M17x-R2 upgrades

Hi Guys, I am new to this forum and also to laptops, I have recently won the above laptop which came with the absolute minimum specs except that it had 4GB of 667 MHz memory. Whilst I am used to building Desktop PC's of fairly advanced specs for folding etc I have no experience of upgrading laptops.

So the question is What do you reccommend i do with this one, I would like to upgrade the Display and the CPU and definately the HDD to start, but how easy is it and do I get Dell to do it. I would like to use it for FSX

(And before you ask) I received no information from Dell except the Book included, I have however downloaded all the current info from the Dell website.

 

Just go to the Alienware site. Go and customize a laptop with the specs you want. Then search for the parts you want on eBay. If its an M17x R2 it doesn't have 667MHz memory, it has DDR3 either 1066MHZ or 1333MHz memory.

Here's a link to NBR where they talk about upgrades: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/489369-possible-upgrade-cpu-gpu-m17x-r2.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/463659-m17x-r2-video-card-upgrade-question.html

Try looking through the Alienware m17x section too.

 

Many thanks fo reply,
However according to CPU-Z the memory is Samsung PC3-10700(667MHz), The other thing that concerns me is that the HDD's are inserted using an extender trying to contact dell is a real problem. many thanks for the url's

 

Just look on eBay for the hard drive extender. I just bought one for my m15x. As for the PC3 10700, I think its an error. That memory's only for desktops. I Googled it.

 

PC3-10700 is DDR3 1333MHz (667MHz x 2). The 10700 figure is maximum theoretical transfer in MB/s (although it should be 10600 according to JEDEC specs). Following this rule, DDR3-1066 is PC3-8500, DDR3-1600 is PC3-12800 and DDR3-2000 is PC3-16000.

 

Hi Marecki_clf,
Thanks for the info, thats a good bit of news. about the best I have had re this laptop.

Hi tHE j0KER
I have looked on Ebay UK but no joy under my description, I have seen extender cables but this appears to be a block, any more info on it ?

Thanks for your patience all

 

What part are you looking for?

 

Hi tHE j0KER

My M17x came with a single small 134 GB HDD, and I wish to add another, but I need the extender Block that fits onto the 2nd HDD. I have also looked on world Ebay

possibly i have not made it clear that I WON this in a competition and despite lots of emails etc to Dell I had no communication from them to allow me to specify it to a higher grade than their competition offering, the result was an absolutely minimal spec, except for the 4Gb memory and as Dell want an arm and a leg to upgrade it i am trying to DIY it.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/392487-m17x-hard-drive-caddy-secondary-drive.html

That thread is in the dedicated M17X forum. You may wish to look around there for the answers to your questions.

 

Thanks bigddybn, thats solved my problem, it actually has the bits inside the M17x thats the problem of no info from dell with this machine.

Thanks everybody for the excellent help re these problems.