E6540 Owners Thread

So they did make a revision to the heatsink? Interesting..

 

Either that or they use multiple models. The heatpipe was slightly different and had a sunon fan

 

But not different enough to make a difference apparently. That's too bad

 

Hi all!

I'm digging the web looking for an anwser, I buy the Dell E6540 for christmas and I'm very happy of this notebook, just some day ago I found an issue and I cannot get out of it. The Express Card seems not working at all, the same card in another notebook work flawlessy, but in my E6540 the system didn't react at all, seems dead... any info? I check for new device and update all my driver but nothing change.

Thanks for help.

 

If you checked your drivers it may be a bad slot. If you're comfortable opening up your machine, open it and reseat the connection to the mobo. Otherwise, call up Dell. That's what your warranty is for

 

Yep Dell Client System Update response everything is updated, just a idea could be a completely missed driver for the hardware? but seems strange windonws didn't recognize it at a new hardware... by the way I search for them but cannot find on the website, where the express card driver are supposed to be? I mean the category.

a bad slot? so, I should follow striclty the manual on page 36 I'm right? ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...atitude-e6540-laptop_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf actually I think if we didn't get a better idea I go for it.

The laptop arrive at mid january so the warranty it's truly ok if I get a malfunction I can stay without for like a month, but if could be just a bad slot for the express card cage I absolutely should check on myself. Just an info I void the warranty if I open my laptop for that operation?

 

I'm currently arranging a service call for the heat issues, I'll let you guys know tomorrow if the situation improves.

 

Anyone have a trick for getting the ethernet to connect at gigabit speeds when docked? I can occasionally disable/re-enable my nic, redock, etc. and get it to work, but it's hit or miss. The majority of the time it connects at 100mbps. I am using one of the newer e-port docks that has USB 3.0 ports.

I'm also noticing backlight flicker on the display - is there an easy way to fix this?

 

So I've just joined this crowd, "upgraded" from a wonderful and issue-free E6530 to this E6540. Went from a mid-range i5 and NVS 5200 graphics to a top i7 and Radeon 8790m.... But I've hit a version of this heat issue. My CPU seems to throttle very aggressively, particularly if the GPU is in use. If I'm not using the GPU and I run Prime95, as soon as all eight threads are loaded up, the CPU clocks drop to 1.8GHz and stay there indefinitely. If I do that and fire off something to beat on the GPU as well, I drop to 800MHz soon after.

It's not a problem with the heatsink or heatpipes, or the thermal compound. Heat is getting moved from the GPU and CPU to the heatsink well, and the fan moves the heat off the heatsink as well as can be expected. As far as I can tell, this is simply a problem of the 8790's heat output being more than the heatsink can handle, and the i7-4800QM is likewise a heavy load for such a small HSF.

I'm going to start talking to Dell tomorrow, I'll try to talk to my business rep about it, but he may not be able to help since it's my personal laptop and not a company purchase. We will see.

 

Honestly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more communication from Dell on this issue. Even a simple 'our QA/development engineers are looking in to this' would be nice enough. I've got a replacement HSF on the way tomorrow, but I know it won't help. I asked the rep what would happen next if the heat issues were still there, and he said there might be a motherboard replacement; a waste of time if you asked me, but I did not push the issue.