M17x R1 Upgrade

Hi,

Below are the validated CPU options for the Alienware M17x R1 system.

• Intel P8600 Penryn, 2.40GHz, 3MB
• Intel P8700 Penryn, 2.53GHz, 3MB
• Intel Q9000 Penryn, 2.00GHz, 6MB
• Intel Q9100 Penryn, 2.26GHz, 12MB
• Intel QX9300 Penryn, 2.53GHz, 12MB
• Intel T9550 Penryn, 2.66GHz, 6MB
• Intel T9600 Penryn, 2.80GHz, 6MB
• Intel T9800 Penryn, 2.93GHz, 6MB
• Intel i7-740QM, 1.73GHz, 6MB
• Intel i7-840QM Clarksfield, 1.86GHz, 8MB, B1
• Intel i7-940XM Clarksfield, 2.13GHz, 8MB, B1

actually I'm gonna fix the above response...  the M17X R1 WILLNOT support an i7 CPU as he listed so please be more carefull on giving such info ..

the M17X R1 was a Socket 478 or 479 with NVIDIA CHIPSET MOTHERBOARD with onboard 9400M video(sorry been a while not entirely sure on socket but its one of  them )

the M17X R2 was the first revision with an i7 and had a different board and a socket 988 or 989  I believe..(been long time since I checked this out aswell but its one of them lol)

the M17X R1 is limited to core2 duo or core 2 quad, which in todays standards, that machine is almost 7 years old I owned 2 R1's and 3 R2's, and to be  honest upgrading cpu  would be a slight increase with a QX (quad extreme)  would be best bet,  then maybe find a slightly better video card..

all comes down to the PSU aswell since you can always fine dual video  280's(plug and play) or dual 5870's etc.. for better performance if your dead set on keeping this system,

another option would  be to find a M17X R2 motherboard and swap it  into the R1 to take benefit of getting an i7 CPU ..