Solved! Hardware upgrades for Alienware m5500i-r3

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

Can I upgrade the cpu in my Alienware m5500i-r3 laptop and is the hdd sata or ide pata also what type of ram does it use and finally what gpu can I put in it??? (see my post in the graphics card forum. I don’t want to double post)

 

[10tacle]

You are talking about a 12 year old (or more) laptop here so don't expect much. Chances are the only things you can upgrade are the memory and hard drive which is IDE. The memory you'll have to find on the used market as laptop SO-DIMM DDR2 went away a long time ago.

Regarding graphics, dedicated video GPUs are almost always soldered onto the motherboard so you can't upgrade that like a regular PC. The CPU might be upgradeable to a whopping 2.26GHz Dothan 780M but you'd have to open the laptop to see if it is socket or soldered as well. Don't put any money into such an old piece of hardware. My advice.

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

The gpu isn’t soldered on And is upgradable I looked online and it comes with a go7600 but people have upgraded to a 9600m or the Radeon equivalent and there are YouTube videos on how to replace the gpu

See this video:

https://youtu.be/U3hsJ1my2y0

And this forum

https://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/25939-alienware-m5500i-r3-9600m-gt/

You are talking about a 12 year old (or more) laptop here so don't expect much. Chances are the only things you can upgrade are the memory and hard drive which is IDE. The memory you'll have to find on the used market as laptop SO-DIMM DDR2 went away a long time ago.

Regarding graphics, dedicated video GPUs are almost always soldered onto the motherboard so you can't upgrade that like a regular PC. The CPU might be upgradeable to a whopping 2.26GHz Dothan 780M but you'd have to open the laptop to see if it is socket or soldered as well. Don't put any money into such an old piece of hardware. My advice.

 

[10tacle]

Why would you want to spend money upgrading something from 2006 to 2008 performance? I'm just at a loss.

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

because i do! Why ask why?!?! I’m just asking to see what cpu and or gpu (which I just proved can be upgraded) can I put into this thing NOT here to be chastised or ask why I’m doing it! Why would you want to spend money upgrading something from 2006 to 2008 performance? I'm just at a loss.

 

[10tacle]

Well I advised on the CPU upgrade to a maximum 2.26GHz Dothan 780M. You answered your own question on GPU upgrade. It's your money to spend dude. No offense.

One piece of advice on upgrading laptops: they are proprietary and the hardware is designed to work together for a reason. That means everything from cooling design from a faster processor/GPU to the power supply brick and battery. Good luck.

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

Great thanks for the cpu tip

As far as gpus go
Any of these????
https://m.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-nVIDIA-Geforce-9600M-GT-MXM-II-DDR2-1GB-VG-9PG06-009-VGA-Card-For-Acer/272441211430?itemId=272441211430

https://m.ebay.com/itm/New-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-3650-MXM-II-VGACard-HD3650-1GB-DDR2-For-Acer-5920G/302656754208?NAV=HOME

 

[10tacle]

GeForce all the way among the two. Good luck!

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

Okay but will they work??? They say acer

 

[10tacle]

Take the video card out of your laptop and see if it matches the card for sale in size and socket. This is what I was trying to say: parts for laptops are proprietary and not like upgrading a desktop PC.

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

Okay I’ll stick with Alienware brand just to be safe

 

[jaguarskx]

FYI...

The following $350 Acer latop with a Core i3-7100u CPU and Intel HD 620 integrated graphics core can wipe the floor with at Alienware laptop even if you manage to upgrade the GPU to a nvidia 9600m GT.


https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522878532&sr=8-3&keywords=i3-7100u+laptop

 

[10tacle]

For whatever reason he wants to put money into outdated tech. I guess he has his reasons and I can understand. I'd love to upgrade my 12 year old Dell E1705 (a second time) that has a beautiful 1920x1200 glossy screen but it's not realistic these days when it comes to money vs. performance boost vs. buying something newer altogether.

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

Except for one minor detail....IM POOR AND LIVE OFF DISABILITY INCOME so that laptop is and always will be a pipe dream

FYI...

The following $350 Acer latop with a Core i3-7100u CPU and Intel HD 620 integrated graphics core can wipe the floor with at Alienware laptop even if you manage to upgrade the GPU to a nvidia 9600m GT.


https://www.amazon.com/Acer-E5-575-33BM-15-6-Inch-Notebook-Generation/dp/B01K1IO3QW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522878532&sr=8-3&keywords=i3-7100u+laptop

 

[shadowqueenvideogameservices]

And also I’m a SHE!!!!

 

[GreyCatz]

Can I upgrade the cpu in my Alienware m5500i-r3 laptop and is the hdd sata or ide pata also what type of ram does it use and finally what gpu can I put in it??? (see my post in the graphics card forum. I don’t want to double post)

From what I've managed to dig up about this 2006 Alienware model:

1. It was sold with a Core 2 Duo T7600 CPU running at 2.0GHz and, officially, that's the only supported CPU. But I have seen data sheets indicating it was also available with a Pentium III CPU running at 1.66GHz. No matter which CPU your Alienware has, it's going to be very difficult to find alternatives for a CPU upgrade.

2. From your other post I recall that your computer uses the S-ATA interface. I would be very surprised if it's anything but S-ATA 1.

3. The Alienware uses DDR2 memory, and it was typically sold with 1GB but could be expanded to 2GBs.

4. I would advise against 'messing' with the GPU. It may be replaceable but only with the same unit - in case of GPU malfunction. The Alienware typically shipped with the nVidia GeForce GO 7600 card and trying to upgrade the GPU could land you with the same problems as this poster on nVidia's GeForce forum (from 2011):
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/505008/upgrading-laptop-gpu-from-geforce-7600-go-to-9600m/

Cheers,
GreyCatz.