New direction need help with cpu/hard drive swap

Computer with new parts after install:

Alienware m17x r3
Intel i7 2920xm
Samsung 840 pro 256gb ssd
AMD Radeon HD 7970
Windows 7 64 bit

After I put in the new cpu and ssd, what do i need to do? I have been told to insert the windows 7 cd and go through that process when it loads up. Format the ssd, go into advanced options and download drivers. I have never done this before so I dont know how its going to go i would like to be as prepped as possible before (ssd ordered and will be here thursday). Here is a list from dell's website on drivers to install for my computer. Im assuming they are in the order you are supposed to install them?

9. Alienware M17x R3
- Intel Chipset
- Intel Management Engine
- Nvidia or AMD Discrete Video Card
- Intel Integrated Video Card
- 3D Emitter receiver
- Card Reader
- Firewire
- LAN
- WLAN
- WIHD
- Bluetooth
- Audio
- Accelerometer
- IRST
- Command Center
- OSD

My questions are: is the 2920xm my chipset? Is the management engine a generic thing that i can just search for? assuming that the 7970 is my discreet video card, what would i look for when searching for intel integrated video card? Or does my computer even have one? I dont have 3d so I dont need that one, right? Are all the others generic also or do i need to know exactly what my computer has? What is OSD?

 

The 2920xm is the CPU. It's an Intel Extreme Edition processor (denoted by the "x").

The Intel ME is a hardware and firmware below the OS level for remote access to PCs. It's a luxury better suited for some advanced remote access control, basically.

You can get your driver for the Intel graphics and the 7970m graphics from their respective manufacturers (yes, your CPU has built in Intel HD Graphics 3000) - Intel for the Intel graphics and AMD for the 7970m graphics. Dell support/downloads should have drivers as well, but they may not be the latest.

If you don't have a 3D screen, then that's what the 3D emitter receiver is for. It's not a driver - it's a piece of hardware so that you can have 3D functionality.

Most of the drivers will be generic. Your best bet is to use either a driver disc Dell provides, or go to their site for the drivers if you're unsure of where to look.

OSD is your "on-screen display" for when you use the FN hotkey combos. It brings up a small dialogue or graphic to show you the action you're performing when you use said hotkeys.

 

Thanks man this helps a lot. Im still unsure about one thing. You say get a driver disk. Will i not be able to get online and find them during this process? Would i be able to load them onto a flash drive before swapping and use that to load them?

 

You're welcome! Dell should provide a CD or DVD with drivers that are pertinent to your model laptop for your specific device drivers. But you can always go to their support/downloads page, find your model, and download the most up to date drivers (that Dell has, anyway) directly from them as well. The disc is just a convenience.

And yeah, you can back up drivers onto a flash drive. I use a couple of third party programs to do it, like Smart Driver Backup or DriverGrabber, but if you know where the driver files are located within Windows, then you can just copy + paste them as well.

 

Everyone keeps saying the latest drivers that dell has. Is there a better place to get the most up to date drivers? Also i read something about booting with raid or something like that? What is that all about?

 

Yes, the component manufacturer (for example: go to NVidia's site for NVidia graphics drivers. Go to Intel's site for Intel related drivers, etc.). The problem is the drivers not from Dell are generic and are not tested and verified as working by Dell, for Dell components. It's fairly rare that you get a generic driver that causes problems, but it can happen, so typically you want to get drivers for your system from the SYSTEM manufacturer, rather than the individual component manufacturer (although many end-users prefer to go the other route so that their drivers are more up to date, and again - it's rare that they run into major driver issues).

RAID is a technology particular to hard drives. Depending on which RAID array we're talking about, it can be used either for data redundancy or for performance, but you need a minimum of two storage drives to utilize RAID.