Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 - Preliminary Info

Well compare the quadro cards fps in games against the "same hardware" (as you say). It might be that the quadro cards are the same hardware of some other GPUs, but those GPUs are only mid class GPUs by definition.
I do agree that Precision are good notebooks and in many fields, they will excel the Alienware, but in gaming, the precision m6600 will always loose against the alienware m17x. Thats all I say. If you dont believe, just compare the benchmarks.
If Dell would put a 7970m or 680m in the M6700, that would be a completely different story. Then I would say, the M6700 is the much better choice. But I dont think they will do

 

No, exactly the same GPUs, but with different driver optimisation. Games are a bad example, since complex CAD-modelling and simulation are using processing power differently to games. (it's slightly similar to selling processor/printer and than selling unlock codes for certain features. But here it is done by BIOS and driver. And some additional production quality control)

Nvidia Quadro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - look at notes in the table table.

User can always replace Quadro with geforce card. Or use FirePro.

 

Woohoo, and that fix works even on my M6400. I almost have tears in my eyes: 4 years after I got the machine I can use the fingerprint reader in there for the first time!

 

The top end version of the workstation cards are always available for configuration, and their performance are not really much different from their consumer card counterpart. For Quadro, there is 5010M if you don't mind the cost, which is built on 485M, and their benchmark in vantage and 3dmark11 are more or less the same (+-5%):
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
NVIDIA Quadro 5010M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

As for ATI, their firepro version has similar performance to their top end radeon version in gaming as well, as you could see from the benches on notebookcheck.

If you get quadro, yes the workstation version is A LOT more expensive than their geforce counterpart. However, if you just want to game, you can always get firepro, which has similar pricing to their radeon counterpart.

 

could you link the fix pls

Cheers

 

I followed the instructions in post #59.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...6400-latitude-e6400-others-6.html#post7799595

 

New info on Ivy Bridge. People heavy into video production should take note. Core i7-3720QM: Ivy Bridge Makes Its Mark On Mobility : Understanding Ivy Bridge's Real Target

 

I see from the article that the integrated GPU supports three display outputs instead of two. On the M6600 with an NVIDIA card, you can only use the Intel GPU (and thus Optimus power savings) with the internal display and a monitor attached to the VGA port. Wonder if they'll add another port to this configuration possibility...

Also, wondering if they'll take the opportunity to toss in a Thunderbolt port.

 

slightly off topic, but relevant to the port selections of M6700/M4700:

After being 100% set on the new M6700 I'm now considering going in a totally different direction. Having had the touchscreen on the M6600 and spent 3 months with Windows8 I am now convinced that having a touchscreen is a requirement for me as it makes life so much easier on trains, tight spaces and general use. However I have been following Thunderbolt for quite a while now in the hopes that an eGPU solution would be possible. There are already a number of threads on the "MSI GUS II" (Thunderbolt) and the "ViDock4" (ExpressCard) and I'm now thinking that as my laptop will be plugged in the majority of the time and when it isn't it would be nice if it was smaller...

So with the new Lenovo X230T coming out on the 5th June with Ivy Bridge, IPS "MATT" (!!!!) 12.5" touchscreen that flips round flat in Tablet mode - I'm considering dumping my 17.3" monster and going ultraportable with an eGPU solution for when I'm working.

Back to the main topic of Thunderbolt, this would make life a lot easier as it potentially has 4x the bandwidth of ExpressCard, however it just isn't mature enough in Windows yet. There is no hot plug capabilities so if you want to connect something then you must reboot and stability of products appears to want another 6 months to get it just right.

So... imo Dell will not include Thunderbolt on this generation and save it for the next generation. Sadly it seems everyone is doing the same (partly due to Intel?). The only Windows laptops that I know about so far that are getting Thunderbolt is the Lenovo S430 and some random ASUS gaming laptop. Everything else appears to be waiting for the next laptop generation.

Although tbh, I think it is for the best

 

I'm not sure what the timeframe is but Intel recently committed to provide drivers that allow Thunderbolt hotplug capability for Windows.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/12/3016012/thunderbolt-windows-hot-plug-msi-z77agd80