Dell :: Precision M6300 With FX 3600M (512MB)

this short review was already posted by me in the dell 17" section,
but i'll put it here, too, so it is easier accessable for all forum users.
it is also a little different, since i added a few things, which i noticed
while playing around with the laptop.

DELL Precision M6300

a few days ago i got my precision m6300 notebook from dell.
so far i benchmarked it with 3dmark06 and took a short look at it.
i payed 1483 euro and the laptop came with the following options:

core2duo t8300 2.4GHz/3MB L2 cache
nvidia fx 3600m card with 512MB
2GB 667MHz RAM (upgraded to 3GB myself)
200GB HDD 7200rpm (seagate)
1440x900 non glare display (lg, replaced by a samsung)
fingerprint reader
vista business to xp professional downgrade (you can use both)
3 years international guarantee

1. 3dmark06

i did the 3dmark06 benchmark at stock clock speeds (i think it's 500/799) with the stock dell driver 175.75. i am running the preinstalled xp pro operation system and most unnecessary background processes are disabled. i have:

8860 3dmarks

with a light overclock (600/900) i have:

9686 3dmarks

i think that's pretty nice. considering the slower cpu (2.4GHz vs. 2.8GHz) and the 175.75 stock dell driver, which is not optimized for gaming, the performance comes pretty close to the 8800GTX in the alienware/ notebooks (~9200 3marks) and it is pretty much the same like the mySN notebook's with the same processor (~8900 3dmarks).
this fact makes me think, that the fx3600 is probably rather a modified 8800gtx card than a gts and that the info shown by gpu-z is wrong. but who knows.

as the card can be overclocked even higher and also there is a way to oc the cpu, the notebook is able to get 10.000+ in 3dmark06.

btw: overclocking is very easy, you can just do it with ntune and there is no need to flash the vbios.

2. what's new

the notebook is very similar to the inspiron 9400/e1705 i had before.

the differences are:

a. different colour (makes it look a lot better)
b. the useless media direct button is used to switch between performance and battery save mode now (useful)
c. the battery is stronger (4 hours battery life vs. 2.5 hours)
d. fingerprint reader available................................