M6600 Owners Thread

Hello everyone,

I have been deciding between a Dell m6600 and HP 8760w (as I would imagine many are right now). I am leaning towards the Dell and have all but made my final decision. Before I finalize my configuration and try to chat with a sales agent, I was hoping to get some feedback from current users regarding the performance of the GPU options in the specific applications I use. I recognize I might be asking a lot, but hopefully someone out there who uses the same software I do can can offer some real world experiences.

My primary software applications are: Rhino 3d, Sketchup, AutoCad (though increasingly I am switching to DraftSight), Blender, MODO, and Vray for rendering. I also use Photoshop and Illustrator a fair bit. I do some rendering, but have a dedicated desktop for large renders. This rig will mostly be for modeling and drafting in 2D and 3D.

With that said, I am deciding between the Quadro 3000 and the Firepro m8900. I have read all the benchmarks and understand the possible (though perhaps dubious) benefits of Optimus. The issue really comes down to compatibility of the Firepro with the listed software and any user experiences with the AMD card / drivers and these applications. I have read accounts of poor ATI/AMD drivers and performance issues with Sketchup and Rhino, but these refer to drivers before AMD was in the picture and nothing specific regarding this card.

So, to summarize, I am hoping to get some first hand performance / compatibility reports from any m6600 users with the m8900 GPU in applications like Rhino, Sketchup, and MODO. Any comments on the current driver situation with these or other similar applications?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer,
Mike

 

Hi Dvalin I pretty much use all the same software as you do, though besides modelling I intend to use my m6600 for rendering as well. I'm still waiting for the shipment will take probably 3 weeks from now to arrive and as soon as I get it I'll make a few tests in Rhino, Max and Autocad. I took the M8900 card since I didn't have enough $ to upgrade to the Quadro 3000M and since i choose to go for an SSD hard drive and more RAM. As for the card I dont think that the Quadro 3000M was a worth upgrade for me and I'm pretty much sure that the 2gig AMD 8900M won't have problems handling millions of polygons in Max since it is a professional high end graphics card. The 4000M is probably stronger but the upgrade is just too much and I doubt that you will be able to notice any difference...

 

Just received my M6600 a few minutes ago.

So far not that pleased. I own a M6400, with the simply gorgeous RGB E2E screen. M6600 (non IPS) screen is just plain not on par with it in my opinion.

Also "tactile" experience with M6600 is rather disappointing: compared to M6400 the whole thing feels cheaper and poorly constructed.

M6400 keyboard was afflicted by flex, but M6600 feels way cheaper and has worse flex problems.

Now 'm gonna testing the quad i7 and the Quadro 4000M, hope they'll make me like this notebook ...

 

I looking to buy this laptop in the UK and have 2 questions.
1.
As I've understood reading posts here it's worthwhile getting ram from another place.
Do anyone have a recommendation where I can purchase 4 x 4gb 1600 Ram in the UK? Also wanted to know which type i should be looking for.
2.
Regarding hard drives i wanted to know if there is a similar cost saving approach as with the ram. I was initially going to get 2 x 500Gb and set them up for stripping but was wondering if it would be better to get single harddrive and get 2nd drive elsewhere.

Thanks in advance.

 

Unbelievable! How come anyone here reported this bad quality before? I Purchased 10 days ago a €3000 M6600 only to find out that the build quality is bad as well as the screen!!

What do the other owners say about this laptop? Should I cancel my order to get the HP 8760W instead?

 

That's my opinion, as i said i compared M6600 to M6400 w/ E2E RGB LED.

I've run some performance tests on the note today.
I'm not much gaming oriented, but i did run 3dmark06 as well as 3dmark11 to give people some raw hints about how Quadro 4000M is performing, coupled with a 2720QM.

3dmark11:
P2442 - Nvidia Verde 8.17.12.7533
P2267 - Stock Nvidia 8.15.10.2266

3dmark06
17200 - with both the above drivers

Somebody may question why a 4000M performs 30% worse in 3dmark11 compared to a (half-priced) ATI 8900M. I bet drivers may be still green, but that's still a cause of concern even if this card is not gaming-oriented.

 

Hi,

I've been planning to buy a laptop for quite some time now. I was keen on AW m18x but due to it's unavailability here (India, also it would cost like 4000$ if it ever comes here as m17x is over $3300) i'm not able to. So my second best option is an M6600. Well I was wondering how will it fare with m18x (not the gaming part but as in overall including build quality, sound, screen n performance (will be working on CAD, Maya and Photoshop)) ? It's just that i'm an engineering student and this laptop is costing me all my saving so just wondering if it's worth it?

P.S. - I'm getting this laptop for $2600. With specs -
2720 qm
fire pro 8900m
4 gb ddr3 1333mhz ram
500 gb hard disk
1920 x 1080 FHD display (normal, no touch screen)

So is it worth it?

 

I think the Quadro cards may fare a bit better for you but I'm not sure if the upgrade is within your budget.

 

I'd appreciate it if any 6600 owner could confirm which SSD is shipping with the "Sata III ssd" option.
Thanks

 

I just received my M6600 yesterday and I like it, though haven't had time to form a full opinion. I think you can get a better deal.

For $2480.02 I got:
- I7-2820QM
- FirePro 8900M
- 4GB ram (2x2GB) (I added aftermarket to make it 12GB ram for $90)
- 320GB 7200rpm hdd (I added aftermarket a Crucial M4 256GB SSD for $388 from ebay
- 1920x1080 FHD lcd WITH touchscreen
- intel 6300 wireless card
- bluetooth

I'm pretty sure the FirePro card outperforms the lower Quadro card, and is near the same performance of the higher Quadro card. Quadros offer Optimus switchable graphics, though, which is better for battery life. But the huge upcharge for even the inferior Quadro card was definitely not worth it for me. I'll likely always be running software that would have the Quadro card in use, so I don't think I'd even get to take advantage of the improved battery life from Optimus.