Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

Well it's a game of need vs. want which keeps the companies like DELL in business.

 

Ok guys..small problem with my one.
It works fine playing games on the notebook itself.
However when attached to an external display (notebook screen off) after playing games for about 10-15 mins the external screen goes into power save mode. The system is still running perfectly just no picture. A hard reboot is needed.
I've changed cables/ video drivers to no avail.
There's nothing wrong with the external display as I use it all the time.
This notebook is attached via display port cable via dvi.

 

hey airblazer i think all would agree that we need more info , i also play a lot of games with my laptop using my tv or an external display, what type of display are you using?, are you sure you have turned off the screen saver as well as set the power scheme to keep computer on when plugged in, the later solved my issues, there are several other power scheme issues that may be the culprit.

 

Ok..I've confirmed that it's not the LCD..it happens when I'm using just the laptop on it's own.
Battlefield 2 played perfectly for about 30 mins and WoW for about 10 mins before it went blank again.
But no matter what if playing both games it will go blank eventually.
It's not heat related..GPU was only reading 61c when it went blank.
I'm thinking either video driver or something wrong with the card as it only happens when playing games.
Weird thing is I played about 3 hours of COD4 the other night with no issues whatsoever.
I did a reintall then the day after which is when I seemed to have started getting this issue.
I'll play a game of COD4 now to see how it goes.

 

jsut been on the WoW forums..apparently loads of people with m6400's with the 3700m have the exact same problem.
It's now 100% a video card hardware issue...damnit.

 

Yup; doesn't seem like it's a driver issue - on the other hand - did you notice this issue before the reinstall?

 

Its your memory. If it was the memory slot the initial memory test would prob fail. Did you run the Dell diagnostics? Hit F12 when you see the dell logo, then select diagnostics from the list. Run a test on the mobo, and memory. If it fails contact dell with the error code. Your system should still be under warranty and if you didn't get your memory from Dell. Return it if possible.

 

The status lights aren't controlled by software, its purely handled by the system's firmware (BIOS).
If none of the lights work, esp the HD lights, it may be as something as simple as the connector for the hinge cover. The LEDs are integrated into that cover. The cable may have become disconnected for some reason, or the panel itself may be bad. In either case if you are not getting a HD light on boot something is wrong, call Dell.


PS-------

On a side note I did my first repair job on a M6400 last week. Had to replace a system board. Normally it would take me 45 to an hour to replace everything, but I wanted to take my time with it so I took about 80 minutes. Cleaning off the heatsink and reapplying a nice new coat of thermal paste, cleaning out the fans, updating the BIOS and doing a general diagnostic on the overall system. The insides are a MASSIVE PITA to take apart to get to the systemboard, Oh how I love the D630 design, but overall its a good design. There is virtually no reason why this system should overheat. There is really quite a bit of room for the system to distribute heat.

PS- If you have the tech skills replace the thermal paste that Dell uses and use something else like Arctic Silver. The stuff Dell uses is cheap crap. I'm sure that it prob gets the job done, but I can tell simply by replacing the heatsink that

 

I don't mean to sound like a wise but maybe the software you need is XP Pro. I've been following the M6400 for months on this forum and it seems ('seems'...as in I didn't actually count) that most of the problems people are having are with 64 bit Vista. I've had XP as my first OS and not a single problem but when I installed Vista on the second drive it came with the stuttering sound, BSODs for no clear reason etc. etc. and watching as Perfect Disk tried to organize and defrag Vista showed line after line of scattered OS files where in XP the OS is just one short line that always stays together. I know that watching Perfect Disk isn't exactly a scientific approach but it does show a massive bunch of files to do more or less the same thing a much smaller pile of files does with XP. And it doesn't take a genius to see three (or more) times the number of files who's only real job is to make my other software work. I'm just of the opinion that Vista is a seriously flawed piece of work and no amount of extra functions is going to make it a good system. If Microsoft isn't even using Vista it seems to me that says all you need to know about it. The people who made it won't use it and they want to sell it to me? Not in this life.

 

There is nothing wrong with the 64-bit version of Vista. I spoke with several companies that have been running it on this model. The last being last week when I replaced a mobo on a M6400. None of them have had issues...as long as you bypass most of the drivers provided by dell and go with Intel, Synaptics, Nvidia, etc.
The key problem is Dell and their drivers.
And not to get snarky but its obvious you don't know the differences between XP and Vista\7's defrag systems. Go to Microsoft's site sometime and read up on why MS got rid of the pretty cute interface. If for no other reason that Vista is continuously defragging the system. MS no longer places files in contiguous locations. Its based on file use. If you use a file or an app they are going to place it closer to the center of the disk where the head has a shorter distance to travel. Some of the whitepapers are highly educational on why MS did this or that. there is a lot of ney saying about Vista in general and yes initially on older systems Vista did blow. But on this computer it is completely asinine to run an 8 year old OS that is having support for current hardware bolted on via patches and drivers. Vista runs perfectly fine on a modern system. But the key is drivers, and they are out there if you look. The thing is you don't need all the **** that Dell adds into the system. Its a modern OS for modern hardware.
I have no issues with you liking XP over Vista. It comes down to personal pref and that is fine. But from a technical perspective XP is NOT better then Vista. Esp on a system like this.