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

Mine is delayed by two weeks. I received an email informing me about this.

I ordered X7900 and Bluray, so it could be either component delaying my order.

I am not too fussed about the delay though...When the X9000 comes out in 1-2 weeks it will give me more leverage for a cost-free upgrade of my order (cancelling+reordering at same price but with X9000)...

As we saw the processor does have an impact on gaming performance and 3DMark values. I am dying to see newer benchmarks with the X9000...

 

I used those drivers and atitools 0.26.

Im just coming from an hour of COD4 all max AA4x. I have to say I am amazed in the first 5 minutes of game in the ship i was allready gettin 100+ fps and then I jumped to the part where you play undercovered in leafs in the radioactive place and was hitting most of the time 70+ and no lower of 60 in any case WOW!

 

do you know when dell plans on offering the X9000 because i want to get it but i can never find out when it will be released and i need to place my order soon

 

WOW you are right, in my case this card gets muuuch hotter than the 8700SLi... but its crazy how hot it gets... Im seing now that my top temp was 89ºC thats pretty high in my opnion I dont know if the OC has that much effect on the temps as i only increased the speed by 20%


Edit: BTW I got my system with bios A05... How cool is that? should I upgrade it to A06?

 

Ok, I'm going to pull the trigger on my m1730 this morning. They've finally stopped offering the Bluetooth Headphones in AUS as the bonus, now its a free year of support (about $200 value) and 9 months additional AV protection (not very useful).

 

8800M GTX is basically the same spec as the 8800GTS 640MB with lower memory and 256bit memory bus.Expecting it to run <70C when gaming is wishing thinking to say the least lol

89C is hot but for this sort of card its still well within its limit (115C I think?)

I'm sure Dell put alot of effort to ensure the heat from the GPU won't effect the lifetime of other components but I'll guess we'll find out over the next year or so

 

Ok, woot its on order. Now just waiting for confirmation details to get delivery ETA. I can't wait to take posession of this Beast!

 

Im testing the limit of my card now... Im on Core 650mhz frec 940mhz running it without the i8kfangui... 2 mins so far without artifacts temperature just below 80

 

Good to see you finally have your beast
I would upgrade to A06. That way you are ready for Penryn if you ever decide to go for it. I upgraded from A03 to A06, and have had no problems whatsoever.

That does reassure me a little, but im still not gaming too much until I get my cooler. The damn thing seems to be out of stock everywhere in the Uk though - I can only find the silver in stock at the mo, and I want black!

 

As I said before, just raise the back of the laptop w/ a bottle cap or something.

The change in temp w/ bottle cap, and the cooler will be less than 5C I'm bet.

 

I do have the back of the laptop raised, and the highest temp I have seen after about 30 mins of gaming has been 75c.
Although I feel the cooler would do a better job since at the mo raising the laptop increases airflow, whereas with the cooler beneath it, it would be getting air thats much cooler already. Surely that will help a lot?

 

Im using a coupe of ipod universal docks to raise up the back part



I have seen it going from 71 to 66 in iddle xD

 

just the volume lol.....oh, do you think i have to install something or should it work out automatically?

 

WOW!

Your hitting desktop 8800GT stock speed
Very impressive overclocking abilitys on these cards it seems
The M1730 could well be hitting 15000+ in 3Dmark06

 

That must be the "apple" cool factor LOL

 

The remote doesnt work like that. It works in applications such as Media Player/Centre, PowerDVD, or MediaDirect..... since its controls the application volume rather then Windows volume.

 

sergiop, my COD4 performance is same. Did you post 3dMark06 results yet or what was or result?

 

Yup about the same in idle here as well, propped up using some plastic battery cases
Although mines a bit more flexible, it goes between around 59 to 71c.......

 

I just sold COD4 and sent it off today! lol
It gave me headaches, but I regret not quickly trying it on my system before I sent it now though!

 

Yeah... I am abit tired of trying as I am seeing no performance increase... I went to the same place in crysis and I get 29fps at 500/800 and at 650/940... I dont know why...

Im gonna put some screens maybe you can help me...



It is really overclocked right?

Yeah, I had them lying around and I thought they would play nice XD

 

10077 at 1280x1024... pretty low if you ask me... SLi enabled and on XP

 

That score is about right since you have the 2.2 processor.

My processor helps me get up over 12k, while when overclocked to 3.4GHz I can get over 14k 3DMarks.

I didnt realise the processor changed the score by so much!

 

Got my computer in today via DHL Express! MADE IN MALAYSIA! I remember seeing commericals for Dell where they made the systems as you ordered them and assumed that if I was ordering in the U.S that it was being made in the U.S. I'm just happy that my ETA jumped from March 7th all the way to today.

For the sake of keeping my system installs at a minimum, i'll take everyone's word for it that this system truly is a beast. I'm going to install my Video Editing stuff and for gaming, Crysis. Looks like i'm out of luck in that I did not get the highly coveted LG Screen on my system. Stuck with SHARP although I plan on hooking this up via HDMI to my Sony HD Set when gaming downstairs at home.

I have not read through any manuals yet and i'm back at my day job away from the laptop, but is there a way to turn off the XPS lights by the touch pad and on the backside of the LCD screen?

 

You can turn off the lights either via the Quickset tool (in the gaming section) or by going into the BIOs and switching them off there.

I keep mine on Sapphire Blue, since my lid is also blue, and so are all the activity lights on the right side of the laptop. My external HDD light is also blue! lol

 

Yep thats 1 impressive overclock

Your find that Crysis not only dosen't use Sli as well as games like fear but also it seems to be CPU limited even with QX6850
So that would explain why you don't see any improvement in crysis.(You would in places where it becomes GPU bound)

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14161/7

As you can see there Crysis appear to be CPU bound.By lower the resolution the Tri 8800Ultras still can't get over 40fps lol.

 

Anyone tryed overclocking the shaders clock yet?That should boost the 3Dmark 06 score quite a bit I'd of thought XD

Since its based on G92 I'd be willing to bet you could get 1500mhz out of the shaders core easy!

I think rivatuner or w/e its called or maybe even Ntune gives you the option to overclock the shaders core.

 

Oh wow you have the option for what color lights you want? Hehe pretty cool. Thanks

 

Yes there does seem to be something wrong with Crysis. Gaming systems should never be CPU bound. That's just bad programming.

I personally will not even be bothering with Crysis. Trying out Bioshock tonight.

I played Vanguard on my laptop today. Max res Max gfx settings. I was getting 40-60fps in city, 100+ outdoors. Man does that game ever look impressive with that high of settings. I was getting 78-82C GPU temperature values with the zalman cooler after about an hours worth of gaming. I think I need to redesign my laptop area. Currently all the hot air is getting locked in behind the laptop and raising the temperature by quite a bit I'm sure. Ambient temperature in my apartment is rather high as well. I usually keep a window open in the winter time just to keep it below 30C...lol

 

i cant seem to be able to find the shaders clock... rivatuner is not giving me the option to OC like it used to...

 

Does the CPU make that much of a difference? I always though the GPU was the bottleneck of graphics.

I know 3DMark06 tests are coming out higher with the x7900 - but is this just a bias of the testing software that doesn't actually translate into higher FPS???

Maybe a Crysis run test would show up any actual improvements -

Ideally a 2.2 -v- 3.4
or easier to setup a 2.8 -v- 3.4


Could any run the latter test?


72oo

EDIT: Opps! Just saw the few posts that came before this one... ! Silly me!

 

MTV2004, make sure your battery is in correctly in your remote.

Before you put the back flap on, be sure to push the battery firmly in place. I made that mistake on my first laptop. I took out the battery, slapped it in and noticed it wasn't working. The seating for the battery is a little off, so it makes it difficult for the battery to get a good contact.

 

So I rerunned the 3dmark with the max oc and i got like 50points improvement XD



So now, i dont know what is wrong or if it should be so low...

 

You could try expertool 6.1 if rivatuner won't let you.
http://www.gainward.net/support/support_uk.html

Go up in 25mhz each time.Your no when you've reached its limit because it will either show errors in the ATI tool when you test the overclock or lock up.Overclocking the shader core might limit the GPU clock a bit.(You managed 670mhz, With shadercore at 1500mhz the GPU core might only manage 650mhz stable ect)

 

I just downloaded this:

http://files.filefront.com/CrysisBenchmarkTool105zip/;9090692;/fileinfo.html

And set it up all at medium, no aa and the res at 1900x1200 and loop to 3

And got this:

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>>--SUMMARY--<<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

22/02/2008 1:45:23 - XP

Run #1- DX9 1900x1200 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Medium ~~ Overall Average FPS: 4601,5

 

SergioP - which drivers are you using on the 8800's? I would have expected I higher 3D mark with the new cards.

 

"Not a valid graphics card"

169.61 modded inf lv2g

 

Darn - how much did you sell it for?

Also - I'm wondering if you 'registered' the game for multiplayer and therefore if this is transferable in the sale of the game.

 

Shame.

I have to say, The 8800m GTX have exceeded my expectations in performance and overclocking abilitys

 

Just got things squared away and ran 3dMark with a score of 12379. That should be about right for a stock system right? No overclocking / 8800 SLI Enabled. I'll try and run it again overclocked for my own curiosity and report. Sorry if i'm just repeating what others may have already done but I figure we're all m1730 owners and would all be curious too!

Update: Just ran a test overclocked to 3.4GHz which resulted in a score of 14054.

 

I think the 3dmark06 scores aren't accurately benching the GPU performance because of the CPU only tests it uses (test 3 and 4 I believe).

Maybe we could get people to start breaking down their scores.

edit:

Going back to sergiop's benchmark (he provided a screenshot on the previous page):

10136

SM2.0: 4363
HDR/SM3.0: 5867
CPU Score: 1864

As you can see his CPU score is very low with respects to the GPU benching points. Can someone post a breakdown of their score with the OC'd 3.4 extreme processor.

 

Latest update from dell blog.

@gamedemocom and others. Still working on some details to allow existing M1730 customers an option to upgrade to the 8800M GTX SLI config. I'll blog about it on Direct2Dell when we have more info to share.

 

is the LPL0032 an LG screen?

 

Mine are as follows, I have similar setup to sergiop, but using Dell 167.55 drivers:

Main test results
3DMark Score 10265 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 4571
SM 3.0 Score 5648
CPU Score 1943

 

if you really want 3dmarks alone, bench mark w/ 3dmark05. Scores on 05 should be more identical w/ extreme or w/o.

 

Okay, I remember reading about one version that would is better suited for GPU benchmarking, I take it that is 3dMark05?

 

Yeah 3dmark06 kind of turned into a hokey pcmark05... with more gpu support to up your score. But I don't care about software CPU rendering of a scene - why would I want to see that if I am running a GPU test?

Yeah I'm just ticked off at Dell - not taking it out on 3Dmark Venting...

*sits in a corner*

 

Yes that is the lg screen you lucked out.

 

this screen is so awesome.......i'm starting to like this system

 

for ur info my computer came with the LPL0032 hehe... It seems they have overstock of them or something XD

I Think i will update the drivers later to 174.xx lv2g they are the newest one, hopefully better SLi support.

 

Congrats Sergio... I'm hoping they just do away with everything BUT the LG... the LG is sureal I love mine.