==>The Official Studio XPS 1640 + ATi 4670 GPU Owner's Thread <== *Part 2*

Same here, ordered disc but no status update (well, no status actually) in 3 days. I can only imagine how long that email will take...

 

Yea...I've been waiting desperately for months for Windows 7 to arrive. I'm not an MS fanboy but its juz that Vista driven me crazy. And I also wanna check if its Vista slowing down my system or is it Dell's faulty cooling system. So I juz cant wait to get my hands on Win 7 and (probably) speed up my system.

 

Hey Guys
Im new here and would like to ask a couple questions.
Have you seen the XPS 16 build on the dell site for 1299.00?

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel ® Core ™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis - Important Information
HD+ Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1680x945) W/2.0 MP
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
High Definition Audio 2.0 with SRS Premium Sound
Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish
Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB
Intel® 5300 WLAN Wireless-N (3x3) Mini Card
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Studio XPS 16 Notebook
Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9, Multiple Languages
1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection
intel 5300 n card

What do you think?
Also how is the make up of this computer?
IE- Looks- Design / Hinges / Heat problems / keeping clean / outside cover sturdy?...
One more thing... Is there so kind of coupon or code I could use in this purchase..
Thanks Mike

 

The looks are sleak and very nice. There are no real heat issues, if you want to have it on your lap for a long period of time, keep it on power saver mode. The setup you isted is a great laptop and the only thing I would upgrade is the screen to the RGBLED. It is a fingerprint magnet but a nice wipe down every now and then will fix that and as far as coupons, I am sure you can search the net but if you are a student, there is usually a student discount or sometimes your employer might have discounts with dell

 

Read the bazzillion posts about the 1640 it's the same machine.

 

hhhmmm. i dont know what some of you guys expect of windows 7 ????? Vista is sometimes faster then Win7 and sometimes slightly slower.......there is absolutely NO major difference between this two OSs.
so please, wake up from your dreams

 

What rock did you crawl out from under? How many reviews have you read about Windows 7? Have you even installed and used Windows 7 to be able to make such a statement? I didn't think so. Go back to your cave and hibernate for the winter and when you wake up in the spring, hopefully, you'll have a different outlook.

Hope you are enjoying your Vista Experience, btw...

 

I agree with you "lancorp". I cannot believe anybody subscribing to this thread really thinks that a new OS will give their laptop wings. I am simply looking forward to trying a new OS to see what "improvements" there actually are, especially in the media handling area. This is certainly not my main machine, as must be the case with the vast majority, and a free upgrade to have a look at without compromising important data has got to be a good idea.

 

Windows 7 is not faster than Windows vista ( especially after the various service packs), all the reviews agreed on that, However, the perception of the end user is what matters the most and as an end user you will fee the system faster, snappier,etc... I really do feel it. They did a lot of small productivity enhancements and improvements that adds up to a better feeling of a solid polished system. It also looks nicer on the eye ( seriously the free Porsche theme rocks ) and perfectly matches the beauty of the 1640.

 

thank you MrVibe for explaining this for this n¤¤bs
how many times must people say that Win7 NOT is much faster, (regarding Ram, Cpu, Gpu, etc, etc) ???????

ps...and like you say...Vista + SP1 is damn fast...
(and if you want even more speed.....just disable UAC + some unnecessary start programs inside Defender....and Voila !

 

I could care less about Vista vs 7 argument... I came in here to talk about my new computer

I am the proud new owner of a Studio XPS 16 thanks to the Dell Outlet and a 20% off coupon that got me an RGBLED screen & a 1 GB ati 4670 for $810

This is my first new computer in a very long time! I have disabled UAC, installed my favorite antivirus/antispyware programs, and updated all the drivers, but that's about it.

What should I know about my new computer? What should I do? I haven't ever had an ATI video card before so give me tips for squeezing the best performance out of it please

 

The problem is, you guys live in the synthetic world of fake benchmarks. What you don't realize is, sometimes performance gains aren't realized running some manufactured speed test. Instead, it's an overall perception or feeling of performance gain.

I doubt most anyone here uses/configures/sees/tests more DIFFERENT kinds of computers as I do. It's my business and hobby. I don't just have one laptop or one desktop and sit and read reviews all day. I spend most of my time installing and using each of these PC's to some extent. Hundreds and hundreds a year. And I can say that, in my experience compared to Vista x64 with service packs, that Windows 7, without much tweaking, it an overall faster OS than Vista. File copies, network browsing, PnP hardware detection and enablement...the list goes on and on, how Windows 7 is much faster than Vista. ACTUAL USE, not benchmarks. Performing various OS operations, not just copying 4k block size files until my hard drive burns up.

So, sit and read and memorize other peoples benchmarks on a single system if you want, but coming from someone who has a bunch of hands on time with a bunch of different systems, I'll take Windows 7 ANYDAY over Vista.

 

Install Windows 7.

 

Is the coupon still working? what is it?
Is your laptop refurbished? what's your processor?

 

The coupon expired last Tuesday I believe. I was not on the outlet mailing list at the time it was sent out, so I did not get one myself, but a kind NBR forums user saw my griping on the forums and sent me his 20% off coupon via PM. There were some codes in the Dell Coupons forum post over in the coupons forum section.

Yep, it's refurbished and in flawless condition as far as I can tell!

The important specs:
1920x1080 RGBLED screen
1 GB ATI 4670
Core 2 Duo 7530 @ 2.0 GHz
4 GB Ram
Blu-Ray drive
... pretty sure nothing else is upgraded.

I reloaded the Outlet site for 2-3 days constantly at work, searching for a Studio 16 with a 1920x1080 screen and the 4670 video card, otherwise as cheap as possible. (They disappear in seconds so you kind of have to reload all the time). This one came up with the RGBLED screen & bluray player, I was shocked at how cheap it was and I snagged it the second I saw it.

This configuration was $1009, minus 20% was $810 - the full price for me including sales tax and free 1 day shipping was $874.

I could care less about processor upgrades, it's a waste of money for me as I do nothing that requires a speedy processor. I game, but the video card affects that far more So the 7530 was fine for me.

I am pretty excited... it is pretty much amazing!

 

Those are hardware tests, not tests of the OS.

 

Well Congrats! on your new computer first off and great deal, what should you know? this lappy is awesome RGBLED is Amazing 4670 is not a bad GPU @ all
and what should you do? enjoy it!

now for the good stuff performance well for one i would use the Modded drivers for the 4670 which you have to download ati drivers from here (seperate from ccc Which i feel is useless and a waste of resources) http://game.amd.com

then download Mobility modder from here http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php look at this site for instructions but since you have disabled UAC you should be able to just extract driver and modify and Undervolt it benefits are worth it and drawbacks almost none existent

 

Thank you!! Exactly the kind of advice I was lookin' for!

TBH, the ATI site rather confused me- I couldn't figure out why there weren't any drivers for Mobility HD 4670; it seemed like I had a choice between Desktop drivers and Mobility drivers that didn't include my card.... the explanation on that DriverHeaven site cleared things up for me! Now I understand why I was confused. Cool stuff.

I followed the instructions and modded my driver and installed it! I look forward to MUCH better wow performance.

I actually posted a thread in the gaming forum about my disappointment with this machine's 25 man raiding performance, but I realized that the only raiding I have done on it, I did before I upgraded from stock drivers. I know I will have to keep settings low since I like to play at 1920x1080, but maybe I can turn some stuff up

As for Windows 7 - obviously I am installing Windows 7, but I have to wait until Dell gets off their lazy butts and sends their customers with new computers our free upgrades I'm sure it might be a few weeks. I am too lazy to install XP so I think I will just stick with failVista until 7 comes.

 

hi, i swapped my proc in my xps from p7350 to p8600 and now the xps feels more hottttttt and fan is constantly on, did i do a crappy job of applying thermal paste or any bios modification is needed? i think my thermal paste job is decent enuf

 

Hey guys...juz relax everyone. I dont want this to turn into one of those typical flame wars prevalent in all tech related forums or chat rooms.

I want to make it clear at this point that I'm NOT expecting Windows 7 to give my computer wings. Neither am I getting all worked up based on pure hype. I've read hundreds of reviews about Windows 7 but that doesn't mean I'm sold. I'm still skeptical about it and will form my own personal opinion only when I try it myself. I wasn't able to test the free RC versions that MS made publicly available. So I'm not taking a hard stand about anything rite now.

And I alwez take reviews and benchmarks with a pinch of salt...remember how Vista received such favorable reviews when it was launched. Although I must admit that its a much better OS now after all the SP patches and everythin. So plz dont shove statistics and reviews in my face...something might work for one person and not for the other. That's the beauty of choice!

The thing is that I'm just excited about a new OS. I dont care if its Windows, Mac OS X, Linux or any other XYZ OS. I'm sure that all of us here as tech enthusiasts are pretty excited whenever a new piece of software comes out. We all hope that it lives up to our expectations but I dont think we live or die by the way our OS performs...at least I dont. Yes, I'm fond of trying out new software and thats the sole reason I'm excited about Windows 7. I'm sure Vista works great for many of you out there...in a way its not even that bad...but for me...it hasn't been that good. The first time I tried Vista was when it came preloaded with my Studio XPS 1640...before that I was living my life with XP and loving it. So u can understand how Vista seemed a bit disappointing to me...TO ME...not to everyone. You are each entitled to your opinion...and if anyone doesnt agree with the other's viewpoint then we can share facts about why you think you're right. Don't become the Hitlers and Stalins of the tech world...plz dont enforce your opinions on anyone.

As far as Windows 7 is concerned...I'm HOPING (maybe wishing) that it will speed up my computer. If it turns out be worse than Vista than I can alwez go back guys. Its not like I've sold my soul to Microsoft. C'mon...its a free upgrade from Dell...what have you got to lose by trying a new OS...if its good then great...if it sucks then trash it and go back to ur original OS.

 

And btw dude...I suggest you read my post again...I mentioned *probably* about Win 7 speeding up my system. Its not like we're all living in a fantasy world and ur the only enlightened one here. You're not Neo ok and this is not the Matrix. We're all very well-informed people, some more than others but that doesnt give you right to preach ppl about waking up and all. Do think things through and consider other people's opinions before you decide to trash what they have to say. I dont know if u juz wanted to show off finding these benchmark tests or what but u shouldn't be so hasty about things. After all, we're all techies or tech enthusiasts here...and we'te not being paid my MS or any other company to take sides.

If I offended you in any way about anythin then I do apologize...but I think before we go crushing other people's opinions...we should share facts like civilized people.

 

Glad I could help

 

Hmm... I am told in the thread in the gaming forum that my CPU is probably holding back my 25 man raiding performance... probably makes sense since in everything up to 10 mans I can turn the settings up, but nothing helps my FPS in stuff like anub phase 3.

I am pushing it now, turning the settings up very high to see how it does Does anyone with this computer / video card play WOW? What kinda settings do you use?

Would love any help thanks

 

your taking a computer advice from wow players???
/facepalm

 

Seems to me that people who are playing the same game on their computers have the most accurate things to tell me about how the game plays!

Oh wait, I get it, the joke is that wow players r dum! Haha...

I actually maxed out most of the settings to try it and I'm still getting 40+ fps in 5 mans, this is pretty sweet I am so lovin this computer from the build quality to the keyboard to the AMAZING screen and the video card isn't disappointing either. Now if only it played like a dream in my raids... I guess I need a desktop for that hahaha.

 

i can play wow on ultra setting( the highest) and with 8x sample(highest) in less crowded area. for wg and raids i have to tone down the video setting to high though.

tbh, i think blizzard has lost some subscribors since patch 3.2.2, its apparently on my server malorne, dalaran no long lags during peak hours.
time for jiana to show up to save the lich king arthas and the game.

 

Hey guys,

I currently live in the Netherlands and been in search of a laptop ever since I graduated from university in early September. I managed to save up around 1,000 euro that I want to spend for a new laptop.

Dell's Studio XPS 16 impresses with up-to-date tech and customizability. Problem is, electronics are sometimes up to 50% more expensive within the EU (compared to the US).

I found a pitiful 5% discount coupon and managed to squeeze into my budget.

Here is my build:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8600 (2,40 GHz, 3 MB, 1.066 MHz)
Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 BIT - Dutch
Backcover in black leather: 15.6-inch white led Full HD (edge to edge, 1080p, TrueLife)
4.096 MB 1.067 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2 x 2.048]
500GB (7,200rpm) Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive
Internal DVD+/-RW (DVD & CD read and write) Slot Load Drive(Software install, no media)
1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4670 graphics card
6-cell lithium-ion (56 Wh)

Microsoft® Works 9.0
1 year warranty
McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - Dutch
No Accidental Damage-support

2 x discounts:

- € 224,00 (limited time offer, build-in discount)
- € 53,45 (5% discount Dell coupon)

Total: € 1015

Now, I have a few questions.

- Do you think that's good value for money? It's still rather expensive. I guess striking below the psychological 1000 euro barrier would ease me a bit.
- Can you think of a coupon/discount that applies to Dell.nl (perhaps an EU-wide coupon)?
- Comes with Win 7 in Dutch - can I turn it to English (easily)?
- Does it really become that hot? It seems like a very common con mentioned by quite a few users.
- Is there a way to solve the fingerprint problem (in the EU)?

This forum seems very informative. I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Thanks in advance!

 

Ok, end of story and happy camper now, technician came in - hard drive was not the culprit but fan was defectuous (it went always on high speed when not needed, sensor issue, I quote the guy here) so it has changed the fan system and now the laptop is working like a charm ( i mean noise is gone). Interesting thing is that the fan system replacement came with thermal patch on it that seems of very bad quality it covers the cpu and gpu, i would have liked to clean this is up and put some artic silver 5 instead, not sure it worth it to void the warranty for that. Does it by the way?

 

FINALLY!! a ship date which is TOMORROW!!

 

Man that still makes me mad...I ordered mine the 3 days later then you 10/25 yet my ETA is 11/25..? must have been first order first serve queue thing..frustrating cause I didn't know I had to order it after I registered it months ago..anyway from Anandtech's conclusion of Win7 Upgrade Guide:

" Laptops: Windows 7 has better battery life than Vista, resumes from hibernation sooner, and given the lower performance of laptops often benefits from the better performance of Win7 on such hardware. If you need to squeeze out every minute of battery life or every point of performance, then it’s upgrade time. In fact laptops users are certainly going to be the easiest group to sell upgrades to, since Win7 consistently does so well."

Source

 

I just checked my status through Dell and NOT waiting for their automated emails, and I see that I should have mine shipped on 11/03. Even if it's later than i had hoped, at least I AM getting it.

it'll be fun restoring my machine back to Vista and then installing Win7 AGAIN. <- being sarcastic.

I am still wondering though if you can do a full install with the upgrade disc. THAT would be very nice, no residual Vista.

 

Mine is not being shipped until 11/30. How long does it take to put a disk in a package and put a label on it and give it to UPS or Fedex? I know alot of people are getting the disks but they should be able to ship a butt load each day and it shouldn't take that long.

 

@ jmorv - Dude here's a link showing how you can do a clean install with the upgrade disc. If you get to try it out first lemme know how it works k ->

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp


Whoa....hold on guys...my estimated shipping date is like 10/29...which is like tomorrow! But there's not tracking number info...or any other update on the order status or anything. I'm confused...are they just gonna send it to me tomorrow without giving me any info??? So typical of Dell I tell you.

 

What information do you think they are withholding from you? If it's not supposed to ship until TOMORROW, why would there be a tracking number TODAY?

 

He's probably talking about EDD and not Shipping date. Dell doesn't give you a shipping date anyway, you could only infer it.

 

If that is the case, then it sounds like he's in the same boat as everyone here...you know, the sinking one..

 

lol just checked it again today and my shipping date changed! to.... Tomorrow gottta love Dell

 

Umm lancorp...I actually received it a day earlier. They said they would ship it tomorrow but I just received it today. Thats what I meant by typical of Dell. Without providing me any info about the order status...they just shipped it to me. Not that I'm complaining though

I love the fact that they sent it to me a day earlier

 

Sorry! I didn't read anything in your post that mentioned you already had it! The way you worded it, it sounded like you were expecting them to ship it tomorrow (which is today, now)...

 

More progress I have a completely filled out form now

 

New Owner report part 2

I LOVE IT! Still loving the resolution. The 16" RGBLED screen is so amazing. I don't know if the colors are quite right - reds seem pink, greens seem very neon. Any tips for perfecting the colors on this screen? I know they can take some configuring but I have never adjusted colors on an RGBLED screen before & would not know where to begin

The keyboard - is great, but a little squeaky! Did anyone else notice this? I think it might be getting less squeaky as I type more on it. I write all day for work and I am an extremely hard typer; I smash the keys. I am thinking the keyboard might just be new, which is a nice sign since this machine was refurbished.

For anyone who plays wow, my thread over in the gaming forum about WOW performance on my XPS 16 continues .... the short version is that the studio 16 handles WOW with almost every video setting maxed out & looks amazing (i play at 1650x1080). But with raiding I have to drop every setting to the minimum and I still get terrible fps. Sigh, sounds like it's an unavoidable problem (my processor is weak, my resolution is too high, i was expecting too much, wow is poorly optimized, etc etc).

If you raid 25 mans in wow, please help me out and share your settings either here or there. This new XPS 16 owner would appreciate input from those who raid on this machine. I raided last night with everything at the rock-bottom. I think all I checked was Projected Textures, and my fps still wasn't great.

Nomoredell, you really raid with settings on "high"? Are you serious? 25 mans?

 

Install the latest Catalyst Centre and drivers for the Mobility 4000 from the AMD web site, and knock the saturation down in 'Notebook panel properties'.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx
I'm assuming you're running Win7, I think the Vista drivers need a hack to install since they never released drivers for the mobility 4000 series and you have to use modded desktop drivers.

 

I used whatever the hack is that mods & installs right HD 4670 drivers (posted earlier in this thread).

Hmmmm. The Catalyst Control Center won't open. I guess haven't tried to open it since I updated my drivers I think. Can't start it from the start menu or right clicking the desktop. Nothing happens- don't see any processes that look like it either.

Hm. Maybe I should uninstall and reinstall my drivers.

Anyways thanks, that is the info I needed. My Win 7 upgrade hasn't come in the mail yet but I did the free ordering thing through dell & will be using it as soon as it has.

 

you can install the catalyst software from the dell driver while keeping your modded driver i personally dont like it and there are other programs where you can change saturation and install .icc profiles there is a thread specifically about it with other users ICC profiles its really long so i would start from the end and go forward here is the link RGBLED SETTINGS

 

?
thats for sure, my fps is very good for any 25 man, my video setting is high with 8x multi sample, having everything turned off vsync and ui scale and windows mode/maximize except hardware cursor.

 

Thats ok...the time time when I wrote that post I didnt have it. Half n hour later it arrived in the post. That was yesterday. And today...I get a mail from Dell that ur package has shipped on 10/29 (actually I received it on 10/28) and here's the tracking number...LOL.

 

got my win7 upgrade in the mail today..here we gooo~

 

me too!!

 

So even though I was planning on doing an in place upgrade (Ive read reviews where it says it works great) I noticed a post from someone say it saves a folder windows.old and it takes up 60 gigs of hdd space? Whats with that?

I read the Anandtech Win7 upgrade guide (the place that said the in place upgrade works perfectly fine) and was warned that itunes would definately have to be uninstalled so I was prepared for that. When I started the process it asked me to uninstall the dell support center and quickset. Dell support center was successful but it couldn't uninstall quickset for some reason, or kept trying to..I wonder if it was because it was running? Anyway that's beside the point...Before the actual upgrade it instructed me to uninstall itunes, which was expected, and then it listed ATI Catalyst Control Center and the ATI Display Driver. Thats fine and all but it made me realise something and I just confirmed it. Maybe many of you already know this, so this long drawn out story is a waste of time, but you no longer need to mobility mod your ati drivers. ATI officially supports mobility cards with win7 w/o the need of a mod. You can download and install directly from their site, you should check that out.

Anyway, has anyone done an in place upgrade (not a clean install)? If so can you confirm/deny the deal with "windows.old" folders or whatever.


edit: turns out the mobile drivers are still beta drivers, but its almost current 9.9. I think I will just stick with modding them..

 

tenknics: don't upgrade it, do a clean install.