E6540 Owners Thread

May as well create a proper thread for this machine.

I'll kick this thread off with a link to the revised BIOS A02...

Driver Details | Dell US

Haven't tried it myself, was hoping someone else would take the plunge first. But saying as there's so few E6540 owners at the moment, it could be a long wait!

 

I let Dell Client System update to the new BIOS by mistake, but everything seems to be working, so I am not sure if the problem I have when docking is caused by it or not.

I have swapped out the hard drive to a 256GB msata Samsung drive and added a 750GB WD Black drive as a secondary HD, and will be upgrading the memory on Monday. I can confirm the 1.5v RAM will NOT work in this machine, it has to be 1.35v.

I did a fresh install of Windows 7 Pro, have loaded all Windows Updates, and am running all the drivers listed on the Dell website, and have updated those from the Intel website where applicable.

I am having a couple odd graphics problems, these issues are also present using the factory hard drive and settings.

1. When docked and laptop lid closed, the docked screens do not show Boot process, screens go black and it tells me the support resolution is not supported. Docked monitors are both Dell SP2309W's. If I leave the laptop lid open, boot process does show on that screen, but I would rather not have it open. I can confirm that you can have 2 screens docked, and the laptop lid open, and have display on all 3. As a side note, I did not have this issue on my e6520, it would show the boot screen on the docked monitors.

2. When Windows comes out of sleep, the laptop display does this strange thing where the color on the screen is very grainy, and the color fills in within a couple milliseconds. The external displays do not do this, so I think this is a screen issue, and not a driver issue.

3. After the computer has been up and running for about 20 seconds, the screen will flash black, it does this if it is docked or not. Almost like a driver crash.

Over all I am impressed with this machine. I needed a new machine so I could pass down my e6520, and the added USB 3.0 and being able to use an msata is a nice addition. Currently showing a WES of 7.4, 7.8, 7.0, 7.0, 7.9.

 

Wish I'd known about mSATA capabilities before swapping out the WD HDD with a Samsung 840 Pro 256Gb! It's filled up staggeringly fast, so need to expand available space. Few choices...

a) Sell Samsung Pro, buy 256Gb mSATA as primary to combine with WD HDD.
b) Buy HDD caddy, install WD HDD in DVD slot.
c) Buy mSATA SSD for use as secondary
d) Sell Samsung Pro, get Samsung EVO 500Gb.

Ahh man, what a dilemma!

 

Update to the above - I've ordered a Samsung Evo 500Gb, and will sell the Gb 256 840 Pro.

 

Nice to have an "official" owners thread . Thanks for creating it.

 

I agree the msata option is a great addition to the E6540. I also was in doubt of going the msata route or use a HDD caddy instead of the DVD player. I went the msata path and that worked out great for me.

 

I am using a clean install of Windows 8 Pro on my E6540 and do not use a docking station. I do not recognize problem 2 and 3. Using the latest Intel/AMD drivers from their respective websites for the videocards gave me problems with switchable graphics (Enduro). I now use the Intel/AMD drivers from the Dell site and these work fine for me.

 

Got the 1.35v RAM today, runs like a champ.

I am thinking about changing to an older driver for the Intel Video, I am on a Version that was put out by Dell on 8/15, they still have the one that was released on 6/4 on the site, so I downloaded that one.

 

Thanks to everyone who posted information on the other 6540 threads. I have installed both the 16GB memory kit and the 256GB msata SSD without any issues.

jdugan4859, I am also experiencing the black screen flash you describe in your post above. Please post the results of rolling back the video driver. IIRC, the flash issue first happened around 8/15, so it could be the driver. I do not use a docking station.

 

I will roll back the driver tonight and report my findings. Glad you got the MSATA going, how do you like that 30 second boot?