Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

1) General consensus seems to be that unless you have a specific memory-intensive workload, it's difficult to tell the difference between 1600 and 1833 MHz memory.
(I say buy the machine with the cheapest amount of memory you can get away with and then purchase your own memory to install separately. Cheaper, not difficult, and you have more choices. No reason not to go with 1833 MHz unless you want to use 8GB modules, which don't seem to be available in 1833 MHz yet.)

2) I have the backlit keyboard and I have no complaints. No noticeable flex to me. That said, I think the keyboard is the same as the one in the M6600.

3) Only disadvantages I can think of are what you mentioned.

 

Hello sorry to bother you with this stupid question, but I cannot find the 2nd SSD slot
My new Dell Precision M6700 has 1 SSD and I would like to add a second one.
There is a slot for a 2nd HD but not an SSD. Any idea ?

 

Owner's manual should help. This is a link BTW

It is a separate cradle underneath the back panel right in the middle at the bottom. It takes 4 screws (one of which is removed to get the panel off).

 

Driver question - after reinstalling Windows 7 and the drivers for hardware I know I have using the resource DVD, I am left with one item displayed as "unknown device". Under the details section its is listed as "ACPI\SMO8810" and "*SMO8810". Any ideas what driver I need to install?

 

Got it.

It was the ST Microelectronics free fall data proection driver.

 

1) Just buy 1600 MHz RAM in 8GB sticks. That way you can go up to 32GB, which is helpful once you start running VMs. Unless you have a very specific workload that would benefit from faster memory (and not double capacity—maybe some rare scientific computing tasks?), you won't notice the difference between the two speeds.

2) Like Aaron44126, I am satisfied with it. There is a little flex in some spots, but it's not something I notice while typing. Be aware that our machines shipped with the backlighting turned off in the BIOS.

3) You can't order the AMD GPU with IPS currently. Dell says they're working on it. Also, I believe the display chassis is a smidge thicker. But to be honest, for development, you're fine with the TN FHD display. Mine is bright and vivid with great viewing angles for a TN.

4) Don't just pay the web price. Call Dell and negotiate with a sales rep.

Sure there is. Regular 2.5-inch SSDs are identical to laptop hard drives in physical size and interface. They can go in either of the two hard drive bays.

By "SSD Slot" you probably mean the mSATA slot. That's a specialty type of SSD, and there's only one such slot in the M6700.

 

I'm seriously considering getting a M6700 or M4700 due to the build quality and ease of service/upgrading and i'd like to ask owners a few question before i make a final decision between which of those two i'm getting.

1) How noisy is the M6700 under heavy load and how does it compare to the M4700 or M4600? Noise levels were one of the things i did like about my G73JH
2) Do any of you occasionally use the M6700 on your lap, if you do is there any flex in the chassis and how hot does it get under? The laptop will mostly be on the desk, but there are times when i'll need to go mobile with it
3) Anything else i should know, potential problems?
4) If i order the laptop with only one drive, will it come with the second HDD caddy?
5) I'm assuming that it's a no to that question, but does Dell whitelist components like the wireless adapter?
6) I will be ordering in Canada, should i call a rep, use the live chat or just buy off the website. I'll be buying next week most likely and if not, the one after that.

Thanks in advance and thanks Bookeh for your review of the M6700.

 

1) It doesn't take too much to get the fans to kick on but I think the noise level is not bad even under heavy load. Haven't seen an M4X00 so I can't compare it.

2) No chasis flex. The machine is extremely solid. It gets a little warm but by no means uncomfortable IMO.

4) Yes, it comes with the caddy and the screws too.

5) Do you mean, do they only allow certain wireless adapters to be used? Not as far as I am aware, you should be able to use any one you like, barring some odd compatibility issue.

6) Call a rep for the best deal.

 

Thanks + rep.

When i say whitelist i mean that some manufacturers like HP and Lenovo do not allow you to use some parts other than theirs. That means that if you want an Intel 6300 for a Thinkpad, you need to buy one specifically made for a Thinkpad since it has a specific harwared ID as opposed to other notebooks where you can just buy the generic one and install it.

 

Following on this, some M6000 3DMark 11 results:

Stock out of the box (800/1000), no driver update, nothing:
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor,Dell Inc. 096J9P score: P2712 3DMarks

Latest Catalyst from Dell's site:
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor,Dell Inc. 096J9P score: P2726 3DMarks

OC'd to 1000/1150 (with MSI Afterburner)
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor,Dell Inc. 096J9P score: P3199 3DMarks

Also, the Max GPU temp I got is 62°C, and seems like CPUZ/GPUZ/3DMark et all have problems detecting the card correctly...