Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

In Windows, right click on Computer, click Manage, and go to disk Management. Post a screenshot of the maximized window for us in a reply.

Adobe CS6 should have no problem with the video. Do a clean install of the graphics drivers.

Wait on Windows 8 until we've solved these issues.

Leave that alone. Your discs will run individually unless you specially create an array.

 

Here it is. As specified it shows no 2nd HDD

Done. Adobe now recognizes the gpu.

OK.

 

The lack of the HDD being detected puzzles me, unless there is a way to deactivate SATA ports in the BIOS, it should be there. At this point, while it sucks, I would start to consider calling Dell and asking them what is going on, see if you can get a replacement.

You did try a known working HDD if I recall correctly?

 

It was the 1 TB 7200 RPM HGST, a 512e drive. Could that be the issue? I've exchanged the first one for one that I knew was already working.

 

So, I finally had the opportunity to take a look at my BIOS, the secondary drive should show as the drive's model number in the BIOS. If it isn't there, then something is definitely wrong.

 

I'm running 3 Hitachi 1TB 7200 RPM drives without any issue.

Agree. They should all show up in the BIOS.

Agree. I would double-check to make sure the drive is installed and seated correctly. Next I'd feel or listen to the drive as I power on the laptop to make sure it is getting power. Third, check the BIOS for its presence (snap a picture and post it). Fourth, since the laptop is running in RAID mode with more than 2 drives, the Intel RST option ROM should pop-up prior to Windows booting and show all the drives (snap a picture and post it). Fifth, post a screenshot of Intel Rapid Storage Technology in Windows. Sixth, try the Hitachi drive in a different system to make sure it works. Seventh, try a different working drive in the secondary bay to confirm the bay is working or broken.

Post all 7 answers and any requisite pictures and we can tell you what is wrong quite quickly.

 

If anyone in Canada is wondering whether it is possible or not to order the 55W heatsink, I just confirmed that the part is also available in Canada and the total including shipping and all comes at ~35$, the part itself was 15$ CAD. Now, I'm toying with the idea of getting a K4000m and the nVidia heatsink, but that would be a much bigger investment so I may or may not end up doing it.

EDIT: I completely forgot to say thanks again to LannBot who contacted me a few weeks ago about the heatsink being available in the US.

 

Success! It works!...It works! Finally. Thanks to everyone for your help and support.



What next?

 

Well, do you have any more problems or is everything fine and peachy?

If everything is fine, you could always proceed to installing Windows 8, but I would give the laptop a spin on windows 7 to make sure all the kinks are worked out.

 

Well I'm still having some problems with programs like Avid which still refuse to play nice. But that's not something that can really be solved here. Fortunately, Adobe is up and running. I just need to go through the individual programs and tweak them for maximum performance.

As for the hardware? Well, everything appears to be operating normally at the moment, but I haven't run any tests. I guess the critical challenge now is the display. Its still at the factory settings. I probably need to calibrate and check it for any anomalies. Can't have a video based system that doesn't display true.

That's about what I was thinking. But I got a deal on W8 and it will expire soon.