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Dell Precision M6600 Mobile Workstation
13 Oct, 2011 By: Art LiddleFirst Look Review: Desktop-caliber performance combines with portability in a single unit.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Cadalyst magazine.
The Dell Precision M6600 is the top-of-the-line model in the company's mobile workstation series. Based on Dell’s largest LED-backlit panel and Intel’s newest mobile CPU, the M6600 can substitute for a traditional office-bound desktop workstation for all but the most extreme projects. For those who require a CAD workstation for both the office and on the road (or at home), the M6600 is a single-system solution.
System Features
The Dell Precision M6600 features an Intel Core i-5 2540M and can be configured to a variety of Intel processors, including an Extreme Quad Core i7-2920XM mobile CPU (8-MB cache) running at 2.5 GHz. This chip supports a Turbo mode of 3.5 GHz when running a single core. Our review system arrived loaded with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate. It tips the scales at 9 lbs — a bit on the heavy side, but far from the 12 lbs weight of a competitor's machine that we reviewed recently. The dark-brown aluminum and magnesium alloy chassis is rugged and measures 16.4" x 10.7" x 1.5".
Dell pairs the M6600's spacious 17.3" LED-backlit panel with NVIDIA's Quadro 4000M graphics controller loaded with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. This combination provides a maximum on-screen resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 with 32-bit color. (The NVIDIA 4000M supports a maximum resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 with an external digital monitor or projector.)
Additional key features of the M6600 include 8 GB of 1,600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM and a pair of 256-GB SATA 3 solid-state drives in a RAID 0 configuration to maximize read–write performance. (As this article was going to press, Dell announced that the M6600 is now available with two 512-MB SATA 3 SSDs for those who want even faster system rebooting and software start-up.) The unit also includes an 8x DVD+/-RW drive (with Roxio Creator Cyberlink PowerDVD), standard keyboard with number pad, touchpad and track stick (each with three dedicated buttons), speakers, microphone, and an integrated sound card. The built-in webcam supports video with a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 at 30 fps.
The Dell Precision M6600 may be the king of connectivity. It provides a wealth of external ports, including a DisplayPort, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port (for use with an external hard drive in a RAID 1 configuration for real-time mirroring of data), VGA and HDMI connectors, IEEE 1394 port, 10-in-1 card reader, smart card reader and ExpressCard slot, microphone and headphone jacks, standard network connector, and docking connector, as well as support for wireless LAN (802.11). Dell offers options for next-generation mobile broadband (WWAN) and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity. Is there anything missing? We don’t think so.
For internal expansion, our review unit had two free DIMM slots which support 4-GB, 1,600-MHz SDRAM chips, for a maximum system memory of 16 GB. The system supports a maximum of 32 GB using slower 1,333-MHz SDRAM.
Test Results
To test the M6600's performance, we ran the c2011 Cadalyst Systems Benchmark v5.3b with AutoCAD 2011 and NVIDIA's latest enhanced AutoCAD driver (NVG10.hdi). As usual, we verified hardware acceleration for AutoCAD, turned off vertical sync for the graphics card, and set the screen resolution to our standard configuration of 1,280 x 1,024 (32-bit color).
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