Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge *Part 2*

Hi guys i got a problem, recently my 3700m Quadro started to give a blank screen when it loaded up, even after uninstalling the driver a few times so I bought a firepro 7740 to replace it because its said to have lower temps. I installed it fine without any issues but it runs extrememly hot, temps have already said they were as high as 205 and it has crashed because of a thermal event. The GPU fan looked clean when I took it apart and it doesnt feel particularly hot when running, compared to my old Quadro 3700. Im just wondering what could be the problem? The GPU fan blows at high constantly. I used ic diamond in the GPU heatsink. There is no air blockage around the fan and it is dust free. I can also feel air coming out the back when it runs. Even at max battery the Firepro 7740 is at 134--136 f without running any programs. At performance mode it sits at 150f and jumps to over 200f in a short amount of time.

 

Did you check the clocks it's running at idle? Not sure about the M7740 temps (I think it was based on Mobile 4860), but M7820 (basically, 5870M) runs really much much cooler than my previous FX3700M.

 

Funny coincidence, but that was the thread I wanted to send you initially since I sent the same one to a friend a few days before you asked for it, but I couldn't find at the time.

 

Yes 650 core. 850 memory. I have it set in powerplay mode, since thats the only setting it presently stays cool at. If i put it on max performence it climbs over 150 F idle.

 

Wow, that's a tad high mate. Why not try a M7820? I've never had issues with it on my old M6400.

It's the first thing I did. I got rid of the old FX2700M and got myself the M7820 instead of the FX3700M and it was awesome for such an old laptop!

 

I just picked up a m6400 with a Quadro 3700m, qx9300, and a 17" dual CCFL. I've already upgraded it to 8gb ram, 128gb SSD, a M7820 video card, and a orange covet lid with 17" RGB LED Edge to Edge screen. I have to say this screen is one of the nicest laptop screens I've used. I can definitely tell the difference in quality between the CCFL and RGB LED screen. My next upgrade is to finish up the covet look with the orange base, cover, and battery.

 

Hey Guys! Been lurking about for awhile. I have had my Precision M6400 since August 2013. Got it off the 'Bay for a song at $450 with twin 256GB SSD's and 8GB RAM. It had an FX2700/512mb Card, Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.53GHz) and Windows 7 Professional. It was an off lease business machine without nary a scratch and a year of warranty. It has since been upgraded to PRO 2X Docking Station, a QX9300 processor, RGB-LED Edge to Edge (Silver) with Webcam and wide array mics, and went from a Quadro FX3800 upgrade (no issues), and an upgrade to Windows 10 Professional. This machine has screamed right along with the exception being that the FX3800 started to act up a few months ago. Rather than underclock, after reading around the interwebs (primarily here of course) I figured I'd up the ante to a Quadro 5000M since they were pretty cheap, and though fitted for the M6500, would swap with the M6400 since they were the same form factor. Besides, this M6400 is a very swift, if portly, beast which has served me well with lots of video and audio editing not to mention, GIMP 2.0 and Photoshop. Why buy new when I have a perfectly running machine?

So I get the 5000m, and it slides right in. Boot up, BIOS shows unknown card with 14mb memory available, I expected this as the M6400 was not intended to have this card. Run some benchmarks and the results were not surprising as the 5000m left the FX3800 in the dust. Stress test the machine and all is well. SisSoft Sandra, MSI Afterburner, Uniengine, TechpowerUp, Windows and all else except the BIOS sees the card for what it is. And it functions GREAT...except for the DisplayPort and Pro 2X (Ver. 1) docking station. I have NO video outputs that work apparently. My external monitors are my trusty Dell IN2020fm using DVI cables. (Yes, monitors long overdue for upgrade and haven't tested the VGA, but VGA is not what I'm wanting anyway.)

I really like the laptop and it's still viable to me for what I do with it. I just want the display outputs to work and all would be well. Has anyone encountered this? Is anyone else using a Quadro 5000m? Is it a NVIDIA, Windows, or BIOS issue? Is there a solution?

Thanks!

 

I had to return the FX3700M (possibly bad?) and get a FX2800m it stays much cooler for some reason.

 

I bought some Crucial PC3-12800 (800 Mhz) Ram for my m6400 and according to CPU-Z the DRAM speed remains stuck at 532 Mhz. Is the BIOS limiting the ram speeds? Im using the. A13 BIOS which i believe is the most recent.

 

Hi there. Im new to the forums but I have been lurking around for a few months since owning this laptop, and i just wanted to ask, is there a good process or instructions i could follow to replace the GPU in this laptop? Right now it has the lowest tier it was offered with (the 2700m i think). I already upgraded it with 16gb of Samsung 1333mhz ddr3 ram and 2 120gb Kingston SSDs in raid 0 and its running stable as can be, just not getting the best of framerates in the games i play. Thanks in advance!