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Refurbishing an old Alienware Laptop
I have an old (2011) Alienware m18x. At this point, it is half dead (both dedicated AMD GPUs died long ago) and something is going on with the internal clock, as it keeps delaying the date after being adjusted, and the keyboard is also dead. Other than that, it still works fine, with its ancient SSD, and the screen still looks great.
As I am not very knowledgeable in computer hardware topics, I would like to ask what is the feasibility of completely changing the internals of the Laptop. By this I do not mean upgrading GPUs, memory and such, but completely removing the internals and using just the body with a completely new set of components (eg. from a newer laptop, where the components would be up to date, but fit in a smaller form factor).
I understand there might be complications, such as thermals, component positioning and so on. I also understand that this might be much more expensive and complicated than just buying a new Laptop. Regardless, would this project be feasible? What would be the basic things to take into account in doing this?
crimsom
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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6.1K Posts
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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
10 Elder
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25.3K Posts
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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
5 Practitioner
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1.5K Posts
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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.