Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, *Part 3*

Try the Windows Mobility Center Control Panel.

 

Does the X9000 CPU has more cache than the T9600? The X9000 has 6MB of 2nd level cache I think.

 

You are correct on the cache level for the X9000. However both the T9600 and the X9000 have 6MB, although the Q9100, QX9300--and I think the X9100--have 12MB, which is just amazing!

The front-side-bus, on the other hand, is legitimately higher on the new motherboards; standing at over a GHz with support for GDDR3 RAM, compared to our gimped 667 MHz motherboards and DDR2 RAM that cannot be used to its fullest 800 MHz, but like an extra 120-something MHz of slow DDR2 ever made that much of a difference. This, is another important leap made by the new platforms.

Like I said, the GPUs are hardly next gen, but the motherboards/CPU platforms are another story.

 

Yes true Kade, the thing holding the XPS M1730 back is the front side bus along with Ram. The GPU´s alone both the GTX 280m and the ATI 4870 with DDR3 memory is not much faster than the 8800m GTX SLI. Now if the ATI would have been DDR5 instead we could talk about something way faster than the GTX 280m.

 

Indeed. You know there was a lot of buzz going around when they announced that the M17x would have the 4870. The media had galvanised and groomed its readership into throes of passionate excitement about the whole deal, and somehow, an assumption kicked in that these 4870s would be the real deal, with GDDR5 VRAM.

The moment I heard the news, I started scanning for more sources and even repeatedly visited the Dell website to access the M17x configuration page. Unfortunately, the fact remained that these were still the same GDDR3 cards, but with the added 1GB of VRAM, which as most technical-analysts will tell you, is a very gimped feature on a 256-bit setup.

This takes us to another important factor: Memory bandwidth. Before we can even talk about firing up GDDR5 VRAM, we should consider how poorly our current 1GB of GDDR3 VRAM compares to the desktop counterparts. If we were really in the next generation of cards, we'd be talking at least 512-bit memory, with proper gigs of GDDR3/5 VRAM.

I'll wait a while for the real GPU [r]evoltuon to make its impact.

 

Yes I agree, the XPS M1730 still holds it own in games so I will definitely await the next gen mobile GPU´s before buying a new notebook.

 

Certainly a point of agreement! I would've considered getting something newer, but they don't seem new enough to warrant the purchase. Besides, with a running warranty, we'll either have insurance on our cards, or end up with something similar in the newer models.

I have to ask, what is your most recommended Operation System for gaming? I am seriously thinking of making the switch to XP.

 

I went from xp in my broken m1730 to vista 64 bit in the replacement and I can tell you that I get much better performance from vista 64, however I cannot explain why mate.

 

For me XP runs better than Vista 64. Though I dual boot Vista 64 and Win XP. I score higher 3D Mark 06 in XP and gaming overall is stutter free in Win XP compared to Vista 64. So definitely do install Win XP I recommend it.

 

Kade or someone similar, i need an opinion on this, its a stop gap laptop i`m planning on buying for 6 months to replace my M1730

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/12089890/Toshiba-Qosmio-X500-10T-Core-i7-720QM-1-6-2-8GHz-8GB-1TB-BD-RE-DL-18-4-Windows-7-Home-Premium-64Bit-Laptop-Notebook-PQX33E-00N006E/Product.html?&_$ja=tsid:11518%7Ccc:%7Cprd:12089890%7Ccat:Computers

My M1730 had the X9000 Extreme processor and 9800M GT cards, i know the Toshiba is non Sli but that doesn`t bother me as i`m not a big gamer, in all other departments how should the Toshiba perform compared to my old M1730 ?

Ideally i wanted a Clevo but they don`t have backlit keyboards at the min and on the M980NU it bugs me slightly how the keyboard is offset to the right, i was thinking of getting the Toshiba as a stop gap and wait and see whether Clevo come up with an i7 SLi notebook in their new range next year plus a backlit keyboard.

Thanks

 

Got my laptop back from Dell. Pretty fast turnaround. I wasn't expecting it this soon. They replaced the bottom chassis, MLB?, Palm Rest & Speaker. Anyone know what MLB means?

Now I need to get 2 500gig drives and reinstall everything.

 

I like Toshiba Laptops. The Qosimo is a monster, but y'know, I am not too keen on the warranty package.

Anyway, the listed laptop should be okay, although, with a strong core, it might also start up fans. I don't have first-hand experience of this particular model, but I am willing to bet--based on the reviews of every other i7 laptop--that this machine will get hot, and will be loud when it needs to be in order to tame the heating. If that's okay with you, then take the shot.

From my experience, Toshiba laptops ain't bad at all. I had an X205 SLi, and it had one-year-warranty. I never had to use the warranty, and eventually sold the machine to another individual, and never heard any complaints from this party, but I do hope that it served them well.

Seriously though, if you want a cool, quieter notebook, gunning for an i7 & SLi is probably not going to be the best approach. Even if they create a decent mobile i7, it is still going to be a heavy, hot and loaded monster.

As to the query about operating systems. Chief, and Magnus, I thank both of you for your inputs.

I don't know, Chief, maybe your Vista 64 experience turned out nicely because you were given a fresh clean and NEW system without any software or hardware issues. I've always found XP to be less bloated and cleaner-edged than Vista.

 

Kade - keep in mind, I believe eleron too has done side-by-side comparisons of Vista and XP benchmarks in games, and noted before that XP was able to squeeze out a bit extra FPS.

Also, curious, why do you not like the Toshiba warranty?

 

Just plugged in my returned laptop. Everything seems to be working other than the right side speaker light. It will not go red. It will change colors with quickset or the BIOS but it will never go red. The left side speaker light works fine.

 

Thanks for the tip, Hankaaron.

Also, I didn't mean to imply that I actually dislike or not like the Toshiba warranty. I am speaking more in terms of perks and benefits. Toshiba's warranty package isn't very big. Getting the warranty extended is another affair. As you guys seem to put it yourselves, few companies offer competitive warranty like Dell.

There was actually a brand new Qosimo being sold by a company on ebay for £1599.99, with the QX9300 and dual 9800m GTS. The machine came with one year warranty, and I was very tempted. As far as design goes; the machine's a beauty and the speakers are amazing!

 

Hey guys, I am a long time reader first time poster. I have been a poster on the notebook forums for a long time.

As most of you, I have been through hell and back with Dell's CS support. I have had my GPU 8800 GTX fail on my 3 times. I was without a functioning laptop for about 2 months b/c of these stupid backorders dell kept on blaming Nvidia on.

Anyway, i have complete care... and one day I had enough. I pulled the qualserv contract off of dell's website, read it, When on to dell chat, and demanded a replacement to be sent. To my surprise, after linking the dell associate on dell chat, he asked me if a alienware m17x would be an adequate replacement. I accepted and I am proud to announce I am typing from my Alienware m17x as we speak!

Now, I need some of your guys' advise. People like Kade, Hank, batboy have way more expertise than I do.

1) I returned back to college and need something smaller to get me around. I think I want to sell my m17x. I dont know where I should sell it and How much I should sell it for.

Specs:

1 224-5967 Black Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-7711 Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
1 317-0818 Intel Core2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 320-1000 1GB Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M - SLI Enabled (NB10E-GT1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 330-3924 Name Plate Engraving
1 330-5418 Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade Coupon, W0, ENG,SPN,FRE,GER JPN
1 341-0011 250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
1 410-0173 ADOBE ACROBAT READER - Eng
1 410-0176 McAfee VirusScan Plus 36- Month Subscription
1 410-0180 Microsoft Office 2007 Small Business-Eng QS
1 420-3250 Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0364 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0410 Wallpapers, C01W
1 421-0415 Mouse Pointers,STANDARD
1 421-0720 ALIENFX RED
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

2) Where should I sell it? Here? Ebay? Craigslist?

3) Do you think its worth selling or keeping? T


thanks!

edit: Oh btw, I have not installed anything on the laptop, and even kept the plastic on the screen etc. Basically turned it on, see if it works, played around with it.. it will be in as new as possible condition... All boxes etc have been kept. Just in case i decide to sell

 

Not sure why you posted in the M1730 OL

You most likely will sell for more $$ off ebay or CL. Be careful with CL though. For local sales make sure its in a public place so they don't pull a laptop jacking

If you do decide to post it in the NBR Marketplace, be sure to review this info. Can also post in the Price Check sub forum if you want to see what other members think.

Thanks.

 

hey batboy... can you start a theead for me in the price check forums? I dont have enough posts or something... it wont let me post

Thanks for all your advice!

 

Hi guys,

about a month ago my battery indicator started showing red. I had a look at battery metter and it showed just 98% and it kept this level for a few days until I shut down my laptop to rest a bit.
The thing is when I turned it on again the battery indicator kept showing red and battery metter shows 0% all the time - battery does not charge anymore.

What do you think? Is it just a battery died or something else?

Thanks.

 

That's a dead battery. A number of people on this forum had the same problem. If you are still on warranty, just ask Dell to send you a new one.

Btw, those of you who are into RPGs and for some reason didn't get Dragon Age Origins yet...run to the shop and get it now! Great game. I'm about 30 hours into it, and have completed only 40% atm. It is loooong And it performs quite nicely on the beast. Run it maxed out 1920x1200 2xAA. FPS never drops below 30. Game is a CPU hog.

 

Thanks Kade. would you say the Qosmio X500 would out perform an M1730 with an X9000 processor. will it be generally faster with it having an i7 processor ?

 

Well the GPU´s isn´t faster, the 9800m GTS has 64 shader processors as opposed to the 96 of the 8800m GTX.

 

That is true Magnus, but his CPU would absolutely roar those 64 fast shaders. I have seen some i7 + 9800 GT benchmarks. Sure, they don't compare to an 8800 SLi, even with a poor CPU, but they're still very powerful. Had your configuration been 9800m GTS SLi, I'd say you'd be holding and perhaps even beating the top tier Clevos and A.W. M17xs. Unfortunately, there's a reason why i7 laptops come with single GPUs, and it is the heat question. Even then, for pretty much any mainstream game to come, an i7 + anything 8800m GTS and above--with some tweaks if the game is too demanding--is plenty power!

For The Stig, who is interested in a strong CPU, the processors will do great. However, the i7 + single GPU config just won't outdo an X9000 + any 256-bit dual card solution. It's just not going to happen with a single GPU.

 

Kade, I think you are confusing Core i7 mobile that this laptop comes with and desktop Core i7 . Mobile Core i7 CPUs have the same TDP as Core 2 Extreme Mobile. http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei7/mobile/specifications.htm vs. http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2xe/mobile/specifications.htm . And also from what I've read in reviews, these mobile Core i7 tend to run quite cold.

 

I knew it was mobile, but I also know that even these mobile i7 laptops seem to lack dual VGA solutions, when such solutions are readily available on older models. It is true - same TDP, yet no SLi or Crossfire. . . makes me wonder.

I7 is a big step ahead in the mobile division, but it also brings more challenges, and subsequeent solutions that'll be around in future. They still haven't started putting dual solutions in these machines though, so yeah.

As for right now, the GPU on this mobile i7-equpped laptop, is only single. I believe this particular model will only support single GPUs, and for reasons possibly pertaining to the i7 or something of that sort. Perhaps that will change in the future, but the chances of that happening seem very slim. Ideally, I think it'll come to fruition with a proper new wave of GPUs that are both powerful, and of cooler thermal design.

Anyway, Stig wanted to know which is stronger. Clearly the I7. As a GPU-plus-CPU solution, I won't be able to say it is stronger than say any 256-bit dual VGA solution with X9000 CPU because that powerful I7 doesn't have such a dual GPU solution to drive/back in terms of graphical performance.

 

Oh, ok. I know that they are not using dual GPUs setups with desktop Core i7 due to heat problems. I honestly don't know why there is still no Mobile Core i7 with dual GPUs system there, because from the looks of it, they will be the fastest mobile CPUs for about a year.

@Stig XPS M1730 will outperform this toshiba in games, no doubt about that. However in pretty much all other tasks it will outperform the best.

 

Indeed.

And DDT5, that desktop line was the same excuse used on mobile laptops using i7. Of course, at that point, they were using the desktop i7s, but as you can see, the lacking SLi issue is still dragging into mobiles i7 CPUs. Kind of perplexing, because now we are talking true 4-core design, and that's just begging to push a dual GPU rig. Even basic 9800m GTS SLi cards would produce blazing results with such a solution.

I seriously think they are waiting for better, cooler GPUs. Probably something that truly compliments the design concept of the i7.

 

Cards lasted a little longer than a week this time. This makes 12 times burnt back to life!

HAHAHAHA my card looks like a burnt sausage. I also decided I'm going to sell my battery. So, if anyone needs one for their XPS, let me know. It's a big one - the biggest one I believe available. I will test it out tomorrow to make sure it can adequately hold a charge. I really never used it, and maybe fully discharged it twice. I never left it plugged into my computer, so it should still have a good cell-life. It's sitting in a bag somewhere..

 

The advantage of the i7s over the Core 2 Quads is the ability for applications that are written or coded specifically to use all 4 cores, 8 threads. 3D Max rendering will be alot faster than any previous generation mobile Quad due to its multicore/threaded abilities. Applications that do not take advantage of the extra threads and/or cores will not be able to fully see the real major advantage of the i7s. If that's the case, the two cores that are used (And the other 2 inactive) will simply overclock or turbo boost its speed up to ie. 3.0GHz on i7 920XM for the active 2 cores that the application is only written to take advantage of.

 

well , I've had the same issue last month. Then Dell told me to order a new battery, because the warranty of the battery is only 12 month.
I received the new battery, but the battery did not charge anymore.
Then I called the Dell support again, which immediately send me a on site supporter for replacing the motherboard. after that everything was fine. imagine my beast is not that old > 16 month.
edit : the issue of not charging the battery was, because of the defect charging unit on the motherboard !

hope this helps.
Regards
tom

 

Indeed, and I`ve dual booted 7 and XP also.
Safe to say, I`m still on XP

 

Curious question, if I were to buy a HDTV as my external monitor, how do I output the video/audio? There's no HDMI port on these 1730s. Is there a converter or something I can buy?

 

Yes, you can output the sound just like the speaker, with RCA cables I think.
It`s 1 head that goes into the laptop and 2 that go into the HDTV, cant remember the color, but something like white and red.

Edit: here

 

Awesome, and for video I use the dvi port right? Is there an image quality loss if I use the dvi over hdmi?

 

No, they carry the same digital signal, and you can use a DVI->HDMI cable or adapter.

You can also order the multimedia cable that plugs into the socket on the back left and output digital audio (to a surround processor, receiver, or the like) instead of the very poor quality headphone analog outputs from the front left.

 

Spot on, Nm88.

I got a question for you. This is kind of sad, since sound is my thing, but when it comes to computer HD, I hardly have any clue.

Can the s-video port output 7.1? That is, could I use the DVI to get top-notch HDMI-quality visuals, and use the s-video port for 7.1 sound?

 

No, the digital audio port is SPDIF, meaning it can only output two-channel PCM (regular uncompressed stereo), Dolby Digital (with 5.1 channels), and DTS (with 5.1 channels), not any of the newer, higher bitrate 7.1 formats (Dolby Digital + or DTS-HD) or lossless formats (TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio).

To pass those newer signals you will either need HDMI, or a sound card that can do the sound processing on its own and output each channel in analog, using a whole bunch of messy RCA outputs.

 

Multimedia cable, would you care to pinpoint me to something more specific so I can check up the prices?

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&sku=310-9336

They shuffle this product around and keep finding new ways to hide it from the consumer, so double check that it's the right one before you buy. (To add to the confusion, the one you get isn't what's pictured.)

 

Hmm, don't we get one of these with a laptop purchase for free? And would I lose image quality using these? Or am I only using this for sound?

 

It doesn't normally come with the laptop, unless it was specifically included in the bundle.

The video outputs (composite and S-video) on it are both inferior and limited to SD quality, so you can ignore them unless you need to hook up to some ancient TV, but what you want is the digital SPDIF audio output, which is far superior to the analog headphone output that's built into the laptop, and can plug into the SPDIF port on a receiver or surround processor.

 

Gotcha. Thanks. A+ would buy again. Positive feedback...oh wait wrong place.

 

Zerg, if you're serious about picking one up and live in the US, I could always sell you mine. Since I got replaced w/the M17x which has HDMI, there's no point in using it anymore

 

Hi guys,

I have finally managed to play MW2 on single player and the framerates i'm getting are horrible, the bridge scene near the beginning is running at about 35 fps. I have SLI set to AFR2 in the global settings and the SLI indicators are showing that it is working. Everything is maxed with no AA.

Can somebody with this game confirm they are getting roughly the same framerate as me, as it's almost unplayable.

Maybe this game has raped the M1730? and need to lower the settings.

 

I get the about the same results cheif. NVIDIA just relaeaed some new beta drivers that include a MW2 Sli profile. We'll see if these improve things any:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_winvista_win7_x64_195.55.html

 

That don't add up. There's something up with your drivers, I think. If this game had genuinely raped our machines because it was too much to handle, then it would never run 60 FPS smooth on last-gen 128-bit cards, even at a low resolution of 600p.

Magnus is getting over 60 throughout. He was getting mostly 60 even in single GPU.

Trust me, it's your drivers, which ones are you using?

Edit:
Man, I hate the driver issue and SLi when it comes to updating. It doesn't matter if your card is plenty strong to run the game, but even one minor glitch with either an older driver or an slightly-off SLi config - the whole programme starts to twitch.

The official and more stable drivers -never- have the up-to-date profiles, but they work just right. I remember RE4 was a drag on my machine, even after renaming the .exe to Lost Planet, the second test scene would run horribly, even if SLi was okay. Suddenly, I install 190.40 and the game is smooth sailing. Then I updated to the 195.39, and while some things improved--like I got poor SLi in Borderlands--other functions began to fail horribly.

I think Nhancer and Magnus' drivers are the best approach, but the compatibility issue of those drivers is another point of contention. As of right now, I cannot get the tweakforce 180.84 64-bit drivers to run on Windows 7 64-bit. So yeah.

 

Thanks chaps,

I am currently running 186.81 whql drivers, but i'm reluctant to try another set as these have been sterling in other games. Perhaps gadget could try the new beta drivers for me and let me know if things improve.

SLI is definately running on MW2 but the framerate is horrible in places.

 

SLi can be made to run in all games, you can even get full bars in a majority of games, but that doesn't always mean that your cards are being used correctly.

Like that bridge-scene, for example. This scene is not a high-texture galore that is burdening the system, but it is clearly a showcase of the effects and post-process, which clearly means that something that our cards should be doing efficiently, is not being done.

I did the exact same trick on my old drivers, and renamed a file or two. What happens? I get my SLi profile running, but the moment some graphical show-boating takes place, game's performance suddenly sucks.

Let me just word it again: The chances of an engine like the one used in Modern Warfare 2--which in reality is NOT a generation ahead of CoD4--actually taxing our cards, is a technical impossibility. It is the drivers, or the software, or both. (Edit: Even IF this engine was a good generation ahead, an efficient SLi configuration should still have the game running properly and smoothly.)

 

So I did get some FPS improvement from the new betas. First screen was 195.39 beta at the worst spot. Second is the 195.59 at about the same spot so overall I went from the mid-teens to the mid twenties. Also keep in mind that overall I am getting very FPS with 1920x1200 and 2X AA it is just s a few spots in this first map and and one other map later in the game.

 

Thanks to both of you,

Gadget is that running with AFR2?