Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

Not a problem on my M6700. I run three external monitors at work. GPU sits at around 50-51 C and I never hear the GPU fan come on. In fact I never hear the GPU fan at all unless I am gaming or pounding the GPU in some way. Sometimes the CPU fan kicks on and off but for me it sits at a constant level (after the machine has run about 30 minutes). I imagine other M6700 users have a similar experience. I mostly just hear complaints about the CPU fan cycling.

You mention that your GPU has to run at the highest performance level when running an external monitor. Maybe this is the case with the K1000M. With the K5000M I've verified that it is able to run at the lowest performance level with multiple external monitors connected.

 

I do find the fan behaviour a little odd. On mine the fans will cycle about every thirty seconds when docked (connected to 3 external monitors). The fan cycling does not seem to be related to GPU temps since my GPU, when not running anything GPU intensive, stays below 50C. Also, the "cycling" seems to start as soon as the machine starts (does not need to warm up). I currently have the thermal mode set to "Ultra Performance" - this mode seems to cause the fans to remain on after about 20min of "cycling". Using the "standard" thermal mode seems to result in the fans "cycling" indefinitely. Personally, I would prefer an option to have the fans always on (on their lowest setting) when docked (or on AC).

Usually, I do not notice the fan noise since there are other sources of white noise that mask it, but if everything is quit, the fan "cycling" can be noticeable. In an otherwise quiet room continually running fans are much less annoying (at least to me) than the on/of cycling - plus things run cooler.

Hmmmm... My CPU and GPU fans seem "linked". A high CPU load will cause both fans to increase and a high GPU load will cause both fans to increase. There never seems to be more than a 200RPM difference between them.

 

Good feedback, however, what you are saying does run contrary to Nvidia's official stance on multi-head setups and max performance:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...82758-m4700-owners-thread-60.html#post9069034

Maybe for the K5000M, a high end chip, Nvidia does not require max performance at the hardware level. Combined with full software underclock capabilities, and better thermal design + better (dual pipe) heatsink than their low end counterparts, the K1000M and K2000M, the GPU runs cooler (surprising given the whopping 100W power draw).

I gather then that your machine is completely silent under light load (web browsing, email, etc.)? Mine is now, but only after a nail biting vBIOS mod, and is only really working in Linux, my primary OS (Windows 7 still has the system idle gpu-heat-up-fan cycle).

Not sure why the CPU fan would kick in under light load unless you've got max CPU performance mode set in BIOS and OS.

Are you sure there's no relation to CPU and GPU temps and fan cycling? For me if the GPU hits 57c, it's hosed, click-whirrrr fan cycle ensues.

With powersaving mode set in BIOS and in Windows, CPU runs under 50c, but the GPU is guaranteed to hit 57c, triggering click-whirrrr fan cycle over & over & over even with nothing running, even with the screens turned off.

Perhaps the ultra performance mode is triggering fan cycling on your i7 extreme since it's being asked to draw max power constantly.

 

The thing is, the fans don't cycle when it is not in the docking station (but on AC). The CPU temps are roughly the same when docked and undocked (but on AC) - actually the temps are a little cooler when docked due to the cycling. I don't know why the fans like to "cycle" when it's docked.

 

It's not silent under light load but it settles into a point where the fan is running at a medium-low level (quiet but audible) and doesn't constantly cycle between different states. I don't really care if it is silent, the distraction I've noticed comes from the whirring noise made when the fan first kicks up in speed. I wish Dell could get it to change speeds more gradually. (However, I haven't heard the clicking noise you mentioned.)

I think I mis-interpreted the performance level when I checked earlier. I'm checking and it does indeed go to P0 when an external display is connected. However, the clock speed is able to stay in the 300's / low 400's (default clock currently set to 720 MHz). I mistook this for it running at a different performance level (which also uses a low clock).

[Update]
Changing my mind again. Using NVIDIA Inspector I was able to force the GPU to P8 with multiple displays connected. Clock speed is at a flat 324 MHz and does not increase with changes in load.

[Update 2]
After running for a while in P8 (no other underclocking), the temp is below 40 C (see attached). Normally sits in the low 50's. Maybe I'll keep it like this when I don't need the GPU power...

 

I noticed different clock profiles on my M6700 when docked and using multiple monitors, it could be something similar in your case.

So do I, seems to me that the fans kick in at close to max speed, then dial down to lower levels when they kick in after being completely off. With some fine tuning to the controller settings, I'm pretty sure Dell could do something for that.

 

[Update 3]
I found that it's possible to get the K5000M into P8 without using NVIDIA Inspector, but rather by adjusting the Windows power settings. Reducing the maximum processor state seems to do the trick. The GPU will clock down as low as 135 MHz.

 

Yes, the p-state goes to P0 when docked with the multiple monitors, but I still find it odd that alone causes the fans to cycle. Update: Oops, I just decided to monitor my GPU temps after startup and they do in fact rise to 57C before the fans kick in. I would just like a simple option to just have the fans run continuously at low RPM whenever it is plugged in.

That rather seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face

 

I already have two different power profiles, one for light work (where I spend most of my time) and one for high-performance (when I need the power, gaming or a big CPU job). It's easy to switch just by clicking on the battery icon in the system tray. When I'm in "light work" mode I don't need the CPU or GPU to be at full power. If reducing the CPU power state in the light work profile doesn't cause me any trouble but reduces heat and noise, why not?

[Update 4]
Doesn't seem necessary to reduce the maximum power state to get the GPU in P8. Not sure what I changed in power management but now it is staying in P8 unless I switch over to the "High Performance" power profile (perfect for me).

 

Correct. ^ Not a fan whisper for the past 2 hours. And add tutorials to the mix (W8).

Correct again. And I don't even work under the hood (HP mode).