Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

So am I correct in that if you set the system battery to stop charging at 95% that coil whine (if you have it) won't be an issue anymore? If so then that is awesome news.

 

Nice try, but no. Myself and others who have already tested this have confirmed that coil whine still exists whenever the battery isn't charging -- which is what I suspected anyway. It has nothing to do with the fact that the battery is at 100%; it's that it's not being charged, regardless of what the current charge level is. But at least people who seldom use their battery now have a mechanism to prolong the their battery's long-term ability to retain a charge.

 

Darn, lol. Yeah, I had heard that the coil whine issue was only when the battery was charging and at 100%. It sucks to hear that isn't the case, because this could have fixed that issue. Oh well, thanks for the info.

 

I just ordered my base model M3800 today in the USA! When I get it I immediately want to add an additional 8GB of ram. Does anyone have info on the RAM that is already in the machine so I can get another stick that will be close to the existing one? I know they won't be truly matched as if I bought 2x8GB but I want to get as close as I can.

Thanks!

 

I think the base model comes with 2x4GB, so you'll have to get 2x8GB.

 

Dell uses several memory suppliers, so there's no way to know what you'll have until you have it and run something like CPU-Z on it. But the above poster is correct that you likely have 2x4GB to use dual channel bandwidth, so you'll want to check that too. You may be able to tell that one based on your Order Details though.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. My order said it is 8x1.

370-AAUR 8GB Single Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx1)

I'll have to wait and see then.

Thanks again!

 

If Dell said they used a single 8GB you should figure that's the case. I think these days 4x2 GB isn't any cheaper than 1x8GB as one is often a single sided board vs 2 sided with twice the chips Dell would rather install just one DIMM vs 2 so no surprise they would go with 1x8GB if the cost is the same.

 

Jerryyyyy,
I just purchased a 27" QHD monitor to run off the mini displayport (same as you) but the Dell is not recognizing it. Do you have the M3800 with the QHD+ display or the 1920x1080 display? I'm wondering if the NVidia card is downgraded to the laptop's native resolution by Windows even though it should support the QHD resolution over displayport?

 

well jumped back into the precision boat

Dell Precision M3800 Ultra book i7/8GB/500GB/K1100M/FHD

EBay for $1240.00