Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

New owner here coming from Apple. Been using Macbook Pros for the good part of 5 years now however I wanted to give Windows a chance again and actually picked up a Surface Pro 4 i7/256gb in the summer. Love and hate relationship as I loved the hardware and potential ie touch screen, pen, 2 in 1 etc, but it was buggy as hell and there was not a day that went by where there wasn't some odd bug or glitch.

I waited for the new Macbook Pro with touchbar only to be underwhelmed and sticker shocked so I decided to give Windows one more try. After some research the XPS 15 really stood out to me especially with its ability to be upgraded ie memory, ssd, wifi card etc. and the fact that they have had a year to iron out bugs.

I shopped around and found a great deal on one with 512 ssd and 4k screen.

The first thing I did was upgrade the bios then wipe out the machine and do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro (I did switch to AHCI for the ssd which is the OEM Toshiba).

Installed all the latest drivers (well the necessary ones) and used the newest Nvidia drivers instead of Intel for the 960. Reinstalled all my software and my files. (things like Adobe Apps - Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Office, Chrome etc)

Here are my observations since receiving the machine 3 days ago:

- Its a nice piece of machinery. Love the screen and build.

- Nice to have a touch screen though I learned from my SP4 I don't used it as much as I thought I would.

- I wish it had Mini Displayport - I have an LG Ultrawide 34UM95 3440x1440 which was plug and okay with the SP4 and displayport. I wanted to take advantage of the Thunderbolt 3 port on the XPS with the LG which has 2 x thunderbolt 2 ports but had no luck. Finally got a USB-C to displayport adapter and it works though quirky ie sometimes it reverts back to mirroring the XPS display which I don't want.

- Windows still crashes a lot. This is one thing I miss about Macs, they just worked and even though they sometimes got a spinning beach ball of death it was once in a blue moon. I have had BSOD's 3-4 times a day since I got this machine.

- While doing editing work in Photoshop, the application crashed and suddenly I got the message that it was blocked from accessing GPU hardware... go figure. Seems to work the last 24 hours though Photoshop and Illustrator have frozen up a few times.

- Had a BSOD just before writing this post and lost connection to my bluetooth keyboard and mouse. After that bluetooth would not see any devices so I uninstalled and reinstalled the Bluetooth driver (came with a Killer card).

- Was originally planning on upgrading the Toshiba ssd but after reinstalling everything and running CrystalDiskMark, its actually not so bad:

Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : 2618.387 MB/s
Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : 1564.930 MB/s

Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 565.991 MB/s [138181.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 408.687 MB/s [ 99777.1 IOPS]

Sequential Read (T= 1) : 1610.859 MB/s
Sequential Write (T= 1) : 1514.928 MB/s

Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 45.414 MB/s [ 11087.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 158.658 MB/s [ 38734.9 IOPS]

Test : 1024 MiB [C: 43.8% (208.7/476.4 GiB)] (x5) [Interval=5 sec]
Date : 2016/12/30 15:19:37

OS : Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 14393] (x64)

Needless to say I did not crash while writing this post so I'm thankful for that.

I've always loved fiddling with computers but even I will draw the line when work needs to be done and one needs a reliable machine.

Any new machine has an adjustment period where things need to be learned and ironed out. I really like the potential of the XPS and hope it can settle down and serve me well.

I look forward to learning from you all and hopefully getting some tips and tricks at making this machine run rock solid.

 

I just resceived my new XPS 15 9550 (with Toshiba) yesterday and tried CrystalDiskMark
For Q= 32,T= 1 I'm only getting for 1700 MB/S in read and ~900 MB/S in write.

Is there any firmware update i've to install or something ?

PS : I tried before reinstall in RAID mode and Dell Bloatware but also after clean install in AHCI.

Do you have any idea why ?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...tom-iso-download.789769/page-30#post-10344410

 

In my RSS feed of 9550 drivers, a new Intel 530 driver popped up ( http://www.dell.com/support/home/uk...driverID=2DJGM&productCode=xps-15-9550-laptop) yet when I try & install it, it says I don't have the right hardware. Has anyone else been able to install them?

 

Either use "DDU" to uninstall your old driver or extract the content of the download and install via the device manager to get round it.

 

Thanks for your reply !

Tried installed both, but i'm still seeing Standard NVM express controller and on OCZ Utility i don't see the SSD.

Here's my crystaldisk results http://imgur.com/09Atmv1

And info in device manager : http://imgur.com/Sun1C9x

Any ideas why I can't get the toshiba controller ?

 

Yes, you need to extract the drivers to a folder and manually install them by right clicking the nvme controller and click properties then update driver, press browse my computer then the let me pick option followed by have disk.

navigate to the extracted folder then the x64 folder and click the inf, it will throw a warning that you can ignore and force the driver to install, it should then show as a XG3

 

Great ! It worked thank you !

here are the results : http://imgur.com/a/O0eW7

Still 1000M slower than magurochan in Sequential RW, weird isn't it ?

 

Thanks for the suggestions - unfortuantely even when I use device manager to explicitly use that folder, it says that it's not compatible with my hardware. Did you install this driver OK?

 

Yes, unless you tell it to use the inf file you are doing it wrong, you can't just point it to the folder you have to manually install it.

You are updating the storage controller and not the disk drive?

 

This is the intel graphics driver, not storage....

 

Dunno why you think it is the video as that would generate a crash dump, I have seen this fault countless times and it is the storage controller.

You can install the video driver by using DDU to uninstall it 1st.

 

Urm - I think you're confused, there are a couple of us in this thread, someone else is talking about crashes & storage controllers, I'm asking about intel video drivers, and have no crashes. I'll try DDU & see how it goes thanks!

 

feking hell, sorry. I am bouncing between 2 threads!

 

Okay, all fine after BIOS update from 1.2.14 to 1.2.18. It didn't work the first time, but I just ran it once again and it worked.
Updated Intel video to the most recent at Dell site, 20.19.15.4531, the flicker thing seems to be even a bit better than previously with .4331.

Edit: this is regarding the update of the 9550 with the "cache" 32GB SSD in RAID replaced with the Samsung 850 Pro in ACHI.

 

I have the Toshiba 1T SSD and just switched from RAID to AHCI and successfully installed the XG3 storage controller driver. All OK but underwhelmed with performance differences.

CrystalDisk Mark
RAID and Standard NVM Express Controller driver: http://imgur.com/a/DkXAs
AHCI and XG3: http://imgur.com/a/zy3MQ
EDIT: Mileage varies on tests but above figures are indicative.

I expected better figures for sure or is my interpretation of numbers lacking? I was hoping for something approaching 2600 Mb/s reads. Any opinions/advice welcome.

One plus is that CrystalDisk Info now recognises the drive: http://imgur.com/a/ubaX9

EDIT: Incidentally everything was very stable in RAID, I've never had a BSOD (touch wood). Simply hoped for performance gains.

 

It seems the new Toshiba drives that require the driver forcing are not the same speed as the orriginal XG3 trio that did 2400/1400 on a good day so it would seem you're SOOL

Still that is a good speed for a OEM NVMe drive.

 

As for the Samsung SSD 960 PRO 1TB with AHCI ( http://tzu.dmd2.ly/3H1n2w1Q290z) it looks like this:
http://tzu.dmd2.ly/1L3F2T013a10 and I'm wondering why my 4K read are pretty much slower as your Toshiba ?

 

And you are out of luck I can confirm the new drives being shipped are a new model called XG4 with lower read/write speeds. A lot lower in fact as in 1000 MiB/s slower on read & write.

think I will keep my drive if I upgrade laptop!

They are finally doing a SED model but typically Dell do not buy that one!!!

https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/info/docget.jsp?did=55015

 

For you info: the Toshiba NMVE ends with PUK is a XG4 drive. It is a lower device than XG3 (end with PU7). XG4 NAND type is TLC that cheaper and lower SSD Life Cycle than XG3 (MLC NAND type)

From the catalog your speed is correct. However the 4K is slow (could be depend on your environment, you drive is a system disk and there were some system disk operation during you was running the benchmark.

You can see it in this catalog https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/info/docget.jsp?did=55015

 

Thanks for this useful info !

Do you know if the LiteOn SSD that's shipped with some XPS 15 is TLC or MLC ?

As my old xps which shipped with the LiteOn had huge coil whine problems, dell sent me a ne one with the Toshiba. Do you think I can switch the drives ? ^^'

 

Yes.

 

Can confirm mine is this: http://imgur.com/a/4Zsz0
So its an XG4 not XG3 as you say.
Sucks a bit but I'll cope.
Do I stay on XG3 storage controller or revert back to stock one. Is there something more suitable for XG4?

I've run the tests many times and I get these speeds (more or less). Wonder why 4k is slow in that case?

 

4k is often slower on the laptops for some reason, and the XG3 driver works fine and makes the system stable if you had the BSOD issue with no crash dumps. Expect XG4 to be officially supported in the next driver.

 

I think the PC makers are adjusting for the recent spike in RAM and SSD prices. PC makers can increase prices, reduce mem-storage spec, or some mix.

An important pricing factor is that Samsung will need to squeeze as much profit out of RAM and SSD businesses as possible to mitigate the massive phone fire and appliance recall debacles.

 

Good news! I complained several times about the Dell dock having no second TB3 port. Now docks have been announced from Elgato, OWC and CalDigit - all of them with two fully functional TB3 ports via USB-C. Finally...

 

The board inside the TB16 is different, I can't say if the differences are significant or not. Here's a couple pictures.

 

We all knew this was coming. I, for one, am perfectly happy with my current XPS-15.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3153...-updated-xps-15-that-sports-new-hardware.html

 

I have installed Samsung 960 nvme with the bloatfree install. Should I use Sammy drivers or different ones?

 

Use the samsung NVMe drivers

 

Could I get the 97Whr battery, found in the new XPS 15 9560, and put it in my 9550?

 

First thing I'd wait for are the photos of the internals of the 9560 from a site like notebookcheck and do a visual comparison.
If it looks the same and you are adventurous you can try it then or wait for someone to really confirm it.
Otherwise I guess no one here can really know, you could shoot a twitter to Dell if you like, though.

After that you'd have to wait until someone else here tries it and reports back.

 

Seeing how long it took to get a battery at all after the first release of the 9550 the real answer here is - you will not get one.

 

I saw somewhere that the 97Whr battery was soldered to the PC, but I also hope that it is still doable..

 

Are you refering to this: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https...9x01j4j2vcd2awpbyoxgxvovo6z/view/119424866041
"56Whr or 97Whr Battery (built-in)*
*Battery is built-in to the laptop and is not replaceable by the customer."

If so, the spec sheet for the 9550 states the same: https://www.hardsoftcomputers.co.uk/media/Product/416/pdf/XPS15SpecSheet.pdf

Also, the battery for the new XPS 13 got an capacity increase, anyone tried using the new battery with the old XPS 13?

 

Thanks for pointing that out, then perhaps it will be feasible ! I'll look out for the XPS 13, is there a tear down yet ?

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-13-9360-QHD-i5-7200U-Notebook-Review.178844.0.html
Looks identical to the 9350.

 

Some guy apparently asked a dell support guy on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5hijkv/xps_13_9360_battery_swap_into_9350/ and the size isn't quite the same (?)
But then again I have doubts the 2 batteries seem the same size like you point it out.
( http://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Dell/XPS_13-9350/PA290225.jpg = XPS 13 9350
http://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm__MG_9826_18e2023cd4.jpg = XPS 13 9360 )
The only difference I see is that curved piece of plastic at the bottom of the 9360

 

Since when did Dell support guys have a frikkin clue?

 

I am looking at a used dell xps 15 9550 and the owner sent me a screenshot which mentions ASUS PCE-AC88 802.11ac as network adapter. I googled and it looks like a desktop wifi card. From what i have there is either Killer 1535 or DW1830 provided.

 

not much, which is why I am sceptical !
So we'll have to wait until some guy tries swapping the battery

 

Has anyone upgraded/extended their warranty?
They want to charge me close to 300 euro's to upgrade my expired warranty to the premium (onsite support) one.
What should I aim for w.r.t. to the price for 1 or 2 extra years?

 

Hello everyone, I am brandy new here, just received my first personal Windows machine since about 2002 (been a Mac user since), but the company I work for gave me an allowance to pickup a laptop to work remotely from home and I ended up with a XPS 15 w/ 4k. It just arrived yesterday and I am still getting accustomed to Windows 10 (using Windows 7 on my PC at work).

I have a serious question, coming from a MacBook Pro, is there any way I can use the trackpad of the 9550 to go BACK in a window/browser? On my MBP's, I just swipe left with 2 fingers and it takes me back (in a folder, browser, etc). Is there a way to do that with this XPS machine?

I am still reading up on how to get this machine where I want it, but I cannot find an answer to what gesture to use on the trackpad to go BACK.

Thanks!!
-Tony

 

I am about to purchase a previously owned Dell XPS 15 9550 4k through a classifieds website .

Today the owner told me that he is getting problem "But sometimes its goes to sleep mode and don't get back" He also said that he updated the nvidia drivers recently after which the display issues occured.


Link to videos (small 2mb)
-https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByYK7jutFMj8TzlRbmZid3FSZFE/view?usp=drivesdk
-https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByYK7jutFMj8Q0FFYXRRVnlfR3c/view?usp=drivesdk

I am currently travelling so cant dig the forums much.

 

Two finger swipe is scrolling - you can only turn it on or off as far as I know. It's up to the application whether that takes you back, in Edge for example it does.

 

Think my 9550 gave up the ghost this morning. Was working fine yesterday evening but when I turned it on this morning nothing. Well not quite nothing, it has power, the fans whir on and off, the backlight flickers on and off but there is nothing on the screen. Seems stuck in a loop pre bios. The d+power screen test works but fn+power general diagnostics doesn't. Have powered on/off may times. Dell support say there is nothing they can do and I can't speak to my UK rep or exchange team til Monday. PIA.

I'm assuming if dell can't fix then nothing I can do to fix/troubleshoot over the weekend but has anyone seen similar issue before. Motherboard?

 

Try connecting to monitor via HDMI cable. There are a few ways to assign where screen image is sent to (EDIT - CAUTION AS F8 CAN BRICK 9550). If that works, could be the LCD cable is a bit loose (near battery) and needs to be reseated. See recent posts on that LCD cable screw as normal screwdriver will strip the screw...

Also RAM is poorly clipped on. So try removing RAM cards and try reinserting carefully.

 

As above but try removing the battery 1st.
I once got out of a loop by holding the power button after 1st tapping to turn the system on.

 

Thanks, just tried HDMI to tv and nothing. Don't have access to T5 screwdriver at the moment so can't get inside. Bugger!

 

This has codes for LCD cable, RAM issues...

Note there are two dropdowns: "power led states" and "single diagnostic power led". I think the second was more helpful. Can remember which LED was blinking (below touchpad, caps lock, power button). Not perfect guide but gets you started.