Dell M6600 Precision Workstation Snags

NEALROSENBLUM · ‎Jul 07, 2011

All,

I just purchased a Dell M6600 Precision Workstation. I purchased the computer with a RAID configuration with each hard drive having 128GB. This was a huge increase in memory with respect to my Dell M90 that I am retiring (this has a single 80GB hard drive).

At this point, I have not installed any software on my new M6600.

I looked at a Windows Explorer window and noticed that the C: drive had only 55GB free. I thought that there must be something wrong. So I called Dell ProSupport and we tried to figure out where all of the memory is going. The tech finally said that it is the operating system and other system files.

So my question is: How it it that 73GB(57%) of my hard drive is being used by the operating system (Windows 7 Ultimate)?

I told Dell customer service that this is like false advertising. I thought that I would at lease have 100GB free with a 128GB drive...not 55GB free. I think that this is a reasonable assumption. I askedDELL to replace the two 128GB SATA3 Solid State drives with two 256GB SATA3 Solid State drives. They said that the 256GB drives will not fit inmy M6600 and that I should return the computer and place a NEW order for a M6600 with the 256GB drives. Is this totally ridiculous? It took over a month from the order date to the delivery data, and now I have to wait yet another month.

Comments????

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
neal@geometrixeng.c

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BenLoosli · ‎Jul 07, 2011

That does seem excessive! I have a Win7-64 Professional Dell R5400 and only 38GB is used on my C:/ drive. Pro/E is on the network and the only apps loaded locally by us are Office 2010 and Adobe Acrobat X.

Did Dell put a recovery partition on the drive?
Did Dell load a bunch of 'free' apps?
How large is your Windows folder? Mine is 15.3GB.

Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

bgruman · ‎Jul 07, 2011

Neal,

Base Win7 OS + Drivers and software to control things like Video Card, DVD
burner, All-in-one card reader, etc... should be somewhere around 48GB of
Disc space. (This is how I configure my GC systems) Without looking at
the machine directly, I would have to guess that the rest of the drive space
is being taken up by the excess junk... errr... I mean, unnecessary
software that Dell likes to push at its customers, and there is probably a
partition created for recovery purposes. (This would contain a compressed
image file so you can restore factory defaults) Add this all up, and it
doesn't surprise me that they are using 73GB of space.

Options:
First, Delete the junk! This will help, but probably won't get you the
kind of space your looking for.
Second, If you purchased the Win7 media DVD, then you could format the
HD's, and do a clean base load. If you choose to do this, make sure that
you download and burn all necessary hardware drivers to a separate CD
first. Also, you should be aware that doing this may void part or all of
the Dell Warranty. (you may want to read the fine print)

Good Luck,
Bernie

Bernie Gruman
Gruman Creations
Owner / Designer / Builder
www.GrumanCreations.com

davehaigh · ‎Jul 07, 2011

One thing that I think most people don't realize is that you can order the m6600 with a 128mb Minicard drive as the first hard drive. This is intended to contain the OS. Leaving both hard drive slots open for your data drives.

128GB Solid State Minicard Drive [add $300.00] <-- pick this as the first drive

David Haigh

mdebower · ‎Jul 07, 2011

Bernie,

I remember a few months ago, you were going to build up and test a system with an SSD drive in it. Did you ever get around to that? If so, how did it perform?

-marc
CAD / PLM Systems Manager
TriMark Corp.

mdebower · ‎Jul 07, 2011

Well, guess I was asleep at the wheel. Bernie delivered as promised, I just missed it.

Thanks everybody for the feedback.

-marc

GavinBRumble · ‎Jul 07, 2011

Ditto...we "flatten" every new Dell we buy for ourselves and for clients.

Thanks in advance,

Gavin B. Rumble, PE

Solid Engineering

336-224-2312

JOES · ‎Jul 07, 2011

Something is wrong. What is your RAID config? I've got two 30 gig SSDs in
RAID 0 (striping) so Windows sees one 60 gig drive. This thing is extremely
fast. If each of your drives is 128GB & in RAID 0 then your C: drive should
be showing 256GB. I do not think you want a workstation set to RAID 1
(mirroring) as that is just for securing data. Data should be secured on a
server. With only two drives, it can only be RAID 0 or RAID 1. RAID 0
with two SSD drives will give you amazing performance.

Even though you should not need that much room, I'm not sure why two 256GB
drives would not fit as they are usually the exact same size.

My machine's Windows folder is 19.6GB (Win7 64bit Enterprise). Chances are
they have a recovery partition. Wiping it & reloading sounds like a good
idea but it might not be a slam dunk with SSDs. I recently had a large
crash & reloading it was tricky. It really sounds to me like your not
getting the support you require from Dell. Any techie knows that Windows
takes a ton of room but nothing like what your describing. Not only that
but the Dell techie should KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS ON THOSE DRIVES. I believe
Dell uses Agile as their PLM & if Agile is all it's cracked up to be,
they "should" know everything about that machine. If they don't, you need
someone higher up. Don't let them bullshit you.

Good luck & keep us updated please.

Joe S.

NEALROSENBLUM · ‎Jul 07, 2011

Thank you everybody for your responses. I have spent about 5 more hours on the phone with Dell today trying to iron everything out. UPS picked up the M6600 for a return. Everybody I speak with at Dell hasa funny accent and does not seem to have any intention of helping me. They just pass me around from one person to the next.

To make matters even worse, Dell is now giving me problems about returning the port replicator. The port replicator was delivered in 2 days, but the M6600 was delivered in about 5 weeks. So by the time I received the M6600, the port replicator was already beyond the 21 day return window.

The MacBook Pro is starting to look very good. I have started researching this and I am more tempted than ever to purchase one of these to try out with Wildfire 5.0 and beyond.

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
neal@geometrixeng.c

NEALROSENBLUM · ‎Jul 08, 2011

All,

Dell finally came though. I ordered a NEW computer(again) this morning and Dell gave me a RIDICULOUSLY CRAZY discount for the inconveniences that I had in dealing with their "offshore" customer service.

The new computer has two 256GB solid state hard drives. I expect to take delivery within the next 10-12 days.

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
neal@geometrixeng.c