1640 Throttling - post here

Ah, thanks for clarification - thanks Intel for making it confusing.

Is probably a stupid question, but has anyone tried a 150W adapter (not sourced from Dell) since the 130W cant cut it? Or would this blow up the machine?

 

The BIOS sets the limit as to how much power is drawn by the system, from the adapter. The 130W is already being limited and is not drawing power at its full potential (like it can), so if you used a 150W, it would still just be limited to the same power draw. So the 150w would be essentially useless/pointless if they haven't even unleashed the full potential of the 130w yet. Limits..Limits...Limits...They can be good sometimes, but in Dell's case they're just hampering everything. Let go Dell....Let go....

 

I have noticed that while playing the beta for Starcraft 2 after a game or two it becomes unplayable. I havn't kept up with this entire thread but I read through some of the more recent posts and decided to try throttlestop with some benchmarks. I had Prime95 and Furmark running. Throttlestop was enabled with the multiplyer set during the last minute or so, for the rest of it I just had throttlestop monitoring.

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07/19/10 08:00:42   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:43   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/19/10 08:00:44   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:45   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:46   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:47   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:00:48   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:49   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:50   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:51   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:52   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:53   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:54   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:55   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:56   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:57   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:00:58   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:00:59   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:01:00   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:01   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:02   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:01:03   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:04   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:05   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:01:06   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:07   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:09   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:10   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:01:11   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:01:12   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:01:13   7.84  100.0  100.0   87.5   32
07/19/10 08:01:14   6.00   85.1  100.0   87.5   35
07/19/10 08:01:15   6.00   87.0  100.0  100.0   36
07/19/10 08:01:16   6.00   91.3  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:17   6.00   95.4  100.0   87.5   35
07/19/10 08:01:18   6.00   91.7  100.0  100.0   36
07/19/10 08:01:19   6.00   99.1  100.0  100.0   35
07/19/10 08:01:20   6.00   95.9  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:21   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:22   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:23   6.16  100.0  100.0  100.0   31
07/19/10 08:01:24   6.59  100.0  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:25   6.00   94.3  100.0  100.0   35
07/19/10 08:01:26   6.00   91.0  100.0  100.0   35
07/19/10 08:01:27   6.00   88.4  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:28   6.00  100.0  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:29   6.00   93.9  100.0   87.5   35
07/19/10 08:01:30   6.00   87.0  100.0  100.0   35
07/19/10 08:01:31   6.00   92.1  100.0  100.0   33
07/19/10 08:01:32   6.00   91.3  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:33   6.00   87.0  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:34   6.00   84.8  100.0   87.5   35
07/19/10 08:01:35   6.00   91.4  100.0   87.5   35
07/19/10 08:01:36   6.00   86.7  100.0  100.0   35
07/19/10 08:01:37   6.00   86.8  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:38   6.00   84.0  100.0   87.5   33
07/19/10 08:01:39   6.00   89.8  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:40   6.00   96.3  100.0  100.0   33
07/19/10 08:01:41   6.00   95.6  100.0  100.0   33
07/19/10 08:01:42   6.00   95.5  100.0   87.5   33
07/19/10 08:01:43   6.00   95.8  100.0   87.5   33
07/19/10 08:01:44   6.00   85.6  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:45   6.00   86.6  100.0   87.5   34
07/19/10 08:01:46   6.00   86.7  100.0  100.0   34
07/19/10 08:01:48   6.00   89.4  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:01:49   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:01:50   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:01:51   6.73  100.0  100.0   87.5   31
07/19/10 08:01:52   6.00   86.5  100.0  100.0   33
07/19/10 08:01:53   6.00   90.6  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:01:54   6.00   88.3  100.0   87.5   31
07/19/10 08:01:55   6.00   91.8  100.0  100.0   31
07/19/10 08:01:56   6.00  100.0  100.0   87.5   31
07/19/10 08:01:57   6.00   92.5  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:01:58   6.00   91.3  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:01:59   6.00   86.7  100.0   87.5   32
07/19/10 08:02:00   6.00   84.9  100.0   87.5   31
07/19/10 08:02:01   6.00   93.0  100.0   87.5   32
07/19/10 08:02:02   6.00   86.8  100.0   87.5   33
07/19/10 08:02:03   6.00   86.9  100.0   87.5   32
07/19/10 08:02:04   6.00   74.7  100.0   75.0   33
07/19/10 08:02:05   6.00   72.5  100.0   87.5   33
07/19/10 08:02:06   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   33
07/19/10 08:02:07   6.00   90.7  100.0   87.5   32
07/19/10 08:02:08   6.00   86.6  100.0   87.5   32
07/19/10 08:02:09   6.00   86.6  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:02:11   6.00   87.1  100.0  100.0   31
07/19/10 08:02:12   6.00   88.9  100.0  100.0   32
07/19/10 08:02:13   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   30
07/19/10 08:02:14   6.39  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/19/10 08:02:15   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/19/10 08:02:16   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:02:17   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:02:18   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:19   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:20   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:02:21   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:22   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:23   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:24   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:25   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:26   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:27   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:28   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:29   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:02:30   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:31   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:32   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:33   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:34   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:35   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:36   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:02:37   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:38   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:39   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:40   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:41   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:42   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:43   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:44   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:45   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:46   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:47   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:48   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:49   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:50   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:51   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:53   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:54   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:54   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:55   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:57   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:58   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:02:59   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:00   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:01   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:02   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:03   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:04   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:05   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:06   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:07   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:08   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:09   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:10   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:11   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:12   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:13   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:14   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:15   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:16   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:17   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:18   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:19   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:20   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:21   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:22   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:23   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:24   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:25   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:26   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:27   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:28   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:03:29   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:30   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:31   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:32   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:33   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:35   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:36   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:37   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:38   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:39   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:40   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:41   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:42   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:43   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:44   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:45   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:46   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:47   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:48   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:49   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:50   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:51   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:52   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:53   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:54   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:55   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:56   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:57   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:03:58   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:03:59   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:00   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:01   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:02   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   21
07/19/10 08:04:03   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:04:04   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:05   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:06   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:04:08   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:09   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:09   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:10   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:11   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   19
07/19/10 08:04:12   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:13   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   20
07/19/10 08:04:14   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/19/10 08:04:16   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:04:17   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/19/10 08:04:18   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/19/10 08:04:19   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/19/10 08:04:20   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   27
07/19/10 08:04:21   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/19/10 08:04:22   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:04:23   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:04:24   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:04:25   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:04:26   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/19/10 08:04:27   9.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/19/10 08:04:28   8.81  100.0  100.0   87.5   25
07/19/10 08:04:29   8.64   90.9  100.0   50.0   25
07/19/10 08:04:30   9.00   53.9  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:31   9.00   46.9  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:32   9.00   49.7  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:33   9.00   57.0  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:34   9.00   51.3  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:35   9.00   48.8  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:36   9.00   49.8  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:37   9.00   55.7  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:37   9.00   52.1  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:38   9.00   49.3  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:39   9.00   49.3  100.0   50.0   31
07/19/10 08:04:40   9.00   49.5  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:41   9.00   52.2  100.0   62.5   30
07/19/10 08:04:42   9.00   54.9  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:43   9.00   47.3  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:44   9.00   55.6  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:45   9.00   49.6  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:46   9.00   47.5  100.0   62.5   30
07/19/10 08:04:47   9.00   58.1  100.0   62.5   29
07/19/10 08:04:48   9.00   60.9  100.0   62.5   29
07/19/10 08:04:49   9.00   49.8  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:49   9.00   46.4  100.0   50.0   31
07/19/10 08:04:50   9.00   49.1  100.0   50.0   31
07/19/10 08:04:51   9.00   49.6  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:52   9.00   42.7  100.0   37.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:53   9.00   38.7  100.0   50.0   32
07/19/10 08:04:54   9.00   43.4  100.0   62.5   31
07/19/10 08:04:55   9.00   51.6  100.0   50.0   29
07/19/10 08:04:56   9.00   51.3  100.0   50.0   29
07/19/10 08:04:57   9.00   51.4  100.0   50.0   30
07/19/10 08:04:58   9.00   49.7  100.0   62.5   30
07/19/10 08:04:59   9.00   50.6  100.0   50.0   29
07/19/10 08:05:00   9.00   51.6  100.0   50.0   29

 

Are you on 130W or 90W power supply?
I'd say call dell and start the process of getting it sorted - seems that it takes 2 - 3 parts replacements before system replacement.

Mine was 2 mobo's and a cpu swapped out.

All I had to do was show the 2nd Dell tech that the throttling (Prime+Furmark+TS monitor) and he made the phonecall. A little upsetting they continued to sell with these known issues, and still deny it to this day, the last Dell I'll own I think.

 

I have a Studio XPS 1640
Core 2 Duo P8700 | 4GB DDR3 | Mobility Radeon 3670 512MB | 500GB 7200RPM HDD | 16" 1920x1080 RGBLED Screen

I'm aslo having problems with throttling, I need to restart my PC to make it all better.

Just installed A14 version of the BIOS hoping it helps....

 

How does that make it all better? The XPS 1640 has an inherent design flaw. It is designed to throttle and slow down when you try to use both the CPU and GPU at the same time. Many modern games cause serious throttling because of this and become unplayable. Rebooting your computer is not really a practical solution for this problem. You should be able to use your computer without having to reboot it to bring it back up to full speed.

After you reboot, it's just a matter of time before it will start to throttle again. That's how Dell designed this thing. At the moment the only solution is to get in line and beg Dell for a different model that doesn't have this throttling problem.

 

What I meant is that it only gets unthrottled once I restart my computer.
Yes it is still a problem because I can't play games like this.

I contacted DELL support today and they told me that my warranty wasn't valid because I replaced the bundled windows vista with windows 7. I have no idea where my vista disc is.

Here's a screenshot of the throttling in action:


Do I realy need to get a replacement laptop? I've owned this laptop for 11 months or so but I rarely play so the problem is just becoming annoying now that I was on the Starcraft II Beta.

I bought this on the US but I'm currently living in Mexico... could that be a problem?

 

That's typical of Dell. They refuse to take ownership of the defective XPS 1640. They come up with any lame excuse they can and find new ways to waste your time to avoid dealing with the problem.

A multiplier of 1.0X does not physically exist in a Core 2. When CPU-Z starts reporting that, it's a sign of the multiplier being throttled back to its minimum and then clock modulation being applied on top of that to really slow things to a crawl. Not good and without your Vista disc, Dell will do what they can to ignore you and the crappy laptop they sold you.

 

Is Dell really not helping customers who have cahnged OS? My experience with them has always been that they are pretty receptive if you tell them what the problem is. For instance, on my last laptop (Inspiron 9100) every other year the video card would fry and they would just come replace it after I talked to them and told them what the problem was.

 

I had mine changed on my 1640 never had a problem getting service

 

If you have changed the operating system to Windows 7 then I understand that it is Dell's right to ask you to go back to Vista so they don't have to debug any problems you might have created during the OS swap.

The problem in this case is Dell not willing to admit the throttling problem in the XPS 1640 that is at the hardware level. It has nothing to do with the software or operating system a user is running.

If Dell could admit to the throttling XPS 1640 problem then they could tell all of their reps about it and it wouldn't be a big secret. That way the reps wouldn't be in the dark or wouldn't have to deliberately lie about this issue. Customers appreciate honesty. They don't appreciate an endless run around or wasting hours of their time uninstalling and installing an operating system and drivers and patches and etc., to try and solve a problem that can't be solved due to defective hardware.

 

I've sent this information along with a link to this and other similar threads to the "customer service" representative. I hope he's more willing to help me now.

 

You might also want to include this post from the Dell community site.

Attention Studio XPS 1640/1645/47 and Studio 1747 owners - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

 

Thank you for this thread.

I got my 1640 because it looked like a fabulous portable computer for work and light gaming - I'm a serious wow raider. But wow doesn't need much performance, right? The Studio 16 should have been able to run it like butter. Well, I guess WOW is way more CPU intensive than I thought. The raiding performance has been spotty - very spotty. I thought the problem was my slowish (2.0 ghz) processor and had planned to upgrade the cpu myself.

Then I find this thread and I'm shocked and horrified.

I'll be running this benchmark program tonight to get a log and see what my CPU performance looks like during my 4 hr raid. I wonder if this is the problem?

Is there a fix for this at all? Is there a program I can use to prevent the throttling and keep the multiplier high, or is it something none of us can control?

I got the machine refurbished so I'll bet Dell will laugh at me if I call to explain and ask for help. Sigh.... now I'm bummed.

 

ThrottleStop can reduce the amount of throttling on some computers but with some bios versions, it is not as effective at reducing the amount of throttling.

It is up to Dell to come up with a proper fix for this problem but it's been so long now without a fix that this doesn't look likely at the moment.

A 2.0 GHz CPU is fine as long as Dell is not throttling it down to the equivalent of 200 MHz or 300 MHz.

 

Aren't refurbished machines supposed to have the same warranty as new machines?

 

Thanks!!! I just checked and you are right, I've got the same 1 year limited warranty as a new Dell. I guess I can call and complain like everyone else.

This is really disappointing. If I see my machine doing this throttling, I will go complain to Dell myself and add my voices to the others from this thread. I've been up and down about this machine - it's the first Dell I've been alternately hugely satisfied with and vastly disappointed with. Hmm.

 

I got an email stating that I must install Vista to do the tests and that replacing my system is not really a possibility since I bought it in 2009...

This is looking bad and Starcraft II is about to come out.

 

I bought my system in 2009 too but I'm under the 1 yr limited warranty still (got mine in September 2009).

 

Yes, me too, my warranty expires on August 10th

 

Today at work I logged onto Dell Tech Support and spoke to someone. He knew exactly what I was referring to when I told him I was afraid my laptop was suffering from throttling. He told me that throttling only affected the 1645 and 1647 models - I didn't believe him one bit though because I've read enough of this thread to know that 1640 owners suffer too.

But who am I to take the word of the internet or a CSR over my own eyes? I had to do some tests for myself.

I have the P7350, normally clocked at 2.0 ghz. The multiplier is normally 7.5. Made sure my Power Option was set to Performance. Ran Fumark and Prime 95 simultaneously and after about 10 minutes:

Code:

  DATE     TIME    MULTI   C0%   CKMOD  CHIPM  DTS
07/22/10 22:06:35   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   25
07/22/10 22:06:36   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   26
07/22/10 22:06:37   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:38   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:39   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:40   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:41   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:42   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   25
07/22/10 22:06:43   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:44   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   24
07/22/10 22:06:45   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:46   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:47   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:48   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:49   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:50   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:51   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/22/10 22:06:52   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   23
07/22/10 22:06:53   7.50  100.0  100.0  100.0   22
07/22/10 22:06:54   6.21  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:06:55   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:06:56   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:06:57   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:06:58   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:06:59   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:00   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:01   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:02   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   29
07/22/10 22:07:03   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:04   6.00  100.0  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:05   6.00  100.0  100.0   62.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:06   6.00   87.6  100.0   62.5   30
07/22/10 22:07:07   6.00   58.2  100.0   62.5   31
07/22/10 22:07:08   6.00   58.2  100.0   75.0   31
07/22/10 22:07:09   6.00   61.3  100.0   75.0   30
07/22/10 22:07:10   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   30
07/22/10 22:07:11   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   30
07/22/10 22:07:12   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   30
07/22/10 22:07:13   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   30
07/22/10 22:07:14   6.00   70.3  100.0   87.5   30
07/22/10 22:07:15   6.00   72.8  100.0   87.5   30
07/22/10 22:07:16   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   30
07/22/10 22:07:17   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   29
07/22/10 22:07:18   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   29
07/22/10 22:07:19   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   29
07/22/10 22:07:20   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   29
07/22/10 22:07:21   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:22   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   29
07/22/10 22:07:23   6.00   82.3  100.0  100.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:24   6.00   84.5  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:25   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:26   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:27   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:28   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:29   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:30   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:31   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:32   6.00   82.3  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:33   6.00   79.2  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:34   6.00   70.3  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:35   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:36   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:37   6.00   70.3  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:38   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:39   6.00   71.9  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:40   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:41   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:42   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:43   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:44   6.00   82.3  100.0   75.0   27
07/22/10 22:07:45   6.00   75.4  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:46   6.00   70.2  100.0   75.0   28
07/22/10 22:07:47   6.00   70.2  100.0   87.5   28
07/22/10 22:07:48   6.00   77.2  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:49   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:50   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:51   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:52   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   27
07/22/10 22:07:53   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:07:54   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:07:55   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:07:56   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:07:57   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:07:58   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:07:59   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:00   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:01   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:02   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:03   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:04   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:05   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:06   6.00   84.3  100.0   87.5   26
07/22/10 22:08:07   6.00   82.3  100.0   87.5   26

Does this confirm throttling on my system? Did I forget something? I'm afraid someone is going to respond here and tell me I'm a noob, I forgot some setting that would explain why my CPU is working at 75% speed. The CPU temp was around 75 C. Doesn't seem absurdly high to me. Laptop was about as hot as it usually gets while I'm gaming.

 

That's another throttling Dell laptop. The P7350 is a low watt CPU but even it throttles. First the multiplier drops as low as it can go which is 6.0 and then about 10 seconds later it starts to use chipset clock modulation (CHIPM) which slows the CPU down internally. This type of clock modulation then cycles up and down a little before settling at 87.5%.

The Dell rep was a liar. Dell has already admitted that the XPS 1640 has throttling issues just like its big brothers do. See if you can get upgraded to a newer model since at least they are working on solving the problem on the newer models while this one seems to have been forgotten like the Latitude E6000 series has been forgotten.

Edit: Here's the link in this forum where the Dell rep admitted to the throttling XPS 1640.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6091362-post610.html

Nothing was really fixed so he disappeared. Ask the rep you are talking to to explain this.

The DTS column in ThrottleStop shows you how far the CPU is away from the Intel designed thermal throttling point. You still had lots of head room so the throttling you experienced was not CPU core temperature related.

 

Thank you for responding. I was afraid I'd forgotten something. I'm not so much an expert, but I know how to read & tried to do my research. And it's pretty clear that my freaking CPU is throttled down.

I read your posts very carefully earlier where you explained why the laptops throttle and it certainly seemed like a general problem to me, not a 1647 and 1645 issue I figured I wouldn't argue with the Dell rep until I had reproducable results from my own machine. Now, unfortunately, I do.

It's absurdly simple to reproduce the throttling.

At least one good thing came out of it. The Dell rep is sending a tech to my house in a few days (for an unrelated issue). That free 1 year warranty that came on it sure is nice. I can easily reproduce this for the tech and and moan as much as possible.

 

Rofl.

I guess I will have to get a lot more angry.

 

Haha, I love how clueless (or outright liars) they are. They tried a similar speal on me, deny first, then say 130W will fix, then say mobo will fix, then say mobo/cpu will fix, then finally approving replacement.
I've heard email support is not the best, I think you are better to get on the phone (and get used to that hold music), and tell them that the situation is unacceptable and you demand an answer to this well documented problem. See how you go with the tech when they come round - I showed them Prime/Furmark and the throttling. If you get a good tech, they will recommend a replacement, but be prepared for multiple tech visits (it seems Dell policy is to make you replace components 2-3 times before they will consider replacement of entire machine). Also specify that a 1640 is not acceptable as it will have the same issue - point them to these forums.

 

thats true.............the throttling is mostly always on i7 rigs. (the Cpu eats to much power and gets also warmer)

i do not think you suffers of throttling on your sxps 1640 with your quite small P-Cpu.

myself have never even felt some throttling. Rig: 1640 + P8700 + Ati3670.

 

I posted a video of the Throttling in action on YouTube, the voice comments are in Spanish for DELL's Mexico tech but I've added annotations in English.

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3MUcbFmmM3s&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3MUcbFmmM3s&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='480' height="385"></embed></object>

Notice how even the audio gets choppy near the end of the video.

 

I have the P8700 and the 3670 as well on a 1640 and there DEFINITELY is throttling going on (RGBLED, 500GB 7200 HDD).

 

I told them about a problem I observed on my own machine and I was told the problem didn't exist- that means they called me a liar. I sent a furious email back attaching screenshots and logs and requesting that I not be called a liar again unless they were prepared to offer an alternate explanation for my attached documentation as well as the linked post where their own rep confirmed the issue on the 1640. I told them I expected a fix and also communication from someone competent enough to know the difference between the models of 1640.

No response.

Yeah... shouldn't have expected much. At least they are coming to my house instead of making me send my laptop away.

Anyways, screw email support. I'll get on the phone like you said. Good to hear that you eventually got an acceptable replacement.

The only thing I'm afraid of is that the tech will look at the stress tests and say "That doesn't simulate normal useage." But it does, we gamers are often stressing out the CPU and the GPU simultaneously... I'll see if I can reproduce it without using Prime 95.

 

I think "normal usage" is garbage anyway. As far as I'm concerned, you should be able to run your CPU/GPU at 100% indefinetly without a problem. They are clcoked at whatever they are because it's stable, the only question is heat which it should be designed to dissapate under these conditions.

 

When a Dell rep tries to tell you some garbage like, "That is too big of a load", then show them my testing of Prime95 Small FFTs + Furmark.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6382811-post552.html

My old Latititude D830 with a Core 2 T8100 and an Nvidia GPU has no problem running those two applications for half an hour, and likely a lot longer, at full speed, without ever over heating or throttling. Maybe ask Dell how come you've upgraded your computer to a newer model yet it can't run the same applications at full speed without throttling itself to death. It's obvious the XPS 1640 is defective.

At the top of the page you posted that on, callie510 posted a log file that clearly shows her CPU does indeed throttle. It does lower the multiplier so the CPU is not running at full speed and it does indeed use chipset clock modulation to slow things down further. Her CPU is definitely not being allowed to run at full speed and the DTS column clearly shows that the CPU is not over heating or anywhere near the Intel designed thermal throttling point. I'm not sure what you call that but everyone else here calls that throttling.

I can understand if you don't want to read 113 pages of people complaining about throttling but at least read the comments on the page you're posting on before posting.

 

Thanks for your help again Uncle Webb. (But I'm female ) It is nice to know we have allies on this. It can be daunting to go up against an army of CS reps who appear convinced that the problem I clearly see doesn't exist... and are intent on trying to convince me of such.

Yeah, I didn't even bother to respond to respond to KSMB because it was clear he didn't even read my post.

I did send the following to dell:

I hope this saga doesn't take too long and the tech who comes over doesn't give me too much BS.

 

I apologize for that. I have a habit of assuming everyone is a male on these forums which I already know isn't true. I made a couple of corrections to my post.

Just like real life, you are probably going to have to work twice as hard to convince someone that this throttling stuff really does exist and your laptop in particular throttles just like all the other ones that people keep posting about for the last 114 pages in this thread alone. It's frustrating enough for a guy to have to go through the endless run around from Dell but you'll probably get an even bigger run around because you are female.

Keep fighting and don't accept anything less than a laptop that can run at its rated speed regardless of what software you choose to run on it.

You might also want to try HWiNFO32. It combines the clock modulation with its reporting of MHz and will show you a green bar that isn't so long when the laptop is being throttled and can't reach its full potential Sometimes seeing information visually like this can help a person see and understand that there's a problem here and its not all in your mind. I'm more of a numbers kind of guy so the log file for me is all the damning information I need to see. If anyone wants to argue about that log file, they don't have a leg to stand on and Dell knows this even if they don't want to admit it.

I can't wait to here how your Dell experience progresses from here. You might also want to try the michael dell email address that I'm not allowed to post here. If you really lay it on the line and tell them you are very aware of the throttling issues then they tend to escalate the matter a little quicker going that method.

 

I am in the US and only the i7 720QM and 820QM are available for replacement. From what I have read this is a 1645 as they are quad cores.

1647's have dual core i5's and i7's is this correct? (Not available in US?)

1645 are having the majority of throttling issues right? Has a BIOS update and 130watt adapter cured this, unlike my 1640?

 

im feeling so sorry for you guys who have this throttling issues, alias Cpu-eats-to-much-power-and-produce-to-much-heat......

i have own 3 different DELL gaming laptops and my SXPS 1640 is just soooooooooooo Nr.1 (Xps m1710 is quite close) but still a bit away.
SXPS 1640 is just such awesome machine with its excellent R G BLED 1080p screen......you cant find such a slim power machine with this spec as SXPS

i just finishing playing Day of defeat in 1920x1080 for 30min and my temps are,

the temps goes down quickly as hell to about 40C on the Gpu and Cpu....in games they reach about 60C.
i love this PC

 

KSMB: This thread is about throttling problems in the XPS 1640. The XPS 1640 has some serious and unresolved throttling issues and that is causing problems for many owners. Instead of posting a meaningless picture of your idle temps, why not try posting a 10 minute log file from ThrottleStop while running Prime95 + Furmark. Include a screen shot of that test too so we can see ThrottleStop and Prime95 Small FFTs and Furmark running. If your XPS 1640 doesn't have any throttling issues then please document that fully so other users can send that information to Dell and get their XPS 1640 fixed up so it works just as good as yours.

butterfingarz: You seem to understand the Dell laptop model numbering scheme. The XPS 1645 with the 130 watt adapter and latest bios is not without issues. There are some people that are quite happy while other users are still experiencing severe throttling and temperatures getting way too high while gaming. An XPS 1647 with a Dual Core might be a better choice to reduce the chance of throttling.

 

Idle temperatures are useless, my 1640 idles at around 40C as well but reaches over 80C during load.

 

By the way, what Stepping and Revision is your CPU KSMB???
My P8700 is:
Stepping A
Revision R0

 

Update: Dell has agreed to change my laptops ventilation system. I fear that will fail to solve my problem so it'll take more than one visit to fix this...

Also, I tried throttle stop and it really works, my temperatures reached 89C though, what is the safety threshold?

 

I'm intrigued as to waht they mean when they say "change my laptops ventilation system"

 

The Intel designed thermal throttling threshold for the majority of 45nm Core 2 mobile CPUs is 105C. Yes 89C is a big number and I wouldn't want to put my thumb on top of the core to measure its temperature but it is a perfectly safe operational temperature for a Core 2 CPU.

Here are the official Intel specs for your P8700 so you don't have to wonder if I'm making this up.

Intel® Core?2 Duo Processor P8700 (3M Cache, 2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) with SPEC Code(s) SLGFE, SLGFG

The throttling problem in the XPS 1640 has nothing to do with temperature. It has to do with power consumption. As soon as Dell is finished with their repair job, retest your laptop and show them immediately that their fix was a waste of your time.

 

They said they'll change it into something with increased airflow, yet I basically know this won't fix anything... try explaining that to their rep though...


I'll try throttle stop with an alarm set at 95 degrees later tonight (got Starcraft II). My laptop has a 90W adapter but I have a 130W extra from my work computer (Precision M4400) which I took home for a couple of days. I should not try to use throttle stop with the 90W adapter, right?

I was aware the CPU could reach higher temperatures (though I thought it was 100 degrees) but I was more worried some other nearby component would fail or the plastic in the case would warp/melt.

Does anyone know the maximum temperature for the 3670?

In any case, the overheating should make my computer unstable before it does any permanent damage, right?

 

And still, reaching 90C under load is IMO a thermal problem...

 

What overheating? Modern CPUs and GPUs are designed to run reliably at 100C. It would be easy for Intel to lower the thermal throttling temperature if they thought 100C was too high for their silicon but they actually raised it from 90C when the first Core 2 desktops came out to 100C for the original 65nm mobile CPUs up to 105C for the more recent 45nm Core 2 mobile CPUs.

That temperature represents the peak core temperature at the hottest spot on the core. At full load running Prime95 or a similar stress test, heat dissipates very rapidly and can drop 20C within 1 cm of the hot spot. Intel generally sets the thermal shutdown temperature of their CPUs at 25C beyond the thermal throttling temperature. The majority of the Core 2 based mobile CPUs have a thermal throttling point of 100C to 105C and a shutdown temperature in the 125C to 130C range. I've tested this before on desktop CPUs and the thermal shutdown works just as Intel designed. Intel obviously has a lot of confidence in their CPU's ability to run reliably at some very high temperatures.

I don't know what the weakest link in a Dell XPS 1640 is. I have no idea what might fail first. If you push the power adapter too hard, they are designed to shut down before they are damaged. If this ever happens you will need to power cycle it by unplugging it from the wall and plugging it back in after a few seconds.

If you have a 130 watt adapter I would definitely be using that, especially when using ThrottleStop. I don't know enough about the internals of your laptop so I can't guarantee you anything. I've never heard of an XPS 1640 being damaged because of ThrottleStop. I think a user or two damaged their battery when running a Prime95 + Furmark + ThrottleStop test and then switched from AC to battery. I assume that's too big of a load for the batteries that Dell is using. If you don't feel confident trying to push your laptop harder with the help of ThrottleStop then don't use it.

You might be better off contacting the michael dell email address. Do a Google search for that since I'm not allowed to post it here. They seem to be more aware about the throttling problems and more willing to admit that there is indeed a problem. The rep you have is clueless about this subject or not being honest.

 

As promised, an update in my ongoing saga. I like to call it...

Callies Adventures with Dell Tech Support

My Dell-certified technician came by today.

He gave me the big 130W adaptor. He also had a new LCD screen, but when I asked him if it was WLED or RGBLED, he couldn't tell. I was really not excited about getting a WLED screen because I adore my RGBLED one. I love it. It's my favorite part of the laptop. Yes, I know it makes the throttling worse, but damnit, I purchased this computer partially for this display! I would hate to miss it, and I know they are pretty rare for XPS16s these days. I said, "I'm totally satisfied with my display. It works flawlessly and I have all the colors right and I don't want a new one." He said "Alright" and didn't replace it.

Then I demonstrated the throttling for him. It's so easy - the computer throttles within 90 seconds of loading up Prime 95 and Furmark.

He appeared just as disgusted as me, but he'd done all he came to do, and my problem persisted - so he got on the phone with Dell.

Dell's Fabulous Customer Service

Thus started the nightmare. Dell transferred him & me through no less than SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE who insisted on speaking to both of us. Finally for some reason I got transferred to someone in Software Support (????) who was totally clueless. He was then so incompetent that he couldn't even transfer me to another line. I must admit, I was quite nasty to the next person I spoke to on the phone. Not going to lie. I am in general a nice and cheerful person, but my patience was 100% gone and I just wanted to rip someone's face off. I also work in & manage customer service for my job. I know what it's like. I am very very nice to people who are polite and competent, and have no patience for those who are not. This was definitely a "not" situation.

For the reader's information: the correct, reasonably direct number is 1 800 624 9896. Then you say "Technical Support." That's where the right people are who can help.

Phone Tech #1: Don

Here I spoke to Don. Don actually knew what a computer was, which was an improvement over the previous idiots I'd spoken to. He asked tons of questions about the drivers I was using and I was worried that my graphics drivers would need to be altered - I'm using the desktop one of course. But apparently everything was fine.

He instructed me to install Dell System Software (what?) and the A14 bios (something I should have done myself, embarassingly).

I amused myself on the phone while the Bios flashed by cheerfully asking him what the Dell System Software was and how it would affect my processor speed. He got pretty flustered while I kept asking him in my best "Innocent Little Girl Who Doesn't Know Computers Very Well" voice if he could explain it. I am very concerned with performance, and I do not install something mysterious on my computer without knowing precisely what it does.

He finally admitted he didn't know what it was at all. ROFLLLLLL.

Me: So what happens if the issue persists after this?
Him: It won't. This is the official fix.
Me: Funny. Two seperate other technicians told me the problem didn't exist and now there's an official fix?
Him: There is. It is the BIOS update.
Me: What if it does not? I need a number or an email address where I can report the problem if it persists.
Him: It won't. But you can use this reference number to reference the issue.

When this was over with, I loaded up my Prime95 and Furmark. After two minutes nothing had happened and I grungingly let Don off the phone. Perhaps my CPU was so low-power that the BIOS update fixed my throttling problem. I was unhappy but at least a little satisfied.

Phone Tech #2: Vibha

I started typing this post to kill some time, with the tests running in the background. Lo and behold, I tab over to ThrottleStop 10 minutes later and HELLO THROTTLING.

I called Dell back and spoke to someone really nice named Vibha. She pulled up my reference number, looked through the information, and completely understood the problem. "We're going to replace the motherboard," she told me. "That won't fix it," I said, sighing. She said "That's true, it might not. But it might fix it, and we have had success with this fix before. It's the next step."

What else could I say? At least she sounded like she knew the problem and she'd been through this before. She was the most competent & nice person I'd spoken to all day. We had a pleasant conversation at least.

I guess I can just resign myself to letting Dell rip apart my computer over and over while they search for a problem they themselves built in.

I am frustrated. To be honest, with the BIOS fix that makes the throttling a little harder to reproduce, I bet I'd never see it in my day to day operations. But now, with the rudeness and poor CSR I have experienced from Dell (the people on the phone were treating my poor tech badly, too, and wasting his time) .... I am really unhappy. I won't be satisfied until Dell presents me with a computer that doesn't throttle. I know it won't be the 1640, and so do they, so I guess I will go through this dance until they hand me something else.

I don't really like wasting peoples' time or money, or being mean on the phone, but goddamnit... what a long afternoon.

 

Tech #2 coming to replace second motherboard again. Processor this time as well as RAM.

 

Scratch that. I'd never been able to reproduce the throttling without Prime95 and Furmark - until now.

Last night I raided from 7:30-11 and then sat down to play Dragon Age Origins, which looks totally amazing on high settings on my laptop. After about 2 hours the game suddenly got sluggish and unplayable. Sure enough I check throttlestop and my CPU is throttled down.

Grrrr.....

 

OK, so Throttle stop has so far succeeded in stoping my CPU from Throttling (though I'm hitting about 95C in the temp department), however after a few hours of playing Starcraft 2 I noticed slow performance and found out that now my Graphics card is Throttling, I think it's the heat since GPU-Z measured the fan at 100% and up to 98C

 

I read quite a few of the posts, and have recently become aware of the Throttling issues for the Dell XPS 1640. I have done various tests including running throttlestop. I am 99% positive that it is the problem. I believe I have a 90 Watt power adapter, but am unsure as to tell where on the adapter to look to know for sure. (I am aware I probably need 130 w or higher) I have also updated to the latest bios A14.

Both the laptop and the adapter get hot to the point where it burns me. I tried to make these issues known to dell before my warranty expired but they gave me the run around till the warranty was up.

What I am wondering is if the laptop needs to be under warranty for them to fix it due to it being a design flaw in the laptop and power adapter. Or if they will send me a new power adapter to try and fix the problem.

I had purchased a cooling station that I plugged into a separate power source to try and cool my system down, but it didn't help. I was wondering if anyone knew of a good cooling station for the 1640 that might lower the heat significantly.

I have also tried undervolting, however I can't get an effective voltage to use due to the throttling.

I know this is a large post, but I thought I would ask most my questions at once. Any answers for knowledge on the above answers would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

You can try calling Dell and asking for a 130W power adapter but since most people you talk to at Dell are still in denial about this problem, they might not be willing to send you one. Let them know that your adapter is burning hot and has been burning hot since the day you bought it. Also let them know that you finally found this thread on Notebook Review so you are well aware about the defects in the XPS 1640 and many other Dell products. The more you know, the less chance they will be able to lie to you and brush you off. Contacting the michael dell email address has helped some users get this problem resolved. Do a Google search since I'm not allowed to post that here. NBR rules.

You can always head to ebay to get a Dell approved 130 watt adapter if Dell is not willing to co-operate or if the Dell experience is too frustrating and time consuming. Any adapter rated higher than 130 watts will be ignored by the bios and might not function correctly.

For the XPS 1645, the 90 watt adapter is model number PA-3E and the 130 watt adapter is model number PA-4E. I'm not sure if the XPS 1640 is using the same adapter part numbers. Look at the label on the adapter. 90 watt refers to the adapters rated output in watts DC. An adapter that is rated at 90 watts DC is supposed to be able to deliver the full 90 watts DC continuously but these are limited to far less than that and would likely burn your hand if you ever ran it at its full rated output. I have no idea how these ever passed the safety tests that they should have gone through by independent laboratories.

Can you explain that further? Lowering your core voltage will reduce power consumption and that can help to delay the throttling. Using ThrottleStop also helps but I do recommend that you get a 130 watt adapter first. The 90 watt is too marginal to begin with.

Most of the problem is power consumption related so super cooling your laptop probably won't make a significant difference until you supply your laptop with more power and Dell writes a bios that can take full advantage of a 130 watt DC power adapter without throttling. Good luck waiting for that to happen.