Experience with 680m on M6700, some useful info for the upgraders.

Unacceptable. But could you not have updated the screen?

 

No i did not buy the M6600 and switch to M6700. Not many people selling used M6600 at place.

 

Thank you for your great posts, iieeann!

Why you just didn't buy GTX 680M from Dell?
Does Optimus work well for you?
Where did you buy heatsink for GPU?
Was 2 pipe CPU heatsink cooling 45W CPU better? And where did you buy it?

I'm asking because I'm thinking about putting heatsink from i7-2920XM to i7-2670QM. And switching AMD M8900 to Nvidia GTX 680M in M6600

 

Well, Dell doesn't sell 680M, but K5000M (same GPU, a bit downclocked, but with a huge price margin)

@iieeann, you complained about the noise of the laptop with the 680M? Have you tried downclocking the chip to the K5000M frequencies? I'm curious as I'll get an M6700, but with K4000M and I was considering an upgrade to 680M.

 

Dell does sell GTX680m but for alienware only. When you call to order online they will ask for your service tag to verify you own the compatible laptop.
As ijozic said, if i were to buy from Dell, K5000M is the only choice for M6700.

Optimus... looks like working but so far i did not run it in long hours yet. In bios it shows the Option "Optimus", upon selection Windows will show HD4000 in action plus an unknown VGA below.

Heatsink for GPU is bougth from Dell. same as CPU heatsink. Call them and gave the service tag, then told them i want this want that.
Theoritically the double pipe heatsink should cool better. I did not test on 45W CPU anyway, I waited for 3940XM and installed together with the new heatsink.

 

Hmm i haven't tried anything to adjust the GPU so far. It is noisy from 65C onwards, irritating if alone at night. CPU temperature is about that range too.

 

Thanks, but it would be useful to know if you've had previous Precisions with strong GPUs to compare against. E.g. my M6400 with the FX3700M is noisy, too (but not too bad), when under strong GPU load, but that's normal for such a TDP (the noise is the displaced air mostly).

 

Thanks, but it would be useful to know if you've had previous Precisions with strong GPUs to compare against. E.g. my M6400 with the FX3700M is noisy, too (but not too bad), when under strong GPU load, but that's normal for such a TDP (the noise is the displaced air mostly). But the temperature doesn't go that far, I don't think it reaches more than 75 degrees (though it is 75W TDP). So, I wonder if there was a thermal paste issue or that the cooler is made for the lower TDP of the K5000M clocks.

 

I have M6700 on order with a Quadro K3000 on order but looking to put the 680M in at a later date, do I need to find a new heatsink for the 680 or can the K3000M one be used?

 

I can't give a definite answer... you might dismantle the heatsink and compare with mine to see if any difference. Most probably no need new heatsink by right.