Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-FirePro...393?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e969fe49

5FXT3 = FirePro M5100

 

Thanks for the link. I just snagged one. gonna order some thermal pads and see how it goes. thanx
What I find odd is that there are several variants of the mxm cards floating around. like, the seller you posted mentioned he has m5100's that are 1gb. However, dell NEVER offered a 1gb m5100.
Also, my m4000 is a dell "PR80C" which is supposed to be 2gb GDDR5 according to dell (I asked them online), but the hynix ram modules read "1h" NOT "2h" indicating the ram config is indeed 1gb.
It is either someone swapping around stickers, dell being careless with model number QC or dell cheaping out on GDDR5 ram modules.

I will post back when I get the m5100 and let you guys know if it is indeed 1gb or 2gb, and if there's any restart problems.

oh, and picolino I am mainly running windows 7, but, hell, I'll try out the method you used and see if it solves it in, say mint or ubuntu.
thanks.

 

Just did the sleep thing: The M4600 / M5100 woke better up, than I did this morning...

No problem at all.

Congrats on your purchase, with regards to the 1gb or 2gb issue, M4000 is known to be sold in both species,
this is the first time I see a M5100 being sold with 1gb, however.

Please advise when it arrives, whether pcb is blue or red.

If blue, I strongly fear, you have been sold a M4000 reflashed to M5100 specs.

Am not aware of such possibilities, but similar things have been done in the past...

 

SO..... I just got it in the mail
red pcb
the ram modules say: h5GQ2H24AFR
BAM
2GB modules.
woohoo

Im going to test it in a little bit.
I don't think 1gb variations of the m5100 were made. I've looked at dell's spec sheets and they've never offered a 1gb m5100. I don't think HP has either.
dell did offer a 1gb and 2gb m4000, as well as hp.

I hope I dont have restart problems this time.

 

just installed. it seems to be working good.
it is indeed a 2gb card
it is recognized as a R9M270x in gpu-z, speccy and windows.
I originally used the amd dell precision m4800 driver, but I found it did not work right off the bat, so I uninstalled and used the AMD driver finding utility. It seems to be working fine, and includes the firepro control center, unlike the AMD-dell m4800 driver, weirdly.

it seems odd that it is picked up as a R9M270x and not a radeon 8870m


I have not tested sleep/restart yet, as the problems usually arise after sleeping machine several times. I should confirm if it works alright later tonight.

now I just gotta find a beefier CPU for real cheap

 

As of right now, I have no restart problems or shutdown problems after using the laptop throughout the day. I have put my m4600 to sleep several times and it shut down no problem and restarted, no problem. Maybe the m4000 graphics card I got off ebay was ESD damaged, and caused my hang on reboot. who knows.

something to note, the m4000 came paper wrapped in a bubble lined envelope. the m5100 came in a proper esd bag. I was under full esd protection both video card installs.
In addition, I have not wiped my main ssd with a new windows 7 install. Rather, I have just removed all ati drivers and reinstalled the appropriate ones from AMD website using their driver detecting utility. It has been working pretty good so far. I will update the thread in a few days with confirmation.

thanks for your help errybody!
I hope this helps others as well.

 

I found a Dell Precision M4600 refurb on ebay for $410. What do you guys think? Is this a good deal?

Refurbished Grade A
Model Dell Precision M4600
Screen 15.6" UltraSharp Full HD (1920 x 1080)
Processor 1x Core i7 Quad (i7-2820QM) 2.30 GHz
Memory 8 GB
Hard Drive 320 GB
Optical Drive DVDRW
Video Nvidia Quadro 1000M (2048 MB)
LAN 10/100/1000
Wireless LAN Wireless 802.11 N
Bluetooth Module Not Included
Webcam Not Included
Keyboard Regular Keyboard
Ports VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI, RJ-45, IEEE 1394, 5x USB, Audio, E/Port Connection

 

Can anyone who switched "camps" from Nvidia -> AMD or vice versa leave some feedback about the compatibility of the heatsinks? From the pictures it looks like the only difference is in the VRAM sizes and orientation, but I don't know if they will fit exactly. I'm looking to switch from a Quadro 1000M to a Firepro M5950 that will better suit my needs.

Also, I seem to be stuck on BIOS Version A08 because of the stupid signed Dell Signature Update Authentication, so I think I'm stuck with the 3 original GPUs offered at launch. Anyone with experience with other options?

Tpho2500: I'd say that's a decent deal, provided you can live with the limitations of the system. I bought a B condition from Dell Outlet in March with those exact specifications for around the same price. It's definitely better build quality wise than nearly all laptops in that price range (new).

 

What do you think is the biggest limitation of this laptop?

My current laptop is a 7 year old HP Pavilion. Current specs are 1.83 ghz C2D, Intel GMA X3100, 4GB DDR2 RAM. I've been running my Solidworks, ProE, and other heavy applications on this laptop for some time and I'm at the point where my stubbornness to upgrade is hindering my productivity. How much better will this laptop be compared to my HP? I should note that my HP weighs 6lbs and it's all plastic haha.

Is the Firepro M5950 better than the Quadro 1000m? I do believe the Firepro was one of the original GPUs offered.

 

Yes, these retailed for around 2k 2 years ago.