Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

I'm looking at getting four of these "Kingston 4G 1600MHz DDR3 PC-12800 SODIMM". Will they work in the M6400? It's listed as:

MODEL
Brand Name Kingston
Model Number KVR16S11/4
System Laptop
System Type DDR3
Form Factor SO-DIMM
MEMORY TYPE & SPEED
Capacity 4GB
Speed DDR3-1600 MHz
Signal Processing Unbuffered
Error Checking Non-ECC
Type
204-pin SO-DIMM

POWER
Supply Voltage 1.5V

 

I'm looking at the same sort of upgrade here. When i read back i see someone who tried the exact same dimm's and he reported they were incompatible with sparatic results.

I'm looking into getting nice ram upgrades for my m6400 covet, and what I notice is all the suggested ram for the m6400 is pc 8500, but what thew me off was the voltage. It uses ram at 1.35v.

I'm debating trying ram very similar to what you want to try, but the 1.35v variants, you can find them online, thoguh they both say they are for 3rd and 4th gen i5 - i7 procs.

I would assume the 1.35v ram has a better chance of working than the 1.5v

 

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance Performance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2B1600C9

is what i am considering buying.

 

In the end, I bought 4 of these "Transcend 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz PC10600 SO-DIMM RAM". Works fine, no issues with them. The part number is TS512MSK64V3N.

It consists of 16pcs 256Mx8bits DDR3 SDRAMs, 1.5V. I avoided those consisting 8pcs 512Mx8bits DDR3 SDRAMs, and using 1.35V, just in case the M6400 cannot support them.

I also got the AMD/ATI M7820 1GB gfx card and the Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300 CPU. The system works like a charm now.

 

Anyone knows the part number for the finger swipe cable or anyone has it?

 

I am considering purchasing the 7820, but are you telling me that pc 10600 ram operating at 1.5v worked in your m6400 with no problems at all? the only things I've heard reported most higher speed 1.5 ram did not work, but that's food for thought. Has anyone tried something like the higher speed 1.35v rams available these days?

 

The rams are rated for 1.5v and I have done low level memory tests which passed with flying colours!

 

I'm looking at picking one of these machines up off a wholesaler. Couple quick questions. What the biggest HDD I can put in and if I run two drives do they have to run in RAID? Can I just have them separate? Also
Am I to understand
"I also got the AMD/ATI M7820 1GB gfx card "
you installed that in the M6400?
Thanks

Also I forgot to ask, what display port is on this laptop.
My thinkpad T410 (not sig) has a DP ++

 

I installed it, too. The only problem is the lack of the initial Dell logo screen on boot, but you can still press the BIOS setup key during this phase and the BIOS would show up fine.

EDIT: edited the text to be less confusing; on hindsight, it could have given impression that you need to press the BIOS setup key to proceed pas the initial blank screen.

Also, I got the impression that the fan speeds up much less (doesn't go past the first stage) during light to medium desktop usage. As I didn't really get to use it that much with a new card (about a week on the road) as I got a Dell M6700, it still only an impression so I wonder what experience other people have?

 

You can put the biggest HDD available on the market if you have deep enough pockets! Just be aware of the HDD thickness. IIRC, it uses 9.5mm type HDDs.

If you run two drives, they can be run as separate drives and not necessary in RAID.

Yes, I have a ATI M7820 1GB gfx card installed in my M6400 and its running sweet~

Like what ijozic mentioned, you will get a blank screen (with a blinking dash on the top left hand corner in my case) when booting up. You will no longer get that Dell logo boot up screen. However, pressing F2 still gets you into the BIOS setup and pressing F12 still gets you into the boot up device selection screen.