m17x: cpu change I DID IT :D *PICS* 56K Warning

well i got my X9000 in today and well got to work ... followed the steps on how to reseat the CPU heatsink and changed the CPU in the process... I took pics pretty much on every step and well it jumped my 3dmark06 score from 8k to 8.5k and the windows vista score thing went from 5.3 to 5.6 the most intense thing i have done iwth it soo far is run 3dmark06's CPU test and the highest temp its had is 75C which is pretty good imo. I payed $400 (including shipping) for this proc on ebay and i think that was a steal compared to how much it costs to get one put already in the system

well here comes the pics:


how it arrived





prepped and ready to work




taking apart the m17x















T8300 on the left and the X9000 on the right


same order




the X900 is in


putting the m17x back together



and its ready to go

hope you enjoyed

on a different note i talked to a alienware rep at roswell she told me that they are testing the 9800GTX and hopefully if it works out well they could be releasing it in the next few weeks and does anybody have any idea how much better the 9800 GTX is better than the 8800 GTX??

 

wow great pictures. The m17x looks way better built that the m15x. I have a question though do you notice a huge difference performance wise?

 

nice work mate. that CPU sure is a beast.

on the 9800m-gtx: i seem the recall the 8800m-gtx has 360 gigaflops. the 9800m-gtx has (according to wikipedia) 420 gigaflops. so it's a seventh better . i bet the X9000, and the 9800m-gtx in SLI will give you 13500 3dmark points.

 

well i havent really done anything intense with it so i really dont know but i plan on checking that out with my games and such hopefully i have an improvement and i hope AW releases a Bios to change the multiplier for the X9000 which would be much better i think i could pump it up to around 3.0 - 3.2 the cooling is GREAT in the m17x

@ whizzo

oh ok and well the X9000 and the 8800m GTX should give you 13500 but with a 9800m GTX you should be in the 14k region hopefully maybe higher but i would not know im debating whether to upgrade now or wait it out for the 9800m GTX if they even bring it out

 

yeah, there's definitely potential for OC'ing... markus.kainer had a custom BIOS (enabling OC'ing) for his m15x... maybe you can contact him and ask what he's changed?

 

markus could OC the 8800 not the x9000 that would be sweet if we could OC the cpu

 

no offense, but i would not have performed that work on a towel. you should get an anti-static work kit from radioshack for $10. it comes with a special mat, a wrist grounding strap, etc.

 

well none of the electrical pieces were put on the towel and i was grounded the whole time ive done quite alot of work with electronics the towel was there only so that i would not get any scratches on m17x finish its too good to loose

 

i think the anti static thing is a gimmick. i never even expierenced anything damaged due to static. i doubt i will. i think its pretty safe to just put the laptop on the table and just do whatever you need in there without any anti static equipment. i already did quite a few things in the m15x already without any anti static equipment and theres nothing wrong :/.

 

well i know its not a gimmick you just gotta take proper precautions dont do your work on a carpet and if you are make sure your grounded (ive lost a motherboard like that never made that mistake again) yea like on wood floor and a table is fine as long as you were not wearing socks and dragging your feet on carpet you will be ok

 

I'd say you did a great job there. There isn't much difference beteween them in the photo's, the 2.8 is slightly bigger, apart from that... (",)

I hope they unleash the power of the "Extreme" processor, if the cooling's as good if not better than the 1730, then with 3.4Ghz it would get a great score lol might not last too long but the ride would be great ha ha ha ha

Nice job anyway

OB

P.S. Thw towel idea is a good one, can't get scratches on a new beast now can we? (",)

 

I still have not gotten a good answer on the cooling bit, but I`d bet you that the XPS 1730 runs cooler than the m17x

 

which totally doesn't make any sense, because they have the same components and cooling systems... AND the CPU in the xps m1730 can be OC'ed.

 

The anti static wrist strap is helpful but all you need to do is stay grounded and you'll be fine.

 

Really nice job, and $400 was a great price for the X9000. Does that void your warranty? You'll definitely make a lot more when you sell the m17x in a few years, considering that it's usually a $900 upgrade from Alienware.

 

changing the processor does void the warranty. you can just keep the processor and switch it back to the one the m17x came with when you need servicing and they will never know.

 

i hate being behind certain walls...can not see the pics.
can anyone do an attachement for them so i can see em?



if not - no worries...ill see em some day soon.

 

Are you sure that there isn't some kind of secret indicator in the laptop to check if it was open or not? A few laptops and phones have one, so it's better to be on the safe side.

 

i have not read anything that invalidates the following upgrades:
cpu
gpu
memory
hdd/ssd

i am sure they (AW) would prefer you call them prior, and even buy the upgrades from them, but nothing i have read indicates it would void warranty.

i may be missing it, so do not take this as proof, but i can not find it either.

 

well when you change your processor or you remove it and put it back on there was a message saying the processor has been changed in the boot up. all you have to do then is go in the bios and then exit it and then AW will never know. at least this is what happened on the desktop. if you remove the cpu heatsink you will notice there is no seal whatsoever on the cpu so they wouldnt even know.

btw the only upgrades they allow you to do on your machine is gpu, hdd, and ram. for cpu they want you to send the machine in for that. dunno why since changing the cpu is on the same difficulty level as changing the gpu.

 

so you lose your warranty?

 

sadly i think they could look up the sn or some other number somewhere else and pull up the original configuration....

 

Here why Alienware and other companys dont like you changing the cpu. Is Bent Pins on the cpu. Yes there zero force insert. But the unknown users. That have little or no exp in computers. They might put the cpu on Backwords not knowing there a keyed Notch on one side and brake 2 pins.

 

true that atol.
when i first wanted to upgrade my cpu (old pc - p4 variety) i bought a used pc ($35) and took it apart to see how things were assembled.
i then purchased the new cpu for my system and did all the reading and research i could prior to even going into my system.
i did it, everything worked, and i drank several beers....

but as i said, i could not see where they specifically stated were you could not upgrade the cpu...but then again, i may have missed it.

 

The ones that where a pain in the butt was P1, P2 That did not have Zero insert. The Centreno had added cache was slot base. It took the later years of the P3 to have zero Insert.

They where hard to upgrade.

 

yeah but that's the sort of stuff you read in all the online guides and walkthroughs... i mean, i don't think anyone will just "have a go at it" without doing any sort of research beforehand...

 

No whizzo I never did the research on it. I was there All the stuff From Commodore 64 to now.

My brother and Me would always upgrade our systems. Back then we had No online guides and walkthroughs. All we had was computer manuals.

We started out with a Commodore 64 went to 128 and then went for PC. 386, 486, P1, P2, P3, P4 To Core 2.

 

hmm well i talked to Armando and what he told me was if i were to open it and while changing the CPU something goes wrong with the system they could not help me (the warranty would be in place for everything else i dont know what that means but thats what he said) do for example when i opened it and i shorted the motherboard or lost a screw they could not help me and i would be dead in the water. but i did my research for the past 2 weeks and looked around everywhere for information about people changing laptop CPUs and i read the how to reseat your CPU heatsink in your m17x about a hundred times so i would know the steps forwards and backwards. I did my prep and went into this system it would be HIGHLY stupid of me just to open it and go at it and then search online for something and opening the m17x does not void your warranty and changing the CPU does not void my warranty they said if i had a problem and had to send it in they would not be able to help me with the X9000 in there so im just keeping the T8300 and when i need it or even if i need it i will just switch them out. about the attachments i am unable to do it through here because they are too big