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NXS2KForever
14 Posts
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4107
September 10th, 2020 16:00
Dell Precision M6600 Question Charger & Task Manager Issue
Greetings! I acquired a Precision M6600 but it came without a power supply. What is the correct wattage needed to properly power this one? a 90w certainly isn't doing the job, even though the person I acquired it from assured me it would be strong enough to power my new laptop.
Secondly, When using the Task Manager, every tab works except for the "Performance" tab, which, upon clicking, causes Task manager to suddenly close. I have tried this with two different power supplies (a 65w and a 90w) as well as trying to access it from battery power only; but no matter the circumstances, the Task Manager still closes out whenever clicking on said "Performance" tab.
I'm also noticing performance issues in the system itself when trying to run Userbenchmark's tool; it tells me Windows is throttling my CPU at 34% and making alterations to the Power Plan to make the CPU run at 100% on both battery Power and when plugged in. I was able to temporarily circumvent this by disabling SpeedStepping in the BIOS, but even after, the processor is underperforming. I've checked for thermal throttling; no issues there.
Both the CPU and GPU fans are working just fine according to Dell's system diagnostics tests and as well as using the Core Temp tool. I've also visually confirmed that the fans are working just fine by removing the battery, removing the bottom panel and checking both while the system is running. Temperatures never go above 70 degrees in my usage. Both fans are clean and are performing perfectly fine.
Also, my battery (I presume it's the original battery) health is at 88%, which considering its age, is better than I expected.
I love the laptop and want to make it my primary rig for work as it's got some beefy specs for my needs. I have 16GB of RAM, a Core i7-2820QM CPU, and a 1TB SSD. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out with these issues.
Thanks in advance for your consideration and efforts!
NXS2KForever
14 Posts
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Posted September 10th, 2020 18:00
Thank you so much for the reply! I am going to try and order one ASAP. The 90w I have is a knockoff and in the Dell Diagnostics tests, I watch it teeter from 1w to 90w in 1 second intervals. I sincerely doubt there is anything wrong with the motherboard or video card at all... the system looks to be pristine and honestly looks brand new with no residual dust anywhere on the fans or covered areas.
I just think it's odd that all the other tabs in the Task Manager will show up just fine, but the performance tab crashes Task manager out.NXS2KForever
14 Posts
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Posted September 14th, 2020 10:00
I have ordered a genuine Dell 240W charger that should be here by the end of the week.
I also figured out why Task Manager kept crashing when selecting the "Performance" tab, and I'm also hoping that the 240W charger will fix this issue, because, yeah, it's definitely related to power... or a lack thereof.To make a long story short, Task Manager is fully functional with the "Performance" tab working so long as the integrated graphics are what is selected in the Nvidia Control Panel's "Manage 3D Settings" area is selected. When you change that from the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics to the "High-performance Nvidia processor", Task manager crashes again when you close it, re-open, and select the "Performance" tab.
Mind you, I ran successful benchmarks (relatively) with both integrated and dedicated graphics, but the screen still flickered whether I was using the integrated graphics or the dedicated card, so that's definitely indicative of a power issue. I just hope it's a charger issue and not any other potentially-failing hardware.
Can you think of any other reasons, power aside, as to why Task Manager would behave so crazily?
NXS2KForever
14 Posts
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Posted September 15th, 2020 19:00
James,
Thanks for your reply. I received the 240W adapter and the power issues have been resolved. I am still having issues, however. I've noticed that my HDMI port isn't working when trying to connect the laptop to my television (Windows isn't detecting any additional monitors, but my TV works just fine) so I am thinking it has something to do with Intel Optane on Windows 10, and issues between using the integrated graphics and the Quadro 3000m.
NXS2KForever
14 Posts
2647
0
Posted September 15th, 2020 20:00
I should also point out that Task Manager's "Performance" tab was still giving me trouble by crashing with what I presumed to be a performance issue, but oddly enough, when I disabled Optimus in the BIOS, the laptop powered up, Task Manager worked just fine, and UserBenchmark ran a test successfully using the Quadro 3000m. I sincerely think the remaining issues I am having are boiling down to improper Nvidia drivers or the use of Optimus on Windows 10. Especially with my HDMI port not working.
BTW, the battery is still at 88% health, so I'm assuming it's been replaced or rarely, if ever, used without AC power connected.NXS2KForever
14 Posts
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Posted September 15th, 2020 20:00
James,
If that is the place we've arrived at, I suppose that's what I will do. I just know that I like this laptop and would love to get it running the way that it should.If graphics switching is enabled, make sure that you have installed the newest video drivers from both Intel and Nvidia.
If graphics switching is disabled, then make sure you install the most recent Nvidia Quadro drivers directly from Nvidia
Do not rely on windows update for graphics drivers.
NXS2KForever
14 Posts
3627
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Posted September 17th, 2020 17:00
James (and whoever else might stumble across this post with the same issue)
What I ultimately ended up doing to eliminate all problems was to download every official Dell driver from my system's page (compatibility mode works for every 64-bit driver, even the XP ones) and downloading those to an ISO file. Then I did a complete format and fresh Windows 10 installation using a flash drive (I placed the Driver ISO on there after preparing the drive with the newest Windows 10 image), set up an offline account, skipped connecting to a network (to prevent Windows from automatically trying to download generic drivers) and then installed every original Dell Driver. The issue with the Task Manager was then resolved. This also fixed the issues I was having with the HDMI port not working (the VGA and HDMI use the CPU's integrated graphics, the DVI slots utilize the Nvidia Quadro GPU).
After that, I figured out the reason my computer was randomly shutting down was because the battery, although it looks to be genuine, has no "Dell" insignias to be found, and apparently Dell's SMART feature was causing the computer to hibernate due to a "low battery" even though the battery is healthy and fully charged. To fix this, I did the workaround of going into my "Device Manager" and under the "Battery" area of the tree, I disabled both of those options. This removes the battery icon from your notification area, but the system stops randomly powering off now.
So, it seems I have finally gotten this machine in good working order. I did notice that the i7-2820qm is not going past its base clock speed of 2.3GHz using UserBenchmark even though TurboBoost and Hyperthreading are enabled in the BIOS, but ultimately, since I am not going to be using it for gaming and it's a quad-core, 8 thread CPU, it's working well enough for my specific purposes even at its base speed.
Thanks for your help, James. Good luck to anyone else facing similar issues!