Laptop: Upgrade, or Buy?

[Schadenfreude]

My system is:

Dell XPS 15 L502x
- Intel i5-2410M
- Nvidia Geforce 525M
- 500 GB 7200RM HDD
- 8 Gigs RAM
- B+RGLED 1080p display

And I'm very happy with my system. I do:
- Gaming (70%)
- and (hobbyist) Graphic Design (5%)
- The rest is on porn socializing, word processing, email, etc.

I have the upgrade bug. While I use the graphic design use as an excuse, I just want something better! I'm thinking about upgrading the CPU and HDD to an i7-QM and SSD within the next 3~4 months or so, and figuring the budget would be around $500 approximately minus whatever I can recoup from what I sell off the parts I take out.

Originally I had my hopes set on Haswell and was planning on holding off until then, but even then I'm hesitant only because I would have a hard time finding another laptop with the display and sound quality like the machine I'm using right now (inb4 "well you can hook it up to an externalblahblahblah" - somewhat defeats the point of having a laptop) - even with $500 + whatever money I recoup on the sale of this machine outright (I'll say $500 for now) it'll be most likely hard to find a laptop with this quality of display and sound w/ a upper-level CPU/GPU for $1,000.00.

So what do you say, the collective AT GH folks? Upgrade, or hold off? Would upgrading to an i7-QM cpu yield any noticeable differences in speed?

(By the by, there's a handy reference thread in a different forum that breaks down the different steps - it looks time-intensive, so I'm looking to do this job in one fell swoop so no option for "get a piece at a time and upgrade")

 

[postmortemIA]

do you have desktop or that is your main PC?
Specs are good minus the hard drive, I would definitely just get a SSD.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Add an ssd and you're good to go

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Wow, that looks complicated and frustrating. They sure make it a challenge to get at the CPU and GPU.

If you really do a lot of design work, a quad core *might* be worth it.

For gaming, you're really limited by the Geforce 525 chip anyway, so I don't think the CPU upgrade would be worth it. With 70% gaming use, you'd really benefit from a better GPU, but that's probably not an option.

Put the upgrade money into a nice, roomy SSD, and hold off on upgrading the rest till Haswell. Or until you're ready to spring for something with a decent GPU.

 

[sm625]

Get the SSD. 128GB. Or 256GB if you dont have a desktop/NAS.

 

[Puppies04]

OP, why are you going down the route of tearing up a laptop to upgrade it when you can just sell yours and buy one that already has what you need?

If it was me I would sell your existing machine and do 1 of 2 things...

1. Buy a L502X with a quad and a GT540M second hand and swap the HDD for a SSD
2. Buy a L702X with a quad and a GT555M (or similar) second hand and fit a SSD in the second empty HDD bay for the OS/programs.

Personally I would go for the second option as it enables you to keep a mechanical drive for storage and also benefit from an SSD for OS/programs (this is what I have done with my L701X). Keep in mind though that the XPS17 has a 1600x900 res screen, personally I prefer this as it doesn't push the GPU quite as hard as 1080P while gaming keeping frame rates higher and letting you turn a few more of the bells and whistles on to make things pretty. Although you could swap out the screen yourself for a 1080P unit if you had the budget, I have heard of people doing this so a quick google should show you what it entails.

If the 17" form factor just isn't for you then a 3rd option is to leave the HDD in a L502X and replace the CD drive with a SSD, looking at what you are proposing to do this shouldn't give you any problems at all.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

OP, why are you going down the route of tearing up a laptop to upgrade it when you can just sell yours and buy one that already has what you need?

If it was me I would sell your existing machine and do 1 of 2 things...

1. Buy a L502X with a quad and a GT540M second hand and swap the HDD for a SSD
2. Buy a L702X with a quad and a GT555M (or similar) second hand and fit a SSD in the second empty HDD bay for the OS/programs.

Personally I would go for the second option as it enables you to keep a mechanical drive for storage and also benefit from an SSD for OS/programs (this is what I have done with my L701X). Keep in mind though that the XPS17 has a 1600x900 res screen, personally I prefer this as it doesn't push the GPU quite as hard as 1080P while gaming keeping frame rates higher and letting you turn a few more of the bells and whistles on to make things pretty. Although you could swap out the screen yourself for a 1080P unit if you had the budget, I have heard of people doing this so a quick google should show you what it entails.

If the 17" form factor just isn't for you then a 3rd option is to leave the HDD in a L502X and replace the CD drive with a SSD, looking at what you are proposing to do this shouldn't give you any problems at all.

He has a 1080p screen on his currently lappy

 

[mfenn]

Wow, that looks complicated and frustrating. They sure make it a challenge to get at the CPU and GPU.

If you really do a lot of design work, a quad core *might* be worth it.

For gaming, you're really limited by the Geforce 525 chip anyway, so I don't think the CPU upgrade would be worth it. With 70% gaming use, you'd really benefit from a better GPU, but that's probably not an option.

Put the upgrade money into a nice, roomy SSD, and hold off on upgrading the rest till Haswell. Or until you're ready to spring for something with a decent GPU.

I agree with this. For 70% of the time spent gaming, the Quad isn't going to do much for you. An SSD will give you a nice all around boost and is easily transferable to the next machine.

 

[Schadenfreude]

OP, why are you going down the route of tearing up a laptop to upgrade it when you can just sell yours and buy one that already has what you need?

If it was me I would sell your existing machine and do 1 of 2 things...

1. Buy a L502X with a quad and a GT540M second hand and swap the HDD for a SSD
2. Buy a L702X with a quad and a GT555M (or similar) second hand and fit a SSD in the second empty HDD bay for the OS/programs.

. . ..

I'm not too keen on the 17" form factor, so getting the L702X is a no-go. If anything I find the L502X to be on the higher end of comfortable. Trading is a no-go; all the other L502Xs I see - either on Ebay or here - is priced above my budget listed on the 1st thread (the cheapest L502x w/ an upgraded display an i7-QM is $1k, but no SSD).

 

[Puppies04]

He has a 1080p screen on his currently lappy

Would you care to read my post again and show me where I said otherwise.

Or were you just stating a fact because you were bored.