Dell M6500: A Precision Strike on Bling
by Jarred Walton on March 9, 2010 3:00 AM ESTTesting Overview
We've been updating some of our benchmarks to newer applications and games, and we've added a few workstation tests for the M6500. We've included results for previous laptops where applicable, but on some of the new tests we only have M6500 scores. You can find the test configurations for the other high-end notebooks in our High-End (Clevo) Roundup and the ASUS G51J reviews. Here are the details of our M6500 test configuration.
| Dell Precision M6500 Test System | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-920XM (4x2.0GHz+ HTT, 45nm, 4x256KB L2, 8MB L3, 2.5GT/s QPI, 55W) |
| Memory | 4x1GB DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M 1GB NVIDIA Drivers: 188.43 |
| Display | 17.0" RGBLED Matte WUXGA (1920x1200) |
| Hard Drive(s) | 320GB 7200RPM HDD |
| Optical Drive | 8x DVDR SuperMulti |
| Battery | 9-Cell, 11.1V, 8400mAh, 90Wh extended life battery |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Windows Vista Business 64-bit (for SPECviewperf) |
| Pricing | Starting at $1799 (with $310 instant rebate) Price as configured: $4698 (with $310 instant rebate) |
Our tests will use standardized application benchmark suites like PCMark along with individual application results. Our in-house application tests place more weight on CPU performance, as we look at video encoding and 3D rendering performance. As you'll see, the M6500 with i7-920XM is extremely fast compared to any other "true notebook" (i.e. no desktop CPUs). Really, the question you need to ask yourself is whether you need a mobile workstation. If you do, few notebooks can match—let alone surpass—the M6500. NVIDIA doesn't make a faster mobile Quadro than the FX 3800M (yet), and short of desktop CPUs you can't beat the performance of the Core i5/i7 processors.
For gaming—not that it's really a major focus of the M6500—we're moving to some newer titles and switching to a standardized resolution of 1600x900. Like it or not, 16:9 aspect ratios are the new rage, mostly because LCD panel makers can get more panels out of a glass sheet that way. We'll include 1920x1200 results for the M6500, since it thankfully bucks the 16:9 trend (though we wouldn't be surprised to see the next generation Precision notebooks go the 16:9 route if current trends continue). We will also show 1680x1050 results on older titles where we have a back catalog of results. All of our standard gaming tests are done without antialiasing, as we generally don't have enough GPU power in mobile solutions to effectively run at HD+, 1080p, or WUXGA resolutions with AA.
Battery life testing will follow the usual suite, with laptops set to "ideal" settings for improving battery life. With the launch of Windows 7 we decided to showcase the best that laptops are able to offer in terms of mobility. If you run using a "Balanced" profile instead of "Power Saver", you can typically expect 5-15% less battery life, depending on the laptop. We will also include our LCD quality tests.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
42 Comments
View All Comments
GeorgeH - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Wow, those LCD results were shockingly poor, and there's simply no excuse for it in this class of laptop. Hopefully HP and Lenovo will do a better job with their updated models.For personal use the way to order laptops of this class is to get the most stripped version possible and then upgrade it yourself; once the "New and Shiny" tax expires you could probably put together an equivalent laptop for around 3k. Still expensive but the build quality might be worth it, as AFAIK you simply cannot get a "gaming" laptop with anywhere close to the level of this and other "workstation" laptops.
P.S. @ Jarred - Unless you're talking about the design's weight in earth's gravity, I think your dictation software has failed you. ;)
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Figured out how to get the LCD to calibrate better... and it's MUCH better. But no one should need to calibrate to 1.8 gamma on Windows, and more to the point you should be able to calibrate to 2.2 just as easily. *Weird* to say the least.And I understand that aesthetics are a personal taste, but seriously: this is a better built and more attractive notebook than any of the gaming monsters I see. You're not going to make a thin and light Apple MacBook Pro out of these components, but this is about 2x as fast as the top MBP in CPU tests and an order of magnitude (actually more) faster in workstation apps.
ghotz - Saturday, July 10, 2010 - link
I've been trying to calibrate the monitor for some time now but didn't achieved yet the good results I had with my M90 yet.There are some problems that Dell should definitely address (the sRGB and aRGB color profiles that come with Dell ControlPoint have strong color casts) and other "features" they should definitely tell customer about like the LCD changing color temperature as shown in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_UQpeI8CRY
I'm starting to become really unsatisfied with this machine, nearly as much as I was satisfied with my 4 year old M90 :(
CList - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
All that sex appeal and modern technology and they STILL have a VGA port.FFS Dell!!! Get with the program already and ditch that crap. DVI -> VGA adapters do exist for those presentation projectors after all...
They probably still have a parallel port on the back of their docking station as well.
Cheers,
CList
Granseth - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
We still uses software that needs a parallel port for dongels, as well as allot of hardware that uses serial ports.And the VGA port would be invaluable if you travel around and have to use projectors at different locations.
strikeback03 - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Well, by the same token they sell a DP -> HDMI dongle, so you could adapt to other ports. I would guess their research has shown there is still enough need for VGA to not remove it yet.justaviking - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
You did a great job of positioning this beast (I mean that in a good way) by talking about what software you would run on it.I see my former employer's logo on the slide on the last page.
We used to demonstrate enterprise-level software to potential clients, or conduct training classes before their system was up and running. We basically used our laptops as portable servers.
We ran large databases, our application, a web server, CAD rendering software, and clients, all from the same "laptop". It's amazing it ran at all, let alone usually having decent performance. Nothing we had would come close this this.
The pre-sales "demo" guys always had the faster, newer hardware, but they were trying to make multi-million dollar sales. If a $5k laptop makes your software run better than a $2k laptop, it could be a very good investment.
kahmisz - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Speaking of use in Enterprise situations. Under $1600 for Enterprise pricing with i5, under $2100 with i7.lordmetroid - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
I think that may be one of the ugliest laptops I have ever seen. Damn, I can't stop looking, it is like watching the horrible scene of a car crash.TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
I agree, this laptop looks like it was beaten severely with an ugly stick. I'm sure the engineers over at Apple will hang a picture of this up in the design room to improve morale.I'm beginning to think that Apple has a patent on eye pleasing notebook designs.
Dell, please send this one back.