Looking to upgrade my Clevo P170SM components. Processor, Memory, Graphics, Hard Drive.

Hello all,

I am wanting to upgrade my clevo p170sm laptop with some upgrades.

Current spec.
I7 4700MQ
GTX 770m
8GB Memory
Sata 2 750GB HDD

I was looking to upgrade it over several months starting with the hard drive and then memory.

Anyone got any good suggestions for me?. Money is not a problem for me at the moment so suggestions can be extreme if needed.

Cheers!.

 

If money isn't an issue...

Storage: 840 Evo 1TB SSD for starters, then add a 1TB 840 Evo mSATA if you need extra space
Memory: Corsair Vengeance DDR3L 2133 16GB kit
GPU: GTX 880M (you'll first need to flash Prema's BIOS as the 880M isn't officially supported in the P170SM)
CPU: 4940MX (again, you'll need Prema's BIOS for this)

This is about as overkill as it gets for P170SM. But realistically depending on what you'll be doing, some of the upgrades I suggested would be a complete waste of money.

Edit: Post #666! Added for posterity.

 

Cheers. Could you link the bios for my laptop please ?, would be xtrememly helpful for others to.

That is way way overkill holy mother of **** lol.

SSD's seem ok but what about SSHD's like a lot cheaper run just as fast ?.
Memory seems absolutely fine probably go with that suggestion mate cheers!.
GTX 880M ..., Jesus the price tag is way way above what it should be might just get a second hand 680m or 780m.
I7 4940MX seems like a very nice choice cheers mate. What about the 4910MQ seems about the same and a lot less money ?.

Just trying to draw a complete picture as to what would be the best not just because i can afford it but also for the future ?.

Cheers!.

 

Well given that SSDs now cost less than $0.5/GB, I really don't see the value in getting an SSHD these days, especially when you could get a 500GB 840 Evo for $256 on Amazon.

Yeah the 880M comes with a ridiculous price. The 780M is probably the best bang for buck right now, especially since you can buy new for just $695 at RJTech.

Honestly, the 4940MX is the most overkill, because unless you plan on overclocking it, it's a complete waste of money. The 4810MQ is the best value for money currently, but the 4910MQ will be the best you can get without completely breaking your bank. But keep in mind you'll need to flash Prema's BIOS first, since the Haswell refreshes aren't officially supported.

 

Just modded my P170SM with the new Prema Bios V2 flashed successfully as far as i know not sure how to check properly.

Yeah will get an SSD eventually not a SSHD then just need fast boot and maybe 1-2 games on the SSD and the rest on the HDD.

Will start with the new SSD then grab the 4810 eventually and at the end of the year probably stick a 870m in for my graphics or a 780m depends which one is best bang for buck at the time of purchase!.

Anymore suggestions based on what i have said ?. Thank you for the help appreciate it.

 

Easiest way to check BIOS when in Windows is to use CPU-Z and check the BIOS info under the Mainboard tab.

If you get a new SSD make sure to do a fresh install instead of HDD clone. If you buy a large enough SSD you can put all your games on there, and the rest of the stuff can go on your HDD.

If you're waiting till the end of the year to upgrade the GPU, might want to hold until Maxwell comes out. If it's compatible with the SM series that will be a huge boost in performance. Otherwise, 780M would still be the best bang for buck (10% faster than 870M at stock).

 

Problems cloning your HDD with SSD software ?. I heard the samsung software was ace you just have to do a few tricks before the clone takes place!.

Thank you very much will upgrade as follows as per your advice and help which i appreciate.

SSD = 840 EVO 1TB. (Month 1-2).
Memory = 16GB Corsair or Whatever matches my ram at moment. (Month 3-4).
I7 4810MQ = With flassed bios Prema V2. (month 5-6).
GTX 800M Refresh Maxwell 870M Rebrand or 880m Rebrand. (Month 7-12).

And hopefully by the time its all done will be able to enjoy watch dogs and GTA 5 on max settings !. Cheers rhutor what a great guy !!!.

 

Yep that seems like a good plan. If your laptop is still under warranty make sure you save all the original parts in case you have to make warranty claims later.

I wouldn't recommend mixing ram, so just remove whatever ram you have and replace that with the new ram. If you end up buying 2133 ram you'll probably have to manually set it to 2133 in the BIOS.

As for the cloning vs fresh install, it just seems that everybody recommends a fresh install if switching to SSD from HDD. Migration software from Samsung is OK but honestly any good imaging program will do (I like Macrium Reflect). If you want to do a clone instead of fresh install, make sure you rerun the Windows Experience Index afterwards, because that will tell Windows it's now running on an SSD and configure itself properly. I'm not the most knowledgeable about this, so maybe open another thread when you're ready to do the HDD-->SSD cloning.