Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

BIOS A12 is now posted.

But maybe they have also fiddled with the fan rules again - they never mention that change.

There's also a new version of the Broadcom USH firmware date 12th Feb 09.

John

 

Well for the most part I just don't really have a use for it. I don't game and I don't do anything that could make use of like CUDA. I'd much rather prefer a cooler running machine with a longer battery life; I felt the E6400 with the X4500 at my school's computer shop and it was just that much cooler to the touch... and that's really what got me thinking I'd rather have an X4500.

Besides, I'd rather deal with this kind of hassle now than when my Nvidia goes kaput in a year or two

 

I don't think I will updated my bios for now, it works just fine and those are minor updated.

 

YAY, finally SSO between the pre-boot and HDD password! I might put back my security after A12.

Dammit, I just finished my monthly round of updates with A11 and newer drivers lol. Time to start another one .

 

john, what utility are you actually using to undervolt? I keep waiting for NHC (notebook hardware control) by pbus-167.com to come out, but any updated support seems to be vapourware at this point. i would love to be able to undervolt my machine for all purposes except when playing the occasional game.

 

I don't think anyone's answered your question yet, Commander Wolf--yeah, the Dell outlet listings show you if the model you're looking at has a backlit keyboard. It will be mentioned under the hardware upgrades category or something of the sort. If nothing in the descriptions mentions it then you won't have it.

Also, does the dedicated GPU really affect the running temperature of the machine? I've had two laptops to date, and both have been crippled within a year by astonishingly high temperatures (my current one idles at 150 F) even when I don't do anything more intense than play Victoria: Empire Under the Sun at "fastest" game speed, or watch a That Guy With the Glasses video. So in other words, overheating is a big concern for me.

Am I going to have to watch out for that AGAIN now that I bought a new laptop? (My E6400 is supposed to arrive tomorrow...)

 

You know, I don't have an IGP E6400 to directly compare temperatures right now, but if I stress the GPU and CPU (with like ATI Tool and Prime 95, respectively), the GPU temp WILL sometimes hit 100C which definitely isn't too comforting. The copper mod REALLY helps here, but I don't wanna void my warranty or anything just six months down.

Overall system temperatures (though again, I don't have actual numbers) are affected to the point that I can tell the difference by touch. Like I said in my earlier post, the computer store at my school has an E6400 with the Intel GPU and it definitely feels cooler (I assume that it was idling all day before I felt it) than mine.

If you don't game, get the Intel. Even if you do game, if your games can run acceptably on the Intel, get the Intel.

 

so whats this talk about revisions to the fan controller in BIOS updates? One reason i bought this computer is because its quiet...whats the deal with the fan? I'd be so mad if it was bad ha.

 

It does for sure. But this laptop has something interesting things. The heating processors (Motherboard north bridge, CPU, and GPU) are put on reverse. Meaning they are pointing downwards, keeping the palm rest and keyboard away from heat.

With the Nvidia GPU, it should be expected that it heats more over the Intel option... but the laptop (with the Nvidia GPU)... even under heavy gaming, is NOT hot. It's warm yes.. but not hot. In normal condition well it's even less warm (cooler), and if you set the laptop to Power Saver, the CPU and Motherboard chipset de-overclock.. and consume what you need. So if you browse folder.. expect the CPU be at ~800Mhz. Run an application, the CPU will increase speed to load the application and slow back down... basically it will consume what you need, and not waist battery and produce useless heat. If you unplug the power off the laptop, the video card goes MUCH slower. Fast enough for Aero, DVD playback, (for HD movies you need to set the power option to anything higher than Power Saver mode), but not fast enough for games (well the video card feels like it's going at, and blocking at, 50%). So the laptop is at worst warm. Under Power Saver mode, and unpluged... the fan will rarely kick in, even if you play a game... it's that cool.

I don't what machine you used.. but usually you get what you paid for. For this laptop, you pay more than feature, and no junk, but superior quality against falls (apparently, i never tried. But I did see in class room a guy with a Dell XPS 1330 that lived without a crack a full drop from a high desk to a hard floor with a 360 degree spin and a bang where the big ~60 student class room heard) and engineering.

Now.. we have a problem. See my warm could be burning hot for you...
It is for you to see reviews just as the ones at this very website, and judge for yourself. Remember that you can always return your laptop if you are not satisfied. Depending on the laws where you are located, you have several days. I THINK Dell will pay the return shipment of the machine. But ask before to be sure.

Under playable condition, the Nvidia Quadro goes up at 90C on my system. You must understand the difference between benchmark and real-life. Benchmarks and real-life are 2 different planets. Benchmarks will push the system at the worst of the worst situation for your components. It is used to compare 2 products. But in real life, pushing the video card at such temperature means that your game will probably be a slide show instead and that if the frame it renders has about everything which enables all components of the graphic card. In reality, this is not the condition. It's a bit like Windows battery life indicator... it doesn't tell you how many hours your REALLY have... it can't know.. it simply goes: "If you continue what you are doing non-stop... and I mean NON-STOP from the moment I refresh your battery status, you will have XXXX much hours of battery life". Going this way, my machine shows me 7 hours and half of battery life.... but I already reached 9 hours despite what Windows told me. And 8 hours several times without even disabling Aero. Why? well because I don't use my mouse all the time, I stop when I type my notes, the screen closes after 1 min (or I close it with the keyboard shortcut (Fn + D), etc...

 

Dell improves the fan system, by not turning it (or turning it at slower speed) at certain temperatures. I remind you that while you use your laptop, Dell (and other companies) have a whole facility which keep testing their machine/products, despite all the testing done before the release of a product. In science, you can never have enough tests. And this is how you introduce better products, fixes (this one software), and ensure customer satisfaction by seeing if a recall needs to be done, or release a second revision of the laptop with fixes. Dell keeps optimizing the fan system to give you the most battery life, without damaging components or have the laptop hot.