Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

Agree, I even don't have those problems on my cheap old laptop.

 

This fixed the display driver crashes for me:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2665946

Edit: link not working now. Here's the text:

1. Exit all Windows based programs.
2. Click Start, type regedit in the Search box, and then double-click regedit.exe from the results above. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Browse to and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers
4. On the Edit menu, click New, and then select the following registry value from the drop-down menu specific to your version of Windows (32 bit, or 64 bit):
   
   For 32 bit Windows
   1. Select DWORD (32-bit) value.
   2. Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
   3. Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and click OK.
   
   For 64 bit Windows
   1. Select QWORD (64-bit) value.
   2. Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
   3. Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and clickOK.
5. Close the registry editor and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

 

Mine's on back-order for a few weeks.
Apparently the 4K touch LCD is the cause.

Sigh...

 

Got a call this morning from an idiot telling me I needed to change the order to a different LCD screen, I asked what LCD I should change it too since there is only 1 4K LCD. They then also emailed about changing my order. I've sent an email in about the idiot who called me, waiting to hear back from Dell.

 

The SATA cable is indeed xdygx

 

I reformatted mine - basically installing no dell packages. Is there a program to detect the light in the room and set the display brightness accordingly? Does the non 4K version have an ambient light sensor to adjust the screen brightness? I never looked before I reformatted.

 

If anyone here replaces their standard 256GB m.2 with a 512 pro, I'd really love to know the boot time for each - before and after.

 

I couldn't really see a huge difference if difference at all with the 950. Going from SSD to SSD isn't like going from HDD to SSD.

The read speeds were already pretty good with the PM951 models, even booting up it not like the drive is hard out writing, rather than reading.

I guess that it both being PCIe and NVMe puts them on a par somewhat at that level.

If anything look like my tray icons loaded a little faster, but could be that I was just watching them.

I didnt notice the area under and area on the palm rest where the 950 was a bit warmer. I can't be sure, as I actually know where is was after opening, so could be just being overall sensitive looking for it. Although I think is warmer around that area, or feel a little warm when I couldn't notice nothing before.

 

Regarding the speakers on this laptop....

Wow. Easily the worst I've ever experienced. As others have noted, they sound like something is loose in there. They definitely sound rattly - in a distracting kind of obvious way. It's really so bad that you have to ask yourself is this machine defective?

Then you remember.

It's a Dell, not an Apple. And then you accept it.

 

Yes they are terrible, I also complained about the speakers.

I did find an updated driver on the dell website which improved the crackle/popping but nothing can make the speakers sound good! my 12" tiny MacBook speakers are amazing in comparison

 

Quick question: has Dell changedthe power port? My local Dell reports the Dell Power Companion is not compatible with this generation of XPS products. It looks impossible to me!

 

Its not the storage controller we want to remove. It's the driver for the drive itself. Under storage controllers I have the Intel Chipset SATA Raid controller, and those drivers come from the Intel Chipset drivers available on the dell website. If you click on the drive itself under Device manager it says its using Microsoft driver version 10.0.10240.16384 and it has a date of 6/21/2006 (which I imagine isnt true).

 

A significant amount of write and read speed. PM is not a performance drive, SM is.

 

Anyone else notice sound through headphones is TERRIBLE with the Realtek driver? I had to switch from Realtek HD Audio to just HD Audio Device in device manager to make headphones not have a weird echo/reverb type sound.

This is a clean install without the Dell sound manager though.

 

Hi guys,

I am currently on a Macbook Pro Retina 15, mainly for its quiet fans and the touchpad.

I wonder if the new XPS 15 9550 is comparable on any of the above?

Basically, my MBP runs at 2400 rpm all the time but I don't hear the fan at all. How does the XPS fare? I don't mind the fan rev'ing up when I run 3D intensive programs.

As for the touchpad, how fluid is it when using gestures and all?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

Couple of things.

1. Upgrading to the Samsung 950 Pro you aren't going to notice a difference just doing basic computing. If you do a lot of disk intensive work then you'll see some advantages, but unless you are an extreme power user you don't really need to do the upgrade. I just did it because I want the best, not because its going to make my computer experience that much better.

2. New Bios update that came down fixes the CPU throttling issue when you go from AC to Battery back to AC. It took me a few times trying to install the Bios update until I realized you have to press delete during the reboot process to trigger the bios update. Verify the Bios update took place by using an app like CPU-Z to read what version your mobo is at.

3. Even with the regedit hack, I'm still having issues with display drivers and firefox. I was getting a message saying something about firefox not being autherized to use the GPU or something to that effect. I will pay attention next time and happens and report back exactly what it says. I dont know why firefox was even trying to access the dGPU in the first place. The fix for me was top change it so firefox now uses the nvidia GPU instead of the Intel one. This is not a good solution however as battery usage will increase. It's not just us that's having problems, there are posts all over the place about the Intel HD crashing issue.

 

SM use MLC NAND and PM use TLC NAND.
MLC > TLC in performance and durability but not in density.
That's why 1TB is already available in TLC and not in MLC (no 1TB 950 pro nor 1TB SM951)

 

Are you sure about that? The BIOS update to 1.00.07 did not fix the CPU throttling problem for me as well as some others who posted on the Dell forums.

QUOTE="OneStepAhead, post: 10138669, member: 525012"]
2. New Bios update that came down fixes the CPU throttling issue when you go from AC to Battery back to AC. [/QUOTE]

 

Glad to hear that the CPU issues is fixed. Intel Graphics may be fixed in new Intel driver and it's not Dell issues.

Do you have any other problems with Dell XPS 15? Terrible sound, bad spacebar or build quality problems?

 

Anyone know if the non 4K version has an ambient light sensor?

 

There's more than one PowerCompanion out there. You want the 18,000 mAh model that is Dell Part No. PW7015L.

 

I have the new XPS 15 at home and use an early-2014 rMBP 15 at work every day. Both computers are silent when idling or doing simple tasks. I actually think that the MBP fans come on sooner than the XPS when ramping up activity. I am really impressed with how quiet the fans on the XPS stay at high GPU and CPU load. They are definitely quieter than my MBP at full load.

The touchpad on the MBP is better, but the one on the XPS is also good, and probably the best I have used on a Windows laptop. I also have to say that the keyboards on both laptops are very similar in layout and feedback, so the typing experience is great going back and forth.

 

Thanks for the information mate.

What aspect of the touchpad do you think the MBP is better than the XPS? Is it the feel or operation (i.e. the tracking and clicking)?

It puzzles me how no one else is making a touchpad just as good to be honest.

 

It is to do with the OS's imo, I think Mac OSX has just been better configured for touch pad than windows, especially various programs etc. I don't think it is a hardware/tech issue, but correct me if I am wrong.

 

The MBP touchpad is extremely accurate and comfortable to use. The XPS one seems slightly less accurate, though I have not taken much time to try tweaking it.

 

Thanks again frank, much appreciated.

 

[/QUOTE]

Didn't fix it for me either, although I did just realize that I hadn't installed the bios update earlier. Still hangs at 17x when I plug back in.

 

960M overclocks nicely with the usual +135 on the core obtainable, more impressive is the memory has a +25% overclock in it, to allow over 100 GB/s bandwidth

Actual boost clock is 1323 MHz

ASIC is 75%

 

I have a question - when playing movies 10gb + the sound is choppy so I have to change to a lower format for it to play normally. What is the reason for this?

 

That's exactly the one Dell told me is not compatible.

 

Is it possible to just clone the PM ssd onto a 950 without reinstalling windows 10 from scratch?

 

Of course it is. You can use one of the many cloning softwares available.

 

Ok I contacted US and UK Dell support, and they both say it is compatible. My local Dell retailer is, as usual, unreliable.

 

Which software have you used to overclock ?

 

I use MSI afterburner for everything no matter what platform I use

 

I will take a look at this possibility.
Does it really increase FPS ?
For example in GTA 5 1080p with everything in high/ultra I'm getting 50FPS, will I reach 60FPS ?
How much more does it heat ? What is your max temp at those frequencies ?
Isn't it a little dangerous to OC a mobile graphic card in a such small case ?

 

Yeah, it'd be great to see some before/after benchmarks and thermal readings to see what kind of gains you are getting with an OC.

 

Yes it increase FPS
Not sure about GTA V, but it could be the difference between 50 and 60, although asking for 60 might be a little to optimistic.
For the memory overclock, really is nothing in terms of heat. The GPU core will rise 2-3c at most, but wont be much because the voltage to the GPU core has not changed.
I would not consider overclocking notebook dangerous, and there is Nvidia +135 MHz limit on the CPU core, there isn't really anything to worry about.

 

My temps for ultra everything for blizzard games get it to about 73 degree C. How high of a temp can you get to safely for a 960m?

 

are you using vlc? Windows native doesn't do well with mkv's with surround audio.

 

Can't wait until stuff like this comes out for the Thunderbolt 3 port - seems you'll be able to attach just about any combination of peripherals to Thunderbolt 3. Add a top of the line graphics card, fast attached storage, etc. to the 9550. For now, best I can find are single port 4k@60Hz DP or HDMI adapters - don't see any Thunderbolt 3 hubs yet. Ah, the techno wait...

 

Here is the view angle of my XPS 15, dark color is shiftfed with a red tint.
Are yours also affected ?
Check properly, as I was pretty sure that my display was fine until I really check on a completely black screen and perceive the shift.

 

On my machine it sounds like the speakers aren't positioned symmetrically; the left speaker sounds like it's on the left, and the right speaker more central. Is this the same for everyone else?

 

Generally, temperatures over 90 degrees celsius are dangerous and possible to damage your hardware.

The 960 (desktop) has a max. of 98degrees C ( http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-960/specifications) but I cannot find this for the mobile version at http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus/geforce-gtx-960m/specifications

 

Is it possible to monitor temps in real-time with an in-game overlay, like Steam's FPS counter? I would be interested in keeping tabs on my temps while gaming, as the area above the GPU gets REALLY hot on my machine. I have not noticed any throttling, though.

 

I found this http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...ame-CPU-Memory-Motherboard-Monitoring-Overlay
It looks like you can get something like in this video:

 

How do I create a USB recovery drive? These Dell machines no longer come w/ Dell Backup & Recovery software...

 

1. Windows 10, just click on the little search icon next to the start button.
2. Type in "recovery"
3. Click on "Create a recovery drive"
4. Put in you USB drive and start.

• This make the recovery exactly the same as you first turn the XPS on, will have the same Dell apps included.
• You will need at least 16GB drive.
• When brand new blank SSD is installed. No need to press a key of boot menu. It will move to the USB recovery drive and boot that for restore. Very easy

 

Thanks!

 

If you think view angle are fine when looking straight, look at this :



I've made a thread with all the angles here : http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...rible-view-angle-color-shift-red-tint.784275/