Alienware Aurora m7700 Upgrade

So now that my Alienware Aurora m7700 is working great (see article where I had to send the laptop in for repairs), I have the need to upgrade it.

Alienware Aurora m7700 original specifications can be found here:

• Release Year: 2006
• Display: 17" 1900 x 1200 pixel display.  Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra graphics card PCI Express 256 megs of graphics memory.
• Battery: 12 cell 6,600 mAh Lithium Ion battery. 220 watt brick charger.
• Performance: AMD desktop CPU. Athlon 64 x2 4200+. 2 memory slots for PC400 SODIMMs.
• Motherboard: VIA K8T890 chipset.
• Size: (H x W x D): 2.1” x 15.6” x 11.7”. Our unit weighs 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
• Drives: 8X dual layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW.  80GB hard drives SATA 150 RAID capable.
• Audio: Sound: Realtek AC97 Audio for VIA chipsets, high-definition audio with surround sound, five built in speakers (one is a subwoofer). 3.5mm standard stereo headphone and 5.1 SPDIF jacks. Built-in mic.
• Networking: Realtek RTL8169/8110 Gigabit Ethernet and 56k V. 92 modem.
• Ports and slots: One PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot with CardBus support, 4 slot card reader (reads 7 media types). One parallel port, one serial port, one DVI connector, One S-Video out connector, Video-IN Ports (TV-Tuner required, not included, two PS2 connections, two mini IEEE 1394a (4-pin) ports, 4 Hi-speed USB 2.0, one headphone jack, 5.1 channel out (S/PDIF) / Line-in, microphone in, gigabit ethernet RJ-45, 56K V.92 modem RJ-11, Infrared port for Data transfer.

Alienware Aurora m7700 Overheating

I came upon an Alienware Aurora m7700 with a very common problem, overheating.  The symptoms were the following:

• Sudden shutdowns
• Startup failures

Alienware Aurora m7700 original specifications can be found here:
Release Year:  2006
Display: 17" 1900 x 1200 pixel display.  Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra graphics card PCI Express 256 megs of graphics memory.
Battery: 12 cell 6,600 mAh Lithium Ion battery. 220 watt brick charger.
Performance: AMD desktop CPU. Athlon 64 x2 4200+. 2 memory slots for PC400 SODIMMs.
Motherboard: VIA K8T890 chipset.
Size: (H x W x D): 2.1” x 15.6” x 11.7”. Our unit weighs 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
Drives: 8X dual layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW.  80GB hard drives SATA (serial ATA) RAID capable.
Audio: Sound: Realtek AC97 Audio for VIA chipsets, high-definition audio with surround sound, five built in speakers (one is a subwoofer). 3.5mm standard stereo headphone and 5.1 SPDIF jacks. Built-in mic.
Networking: Aftermarket Dell Wireless 1350 WLAN mini-PCI WiFi 802.11 a/b/g. Realtek RTL8169/8110 Gigabit Ethernet and 56k V. 92 modem.
Ports and slots: One PCMCIA - Type II/Type I card slot with CardBus support, 4 slot card reader (reads 7 media types). One parallel port, one serial port, one DVI connector, One S-Video out connector, Video-IN Ports (TV-Tuner required, not included, two PS2 connections, two mini IEEE 1394a (4-pin) ports, 4 Hi-speed USB 2.0, one headphone jack, 5.1 channel out (S/PDIF) / Line-in, microphone in, gigabit ethernet RJ-45, 56K V.92 modem RJ-11, Infrared port for Data transfer.