Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

See Below. There's also a video for each part as well.
What else do you need?

https://www.parts-people.com/blog/category/dell-xps-repair-manuals/xps-15-9550/

 

Yea i always wanted to try it myself but i am concerned i do damage to it. Is there a way to like practice this or something on a different computer or not? I mean for example i have 2 laptops that no longer work... one is asus and one is sager... i mean would trying to open those laptops up and say remove the ram and hard drive and put it back in ... be good practice before i do it with this dell? It should be same thing right in terms of removing say ssd and ram? But battery still should be similar in a way?


Also... why in the world are laptop batteries internal? I remember years ago... i had a dell laptop inspiron and an asus... these were like 10 years or and longer... when i needed a new battery replacement, i bought it off ebay and batteries were external... which means you take out old battery and put in new battery just like that. Thus anyone could do it and it takes a few seconds only.


Does anyone know the answer to this? Is it because that way they get more money out of consumers since many ppl dont want to try to open laptop etc?

Thanks... i just watched the few parts of the video. It seems sort of simple from looking at it.


But my concern is it says you have to be really careful with it.


By the way, i assume most ppl here do things themselves when it comes to replace battery or ssd etc?

 

You are very welcome yet First & foremost, do you have 2 separate accounts here and are you and Drew1 one of the same?

The word "careful" can go a long way and be interpreted many ways as well. If you just don't do things rough and use common sense when something is not going as outlined/instructed you should do just fine and in turn build up some real confidence in yourself, which I truthfully think you definitely need.

 

Hey. I just noticed that. Yes drew1 and drew01 is both my account. The thing is one of these accounts, i created a long time ago pretty certain its this one...the other was a bit later because i did not remember my password for the old account. So i created a new drew account. Thats why the username is the same almost. This was many many years ago. I started asking these xps questions on my xps laptop and at the moment im on my drew1 account on my xps laptop right now.


But sometimes i would post on this forum on my other laptop when im using the other one. Apparently im logged into drew01 in the other laptop. I had no idea of this.


I will log into the drew1 account on my other laptop then. I guess what i did was when trying to log into my drew account on my other laptop, i forgot if it was 01 or 1 and apparently either worked. I must have used very similar passwords for both accounts then.


Well i want to know if there is a way i could test something like this on another computer. Like if i have an old laptop... i have an asus one... could i try to open it up and remove the ram and hard drive/ssd there... then put it back in. Would that be a way to like test doing this myself on an old computer that doesn't work? I dont have a hard drive on that old computer but i guess i can put an old hard drive in and lock it in... then take it out. Thus do this as practice? Before i try this on my xps laptop if i want to do so?


Well if i know how to do this myself, i wouldn't have to spend money each time at repair shop to have them do this for me. I mean i saw that person do it last time, it did not seem that complicated though. But they did had issues when after they put in my new replacement battery, they could not get the computer on for almost 30 minutes. Then it suddenly worked.

 

I honestly thought they were both you yet I learned a long time ago in life to never ASSUME.

Send a private email to a moderator and ask them if it's possible to merge your accounts as it's worth a shot.

I don't know, who knows, I sadly don't trust anyone these days and maybe it was done on purpose so you wouldn't be able to see how easy it was to do and try and do them/it next time yourself. You know "Job Security"

At any rate in answer to your question(s), I always tell everyone that OJT (on the job training) is the best way to learn something in my Book, so Yes, go ahead and get some necessary tools and fool around with your other computer, which you have and can, and each and every time you complete what you set out & intended to do you will not only build knowledge & skills yet you will also build confidence in yourself, which is essential and greatly needed in taking on jobs, tasks and etc.

 

Hey. Well i have went to that guy many times before this to replace an old battery with a new one. Every other time he did this, there were zero issues. It was just weird, after a few times, it worked.


Okay but when i try this on an asus computer, taking out the ram and say putting an old hard drive or ssd in it and putting it into place, then taking it out... it should be exactly the same way as my xps laptop though right? Obviously where the ram and hard drive is located is going to be different.


Also i have another battery question. When i unplugged my ac charger from my laptop but had my 2 monitors connected to it as normal... does that use more battery as oppose to my laptop just by itself not connected to any of the 2 monitors? Also i know ppl use their laptops outside the home by itself without connecting to monitors so having good battery is important. But does it ever make sense to use your xps laptop at home with 2 monitors connected and just use it on battery power as oppose to connected to ac? Or that makes no sense at all.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019FRDAY6/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_5?smid=A2R0FX412W1BDT&psc=1


Also related to this,


I saw in this description, it reduces battery consumption by over 40%. I never heard of this. If anything, wouldn't more ram use more battery life of your battery?

 

Depending on how old that computer is, you can't simply transplant the RAM. It might be that your other laptop is so old it still uses DDR3 RAM, which is not compatible with the XPS 15. The HDD might work, but you need an extra caddy and cable for fitting it in the XPS. There is also no reason to connect your laptop to two monitors on battery if you have an AC near you.

No, this RAM is not going to give you 40% more battery life. Really, there is not much you can do to increase battery life than merely optimising your usage and keeping the battery healthy. Limit the charging threshold whenever you are on AC and you don't need a battery soon, thats the best you can do to keep that battery healthy.

 

I might be wrong yet I was under the belief that he was merely practicing removing existing parts from his old Asus computer and then putting the same ones right back to get hands-on experience and confidence and not transplanting anything from his XPS 15.

 

Ah, I misunderstood that, sorry. In that case, yes, (re)placing these parts should be fairly similar.

 

I bought another dell power companion pw7015l but this time from amazon as oppose to dell. Reason because much cheaper on dell but i read amazon doe sell counterfeit products. Does anyone know how amazon sells this companion for under 90 dollars when dell sells it for 125 plus tax etc? I got it under 90 dollars total with tax. I bought if from amazon.com as oppose to 3rd party sellers. But what is strange was when there was price drop from certain sellers, amazon did the same exact thing... So does that mean those 3rd party sellers sell it to amazon for them to keep?


https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Power-C...ords=pw7015l&qid=1569794021&s=gateway&sr=8-16


Dell link for it

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/del...18000-mah-pw7015l/apd/451-bbkv/pc-accessories



This is how my dell companion looked when i bought it directly from dell 6 months ago and it came with this box.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Power...955488?hash=item23c3ed2ae0:g:TLEAAOSwp~pdW9~t



I just received it from amazon and the box looks like this except it clearly shows pw7015l and does say dell notebook powebank plus. There was like plastic wrap over it but it was not taped like it was brand new like it came from dell. Like imagine you put it in plastic bag or so. Do you think i should worry about this? I never seen this type of box before. Also there are some scratches no box and im not 100% its new. I haven't opened it yet and thinking about returning it. Do you think im too paranoid?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-DELL-P...374500&hash=item23c2cffe09:g:dRMAAOSwFTddSIzw



Im concerned it might be counterfeit but more worried if it got tampered with malware etc. Opinions? Also the box i came with, it doesn't look new. The taping on it looks like it might been open box. I have not opened the box yet as im strongly considering returning it. Opinions?

 

I know you're going to unfortunately take the following the wrong way so take this anyway you want.
You by my evaluation are definitely & extremely very "paranoid" when it comes to your electronics and I don't know yet something just tells me it even goes further then just that, so tell me, if this is in fact the case and with the very obvious not-so-good Amazon reviews, why then would you nickel & dime something that evidently bothers you greatly when you should of spent the extra $'s and bought it directly through DELL, which comes with support, service and your ever wanting Peace-of Mind, as this just truly Baffles & Perplexes me greatly?

 

Hey... Yes i'm extremely paranoid. But i want to be very careful. Well the last time i bought it directly from dell, it was because i saw a great deal with discount. I regret not being 2 of them at the time. But one reason was because someone said it could last many hours so i figure one is good enough. But now because the price is high on dell site, i figure okay amazon price is really low and its shipped from amazon services inc meaning its from them... it should be fine. Thus had the packaging came in shrink wrap like how a brand new iphone would be like... i would not even question this and use it.


But when i saw there was nothing covering it. Then i saw it was a completely different box it was in which i never seen... i still have the original box for the powerbank i bought from dell 6 months ago, i thought... why does the box have this design.. like is it counterfeit, recall? Then when i tried to find a box design like this on google images and ebay, i saw this same design but for a hybrid adapter with powerbank and read lot of these got recalled a while back. That made me concerned even more etc.


I know... i always want piece of mind. But because i thought okay amazon.com and from them... it would be fine. I would not buy it from a 3rd party seller on amazon though. Also i would even feel more comfortable getting one from ebay with the same box im used to then this. I mean i never see this box design ever for this powerbank pw7015l from any seller on ebay. So wouldn't that make you wonder at least a bit?

Okay so after careful inspection of the box, i just noticed this at the back of the box.


Its imported by Canada from dell.ca


On the bottom left with all the wordings, it has For Argentina Only. So this means this is a canadian product but meant for resale in argentina?


Is there a way to find out from dell if this is the box that is being used now? I did notice this though. On my dell pw7015l, it does say in the sticker of the powerbank made in china and 2019/01.


The sticker of the back of this one says 2091/04.


I took a look at the back of the sticker of the powerbank for each and it looks the same.

 

Hey all. The computer place where i go to always seem to not be there anymore. That guy was my computer guy but he isn't there anymore.


I found a place where they told me they will take a look at my laptop. I asked them would they be able to do everything in front of me as oppose to me leaving it there and picking it up later.. and they said its possible.


So right now im going to turn bitlocker off. Download macrieum free and do the copy process. Then im going to order the dell bigger battery and the 500gb or 1tb ssd.


So when i go to the repair shop, bring all these things. But after he put in the new battery and new ssd... i most likely will not upgrade the ram... when he starts up the computer, do i make sure he boots it from the usb or does he start it up like normal. And then do that? I ask this because well if he was to boot it from my usb, i probably have to pay more for that right since he is sort of installing it for me? But he still has to power on my laptop to make sure my laptop works with the battery and the new ssd right?


Such as the cloning thing... to do the transfer... i can easily do this very quick after he put the new m.2 ssd and battery in it right?



Thanks.

 

A few weeks ago I updated the BIOS and Intel HD Graphics drivers to latest on Dell support site. Of course, M$ still pushes some OS updates so I have a tough time controlling that.Recently, I had some problems with the refresh issues on some web pages scrolling and a few computer freezes/white screens that required restart.


Today, I updated Dell "certified" Intel HD Graphics Driver (dated 04 Sep 2019, Version: 26.20.100.6951 ,A13) using DDU to latest intel driver in safe mode

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29074/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers?product=97502
Version: 26.20.100.7212 (Latest) Date: 9/25/2019

After a few minutes of use, I haven't seen computer freezes/white screens. But the M$ Edge still seems a bit glitchy on those websites so that might be a problem on MS Win 10 Pro 1903 build 18362.418. M$ seems to have depreciated Edge browser (and never bothered to include basic features like a search bookmarks). I'll just try to move everything to Firefox and stop using Edge.

 

For whatever it's worth.
I was once solely a Firefox user yet they sadly started allowing ads of my searches in my browsing, which I just hated along with automatically disabling some add-on's with each update and I finally had enough.

I now use Epic private browser for most of my needs and every once in awhile when Epic blocks out some of the things I want to see I just paste the URL into Chrome view it, do what I need to do or see and get right back to Epic, which in fact never sells you out and pesters you with annoying ads through your search queries.

 

Okay so i won't be able to get a new laptop battery for my xps 15 9550 as it won't arrive on time.


So I will be using it still with the battery i got 1.5 years ago and its already 2/3rd worn out.


Does anyone have tips on how i use less battery on the xps 15 9550? Should i completely stop using chrome and use say microsoft edge? Also, when not plugged in, i always have it on power mode and best battery life. When i do this, does this mean my screen is dimmed to absolute max? If not, how do i dim my screen even more? I remember someone saying press f6 or something like that with another button.


I know you can get better battery if you turn off wifi but i cannot do that. I already had turned off the keyboard backlight thing a while back. Does turning off the sound to 0% make battery better as well? Or it won't make big difference?


Also with my chrome, i typically have like 30+ tabs over a few chrome pages. And lot of these chrome pages im on... it keeps updating consistently by the second. Thus imagine numbers change so its like refreshing constantly. That surely plays a huge role in the battery since its like refreshing even though im not using those tabs at the moment right? But when i say its refreshing, i dont mean like you go to that page and press f5 to refresh. I mean like say it shows stock prices or similar and keeps showing price changes every few seconds and minutes. Does that play a role?


Are there apps in apps or background processes that i can turn off that could make battery longer?

 

I also tried the latest (A13) Intel HD Graphics Driver (from Dell, not Intel) on my 9550 but noticed that I started getting 'hardware errors' logged and reported by the Windows 10 Reliability Monitor but which didn't appear to be directly attributable to the new driver.

I'd already upgraded to the latest (1.11.2) BIOS a week or so earlier and not made any other significant changes so the A13 driver was the prime suspect. Reverting to the original (A12) Intel HD Graphics Driver resolved the ‘hardware errors’. (I try and avoid doing multiple major changes simultaneously as it’s then more difficult to resolve any subsequent issues.)

I was somewhat lazy and just upgraded the original driver rather than using DDU and I don’t often use Edge but I can’t say I noticed any visible problems with the A13 Intel HD Graphics Driver. On the other hand, it wasn’t installed for long!

 

Also can someone tell me how i do that option where when my laptop is fully charged, it only charges up to 80 or 90%? I remember lot of ppl say if you have laptop plugged in always, make it max 80 or 90%. So better 80 or 90? Also is this confirmed 100% this makes battery last longer as oppose to having it charged 100%? Also someone mentioned something about making sure you charge it back when it hits 20%? I remember 20% very specifically. Can someone explain this part? Was it use your laptop plugged in and make max charge 80 or 90%. But if you were to unplug it, always let the battery drain down to 20% at the lowest and make sure you plug it back in?


I also remember someone saying if you want battery to last long, have it plugged in to 80 or 90% which is the max. Once its like this, use it on battery till like 20%... then charge it back again to 80 or 90%... then unplug it back and use it to 20% and repeat assuming you have an outlet to charge to. This is incorrect right? Thus anytime you use your laptop on battery for long period of time even if you drop it to 30%, it wears out battery?

 

I honestly don't think anyone in this forum can add anymore to these repetitive questions then was truthfully already answered and I strongly suggest you start using the good ole search engine in the top right hand corner of this venue/thread and you will then see for yourself how many times these questions have in fact been answered or responded to.

Finally, with 30+ tabs opened up, as you claim, do yourself a BIG favor and use another one and do a basic search for your question(s) First and you'd be just amazed of how many sites will be returned back to you such as the following.
https://lifehacker.com/top-10-ways-to-extend-your-laptops-battery-life-1791500458

 

@Drew1 Go into the bios and reduce the number of cpu cores to 1 and lower the screen brightness as low as you can.

Then in widows, switch power mode to battery saver.

Shame you dithered so long re the battery and ran out of time - IMO you should have just gone with the cheapest reputable looking one on Day 1, it would be better than a battery at 1/3 capacity...

 

Schmoo... im not going to bios. Im afraid i can do damage to it. I also mentioned i never updated my bios ever. And when i read about bios bricking... i dont want to dare touch this...


Well i dont want to risk getting a cheap battery and it being a safety issue. Heard lot of these cheap batteries can cause hazard to laptops. But i could not find any genuine back then.

 

Hello my fellow 9550 users.
I recently updated to 1903 and the sound from the speaker is suddenly incredibly tinny and bad since then.
Especially slightly higher tones are distorted beyond belief.

I already tried to update BIOS, Chipset, and, of course, audio drivers.
Has someone noticed that the dell support site doesn't list the latest drivers most of the time?
It presents me A04 from February as the latest even though there is A08 with a higher build number
from October. Very weird.

Nothing helped, maybe it's just a coincidence though? I could get new speakers for ~10 Euros,
but I am not swimming in money, the 9550 already was a big(huge) purchase for me that
I saved towards for study and work.

I don't use the speaker THAT often, but when I do I'd not like to get ear cancer.

Thanks in advance.

 

I recall reading that one of the recent Microsoft monthly updates caused problems with the speakers/sound on some computers with Windows 10 1903 installed.

I'd suggest checking to see if there is a more recent Windows 10 update or, otherwise, uninstalling the last update that your computer got.

 

Thank you for your answer.
I googled all around for windows updates and found some hints like these:
https://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/fix-sound-distortion-and-static-in-windows-10/

Sadly nothing helped. I also don't have the power option in my dell audio settings.

 

Re the bios - I suspect I would trust "Dell" more than I would trust some random person on the internet! You do know by never updating your Bios you have now exposed yourself to the Metldown and Spectre virus (and all their variants)?

Its kind of like not getting a vaccination when all the doctors recommend it, but because you read something on facebook saying its bad you decide not to!!!

 

Believe it or not, I use Windows 8.1 Pro, which does what I need it to do and which I’m very content with, yet it does seem that MS 1903 update not only corrected a lot of reported issues, it also unfortunately caused some as well, and yours & others issue(s) could easily be related to it. (See link below)
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/05/22/all-existing-issues-with-windows-10-version-1903-may-2019-update/

 

Guys, I could need some help. I have a 9550 and now 9750, and both exhibit the same problem with external USB-NVMe enclosures. These use a JMS583 chip to translate NVMe and SATA to USB 3.1 Gen 2. They came originally with firmware 204, I updated them to 206. Detection, writing and reading works perfectly.

The problem: Eject does not work fully, it partly hangs. The unit will still be detected as 'not ejected', no matter if I use the Safety removal or simply unplug it (Code 47 in Device Manager). Also from this moment on (removal of the JMS) P&P of USB is totally stopped. I can connect simple USB sticks to this or the other USB port - zero reaction.

So I cannot just ignore this as the issue persists, and has serious consequences on Windows - it then always crashes when trying to shutdown or reboot. Looks like th the management console is in that loop.

Does anyone elese have this kind of adapter and knows the cure? I did not find anything online (except for the JMS firmware update, but that one addressed other stability problems).

Found it - O&O Defrag service. No matter what one configures in the software itself, as soon as this service runs it hangs up Windows with this kind of external hard drive. Tested on version 21 and 23.

 

Hi, I'm trying to find a good stylus pen for note-taking for my 9550 4k touch. I did lots of research on this topic and Dell Active Pen and Wacom Bamboo Ink came up but they got various mixed reviews. I have only tried out pens and noticed that they all created broken and dotted lines. Have anyone been successful at getting a stylus pen that works?

 

Hi... The left side of my laptop were the plug is is really hot. There was a time my 9550 shutdown by itself . Any idea what happened? How can I fix it? Thanks

 

I'm sure the experts here will graciously chime in yet I would say the first thing you should do is, open it up and clean out the fans and make sure they're working.

 

Like other mentioned, you will probably have to clean out the dust/repaste your laptop. If you want to go a step further, you can add thermal pads on the VRM to increase cooling.

 

New BIOS out - 1.12.0.0 (getting pushed out via windows update - might be for insiders only?) - couldn't find a readme.

 

I think you're right yet when it comes to a BIOS update I will only install it if DELL themselves puts it on their support site and so far they have not.

 

FWIW its live on the support site now: https://www.dell.com/support/home/i...2&oscode=wt64a&productcode=xps-15-9550-laptop

Fixes:
- Fixed the issue where the mouse lags when the Dell TB16 dock is unplugged or plugged in.
- Fixed the issue where the screen does not display content when the lid is opened and closed repeatedly.
- Firmware updates to address security advisory INTEL-SA-00213 (CVE-2019-0086, CVE-2019-0091, CVE-2019-0092, CVE-2019-0093, CVE-2019-0094 and CVE-2019-0096)
- Firmware updates to address security advisories INTEL-SA-00233(CVE-2018-12126, CVE-2018-12127, CVE-2018-12130 and CVE-2019-11091)
- Removed the preboot Intel RST Manager Optimized Defaults option.
- Fixed the issue where the BitLocker prompts for recovery. It occurs when Auto Power On option in BIOS setup is set to wake up the system at a specific time.

 

Hi all, is there a way to keep the keyboard backlight always on?

 

Not as far as I know.

 

Dell in my opinion has done some great and then not so great things with their refreshing's of the XPS 15 and one of them was removing the keyboard light timer/timeout option in the control panel under the Windows Mobility Center.

At any rate, the only workaround that I'm aware of is, to use the Dell Feature Enhancement Pack (DFEP)(See Below), which contains an application to adjust the keyboard light timeout to I believe a max of 5 min.

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=MHVWP

 

I updated to latest BIOS. Also went to nvidia and intel directly to download latest graphics drivers (used DDU and did a minimal nvidia install). Finally updated Win10 Pro to latest public.

9550 runs better than ever. DPC latency per LatencyMon is reporting best results I have recorded on this laptop (some hardpage faults. DPC routine execution time in the 300us range).

This is probably a better laptop for real-time audio than the newer XPS models based on complaints at the pro audio forums.

 

Have you tried removing Intel DPTF (there were claims that it adversely impacts the DPC latency)?

 

Hi... Why does the area next to caps lock, shift, and ctrl heats up whenever its plugged? Sometimes its really hot, I have to unplug it.

Thanks

 

Ooops im sorry...

It was already answered by King Khan. Missed the notification...

Thanks King Khan

 

I read about that recently. I have not tried.

Can you recommend any easy guides?

 

I went to push Reply yet pushed Like first instead.

https://bradshacks.com/disable-dptf/

 

Hi, I am quite torn between two models. They are so different, and yet so similar:

* $900 (probably haggle-able to $800) for a used Dell XPS 15 9550 with i5-6300HQ, 16 GB RAM, 960M, and 4K Touchscreen. I would spend another ~$100 for a 97 Wh battery. The seller didn't mention anything about storage, so perhaps I'd spend another ~$50 for a 256 GB M.2 SSD if it still has a spinning rust.
* $1800 for a brand new Dell XPS 15 7590 with i7-9750H, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, GTX 1650 and 4K Touchscreen.

My uses would mostly be development using Python with (lightweight) Machine Learning. But here's the twist, I only use it for ~20% of the time, since I have a desktop PC as well. The laptop is only used for when I work outside of the office, that's why I think its a bit wasteful to spend nearly $1000 more for a 7590.

Here are my questions:

1. Is it worth to buy a 9550 today?
1. I read that the 9550 6300HQ had performance issues, especially when running on battery. Has those issues been solved?
2. I also read that the 97 Wh battery from the newer 9560/9570/7590 would fit the 9550 no problem. Is it true?
3. Are there any significant quality differences between the 4K display in the 9550 and 7590?
4. Any other revision in the 7590 over a 9550?

What I have gathered so far, the non-performance upgrades of the 9550 to 7590:

- Thunderbolt 3 upgraded to 4 lanes instead of 2 lanes
- Webcam moved up top from the bottom
- HDMI 2.0 instead of 1.4

 

I still use the 9550 and like it a lot.

The current Dell 7590 chassis, keyboard, and screen are all similar. The current generation CPU still uses the same Skylake architecture, albeit with more cores available and refined production.

1. I don't think that ~$1100 ($900 + $100 + SSD cost) is good value for the 9550.

2. There are threads here on battery interchangeability. I can't remember but there are some batteries that don't swap. If you use the big battery the 2.5" drive bay is not available.

3. The screen changed a bit but the 4k displays are beautiful for productivity work. Not ideal for gaming.

4. The 7590 offers significantly more GPU horsepower. Essentially similar CPUs may offer more cores and some minor refinement. The Thunderbolt, HDMI (and hopefully USB 3) implementation is better. The laptop looks the same for ~5 years but there should be some slight improvements in the screens, keyboard, firmware, etc. But the low latency performance of the 9550 is better. And the chassis is so thin that both laptops suffer from thermal and power limits so real-world performance may be similar in many tasks.

 

1. Well, I forgot to mention that I live in the country where depreciation runs a little slower lol. Plus its the 4K version, so it carries some premium (I do want 4K). Either way, its still the cheapest XPS 15 on sale right now over here (exception being the base i3 model).
2. Can you link on batteries that don't swap? 84 Wh battery is workable for me, but I would not want a 56 Wh.
3. Also applies to #4, since I do not use the laptop for gaming or heavy GPU work, I don't plan to use the GPU all that much.
4. Can you elaborate more on the TB, HDMI, and USB implementation? Are there common issue with the 9550 that I need to be aware with? What is low latency performance, and is it important?

The seller just confirmed its has a 128 GB SSD. Do you think it comes from the factory that way?

 

It is possible to update Intel Graphics directly from their website ? Always have an error message and I'm forced to use drivers from the Dell website. For NVIDIA, is it better to use latest drivers or the one from Dell website ?

 

Yes.
Go to Intel's website and download their support assistant and install it, which then scans your system and updates what's needed or go the site below and then manually chose which peripheral you want updated if there's in fact an update for it.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/

 

Intel's drivers frequently are several months ahead of Dell's. Sometimes your laptop will complain that your old drivers are up to date. There are a few ways to force the newer drivers to your laptop. Method might vary over time so if one method fails, try another.