M6600 Owners Thread

Thanks for the reply, I found the diagnostic tests in the boot menu. The video card has a Error: Video Adapter Memory Test Failed Error Code: 2000-0332

After closing and rebooting it actually booted up right and into the desktop. I was able to run the Dell Diagnostics there and Everything passed for the video card. Then I tried installing Drivers again and the screen went black upon rebooting.

I wish I could replace the bad memory chip, but the dang thing is soldered underneith the chip. I wonder if I could find a place to repair it, or maybe I should chime in on Dell Warranty?

 

You should be under warranty still so give Dell a call first. That said, someone else on here said that Dell doesn't have the FirePro M8900 available anymore so they are "upgrading" to the Quadro 3000M to replace this part. The performance characteristics are rather different between those two cards, so this may or may not be an "upgrade" performance-wise, depending on what you use the machine for.

 

I am just wondering what is real benefit of 2960XM over 2860QM in M6600? Is XM worth higher price for upgrading?

Look here:
Intel Core i7-2960XM vs i7-2860QM (PGA)

Difference is only 100Mhz. We know that XM cannot be Overclocked in M6600. Maybe it can stay longer at higher Turbo clocks - because of higher 55W TDP?

What is your opinion?

 

The cooling in the M6600 is good enough for the CPUs to stay at the highest turbo clock indefinitely. Doesn't matter if you have XM or not.

 

So, in Prime95 burn test (8-threads) we will see constantly: 3500 MHz vs 3400 MHz without any drops?

Only difference is XM will reach higher cores temp during test because of higher TDP? Cooling system will be louder with XM?

 

I believe the 2860 will only get 3.3 GHz with all four cores active. But, several people in this thread have confirmed max turbo without throttling. I personally only have extended experience with the M6700 (very similar) but I can confirm that my system is able to sit at the max turbo clock for extended periods of time (several hours) doing video encodes.

 

I've seen posts of people upgrading m6600 to a gtx 6xx cards, what I'm wondering is if you get optimus working with a dell card? To rephrase i know 670m and 675m (fermi) if they are dell made will have optimus working, but will keplers have it, 670mx, 675mx and 680m. Performance of my m8900 is fine i'd just like more battery life and i've been seeing 670mx's for price that fits my "spending" budget. I wasnt planing on upgrading my machine till next year, but i just might do it know if optimus is working.

 

I have seen my 2860QM max out at 3.5 GHz and with a graphic intense load stay around the 3.3-3.5 GHz range. But it does get warm with temps, although varies greatly but usually in the mid to high 70s for the M8900 GPU and Cores if the activity is extended.

 

Depends on what you're doing. The max speeds are 3.3 GHz (4 core load), 3.5 GHz (2 core load), or 3.6 GHz (1 core load).

 

Yes, why wouldn't it work? Be sure to get one of the Kepler ones (lower TDP).