Alienware Aurora M9700 Graphics Card Upgrade?

Hi there,

Apologies if this question has been raised before but i cannot seem to find a definate answer.

I have an Alienware Aurora m9700 with a (MXM) GeForce Go 7900GS 256MB graphics card, 2.4ghz Turion 64 Mobile ML40 processor 2GB Ram.

I'd like to replace the graphics card in this for something more powefull, more specifically i'd like to replace it with a (MXM) GeForce Go 7950 GTX 512MB.

Could someone who knows about this please tell me if it's possible in the first place to fit a M9700 with a GeForce Go 7950 GTX 512MB
Secondly if it will run stable using this card.
and thirdly if the answer is yes to the other previous two questions, would opting for two 7950's in SLI mode increase performance? or would the processor just not keep up.

Many Thanks in anticipation of your help with this

 

The M9700 only supports single core AMD turion processors. To be honest the bottleneck is the processor. Even if you could upgrade the graphics, the system would still game poorly because of the single core processor.

If I remember correctly two 7900GS's in SLI is still slower than a single 7800GTX
I do not think the M9700 had any options for graphics upgrade.
The power requirements for the 7900GS and the 7950GTX are very different plus the cooling system in your laptop uses one fan to cool both graphics cards, which is not a very effective cooling system.

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the quick reply,

I take your point about the processor but i'm hoping i can squeeze abit more out of the machine than i currently am getting. I know i won't get the best results but just some small improvemnts in the fps i get in World of Warcraft would be great.

I know people have replaced the GeForce Go 7900GS 256MB with a 7900GS 512MB version back a few years ago so i know it's physically possible to replace the graphics card it's just i may have the opportunity of getting a 7950GTX 512MB GeForce Go card and was wondering if this one would work with it or not with it being the same MXM type.

I took a look after you mentioned about the power req's of the card, i see the 7900GS card is reported to consume 20 Watts where as the 7950GTX Geforce go i'm looking at consumes 45 Watts which is quite a jump.

But on the assumpion that this laptop can run two 7900's which would total 40 watts, thats pritty close in power req's to just using 1 single 7950GTX card (45watts) isn't it? or am i along the wrong lines

Thanks,

 

That is a good question. I do not know the answer to that one. I will ask a few Alienware people to come check it out.

I think the graphics is powered solely by the MXM port. I do not know if the ports are limited to say 20 watts each.

But if it was possible, a single 7950GTX would outperform a 7900GS SLI setup

K-TRON

 

post this question here in the alienware forum. i do not have any knowledge of the model but i knwo some others will here is the link

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1018

 

your processor and motherboard both are the old configuration.

so that it is not possible that he supports the more powerful graphics card

if supports the graphics card.the processsor will not take the load.because its resolution is also high and the drivers are advanced .

if you update the graphics card than your computer will be slow.

 

i agree with k-tron and randdy i think you need to upgrade yout cpu for more power

 

Thanks for the comments guys, i've decided to get one and try it in anyway. Worst case is if it dosen't work ill just ebay it off but hoping that won't be neccessary.

I'll post how i get on with it once it arrives and i install it etc so hopefully anyone who is wondering the same thing will know for sure.

 

Take some pictures, you will have to use the stock heatsink for your 7900GS on it, if it doesnt come with a heatsink compatible with your system. Keep us updated, it would be awesome if it could be upgraded to one let alone two 7950GTX's

K-TRON

 

Hi Meral,

Any luck with this? I have the exact same laptop and the exact same question. I just ordered a processor upgrade (from 1.6GHz to 2.4GHz) for $80, and I'd like to up the graphics cards as well. I'm currently running two 256MB 7900GS cards in SLI. Any framerate improvement I could squeeze out of it would be a huge boost for my gaming.

Thanks!

-torgis

 

Again meral999,

You really should talk to the folks in the Alienware forum as they have first hand knowlege of your laptop.

As the chassis of the m9700 is similiar to that of the M9750, you might be able to use a 7950GTX. If that's the case you'll need a heat sink assy. with fan which I have a few.

The 7950 GTX gets a great deal hotter than your current card soproper cooling is a must.

However there may be more to it than I am aware of so your best bet is to ask here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1018

Goodluck.

 

A slightly better and cheaper Idea would be to swap out the AMD board in your machine to the Intel board thats in a m9750... put the 7900 GS's in sli and a t7200 and you will get much better performance. hTe m9750 and m9700 use the same chassis so it will work.

In fact its something I was looking at doing myself...

 

Hey guys,

I'm the the same boat with my m9700, feeling like upgrading it's single 7900 GS 512mb card or even the mother board would be fun, even though selling the whole thing and moving on would be more sensible (i've grown attached to it, it's green after all!).

Has anyone had any luck/heard any news regarding the upgrading capability for GPU/CPUs?

Kind Regards,

Dingo

 

It really will not be worth it in the long run, this could be $400 or $500 towards a new laptop instead of a new graphics card that will not be much better than what you have.

 

Yeah you're blatantly right. On ebay i see an m9700 just went for £595, so it's obviously time to part ways with my old friend.

 

*CONFIRMED* Alienware M9700 compatible w/ single 7950 Dtr card.

 

simplest solution and most hassle free. Buy a new laptop. No point upgrading old ones.

 

I replaced the video cards in my Alienware m9700. I removed both Geforce GO 7900 GS 256MB cards and installed a single Geforce 7950 GTX 512MB daughter card. I noticed a market improvement.

 

I am sure somewhere in the AW forums i read about someone who has added a varity of GPU's to his m9700

I had a m9700 before i changed to my m17 earlier this year, tbh the CPU is such a bottle neck i would change the laptop in general if you can

Pete

 

*CONFIRMED* Alienware M9700 compatible w/ Dual Geforce 7950 GTX 512MB cards (Dtr & Prt) in SLI mode!

 

I removed the parent card this morning. It worked, but unless you use a really good laptop cooler I wouldn't recommend it. Runs really hot even with my cooler which has three large fans. Runs too hot though. I'd only use one 7950 it's too risky to overheat and cause damage to the laptop.

 

Thanks for all the comments, i did eventually get a 7950gtx and installed it without too much bother. There was some small increase in the fps in some games but the difference wasnt as much as i'd had hoped for.
Like most people said, the bottleneck is the processor and that can't be upgraded to a dual core without replacing the entire motherboard.

A few months later i ended up just buying a macbook pro 17" and installing windows on it via bootcamp which is what i'm mainly using now but i still have my m9700 on my desk has been with me so long feels like part of the familey lol.