Lesson Learned - M6600

I received my M6600 a few weeks ago and I have to say that I am very impressed with the build quality, and overall feel of the laptop. I have had however quite a few problems - random shut downs for no apparent reason, BSODs etc.

At first, I searched and searched again. Is it this, is it that, a conflict with this, a conflict with that. Then finally, after a period of working flawlessly, she went into meltdown and kept shutting down at different intervals for no obvious reason.

It was only then that I realised I had not yet tested the RAM. I did a Memtest86+ overnight, and in the morning all I saw was red.

I then tested each RAM individually (along with all the other RAM I have) to find that one of the HyperX was faulty. I am now finding out how to get it replaced as it is only a few weeks old.

Thought I should post this, because if you are having problems, it is always worth running a RAM test just to be sure.

 

+1 to this

I had a number of issues over the years and I made it a habit to usually check RAM first. Especially if it was upgraded by the user or third party.

Even when getting a new laptop - 12 to 24 hour burn in test - just in case.

 

I added another 4gb of EXACT same Hynix ram to my M6600 and I was getting random shut-downs. I ran memtest and every stick passed. I don't know how finicky the motherboard is to memory, but that was certainly the source of my issue. Once I removed the pair of memory, everything went back to normal. Time to buy all new ram to upgrade to 16gb.

 

You can get it replaced by Dell for faulty parts at no cost, assuming it's Dell RAM.

 

When I originally got my 6600 I had problems too. So many that I was about to return a laptop for the first time in my life. Bsod was def one of the problems. After doing a full format and making sure Optimus was set to off in the bios before installing windows, I have had zero problems since. Optimus works for some people, but it was nothing but trouble for me. I would suggest trying this unless you are hell bent on having Optimus.

 

Me too had lots of trouble with optimus( I have Q4000M). I was very optimistic when I found out that it could be turned off. However , when I turned it off I had to power on and off my m6600 several times till it booted . I had black screen and sometimes the backlight would turn on. After some turn off and on it booted OK and I had to do it every day. Dell are awful. How can IT department buy workers such an awful unstable and problem full laptop?!? Dell took my M6000 several minutes ago to their lab (Motherboard replacement didn't help), I hope it will work well and return without scratches.
I am dissapointed that I didn't listen to my manager , he ditched Dell years ago for their service and unstable new laptops. f***ing 3000$ went to trash
I suggest new buyers to think before deciding buying Dell/Allienware. I wish HP 8760W was cheaper

 

Maybe you should erase all of your posts about overclocking the 4000M to almost twice the stock clocks.

 

+ 2

I have seen many many times on various laptops that either BSOD or fail to boot trace back to memory problem, Thus my test each DIMM in each memory slot to confirm philosphy as a result of my experiances.

 

This has nothing to do with overcklocking it has begun much sooner.
And once it boots good everything works well without optimus. I even play games and do everything I want untill I shut down and the next day try to power it on.

 

That was the exact problem I had with mine out of the box. They replaced the entire unit.