Upgradding Alienware m5700 series (parts-cpu/ram/gf card)

Hello,

New to the site all. I have a Alienware laptop m5700 series.

Intel Centrio 1.6ghz
2 sticks of 512 ddr2 ram
GeForce 6800 256mb

These are the 3 things I want to replace. I am going to replace the ram with 2 sticks of 1024mb.

I have done TONS of research on upgradding the cpu and graphics card. I cant find the maximum cpu I can put in the motherboard. Its a 478 pin intel centrino 1.6/2m/533 - I know I can put Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66Ghz (SL9SH) processor, T5500, 2mb cache, 667Mhz bus speed, 478pin (but my question to the site is.. what else or how much better can I get in there)
Also I know I can put a better GF card in it.. but I dont need it that bad.. mainly I am going to upgrade the ram and cpu.. the GF card isnt that big of a deal. But I cant for the life of me find a site that says how much bigger I can go..

Can you guys maybe shoot me some advice on this subject.. on what my min/max allowable upgrades are.

Again the specs are

Alienware m5700

Motherboard is a P71ENO
Ram is DDR2/2m/533 4200 rpm (2 sticks of 512 now)
GF card GeForce 6800 go 256mb

Thanks alot guys really appreciate the time. I have been looking for and research for the past 3 days. I pretty sure what I have in mind is aright.. but dosent hurt to ask around.

Sites I use are -
(Googled ALOT of stuff, specs, p/n# and made sure all the above info was correct)
Laptopreview
Alienware tech support
http://www.laptopking.com/searhbrandresults.asp?brand=alienware

 

Sorry all, know it is a long read.. but I have been trying to get this laptop in tip top shape for weeks now. I have it in pieces right next to me. Any help would get you some free cookies n millk!

 

The Alienware M5700 can support a maximum of the T7600 processor.
Your system uses Socket M cpu's
So for a path of upgrade, you can upgrade it to a T5500, T5600, T7200, T7400, T7600.

As far as the memory goes, you should be able to upgrade to 2Gb Pc5300 sodimm memory without any problems. If you download cpu-z, can you tell us the chipset your system uses. It should be a i945pm, but I am not 100% sure on that.
If it is a i945, you should be able to upgrade to 4Gb of memory (2x2GB) without any problems.

As far as the graphics card goes. I am not quite sure. I am trying to remember which model the m5700 was based off of.
I am pretty sure the only other graphics card option was the ATi X1800.

K-TRON

 

The chipset is (i915pm) so I can only upgrade to a max of 2048mb ram (2 slots) so 1024 each @ DDR2 - PC2-5300. Crucial sell 1024 for 14.99$

 

Are you sure you have the M5700?
I am could have sworn that the M5700 runs core based processors.
The i915PM chipset is an Pentium M chipset.

Can you post an image of cpu-z?
The current cpu is what I am interested in.
If yours has a pentium M than you cannot upgrade to any core based cpu.
If your M5700 has a pentium M, I must be confusing my friends laptop with the M5700

K-TRON

 

The chipset is (i915pm) so I can only upgrade to a max of 2048mb ram (2 slots) so 1024 each @ DDR2 - PC2-5300.

 

I am not talking about the chipset. You said you did your research, and found you could upgrade to a core 2 duo.
You cant do that. If you have a i915PM chipset the max cpu you can upgrade to is the Pentium M780 at 2.26Ghz.
You are limited to single core Pentium m's

You will not be able to upgrade to a core based cpu.

What is the cpu that you currently have in your system?

K-TRON

 

Why are you repeating yourself to K-TRON when he is asking you a question that has nothing to do with that? Especially when you already said the above thing Help him to help you instead, it gets so much more easier for all of us then! Because i think you want help, don't you? And K-TRON knows much, so he's very valid to answer your questions.

 

"Sorry didnt mean to re-post the last replyt"


The current cpu is Intel Centrino 1.6 478 pin. Made in 2004. Q525A284 SL86G - RH80536 730, M series.

I got lucky and talked with Alienware about the upgrades that are possiable.. finally I got some good info from them.. I cant upgrade to any of the T7 series CPU's or any other dual core.

The CPU cant exceed "Pentium M "2.2Ghz" - "573". The Ram cant exceed 2GB's.

I did a CPU test, and my CPU is only running "when maxed" at 60%. So I think if I went from 1.6Ghz (Only 60% available) to a 2.2Ghz (Running at 100%). Then changed the ram to 2GB's from 1GB's it would be alot faster. I found the cpu for around 100$ and 2 sticks of ram for another 30$ or something like that. Ram I will buy is Kingston or Corsair.




(Stuff that can be removed and replaced)
Ram, CPU, Video Card, Hard Drive, and a couple fans.

 

I re-posted that reply by accident. I was wondering if I should upgrade the GF card too.. I know I cant put a 512mb one in there. Do you guys think i should upgrade my GF card from a GeForce go 6800? Or do you guys think that the ram and cpu upgrade would give it the boost for gaming. I tried to play Assasin's Creed.. and I can barely move my mouse.. lol

Anyways - I need to replace the cpu anyways.. about to give up on me and the ram.. well you know.. 2 gigs sure beats 1 gig.

Again, thanks alot for the help. You guys were very helpful in the first couple of replys.

Thanks - K

 

I think the problem is their were two revisions of the M5700. The R1 and R2.
You have the R1, which is the Pentium M version
Unfortunately their is no dual core Pentium M, so your path of cpu upgrade is limited to:

Pentium M 735 1700 2048 400
Pentium M 745 1800 2048 400
Pentium M 755 2000 2048 400
Pentium M 765 2100 2048 400

Pentium M 740 1733 2048 533
Pentium M 750 1866 2048 533
Pentium M 760 2000 2048 533
Pentium M 770 2133 2048 533
Pentium M 780 2266 2048 533

Any of these cpu's will work. However if you want to upgrade, the best ones to look at are the M755, M760, M765, M770, M780
The M780 is probably going to carry a hefty price cause its the fastest of them all, so try getting the next best option.

As far as the graphics go, their are only two gpu's for that system. The 6800 and the ATi X1800. The nVidia 6800 is the better of the two cards, so you cant upgrade it any further.
Video card memory is not a good way to judge gpu performance. Your 256mb 6800 is a pretty powerful card, so it can beat out say 512mb 8400's and such.

K-TRON

 

hi i am thinking of going the same route as coldhands with a 2.2 as long as machine dosent have a pent m already i an upgrade right(k tron) can you confirm that,also i am confused on the ram issues,max of 2 gb,alienware state pc 4200, but can i put pc 5300,if so will it use it to the full or will it only read upto pc 4200 speeds,also can someone tell how you reset the cmos on an alienware,not seen a removable battery in one ever?

given these upgrades, would that improve my machine or should i junk it and get a new one?

 

Re: Upgradding Alienware m5700 series (parts-cpu/ram/gf card)

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hi i am thinking of going the same route as coldhands with a 2.2 as long as machine dosent have a pent m already i an upgrade right(k tron) can you confirm that,also i am confused on the ram issues,max of 2 gb,alienware state pc 4200, but can i put pc 5300,if so will it use it to the full or will it only read upto pc 4200 speeds,also can someone tell how you reset the cmos on an alienware,not seen a removable battery in one ever?

given these upgrades, would that improve my machine or should i junk it and get a new one?

 

Which M5700 do you have, the R1 or the R2?

You can figure this out by downloading CPU-Z
The R1 uses pentium M processors as mentioned above.
the R2 uses core based Intel processors.

Please let us know what chipset your system has,
this information can be found in the motherboard tab of CPU-Z

All memory on todays market needs to comply with JEDEC standards, meaning that it must be compatible with a large amount of systems. PC5300 will run backwards compatible with PC4200. If the system supports a maximum of PC4200, and you install PC5300, the PC5300 will simply down clock from 667MHz to 533MHz PC4200 speeds

Upgrading the memory and processor should be very cheap, so it will be a good cheap upgrade.

K-TRON

 

HI K TRON,i havent had the time to look at the m5700 yet,but if it is r2 core based is there the chance i can put a dual core in there.

 

If you have the R2 you can run up to a 2.33Ghz dual core intel in there. (T7600)

K-TRON

 

My m5700 motherboard just took a dump. I think it is a 37-P71000-C0 motherboard. I'm not an expert with laptops but know what hardware is what in the laptop. I've done diagnostics referred by Alienware, reseating video card, ram, CMOS batter, and it comes down to that my motherboard took a dump. This board costs $300 to replace and I refuse to pay that much for the same board.

My questions are:

What are the best upgrades that are compatible with my laptop?

-Motherboard
-Video Card
-RAM
-Wireless card?


Please reply, any advice will be helpful.

 

I have an R2

 

What processor do you have in your laptop?
that model number for the motherboard is bringing up Pentium M on google, which means that the fastest cpu you can get is a Pentium M780 at 2.26Ghz, which isnt worth the hassel

Please tell us the hardware your system has

K-TRON

 

I found this spec from another forum as well as what was given by an Alienware Tech.

Motherboard Information:
* Manufacturer: ALIENWARE
* Product: M5790


Video Adapter:
* Caption: ATI Mobility Radeon X1800
* Adapter RAM: 256MB

Memory:
DDR2 - PC5300 - 1 GB

Processor:
Intel Core Duo 550 - 1.66 Ghz

*Hopefully that helps?

I was told that I need to replace the motherboard because the laptop if failing to startup. When I plug in the AC adapter, it just blinks and makes a sound.

Instead of getting the same board can I get a better one that will work?

 

You have the R2 version alright.
You have a T5500 1.66Ghz processor.
You can upgrade to a T5600, T7200, T7400, T7600

Memory can go to 2gb
graphics is maxxed with the X1800

Have you tried powering the system up with only one memory card at a time?
A system will not boot if the memory is corrupt.

If its something simple like that than your back in the game, if its a Bios corruption, or a mainboard failure as in say a loose northbridge or something you need to replace the motherboard.
No better motherboard can work in your system chassis. You could downgrade to the Pentium M version, but I dont think you would want to do that

K-TRON

 

I've already tried running on 1 memory cad at a time. I've swapped them and tried both differently. Most likely it is my board. Guess I'll just scrap it for parts. No point to spend $300 for another board when I can buy a brand new laptop. Thank you.

 

K-TRON:
I have a m5700 R2 as well. Did you mean that total memory can go to 2GB or each module can be 2 GB?

CPU-Z reports i945PM rev 03. Current memory is dual 512MB DDR2 @ 333 MHz & 5/5/5/15/21 from PDP systems. I'm trying to figure out what is the highest density and fastest memory I can put in so I can try Crysis. I just breathed new life into this thing (see below) and now the memory size is the limiting factor.

> graphics is maxxed with the X1800

I just installed a 4870 in mine. I had to mill the stock cold plate since the cityscape is different than the X1800. The memory on the back side of the module gets rather hot and thus so does my right palm. Even running 100/300 MHz the battery life is <30 minutes.

I used to work in the CICG.

 

You put a 4870 in your M5700?
Wow, very impressive. I do not recall anyone ever putting more than a X1800 in theirs

Since you have the i945PM chipset you should be able to get 4GB of PC5300 memory running in there (2 x 2GB)
You can get a 4Gb memory kit for around $40 online.

Please post some images of your 4870 in your M5700

K-TRON

 

NewEgg has 2x 2GB Corsair PC2 6400 for $39 with free shipping. It's on the way. Thank you.

Because of your willingness to assist, here you go:


Now I can run my FFT code in my laptop

Did you miss the CICG reference? You must know.

 

Absolutely amazing. The 4870 is easily 4 x better of a graphics card than the X1800.
Just keep an eye on temperatures, that thing uses quite a bit of power

I haven't a clue as to what CICG stands for

K-TRON

 

> I haven't a clue as to what CICG stands for

Ask around campus. Maybe it isn't called that anymore - it's been a long time.

Diesel? I'm partial to E85 myself - race fuel octane in a pump gas.

 

> The 4870 is easily 4 x better of a graphics card than the X1800.

Yes, I know. A lot better than most.

 

Where did you get the cards? That looks like an ATi reference model. Also, congrats! I always appreciate hardware mods like those to extend the life of some of the older systems. You'll probably need to upgrade to a T7600 to get more out of your 4870s. Also, if you are able to get it running with the 4870s, mind taking a GPU-Z screenshot and maybe some benchmarks?

 

Dang...looks cool to do. Too bad my board went AWAL! I'm selling it on Ebay and its actually selling pretty good even though it ain't working. The high bid is currently at 300! At least I'll get something back...hoping it gets better...

 

id like some shots also. and to know where you got the cards

 

It looks like he has a T7200, 7400 or 7600 already in his machine. You can tell from the die size. The T7x00 Merom processors had a larger die than the T5x00 and T2xx0 processors

It should be gaming up with the best of them, if you can get it running cool enough in your laptop

K-TRON

 

Yeah, you're right. I got it mixed up with the other guy with the T5500.

But where in the world did he get that card? and Is it the GDDR5 version or the GDDR3 version?

 

1GB of GDDR5

Current CPU is T5500 - is there any way to overclock this thing?

If anyone knows where I can buy a T7600 (SL9SD) for <$200, please let me know. It's not that critical for what I do (GPGPU), but it'd help a lot with gaming.

I'd like to get my hands on a couple 280Ms to play with as well.

I'll run some benchmarks once my 4 GB of DDR2 6400 and Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB drive arrives.

> if you can get it running cool enough in your laptop

I'm thinking about a couple case mods - a slimline fan under the GPU would help a lot.

 

Alienware laptop separate components can be very hard to find, but I agree it seems you have to go with tracking the model series of motherboard and choose a more up to date version. One thing is very certain, you can't go very far from the manufacturer's components in order to avoid complications with your system..

 

I never really understood why the T7600's price was so high, even today. I remember when I had my M1710, I bought one for like $500. The T7600G back then was a fortune (like $800), but I'm surprised even a T9400 is less expensive on average.

anyways, your best bet would be Notebookforums.com/forum27.html. Not to advertize or anything, but they tend to have people who are still holding on to their inspiron 9400/M1710s and are probably parting them out. So take a look there for a T7600. Ebay has I think one T7600 being auctioned now, a day left. Right now it's under $200 so take a look at that too.

Also, 1gb GDDR5? When you get it running, can you take a GPU-Z screenshot? And I still want to know where you got the 4870. A lot of people are itching for these. Let alone the fact that you are using it in an almost 4 year old Alienware.

 

yeah again id love to know where to obtain those cards..i have a call into my supplier to see if they have any t7600. ill let you know if they do but if course cant promise anything yet.

 

Ichime, the T7600 is so expensive because it is the fastest processor for the socket M series of laptops. I really want one, however I have a T7400 which is nearly as good for a third of the price.

The T7600 is a rather fast processor, equivalent to a T8300/T7700
however the new technology on socket P has forced processing prices lower

BonsaiScott, you may want to check out the thinline fans from Delta. They manufacture fans as thin as 6mm if I recall correctly. There fans are rather good too.
Look for a 5V fan, which you can power directly from a USB hub

http://www.delta.com.tw/product/cp/dcfans/dcfans_main.asp#

If you want a 5V fan for cheap send me a PM, I have one I can give to you, its a 60mm

K-TRON

 

Yeah, I know that, but I mean it's a 3 year old platform. You would think after 3 years its worth would drop significantly. It could also be the fact that it's 65nm and the fact that they don't produce it anymore adds value to it. Seems to be the opposite of what's going on with the Dothan processors.

 

Scott, you got some splaining to do!

Where you acquired a GDDR5 4870 and how much it cost will be a good start. Seeing as how no one has been able to pin down a release date, let alone one of the physical cards, we need some concrete answers.

 

Yeah...they only started mass production of DDR5 4870 mid March and are maybe or a week or two at the most from the big launch, where oh where did you find this????

 

They have been released: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~129750,00.html and I do not have to explain anything.

K-TRON & ichime: thank you for the pointers. I'll take a look.

ichime: I prefer 2.35:1

K-TRON: Hummmm... Torque

 

It's not that they've been released, we know that, we're just all wondering how you acquired one, especially a GDDR5 considering they're not used in any systems at this time, and how much you payed for it.

 

We know they've been released. We want to know who sold it to you and how much.

btw, if they ever start mass-producing 2.35:1 screened full-on notebook (no netbook), the world will spontaneously implode.

 

same from me. not questioning you just want to buy these myself. any info would be appreciated

 

I think you are the boy of the flicker "nikon17mm" album, or maybe you got it from him!
However anyone is accusing you of anything , but we are kids who envy a lot the new toy of a friend !!!
Tell us, tell us where we can find it!

However your system didn't need a bios update to especially support the 4870?? mmm..very good!!

 

Well, the Alienware M5700 series is based off a Fujitsu Amilo chassis, which f rom what I can remember, is very accepting of newer GPU upgrades.

 

Somehow I have a feeling he won't tell us where he bought it -_- Wonder if any factories are missing a yet to be retailed DDR5 4870

 

Yeah, clearly it is none of our business where he acquired it. I'm sure there are some test/engineering cards floating around for OEMs to try out.

Instead of pressing him about WHERE he got it, just ask questions about HOW it runs and some benchies/screen shots. That's more than enough.

I'd be happy with a GPU-Z screenie.

 

I agree, and am also much more interested in how it performs, but you can't be surprised that people asked, especially after such a casual mention.