-->*OFFICIAL: Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge*<--

You have a point. I was just wondering if the thermal transfer was more for the CPU, since much of the BIOs update covers the CPU area....
I may stick it on now and see how it goes. Can I go back to A03 if need be?

 

i have the blue, but in all honesty i would swap to white or grey if i could..

tell you what though guys, i have been cleaning it with this SIMONIZ matt finnish car dash cleaner.. i know what ur thinking lol.. but hear me out, it doesnt matt it out, but what it does do is stop fingerprints so i dont have to get my ocd self out cleaning it every 5 mins lol..

Anyone here running vista and xp? just wondered as i was thinking of putting xp on (64bit) to get my 4gb's back lol, plus it seems to be the way forward for gamers...

 

Thats a pretty good tip on cleaning it! I wipe it down every so often!

OK, just updated my BIOs to A06 - will see if it makes any difference. Also downloading the 8800 drivers from Dell as I write this. Will probably see what they are like first before I try any others, since I want BluRay working still.

Are there any LV2G drivers available for the 8800's that are WHQL certified? Even though I dont tend to like using 'desktop tweaked' drivers, there may be no choice for now.

I do hope Nvidia get a move on and release some drivers for it though, even if they are beta!

 

Ifti, your in the same boat as me, with 4gb of ram, and vista 32bit, we only get 3.2gb's-ish, when u get the 8800m, ur gonna loose another 512mb system memory.. what r u gonna do?

 

Cry? lol

Why will we lose another 512MB system memory?
As far as Im aware, the GPU has its own on board RAM, it doesnt use system RAM.....each of the 2 chips has 512MB of on board RAM.....well thats what I was led to believe anyways....

 

32 bits OS

2^32 = 4GBytes

So vista32/xp32 can only take 4gbs of ram, meaning total ram, gpu + os ram... so it will be around 2.75gbs usable... xDDD

 

what to do, what to do

 

Vista 64 Vs Cry...

I would cry xD

 

I didnt know that!

But if the cards have their own on board RAM, why would the OS still need to allocate system RAM to them?

 

Since installing BIOs A06, not noticed any differences.
GPU fans still kick in at around 62c, and reduce the temp down to around 52-53c before they shut off.
At least I know Im ready for penryn - just gotta wait for my boss at work to come up with another silly idea, so I can place a large order with Dell, and slip in the Penryn processor ................

 

well i got a copy of xp 64 sp2, i was thinking of that for games, vista for general purposes.. i use the dell for 'lock on' and soon DCS blackshark, both of witch i think would benifit from xp..

 

Video memory is addressed by the video card not the O/S so shouldn't make any difference.....

~3.2-3.4 is what you should get in 32 bit....

 

I guess its the max allocation it can make overall... like ram and gpu = total, and not ram = total1 and gpu = total2...

 

Damn your right...

From:-

Vista article


This behavior is the expected result of certain hardware and software factors.

Various devices in a typical computer require memory-mapped access. This is known as memory-mapped I/O (MMIO). For the MMIO space to be available to 32-bit operating systems, the MMIO space must reside within the first 4 GB of address space.

For example, if you have a video card that has 256 MB of onboard memory, that memory must be mapped within the first 4 GB of address space. If 4 GB of system memory is already installed, part of that address space must be reserved by the graphics memory mapping. Graphics memory mapping overwrites a part of the system memory. These conditions reduce the total amount of system memory that is available to the operating system.

The reduction in available system memory depends on the devices that are installed in the computer. However, to avoid potential driver compatibility issues, the 32-bit versions of Windows Vista limit the total available memory to 3.12 GB. See the "More information" section for information about potential driver compatibility issues.

If a computer has many installed devices, the available memory may be reduced to 3 GB or less. However, the maximum memory available in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista is typically 3.12 GB

 

It's not about allocated RAM. A 32-bit processor (or a 64-bit processor running in 32-bit mode) can only physically access 2^64 = 4GB of address space (note, I didn't say RAM).

Since the early 8-bit computers (Commodore 64 etc), various different devices the processor needs to talk to, such as the video chip, pluggable cartridges, joystick ports etc, share a common feature. The way the CPU 'sees' these different things is no different to the way it sees RAM.

The CPU can read to and write from RAM (basic stuff, bear with me here!). If the CPU is asked to read the status of a joystick, it will read a value from an address that looks exactly the same as any other RAM address, except it's accessing an address beyond that of the actual RAM. Say RAM is 64KB (as in teh Commodore 64), it may look at the byte just beyond the normal 64KB of RAM (this is me oversimplifying).

The byte isn't anything to do with RAM, it's the joystick port. The joystick port can use a particular value to represent "user is pushing the joystick left" and another value for "pushing right", or "pressing fire" etc.

So, what happens is the CPU can 'see' maybe 128KB worth of addresses. 64KB of those addresses are the real RAM and the rest is segmented into different blocks for the different other things the CPU needs to talk to.

The same thing happens with your PC.

Your CPU can 'see' 4GB worth of addresses. 0.75GB of those addresses are given to things like the PCI/PCI-X bus, BIOS, i2c bus, timers... all sorts of weird and wonderful things that you have likely not heard of and weren't aware were needed

This is why a 32 bit OS will only be able to use 3.25GB maximum.

 

No mate, can you link directly to your post please?

About the colours other people were talking about;

Also, can you not just swap the coloured plates yourself, surely they just snap in and out?

 

I understand all that. I was once a techie who used to work on PDP and VAX computers (showing my age ). I always thought the video card addressed its own memory as transparent to the O/S,guess I never really thought it through...

So given the current laptop physical architectures I wonder what the benchmarks would look like under 32bit?

2GB with 2 configs
1 x Dimm (only slot slot populated)
2 x Dimm (both slots same size and type)

3Gb
2 x Dimm (both slots occupied different size (1 x 2 + 1x 1)

4Gb
2 x Dimm (both slots same size and type) (2 x 2Gb)

Would we see differences in performance I wonder...

Maybe worth that 64 Bit upgrade if you just use a standard off the shelf machine with no add on's ?

Cheers

 

miprs4 - initially I thought the same as you, oh well, we'll see how these cards do anyways. Cheers for the explanations though guys I have the max amount of memory in the system anyway, well as far as 32bit is concerned, so we'll see how things go!

Whats the max amount of RAM this system can handle, regardless of the OS? Is 4GB the max?

 

God damn, my order status just went from Production to Pre-Production, ffs

What the hell does that mean :S

 

Someone else had exactly the same a few pages back.

The only explanation I can think of is that a part failed during testing, so they are awaiting a replacement.....

Either that or someone had a system on order with the same specs as you chose, and it has been given priority over yours, so the system has gone to them and yours has been put back a little.....

Sorry to break the bad news, but I cant see any other reasons as to why a system would go back to pre-production after its hit production, since production means they have all the parts and the system is being built. How can the parts suddenly go again??!! I think it has to be one of the 2 above scenarios.....

 

I feel your pain XD

 

Hopefully that will be my one jumping the queue

Yet another discussion with Dell....

Asked to speak to a Manager (call arranged for Monday)

If they cannot deliver by Monday week I will cancel and re evaluate when I get back from travelling.

Looking at the rock SL8 and the Alienware M15x or may wait till the M17x

 

i would ratehr say sceneario 2, as if this is a part problem, it basically means that your computer might also carry some kind of broken hardware... I just hope its not!

 

Manager, as in Connal? Thats the guy that arranged my replacement...

 

rofl!!! lol

If it was scenario 2, then the hardware at fault would be replaced anyway - but yeh I know what you mean, you want the system to be perfect from the word go!

 

is the 1900 by 1200 resolution really tiny on 17inch laptop? I have never seen a 17inch laptop nor this kind of resolution so I don't know what to expect. The smallest resolution I have seen is 1650x1080 on a 15 inch.....so it like that? or more like the 1440x900 resolution on a 15inch?

 

does anyone know if you can upgrade from 32bit vista to 64, or is it a clean install, and does it require purchasing a full version retail copy?

 

Tests on a Dell XPS M1730 with Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX SLI yield the following results with stock drivers:

3DMark06 @ Standard Resolution
X7900 @2.8 Ghz 12.196
X9000 @3.0 Ghz 12.717 (+4.3%)

X7900 @3.4 Ghz 13.787
X9000 @3.4 Ghz around 15.000 (estimate)


Crysis @ 1680x1050 using DX10
X7900 @2.8 Ghz ?? FPS
X9000 @2.8 Ghz 32 FPS

Crysis @ 1920x1200 using DX10
X7900 @2.8 Ghz 15 FPS
X9000 @2.8 Ghz 26 FPS (+73%)

Conclusion: although the 3DMark06 score does not increase much, the X9000 seems to offer some real improvements in terms of real game performance in Crysis. More data on overclocked performance (which is supposed to be the real advantage of the X9000) would be very interesting!

If you have additional Crysis benchmarks for the X7000 @ 1680x1050, please post.

 

My guess is clean install.

 

Its not really tiny. It suits the 17" display perfectly IMO. You wont have any issues with it, trust me

I would perform a clean install, especially since you will need to reinstall all your drivers using the 64bit versions anyway. I never upgrad, always do a clean install. It minimises the risk of any problems occuring from an upgrade, and keep things nice and clean.

If you buy a full retail copy of Vista, you should get the full version obviously, but you get both the 32bit and 64bit discs, with one license key. So you can choose which verson you want to install. Certainly with Ultimate, I got 2 discs in the box, a 32bit and a 64bit version, and so I could choose which to install, and use the one license key for either.

 

so i won't need a magnifying glass huh?

Hey on the UK website you guys have the 512 8800GTX option, here its 1GB 8800GTX? is that 1GB dual? or am i mis-reading this?

 

Not unless you are over 65 years of age

But seriously, obviously things are smaller at the highest res, but its comfortable. You dont need to squint your eyes to see things, and you dont need to move your head from one corner to the other either! Its just comfortable - kinda hard to explain TBH.

Just tried to take a photo of my screen, but it came out crap lol

 

512 dual/SLI = 1gb total memory. I don't think it's that challenging to figure it out

 

OMG!!!! I couldn't think, that change of CPU would give that much boost in performance. Too bad, i'm short on my budget, so have to stick woth T7800 Also a question....When you are saying Crysis DX10, you mean "very high" settings? Cause as far as i know only on very high settings DX10 is enabled...

 

wow I didnt think the CPU would make that much difference to gaming either......hmmmm......now I gotta think of a way of getting the CPU......lol

 

No this is just using High. DX10 can be used at High.

Very High would give 5-10 FPS LOL

 

This is only Crysis though. Other games may not benefit as much, as they don't start needing the CPU as early.

 

^^^
Oh right, getting too excited too quickly! lol

 

Yeah, Crysis is the only game wich will benefit so much (I hope, that Assasin's Creed wouldn't rely on CPU so much ). And probably Far Cry 2, which is coming out in a few months.... What the producer of Far Cry actually said was, that there are PCs wich will run it on high settings....and that their cost starts at 7000 baks mark So, you won't be able to run it on a lap top max settings for another year or so

 

People have to spend thousands every year to keep up with PC gaming. Thats why console gaming is so much more popular and easier!

If the current games run nice on my 8800 card, I'll be happy for now! lol

 

Totaly agree with you here ifti. But what can i say, i`m just a PC fan And this laptop hopefully will last me for 2-3 years...by that time i should settle down and buy a PC

 

what is the best driver to run right know? also I will like to know what settings to use in the game Dirt.

thanks

 

HI!
Is it possible to order a 1730 with seagate momentus hard drives? (I'd like to buy it with a Raid0 of 2x200Go)
Could I ask it to Dell?
Thanks very much for your answer.

 

Most likely not... They only see a part number for the harddrive, not specific parts for specific brands...

 

My guess is that there are no 4GB single SODIMM modules available (Googling for one was fruitless), therefore 2x2GB is the maximum.

Would we really need 8GB in a laptop? I know the M1730 is a desktop replacement, but anyone requiring more than 4GB for productivity applications is going to be using a fairly powerful workstation, with quad-cores coming out of their butt

 

so, upgrading tohe cpu, is this something that can be ordered from dells website? i have the t7700, 2.4, and scored 9191 on 3dmark 2006, now im hungry for more lol, how much would the x7900 cost me in the uk? and is it a straight swap? i think the bois needs to be changed right?

 

So... Computer back to production Stage...

 

yo sergiop, I phoned up and they said it is in production, but on the site it stills says pre-production, hopefully the customer services lady was the right one, lol

 

I talked with the US technical support on saturday and they said it was in production since the 8th feb... I dont know if Intel and nvidia are making custom parts for me or what... cuz 10 days for putting togheter a m1730 makes no sense XDDD

 

damn right, that does sound alittle too much, I mean I built a computer a year ago and I figured out and bought all parts in same day, they arrived within 1-2 days and I built the system taking 1 day, If Dell are amrketing the 1730 with the new 8800's, they should really be having a good amount of stock, considering alot of people will surely spend their cash for this laptop, I paid £2,500, which in US is like $5,300. Iam paying a premium for this laptop and they can't even tell me on the site what the real situation is.