M17x r4 upgrade help and charger problem

Hi, Ive currently got an alienware M17 r4.. with the following specs:
i7-3630qm cpu
66om gpu
8GB ram (1600mhz)
500gb HDD

I am mainly using it for gaming and teaching myself photo editing and CAD - basically for a few hundred pounds I need to be able to get a laptop that will be able to handle a few years of higher end gaming.

This is how I'm thinking of upgrading it over the next year, because I really want to be able to play rainbow six siege, the division and MGS5 in decent quality (even though we don't know the specs yet:

1. Install 120GB mSATA SSD (as a boot drive) - £30
2. Buy hyper x CL9 RAM (16GB) - £100
3. Buy 2 x 256gb SSD (with 256mb caches each) and raid 0 them - £140
4. Upgrade GPU - most probably for something off of this list: http://web.eurocom.com/ec/vgas(1)ec ~£500
5. Upgrade CPU?!?!? umm I'm not sure this will help idk

This list is ordered in priority but any suggestions about any of the upgrades are welcome!

I used to work as a repair technician for a while so I'm used to doing laptop upgrades and have all the necessary ESD protection.

I've been also looking at selling it and getting a razer blade 2014 (second hand) as this will be a lot more portable and not so much of an eyesore.. my target price for a second hand blade is no higher than £850. Do you think a blade will be better for gaming than my current laptop??

Also my M17x R4 has this problem where when the charger is plugged in and the laptop is on, if the charger becomes unplugged then when you plug the charger back into the laptop the green light on the adapter turns off. Then you have to remove the adapter from the wall and put it back into the wall and the laptop will start charging again. I brought another charger because Dell told me it was a charger fault but the new charger stopped the problem for 2 weeks and then it started again - so I don't think it is the charger. I think the laptop is shorting out the adapter (if that's possible). Does anyone know why this happens or how I can fix it??

Thanks

 

1. I wouldn't put the mSATA as the boot drive, as it is limited to SATA II instead of SATA III on the main ports due to chipset limitation.
2. Sounds good
3. I wouldn't RAID0 a SSD, just find the fastest/most reliable SSD and go with that. My choice would be either Sandisk Extreme or Micron M600
4. GPU can be upgraded to AMD 7970M/8970M/R9 M290X which is good for CAD/Solidworks/MAYA, or the GTX 680M which is equal to the 7970M for gaming, but with terrible professional power. 7970M defeats the 680M and 780M for professional work. The 780M will work better than any AMD card for gaming though. I would check ebay for the cards. Eurocom is very expensive.
5. You can upgrade CPU if you'd like, but the 3630QM is still very strong. Max upgrade is the 3940XM, but i think even the 3720QM will be good enough as it overclocks to 3.8ghz for quad core and 4.0ghz for single core.

Do not sell for a razer blade, the M17x R4 is better unless you are talking about the 2014 or 2015 razer, both of which I very much doubt you will find for 850 quid, not to mention you lose any and all ability to upgrade that system, not to mention overheating problems due to poor thermal design.

As for the charging problem, you should be using the 240W adapter that has a blue light around the charger tip, not a green light. The 330W power adapter for the M18x has the green light on it. You're board might be shorting the adapter, might be motherboard problem. It could be potential ID mismatch as the 330W adapter with green light on the brick does not have proper ID chip for the M17x R4, but don't quote me on that.

 

Thank you so much for the reply.. That helps alot!

Thanks for the heads up on mSATA data.. I didn't realize that..

I think I will Probably go with the 780m when I get enough money because always just used nvidia and intel - I don't actually have a bad word to say about AMD but my Dad gives this disapproving look whenever I mentioned anything to do with AMD! What do you think about flashing the bios and going to a 970m? I'm only wondering because a few people seem to have managed to get them working on M17Xs and that would mean I would futureproof my laptop for ages..

I was wondering, is there any reason I shouldn't raid 0 SSDs (apart from total failure chance) because looking at the benchmarks for raided SSDs it looks like there is a big performance increase when in raid 0 with 2 but then after 2 disks it seems to not be worth it (not that you could put more than 2 in a laptop anyways haha).

I know the razer blade isn't customisable but I was thinking more from a stand point that then I would be able to chuck it in my bag when I go to lectures - because I am using another light laptop for lectures at the moment but Im just used to having a slightly more "responsive" laptop - if you know what I mean..

Its a 240W power supply for the AMD cards but it was only the M17x R4 with the 660M that shipped with a 180W charger.. Im scared that I'll damage the system if I put a 240W charger in there.. I don't think it is an ID problem (even though I know that Dell like their weird IDs) because when there is power in the brick the laptop charges just fine - I will make sure I won't quote you haha.

Thanks

 

AMD is crapola in the CPU world, but they used to be fairly competitive in the GPU world until recently with the nvidia release of the Maxwell cards. I would NOT put a 970M/980M in the M17x R4. They are only working limited in the M17x R4. You will need to use FULL UEFI and install/run Windows 8, which was a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Plus, you HAVE to use optimus mode. If you do the FN+F7 to change to the discrete GPU only, you will soft-brick your system. Stick the 780M, they work fine plus have great overclocking potential. As for the SSDs, RAID0 shows its strength in benchmarking, but its practically useless in day to day activities. The blade likes to overheat. ALOT. stay away unless its the newest 2015 one, since it uses maxwell cards and is cooler than its predecessors. Do not worry about the 240W adapter, it will be necessary for any card above your GTX 660M, and it was the stock adapter for anybody that ordered the M17x R4 with a 7970M or 680M. No fear necessary here, your board was designed for it.

 

1. mSATA is a bad idea for boot drive.. if you want it for storage, sure get one..
2. Sure get some Hyper X Impact RAM... The 2133MHz one might not work properly so get the 1866MHz...
3. If you do get SSD's, no point of RAID 0 ing them.. Why do you want to even do that? it's not worth it and you won't notice anything unless you do some super duper intensive stuff like video encoding etc
4. GPU upgrades wise, the 780M is £330 and the 970M is around £430-450... Now 780M will work with Windows 7 etc however with 970M, you need Windows 8.1 with full UEFI and PT partioned disks... it's not too hard to do.. See my upgrade thread in my signautre and linked here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17x-r4-970m-upgrade.767872

Now the 780M doesn't even come close to a 970M... if you heavily OC a 780M, you'll reach 970M stock scores if you are lucky... And this is a heavy OC... A 970M Oced like mine can beat a 980M and not to mention, I max out pretty much every game I play even on stock clocks...

Getting the 970M is problematic however, I got mine from hidevolution in the US.. Depending on currency exchanges, the price is around £450... It comes with 1 year parts warranty too... However it's not worth the hassle in your case as you can get it from CEG -Extreme on ebay for £435... It also has 1 year warranty..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CEG-NVIDI...93?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item4636f945b5

It's cheaper from their website but you have to add shipping which I don't know how much it is: http://www.ceg-hardcorecustom.com/N..._6GB_GDDR5_VGA_MXM_30B/p2920174_13333334.aspx

If you are buying from ebay make sure you let them know you have a R4 (message them, write it in paypal note) so they include the correct screws etc..

5. CPU wise, 3920/3940XM is your best bet.. Getting them is a problem.. Ebay has a few... Talk with the sellers and see if there is some way avoid the absurd import charges on ebay etc..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Cor...032?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19fcf78be0

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Faste...282?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2338cdb37a

Also worth trying to contact CEG and see if they can get you a 3920XM/3940XM..

 

Hi thanks for the advice guys. I think I am going to just upgrade the ram and get a 850 evo (since I don't personally think that the pro justifies the extra price). My 660m still works pretty well and I don't want to fall into the trap of upgrading just because... y'know..

Also where did you find a 780m for £330, I can't really find one for anything close to that but I've only had a quick look..

Thanks!

 

RAM; yes. Samsung TLC based SSD: no.

See:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1512915/...enchmarks-needed-to-confirm-affected-ssds/440

See:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1507897/...d-drops-on-old-written-data-in-the-drive/2270


See:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1512915/...ed-to-confirm-affected-ssds/430#post_23719258


The last link above (and the posts after it) seem to indicate that the 850 EVO suffers (possibly) from the same slow read of old files issue as the original TLC based Samsung 840 and the 840 EVO too.

Buy anything but Samsung right now. Samsung = Seagate/HDD's and closing in to OCZ with the quality of their SSD's...

Until Samsung either fixes this issue (and it will take months to confirm, IF Samsung releases a new firmware today for all affected models), they are to be boycotted right now.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt and even more $$$$ only increases their arrogance towards the very people who make them what they are: their customers.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nvidia-Ge...383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20f73016c7

There were more options available around that price last year.. whichever way, the 970M is much better...

As for SSD, just no to the 850 Evo.. Get the Sandisk Extreme Pro