Putting something modern in the m18x enclosure is not within the remit of the Dell Community Forums. Advocate that you start a new thread within the Notebook Review forum Alienware 18 and M18x where they are more knowledgeable on refurbished projects such as your m18x transformation into something modern.
The difficulty level would be Expert, so this means you doing considerable research, and getting it right first time.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
Unfortunately, notebook mainboards rarely swap between models - so while you can replace things like memory, drives -- even GPUs in some case, swapping in a board from a newer model is not going to work.
And as is the case with a used car, it's often less expensive to buy a newer system than to buy all the parts to rebuild an old one.
Hello @rafiqkhan89 if you have the M18x R1 then you can swap your motherboard to an R2. This opens up more upgrade possibilities for the GPU but that's about it. Is it feasible? No.
You can't put any newer motherboards in the M18x chassis as they just won't fit and the display cables won't be compatible.
R2 boards are still very expensive (~$300) and you also need to buy an R2 Sata ribbon cable (~$80). Then you'd be best to buy a 3rd gen extreme CPU (~$100-200) with triple-pipe heatsink (~$100) and then a new MXM GPU (~$300-400).
You're going to be looking at a $1000 upgrade and you'll still be years behind current tech.
If you already have the R2 then the upgrade becomes much cheaper and you'd really only need the GPU upgrade but still really isn't worth it unless you really love the laptop. I have spent way too much upgrading my R2 because it's the greatest Alienware laptop ever created and I love keeping it going.
The R1 is limited up to the Nvidia GTX 880M due to BIOS requirements but the R2 does not have this limitation. If you have the R1 then the best thing to do would be to sell it and invest the money in a newer laptop or find an R2 to upgrade, if you still want an M18x.
NotebookReview is the best place to discuss these older laptops and I'm happy to help more if you head over there.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
July 8th, 2021 05:00
Hi @rafiqkhan89 is that the Alienware m18x R1 or m18x R2 model?
Putting something modern in the m18x enclosure is not within the remit of the Dell Community Forums. Advocate that you start a new thread within the Notebook Review forum Alienware 18 and M18x where they are more knowledgeable on refurbished projects such as your m18x transformation into something modern.
The difficulty level would be Expert, so this means you doing considerable research, and getting it right first time.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.7K Posts
0
July 8th, 2021 03:00
Unfortunately, notebook mainboards rarely swap between models - so while you can replace things like memory, drives -- even GPUs in some case, swapping in a board from a newer model is not going to work.
And as is the case with a used car, it's often less expensive to buy a newer system than to buy all the parts to rebuild an old one.
mattyb3
5 Practitioner
•
1.7K Posts
0
July 8th, 2021 15:00
Hello @rafiqkhan89 if you have the M18x R1 then you can swap your motherboard to an R2. This opens up more upgrade possibilities for the GPU but that's about it. Is it feasible? No.
You can't put any newer motherboards in the M18x chassis as they just won't fit and the display cables won't be compatible.
R2 boards are still very expensive (~$300) and you also need to buy an R2 Sata ribbon cable (~$80). Then you'd be best to buy a 3rd gen extreme CPU (~$100-200) with triple-pipe heatsink (~$100) and then a new MXM GPU (~$300-400).
You're going to be looking at a $1000 upgrade and you'll still be years behind current tech.
If you already have the R2 then the upgrade becomes much cheaper and you'd really only need the GPU upgrade but still really isn't worth it unless you really love the laptop. I have spent way too much upgrading my R2 because it's the greatest Alienware laptop ever created and I love keeping it going.
The R1 is limited up to the Nvidia GTX 880M due to BIOS requirements but the R2 does not have this limitation. If you have the R1 then the best thing to do would be to sell it and invest the money in a newer laptop or find an R2 to upgrade, if you still want an M18x.
NotebookReview is the best place to discuss these older laptops and I'm happy to help more if you head over there.