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    Arma3 on an Alienware M15x

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by punkieys17, Aug 28, 2014.

  1. punkieys17

    punkieys17 Newbie

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    My son is complaining that his M15X is slow running Arma3. Please note I posted a similar request earier but got the game wrong (many thanks to all those that replied). Its running Win 7 Home Premium (64bit) with 3GB RAM on a Q740 processor and a 460M graphics card. Although happy to mess with bios and downloading new drivers etc I like the idea of the more plug and play solutions (for example any that reuse the existing heat sinks without extra modification. From reading the other threads i think the plan should be upgrade the RAM (I gather the processor will make us of more RAM even if it will not report seeing it) but to what level (8GB or 16GB), the GPU (6970M? seems to be plugnplay) but am not sure what CPU to aim for? (920XM probably as the 940XM is pretty costly). Any advice greatly appreciated on the upgrade order and spec, Julian
     
    punkieys17, Aug 28, 2014
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  2. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    ROFL since when did CoD4 (arcade shooter) get confused with ARMA III (sim)? They're at polar opposites of the FPS genre. :laugh:

    But seriously, it's a crazy demanding game: ARMA 3 Benchmarked: GPU & CPU Performance - TechSpot

    You're gonna need a top-of-the-line CPU and GPU. I'd forget about that M15x and get a new notebook when GTX 980M comes out, or build a desktop.
     
    octiceps, Aug 28, 2014
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  3. Cryzer

    Cryzer Notebook Consultant

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    Either ser the M15x and get another one, or upgrade the CPU to 920xm (cheaper an marginally slower than 940xm), GPU to 7970m (Best Price/Performance, might need new X-bracket), and RAM to 6GB (drop the 1GB stick and get a 4GB one).
     
    Cryzer, Aug 28, 2014
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  4. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Just get a 7970M or 680M (will be easiest)...
     
    TomJGX, Aug 29, 2014
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  5. imglidinhere

    imglidinhere Notebook Deity

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    If you get the 920XM and the 7970M, you WILL need a bigger Power Supply though, which can cause complications.

    And for the cash you'd be dropping on the two parts, just get a newer machine that runs cooler and faster. Rule of thumb is you never pour more money into the market value of what you're upgrading. I.E. You don't put $4,000 tires onto a 1995 Nissan Sentra. :p
     
    imglidinhere, Aug 29, 2014
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