Dell XPS 15 L521X - external heat

I previously owned (and returned for refund) a Dell XPS 15Z. The build quality was less than I expected (particularly the metallic-plastic band around the machine), but the real issue was the heat. I found that the left palm rest got very warm even under light loads (word processing, internet browsing).

I'm reading really good things about the XPS L521X, but would be gutted if I had the same problem with this model. So, owners, how cool/warm is your XPS L521X? Specifically, do either the palm rests or the trackpad get noticeably warm under mixed loads (some video, some WP, occasional high spec gaming)?

Thanks in advance!

 

The only time I've felt significant heat is over the top left of the keyboard under full load gaming.

 

Thanks ejl1980, that's helpful. Do you notice the heat when you're using the ASDW keys? How long do you have to play for before it becomes apparent? Is it uncomfortable?

 

i have had mine for over a week now. I would actually say with all the aluminium a lot of the time the laptop feels cold i have never found it to be warmer than the ambient temp. It is a 500x improvement in every way over my 15z which had the build quality of a chinese motor car

 

I received mine today, and I'd say the exact opposite tbh, I have done nothing but surf and play around with settings, and the whole left hand side of the laptop is noticeably warm. The top left of the touchpad is a little warm, but it seems concentrated around the left-hand palmrest and spreads across the keyboard up to the power button. The underside of the laptop is also very warm on the left handside (right hand side when upside-down!).

I'm a little worried. However I did notice that with the basic install, 96 processes were running, and 25% of physical memory was being used, with nothing open!!! I'm doing a clean install now, so fingers crossed it'll help...

 

Mine gets crazy warm on the top and bottom of the entire left side, even just sitting at the desktop or simply web surfing. CPU gets as hot as 60C, even though its usage is under 10%. Something seems wrong. I'm worried about it getting really hot when I actually start working on it. I may take it apart and see if anything looks out of place.

N

 

I think the variation in build quality is remarkable. I 've had mine for about 18 hours now. At idle, the processor is actually between 0-1% nowhere near the 25% mentioned by Jarkin.

Unlike Nyceis, my CPU temp is around 48C when idle. It goes up to about 55C with video and around 65C with gameplay (30 minutes or so). I guess I'm one of the lucky ones!

As for the external temperature, the only "high" heat I have felt is on my lap when I play games on the couch for more then 30 minutes. The keyboard gets a little warm but it's barely any warmer then someone with a fever and it is on the upper left side as mentioned above.

 

I think Jarkin was talking about the memory, not the processor.

 

When I read ejl1980 and mark_pozzi's posts i was l thinking 'great, let's get on and order!'. Now, after reading jarakin and nyceis' posts I'm quite concerned. In the UK the only other viable option is the Sony S 15, with it's orange screen :-S I really wanted to buy a windows machine, but I'm running out of options. It might have to be a MacBook pro afterall...

(I'm looking for: 1080p, 15"/17", ivy bridge i7, discrete graphics, ODD)

 

My friend has the Sony S15 and all you have to do is recalibrate with Windows' built in tool. The issue isn't like the HP Envy where orange and red are the same color no matter how you're calibrated--just that the default calibration is a little orange.

 

How about a Lenovo Y580? Not as sleek, but it has significantly more gpu power, and is still well built. It's my next choice if this XPS15 doesn't work out.

 

On my clean install I have 70 processes running (after it settles down after boot), 0-1% CPU and 1.73 GB (20% of ram) used. I'm sure some of that is the iGPU using Ram until the dGPU kicks in, but some of the services include dropbox, norton, spyder4's utility, and steam. I installed all of Dell's drivers except the iRST stuff. While i've been typing this post its jumped up to 83 processes and 23% ram. A lot of that is windows just doing its thing when you are idle if I'm not mistaken.

 

Can anyone comment how the heat compares to the L502X previous generation?

 

I have both and subjectively the L521x feels cooler, especially the underside. The L502x (and my Studio XPS 16) will both make your legs sweaty -- haven't encountered that with the L521x yet.

 

Cheers, also what about the fan. Is it calmer than the L502, and how hot is it when plugged in?

 

Fan on L521x is quieter at full blast than L502x at full blast-- it's also more consistent? The L502x stops and starts in short bursts (which some people don't like -- it personally doesn't bother me). The L521x doesn't do that.

The Studio XPS 16 and L502x definitely need a lap cooler with the i7 plugged in. They will sweat you out (but not burn you). The L521x so far is right at the end of my comfort threshold when plugged in. Again, subjectively it doesn't feel as warm as the prior generations.

 

Thanks very much for that mate!

 

Yeah, that's one that i did check out, but like you say it's just not as sexy at the new xps 15. With such disparity in people's experiences it's hard to know what to do!

 

If you can, why don't you wait until the new BIOS is released and see if the issues are solved? I don't regret buying it, but I also got a really good deal on it all things considered.

 

Currently using the laptop...my left hand is hot and my right is cold...its very weird.

 

In case anybody cares, I repasted the CPU and GPU with IC Diamond 7 and it made zero difference in the temps

N

 

Not weird at all. Your left hand is where the CPU and GPU are. The right hand is where nothing that hot is.

 

Put a glove on your right hand! It'll even it out! My grandpa does it, since he lost some feeling in his arm after his third stroke.