Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Take 2

@ Arniecake That's just another sad story against dell again.

When will it ever end?.

 

How many times has it failed? If its failed more then 3 you can request a replacment computer. A 1730 or something of equal or greater specs. The only thing they have that meets or passes your 1730 is the M17x so they might replace it with that

 

Well it failed, had the motherboard replaced.

Failed again, had the GPU replaced.

Failed yet again and now it's sent off for repair.

So yeah if I have anymore problems I'll demand a replacement for sure, it's had two motherboard replacements and now two GPU replacements. I'll just be glad to get it back but if it's a refurbished 8800 I'll bet any money it won't last very long, my warranty was a 4 year one so I'm covered till 2012 anyway, just such a hassle as I've been without my main laptop for nearly a month now.

 

Watch it on HWMonitor, is that the lowest it goes? At 70 or over, the fans should kick in and the temperature should drop. Mine fluctuates nearly 20 degrees in this manner repeatedly (low 50s to 70) . I can see now why some people keep the fans on all the time.

Do you have the back propped up? Do you have a notebook cooler? What's the temperature at full load like? If that's at around 80 or less, then you're doing "normal".

EDIT: These cards are crazy. They heat up the entire system by a few degrees, the CPU temp fluctuates with it. I don't suppose it's possible to undervolt the GPU? Has anyone tried underclocking it while not gaming? Is there a program that can do this?

 

It sucks i know. I had problems with my screen, keyboard, and aluminum warping on my studio xps 1640. Ive got NBD so they come and fix it no need to send it. But i really hate having problems. If i have anymore i might sell the system or stop payment on the DPA and make them take it back and order an m17x

 

Hello people.
Recently I have bought XPS M1730 T7500 / 4Gb / 250 HDD / DVD+/-RW / Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT SLI. And now I'm looking for a NVIDIA GF 8800 GTX or 9800 to replace. But couldn't find it on Dell website.
The question is - where can I get it?

 

eBay. Unfortunately they're all refurbished and you're just as likely to get a busted one as you are a good one.

 

Hey, thanks for responding! On a complete cold start, the GPU temp is at 42C and the CPU is at 28C.

After sbouy 25 minutes, the GPU temp is at 70-74C. The laptop was bought in May 2009 and has not been opened/modified at all.

Should I buy a notebook cooler?

How do I keep the fans on all the time?

edit: the gpu is at 59c now so I assume the fans have kicked in.

 

Ah I see, you've the 3.4Ghz CPU and relapped the GPU's - that'd make a difference alrite!

 

To Chief Barker:
Utterly unacceptable. I cannot believe they offered you that system as a 'new' when they could clearly build you a new system. I know mine's being built to match the spec, but with the new parts and they only have 9800m GT SLi available - so says their agent. "We no longer offer 8800m GTX, so we're upgrading you to 9800m GT SLi," they said. I argued, "but the 9800m GT SLi is not an upgrade - it's a renamed 8800m GTX. . . Now had you offered me a 9800m GTX, then could I have considered the offer to be a signficiant upgrade and compensation for my troubles." The agent responded, "Unfortunately, we don't have the 9800m GTX available, and the only option available at the moment is the 9800m GT SLi."

And they tell you that you're getting new 8800m GTXs? Seriously, I call foul on this! 2 GB ram?! You're a UK resident. You paid a certain amount for a certain spec, and they're actually downgrading you? If it is a new system, then why couldn't they add an extra 2 gigs of RAM? Maybe because it's not a new system. You critically question the tone and attitude in their offer, and it becomes very obvious that they didn't build a new system at all. They -might- be offering you an already built system that may've been cancelled at some point. However, the unit's still a downgrade, and you did the right thing by not accepting their 'offer'. Try to argue for an M17x in a cool and composed fashion. I'm sure you're doing fine. By the way, try to politely explain to them that all this back-and-forth arguing has also cost you considerable time, money, and frustration; they should offer you a brand new replacement, and probably the M17x as a compensation for all the troubles your M1730 has given you, coupled with the signficant amount of time wasted. If they don't agree, then just stick it to them by asking for a full refund. You might as well save up some and reinvest. I don't know Dell's mentality all that well, but I think they'd much sooner give away an M17x than even half the cash for one of these M1730s.

To BatBoy:
I don't know the exact details, but the law here is favourable towards consumers. I'm sure you hear the common line, 'equal or better' being used, which is more or less true. It is up to the company to either provide an equal or better alternative, or otherwise offer equal compensation in the form of funds (aka refund).

Thing is that with practically anything, guarantee or not, until and unless you don't sign relevant release, you have around a month's period to return the goods if you're not satisfied for whatever reasons that apply to you - could be your taste; aesthetics; mood; whatever. I think the company are entitled to ask for your reasons for returning, but they have to take the item back and offer you a refund.

Now in the case of consumer electronics, the law is essentially the same. So does this mean Chief Barker's time limit is up? No. Thing is that according to the consumer law, if the company offers a guarantee/warranty policy, then they automatically take on the responsibility for providing either an equal/better replacement, or refund of the financial costs of the original item.

Traditionally, this rule only applies for the duration of the warranty period, but the law has a limit of about six-years from time of purchase. However, I have read of cases where others have used this 'time limit' rule to argue and gain compensation for items with already expired warranties.

 

Yeah, mine does that and some others have reported the same thing. What's ambient temperature there like?

Definitely invest in a notebook cooler. I just ordered a Cryo LX. Keep the back of the laptop always raised at least an inch, if you haven't done that yet, do it now and you'll immediately notice better temps.

To keep the system fans on full all the time, you need to have an X9000 CPU and overclock it in the BIOS to 3.2 or 3.4 GHz.

EDIT: With such a huge idle fluctuation, the temperature to pay attention to is when under full load.

 

Another question for you folks. Why did nVidia go away from having SLI being enable-able without rebooting? I remember the old drivers allowing this, was really convenient.

 

Hm, is GPU-Z supposed to show the fans as on 100% all the time even when I can clearly feel a difference in the air from the back of the laptop with my hand?

 

Do you know if you can control the fans with something like speed fan? Also how do you raise the back an inch, or do you mean with the notebook cooler?

edit: You are indeed talking about that cooler, it looks great.

 

Wow thank you Kade that has really shed new light on my situation and if you don't mind i'm going to quote some of your policies when I phone the guy tomorrow.

I agree totally with your view on the warranty policy, I paid to have full hardware support for this laptop and i'm damn well going to use it.

Which is what I intended to do from the start but got cold feet.

Thank you for taking the time to write that post.

 

Actually you should probably prop it up an extra inch even on top of the cooler. Sitting flush with any surface is going to kill air flow. Just stick something underneath the two back rubber feet.

 

That's the normal temps for this machine, during games it doesn't heat up much more, because the fans kick in more often.

 

72oo - Yeah after I lapped the cpu heatsink last year around this time it really made a big differnce, my temps went from 92c to 72c under load and that was before I started using RMClock to undervolt the cpu now I can't really get the cpu to ever go over 71c. I did lap the gpu heatsinks a little bit last week too, but not as much as I did the cpu heatsink last year.

 

Is this @ defualt clock speed?

 

hey guys i just ordered this system:
1 223-6305 XPS M1730, Intel Core 2 Duo T8300(2.4GHz, 800Mhz, 3M L2 Cache) $1591.15
1 310-9522 PERSONALIZATION SHIELD, LCD COLOR WING OPTION,RED $0.00
1 317-0013 6GB, DDR2, 800MHz 2 Dimm $0.00
1 320-5788 17 UltraSharp TrueLife Wide screen WUXGA for XPS M1730 $0.00
1 320-5790 NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8700MGT with 512MB GDDR3 Memory $0.00
1 341-7084 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor, Seagate Casey,M1730 $0.00
1 420-7401 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,XPS M1730 $0.00
1 420-6436 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp $0.00
1 420-9100 Dell Dock Consumer $0.00
1 420-9319 Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 Home Premium Edition 64-bit Edition English $0.00
1 421-0323 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface $0.00
1 463-2282 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access $0.00
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron $0.00
1 420-7938 Dell Connect 2.1 $0.00
1 420-8143 Media Direct 3.5 $0.00
1 421-0427 Dell Movie Store $0.00
1 421-0187 Dell Support Center Software 64 Bit 2.0 $0.00
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic $0.00
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE $0.00
1 313-5591 8X DVD+/-RW Drive $0.00
1 420-8183 Roxio Creator DE 10 $0.00
1 430-2680 Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card $0.00
1 320-5789 Logitech Gaming LCD $0.00
1 410-2189 Norton Internet Security 2009 MUI, 15-Month $0.00
1 312-0603 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1730 $0.00
1 310-9521 Backpack Carrying Case $0.00
1 412-0148 No ISP requested $0.00
1 412-1397 No Productivity Software requested $0.00
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty $0.00
1 950-9797 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 $0.00
1 412-0360 Soft Contracts - Banctec $0.00
1 960-8710 Warranty Support,Initial Year $0.00
1 983-8450 Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year $0.00
1 988-0307 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year $0.00
1 988-0099 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online $.00
1 988-7707 2GB DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 FOR SDO/DIM/INS/XPS $.00
1 420-9518 DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 2GB $0.00
1 430-2655 Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR) $18.40
1 310-5408 Free Recycling Kit $.00
1 320-6171 AGEIA PhysX Physics Accelerator $68.99
1 464-9572 No Entertainment software pre-installed $.00
1 330-5125 Intel Core 2 Duo Label $.00
1 310-9516 You have chosen a Vista Premium System $.00
1 420-9800 Dell Remote Access free basic to access your PCs from outside your home $.00
1 993-1919 Dell Remote Access, free basic service - access your PCs and files from outside your home $0.00

sry for all the extra numbers and crap but i just copied and pasted from the stupid order status crap. anyway just wanted to know what u guys think? this will be used mostly for games and school.. will it play most games? do i need a driver update the day i get it? and can i overclock this processor?

thanks guys

 

I would definitely ditch Ageia PhysX card, it's pretty much useless, and by all means try to find some extra money for dual 8800GTX or 9800GTX.

8700M GT is not bad, but it lost its breath like 1 year ago, even in SLI. It will be one of your biggest bottlenecks, and it's definitely not suited for future games.

 

No. The only processors you can OC are the Intel x7800, x7900 or Intel x9000.

 

Yeah, I have never really overclocked my gpu's at all since I didn't really see the need to. I have been running the cpu at 3.4Ghz almost from the day I got it.

 

No problem, dude. Just look up the actual PDF on UK consumer law, and you'll find the actual stuff; it's not that lengthy and very simple to comprehend. Use that when you negotiate with them. Of course, don't overstate either, because then they might use your own words against you; try simpler lines like, "As a UK consumer and customer of Dell computers, I have certain rights and expections, especially given the nature of the Next Business Day full hardware support warranty that I purchased as a compliment to my machine. You must provide me with an equal or better option, either in the form of a new machine, or a refund."

Another point to add:
I tried to argue for an X9000. And you know what they said? They said that in their policy they only offer an 'upgrade' part when the original part is no longer available. Now follow the attitude carefully. This means that as a generaly policy, if they don't have, for example a T9500, then they are obliged to offer something 'better' as a replacement, not something inferior. That should reinforce the whole 'equal or better' argument.

 

The 8700Ms don't make sense to me with the 1920x1200 screen. I got great mileage out of them using an external monitor and gaming at 1024x768, I could run most games at reasonably high details.

 

Just a quick update on my GPU replacement situation. No word back from Dell yet on another tech - GPU was shipped out Standard Overnight but should have gone out Priority Overnight. Examined GPU closely and took some pics. Green corrosion appears on the video out screw. rust build up all over the video out pins. About to call them back to report it. They will have to try again...

PICS OF REPLACEMENT CARD# 2

Quality Control over @ Warranty Parts is horrible. This also makes you wonder about the cards being sold on fleabay. Most of the auctions are toted as 'Refurbished' cards or pulls from working systems. Not sure if I would want to plop down 800+ dollars for something that could look like what I've received from Dell. Yikes.

 

That must of been looked after really poorly, i think you'd have trouble trying to give that away let alone claiming it's refurb quality. I suppose at the very least it's building up more ammo in your favor to show what terrible warranty service they've been giving you.

Hopefully it'll be 3rd time lucky for you! Though knowing Dell

 

damn batboy that looks like it's been under water or something.that's crap.

 

sharp, i would really return that system asap...much better can be had for the same price.

 

Yeah - well this system was built new after they sent out a replacement M1730 (to replace my M1710 - failed GPU and they had no replacement GPUs in stock, backordered 30 day eta). The replacement M1730 arrived with duct tape residue all over the LCD lid and missing chassis screws along with deep scratches on the wings. So, they ended up building a new system for me.

Needless to say, it appears my luck with replacement parts is the same. Seriously, What the #&$! I ask?

Dell is a decent company - or, it was a year+ ago. Not sure what the heck is going on now with them. I am really leaning on purchasing a nice gaming desktop system and going with a mid-range lappie for my portable needs when the time comes to upgrade... Not sure if I want to invest in a M17x now.

 

BatBoy - Man I saw the new pics and what garbage they are sending you, from seeing what you are going through this may be my last gaming laptop too. Good thing I have a descent gaming desktop already, cause I hate to think what I would go trough if my 1730 crapped out even with the complete care warranty I bought for 4 years. I do hope someone does something right soon and resolves your beast cause this is beyond unacceptable already!!.

 

I think I've isolated the issues with the high idling GPU temps.

It seems to be directly related to the temperature of the CPU. If the CPU has been overclocked or being worked hard (CPU intensive app) I noticed my GPUs were actually allot cooler than usual (in the 50s instead of idling in the 70s).

I found that when the processor was hitting the thermal threshold (around 45) it was turning all my fans on, including the GPUs. Since the fans were on more often the GPUs were being cooled more effectively.

However when the CPU was idling it required the GPUs to hit there thermal threshold, which seems to be 75C, before all the fans kicked in.

Why have they set the thermal threshold on the GPUs to 75C? Although that's lower than the 95-105C range 'they' say is safe, I would of thought fan bearings would be cheaper to replace than GPUs... oh well.

If they just made the thermal threshold 65C (for low speed, maybe 75 for high) for the GPUs, I'm sure the lifespan of these units would be allot better.

Does anyone know of a way to contact Dell requesting BIOS revisions? I doubt there is but community pressure / support costs is what got Alienware to add the Fn-F2 key to their older gen laptops. I've already posted under there Tech services forum, doubt anyone will read it / pass it on though.

 

WOW! Unreal to say the least. Its only taken them a year+ but Dell has finally posted a driver update FOR the M1730 and the 8800M GTX. Will most likely work with the 8700M, 9800M flavors as well.

Now only if I had a decent video card to test it... lol

Anyway, grab it now while its hot! Version 186.24.

Vista64:
http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R229351&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=329317

Vista32:
http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R229350&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=329321

Sorry XP users - blame Dell. Nothing posted for you (yet).

 

I didn't know if it was an upgrade, But i went ahead and did it anyway because my 1530 had a hard time keeping the T7700 as cool as i thought it should be so I swapped it with the T8100 in my M1730, And im getting a very noticeable Speed improvement on both systems,

For anyone who wants to know if you have can get a T7700 over your T8100 it is an ok upgrade.

I still need to burn in before i can get temps but so far they are doing great.

 

But we have the 190.38 version (wich is WHQL) from nVidia's website. They are a lot better, IMO.

Speaking about temperatures... This is what I have with normal activity (some browsing, office, IM, music playback)

I have 30 degrees in my room (where my computer is).
And I keep it with one card completely disabled (as I don't need it right now). With both GPUs turned on, my cards are idling at about 52 degrees.

 

Yeah - Pieter still hasn't fixed his 4.010 INF - he was supposed to link to the (a) version update but hasn't.

I've been shying away from modded INFs lately anyway. Just wanted to post the current Dell release since its newer than the NVIDIA mobile driver on the NVIDIA site. The 186.24 Dell driver supports:

NVIDIA_DEV.0409.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT"
NVIDIA_DEV.0409.02 = "NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT "
NVIDIA_DEV.060A.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M"
NVIDIA_DEV.060B.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT"
NVIDIA_DEV.060C.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX"
NVIDIA_DEV.0617.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX"
NVIDIA_DEV.0618.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M"
NVIDIA_DEV.0618.02 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M"
NVIDIA_DEV.0A34.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M"

I installed it today but can't really mess with it since my GPUs are fried. Anyway... no worries.

 

I'll try it soon. I'll keep it until nVidia comes with 190's series for notebooks.

 

and I was just about to ask why only 1 GPU is visible...

Nice temps Time. I'll try Pieter's as soon as he gets on the ball or I find the free time (between dell support calls - argh) to fiddle with the INF you linked to.

Your max ACPI and CPU temps are about 25-27 degrees lower than mine. We have the same CPU. My ambient room temp right now is 70 degrees f. So not really hot. I knew something was going on with my CPU - argh.

 

Do the 190.38 drivers give you a noticeable improvement over 186.03?

I just tried the 186.24... not impressed. I think I lost some fps in UT3.

 

Well, the only game I play at the moment is FEAR2. It works just like before, perfect.

@BatBoy, I feel sorry for your machine. I hope Dell will replace it with an M17x soon.

 

Been running 186.24 since yesterday, so far I am pretty impressed with performance and temp control, Only issues I have are; resolution has defaulted to 1600x1200 2 times so far on reboot out of about 10 boot/reboot, also I wish Dell would release more info for the driver like nvidia does. This is the first time I have ever posted below 70C after any type of game play. I usually run a driver for 2-3weeks before deciding to keep or revert back, so I will keep testing.

 

Well, it's high-time Dell put up a driver that isn't more than two-years-old.

BatBoy, that GPU is in terrible condition upon closer inspection. Can't say that we didn't see that one coming. Although the level of corrosion is just amazing - even my parts have had the odd bit here and there, but it tends to progress, which makes me wonder just how long they had that refurbished GPU sitting in their fishtank excuse for storage.

The ammo keeps building up!

With regards to the decline in Dell's standards. I think Dell's always had a risky reputation for making great promises and some very dandy and easy to manage systems. However, when either one doesn't live up to the standards, people complain. I believe around 2004-2005, they had a similarly dodgy reputation with computers that weren't up to the mark. People complained about the quality of the products, and the quality of the support. Things changed around the era of the Inspiron 9400/XPS M1710; better machines, swift repair jobs, and usually with newer, better parts. I'm sure some M1710 vets must've received go7950 GTX as a replacement for a faulty 7900 GTX. They had better damage control back then, I think.

 

bump. i didn't know everyone started a new xps thread. i feel left out.

 

I think I'll give 'em a go in the hopes the do something for the woeful FPS in ArmA 2 (mostly in campaigns).

 

Hi guys! Need some help!
I play GTA 4 or Crysis Warhead and at some point of time I start to get a lag. My laptop is almost two years old and it has never been cleaned up inside. What do you think would it be just the dust?

 

System Specs - Need to have more info. Is it just with these two apps or with the whole system? What are temps after gaming? Record temps and post back with more info please and we'll see what we can come up with.

In regards to cleaning, yeah - at the very least you should get yourself a can of compressed air and give it a good shot - lock the fan blades by inserting a toothpick or paper clip between the fan blades and then shoot the air into the fan and then the rear exhaust.

 

Check the temps. Just to be sure is the dust or something. If temps are fine, then the problem is somewhere else.

 

Ok, actually I don't know why the configuration doesn't come up in my signature but anyway here it is:
Dell XPS M1730 T7500 / Nvidia 8700M GT SLI / 250 Gb / 4 Gb RAM
And Everest shows the temps are about 75.
By the way I have tried a lot of different drivers already and couldn't see much difference.
BatBoy by the compressed air and good shot cleaning you mean I do not have to open the laptop and all I need is just to put it upside down?
Also I tried gears of war and the same problem. It starts perfectly but later again lags.

 

If you feel comfortable taking apart the unit then by all means go for it. I had not cracked open my case for a year and when I did and examined the GPU and CPU fans I found little dust there or anywhere else. Be sure to review this prior to opening your case.

The one place which is a dust magnet is the exhaust fins located just below the LCD. When you take your compressed air and give it a shot, be sure to hold your breath big puffs of dust might blow out.

Which nvidia driver are you using? If its an early driver, you may want to give the recent Dell released M1730 driver a try (if you are on Vista) - its actually quite stable as far as I have seen and incorporates the functional powermizer which will lower your GPU clocks to 2D mode when not in a 3D situation. This results in lower temps.

If not on Vista, try one of the modded XP drivers @ laptopvideo2go.com.

Dell driver can be found in my post here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5112383&postcount=1297

 

Quick heads up on cleaning. As above canned air and paper clip but also have a vacuum cleaner turned on and aimed at the exhaust etc ready to suck the crap out as you blow it. a) so it's not tempted to blow dust to other parts you can't access inside the lappy b) so you don't go putting dust back into the area where you're clean lappy can suck it all back in.

Also FWIW I think keeping your work environment clean is more important than regular lappy cleaning. If there's less dust to suck.........

Sorry if this post sux!