Dell Precision M6700 Owners Thread

There are rumors that this utility causes issues with SSDs. Hard to pin down if it is resolved or exactly what the problem was. Could be old issues but posts are easy to find if you google.

Preference is to have it there if there are not any issues. Thanks

 

I have the drivers installed and the sensor is enabled (i just checked). No problems what so ever with my all SSD setup. I've actually never triggered the sensor. I could see cutting the power to the SSD and then the SSD not being able to resume a problem, but a reboot should fix that.

The way i see it, if the problems associated with SSDs is that the system hangs up and needs rebooting, it's the lesser of two evils between that and loosing the HDD.

 

I have just placed an order for M6700 with 3940XM, 32GB, 512SSD, K4000m. IPS display. Delivery is scheduled on DEC 14
I have been reviewing posts and trying to compare the IPS display to the 3D vision. I just cannot make up my mind between the 2 types and it is driving me nuts.
I use my computer to do CAD work and finite elements which require big CPUs but not much display. I do some gaming from time to time.
the IPS display looks sharper and has 100% color Gamut.
the 3D display is just cool but not as sharp during regular working hours. (I cannot even rent movies in 3D online, I have to go physically to the store)
Can anybody give me the pros and cons, (I think I still have time to change the order)
Thx

 

Well, it seems that my heat issues have gotten a little worse. Under 100% load, the CPU clock keeps dropping to 3.0GHz. It cannot seem to maintain 3.7GHz for any length of time (under full load). Something else a little troubling - Core #2 was occasionally reading 0.0C when under load. Incidentally Core #2 seems to reach the thermal limit first. I am still not sure if I should repaste the heatsink myself, or have it handled through the warranty.

 

Here's what I did:

1) Consider the main use i.e., value, function of your machine. Once you determine that, your screen decision will be easy.

2) Keep in mind that all screens are additive. Almost everyone has an additional screen at home and/or at work. That second screen can be for your second most important use. For example, the majority of my work/use will be in video and photography. That means a color critical environment with an accurate screen is paramount.

After that, I will use it with 3D applications and for movies. In either case, that will necessitate adding a larger screen after the fact. For me, that will be the 3D screen as an accessory.

Its a good thing too. Especially with so little science behind your decision. Pleas post ALL your environmental, applications, and configuration factors associated with your overheating. Just so we can be sure you're not operating your machine next to the furnace.

Incidentally, surface contact and material are also critical If you're going to go 100%. That goes for ventilation as well. You need to make sure your machine can "breath!" Is it breathing?

 

One concern that I had was that my machine seems to be running somewhat hotter than when I first tested it. It is not running in highly controlled environment, but the environmental factors are roughly the same. I thought that the change in thermal performance was "interesting".

The ambient temperature of the room is 17C-18C (as is the temperature next to the computer - no furnace) and it is in the dock so the vents are elevated off the desk.

Also, originally Core #0 seemed to be running about 10% cooler than "core max". Now Core #0 seems to be running about 15% cooler. When Core #2 reaches its thermal limit Core #0 does not even get to 90C. This discrepancy in the core temps also leads me to believe that heatsink is poorly pasted.

 

Ok, I've been reconfiguring my setup for the past two days. Some things did go wrong, which had me rebuilding my Raid-1 array twice.

Basically what I planned doing was moving the OS to the mSATA SSD, except for the C:\Users directory, while still maintaining the ability to accelerate the RAID-1 array.

I didn't want to move a clean install to the SSD, since it already took about two weeks to get my computer properly configured.

To link the missing directories accross drives I used link junctions.

Booting to the SSD worked, but didn't go too well, some files couldn't be read by the OS, and the SSD partition was displayed as E:\, so files were still being read from C:\ (The registry points to files on C:\ )

I then removed the C:\Windows directory, and created a link junction to E:\Windows
Now that wasn't a good idea, the system became unbootable.
I had to remove one of the drives of my RAID-1 array, and put in a clean drive for a clean windows install, so I could fix the C:\Windows directory back in place on the RAID-1 drive.

Eventually I figured out it was important for the following directories to remain accessible from the C:\ partition (RAID-1) :
C:\Windows
C:\ProgramData
C:\Boot
And obviously I kept C:\Users on the 750GB RAID-1 volume as well.

All other folders on C:\ have been moved over to the mSATA SSD, and link junctions have been created for each of those directories to the mSATA SSD.

Anyway, I still didn't re-enable the Raid-1 accelleration on my Raid-1 volume, but just decided to do a benchmark before I re-enable it, and somehow I've ended up getting some pretty good results, considering the previous benchmarks I've done in the beginning when I got the RAID-1 array setup:

This is the benchmark on my C:/ 2x750GB Raid-1 array:
Do note, it shows the drive's size as 174.5GB, which is actually the available partition on the mSATA SSD,
I suppose it's because CrystalDiskMark is now actually located in the Program Files on the SSD drive, while it's still accessible through junction at "C:\Program Files" (Should I consider it a bug in CrystalDiskMark?)

Code:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2012 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :    78.651 MB/s
          Sequential Write :   104.015 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    12.965 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    41.361 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.638 MB/s [   155.6 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.886 MB/s [   216.2 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     1.599 MB/s [   390.4 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.743 MB/s [   181.5 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [C: 47.1% (82.2/174.5 GB)] (x5)
  Date : 2012/12/08 23:02:24
    OS : Windows 7 Professional SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

Edit: I've just re-enabled the enhanced acceleration over the RAID-1 array.
These are the results from the benchmark of the accelerated 2x750GB RAID-1 array:

Code:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2012 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

           Sequential Read :   256.438 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    96.376 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :   222.953 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    41.195 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :    18.159 MB/s [  4433.4 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.708 MB/s [   172.8 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :   174.521 MB/s [ 42607.6 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.718 MB/s [   175.3 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [C: 46.5% (81.2/174.5 GB)] (x5)
  Date : 2012/12/09 1:39:14
    OS : Windows 7 Professional SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

Hi,

My new M6700 in "In Production" now, and I have found a lot of very useful information in this thread. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge for everyone' benefit!

One quick question: do *all* M6700's have the hard-drive caddy (on the right hand side of the body), or is that a special option (if it is an option, ie. not present by default, I'm out of luck).

Again, thanks!

 

I had no idea. But wouldn't that be considered a defect in workmanship and covered by warranty? What are the ramification of you correcting it youself?

 

The caddy will be in there whether you bought a second hard drive or not. The screws you need are there as well.