Alienware M17X R4 Ultimate Upgrade, Share your experience and expertise

[Maik]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm curious to hear from anyone who's done serious upgrades on the Alienware M17X R4.

 

What’s the absolute best GPU (for gaming) you can install in this machine? What is the limit?

 

If you love this hobby, it is your time to shine! Please share!!

 

[panda_zzz]

It depends on how much money you are willing to invest in this project. The absolute maximum at the moment is 4090m.
My option is as follows:
 

[Maik]

Wow, you just dropped my jaw!!

 

Didn’t even think that level of upgrade was possible on the M17X R4. Now I’m seriously considering diving into this, thanks for opening my eyes! Would love to hear more about your setup or any tips you have for the upgrade process.

 

Is it TGP stable? did you custom the A15 Bios? where did you get the card(mxm 3.0 b? requires pin mods?) LVDS or eDP? Oh man, so many questions rise on this, anyhow, congratz, I dont think I ever seen or heard of such upgrade before!!

[panda_zzz]

21 hours ago, Maik said:

Is it TGP stable? did you custom the A15 Bios? where did you get the card(mxm 3.0 b? requires pin mods?) LVDS or eDP?

Yes, the card performs quite stably. Initially, it was purchased for another laptop, but I am currently using it in this one.
The BIOS version was downloaded from this forum; you can search for it - there is a separate thread.
The video card was purchased here: https://www.x-vsion.com/product-category/mxms/mxmn/ Of course, there are certain risks, but several people have bought from there and everything is fine.
No modifications were made except for attaching the heat sink, because the card originally did not have one.
My laptop uses LVDS and therefore Optimus. I may get an EDP cable and display later, but I have no plans to do so at the moment.

[Jerryzago]

On 10/16/2025 at 2:51 AM, panda_zzz said:

Yes, the card performs quite stably. Initially, it was purchased for another laptop, but I am currently using it in this one.
The BIOS version was downloaded from this forum; you can search for it - there is a separate thread.
The video card was purchased here: https://www.x-vsion.com/product-category/mxms/mxmn/ Of course, there are certain risks, but several people have bought from there and everything is fine.
No modifications were made except for attaching the heat sink, because the card originally did not have one.
My laptop uses LVDS and therefore Optimus. I may get an EDP cable and display later, but I have no plans to do so at the moment.

Can you share a photo of the heatsink?

 

4060 is an MXM-A right? Heatsink is the stock AW 17 R4 one? Is it custom made ?