Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

Just got my M4600 and so far I'm very happy with it. I'm moving off an HP EliteBook 8540W. Glad to see it go. Haven't been happy with HP support at all and I am hopefully off HP for good. The M4600 is a bit larger, but I'm okay with the size.

I'm updating the drivers and trying to remove as much of the bloatware as possible. I have some questions.

Do the Intel CC, AMT and RST serve any useful purpose? If I remove them, will it cause any problems?

Can I remove the C:\Apps, C:\Dell and C:\Drivers folders?

The computer has a standard fingerprint reader (not FIPS). Dell Data Protection Access is installed. I noticed there is an update for this application, as well as the ControlVault application. What is the point of the ControlVault application? The installation instructions seem to be complicated but vague. If you have installed either or both of these updates, did you have any problems?

On the Intel Driver Update website, there is a newer driver for the raid controller. Has anyone tried it?

Thanks in advance.

 

In total do you have 2 or 3 128 GB drives in the configuration you want? If you only have 2, than RAID 5 won't work since you need at least 3 drives. Also is your goal to just have a single large volume or are you actually looking for protection against 1 of the SSD drives failing?

 

I would have 3 drives. One mSATA, one in the 2.5inch drive slot on the right side, and the other drive would replace my dvd drive which I never use. At least that's the plan.

 

Are you looking to get 1 large volume or are you looking for actual redundancy against a failure in one of the SSDs?

 

Redundancy, otherwise I would run the system as raid 0.

 

I couldn't find anything in the search (of course I can never find anything on the search on this site, fsr), but I'm sure someone has asked this question before.

Are there any plans for a slice for the M4600 or a slice designed for a different dell (E6520?) that would work on the M4600?

I've got the IPS screen, which is wonderful, but the 3-hour battery life is not. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

 

I have not been able to get my CPU to turbo higher than its rated frequency. I've tried running a few single threaded apps, and I can't get the CPU to go higher than 2.2 ghz (I have the M4600 with a 2720qm, which is a 2.2 ghz processor that should be able to turbo to 3.3 ghz). I'm plugged in when testing, and I recently upgraded to the A05 bios.

I'm using Intel's Turbo Boost Technology monitor to check the turbo frequency, and Intel BurnTest with a single thread. Any suggestions? (I wonder if the new A05 bios changed the turbo mode?)

EDIT: I am able to enable turbo mode if I use throttlestop, but I don't think that should be necessary? (ThrottleStop info here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html)

 

Thanks.
I am going to order the same DP to DVI adapter. Hopefully it will solve the problem. Let me know how things work out.

 

Thanks.
I am going to order the same DP to DVI adapter. Hopefully it will solve the problem. Let me know how things work out.

 

just a quick update i put a wd10jpvt (wd 1tb 9.5mm) drive into the new modulus caddy that i had ordered a while back. fits but the drive is not screwed into the caddy . only held in by the power and sata connector.

there is a little space above the drive in the caddy holder so theoretically could dislodge itself out. another negative of the caddy is that it is not screwed in either like the dvd drive. so the whole caddy could come out with some force as it is also held in by the sata and power connector.

might be easier if i posted a picture but too lazy atm.

chucked in 4gb x2 1600 ram whilst i was at it..
now waiting for the 120gb msata drive to get here . once that gets here i'll put the 1tb back into the 2.5in slot and put the dvd drive back