDD to a smaller size, then you might be able to get enough saved to keep the i7 cpu and dual 4870's

 

Are there any issue if i change the ati crossfire like flickering screen or lagging issue?

 

Nope the A02 Bios released less then 48 hours ago has resolved the flickering. But that was due to intense power draw as a combination of the 920/820 CPU and the dual ATI's. I think rarely it was seen with the 720. But the new bios took care of it so not to worry about that

 

ok thanks for you guys in this forum. love you all im now discussing to get a new spec.

and is i5 enough for gaming also can it be change for future upgrade?

 

Should be enough for gaming, and yes you can upgrade in the future.

 

I heard of the 820 and 930 cpu had flickering. Not sure of the 720.

 

but for the upgrading of processor can i do it manually or i need to send it back to dell?

 

BIOS A02 was released yesterday or the day before. Took care of the problem.

 

A few people are having issues http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=464213. I hope it not Major.

 

Guys just to update. Im waiting for them to discount me the price. I gave them whole lots of reason.

Thanks to DR650SE. I followed your advise and lastly it get the guy to rethink.

they will call me and if i am able to get a £50 discount.
*Cross finger*Hope they can*

For those who wanna buy Dell just call them and ask for discount even it's impossible ITS POSSIBLE

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=464213&page=12

Page 12, second post, the individual just had to open the computer and reseat the GPU and it worked. The last guy with a flicker issue is running a 620 CPU, so there is another issue, possibley faulty GPU, so for the most part the BIOS resolved one issue. We'll see as it's new more things will surface but like you sayed, hopefully not major.

Congrats Bryan, hopefully he can adjust the order for dual GPUs! At least you might get some savings.