Dell XPS 15 R2 - L502x - Owners Lounge

Some people say that the new 301.xx nvidia beta drivers help. I haven't noticed any difference, but it never hurts to try

 

What's the best cooling pad for the L502x? Want to play D3 without overheating this laptop. Any suggestions?

 

The beta played fine without overheating. The fan was on full blast most of the time, but I have not repasted nor removed dust filter which would help quite a bit.
(Not to say that you shouldn't get a cooling pad. I just don't think it's necessary)

 

I have been thinking about buying one of these bad boys, have read good things about it.

 

That looks like a "stand" version of the Notepal U2 I mentioned in the other thread that the poster created.

If the fans on that thing are a bit stronger than the ones on the U2, I would say that's a great cooling pad. It has an adjustable height and also adjustable fans. On top of that, it has a USB hub.

 

hi all! registered just to contribute in this wonderfull thread. i got my dell XPS L502x(sandy bridge) bout a year ago. just wondering if it overheats, how does the laptop reacts? does it just shut down unexpectedly or it goes through a lot of throttling? just wondering.

 

Guys,

I have been using L502x for an year now. Overall happy with the machine.

1) My system slows down a lot, when Firefox eats up a lot of RAM. Sometimes Firefox hangs temporarily while loading new tabs. I am thinking to verify Firefox configurations.

2) On the other hand I am planning to buy more RAM as it is getting quite cheap. I have 4GB of RAM installed. How can I verify the number of total and used memory slots in the machine without opening it?

3) Dell support center says that my 9 cell battery retains 83% of original charge capacity. Is this acceptable after an year of usage?

Please advice.

 

Use CPU-Z, and the pulldown menu to see what is in each slot:

 

Thanks!!

I have memory slot-1 free. In slot-2 there is Samsung 4GB 1333 MHz PC3-10700 RAM.

Since I have i7 2720 and chipset HM67, I can also install 2x4GB 1600 MHz RAM.

If I install Corsair Vengeance DDR3 4 GB 1600 MHz in the free slot, the system will run at 1333 MHz, am I correct? Will there be any issues?

In future, I will plan to replace Samsung RAM with another Corsair 1600MHz one, if required.

Do I need to check CAS etc. while buying new RAM?

 

Should not be any problems. It is recommended to have the same brands memory but I have used different ones and never had problems but you never know since memory can be tricky.

The memory will always run at the lower speed if you have two different memory cards installed. So in your case at 1333mhz. You will never notice 1600 vs 1333mhz so do not even worry about it.

 

What kind of cooling pad would you recommend if you have a 9-cell battery. I am wondering because the 9-cell battery props up the laptop in the back, making many cooling pads I have seen ineffective.

 

well i'm pretty happy with my l502x. only one thing a bit annoying now. i use powerdvd 11 ultra for movies. after a fresh reboot, it plays great, but after a certain amount of time, say if i've been browsing the web for a while then come back and watch another video with powerdvd, there will be horizontal tearing. if i restart and watch same vid, its fine.

anybody got any clue why this is? i have 4gb memory in this machine (i5). could it be more memory being used up as i use the machine resulting in not enough after a while for powerdvd?

 

Don't use powerDVD?

Here's a guide to setup potplayer, which i prefer.
Configuring PotPlayer for GPU-accelerated video playback with DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA), Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) or high-performance software decoding

Here's one for MPC-HC
Watching H.264 videos using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA)

Either way the most important setting to prevent tearing is turning on Full Screen Exclusive mode in MadVR

 

hi savior,

i've tried alot of different players, including the ones you mention, and have found i prefer the picture quality/rendering of powerdvd. also, powerdvd has an android remote app which is very useful when playing on the TV and your laptop is across the room.

i should also have mentioned that this tearing issue can happen with WMP and MPC-HC as well. bit flumoxed by it at the moment. may try more ram...

 

You're not reading. I told you to use the MadVR renderer. It's superior Picture quality wise to anything else.

 

I don't think it's an issue with your RAM. Windows would have automatically taken care of the issue of not having enough RAM.

Out of curiosity, did you try using VLC Player? I like recommending people use VLC to test a video problem, as it uses it own in-built codecs, thus usually isolating any codec problems.

Also, are you using any external monitors? If so, how are they hooked up? And, if that is the case, have you tried the "Run on graphics processor: internal/external"?

 

I've decided to hang onto my L502 and order a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB hybrid drive, rather than early adopting a new Ivy Bridge L521. Is anyone else running a hybrid HDD? Any tips on install?

I'm one of those crazy individuals that actually uses the optical drive on a regular basis, and need more drive space than economically feasible with a true SSD.

 

I haven't personally used one, but my mate says that you should just install it like a new HDD and treat it as such. He started with a fresh install of WIndows, just in case, and says that he's not had any problems with it.

Me too. Even though I could survive on a 250GB SSD, I'm not going to fork over $250+ for it. Not to mention I'd have to lug around my BDROM in an external USB enclosure, which just adds more bulk and weight to the computer!

 

I just did a fresh Windows 7 installation to get rid of all Dell bloatware and I am concerned with the laptop's temperatures:

After a restart and without even touching the laptop (Idle):
GT 540M - 55-60C
i7-2670QM - 60-70C

My room temperature is quite hot - 33C

And 100 degrees after 10 minutes of Prime95:

 

Hi,
I am interested in buying this laptop with Quad Core, I'm wondering a few things that I'm here on the forum did not find an exact answer. I ask those reasons that I have read a lot about the HEAT issues and FAN, mainly I am curious about QUAD CORE processors (i2670, i2760).
1) What is the temperature of the notebook, CPU, GPU and fan speed during the standard work (eg using HWINFO) I heard a quad core here heats during normal operation to 80°C, it's true?
2) What is the temperature of the notebook, CPU, GPU after two more hours of play? I heard that up to 95 ° C?
3)! Happened to someone playing the laptop reached 100 ° C and is turned off or got blue screen of death (BSOD)?
4) Lasts laptop on your lap for hours without pads (for example watching movie)?
5) still happens that there is a FAN ON / OFF / ON issue with new models?
6) Is cover unbearably warm when I laid hands on the keyboard or next to its surface while gaming for hours?
7) Is described issues really that bad i heard?

 

I'm quite happy with the hybrid drive so far...boot up and shut down times are about half of what they were with the 7200rpm drive. I'm told other items will get faster as it 'learns' which items to cache.

 

I can't say about up to 80C, but when gaming I max at about 75/75 (CPU/GPU). I've attached a HW Info screencap for my "regular use" temps (general office work, no VMs yet)

With my notepad cooler (Notepal U2) I wouldn't be surprised to see 75C CPU and 75C GPU. I have never, ever gone above 80C. I have not repasted either (but I did remove the air vent filters/mesh).

If your ambient temperature is well above 20C (people have reported being in rooms < 25C), it wouldn't surprise me that somebody's CPU would reach 100C

Yes and no, depends on your threshold for heat. By no means is it hot (my standards) but it does get uncomfortable if you intend on gaming. For watching Blurays, I find that it's rather comfortable and not at all hot.

Yes, but in my case it's only because of a spike in temperature. I don't have that "on for 30 secs, then off for 30 secs, and back on" problem. Mine seems to be genuine cooling activity. (That, or I'm just accustomed to it and don't find it a problem).

Not at all. At least not for me.


HTH. My opinions are mine, and hopefully others can chime in to give you a better variety. But so far, I have not had any problems with my L502x yet. I only get "heat" while gaming, but I've always been < 80C. Then again, I'm also in a cooler climate so it's hard to say if that has been a major factor.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

I'm looking at the Dell website, and I can't seem to locate the acclaimed glorious 1080p display as an option....

 

somebody mentioned that it was "taken down", perhaps in anticipation for the Ivy Bridge version of the XPS15 L521x.

 

I have read somewhere is currently not in stock and will be since August, 8. But i don't know it's true.

 

i contacted dell inquiring about screen upgradation to fhd but they said its not possible....
now how can i do the upgrade 6months onsite warnty.left with my system
and is there option to get it exchanged with current screen???

 

So I see this computer is on sale (in Australia anyway) for approx $1000 - nearly $700 off the regular price. That's assuming I've got the correct XPS 15 anyway:
Dell XPS 15 Laptop Details, Specs & Reviews | Dell Australia

It got me interested to say the least, which is how I discovered this forum, and thread, which I've read about 30% of ... it's so damn long!

I've never owned a laptop, but considering this laptop is as powerful as the Dell XPS 8300 I'm using right now in the office, I figure it'd be nice to have the option at home to take my computer away every now and then, or work in a different room or something. I work as a programmer and constantly use 2 computer monitors. I've seen mention here and in other forums that this computer can support 2 monitors either by using the HDMI and Mini DP, or by using a Matrox adapter. So that's all good.

Bear in mind before I ask these questions that while I work as a programmer, it's not a job I'm passionate about. I do it in order to support my recreational sporting habits, and rebuild my house. So with that in mind, I may ask some 'dumb' questions that a computer programmer should know. I apologise in advance.

1. Which is the better 2 monitor option? Using the laptops HDMI + mini D.port? Or getting a Matrox dual head adapter? The monitors are 2 x Dell U2212HM's, running 1920 x 1080.

2. I see mentioned above that there used to be a 1080p res screen option for this laptop. Is the 1366 x 768 still worth it for the price mentioned above? To be honest I predict 80 - 90% of the time it will be connected to the 2 x monitors & a keyboard + mouse, so I won't even be looking at it. But I was just wondering.

3. Does anyone else have theirs hooked up to 2 monitors, and do they have any long term goods/bads to mention of the setup?

4. Finally, my wife has had an Inspiron 15 for about 3 - 4 years now. It's battery life is pretty crappy by now, but I wondered if this was because she'd left it plugged in most of the time? I plan to leave my plugged in most of the time as well, so I just wondered if it's a problem, or was a problem that's been fixed?

Thanks in advance.

 

It's on sale because there are new versions of various dell laptops to be anounced areound the 1st of June!

This is an awsome laptop, so if you a re looking for a bargain then you won't be dissapointed at the prices you you've quoted!

If you want the latest and greatest, or newest tech, then it may be worth waiting a week or two!

As for connecting two displays I can't help you there, I've only ever connected to a TV over HDMI and that works fine!

 

Thanks. Yeah I'm never after the latest & greatest in anything. Mainly because in the world of computers, something later & greater will come out about a week after the purhcase anyway. Sure the new one may be lighter and look prettier, but I doubt it will be as cheap. Plus waiting results in the Joneses of the world doing all the end user testing for me

Would still like to hear from anyone running 2 external monitors though.

Also just found some new, unused L502x's with the 1080p display on eBay. Even though they won't come with as good a warranty or factory support, I'm tempted to get that 1080p display. I hear good things about it.

 

yep you can connect 2 external displays to have all 3 screens running. I've done it on my m11x and should be the same with the xps.
i have the l502x with the 1080p display and it was the main reason why i bought it otherwise i would've chose a better looking competitor laptop.

 

does anyone know the difference between this and the 15Z , here in good old blighty for some reason thee are no L502's that come with the 1080p screen but i can get the 15z with an i5 core cpu and 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M Graphics Card for £685 delivered
or with an i7 cpu and 2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M Graphics Card
for £1037 deleivered

any good, i would have gone with the 13z xps but no RJ45 port is a deal breaker for me,.

 

Hello, I have two more questions:
1) Is it possible to turn off/on the backlit keyboard?
2) Is it possible to turn off the touchable lights below the LCD or it isn't? It seems to be distracting when I want to watch a movie.
Thanks

 

1) Fn + F6
2) Touch keys, touchpad and keyboard trigger the light switch. All lights turn off/on simultaneously so if you don't touch any key/touchpad for a while all lights will turn off.

 

Thanks, but I mean the POWER and WIFI light, in every review i saw was that light still on no matter what. Can user completely turn that off too?

According to your signature you use Archlinux, is there some driver or other issue with Arch (I am archUser too) and this laptop? Does optimus work under Linux correctly?

 

The 15Z is a somewhat lighter and slimmer notebook:
- It has less power! No quad and not 540M.
- It has a much worse screen, the FHD screen on the L502 is awesome to say the least.
- The speakers are from JBL on the L502 and good as it gets on a notebook.
- The build quality is also different: The L502 is built like a tank, the XPS15Z is quite flimsy, but its much slimmer.

 

Good summary!

 

Hey guys yep I can see sense in that thinking but if by FHD you mean full HD then u need to re read what I said the L502 doesn't come with a FHD screen in the UK hence the dilemma ! It has to be from dell as well as I will be getting it on finance unless dell really bring out the discounts in leu of the launch of the L521x

 

I don't know about Windows but in linux, iwlwifi module has an option to turn off WiFi led. Add this line to /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf:

Code:

options iwlwifi led_mode=3

Power led... not sure if you can turn that one off.

As to your other question:
Everything - except for nVidia GPU - runs flawlessly. So no, no Optimus support under linux. There's a Virtual GL workaround called bumblebee.

 

What? So Linux uses integrated graphics all the time? Is at least there a BIOS switch "use integrated/dedicated card" so?

 

No, there's no hardware mux, i.e. no "switch"... the display is hard-wired to iGpu.

 

And is there a explicit software switch (Win/Linux)?

 

That's what Optimus is... a software switch. But it works only on Windows and nVidia has no plans to support Optimus on linux. So the answer is NO, there is no software switch in linux.
As I said, there's a project called Bumblebee based on VirtualGL. ArchWiki page is HERE
Nothing like the real Optimus though...

 

Thanks, many people confirms BB working and is 110% enough for me - quick and simple, no flipping gui nonsenses. I'm going to buy XPS!

 

I am reading through the 355 odd pages of information slowly to try and find out as much as possible. Still working through them...

Am wondering though, is anyone else using their L502x for x264 encoding? I have only found a couple of instances so far in this thread so want to share and ask questions:

Initially I ran SpeedFan, checked the settings for Dell and also checked "Automatic Fan Speed" - I think that may have been a mistake as I will explain.

I set an x264 item to encode and within 30 mins or slightly more (while SpeedFan had been running) arrived back to discover the L502x had shutdown (according to my reading of the system logs it was probably a BSOD and was too hot).

Message read: "system was shutdown due to a critical thermal event acpi\thermalzone\tz01"


So I stopped using SpeedFan - (keeping my fingers crossed that this was indeed actually the cause of issue and not something else - though I did see someone mention previously that SpeedFan has a habit of turning the fan on/off/on/off continually - so am hoping it was just this).

Instead have now installed Core Temp and also Real Temp to monitor temperatures. Both are giving pretty similar readings (plus or minus 1 degree out sometimes).


I am using the A10 BIOS if that makes a difference (been reading mixed opinions on it).


The fan is constantly on now during encoding - I use 2-pass and for the first pass (probably 30-45 mins or more) the temperature during encoding was reading between 65-75°C.

During the time between 45 mins - 2hrs of encoding (now the 2nd-pass), it has since been reading between 78°C at the minimum up to 93°C at its maximum. The fan is on the entire time and warm to hot air is always blowing out from the fan. (Keep in mind these are temps I am quoting are while encoding: at no time is the XPS idle here).


Note that I believe it only hit 93°C temporarily (maybe for a few seconds, maybe a minute, but it hasn't returned to that) - but the cores are mainly hovering around:

79°C - 81°C - 80°C - 79°C

They are sitting pretty much steadily at these rates with the 2nd or 3rd core always being the highest for some reason(?) for around the last 2 hrs now.

It has not crashed or caused a BSOD since the first occasion with Speedfan and has now been switched on (AC power) and encoding for just over 2 hrs, but I am continuing to monitor it and wondering about these temperatures if they are okay or not or if I will see another BSOD
.

Core Temp tells me that the maximum this processor can handle is 102°C - but I don't know whether to trust that or not because it has also misidentified the processor as i7-2800QM when it should be listing it as i7-2670QM.


So my main questions are:

1. Are these constant temperatures of 79°C - 81°C - 80°C - 79°C normal during x264 encoding or would these be considered too high? And if constantly running at these temperatures would these be considered too high?

Likewise, if you were heavily gaming for a few hours - is this likely to be what the temps would constantly be at or around?

If these are too high, would I need to call a Dell Tech out and if so what do I need to push for - repasted CPU or new motherboard or both? Or neither?


2. Would I notice any difference by opening up the L502x and using a different thermal paste such as Arctic Silver 5? Would the temperature drop actually be worth it or is it likely to only be a couple of °C?

As I am in the UK, our ambient temps at this time of year are normally anything between 10 to 20°C during the day so it's not exactly a hot climate or anything.


Thanks, hope someone else has had similar Q's!

 

Here's my temps after half hour of gaming;
Ambient temp of around 30 deg.

CPU is i7 2720QM

 

I'd say normal. When I ripped my Dr Who blurays (x264 MP4's), I saw my temps go up to those same numbers between 75-80C. My ambient temps at home are always as cool as possible around 10C

yes

Debatable. Some people have seen temps drop quite a bit (I think I saw someone say they had almost 10C drop), but most tend to see something around 5C average. I don't think you'd see a very big drop in max temps, but you'd certainly see a difference in idling temps. Truth is, unless you have your processor sitting at 90C 24/7, you should be quite OK.

Exactly like where I am. In my office I keep it very cool, around 10-12C. I try to keep it the same at home, but during hte summer it easily gets to 20C. My old Studio XPS 1645 used to peak at 85C while gaming during the summer (with a CPU and GPU re-paste and a laptop cooler). I would imagine that the L502x is about the same.

 

Personally, I wouldn't use speedfan to control the XPS's fan speeds as it remains to have poor software control and is quite unstable in this respect. It's best used as just a basic a monitoring program on the XPS. Any program that monitors the Nvidia GPU idly will cause the ON/OFF fan behaivour you mentioned, and setting automatic fan control from experience causes very bad lag/latency about every 5-10sec (not sure if that would affect you encode or not)

As you stated, the crash was probably due to Speedfan preventing what the system is set out to do - control the fan speed effectively.

Back to the point, the temps you reached are fine for an encode are 100% normal, I have repasted with AS5 and under the same load that you had, the temps were about only 5C less in the same conditions. (as daver160 outlined ) - repasting seems to have a greater affect on the GPU as the CPU has very dynamic clock rates.

 

Now another issue, although I'm not sure if this is a problem of the display, video drivers, file(s) I am using, or software being used to play the files.

Or maybe a combination of all of these.



Problem: Any 1080p video I am playing is appearing very grainy.

Through a logical progression I think this can't be the display (or could it?) as the Windows 7 interface looks crystal clear at 1920x1080.


I have tried playing 1080p video in VLC Media Player and Windows Media Player Classic but the result is the same in both - grainy as hell.

Now it could be the file(s), but it seems to be the same problem with any (720p or) 1080p file I play.

Could it be that the software I am trying to play them with is just no good?

Strange thing is that both VLC and Media Player Classic worked fine on lower resolution displays without appearing grainy - but maybe this is just a drawback of a 1920x1080 display that any/all defects become more prominent?

Or could it be that I am trying to view at too close a range?



Strangely Windows Media Player Classic told me that DirectX was not installed, so I installed that - seemed to make no difference though here.

Also updated the NVidia drivers to the latest version from the website - for now has not seemed to make a difference.

Tried playing around with some settings in Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel (in the tray) - under Media, checked Override Application Settings beside Sharpness: again did not seem to make any difference, so set it back to default.

Am running out of ideas although it may be something quite simple.

I am wondering if it must be some issue regarding my choice of output renderer(?)

Maybe I need to adjust the sharpness or smoothing somewhere?

Really hope this turns out to be an easy fix!



Also, anyone have the link for the latest/most up to date version of the Intel HD Graphics 3000 drivers/setup for the L502x from Dell? I've found one for A06 8.15.10.2342 (dated 4/21/2011) but not sure if that's the latest version or not?

 

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...phics+3000/2000&DownloadType=Drivers&lang=eng

You might need to uninstall your current Dell drivers first and reboot into safe mode before installing this. Your issue sounds more like a rendering problem rather than a driver (are they your encoded videos?)

Cheers