Upgrading Alienware M17x R4 with new GPU and Internal Hard Drive?

well  raid combines both drives  and makes 1 drive...... so you can format the secondary and leave as a storage device and used SSD as primary/boot device or get 2 and raid for some  high speed transferes......

the 675M is essentially a 580M .....  in all aspects so you can upgrade to a 680M for roughly 30-50 % increase

* taken from review site actual milage may vary*

the GTX 680M is far ahead the GTX 580M and if your dilemma is between two similarly priced machines then the 680M is the way to go, if what you’re looking for is more horse power –  Why not add another 10%-15% in cost to get another (just to be on the safe side) 30%-50%  in performance? If you’re considering such machines, you probably want the performance and the 680M definitely worth it.

The GTX 675M is actually a GTX 580M, so there is no need to think twice.

or depending on applications ati 7970.......   if single card isnt enough power , only other option si another system .. the M18X ...

also cpu can be a factor but since i dont knwo what your actually doing..........

Should I go for the upgrade coz I think it will solve all problems but it should not harm the system. Anyways is Gtx 680M compatible with my system and is my processor working fine and who perform speed tests to get to know whether the speed is fine as mentioned and everything is working normally. The image that I sent was correct or was there any system problems. Also the system is not using the RAM completely upto 32 but till 8gb maximum.  

1. I'm only going for a 256gb SSD Sata III from transcend ( which one would u suggest) and   2. keeping my standard HDD of 500gb the same will it work fine.   3. Also wat is mSATA ? and I guess there is a port that too ??   4. If it helps I will upgrade it too.   5. my processor is i7 3820 QM 2.7Ghz  with turbo boost till 3.7 Ghz.

1. Samsung PRO 840 or nice Intel SSD.

2. Yes, keep one of those spinning drives for data files.

3. Try Google, Wikipedia, Service Manual ... get educated.

4. No, you don't use mSata and SSD together. They work with spinning drives.

5. Should be fine.

http://ark.intel.com/products/64889/Intel-Core-i7-3820QM-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz

also my system doen't show in the my computer properties that it can turbo boost till 3.7ghz but it actually shows the same figure twice 2.7ghz . Plz see in the imsage posted above.

1. I bought an Alienware M17x R4 in August   2. First is my Graphics card is Nvidia GTX 675M and it does not support certain software programs actually it does support   3. upgrade my primary hard drive to Solid State Hard drive of 256gb.   4. And I don't understand what is Raid 0 or anything relating to it, mine is Raid 0 2x500gb HDD drive.

1. Sounds like you are still under warranty ... but I don't think free upgrades (assistance and labor) are included.

2. Should be fine for most anything. nVidia supports the latest Direct-X and OpenGL graphics.

3a. If RAID-0 (and it's drives) are working properly, should provide all the performance you need. However, RAID-0 is a high maintenance setup (lots of things can go wrong).

3b. SSD will improve boot time and even performance a bit. Machine should have been built with SSD and Spinning Drive (HDD) in the first place (no RAID). Swapping out the main boot OS drive is tricky (especially if you don't know what you are doing).

4. Sounds like you should pay a qualified technician (or a friend that knows computers) to help you. Sometimes you can clone the drive, but often it requires a clean Windows install, required drivers in proper order, re-install all apps, and finally restore backed-up data files.

this is my pc info plz do tell me is it a go for upgrading the hard drive to SSD and GPU to GTX 680m and will this upgrading cause any system damage??

Coz I asked dell service team about the upgrade but they said no and not to upgrade but i don't what the hell is wrong with them some say u can do it from other external source and they couldn't do it. See my problem is important here and noone else. I have spent 3 lacs for this system which is not helping me out with the programs like Lumion 3.0 and sketchup. the experience rating is 5.9 due to primary disk transfer rate. So help me out with the up-gradation part of the system.

I'm only going for a 256gb SSD Sata III from transcend ( which one would u suggest) and keeping my standard HDD of 500gb the same will it work fine.

Also wat is mSATA ? and I guess there is a port that too ??    If it helps I will upgrade it too. my processor is i7 3820 QM 2.7Ghz  with turbo boost till 3.7 Ghz.

I have 32 gb RAM which is also not fully used only it reaches upto 8gb some time not more than that.

thanx for the reply but I'm still not sure that should I go for Upgrading GPU wil it fit with my GTX 675m Port??

Help me dude............seriously I'm exhausted........want to put an end to this story.

also my system doen't show in the my computer properties that it can turbo boost till 3.7ghz but it actually shows the same figure twice 2.7ghz . Plz see in the imsage posted above.

If you are sure the programs are using the dedicated nVidia card ...

These are some intense programs. You should be running them on a desktop (not a laptop). Laptop or Mobile video cards are NOT the same as desktop cards.

http://lumion3d.com/details/

Minimum:

System memory: 6GB (for simple scenes)

Graphics card: NVidia GeForce GTS 450 or ATI/AMD Radeon HD 4890 (minimum 1,500 PassMark points), with at least 1GB dedicated memory (not shared system memory). Avoid Quadro and FirePro cards.

Recommended:

System memory: At least 12GB

Graphics card: NVidia GTX 680 / AMD Radeon HD 7970 or faster (minimum 4,000 PassMark points), with at least 2GB dedicated memory (not shared system memory). Avoid Quadro and FirePro cards.

-----

The fact that it says "Avoid Quadro and FirePro cards" lets me it's using Direct-X (and not OpenGL).

What's your current PassMark score and does your machine have at least 1GB dedicated memory ? How much dedicated memory does the Dell OEM 680-M even have?

1. The image that I sent was correct or was there any system problems.   2. Also the system is not using the RAM completely upto 32 but till 8gb maximum.

but I need to upgrade the hard drive to Ssd forthe speed and i can let go everything else.

First is my Graphics card is Nvidia GTX 675M  ...   ... actually it does support it but the programs run very slow and can't work in the program that slow.

I think you have a hybrid video system on that model. I bet this is your problem.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3519/t/19405027.aspx

Or, call support and have them show you how to be sure your programs are using the dedicated nVidia processor and not the low-power on-board Intel video.

check out my bill and tell me what should I do to resolve the lagging issue and experience rating being lowest than my desktop which is hp pavilion having 6 and mine alienware rating is 5.9 which is horrible. I mean to say there must be a solution to this whole interconnected issue, Upgrading may be a solution or replacing. As I already tried replacing every single part it doesn't work I'm now left with this upgradation option only. If u think after seeing the quotation that the upgradation will be fine and my system will still work fine then I'm ready to go for it. I have sent 3 lacs for this system and I'm very exhausted and disappointed with the system problems and idiocy of the service provider and want this to end very soon within a week. so Im in a hurry and I want certain programs to run on PC without lagging for some very important work. I guess u understand the situation from my end. DO or Die. Wat do u Suggest. I have got no hopes left from this piece of tech.