Question Upgrade Advice? Dell M6800 3.7ghz AMD FirePro M6100 (2014)

[ChaosBug]

Hi,

I bought a Dell Precision M6800 laptop new, back in 2014, in the UK. I was mainly doing graphic design work at the time (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) and it has been a great workhorse over the years with no real problems.

Dell Precision M6800 Laptop

3.7ghz Intel

16GB RM

AMD FirePro M6100

IPS Screen

Last month, the (original) hard drive finally failed (for the first time) so I am planning to take it to a local PC tech, to replace the HD.

What other upgrades would you recommend for this 8 year old laptop?

I am currently doing some video work (Adobe After Effects) and have also been playing with Blender 3D modelling, as well as still doing the Photoshop/Illustrator 2D stuff -- what upgrades might help this laptop to deal with video and 3d modelling work, if any?

Clearly, the Graphics Card and Processor are old, and probably underpowered, now, perhaps even for 2D graphics work.

What would anyone suggest for a FULL revamp of the laptop, or just an 'ESSENTIALS' revamp (since the full revamp might be too costly).

Thanks if you read this!

 

[USAFRet]

Generally, the only changes you can make to a laptop are the drive and RAM.

Swap in a SATA III SSD for that HDD.

But thats it.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

Generally, the only changes you can make to a laptop are the drive and RAM.

Swap in a SATA III SSD for that HDD.

But thats it.

The M6800 has an mxm slot. It doesn't support pascal but supports maxwell.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

Hi,

What would anyone suggest for a FULL revamp of the laptop, or just an 'ESSENTIALS' revamp (since the full revamp might be too costly).

Thanks if you read this!

Get an SSD, some more RAM, and a Quadro m4000m. You might have to buy a new heat sink for the graphics card depending on whether or not your existing one fits the Nvidia vrm patternthe laptop in my signature is also from around 2014 but due to the upgrades I performed it still holds up with modern tasks and games including cyberpunk 2077

 

[USAFRet]

The M6800 has an mxm slot. It doesn't support pascal but supports maxwell.

A different mxm GPU, in an 8 year old laptop that was mediocre when new.

Sure...go for it.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

A different mxm GPU, in an 8 year old laptop that was mediocre when new.

The M4000M is still pretty good, can be BIOS modded to perform like a desktop 960. Still good for plenty. Runs Cyberpunk 2077. I suppose you have the same level of unnecessary disdain for my ZBook?

New laptops are way too expensive for their power. This old M6800 can hold its own with the right parts.