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

i have a dell xps 1730 and loking for a driver for windows 7 for 8800 GTX SLI for the best one for gaming .. plz help guys..

 

Use the official ones. See my sig

 

Alright... I've got a question that's a little out of the ordinary. I've been using my T400 quite a bit more often than my M1730, but I broke the beast out this past weekend for some gaming, after giving it a thorough cleaning. Everything's working perfectly but I'm starting to notice quite a few imperfections in the display... small scratches, plenty of dust specks inside the display... stuff like that.

I pretty much built this machine up from a single 8700M GT and a T7500 to the config I have now. I have no warranty remaining, but I would like to replace the display somewhere down the line. I haven't done that much in the way of searching just yet, but could someone point out to me what kind of display I'm going to need? I'd like something of pretty high-quality... even though I know getting one might not happen, a non-glossy LCD would be extremely nice.

So... anywhere I need to look, besides Feebay? Anyone else done the swap before?

 

Ok bought the Zalman cooling pad and it's not bad, the temps aren't climbing anymore, the fans kick in rarely.
My seller is offering me brand new 9800m GTX gpu for 300 pounds, is it worth it?
By the way my 8800m GTX are working great again.
My question is does the 9800m GTX produce more heat than the 8800m GTX?

 

Hi Guys,

I apologise if this has already been asked and/or talked about, but I have searched quite a lot for an answer but frustratingly cant find the answer.

Ever since installing windows 7, I cant seem to change the colour of the LED lights on the touchpad and the speakers. Before with vista I could change it with quickset very quickly but now after downloading the new Quickset (which I think is the correct one) I navigate through program files to Dell Quickset and when I click on it, Mobility centre just pops up.

I know that the colour can be changed in the BIOS screen but I want to set the colours to alternate slowly.

Can anybody please help me with this, it would be much appreciated.

 

Easy when you're at the mobility center screen go to System on the left side and then click on Gaming options in the middle, it'll bring up the usual Quickset menu.

 

Yea either that or change it via the BIOS

 

Thanks for the reply but when I click on quickset I get the following:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n297/Robinho_07/Untitled-11.jpg

There is no system???

EDIT: Nevermind guys, I have got it sorted. I found a website which had all the latest downlaods for the 1730 on windows 7 and there were 3 quickset updates which I downloaded and installed and everything is running smoothly again. On a side note windows 7 is great IMO.

Thanks a lot for the help, much appreciated.

 

300 pounds for a set of 9800M GTXs? I`d say it`s worth it.

The heat increase is marginal, they are basically the same GPU with higher frequencies.
Having an X9000 CPU OCed to keep the fans on all the time would improve everything.

 

if its sli hell yeah if single card then sort of. the heat difference is not noticeable.

 

Temperatures after BC2:

GPU and HDD doesn't look too bad but what about CPU and "_THM"? Isn't it too high? Maybe better to use new thermopad for chipset (and how thick should it be - here's too big distance between radiator and chipset)?
After downclocking (from 3.0 to 2.8) it looks much better:

 

I've installed 195.62 Win7 driver and lost about 450-500 points from my 3d Mark 2006 score. However when I run Crysis all on High and full HD resolution I've got about 3-4 FPS increase which is weird. So I've decided to stick to this driver and look how other games perform. Anybody compared DELL stock Vista driver with 195.62 on other games? I run my m1730 X9000 OC to 3.4 constantly with not OC SLI GTX8800m. I've got about 30 FPS on Crysis with DELL driver and about 34 with 195.62 (all on high with full HD)

 

Sli of course, what else and brand new factory sealed.
How much do I need to OC the cpu to have the fans on all the time?

 

Those CPU temps are high. Are you undervolting or not? cause Dell`s original 1.37V for the CPU is scortching high.
People said 1.23 should be plenty even for 3.4Ghz...

 

if you do the alternating colours with the XPS light FX you will get sound distortion, its best to set it to one colour or either live with the pops and cracks while playing music/dvd's

 

Hmm strange my GPU´s only max out at 77 degrees celsius when playing Bad Company 2.

 

Just heads up, steam has a 50% sale on Left 4 Dead 2

 

Eleron - I have been running my X9000 for over 1 1/2 years undervolted at 1.2375v and I have had no problems and it keeps it under 72c when playing any game.

 

Wow. Even not OCed I can`t really keep it under 80C, depending on newer games, but averaging 77C also. You're OCing still. Man, must be really cold in Sweden

So you've confirmed my hypothesys. Now I want one
Granted, my undervolted CPU never goes over 60C

 

When I undervolted my machine I had stability problems
So i keep it running @ stock, the t9300 doesn't get hot anyway

 

Yeah though other games bring the temps up eleron, but strangely not Bad Company 2.

 

I definitely gotta give this one a try though. i heard only good things about BC2.

 

Anyone with 9800m GTX SLI and X9000 CPU playing Bad Company 2 on their rigs? Just wanted to know how the game plays.

 

My seller is sending me 9800m gtx sli, I should have them in 2 days.
Do I need to think about overclocking the gpu or is it strong enough on it's stock settings?

 

It's excellent. Actually additive.

 

Me likey addictive. Hope this won`t make me get sloppy on my phd assignments haha

 

It probably will. But unlike going out for a night of drinking there's very little hangover with BC2, so over all I think its better!

 

Well, even so, a 1.25 or 1.28 still should be ok. Even for an ES.

 

Thats why i'm holding off till after my exams, i've been quite the BF2 addict
I really need my bachelor in IT networking

 

I should be doing my phd in laptops or gaming haha that would definitely clear up issues all around.

 

So my m1730 died a few weeks ago, and they dont make the part or computer anymore so im getting a system replacement. Ive heard they give you low end m17x's since they dont make the m1730 anymore, anyone know? Been waiting now for a week for them to tell me what machine im getting. Hopefully i get lucky here.(4 year warranty ftw)

 

Was just on the dell.ie (Ireland) site to spec up a M17x purely out of curiosity.

Get this - highest and only option on the screen specs was 1440x900. ! Are dell taking the p!ss!!!

So if you went to buy a "gaming laptop" from Dell today and didn't read the fine print about screen resolution you'd be stuck with 1440x900!

EDIT: Highest video card - Dual 1GB ATI® RADEON™ HD 4870 Graphics Card

 

The swiss dell website shows for a M17x :
17" XGA+ 1.920 x 900 and two ATI® RADEON™ 4870 HD with 1 GB

It's anyway lower than the good "old" M1730
cheers
tom

 

Dont let them toss you around, you want an overclockable CPU, dual graphics, dual harddrive and a 1920*1200 screen, It's not your fault that they can't fix your computer !

 

Huh, wonder why 1440x900 in Ireland. Weird. Even weirder with no option to increase higher.

 

That's so weird, last week i specced one up for fun and the 1920*1200 screen was still there, now they only have 1440*900 (?) are they gone totally nuts now? I already don't dig the 4870 cards, why did they toss the 280GTX??
and now this.... I really hope my m1730 doesn't break down, I don't want a "crap" alienware, The M17xR1 was awesome, but this, this is pants ...

NB: 1920*900screens don't even exist

 

Alienware is probably following what Dell does when there is a short supply of a certain part. It disappears from the order config page until adequate supply returns. You can usually call in and tell them you want that feature and if there are any in stock you will get it or your order will wait until they have it.

 

Ive been trying to get information out of them but they just keep saying we cant tell you untill an order number is created, its now been a week and a half and they have not had an order number, the delay is from them deciding on a machine to replace my m1730 which should honestly take 10 minutes and i keep asking how it could take this long but i get no real answers. I keep contacting them constantly but no info yet, i might just have to wait and see what i get. I can always appeal it if i don't like it but that will take a whole other month to get going. Im going to play it by ear for now. I will not accept an m17x with non OCable cpu, with out dual vcards and without 1920x1200 screen, that would just be a downgrade. But untill i get the call im suck here in Dell support limbo.

 

I feel your pain man, been there done that, when my M1710 failed it took 1.5 months from the day it failed to the delivery of the replacement, but then again it was worth it, because i got the m1730 I have now (and I had three other computers in my house to play with)

 

i only have a 13 inch studio i jacked from my sister to use for school for now, cant really do anything like my beast could. Cant run much of anything. I just hope dell will make the wait worth it.

 

Well, put it this way, at 1440x900 you`ll game natively mych longer
If they do try to push that screen, get compensation, like 8GB RAM or SLI 280M GTXs...or other goodies.

 

they way its set up to customize you cant get a good card or proc in the thing unless you have the 1920x1200 screen, so if they give me the 1440x900 i get shafted in more way then one. Im hoping they just go with the 1920x1200 screen and the r2 model. They dont seem to have 280m's in that machine anymore 4870 hd mobility seems to be the way they are going now, i have a feeling im not going to get much past the 260m sli model we will see though im going to push as hard as i can to get 4870 i7 or the 1920x1200 screen.

 

another thing you can do is , normally you can hold on to your broken m1730 for a few weeks after the delivery of the new computer, so you can then pop out the m1730's display and swap it with the display in the alienware, when my M1710 got busted and they gave me the m1730, i swapped screens (the m1710 had an LG display which was far superior to the m1730's samsung) and i also swapped the wifi cards (m1710 had N and M1730 had only G)
they don't care what you send back, they don't even check

also on a side note, if you use the computer for playing back a lot of video (DVD, divx, blu-rays), try to get Nvidia cards, Ati cards are great for gaming, but their hardware video decoding is lousy compared to Nvidia cards

 

I am going through that right now. My problem started back in January. To make a whole long story short, I have the M17x R1 to use at the moment while waiting for the M17x R2 being built (over 2 weeks now). There are advantages/disadvantages for both R1 and R2.
The best advice from me is be prepared to spend many hours on the phone and be very patience. I went through 6 cancelled orders. Dell customer rep. will try to shaft you duo to their limited understanding, careless, and major lack of communication.
What you have described so far is almost parellel what I went through in the beginning. Keep checking your online account to see what Dell Rep. decided to order and call.
It's only uphill from here. But on the bright side, there are a few service rep. that are willing to listen and help. Get yourself a spare notepad to jog all names and notes.
My old system: M1730, X9000, 4 gig RAM, dual 8800M GTX, PhysX, 200 gig hard drive, and 1920x1200 CCFL. Pretty much everything I could upgraded when I ordered (except no blueray).
M17x R1: QX9300, 4 gig RAM, dual 280M GTX, 250 gig hard drive, 1920x1200 CCFL.
M17x R2 (being built): i7 920 XM, dual 4870 crossX, 500 gig hard drive, 1920x1200 RGB LED, blueray burner, and pretty much anything else I could upgraded if I was building one to order.
I want to make one additional comment: I don't like the weight or the design of the M17x compared to the M1730 but the built quality is quite a bit more rigid. Plus, the cooling (of the R1 anyway and assuming the R2 is the same) is far better than the M1730.
BTW, my location is here is the US.
Good luck.

 

Video of Xps1730 from Magnus running Metro 2033 or something like it. Its just my config and the game looks amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E_olvr5dNg&feature=digest

 

Recorded a couple of videos of me playing dirt 2 on my M1730. Normally I run it at 1440x900 medium settings, but when fraps was turned on I had to put it to 1280x720 low settings, still not bad for a dual core cpu and single 8700M GT though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNHr59W_t4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBad3mjWLp4

 

this will not work screens are not the same connectors are not the same.

 

hmm, are you sure (i mean did you know someone who tried or checked) because most of the time you can just swap panels around between differnt (brands) of laptops

 

Yeah pretty sure.different mother board. among other things.i wish it would work then you could put an rgb led in it