M6600 Owners Thread

F12 gets you into the boot option screen and the BIOS, and in the BIOS the Optimus option is there (which is what you had called Intel Graphics option (which I guess it is!)).

PS. Anyone else with an eSata port that does not work?

 

Have you confirmed the mic is muted/off? Try removing the DVD drive as well and see if anything changes. If the problem is still there, it may be a dirty AC power supply/adapter, which would only get amplified by the system. Does the noise exist just using the battery too? You could put some 0.1uF caps on every logic device power input pin to decouple the noise within the system, but that would take hundreds of caps and weeks of work... which is not realistic.

Scott-

 

I have just snapped my M6600 onto the "Euro2" advanced docking station for the first time. I was planning to use one of my external monitors hooked via VGA (so that it uses the integrated graphics - no need for speed, but low temps and quiet operation are desired), and the other one - via DVI.

Before, I tried the very same monitor connected directly to the laptop's VGA output and it was working OK. Now however - when the signal is going though the docking station's circuitry - the picture is unusable: the vertical lines are shimmering, sort of similar to the effect you get when watching interlaced video on a progressive display - but it's very "high frequency" shimmering.

Before I start dealing with Dell service, please tell me what do you think may be at fault? The docking station? The monitor is OK, as - after connecting it via DVI - the picture is perfect (only now, 2 monitors are permanently using the Quadro, making it labor on full clock speeds and thus a bit hot and noisy).

Or (hopefully), could it be a driver (software) issue? I'd appreciate any feedback indeed. TIA,

Piotr

 

Thanks for your suggestions. Noise still present with no mic and with battery power. Also muted speakers.
Haven't yet removed DVD.

By the way under Control Panel ---> Sound ---> Recording, I selected do not use this device (Microphone Array) and it disappeared as an option under Recording. Suggestions on how to get Microphone Array showing as an option under Recording?

Device Manager ---> Search New Hardware, did not work and I now have no microphone ... oops. Thanks.

 

Thanks zdroj,

I wasn't aware of the two different Kingston kits. My cpu is a i7-2920XM so it should be able to run with 1600 MHz RAM.
I guess I will have to live with the 1333 MHz then - or buy a another Kingston kit

_________________________________________________________________________________
M6600: i7-2920XM : 16GB RAM : Quadro 4000M graphics : 2x 120GB Vertex 3 MAX IOPS in RAID0

 

I don't know for certain if this will help, you may have to ask someone with more expertise in this field, but would plugging your power supply into a APU help? I thought some APU's filtered the AC output to remove any inconsistent wave forms and "noise". That would smooth out the AC power signature and possibly help reduce the harmonics generated by any "dirty" AC coming in from the power company. It's just a thought.

 

I have been testing the G.Skill memory, which is produced in Taiwan, and both the 1333MHz and 1600MHz sticks have been doing great.

I have 16GB of THESE PC3-12800 sticks inside the M6600 and they are plug-n-play with a very decent CL9 @ 1600MHz. The value is excellent and so far nothing has made them hickup or fail.

Scott-

 

@ Scott_RC-TEK:

I see you installed a Sony Opitarc BR Drive on the M6600. I was just very curious how it looks installed on the unit. Can you take a picture of the BR Drive integrated in your M6600? Thanks!

 

I should probably clarify that on my sig since the 5730S is 12.7mm tall and I use it in an external eSATA media bay caddy. However, I am in the process of moving the internal components of another 5730S into a 9.5mm ultra-slim housing harvested from a Dell TS-U633F (Dell# V42F8). This should allow me a 9.5mm internal media bay 6x blu-ray burner for less than $200.

Scott-

 

Will be adding this info to my never-ending review of the M6600, but wanted to share here as well.

If you buy the M6600 with a dual core processor, there is a plastic block under the keyboard that will not let you put in ram.

If you remove the block and put in ram with a dual core processor, the machine will not even post.

If you swap out the dual core processor to a quad core - the ram slots under the keyboard will work. I can see 4 sticks of ram in bios now. Woot!