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

Hey All,

I'm getting conflicting information on whether or not the M1730 can run dual external extended monitors. In other words, can I close the lid on the laptop and have one external monitor display the desktop and the other display an extension of the desktop? I know the laptop has a Dual Link DVI connector which means that it has a DVI AND a VGA signal embedded in it.

Would it simply be a matter of getting the appropriate cable? Dual Link DVI to DVI and VGA, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...ail&A=showMultipleImages&Q=&sku=598517&is=REG.

Background

I have two 2408WFP's and up until a week ago I had been connecting only one via DVI. However, now that I have a new desk with more space I would really like to drive both of them.

Thanks all for your time and confirmation!

 

You cannot run Dual View in SLI. In SLI you can switch between either the laptop lcd or an external one.

In Single GPU mode you can run all the modes possible, clone, extended etc.

For multiple extended monitors you need a graphics splitter, a Matrox one would be good, but it`s 200$+ I think.

 

I can run both the laptop LCD and my external monitor simultaneously on SLI mode, as extended desktop.

 

Same here. This limitation has been fixed in one of the later drivers at some point.

 

I agree.

Anyway, folks, if you're up for testing out a new demo, then here's Dark Void.
http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/16623/Dark+Void+PC+Demo

 

Thanks eleron911. Out of curiosity, does anyone have any hands on experience using a Y cable on the M1730...DL DVI to VGA DVI?

There's has to be someone who's tried running dual external extended monitors with one of these cables. No? I might have to break down and buy a cable without knowing...

 

good day to you all..

i was having some issue after replacement of GPU on my m1730. my laptop is shutting down randomly... gpu tems is fine but for some reason my cpu temp usage ans temp goes off of thechart. is this mean i need new cpu? 9800m gtx sli is my new GPU

 

Is your CPU fan plugged in and working?

 

yes, it's pluged in. nother thing i've noticed is hard drive temp also shot upto 90s along with cpu before it shut down. and i've reformatted HDD so i will see...

 

So i hear from dell finally, yup im getting the m17x, within the next 7-10 business days.

But now im even more worried. When i look on the site they better give me the i7, cause i personally dont feel the i5 will be same compariable to the x9000. AND they only offer ATI right now, and NO bluray....

ugh if they mess this up its going to be a cash but out.

 

You might luck out and get an i7/i5. Be clear though the i5 takes the x9000, and has its way with it. You'll be moving to a brand new platform with DDR3 ram and no more FSB (quickpath connect), an i5 is WAY better than your x9000. If they offer you an i5 take it and RUN.

Grats on your upgrade. You should not be bummed at all, I wish I had waited 2 weeks and I would have gotten an i7 or i5 as well.

 

Hi guys well im in the same boat now as you guys. Ive just been told today that the replacement part XM888 8800mgtx SLI is now on back order and a minium of 2-3 weeks. This is worldwide apparently. Ive sais its ridiculous and there going to get customer relations give me a call tomorrow.Ive argued for a replacement system but its down to them to sort it apprently. Ill keep you all posted.

temps under full stress were 96c to 101c lol

 

Eh... I'm sorry for chiming in this late... but from reading the tone of the last few posts, there are guys with overclocked X7900/X9000 CPUs that are now suffering video card failures? This doesn't bode too well... -.-

 

Woah that kind of temps is really unacceptable. It seems to me that you have dust in your system and needs cleaning. When was the last time you pry open your M1730 to have it cleaned? Dust accumulation can also be the major cause of temperature rise, even if the X9000/X7900 is OC'ed to the max for the fans running at a blast.

I think for my system what I've noticed lately is that the fans get more clogged with dust when I use my notebook more often, (having it turned on for 2 weeks continually even till now ). So do check underneath it and its vents from time to time, and have the heatsinks and fans cleaned.

 

Is here sb who uses CUDA?
I want to use my both GPUs (in Dell XPS M1730 notebook) for CUDA computing but I heard that better to disable SLI mode. If it's enabled , I can't set correct device. So I disabled it but now my application (and examples from CUDA SDK 2.3 like Simple multi-GPU) recognizes only one GPU.
My friend checked it too on his PC (different coffiguration of course but same version of CUDA toolkit and SDK) - applications sees two GPUs when SLI is disabled.
Is possible that when I disable SLI, one graphic card is totally switched off? In normal PC both cards works. I called to Dell support - they think that second card isn't switched off so now I don't know what to do.

If sb wants to help but doesn't know the answer - just please install toolkit and SDK from http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_get.html open SDK browser, run Simple multi-GPU or cudaOpenMP and check what number of GPU devices was shown in console when SLI mode is disabled - 1 or 2.

 

I was considering the prospects of selling my M1730, but maybe I'll keep it for other reasons. HEH!

 

buy my alienware when i get!

 

Seriously? You won't keep the M17x?

 

so the tech called said they have a 9800m gtx for me we will see.said they will be here today to replace.

 

Hi all, question the xps m1730 support solid state hard disk but what about 10,000rpm disk?

 

Thats the thing when my m1730 was messed up i build a nice desktop. Thats better than both laptops. I always had a laptop cause i could take it to work. Well i cant really do that at the new place so I dont have a need for it.

It will be going on ebay after i get it. Im still interested to see what it runs tho.

 

Tech just left installed 9800m gtx sli time to run occt.I will share results later.

 

Is massive artifacting a sign of a failing GPU? My display driver has been randomly crashing for some reason. FarCry 2 looks surreal with some of the geometric shapes that are showing up.

 

so the 9800m gtx runs good so far never got above 93 in occt. Now I need to find a x9000.Hopefully it last I'm going to re-up my warranty before it runs out just in case something happens.

 

Maybe, but probably not.

The first thing you're going to want to do is check your heat. I Speedfan for CPU heat and GPU-Z for the video cards.

Check your heat readings and post them here and you'll get tons of help.

Incidentally, I've had about a dozen computers with graphics cards over the years, including my XPS 1730 with 8800 GTXs, None of them have ever had a card that died. I bought an EVGA 7600 GS desktop card that was DOA once, but none have died in action.

 

Also, what driver are you using?

Finally updated my sig.

 

well heres whats coming...also a bluray drive arrived today also.

1 224-5965 Silver Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
1 317-0821 Intel Core2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-3924 Name Plate Engraving
1 341-0003 256GB Solid State Drive
1 410-0179 Microsoft Office 2007 Professional-Eng QS
1 410-0201 McAfee VirusScan Plus - 36-Month Subscription
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
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
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1398 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

Im going to push to get another HDD, since mine came with two, screw it they need to match it.

 

boom second SDD OTW...WEEeeeee. Man i dont know if im gunna be able to sell this laptop now lol

 

Is that the 260m or the 280m?

 

so the "new" video cards the tech installed are showing artifacts very badly. Called dell they said system replacement was still on? Why send a tech with a part for a system that is getting replaced?no wonder they charge so much for warranty they cant keep there shiatsu straight.

 

Hi all, question the xps m1730 support solid state hard disk but what about 10,000rpm disk?

 

What driver are you using?

 

Honeslty a cpu, or more memory would be better spent investment.

 

If you are referring to WD Velociraptor, then the answer is no. It is too large and too hot to fit into the M1730. And you are not supposed to use it without the heat sink anyways

 

I was just wondering and i have curently not had a chance to check the chipset specifications on the XPS M1730. As for upgrades i was thinking the following,

As for memory i was planning on buying the following,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAJOR-8GB-DDR...ting_Laptop_Memory_RAM_ET?hash=item3efc146478

and the following CPU,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-...40QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCPUs?hash=item2a039b4894

Then hard disk upgrade to 2x320GB 7200rpm

 

Unless you really need that much memory, I wouldn`t buy it.
The CPU is ok though.

 

Hi, mainly for games, but i do run VMware Workstation which as you know eats memory, especially when muiltiple vm's are running. But as for the memory, i check Curcial UK which stated 4GB - 667Mhz and 8GB - 800Mhz

 

DemolitionMan,
Try to get an X9000 if you can.

Also, there are some 9800m GTX SLi cards around these day. You'll find all the benefits you'd find with the 8800m GTX, and more with the full 1GB of VRAM.

 

I second that. The 8700M GT SLI cannot compare to SLI 88 or 9800M GTXs.

 

Hi, the only reason is the x9000 is double the price compared to the x7900. I completely agree with the 9800GTX cards over the 8800GTX cards but will look in that.

 

There's a few places on ebay that charge around £400 tops for the 8800m GTX SLi. I say, chip in another 100 or so, and get the 9800m GTX. The added VRAM will help you in the long run/haul of games.

As for x9000. Look harder, because I know there were deals of around £200 for the X9000. You'll benefit more from the cooler CPU and larger cache, not to mention the instruction sets. Trust me, the right deal shouldn't be twice the price, but only about £20-40 more than the X7900, and well worth the difference.

 

Hi, i have checked inside my XPS and found where the physic card seats there is just a blank metal plate, i take it that there is no physic card installed.

 

Well its not a problem if you didn't pay for one! Did you?

 

This was a brand new replacement from Dell to replace my refub XPS M1730 which if i remember did have a physic card, but also at the same time when the XPS was available on dells site it was not an option so i thought it was already included, but i check inside my laptop where the physic card is there is a metal plate?

 

i've got a question regarding the 8800M GTX SLI boards....
Dell has Video BIOS updates but none are for the 8800M GTX SLI. I did see a post on this forum where other 8800M GTX users flashed their cards with an update meant for the 9800M GT SLI....

i downloaded that BIOS update from Dell's site (A00_R230866)....i just want to hear back from folks here before I decide to try this.

i bought my card from ebay, the seller is reputable and the card works fine, but on the splash screen at boot up it says "Engineering Release - Not For Production Use"......

any opinions/comments would be greatly appreciated....

the motherboard is running the latest BIOS.

 

In practical application, you won't notice much of a difference.

However, as a rule of investment and policy--you paid for that extra--they should compensate you for that extra. Simply have a calm word with them about the matter, and I am sure they'll offer you something.

 

Hey guys.... how are all our M1730 beasts getting on?

Anyway...
Selling my friend's 9800M GT SLI GPU on ebay. Starting bid @ $150. Do check it out. Ha, my first time selling items on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/M1730-9800M-GT-...emQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item414c79596e

The card's a little different in a sense because the thermal compound is modified to have MX-2 paste like I use it in my 8800s currently.
A card that scores 14k on 3DMark06 with X9000 CPU. Great for any existing 8700M owners. Enjoy.

 

Indeed. In fact, if you really tweak things nicely--don't even need to overclock much--you can break 15k. I have done this, and so has Ernstig.

SomeFormOfHuman, have you extended the warranty on that beast yet?

 

before dell ruin my laptop i was hitting 14.8's all day a nice overclock on the cards, and was very stable.

Kade you gunna buy that new m17x off me or what? Should be here in a few days!

 

Anyone know if these GPUs work in any other laptops?