Please help! what graphics cards are compatible with my older m17x

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Cole21

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Apr 22, 2011
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i hate asking dumb questions and i hope im not asking one, i have an older m17x alienware laptop. its has two Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M graphics cards currently and has direct X 10. but the graphics for me just arnt up to par. im looking to buy a graphics card that can handle the advanced games i play. i am somewhat PC literate but cant seem to find any information on what cards will fit. how would i know what cards are compatible? and if you could create a list of cards you would recommend that would be great. how would i upgrade directx?
 
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Laptops are generally what you see is what you get. They are not designed to whip a card in when the machine gets dated. That ability belongs to the desktop. Direct x functionality is built in to the cards at the time of release. To get Direct X 11 you need to purchase a card that supports it. Unfortunately a laptop does not accommodate that option. If you want the ability to upgrade at whim then you must purchase a desktop. If you want the graphics ability yo play later games on a laptop then you have to buy another laptop. Sorry Dude.
 
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I checked out the thread and they do talk about how it is practically impossible to find cards to upgrade the laptop with and the questioner talks about how it is impossible to find any information on upgrading that laptop. The conclusion I reach on the basis of that is it may be technically possible to do it but assuming you can find the cards which I assume have been stripped out of other laptops and you can pay the premium price demanded then you would still have to consider if the laptops cooling and power supply and battery are potent enough to cope with more powerful cards than the original card that came with the laptop.
 
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One of the users managed to swap 2 GTX 280Ms to 2 GTX 285Ms in M17x R1
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/509380-graphics-cards-cpu-upgrades-m17x-r1-8.html
"Well, with the vbios that nRabbit gave to me, I was able to succesfully flash my GTX 280Ms to GTX 285M's and they actually worked in SLI , as you can see in the next screen shot"
However,you have to flash the GPU BIOS(which is risky)

However,you can do these upgrades if you have the Dell M17x R1 not the older M17x which were sold by AW(before dell bought them)
http://www.notebookforums.com/forum/thread/235582/m17-r1-upgrade
 
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The R1 is the model before Dell bought them. the R2 and R3 are post Dell buy out. I have the M15x with 9800GTX and it can accomadate and ATI 5870 which the M17X should also be able to handle and provide DX11 for the OP while reducing his heat and power output.
 
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I think you should get GTX 280Ms, they will cattch up. but i need to know how much power you have so i can tell if yours draws it or not.
 
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will the GTX 280Ms make much of a differance? where would i find the information on the power?- but, basically what you all are trying to say is that im S.O.L. there isnt any way i could upgrade the laptop to newer technology?

if this is the case that the cards cannot be upgraded, is there a way that i could gut the computer and build it around what the newer m17x's have?
 
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alright ill concider it, what about stripping it down to the case and updating everything? would it be possible to buy the parts on the newer M17X and upgrade that way?
 
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Also, you can change the dvd-rom drives with a'lot of different slot loading drives, the ram, the processor, and yes even the video cards, oh and oh my god,, you can change the wireless card with any pcie one, including half or mini, can change the hard drives...And wait, you can change it to the led screen too.. i hate people that post in regards to something they dont know that much about.. AW and DELL are like audi's and bmw's.. their exclusive engineering..or.. PROPRIETARY

To the gentleman that posted about this "notebook/laptop" the m17x is classified as a desktop replacement, due to the fact it weighs over 15 pounds and a core of many more factors...
 
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So where do you get the components to do this as I am looking at doing a rebuild myself shortly of even a complete replacement of my R1 so I can take advantage of current tech. I love my Alienware but curently due to almost three year old tech I am highly restricted in what I can upgrade.
 
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