Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

Just ordered the 4K i7 and 1Tb SSD version!

 

Decided to bite the bullet and go with the 4K/i7/512 SSD version, which shall be arriving tomorrow (scheduled delivery date initially was 28th Jan, so I'm pretty pleased with that so far!)

This thread has got very long and complicated to go through!

What changes would anyone here make to their brand new XPS 15, or should it run fine straight out of the box as I'm assuming the issues are mostly around you guys changing the HDD's etc? (Which I don't intend to do anyway.)

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

redo the thermal paste, I was shocked at the amount of thermal paste on mine. And I have taken a lot of laptops apart.

 

Good for you. I'm waiting for mine as well due to ship on 1/19.

 

I can confirm you that the laptop runs very fine straight out of the box... with the last Bios upgrade I think that it's one of the best laptop I've ever seen and used!

 

Guys are there any issues that Dell haven't fixed yet?

 

I was getting very frustrated, as I had ordered the cable over 2 months ago. Anyway, just wanted others to know they seem to have just gotten some in the U.S. and there is hope (of actually getting the cable)...

 

Currently the CPU is runing at low speed on battery, no way to speed it up.

Currently the USB 3.1 port within USB C is unusable with external audio interfaces. Both interrupt and isochronous streaming in USB 2 and USB 3 do not work. I haven't checked the transfer speed for simple file I/O operation, though. Maybe there is a basic degradation in speed as well.

The upcoming TB15 breakout box does not have any Thunderbolt 2 port. Of course they can not fix that, it is just a stupid design decision from the start. So whatever existing TB you want to connect, you have to buy another USB C to TB adapter (Startech...), occupying the only free USB C port on that box. Just plain stupid.

 

Guys, is it a bug in AS SSD or there is something wrong with alignment on my ssd?

 

That's "normal" (as in: a bug) in AS SSD if your are running on Raid. I get sort off same values. If I am running on AHCI in BIOS, I get values like:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3sNzUcY-xsvcGxfOW9YaHVYN28/view?usp=sharing

CrystalDiskMark5 does not have this bug, it produces likewise scores under RAID and AHCI.

 

Well, I've changed to AHCI but this stil persists. Anyway checking by hand and dividing by 4096 gives me a proper value so I take it as bug.

There hasn't been much talk about current desired m.2 SSD settings for newest bios.. I'm switching to 950 PRO and wondering if coming back to RAID is worth it...

 

Now you mention AHCI: i did get my scores with the Samsung 1.0 NVMe driver.

[QUOTE="blindzior, post: 10177729, member: 176527"There hasn't been much talk about current desired m.2 SSD settings for newest bios.. I'm switching to 950 PRO and wondering if coming back to RAID is worth it...[/QUOTE]

Well... If you're having a PM950 pro, and running AHCI with the latest Samsung 1.1 NVMe driver, and can live with the fact you can't reboot from within windows, I myself would not switch back to raid.

Are you aware of ?:

From post from mike_nbr from: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...hardware-and-software-problems.784691/page-14

"This is interesting: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19659947/20862614#20862614


FYI, I was able to get the 950 Pro NVMe recognized to install windows 10 on it by simply turning on Legacy boot options. Once that was turned on my windows install USB saw it as installable media. After installing the drive had an EFI boot sector so I was able to turn off legacy boot."

 

What processor do you have? i7 runs at full speed on battery, up until battery runs really low.

As for USB-C, what device is that? Can it be a docking station issue / incompatibility with recent drivers? Do you have the most recent Thunderbolt firmware / apps installed?

 

Well, won't it work with UEFI Windows 10 USB drive without switching to Legacy?
950 is arriving tomorrow and I will report back if I had any issues. I'm more thinking about doing a clone 1:1 instead of installing blank version of system once again.


BTW. What are your "Bios Last Time" guys? 14.2 doesn't seem to be THAT quick.

 

Do not use raid mode for the 950 as it will not use nvme drivers making it bloody slow.

I have uploaded home and pro windows 10 ISO's with the necessary intel boot drivers included, it also has the current drivers apart from thermals, chipset and bluetooth, basically it will get you installed on a 950 and to the desktop using your microsoft account as it detects the wifi.

Home. https://mega.nz/#!348HkbZD!ni8rK7ZZj6zwbHPDGiKOe7s-ayTagQeoATlpdfB1mHE

Pro. https://mega.nz/#!Os9wGaib!2MMY9Soud3I9KHqjJ5aRRoPw3vZpfSwdPSioqAKngTo

Home will detect and use the BIOS serial number for windows 10, Pro will only do that if your system came with pro pre installed.

Use Rufus v2.6 to create a USB installer and set the laptop back to secure boot (legacy off) as it is an uEFI compliant install.

Hope it helps.

 

I am waiting for a new laptop to be built as I found a defect on the LCD panel, looks perfect but you can feel a rough patch, I tried to clean it and it is a panel fault etched into the display, only way to see it is to wipe it with cleaning fluid as the liquid sticks to the problem.

Dell were going to send the engineer with a refurb panel but I refused it due to the amount of duff reconditioned parts I have had with the 9530.

 

GonZo - this is awesome information you provide. I'm on Precision 5510 actually (but in this subforum is much more info about same hardware for both), I guess chipset is a little different on these vs XPS?

I'm thinking about clone solution I could do... I'm on NVme 951 right now with perfectly set up OS and will need to move all the data to 950 Pro tomorrow.
Will have USB3 External SSD to do the backup of current system on 951, but the question is how to restore it on 950 Pro? I guess it won't be recognized by any of cloning software like EaseEU/Acronis in DOS mode, right?

 

i5-6300. Bios 15 fixed the 'plug back in still slow', but not the general 'slow on battery' for me. Windows runs in Hi Power profile in both cases.

USB is available directly via USB C, that's why the USB C to USB 3 cables are so cheap. No docking station etc needed. I tried 2 different cables and one hub from three different manufacturers. Obviously no one else did. The USB from the USB C port is not connected to the other USB 3 ports (those work) but to the TB chipset. USB 3.1, new, untested, buggy...

Of course.

 

Apart from the GPU either image will work fine, it will then pull the nvidia driver once on the desktop anyway so you have nothing to worry about.

Should you decide to go down the cloning route you will be happy to hear I just created a rescue disk with Macrium free edition. When it setup the rescue media on the 1st run I clicked the "Change PE version" button and selected windows PE 10 (it's the last option on the screen that pops up) follow it through and then select USB media and let it create a USB rescue drive.
It booted into macrium and found my 950 pro along with my USB3 external drive.

You can create the image in windows then fit the 950 and use the rescue media to restore it.

Remember to toast me when you have that well deserved beer after the swap and image

(take pics of the 950 before you install incase you ever need the PSID number to wipe the drive & e-drive settings in the future)

Oh FYI I installed my PM951 into my desktop and cloned the OS over to it, booted 1st time no problem so the 950 will be the same.

 

Awesome, beer toast is in order.

Final question, I counted 6 (including recovery) hidden partitions on PM951. Do I backup them all for the new disk? Or just C:/ with OS?
I'm always confused with this.

PS. My desktop is in pre m.2 era and due to upgrade with upcoming BF5
I need to do it with external USB.

Thanks again!

 

Image the drive or it will not boot!

C does not have the boot details

 

Hi guys,

I want to buy XPS 15 9550, i7, 256GB SSD, battery 56Wh. Can I install an extra SSD 2.5 format or no space there?

 

yes but good luck getting the parts, so far we have an Australian who managed to get the cable but you will also need the caddy and possibly mounts.
Better off getting the 1tb/32gb model and swapping the 1tb drive for an SSD.

 

Thank you for the info. Can I install extra NVMe SSD in addition to 1tb/32gb

Or I need to choose between: NVMe SSD model or 2.5 SDD/HDD model

 

there's a m2 slot + 2.5" slot if you have 56whr battery.

So yes you can. I had mine set up like this for a week then i realized i wasn't going to use the 1TB space, if i did, i would of just plugged in an external hd.

I ordered the 84whr battery directly from dell but its backordered for a month.

 

Thank you!

 

at least you can flog the small battery on here

 

Hmm, mine says 10.2. Still not that quick.

Mine's close to stock, but with the latest BIOS update. SSD drive, i5.

 

Does anyone else notice a odd ramp in fan speed when using the USB-C port? I can easily reproduce this when plugging any device into USB-C - including a blank USB-C to USB-A adapter (nothing is actually plugged in, it's just an empty adapter). My fans will always kick in about 3-5 dBa higher than where they were before the USB-C port is being used. Once i unplug - fans go back to normal. Like I said, this is an EMPTY port - just an adapter. Windows shouldn't even know anything was plugged in. This might actually be hardware related.

 

Do you have hibernation disabled? If so, enable it and make sure "Fast Startup" is also enabled. Then do a full shut down (not a restart) and re-check your "Last BIOS time":
http://www.windows10update.com/2015/05/windows-10-tutorials-66-how-to-enable-or-disable-fast-startup

I keep hibernation disabled and I'm only getting 10.2 seconds -- same as the guy above ^

 

Well, I have hibernation disabled and Fast startup is enabled? I'm confused

 

hmm.. not sure how that works then. I don't have the Fast startup option but figured I would if I enabled hibernation like the article mentions. What if you enable yours and try the cold start?

 

Yup just did, no change. But checked in PowerShell if startup was made as Fast Startup and it's confirmed. Still getting ~14,5.
Maybe some BIOS settings are doing this, no idea. Fastboot in BIOS is set to "Auto" / tried "Minimal" but nothing changed in speed times.

Not complaining anyway

 

DDR 4 boards are slower to POST due to extended memory testing, extra long POST time will be due to memory training that happens now and again.

 

Hi,

I have finally received my XPS 15 (i7/4k/16GB/1TB SSD/84Wh)! I had ordered it on October 27...

First thing I did was to carefully check whether I had alignment or build issues, and I must say I'm impressed because mine is really flawless! So the waiting time was worth it

I then decided on making my own "Signature Edition" by doing a clean install of Windows 10 (pro).
I know there are several tutorials already but I always thought there were some unclear or missing steps, so here's mine and feel free to comment whether I'm missing stuff... Might be helpful for other owners...

What's needed?
- XPS 15 of course
- >4GB USB key
- optional (but recommended): Ethernet USB3 adapter (natively supported by windows) - in this case: a Surface Ethernet adapter from Microsoft

What should you download?
1. Microsoft:
- Windows Media Creation Tool here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/software-download/windows10
2. Dell: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/bedhs1/product-support/product/xps-15-9550-laptop/drivers
- latest BIOS version (1.1.15)
- latest Wifi/Bluetooth DW1830 drivers
3. Intel:
- latest Intel RST drivers ( f6flpy-x64.zip ): https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver
- latest Intel HD 530 drivers: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/pr...-530-for-6th-Generation-Intel-Core-Processors
4. NVIDIA:
- latest GTX 960M drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/96885/en-us

Now with all of this you'll be able to start the clean install of Windows 10 (pro) with SSD.

So how should you proceed?
1. Create a windows 10 bootable install key with the Microsoft tool
2. On that key, create a folder f6flpy-x64 and place the unzipped content of f6flpy-x64.zip from the Intel site
3. Update BIOS to latest version from the Dell's website
4. Reboot + press F12 to access the BIOS, then restore default BIOS settings
5. Insert the Windows 10 bootable key, then reboot + press F12 and disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. Save and exit the BIOS.
6. If you did it right, the installation of Windows 10 should be started
7. Accept all terms and conditions. This is the tricky part if you have the 4K screen as the selection screens will be ridiculously small...
8. Choose the right Windows version and language
9. Now you will be faced with the issue that the SSD is not recognized. Select "load driver" then browse to the f6flpy-x64 folder you've created earlier on your usb key.
10. After 1 or 2 minutes, the installer will find the SSD. Now delete all current partitions till you have one single "unallocated" drive. When this is done, just click on Next so that the windows installation begins.
11. Install is relatively quick ( a few minutes). My suggestion is to plug your Ethernet adapter, because as the Wifi chipset doesn't have native Windows 10 drivers so you won't have a network connection running and you'll be forced to create a local account instead of just using your Microsoft account. My adapter is the Microsoft one (for Surface tablet) so it has direct support, I'm not sure about other adapters.
12. Now configure Windows, and you're a few clicks away from having a clean Windows 10 on your XPS 15. Next thing to do is to install the downloaded drivers for:
- Intel HD 530
- NVIDIA GTX 960M
- Dell Wifi/Bluetooth
13. Go to Device Manager and search for updates by right clicking on each listed device. I'm not sure anymore which ones had updates but there were quite a few.
14. Optional: if you have the need for some Dell applications or drivers, proceed with the installation after having downloaded them from Dell's support page. I have not had the time yet to see which ones are still missing in my config to have a fully up-to-date "Signature Edition" XPS 15.

Have fun!

 

I expect to get my sata cable today. I also ordered a set of sleeves, but similar ones are available on eBay. As for the cage, a previous poster said that he opened his machine and it was there. I hope so or else I'll have to go back to Dell again.

 

Great stuff. Thanks.

 

Can anyone besides Boe confirm that their machine with the 56W battery came with the cage for mounting the second HDD?

 

Yes, see my pic here. Of course, doesn't come with 2 spacers shown in Service Manual. Drive thickness limited to 7mm.

Others have reported cage is there as well - googling XDYGX cage will pick up a few hits.

My interposer cable is also on the truck for delivery today. Finally!

 

or download one of the two iso's I uploaded with most of the drivers pre installed and the raid boot drivers integrated.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

I just wanted to confirm that 1:1 clone with Macrium Backup worked like a charm.

 

Where can i download it?

 

I just received and installed the XDYGX sata interposer cable, hooking it up to my old Seagate 2TB hard drive, which is 9.5mm. Everything seems to be working fine; I'm not sure why they said the space is only big enough for a 7mm drive. Maybe there isn't enough airflow room for a 9.5mm drive, which would cause it to overheat?

A couple questions:

1) Does anyone know the Dell product number for the two spacers, in case I end up wanting to install a 7mm drive?

2) Is it possible/likely that Dell would update the RAM clock speed with a BIOS update? I'm thinking about updating the RAM, and deciding between getting the DDR4 2133/PC4 17000, which I believe is what the clock is currently set at, and more expensive RAM that is rated for a higher frequency (e.g., DDR4 2800/PC4 22400). If they aren't able/likely to increase the RAM speed, there is no point in buying anything that is faster (in fact, the RAM rated for higher frequency speeds also have higher Cas Latency and Timing numbers, which I guess means that they would end up being slower at a 2133Mhz clock speed than would the cheaper RAM which is rated at 2133Mhz).

 

Interesting, how is the fitment with the 9.5mm drive ie baseplate etc? I have an older sata ii SSD that I wanted to put in that's 9.5mm

Thanks,

 

Good bit of software isn't it

Home https://mega.nz/#!348HkbZD!ni8rK7ZZj6zwbHPDGiKOe7s-ayTagQeoATlpdfB1mHE
Pro https://mega.nz/#!Os9wGaib!2MMY9Soud3I9KHqjJ5aRRoPw3vZpfSwdPSioqAKngTo

Both are UK English but you can add any language post install. End of the day the sata drivers are in so no messing about and the 3 missing drivers (no inf files so I didn't work round it) will install once you get to desktop and it hits up windows update.

No they will not, even when dell ship with faster ram in older systems as it becomes the cheaper option they still stick to stock speeds as higher clocks = higher heat.

End of the day faster ram running at stock speeds = cooler ram usually

These samsung hit 75 degrees C while stress testing with Aida64 FPU test on the CPU, so hot I am considering fitting pads to allow them to touch the chassis. My PC has 2666 DDR4 and they never get more than warm with the heatspreaders so this did surprise me.

 

The baseplate screws into the computer, but there aren't any holes to screw the drive to the baseplate. The space for the drive is a bit longer and wider than the drive is, so in theory it would shake back and forth on the plane parallel to the bottom of the computer... however, when the plate is screwed in, the resulting friction between the plate, drive and the underside of the computer is sufficient to keep the drive from moving about.

 

Very much appreciated Techgee! My sata cables showed up today and look right. Of course they screwed up my order for the hdd sleeves (spacers) and only sent one of the four I ordered, so I had go through it all over again to get a replacement order which they promise to ship right out.

 

I'm guessing the drive holders/rails allow the extra height/z for 9.5mm.

How did u know ur drive was going to fit or was it a guess?

My 2 cents

 

I didn't know beforehand if it was going to fit. I figured if the 9.5mm HDD I had didn't fit, then I'd end up having to order a 7mm drive.

 

Hello all. I've taken the plunge and ordered the base UK model which has 32gb SSD and 1Tb HDD. I plan on doing a fresh install of Windows but I haven't done that on a system with 2 drives before. Is it simply a case of selecting the SSD or is the drive used as a cache drive requiring some other method?

Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.


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