MSI GT725 Maximum Potential Upgrades? (MS-1722, Advent 6555, GX720.)

[catacylsm]

Hey guys,

On here less and less i suppose, but one thing i like to keep in working order, (And its a must) is my laptop. Now i have the 6555 varient, and its starting to get a bit weak (Which is a shame), not in the sense of performance, but reliability, wear and tear. Overall the kit is still fantastic, couldn't have got any better.

But i need viable options to part replacement, and i believe other people will also, so i'm starting a thread.

I want to know exactly what the machines are capable of being fully upgraded to, so i'l start.

Current Specification -
CPU - Q9000 at 2.00 Ghz
RAM - 4Gb mixed (Bad warrenty) Sticks running 4-4-4-15 and 5-5-5-18, yes in the end windows compensates by overrunning timing and under running timing to 4-5-5-18. (I think, the last one is quite unknown).
HDD - 5200 RPM Toshiba MK2555Gx
Screen - Something 1440x900 (Just the spot )
GPU - HD4850m 512mb! (Issue lies with the card, its somewhat flakey i think. Outdated vbios and everything compared to the actual MSI machines)

Unknown Specification -
CPU - QX9300, QX series, T series, P series, (Im certain this is true) can anyone confirm?
RAM - 8Gb - Unknown, i heard it happened in a gt628 once before, but never the 17 inch books. But looking for lower latency ram over capacity to be honest.
HDD - I know both SSD and HDD conventionals work (7200rpm probably best) as well as drive conversion to another HDD is working (also pretty cool)
Screen - Up to 1920x1080, samsung pannels?
GPU - Main thing i need replacing, will an alienware
GTX 260m
MSI 4850m
MSI 3870m
9800m GTS
9800m GT (GTS with bios flash, maybe GT series work fine also?)
9600m GT? Cant remember if its GT
3800m Workstation? (Dubbed GT260m aint it? or a 9800M GT/GTS

Will an Alienware Nvidia GTX 260m work in our 17 inch books, will heat sink upgrade be required? or will standard 4850 HS slot into it nicely (It looks like it would!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DELL-ALIENWARE...item3a66296c8b

But is Nvidia GTX260m capable of running at full power under steam. Im most interest in the 260 as its only just under the 4850 performance wise, and i'd concider it a laptop GPU thats cheap as chips at the minute :').

Oh i think our laptop is MXM 2.1 Type 3 so the alienware card is slow compatible, but is it power...i wonder.

Mind you what about GTX280m? Or Quadro FX3800m series? although the Quadro is double price, it still viable right?

Hope people have time to answer the questions, this is by no means a can't be bothered to search post, its a means to collect the information into 1 post, where i can add it to my name just like the MSI OC Thread.

Cheers
Cata.

BTW : Fan reconditioning tutorial to come for our machines!
(With lots of pictures, and some oddness about our fan design!)

[Kirrr]

CPU and RAM will work well. As for GPU the Quadro FX3700m and the Radeon 4850 will work as well.

[catacylsm]

I know the 4850 does, but they're hard to come by, and i found generally 2d performance lacking with the card, even after updates.

What about the 260M Gtx, surely someone has this one?

[FragZero]

fx 3700m if you can find it. Very cheap compared to a legt 260/280m

And the fx 3800m is mxm 3.0b so it wont fit your current laptop.

[catacylsm]

Hmm 3700m from USA is quite cheap, but still a bit more expensive then GTX260m

DELL ALIENWARE M15X GTX 260M VIDEO CARD WDXVH | eBay UK

99 Quid

nVidia NB9E-GLM3 Quadro FX 3700M 1GB MXM Card | eBay UK

123 + 21 Quid, so i still think the AW 260m is more viable.

[Kirrr]

you can't fit that gtx 260m, its another type. stick to the quadro or find a gtx 260m what is mxm 2.1 HE

btw something is wrong with that. actually there is no 512mb version of the gtx 260m

[catacylsm]

I think the SLi card had it, hmm the 3700m is 2.1 he so thats nice to know, and the 4850 will most likely fit it right?

Sager may do a 260m?

[Kirrr]

the mxm 2.1 version is very rare of the 260m. if you find one, that will be pretty sweet in the msi. it's much cooler than the quadro and maybe the same percormance as the 4850.

[catacylsm]

Hmm the 4850 is above the 260m in performance i believe, but only by a small percent 0-4%, but driver influence can push the 260m quite nicely too, shame about the lack of the mxm 2.1 260's.

3700m is around the gtx280m? Can we back flash the 3700m to a 280? I hear the quadro drivers are derrived to deliver best performance when working with 3d intensive application and the Gforce cards 280m for instance are geared for gaming better.

[Kirrr]

you can flash it. look around in this topic: MSI GT627 (1651), works with FX 3700m (full clocks).