M6600 Owners Thread

If there is anything I missed, let me know!

 

Anyone know the make and model for the IPS panel? Also what is the Dell part number if anyone knows?
Thanks!

 

I have not been able to track down the IPS part number yet or confirm the cable/pinout.

To answer your question above, on paper, both the i7 CPU and NVIDIA GPU are capable of feeding an eDP interface independantly. However, I have not confirmed which port is actually used for the IPS display; although I believe it is the eDP.

The Dell XPS L702x 120Hz capable LCD panel cable is close but will not fit either the LVDS nor the eDP headers in the M6600. If I get the time, I will see if I can pinout the cables and see if something can be modified to work - at least to see if I can get the LPN173WF2 120Hz non-IPS panel to work.

Scott-

 

Thanks for the info. The L702x 120Hz panel is the same one used in the M17x R3 so presumably they will have the same connectors. M17x R3 buyers cannot choose an AMD card if they go with the 120Hz option. This is the same with the M6600 and the IPS display. Going by this may I assume that the IPS display and 120Hz screen both use a similar interface to overcome optimus? I am aware that optimus is disabled in the IPS M6600 and the 120Hz M17x R3.

It would be more than awesome if we could get an IPS into the R3. Many people are in withdrawal due to the fact that the RGBLED option from the M17x R2 was scrapped.

 

Follow the instruction on disassemble, assemble your laptop.

Apply the right amount of thermal paste after cleaning off existing one (in your case, arctic silver, it should be fine as long as you sealed it well during storage).

It's a good idea to keep track of your screws. I've disassembled latitude, inspiron, vostro before after the warranty has ran out to clean the heat sink, fan and re-apply thermal paste. Some of those laptops has way too many screws and there are too many different sizes.

What I do is lay out 2 pieces of white rectangular paper. One paper keep track of the top screw, another keep track of the bottom screw. If possible, I try to keep screws in the same approximate location on the paper as where I took them out from the laptop. You might want to consider using some double sided tapes on those 2 papers so you can "park" your screws on those tapes and they won't roll around.

Good luck, I only change out memory + HDD during laptop warranty period. I only do "motherboard" level surgery on my laptop after warranty expires as I don't want to risk losing my warranty.

 

You will run into a problem. The bracket on the back of the card (glued down tight) is not the same for nVida and AMD cards. If possible, go AMD to AMD 6990. I called Dell and asked about this bracket and they had no idea what I was talking about. (it will work, though you may have to slightly bend the bracket)

 

Is that right?
Can anybody else proof this?

If that is right it is not so easy to change an ATI M8900 into a NV Quadro 4000M or 5010M apart from the enormous costs the NV graphic cards cause.

 

Some of you guys might remember my plans to swap the current Quadro 4000m with the 5010m as soon as it arrives.

Well, I'm afraid the price that Dell Poland quoted me for the 5010m is absolutely crazy - some $3,000 plus 22% VAT - and so, for it to make any sense to me, I'd need to get at least some $1,000-1,500 for the 4000m, which I think is unrealistic

A question to those of you close to Dell USA: may I ask you for a favor of getting a quote for the 5010m directly from Dell?

It's a real PITA the EU prices are that high...

 

As I mentioned before, in my case, the back plate on the M8900 is in fact the same as the NVIDIA 4000M back panel. I also stated the CONSUMER GTX-485M I tested did have a slightly different back plate and did not work without swaping them when it came to the M6600 heat sink.

So, I have concluded the professional cards share the same type of back plate with 2.5mm threaded heat sink mounting holes and the consumer cards (GeForce GTX) use smaller 2.0mm threaded heat sink mounting holes.

Scott-

 

I can get them for somewhere in the US$1350-$1450 range, which is still not worth it when the $350 AMD M8900 card is technically faster in most benchmarks that do not utilize the power of the nVidia CUDA cores. In a perfect world, I would have a M6600 with a tooless GPU changing bay that would allow me to use the AMD card for casual use and gaming and the nVidia card for my professional CUDA optimized applications at work.

Scott