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Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by afhstingray, May 26, 2011.

  1. rQcreative

    rQcreative Notebook Geek

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    I was pretty sure the M4600 supports only up to 16GB at 1600MHz.

    Above 16GB and up to 32GB it will run at 1333MHz.
     
  2. Aaron44126

    Aaron44126 Notebook Prophet

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    This is what the specs say, but we've had success reports from people running 32GB at 1600 MHz.
     
  3. Tilted_M4600

    Tilted_M4600 Newbie

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    Sorry guys, not had chance to run the memtest software yet to confirm the faulty module - bloody work keeps getting in the way :)
     
  4. AnAtomist.NoElectron

    AnAtomist.NoElectron Newbie

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    I cloned Dell's OEM drive using the following steps:
    (1) Source: 750 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive with Win7/Pro 64-bit OS
    (2) Destination: Crucial 256 GB m4 SSD and SATA3 to USB cable
    (3) Software: CloneZilla, G'Parted (CloneZilla clones partitions but does not resize, so you need to create a partition with correct size = OEM size MINUS free space on OEM)
    (4) Clone OEM HD to external storage for backup/safety (I lost HD contents several times before succeeding).
    (5) Resize the OS Partition on OEM HD to the size of SSD (~256GB) using the G'Parted
    (6) Clone OS Partition from OEM HD to SSD
    (7) Open HD bay and replace OEM HD with SSD
    (8) Repeat above steps as necessary with minor modifications each time to suit your failures

    I also upgraded memory to 24 GB total, which was straight forward. Later I resized the SSD partitions to get some space for my OpenSUSE linux. My Dell M4600 is now dual boot. Only problems are Win7 FireFox crashes often and Linux freezes now and then. All else is great. Battery lasts about 4-5 hours on full charge with normal use.
     
  5. Tilted_M4600

    Tilted_M4600 Newbie

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    Still not managed to get a memtest done but the chaps who sold the memory said this...

    Although the upgrade may work for other users, this would not necessarily mean it would work on your system. There were many versions of your laptop made – even in the same model, so we can only recommend you go off the information provided by the laptop manufacturer.

    ...pinch of salt taken - any thoughts though?

    Ta
     
  6. Tilted_M4600

    Tilted_M4600 Newbie

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    Hi dude above with OpenSUSE - curious as to whether your 24gb is running at 1333 or 1600?
     
  7. Tilted_M4600

    Tilted_M4600 Newbie

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    Looks like memtest not necessary - decided to swap out the two working 8gb modules with those that I used to attempt to increase it to 32gb - and..... it blue screens.

    Swapped them back to the working ones and all good, swapped back to the other set again and blue screen

    I'm reasonably convinced they're bad modules now so I've requested a return - I'll let you know how I get on.

     
  8. boerd

    boerd Notebook Enthusiast

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    Just fyi - from a Dell M4600 owner.

    In just 10 months my Dell crap-top has had:
    1. The NVIDIA m2000 graphics card replaced
    2. mouse pad / wrist rest replaced
    3. motherboard replaced

    Now the battery life is miserable. I would not buy it again.
    I asked Dell for a replacement due to all these hardware problems and they were very clear - NO WAY.
    Think twice before buying from Dell.
    If you do - pay for the warranty - you might need it.
     
  9. Chris_ast1

    Chris_ast1 Notebook Consultant

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    Dear M4600 users ...
    I have a bit dilema, I considered all aspects of two configurations:

    a) M4600 2720QM 4GB RAM, FHD, M5950, 320 HDD ... 1833 $ (please don't tell me that there are other cupons etc. - in my country on dell.com.pl this laptop new costs 3033$ so other price or seller is out of the question.period.)

    b) E6530 i7 3720QM, 8GB RAM, FHD, NVS 5200, 128GB SSD Samsung 830 for 1733$

    Both configs have 3yrs NBD On-Site warranty. Both come from Dell outlet UK. I've read reviews of both of them, on notebookreview and notebookcheck and also many private reviews written by tech bloggers. One of them points out that i7 3720QM produces such amount of heat, and probably E6530 cooling cannot handle this. Therefore I would appreciate info from people that used both machines, and can confirm that for example that: M4600 with 2720qm holds higher clocks for longer periods than E6530 with 3720qm. It would be bit frustrating that newer CPU would deliver worse results than earlier revision (due too throttling). It is also worth mentioning that E6530 has SSD, and this also would improve performance a lot! Considering that I earn not more than 850$/month it is rather important for me to choose wisely, as I will be dealing with this lap for next 3yrs.

    Many thanks for answers.
     
  10. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    Personally I think the Precision line is a better quality unit. so M4600 gets my vote
     
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