Hello, yes you can upgrade the GPU in a M15x, how much were you thinking of spending.

A CPU upgrade probably wouldn't hurt either, first gen i7 CPU's are pretty cheap now, probably a 820QM or 840QM (Both quad core) would do the trick and not cost to much, it would be a big step up from your dual core 620

Thank you very much for the quick response! This is great news for me :) Well the thing is that I use my m15x more as a mobile desktop rather than just a "laptop". Meaning most of the time in my office it powers 2 external monitors, one of which is IPS 1080p and a bunch of other stuff. And for more than three years I have had no needs to upgrade it (I am a passionate gamer, web designer and enthusiast javascript/php/sql developer). But now I have to do some HD video recording and editing of a game and naturally when I record and edit in 1080p and mediocre game settings, my FPS drops to or below 20. So I that's why I started researching whether I can upgrade at least the GPU.

I am willing to spend around 500 USD for upgrades, maybe even more if it is worth it. It is really important for me to upgrade my m15x as much as I can, because I am really attached to it. I am planning a huge upgrade to a standard desktop with intel xeon, 12+Gb of ram and duo GPU, but  that's a little bit down the road.

I will definitely look into the 820QM and 840QM, but can you please recommend me some more high-end (and possible for the m15x) upgrades for the GPU, CPU aaaaand can I actually upgrade the RAM in any way (maybe a bit more ram - to 8 or maybe a bit faster ram - 1600mhz)?

Maybe it is worth mentioning that I've already upgraded my standard HDD to a solid state HDD.

Hi, the fact that your into electronics actually gives you a better range of GPU to choose from, some of the GPU's that other people have upgraded in their M15x were never meant to come out in that model, so there's a bit of driver tweaking to do to get them to work, have you done GPU drivers mods (INF) before, first time is a pain, but after that you'll be able to complete it in under 10 minutes.

Basically it's computer politics, lets say you want to put a AMD6870M or AMD7970M in your M15x. Every time you try to install the driver you will get an error messege saying something like "this system does not meet requirement" or No compatible device found" or something along those lines.

This is because when the driver is installing, it tries to match up your machine ID (M15x), Device ID (GPU) and then looks in its own files to make sure they are "registered".

If Dell have not authorized AMD to include that GPU and machine ID then the driver will not install. AMD wont include it unless Dell authorize them, and Dell wont authorize them, it would only take a email. You can draw your own conclusions about why they won't ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

So if you go outside of Dells "recommended" GPU's for your M15x then you'll have to do a bit of driver tweaking.

I'm a definite AMD/ATI fan, so my recommendations will lean that way, but if your doing a lot of video editing and the like then you may be better with a Nvidia GPU (I've heard they are better for rendering and stuff) Also not sure about IPS monitors and AMD.

1333MHz is the fastest RAM speed you can go with messing around in the BIOS, remember RAM is over-rated, 8GB 1333MHz of a good brand is fine.

Keep and upgrade your M15x, it kills the M14x in my opinion.

I'll check with someone else I know on this forum, but if you've got those sought of $$$ then a 2GB GDDR5 AMD 7970 may be a good choice, don't forget you going to need some good thermal paste and thermal tape/pads, your old ones, no matter how good condition they look, probably wont cut the mustard :)

I'll get back to you soon

Thank you for taking the time to explain these things! I am a techie but to be honest, I have never done driver modification. I know my way around web backend development, frontend design and other stuff, but I am not sure I can handle this task. The thing is that I am working on multiple web projects and I can't afford to mess something up and lose my pc for a week trying to get everything straight.

However, I very much llike the idea of a AMD 7970. So I will contact a friend of mine, who is an actual pc technician and hopefully, he might give me a hand.

I will definitely up my ram to 8Gb 1333mhz. 

How about the CPU? Can I do better than 1-st gen 840qm? Maybe a 940XM or better?

Once again, thank you for taking the time to help me out!

Hi, if you go for a 920QM or 940QM then you may run into power issues with the 7970, when you chat with your friend ask him if he can add up the power requirements for a 920 or 940 plus a 7970 and findout if the M15x PSU will handle it.

The other thing to take into account is heat, there's not much room in a M15x and from memory they did have heat issues with the high end CPU's, save your dollars, the price difference between a 820/840 and a 920/940 is still pretty big, but the performance gain is not (And the 820QM is a beautiful CPU, in my opinion the best of that first generation range, very quite)

Because of the cramped space inside the M15x and because of its age now, I would recommend you use IC Diamond thermal paste to repast the CPU and GPU AND purchase NEW thermal tape for your new GPU, don't use the old stuff (it's probably cactus anyway) Don't cheap out on these, otherwise you may be up for more repairs before you know it.

Goodluck with your upgrade.

If you have any further issues, then theres heaps of people here to help

Hi dude, just seen this and mine was upgraded to the gt555m..but like you said my drivers wont install could you help me out dude?

Hi, these guys have some modded drivers and some tutorials, check it out it may help.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/