Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

I suspect the problem is more related to the monitor stand than the docking station itself. I use the notebook closed in the dock/stand, so the rather small air intake on the bottom of the chassis is the only way for cooling air to enter the unit, and it's somewhat constricted by the stand base. I haven't tried an airflow test with smoke, but I also suspect this configuration makes it really easy for the hot exhaust air to be sucked right back in to the intake, depending on the ambient airflow in the room.

I haven't tried changing out the CPU thermal paste. Is this a typical thing that needs to be done because it's not done properly/consistently at the factory?

 

its done consistently at the factory, however they use a really crappy thermal paste, and for reasons of speed, its pre-applied to the heatsink. Imagine a fresh pack of blu-tack. they peel off the paper, and install the heatsink, the heat from the processor during testing melts the "blu-tack". so

1) too much paste is used
2) its very messy
3) the paste is crappy

i got a 10*c reduction in idle temps. before i applied the new high performance paste, i'd never seen a situation where my M4400 fan was actually off.....after applying it its off quite often. it'll go off till cpu temps reach 36*c, and GPU temps about 65*c, then it'll bring it down to high 20's and high 50's, and cut off.

havent tried testing it at full load yet. i just installed windows 7 so i havent got around to putting any nice games on it yet

oh yea, ambient temp is 24*c. I'm in a climate controlled room.

 

Hi guys

The A16 BIOS is now available. Point 3 looks like something a few people will be happy about

Kind regards

 

link? i can't seem to find it on Dell's site.

 

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...d=-1&dateid=-1&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1

 

would have been nice if dell bios had settings to control the fan, like two different profiles

one for people who rather the fan be on constantly to keep the unit as cool as possible for use on lap, and one for people who prefer a silent laptop, fan only comes in at higher temps.

i'm using A16 at the moment, so far dont really notice any difference from A15

 

Good idea! How about posting it here ? We will made Dell to prepare one for us ! For sure

 

done, guys....get voting!!

http://dellideas.force.com/ideaView?id=087700000000azJAAQ

 

Can one upgrade M4400 to Core i7?
I have a M4400 with T9900, can I upgrade to core i7 mobile CPU in the future once the prices go down a little? What are the specs I needs to verify to make sure it can be done? Thanks.

 

No, you cannot. The M4400 uses the previous generation chipset which is incompatible with i7. You need PM55 for i7, and I believe the M4400 uses PM45. Disclaimer: this is based on wiki knowledge, so I'm sure I've missed lots of important details, but I'm 99% certain your highest upgrade option on the M4400 is the QX9300.