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

I don't think they have a "position" on it because noone I've talked to knows anything about it.

The only person that pretended to know anything was a guy from a call center in India called "Dell corporate" who first tried to tell me that I had a "VESA" brand panel, not LG (to which I replied that VESA is a standard, not a manufacturer), then he proceeded to tell me that the LG panels are not lower quality and that they don't have anything else (how could he know that if he didn't even know the panels were made by LG in the first place?!).

I've read multiple posts on this forum alone from people experiencing the same issues that I am, but I haven't heard if/how they got them resolved.

 

I remember there was a discussion about M1730 screens a long time ago. In the first part of the thread if I remember correctly. Try searching it.

 

I did search. Most notably someone named zfactor posted quite a bit about similar issues with the LPL0032 that Dell put in his M1730 5 times. He never said how things turned out in the end. I tried sending him a forum PM, but he hasn't posted for a couple months.

 

Haha, yea zfactor. I remember him. I've a funny feeling he was actually happy with his screen in the end. Although I think he might have even used a screen from a completely different system (I could be way off on this, but have a hunch).

 

Yeah, I remember him too. I think at the end he was happy with it. So there wasn't much for him to be done anymore and he sold his rig to someone at this forum. Quite funny if you think about it.

The M1730 was build with 3 different screens. A Sharp, Samsung and the LG. About the LG was a lot of discussion. In the beginning the LG was considered as the best panel. Later when zfactor discovered that some green colors turned to yellow at the LG, the whole opinion at this forum changed.

I'm still happy with my LG in the end. The colors look crisp and the panel is really bright.

 

Actually I too have used a different screen, the Samsung SEC3155 (Never offered for the M1730) monitor swapped from my Inspiron 1720. It's bright, accurate in colour rendition and not over-saturated like the LG screens. Screens are important to me because they effect the photo editing environment I view on.

The Sharp and LG screens have a mild sky rendition problem, some photos I took have a deep tone of green to the sky instead of deep blue, when the photos do not show this green phenomenon, nor the camera. The SEC5443 (Offered in the M1730s) though much less saturated, has a mild a yellowish tinting effect. The Sharp screens are better, but rather a mild reddish tinting effect.

The Inspiron E1705s uses the same screens and can be swapped to the M1730s as well. I've no problems using the SEC3155 swapped from my 1720, every colour I view on is accurate; what I see is what I get on screen.

 

I hated the original LG panel in mine, but my m1730 was a replacement for my m1710 which had a great LG panel, so i swapped them before i sent the old machine back

 

Funny how easy it is to swap screens b/n models.

 

Yeah, I used it as well. Could just turn on two fans which are not gpu fans. Started to notice that it's doing something wrong though and as soon as I got back to defaults I uninstalled it.

Well, u guys make me sad. Why does nvidia system tools doesn't work though?? It's been made by nvidia which produce those cards and they can't even implement fan control properly, ?

By the way, I was also looking for some raid monitoring tool, because when I enabled raid 0, all of sudden all the hdd monitoring programs stopped working and I really would prefer to know what's going on with my harddrives (s.m.a.r.t. reads, scanning for bad sectors etc.) Is there any software for RAID on the internet??.
Thx in advance.

 

Not sure which one I have. Can I check it somehow?
In HWinfo32 it says T9300, codename Penryn SV. So if I can't do anything about heat-cool cycles this basically mean. My video cards are going to fail sooner or later, isn't it? This is not what I was expecting from a laptop for over 1k$ .

 

I paid more like over 4K when I got mine.
Anyway, this does not help with the M1730 cycling but helped me greatly as in reducing the peak temperature during load: raise the back of the M1730 about half an inch. This give the computer a little more room for air intake which help reduce peak temperature.

 

Yeah. I've figured that out already, even bought laptop legs

 

It doesn't mean that your GPUs will fail eventually. There still some people over here who have had their M1730 for over 2 years now without a GPUs failing. Some of them have a non-extreme CPUs.

On the screen subject, I remember that zfactor got a non-M1730 screen and was happy with it in the end. I think it was a screen from M1710 originally.

 

Your post sounds like odds of not failing are really small (which is true probably ). Anyway I'm not going to give up. What do you guys think about cooling pads? Does it help? Have any of u got real experience with them (how much the temp has gone down etc.) and if they're good, which one is the best (I was thinking of zalman nc2000 or Enermax Aeolus)

 

x9000 CPU is a little more than 200$ on ebay if you're interested.. I know i am buying one when i get the lappy.
Your problem is not overheating of the cards, if you keep the back raised and regularly clean laptop from dust from inside you won't have overheating issues. The problems is the constant heat-cool cycles and the only fix is x9000 cpu + overclock. True, you might not get the problem at all but if you're out of warranty i'd take precautions

 

if that's the case I'm getting one ASAP. How do I overclock it though? Will it be possible through the BIOS or software overclocking? Do I need to check for anything in particular before buying x9000?
Just checked. Do you mean those http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core2-Ext...2043?cmd=ViewItem&pt=CPUs&hash=item1c12307d8b ? Can't find anything else.

 

Just be careful with Enginering Samples. Sure they're more cheap to get, but beware. They can have stability issues. Especially when you want to overclock.

I don't know about that eBay ad. On the picture you can see an ES CPU.
Also as far as I know the X9000 Penryn is a Socket-478 Micro-FCPGA CPU with a 800MHz Front Side Bus Speed.

Just try to find SLAQJ / SLAZ3 instead of that Q4JJ. They're the retail ones. The Q4JJ is an ES.

 

yep, that's the one, and as mentioned by ernstig01 those are engineering samples. There's a slight chance you'll have issues with them, i suggest that you read a little on the topic of ES version CPUs before you buy one.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/480018-safe-upgrade-laptop-es-cpu.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/337317-es-cpu-downsides.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/374074-es-cpus.html

And the overclocking will be done through bios - once you install that cpu the option of overclocking will be available in bios.


EDIT : Another interesting link http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/321019-x9000-xps-m1730-q4gy.html

 

Those screens are awesome, i know, because i have one

 

thx for pointing that out. I bought laptop this expensive to have good quality and no problems so I'll give it last upgrade of x9000 not ES version and hopefully Ill enjoy my xps without failing GPUs for years . Just to confirm. ES version is Q4JJ and normal OEM is SLAQJ, am I right? If yes i think Ill get this one: Intel® Core?2 Extreme Mobile Processor X9000 SLAQJ OEM - eBay (item 170491246340 end time Jun-25-10 00:53:55 PDT) . little bit pricey, sigh :/

 

I know. These quality CPU's are getting rare these days and quite expensive.

 

Fwiw I am going with the es version. 99% it will work as the original one and I am willing to take that chance. But each one and his own considerations.

 

Here's an update of the ever growing GPU list. Credits to hikkoo who pointed me to this one.

• HR106 = 8700M GT single 256MB
• RW331 = 8700M GT SLI 256MB each
• XM888 = 8800M GTX SLI 512MB each
• X075M = 9800M GT SLI 512MB each Gen I
• F979M = 9800M GT SLI 512MB each Gen II
• J951N = 9800M GTX SLI 1024MB each Gen I
• K650M = 9800M GTX SLI 1024MB each Gen II

I hope it's now complete.

 

ernstig, really all the credit goes to you for creating a mighty tasty gpu list.

found out a way to indicate when its time to pull apart an clean dust off internal heatsink fins with this setup


pic with usb 2mega pixel Digital Microscope(X4300A) about 10x (purchased from Altronics.com.au )

6 sec videos zipped .wmv View attachment huntfordust7.zip & View attachment huntfordust4.zip


no success seeing cpu heatsink fins yet? other gpu fins looks
impossible because of direction of straight vents. (seeing only one gpu internal fins should be enough to give good indication when to clean)

 

sick stuff hikko. Isnt it easier to just monitor temps though ?

 

You might want to check my test image to see how it looks on your LG panel: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-quality-defective-lcd-panel.html#post6298847

I actually don't care much for the extra brightness because it comes at the cost of being able to see a uniform backlight glow even when the screen is black, unless I turn the backlight down to half brightness (which in turn makes the picture dimmer than on the non-LG panels at full brightness).

 

Just before I buy one, just want to ask how do cpu fans correlate to gpu fan? Does it work in a way that if cpu fans are on then gpu fan kicks in as well?
I'm asking because in a speedfan software it's not always the case (2 CPU fans are on, but gpu fan is still off) although most of the time 3 are on I think.

 

I definitely have the LG panel with its strange behaving. In normal daily use it's not an issue to me. But I admit when I compare with my other laptops and my desktop at home there is that grainy and orange/yellow/green color issue.
At this moment I have not much time to worry about this as I have an examination in 2 weeks. So I'm more studying than gaming. Maybe after this I'll look into it and get it replaced. I'm just afraid to get a refurbished panel. I'm curious if Dell has brand new Sammy's or Sharp panels in stock. I'll seriously consider it after 2 weeks when I have more free time to spare.

As far as I know they seem to be working simultaneous. When the fans kick in, all 3 kick in. In normal use (not over-clocked) while web-browsing they kick in every time at 50% speed.

 

on 3.2 or 3.4ghz all 3 fans continuously on full speed
on 2.8 or 3.0 idling all fans go on and off in a continuous cycle ,when gaming 1 cpu fan on an 2 gpu fans on then both gpu fans kick in on higher speed

Thanks, Good point, do monitor temps, usb microscope is now me fail safe method so stupid dust cant sneak up on me again . Heres what happened to mine & 72Hundred @ 72Hundred many thanks posting dust pics> this shows if fans are continously on full speed or oscillating on an off dust will still collect on internal fins. Also did clean me benchtop frequently an under xps..soooo annoying....wonder if never cleaned benchtop, more dust
would have collected on internal fins, probably now have a cool outerspace rig from dell hell an wouldnt be posting any of this...now thats sicko

unusual temps may not necessarily mean pull apart an clean, could be hardware issue or mobo or different rm-clock voltages or changing gpu drivers or higher room temps............ can be confusing

frequently dismantling rig increases risk of damaging somthing , im trying to minimize this risk by taking apart only when needed

before cleaned out dust off internal heatsink fins.....crap.... wasnt at all aware of a flaw of our cooling system > is heatsink fins are filtering dust(trapping dust against internal fins) because fins are too narrowly spaced, wonder if were wider spaced just enough to allow dust to pass through fins then out rear of rig, lol then circle back into rig again


signs to be aware of for dust on internal fins besides stress testing temps of gpu an cpu, only going by what happened to me XPS before clean out dust>
#random high temp spike of only one core in me X9000
# after long period of gaming temps take long time to go back to normal idle temps
#spots of lagging in crysis an crysis warhead (1680x1050 high J951N)
#strong exhaust air coming out of rear of rig feels less or soft(but got to remember strong feel of air when fins were clean an fans full speed)

hey Pysloid, not everyone is talented as you with Canned Gas > what if accidently blow some dust on mobo & this dust have some minute metal particles in it an lodges inbetween SMD legs + some humid weather... what would happen....dont know,
maybe do some craaazy mythbusting

 

I wouldn't even think about something like that ... don't get too paranoid at stuff like that, thats not healty, computers can take a little

this might sound like hell to you : I take mine outside in my notebookbag, even when its raining a bit (the bag is sorta waterproof though), I move mine around alot, I take it to school 2+ times a week, and it still works AND it still looks like new (just saying this to prove my point that they arent porcelain babies)

 

They're some interesting points. Ideally no one should open up their laptop without good reason, as there's always the chance of damaging something.

Looking at that last point. To make it independent of memory you could set up a standardised way of doing it.
1) Run Furmark and wPrime for at least 10min's to get the fans up to full whack. Run HWiNFO32 to make sure that they are at 100%.
2) Find the stream of fastest air (b/n the two gpu fans)
3) Start a flame on a lighter and starting far away bring it in till it gets blown out.
4) Do it 3 times (no wind in room) take an average and you've got an estimation of how much air the fans are pumping out.

Ideally you'd do this when you'd just cleaned 'em out as to get a bench mark, then see how the range diminishes over time.

 

i am not going to disassemble my DELL and clean it before my warranty runs out. if i damage my xps during this cleaning operation it would be my fault and theoretically can void my warranty. if my GPU or CPU fails during normal operations - stuff DELL - I still have my warranty and they should fix or replace it. I've paid fortune for the extended warranty and high end laptop - not a Lego set. Of course when the warranty expires I will rethink my position but now - no way.

 

Haha, a quick update to my post a minute ago.

I ran Furmark and wPrime and temps would not go above 80C and the first GPU fan only came on briefly at slightly higher RPM! Looks like the system is too clean at the moment get the fans to kick in with the standard methods! Great stuff

 

Psyloid, good point taken, lol at school must attract lots of finger prints from admirers of the right kind
sorry been paranoid, just passionate about all XPSm1730's
borland , really dell should be providing a free cleaning service to all XPS owners so we dont have to think about it in the first place.


awesome 72hundred didnt know about flame trick ...flame went out max distance from rear of rig about 770mm for gpu's(fans 100% about 3350rpm Hwmonitor1.16)
about 540mm for cpu(fan 100% about 3600rpm Hwmoitor1.16) but used a small lighter ... going to buy normal size an try again to see any different.

 

You're probably better off with a small one. Its just a standardisation method, so as long as its the same one next time you're golden!

EDIT: Should probably mention that I only came up with the flame trick when I read your post! - so you can claim half the invention!

 

Well, the deed is done. I traded the Beast in yesterday for some cash plus a AMD quad core desktop with a single 9500GT GPU(SLi capable mobo though, so I'm thinking about two GTX260s, hehe). It's been a great ride and a lot of you directly or indirectly helped me with any issues that cropped up from my time owning my M1730. Once again, thank you... and those of you still rocking the Beast continue to do so.

 

Good luck, pal. You'll miss your Beast for a while - I am pretty sure you will. And pop in to this thread time to time. But I think in a year we (I mean die hard xps1730 owners) will be extinct.

 

^^ w00t? I'm going to keep mine at least 3 years more ;p

 

Maybe we should apply for species protection!

Seriously though. For myself at least, I've no reason to swap or upgrade from the M1730. I've got warranty until April of next year and I would even consider extending it at that stage if everything was going well. The beast is still excellent in my eyes, although newer mobile cards are forever around the corner. The jump to greater than 256-bit architecture for mobile cards hasn't happened yet, and although the newer cards are no doubt quicker, they don't provide a good enough reason to spend significant money for their advantages.

 

Do you guys know any hardrive monitoring tool that works with RAID on m1730???? Harddrives health is importat imho, especially if they're in raid 0.

 

nothing will read the smart info out of a raid array afaik

 

interesting method except... not all lighters all the same. even if its the same size, and same brand. even the same lighter could have different flame depending on how much fluid is left.

coardboard matches might be more consistent... but to be honest, if i hadnt opened up my m1730 long enough for dust to clog the heatsinks, i would miss it and do it anway

 

What kind of info you looking for? Try HWiNFO32.

 

no thanks, dont want any part in the extinction of FLAMING!!!! Beasts

tried 3 lighters an matches

WARNING!! never use Zippo(Flammable liquid )....Dam thing wouldnt go out , niff this what ya meant

sorry niff matches hard to do

Bic cigarette lighters> both were consistent an easy to use except metal part can get hot..ooouch!
small black Bic a couple years old ...dont have a clue how full.... this one tried previous post

brand new yella Bic normal size about 80mm height > flame went out max distance from rear of rig av 710mm for gpu's fans 100%
av 520mm for cpu fan 100%

Conditions: (lol... do ya want room temp, well its 19C)
first turned rig around 180 degree so that rear vents face me an made sure rear power plug lead not blocking any air coming out of rear of rig.
(tried leaving rig in normal postion were theres walls an bench surface> gives different results probably because air circulating off walls an bench)

step1: x9000 set on 3.2 ghz in bios, pressing start button to boot Up > all 3 fans instantly come on @ 100% an continously.
now did 72hundred step2 & 3 & 4.
But for step 3 modded a little were see flame go out> then from here moved lighter further back about 200mm then stopped! then slowly moved lighter up & down about 25mm either way> repeating up an down movement in same spot for about 10secs, if flame didnt go out move in closer about 20mm, then did up & down movement again.....kept doing this until flame goes out an recorded that distance!
NOTE:always kept lighter upright an stood out of the way of air flow otherwise air bounce of you giving incorrect results an important getting STEP 2 right)

now put me new yella Bic in that xps binder folder for future tests...

 

Hello guys! I'm new to the forum and don't even know if this is the right topic. I found this topic with google. I was interested in buying a refurbished M1730 on ebay from UK. The seller is a registered with dell. I also found this info on his personal website:
Guarantee Most of our Refurbished Dell Laptops come with a 12 month Return to Base (RTB) warranty.

It is the customer's responsibility to return the laptop for repair at their own expense. If a repair is not possible, we may offer a replacement/upgrade, but this will be reviewed on each individual case. Warranties cover labour and parts, but not the cost of returning the laptop.

The Warranty does not cover accidental/physical damage, i.e. from being dropped/drinks spilled over keyboard etc.
----------------------------------------


Now i know the M1730 is not a very stable system and that there are tons of broken ones. My question is what if my system breaks? Do i send it to the company or to dell itself ? I've seen that it's 12 months warranty, so suppose it breaks after 7 months will i get replacement GPU's and/or new ones ? I dont want to buy this laptop if it breaks and i'm not getting anything replaced or have to pay heaps of money for it.


http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/Dell-XPS-M1730-Laptop-T9300-2-5GHz-4-0GB-RAM-RED-BLACK-/220613802807?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item335d9b7b37

 

Well I'm not going to address your questions directly. Someone else can handle that.

But looking at that eBay page

and they're selling you

Looks to me that there's no warranty there at all.


EDIT: Then it says

I'd email them looking for clarification of what exactly the warranty was. I.E. What it does and does not include. Personally for me I want the GPU's, motherboard and CPU covered. Maybe screen too if there's a lot of dead pixels.

 

the warranty they give is not Dell's. It's the seller that gives you the warranty, now you need to decide if you trust it.
I'd look for a used m1730 with dells warranty still available as it's much safer to deal with Dell than an ebay seller.
Also, once Dell's warranty expires there is almost no way to renew it, but if you still have even a week of warranty left you can extend it for further and have a machine that is covered.

 

i just mailed them this is the reply:
HI Thomas

Thanks for the email

The warranty is with us

If any hardware part fails up to 1 year then you send us the laptop and we will change the part for another free of charge and send it back to you

Normally the next day



Hope this Is ok



Kind regards





outlook-top

UK Laptops Ltd.,
Chiltern Business Centre,
Couching Street,
Watlington,
Oxfordshire.
OX49 5PX
Tel: 0844 3573543

Thanks for the good info, i've been looking for a good notebook forum

 

Guys instead of overvolting my GPU´s I undervolted them instead to 0.95v on the Extra level in Nibitor. Now the overclock to Core 625 and Shaders 1550 wasn´t stable at that voltage. However Core 600 and Shaders 1500 and Memory 950 is rock stable. This should lower temps, don´t know about how much yet since I am testing the undervoltage with several games

 

I cant answer your question. But I wanted to say that my 1730M has always been rock-solid after years of ownership. I don't even think it's ever crashed once. Maybe with Vista it did once or twice, but otherwise it's been free of trouble and easy to own.