The Alienware M15X was a true powerhouse when it first came out. Surely the best 15-inch laptop on the market in 2009 and 2010. Although weighing 10 pounds it’s hardly still a laptop.
With its Core i7 processor the Alienware laptop is capable of handling many games even today. 1920×1080 native resolution screen was a top notch display rarely found in 15-inch monitors. Finished with edge to edge glass it looks slick but suffers glare issues.
Battery charge not lasting even 2 hours under load adds to the stationary aspect of the computer.
Nicely styled black body made of magnesium illuminated with color LEDs including keyboard looks good even nowadays.
Bottom line the Alienware M15X was the top of gaming laptops in its time. Ahead of its competitors it was worth every penny despite very high price tag.
The laptop is very upgradable offered with better processor, video card and many other components.
Do you have one and want to tinker with it?
We hope you will find our disassembly instructions handy. Have fun and good luck!
Disassembly of Alienware M15X
While calling this a laptop seems a stretch (it’s very heavy!), this portable computer will blast through anything you throw at it. With desktop grade-hardware, this computer is perfect for late-night gaming sessions or LAN Parties with your friends.
Tools needed:
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#1 Phillips Screwdriver
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#3 Standard(slotted) Screwdriver
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Plastic and metal opener tool
First, remove the battery. Mine came without, so there is no picture, sorry! Remove the screws underneath the battery. On the top of the battery container, remove the screws on the bottom of the computer.
Using an opener tool, pry between the computer and the panel, and remove the panel. It has tabs, so if you want to put this panel back, be careful!
Start removing screws. Use a #1 phillips screwdriver for this. I started with the hard drive caddy. Remove the four screws on top, then pull the tab up away from the computer.
The caddy should come right out. If you want to remove the hard drive from the caddy, remove the screws on the side of the caddy.
Also take note that there is an adaptor plugged into the hard drive. If you are replacing or changing the hard drive, you will need to transfer it to your new drive.
To remove the RAM, remove the two screws that hold the RAM tray cover on.
Next, lets remove the rest of the frame. Using a metal opener tool, on the front of the computer stick your tool between the frame.
Pry up, and it should pop off. While removing this panel, be careful not to fully remove it until you disconnect the touchpad cable.
To remove the PCMIA card reader, remove the screws, then disconnect the ribbon cable connecting it to the motherboard. You will need a 1.2mm phillips screwdriver for this. There are screws going into the bottom side, so you will be unable to fully remove the card reader yet.
Remove all the rest of the screws underneath the touchpad panel.
When removing the IR receiver, be sure to remove the tape covering the connector on the motherboard.
Flip over to the bottom of the computer again. Pull straight up on the fan, making sure to disconnect it from the motherboard.
Removal of the heatsink/fan combo is a bit tricky. Loosen the screws (they will not come all the way out) in the heatsink. Make sure all other screws in the fan are removed, then pull back, away from the grill in the rear of the computer. This was a bit tricky, and required quite a bit of force.
Eventually it came loose and I was able to remove it. Before fully removing it make sure to disconnect the fan from the motherboard.
You should now have access to the CPU. Using a #3 slotted screwdriver, twist counter-clockwise until the CPU comes unseated. Be very careful when removing it! The CPU or socket can easily be damaged if you are not careful. Tip: To clean the internals of the fans, (mine were caked with dust) use a paintbrush, some isopropyl alcohol and canned air.
To remove the GPU cooler, follow the sequence from 1-4 on the heatsink. There is a lot of heatsink compound holding the heatsink to the GPU, so just apply gentle pressure between the GPU and the heatsink. Be careful!
Once the heatsink is separated from the GPU, pull back on the heatsink like you did on the other side with the CPU fan.
The GPU should now be sticking up. Simply pull away from the connector and it should be easily removed.
On the top of the computer by the keyboard, remove the top panel containing the power button like you did with the touchpad panel. Remove all the screws except the ones holding the LCD panel in, IE the ones in the silver metal part in the center.
Once the screws are removed, the keyboard should come right out. Disconnect the 2 ribbon cables from the motherboard before continuing.
As seen in the photo above, remove the cables so we can begin to disconnect the LCD panel. On this one, simply pull up on the provided blue tab.
On this connector, after removing the tape a bit so the locking bar can be pried up, pry up the bar. Pull the cable away from the connector, up.
Finally, disconnect the three antenna cables connected to the Wifi card, and one to the Bluetooth card.
After removing the 4 screws remaining, pivot the LCD panel towards the keyboard. It should disconnect easily from the computer.
To disconnect the bluetooth and wifi cards, pull down on the tabs sticking out, away from the card.
Making sure all screws are removed, finally the top panel can be removed and we can fully access the motherboard.
To remove the PCMIA slot from this frame, simply remove the remaining screws and pull it out, away from the frame.
The remaining components should be easily removed by simply removing their respective screws.
When disconnecting the LED’s on the front of the laptop, make sure to remove the tape from the connectors on the motherboard.
When removing the motherboard, make sure to disconnect the CMOS battery on the bottom, and the ODD drive on the right side.
Thanks for reading!
-Aden Webster-
