M6600 Owners Thread

Hello. New to the realm of laptop upgrading and from what I read here I'm confused. So first hearing about terms like eDP and LVDS. And through the hours I have now spend on going through forums, I got to the point that I have found more questions than answers. The problem is that right now I need new GPU for my M6600 and... Well I bought GTX770m without the knowledge of that it will not work. At least it will not let me install windows, running Linux now. So anyway, I want to know if the best working GPU is only the M290X or if it's possible to get working something like M390X or even RX 480 or something. But where it got me thinking is the eDP and LVDS ports because both are on the motherboard. So can somebody please help with my confusion? Thanks

 

M290x I think is confirmed the prices were hard to justify at the time along with the m390x

The 7970m did run but I can't rcall if there was a specific version required.

EDP = embedded display port iirc
LVDS = old school vga

They are just types of signal output to a display, around 2013 you begin to see more systems that support that support or transition to eDP as the mainstream medium of transmission.

Most people went with the m6100 since it was cheaper and I think it's officially supported. So those questions of the earlier mentioned gpu's never got a definitive answer unless I missed it because I've been out of the loop on the m6600.

Essentially nothing but the initial batch of Nvidia worked, nothing they released after had worked on this platform because the bios is a bit of a mess

 

LVDS is a fully digital signal, unlike VGA. FPD-Link is a LVDS application that was used as the interface for laptop panels (and LCD TV panels, etc.), going back to the 90's, before they switched over to using DisplayPort internally with eDP.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FPD-Link

 

Thanks for the clarification

 

So few hours of googling later and no clear answer, I have found out that the RX 480 doesn't support LVDS but should support eDP. Now the M6600 motherboard has eDP connector on it, but there isn't any cable available for it directly. Now after another wasted time I found connector that would maybe fit? Something from Alienware, part no. N392W EDP+Emitter CABLE. Bit of confusion on the part it self where is written "LVDS CABLE EDP" but no guarantee that it will even fit. Seems like my best bet really is the m6100 but something like RX 480 still has the kick to get it to modern workplace.

 

As far as I know you will be in uncharted territory, RX 480 only ever supported eDP and even then its finnicky about the refresh about post.

Its a 30pin eDP connector from what I am reading, after that, who knows...

M6100 is incredibly cheap last I knew though.

 

I might be too stupid for even trying to do something like this. Just found out about forum for conversion to eDP port on M6600 or atleast it looks like that. And yes the m6100 is around 50$ and the RX 480 150$ but I almost want to take the risk, buy the RX 480 find out how to connect eDP display on that and try it...

 

Look on eBay for the Precision M6700 "3D" cable. This is the eDP cable for the M6700 which attaches to the 120 Hz "3D" display panel which was originally an option for that unit; it may well also fit the connector on the M6600 motherboard. It has also been demonstrated to work with 4K eDP panels in the M6700 as well.

You can't fit any standard eDP panel in the M6600, though, modern eDP panels have different screw/bracket positions so some rigging would be required.

 

Hello all,

I bought about year ago this M6600 with i7-2760QM and with Quadro 4000. Price was 250€ which I found reasonable. My problem just is that this machine does not run with battery more than 40 seconds in windows. (To be honest to me it is not any problem because would use this basically only with charge anyway.) However I decided to buy new battery as well but nfortunately it did not solve my problem. Computer shuts down rapidly without any Windows normal shut down process in less than one minute. Screen just goes black.

Now I tried this new battery also in BIOS and there it worked better because battery was empty in 50 minutes. I called to Dell support and they proposed to change the mother board. They believed that there is nearly short circuit phase in some component on mother board which consumes very much electricity. I received brand new motherboard from Ebay with 68€. Well, then I decided to look what GPU upgrades would cost. I ordered Firepro M6100 in 40€. I can not reasonable explain myself why I invested now more that 100€ for performances I practically never need. I guess I just want to know if new motherboard really solves the problem and see what tricks this 8 year old monster can really do.

My question is that when I replace the Quadro with AMD is it OK that I will put 1,5mm thick thermal pads to GPU RAM and other locations or is that 1,5mm too thick? I will put CPU and GPU processors the paste of course.

I have never changed any motherboards but what I looked from Youtube there is very helpfull videos where is quite precise described how that should be done. I quess it is any way good idea to clean coolers replace the thermal pastes etc. now when I have to open the whole laptop any way. Is there any special hints I should do or warnings what I should not do in this motherboard replacement project?

I know it is impossible to say anything sure but can someone estimate the probability is this 8 years old machine going to last more or less than three years? I have no idea what parts usually gets broken first in M6600 laptops.

I just bougt also M4600 in 100€. I have never had any Dell laptops as home computers but suddenly I have decided that these are great machines. Maybe I am just the person who thinks that always bigger is better

 

At support.dell.com you can find the system manual PDF which includes steps with pictures for removing and reinstalling all components.
You should always clean and apply new thermal paste if you remove the heatsink which you will be doing in this case.

I've had my Precision M6700 since launch (summer 2012) and it is still alive and kicking. The only component that outright broke on me was the display hinge. The left one cracked after seven years of use and I had to purchase a new display assembly on eBay to replace it.