Dell XPS 15 L501 *Owner's Lounge*

Hey guys,

Just to let people know, I have successfully overclocked my gt 435m card.
Its now running 800/900/1600 mhz stable after testing it with cod black ops, ATItool and counter strike source for a couple of hours.

I've compared it to my old laptop who has a gtx 260m card. At the css video stress test the gtx 260m came out with a average of 256 fps(1680x1050 on high settings), the 435m overclocked did it with 248 fps(1366x768 on high settings). Thats pretty nice for a class 2 card!

Even black ops was easy for the 435m, I have the black ops settings set to Medium-High with a 1366x768 720p resolution.

Gtx 260m temperature (after I repasted it even!): 86 celcius
gt 435m overclocked: 80 celcius

Old laptop:
Xxodd XNI860tu
Core 2 Quad @ 2Ghz
GTX 260M 1GB
4GB DDR3
7200 rpm hdd
1680x1050 resolution

XPS:
i7 740qm
GT 435m 2gb overclocked
4gb DDR3
7200 rpm hdd
1366x768 720p resolution.
9 cell battery

 

Checked first post and now i see how long will this lappy last. But still, tell me, only i5 have an abbility to switch between intel card and nvidia? i7 is lack of such possibility?

 

Yes only i3 and i5.
I've orderer I7 to avoid this kind of Video control switching called Optimus.

 

At this point (with you only having it for 4 days), I would simply call the regular customer service number and say I want to return the system. You don't have to deal with tech support. Tell them you've had nothing but problems with this brand new laptop and having it repaired is not an acceptable option.

I've done this before and didn't get charged a restocking fee or return shipping. The only problem is you have to wait approx 30 days for a refund.

 

Well. Think i should wait for next year, cause is need 4 cores and power saving features of intel graphic.

 

care to share your 3dmark score?

 

Thanks, FurMark is a good choice. I found another program I like for GPU temperature testing: [GPU Tool] TessMark 0.2.2: New OpenGL 4 Tessellation Benchmark - 3D Tech News, Pixel Hacking, Data Visualization and 3D Programming - Geeks3D.comTessMark

 

Just wondering, i have the travel remote that goes into a slot in my xps 1645, can i do the same with the XPS 15, is their a slot for that thanks.

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/pict/110327417701_0.jpg

 

I OC'ed mine to 800/960/1400 and it was stable on 3DMark06 with a score around 8115.
Played Bad Company 2 for about 20 minutes online and it froze.
I repasted my XPS 15 with AS5, been settling for about 16 hours when I attempted it. Either AS5 is still settling or I'm not sure what else is up.
It is currently OC'ed to 700/850/1400 and stable for hours on end, 3DMark06 score of 7724.
I may try your memory clock settings of 900 mhz and see if that results in a more stable OC.
Unfortunately I'm swamped with finals and research project work to be done for the next 2 weeks and then getting on a jet plane so I won't have much time to play around with this stuff for awhile.

Just for giggles I also downclocked my GT 435m to the GT 420m stock speeds to compare differences between the i5/420m combo and i7/435m combo and see how much of a role processor and 1333mhz RAM plays with 420m speeds being equal.

GPU clock speeds:
Graphics core: 500 mhz
Memory clock: 800 mhz

I ran 3DMark06 at:
1280x1024
AA: none
Filtering: optimal
HLSL VS: 30
HLSL PS: 30
Repeat tests: off

3DMark06 Score: 6142
SM 2.0 Score: 2469
HDR/SMR 3.0 Score: 2265
CPU Score: 3130

 

I just picked up my XPS 15 from FedEx. I like it so far, not bad. I just need to do a clean install of windows ultimate and then ill be good to go. The screen is nice but its killing my eyes, I think I need to put the brightness down. Between my old SXPS 1645 and the new XPS 15, I cant decide which one I like better yet, both have their pros and cons.

 

You need to go into power settings and set lid closed to do nothing, then yes, it will run with the lid closed.

 

ordered a replacement on 12/1, getting it tmr!
hope it doesnt have the same problem...

 

One question,

both graphics (GT 420M and GT 435M) have the same disipation on XPS 15?

 

I am pretty angry at dell,
i mean the HD screen is now 195 instead of 120... !

i had mine configured awhile ago and it was under 1,100... and now when i configure it with the same specs i had before its close to 1,500... i don't believe it!

so a quick question, are the prices just inflated because of christmas time, and if so will they more than likely drop after christmas?

 

really? the price is still the same on dell.ca

make sure you're customizing from the same savings point

 

Hi all,
I posted this at sprtnbsblplya's thermal paste thread...

Posting it here again in-case anyone can give out any advise...

I have a brand new Tuniq TX-3 lying around. While waiting for the DELL people to resolve my current issues, I would try and get the thermal job re-done on this machine.

Need your advice if I need to do anything differently WRT the TX-3 (rather than AS5). Thanks!

 

3dmark06
9554 marks!!!

 

I posted a thread about random system shutdowns. Does the screen just go black and then it starts up again?

 

Got my XPS 15 on Monday and have to say that I am loving the FHD and so glad I went for it. It is truly jawdropping when watching bluray.

On another note, I really hate that their is no scrolling on the side of the trackpad like you get with the XPS M1330. I really can't use the three finger swiping for scrolling at all.

Is there anyway that there is a workaround this where you can enable the normal one finger scrolling using the sides of the trackpad like most laptops?

 

I am going to be uninstalling all the bloatware on my laptop and have already got rid of mcafee and roxio.

What other stuff on there can you get rid of?

 

The screen goes black... But the system totally powers off, doesn't restart by itself.

I am also facing a new issue - I am seeing flashing lights from the the battery charging indicator. This is at both locations, at the touch panel near top right of keyboard and the place next to HDD light, left rear of the system. The flashing happens like 3 times White followed by 1 time orange and repeats itself till I disconnect the charger plug and put it back inside the slot. After a while it starts again.

Has been happening since 1.5 hours now. Anyone getting this behavior?

 

Yes, you can. There is an option at the touch panel settings.

 

It's with 2 fingers, not 3. Works perfectly fine for me, but like the other person said, you can disable the Multi Touch part.

I have removed the Back up software and the Dell Dock as well, but other than that.. Can't think of anything else that I have removed.
Probably turned off some Dell stuff from booting at start up.

 

Has anyone had any trouble with the Intel 6200 wireless card?

My XPS 15 was ordered with the 6200 and bluetooth but came with the 1000 and no bluetooth. Tech came today and installed bluetooth but could not get 6200 to work. Was showing up in Device manager but not picking up any networks. Uninstalled and reinstalled driver and no luck. So I now have the 1000 back in and it's working fine!! He's gonna come back with another 6200 tomorrow incase it was a faulty card! Anyonw had similar problems?

Otherwise, first impressions are really good. The FHD screen and speakers are amazing and the laptop looks much better in real life than in pictures. Overall feel is great, it feels very sturdy and all the surfaces are nice to touch, not a fingerprint magnet like my previous Studio 1558. One thing I really miss already is the backlit keyboard. They could not order me one, I'm in Ireland, but I'll pick one up straight away as soon as they become available.

Pretty dissapointed that Dell couldn't order a replacement laptop without getting the spec's wrong. I confirmed all the specs including bluetooth and 6200 with the agant on the phone, asked him to send me a copy of the specs, which I never recieved and the laptop arrived with these things missing!!

The worst part is that I've only had this laptop 2 days and I've just watched the tech do a complete teardown of the laptop to install the bluetooth card. You have to remove 30+ screws, the optical drive, keyboard, palm rest and even the screen to install the bluetooth card. Epic Fail.

 

i have the 1645 and the weird thing is that the 6200 card Doesnt actually install correctly. Like in device manager it still has the question mark thingy. Tried letting win7 install the driver AND the official intel driver. But it still works.

 

My 6200 card installed fine, works perfectly, better speed than my old '08 MBP used on the same desk prior to this laptop.

 

Here is my 2 cents worth opinion so far on my XPS 15. Fiddling around with this thing now for a couple of days.

First impressions were good. Then I notice this rattle bump noise going on with the CD/BluRay tray every time I move the laptop. Probably because of its curved design but still a sloppy fitting tray none the less.

I installed Hardware Monitor to see my temps and after a couple hours use, no gaming yet mind you, temps reach 76c from web browsing and Microsoft Updates. That is just a wee bit beyond acceptable IMO. Especially considering the 420m has not even been used at this point.

The LCD does not fit snug against the palm rest when closed and actually has about a half inch movement up and down. Come on Dell, are tighter hinges out of the equation when building new laptops. IF you (Dell) can't provide better hinges then why not stick with the old style LCD locks? Maybe mine are faulty, I don't know.

How about the gaming aspect of my laptop? Decided to install my favorite game, C&C Zero Hour (yeah it's old but so am I) only to find out that it doesn't like Windows 7 and will not run without some sort of modifications to the .inf file or something. Went to steam to download a Demo to try. I chose Civ 5 and then of course also discovered that, that game also would need some modification done to run also. Do any game's work straight out the box with Win7? I don't know. Anyway, I did manage to finally get the Civ5 demo to work. I set all settings to high and although the game ran and looked beautiful it was a little slow when scrolling around the screen. The good news is that after at least an hour of gaming my temps did not exceed 65c. What's up with that? High temp's surfing and lower temps gaming? Hmm. More data is needed.

Moving on. The one thing that I really had high expectations with was the sound since I read so many reviews and comments on the speakers. I am sorely disappointed in the sound of my laptop. Granted it sounds OK, but nothing ground breaking or even that much better than the sound on my old 9300. I did a side by side same song comparison XPS15 vs Inspiron 9300 for the best sound and IMO the winner is, just barely ekking it out, the XPS15 and only because it manages to produce higher trebles than my 9300. Bass sound on the other hand is virtually a tie. For any that might be reading this and does not know it, the Inspiron 9300 does have a sub woofer but, its like 5 years old and sorry but I really was hoping for more out of my new laptop.

The keyboard is nice to type on and the touch pad is big and roomy. The 1080p screen is fantastic and scales to super bright if needed. Battery power has been better than expected. That's where I'm at right now with it.

 

My lid fits tight with no gap. There was another member that had the same issue as you and got a replacement. Do a search... or maybe he'll see this and chime in.

 

If anything I have the opposite problem; the lid really "snaps" shut. Perhaps there a tension adjustment that can be made somewhere.

 

My lid shuts nice and tight with no problem.
When I took my XPS 15 apart, I saw no tension adjustment that is readily available in the basic teardown. There may be one if a person took the hinges apart, which may be a pain to do.

 

This new one didn't work at all, network diagnostics reported an issue with it, hopefully it was a bad card and the second one will install no probs, cheers!

 

Hi Everyone,

My XPS-15 arrived with Win 7 Home on it. I love the machine, but hate all the bloatware, and am uncomfortable with all crap that must already be embedded in the registry. I also disbelieve that removing the bloatware will result in a truly clean installation.

So, my question is:

If I order a copy of Windows 7 Pro (Upgrade Version), can I do a "clean install" of the Pro version, essentially wiping out the previous Home installation and all its associated bloatware. Or does an Upgrade disk only allow an upgrade of the OS, not a "wipe clean & install"?

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated,

Jay

 

How do you close the USB port aswell when the computer shuts down, because the USB port is still on when the computer shuts down....?

 

There is a BIOS option to odo that. It is something like portable device charge or like. I can't remember correctlt but it is there.

 

Thanks.........

 

For people who have blu-ray + the HD screen, how do you like it?

It's amazing that the blu-ray drive is a $100 upgrade for the xps 15, but for the 14 it's $400+!!! Must be the difference in tray size.

 

Its actually $450 now, I dont understand why its so much..the SOny Vaio Z which is half the size of the XPS 14 only charges $150 extra for blu-ray..is there any way I can find a cheaper one and install it myself?

 

It costs more because the one on the XPS 14 is a Blu-ray disc writer as well as a reader. The XPS 14 does not allow you to only get the reader, like on the XPS 15. Kinda sucks.

 

Anyone have an idea on how to get a second battery for my xps L501x? Apparently Dell does not have it in there ordering que or no one knows where a distributor has stock. /any help out there?

 

It is me who got the replacement. The new replacement arrived today and the lid, unlike the replaced notebook, fits tight with no gap.

before authorizing the exchange, tech support offered to replace the hinges but I refused and insisted on having the notebook replaced.

Good luck!

 

Is the spacebar suppoed to make noise when you release it? The other keys are very quiet, but the spacebar make some noise similar to that of Sony Vaio F series

 

Ahh didn't notice that small bit of text on Dell's customization page, thanks. It goes without saying, a BD read-only drive would be a nice option for the 14.

 

still no new drivers from dell website for nvidia card i hate dell

 

I don't understand, its a usual gfx card. Why you are waiting for dell? Download them from nvidia.com

 

vorob, had you read a bit the thread, youd have seen that the nvidia drivers are not compatible and only the Dell drivers work.

 

For XPS with i3 and i5 only the driver provided byDell works. Optimius will be disabled if you use the one provided by Nvidia.

 

wow, thought optimus is an nvidia feature which will work on their drivers...

 

It seems that every vendor has a different implementation.

 

Hi guys,
I revieved my XPS15 that was ordered with the 6200 wireless card, but it came with the 1000N, so dell sent out a tech with a replacement 6200.
When he installed the 6200 it shows up in device manager ok, but cannot find any connections, network diagnostics reports that the wireless adapter is experiencing an issue. We tried uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them and it won't work. Laptop is in the same room as the router.
Put back in the 1000 card and it is recognised straight away and installs and finds the network.
Tech calls back today with another new 6200 thinking the first one is faulty. The second card does the same, installs but cannot find any networks. I'm running Win7 Pro x64.

Anyone else had similar issues or does anyone have any ideas? Right now I'm back with the 1000 and running fine and I have 2 new dell 6200 cards sitting here that I can't get to work.

 

so can I use nvidia's drivers since I have an i7 (no optimus)?