Workstation Performance

Here's the one place where the Clevo notebook will be unable to keep up: workstation performance. The Dell Precision M6700's i7-3920XM and Quadro K5000M can finally stretch their legs here, as these are the benchmarks the M6700 was really designed for. Since I only have results for a couple of mobile workstations, I'm including the desktop workstations I've reviewed as reference points.

SPECviewperf 11 (catia-03)

SPECviewperf 11 (ensight-04)

SPECviewperf 11 (lightwave-01)

SPECviewperf 11 (maya-03)

SPECviewperf 11 (proe-05)

SPECviewperf 11 (sw-02)

SPECviewperf 11 (tcvis-02)

SPECviewperf 11 (snx-01)

The sheer brute force of the Quadro K5000M, despite its substantially weakened FP64 performance, is enough to get it to score consistently better than the last generation GF100-based Quadro 5010M. Unless you need a high end desktop workstation GPU and a chip with more than four cores, Dell's Precision M6700 is capable of being a very potent workhorse. Remember that a Quadro 5000 desktop card costs almost $2,000 on its own; that puts the M6700's steep workstation price tag into a bit of perspective.

SPECapc Lightwave 3D 9.6 (Interactive)

SPECapc Lightwave 3D 9.6 (Render)

SPECapc Lightwave 3D 9.6 (Multitask)

The M6700's CPU unfortunately gets hit harder in SPECapc Lightwave. Faster CPUs with higher core counts are the order of the day here, and though the i7-3920XM may be able to keep pace with a top-of-the-line Ivy Bridge CPU in short bursts, eventually its turbo speed settles down. Switching to a desktop workstation can still shave 33% off of Lightwave's render time, but you'll pay through the nose for it.

Application and Futuremark Performance Display, Battery, Noise, and Heat
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  • ShieTar - Friday, December 14, 2012 - link

    Manufacturers are able to produce significantly moer powerful performances for desktop platforms. The article above already shows a single Quadro K5000 in a Lenovo D30 outperforming the notebook. Dell will be happy to give you dual K5000s in a precision T7600. nVidia will happily tell you that even 4 K5000s are an option with Quadro Sync.

    If anybody will send this kind of 12k$ to 20k$ Workstation to Anandtech for testing is a whole different question.

    Also, AMDs 8-cores are not the desktop counterpart to this notebook. Think quad-socket 16-cores instead.
  • silenceisgold - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link

    Anandtech, can you all figure out why Dell can't get any 15.6" IPS displays for the M4700? I just got one right after they took the IPS option off of their website, but the option is still everywhere on their support documentation. It really ticks me off that we just payed a ton of money for one of these, and I can't return it for one with a proper display. It would be awesome if you could blow the lid off of whatever sourcing issues they are having, since their customer service won't say anything at all.
  • Alvern - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link

    Somebody on Notebook Review said that Dell couldn't get quality screens from their supplier
  • silenceisgold - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link

    ok, that's great. but why? LG (which I believe is the supplier) has been making IPS screens now for ages, what's going on now that would change that?

    And why did they yank the option without some sort of notification on their site. The support manual says there should be a 3D option too; not there as well.
  • critical_ - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link

    The M4700 had corner tint issues on the IPS display which, we assume, is what led to Dell dropping that option.
  • twtech - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link

    Instead of trying to squeeze the keypad in, I'd prefer they just skipped it, and used the space to provide desktop-size keys. I actually don't even use a keypad on my desktop at work. As a programmer, I frequently type in numbers, but they're almost always mixed in with letters and symbols.

    I realize that some people do use the keypad, and I'm not saying that all laptops should be built that way, but I would like to have the option to buy a Windows laptop with that configuration from someone.
  • spiceshaper - Friday, December 14, 2012 - link

    Alternating my gaze between a Microsoft Natural Keyboard and my M4700. Can't really see the difference in the key sizes.
  • Tech-Curious - Sunday, December 16, 2012 - link

    Are the notebook's keys slightly closer together? That's the only thing that leaps to mind when I read twtech's complaint. My 17" laptop has a full keyboard similar to the Dell's, and it does feel significantly more cramped, even disregarding the placement of the arrow/numpad keys.

    The keys are the same size, though. You're right about that.
  • superjaw - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link

    As a user of the M6700 and MBP, I have to say most of the criticisms not to be founded.
    The case and build quality both are top notch, the palm rest has been switched to a pleasant soft touch rubberized. It is also extremely user serviceable all the way down to using MXM standard GPUs and socketed processors.

    I don't think the hardware options can be knocked in any way, full Ivy Bridge processor options and a wide range of GPU, storage, display, and connectivity options.
    Personally I don't have the IPS screen (I prefer the battery life of Optimus 7+hours), but from what I've read on the notebookreview.com forums the Dell IPS screen when properly calibrated has a larger gamut than the HP screen.

    I appreciate an honest review that points out the potential flaws, but this review seemed to immediately counter any glimmer of positively with some sort of comment about disappointment that gives a 8.5/10 laptop a 3/10 perception. Any machine has it's negatives but it really is not a fair portrayal of an excellent machine.

    Here are some prime nbr threads:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vost...

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vost...
  • hrrmph - Friday, December 14, 2012 - link

    I wish the reviewers would be harshly critical of both the Dell and the HP mobile workstations. Actually, all 17" machines for that matter. But, especially the Dell and the HP, since we all know what they purport to be:

    They are supposed to be the ultimate in mobile computing and desktop replacement.

    I get very hopeful each time they offer a new model... but, upon closer scrutiny each 'new' model looks like a bowl of yesterday's runny oatmeal mixed with a few chunks of fresh fruit.

    It'll do, but its not an ideal representation of what could be currently had if someone would bother to do the cooking they get paid for...

    ...and we all know it.

    -

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