Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Take 2

While I do admire your ambition, it is but a dream. No way will a dual core, as extreme as it may be, surpass the score of the Qx9650, quad at 2.83. Imagine if they could OC the thing, it`d be well beyond that. Check out johnksss 's score over at the Clevo forums, he's the record holder. 16851...

I love my machine, but I also know its limits.

 

Hi all

I finally received my new m1730 yesterday. Loving it so far - plays Burnout and PES2009 super smooth.

I'm just concerned about one thing I've noticed though. The system is set to output res of 1920*1200 and 32bit colour. But I'm noticing weird colours on *some* images and locations (like the bootscreen, and certain wallpapers) - appearing almost as if the display was outputting in 16bit rather than in 32bit colour. Also, another very weird thing i noticed was that in refresh rate setting, I'm seeing two options, 60Hz and 59Hz - its set to 59Hz, and when I try to switch to 60Hz, it defaults back to 59Hz.

I've tried two drivers up till now, the default which shipped with the system (167 or something), and Dox's 185.85, and noticed the same thing both times. I suspect that unless you all can confirm that this is normal, somehow, the display is not outputting the complete colour gamut. I've never used a 1920*1200 display before (my previous highest was 1366*768) on a tiny VAIO TX so I'm not sure whether this is how its supposed to behave with colour reproduction. Am going to give the stock 185.85 drivers a go a see how they run.

Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated

 

It just may be your LCD screen quality.

Dell uses Samsung, LG, and Sharp panels and they aren't made equal, even comparing same brand.

 

Ouch - sorry to hear your cards are being replaced again. 'The Thing' - yes, I can dream for another couple of months...

On the subject of NBD, If a part fails or otherwise needs to be replaced, Dell will dispatch the replacement and have a tech on-site within 1 business day. There are a few catches of course, you need to call prior to 1 pm DELL TIME and it must be prior to the weekend. So for example, you call support @ 6pm on a friday night and they deem a part needs to be replaced you wont see the technician until monday - possibly Tuesday.

Complete Care covers accidental damage (i.e. coffee spill, laptop knocked off the desk by Rover or terrible 2 year old, etc.) Depending on the damage, they will repair it or replace the entire unit.

You can use regular paper 3D Glasses just to mess with the functionality. Run the Setup Wizard from the 3DStereoscopic module of the NVIDIA Control Panel and select the 3D Discover on the right side of the screen. Proceed with setup. It works. Also, check this: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d_vision_discover.html

 

Well I checked and I have the LGD0032 (LG) display, it seems. It seems there was a discussion on screens a while back in the old thread - and people do report some colour banding on the LG they had. Anyone here using an LG display have success with playing around with the desktop colour settings in the NV control panel and found the optimum settings, please share!

 

Anyone on the 186.08 driver notice an issue with waking from sleep and the resolution reverting to some ghastly 1024x768?

I woke up the lappie this morning and was greeted by this horribly giant Vista Login prompt... lol.

glitch? possibly. Just wanted to see if anyone else has seen this behavior on Vista (x64) under 186.08.

 

I have had the resolution revert 2 times so far when getting on the web:
One time from clicking a link in an email and the other was clicking the submit results button on 3DMark06.

 

I don't have this issue, my computer wakes up normally.

@mrhohoha, I have the same LCD as yours, I don't have issues with colours (at least, that's what my eyes is telling me), but I can't switch cu 60 Hz also. Did you found a fix for this?

 

Yeah Zerg I heard something to the same effect too - due to it only being 30Hz per eye it causes shuttering which gives you a major headache. And on that note:

Batboy, have you tried it long enough to see if it would hurt your head or not? I don't have 3D glasses atm, might go pick up a pair to see. I'd love to play WoW in 3D hehe.

 

Yeah I was messing with the 3D paper glasses I had from the Superbowl. It works and it does look kind of cool but nothing I would want to use for 2 hours. Its just a bit of eye candy... nothing more (at least IMO).

Give it a try - you might like it.

 

Just curious what's ppl's normal RAM load? Mines at 1.83Gb, with 4gb installed running 32bit Vista Ulti.

 

I'm @ 1.24gb surfing this forum.

 

Thanks BatBoy. I ordered a pair of the 3D glasses, should be coming in the next few days. Where abouts in the NvCP did you set up the stereoscopic 3d? I'm on 185.85, Windows 7, cannae seem to find it.

 

You have to update to 186.08. It was released yesterday. Beta Driver.

 

On the subject of LCD refresh rate, I could say that it might very welll be your software. It could also be an LCD issue, but I have the same problem, but only in Windows 7 64-bit. As for Vista, I can use both 59Hz and 60Hz modes.

To BatBoy:
Yeah, it sucks having the GPUs screw up for like the fifth-time now, but it's almost like some kinda' grand joke now. Y'know the kind of thing that you look back on. . . yada yada yada. Punch line from Dell Support Officer's manager: "We have concluded after testing that the problem is with your VGA card. We will have the cards replaced and your machine will look okay again. An engineer will come and replace your VGA card on [insert day and date here] and it will work okay again." Yeah, it was funny.

More imporantly, thanks again for the information. So the whole unit replacement thing still applies to my machine, right? (You know, in the scenario that no ample parts are available, or that the whole machine is kinda' on the brink.)

To Hikkoo:
Dude, keep up the fight, but let the need to match their scores go. Quad Core will always own our machcines in synthetic benchmarks. And I don't think the X9100 will be compatible with our motherboards from what I've read. I think it requires a Centrino 2 platform, which we don't have? (Right. . . BatBoy, QuickLite, Achilles. . . somebody-with-tech-knowledge?)

 

Hm...I don't think it's out for Windows 7. Latest I could see today was 185.85, I had a look for it earlier =-P

 

@Kade:
Check your PMs in a moment. I have an idea.

@Eambo:
You will have to use the LV2Go drivers since they have a modded INF -

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showforum=152

 

Thanks again BatBoy. One thing though, are these simply the Vista drivers modded to work with W7? If so I'll stick with the W7 drivers, using older WDDM seems to cause issues in W7.

Edit: Also, reading through the posts on LV2G, there's a lot of issues with heat. Up to 10 degrees higher apparently. I think I'll leave it a while - my GPU1 already runs at 94 degrees when gaming ¬.¬'

 

Yeah not sure on the heat issue - I need to do a bit more play testing with it. I'll report back what I have later. I just left an hour session of L4D and it does feel warmer than usual. Idiot me didn't have HWMonitor running though. So I can't verify. Normal surfing/idle temps are fine though.

 

Alright BatBoy, get back to me on that. I have heating issues as it is, can't afford to fry my cards any more hehe =-D

 

so I'm about to pick up the xfi usb that some of you guys have. Many reviews point to the unit bogging down the cpu - any of you notice that? I'm specifically getting this so I can output sound to my receiver while playing games. I can understand why that might be the case, since it's mixing the stereo into 5.1... I'd like to make sure the beast can handle it before I get it

 

Okay, people - I'm not sure if this is documented anywhere else or not - but I discovered something pretty cool - I've read on lots of places that it's not possible to get the Logitech LCD working in Windows 7 at the moment.
Well people, after some h4xx0ring, I made it possible on my brand new beast.
Here's how to get your Logitech GamePanel working on Windows 7

1. Download the latest version of the GamePanel software using the link at BatBoy's blog page (BTW, thanks Batboy, your blog is awesome!) - the appropriate Vista driver
2. Make sure you have an extraction utility (I used WinRAR) installed.
3. Open the exe file (GamePanel software) in the extraction program (in WinRAR just right click the exe, and click on extract).
4. Open the folder created at the target location and search for GPInst.msi. You should find it in the first level subfolder (for 64bit Win7, I found it in the subfolder named 1b-GamePanel-x64
5. Double click and watch it install - You will not receive any confirmation. And that's it! You're done. You'll need to reboot (it wont be visible unless you do)
6. When you reboot, you should be good to go!! Works perfectly for me!


Edit: I think compatibility mode does the job too. Although I haven't tested using that method.
If this guide helps, rep me!

 

I would love to know who told you that, so I can kick them. Almost everything that works on Vista works on Windows 7 - either natively or through compatibility mode. I don't recall even needing to install my GamePanel, I'm pretty sure it installed itself.

 

I'm having issues with mine, gotta tinker with it some more, there is a delay between video & audio, and random pops But sounds great when its working right.

 

hmm not exactly a glaring review!

Are you running the drivers from creative's site?

I just got mine from Best Buy, but I might keep it in the box a few more days...

edit - looks like I'll probably end up returning it.

1. I wanted something that'd output in 5.1 - it'll ONLY output in 5.1 if the source is 5.1. If I want audio upmixed to 5.1, I need to pick up some microphone -> RCA adapters and connect them into my multichannel input on my receiver.

2. Lots of people are complaining about the noise and lag issues. Doesn't seem like these go away that easily.

3. Our laptop has the ability to output in 5.1, so maybe I'll try that instead, or...

3a. I'll use the digital coax and try using my receiver to split the 2 channel audio into 5.1 channel.

Thoughts?

 

@Eambo
I'm pretty sure the gamepanel has no way of 'installing itself'. Clearly, you haven't tried to install it yourself, because I, and I'm sure most people would have encountered an error saying GamePanel isn't compatible with this OS

Edited above: Compatibility mode seems to work.

 

Interesting. Well I have the gamepanel, and it's installed, so I have installed it somewhere along the line. To be honest I can't remember if I clean installed Windows 7 or done an upgrade - however my G15 just worked. It's fairly safe to assume though, as you have tested, anything that worked on Vista will work on W7 with compatibility at least.

Sorry if I sounded a bit snappy in the first post, didn't mean it that way =-P I just hate when people (And I don't mean you, I mean the people who TOLD you) say that something isn't working without trying something as easy as compatibility mode. Thanks for testing it in compatibility mode though.

 

Calling all RAID 0 Vista Owners... I need some info

Was hoping someone could post their process they used for a CLEAN/FRESH install of Vista 64 in RAID 0 mode. Taking into account Intel Matrix Storage Manager of course - specifically, when did you install the driver:

Was it @ time of OS install using the load driver function as detailed here in the attached screenshot?

or,

was it after you installed Vista?

Also, what stripe size did you use? Default?

Thanks in advance...

 

Hi all

I'm a n00b to the m1730, so could you guys help me out with this...
I've got Dox's 185.85 installed, and Powermizer is apparently working as it should (downclocking to 200/100), but I'm seeing a weird trend as far as temps are concerned. In Win7, the system was earlier idling at about 60 C, but suddenly now, it's idling at about 70-75 C. Whats even more weird is that if for example I leave the computer for about 10-15 minutes, and the screen turns off, the system temp rises. It falls back down when I switch the screen on. I'm gonna restart the comp in a minute to see what happens. Anyone care to weigh in on this? Is this a bug in Dox's drivers? What should ideally be the GPU temps on a *new* computer?

Also, I've currently got SLI switched off. Does this mean that one of the cards is *switched off* and is consuming minimal power? Or it makes no difference power consumption and heat wise if I've got SLI on or off?

Thanks for the help!

 

I'm using the WHQL 185.85, and I personally Idle at around 75 degrees. As far as the screen being off is concerned, I've never noticed anything like you're describing personally on my system.

I believe when you have SLI turned off it's pretty much the same as with SLI on. The only difference would be during game or graphically intense processes - GPU1 will heat up dramatically while GPU2 stays around the same. Don't quote me though. someone else with more experience should be able to answer definitely.

 

Yes (on two other systems).

 

My 9800M's idle around 58c and I have been also having the problem of it warming up to 70-75 (it got to 90 one time) when i get back to it after i let it sit for a while and the screen has been off.

 

I was just looking at the alienware website at the new M17x. It comes with SLITM Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M
and a quick check shows that they've a 256 bit architecture. Is there much point in getting excited in these laptops over the M1730 when they've still this same GPU bus width? And when will we see 512 bit in a laptop?

 

After replacing my GFX card +motherboard for the 4th time the tech reported the issues were still present and wanted to replace the whole PC. However, they sent me a bill with 9800GTs in it so I called saying I paid for GTX series and I wanted them replaced by GTX too (either 8800 or 9800) but they weren't available so they decided to let me have the cash back to buy another computer from them (I told them the only reason why I bought an XPS was for this GFX card and I would have chosen another one if it wasn't for this).
Anyway what I'm trying to say is if they're not doing anything about your GPUs frying all the time they seem to prefer to give you the money back rather than dealing with your problems, you could use this to refresh your system. I bought this unit in march 2008 so I didn't mind a refresh (looking at M17x atm since I'm stuck with dell (prices are insane in EU...)

I always installed the drivers after installing the OS either Vista or Win7 does it make a difference?
I use 32kb for the 1st array (OS only) and 128 for the 2nd array since I mostly have files bigger than 128kb on it.

Having the same drivers on the same OS I realized that only one GPU would underclock, the other would stay at the highest frequencies, I also used other drivers and experienced the same behaviour after a fresh OS install (disableing powermizer or forcing it for both GPUs in the registry didn't change anything). However I noticed that some monitoring software would only take into account the 1st GPU temp, even when looking at the 2nd GPU it would report the 1st GPU temps, making them look hot since the GPU isn't downclocking. Some software do the same for for frequencies too, I don't know if it is because of the OS or the drivers but the only monitoring software which reported accurate temps and frequencies for both GPUs was rivatuner.

 

Hey everyone, I can confirm that the bluray drive shipped to me from geeks.com is not OEM and more importantly.

IT WORKS!!! I can now watch bluray on my XPS M1730

 

That's good, can you post the geeks PN (BLK-UJ-120-DO)? that you ordered and also how did you handle the faceplate, was it curved or did switch FP?

Thanks

 

After installing Vista; default stripe. I'm in no way a RAID professional - so don't think I did it the right way

 

have any of you guys tried using the three output jacks on the front-left of the beast to output a 5.1 signal? If so, how's it sound?

Trying to decide if I should keep my Creative 5.1 usb or return it...

 

I just removed the faceplate from the drive on my 1730 and placed it on the UJ-120 after I removed its faceplate. They both fit and looks perfect.

 

@ Axiont and Zath:
Thanks for the info on your RAID setup.

So with setting up RAID 0 on the 1730 both indicated they installed Intel Matrix Storage Manager after installing the OS.

Axiont used a stripe size of 32kb for the 1st array (OS only) and 128 for the 2nd array.

Zath used the default stripe size.

Any others?

 

Going back to the nvidia 3d glasses thing. Based on what I read, it seems like you can just use any old blue and red glasses. So why bother buying the 200 dollar pair of glasses? What special things do those do besides look like an overcomplicated gadget?

 

Are the AHCI drivers you gave me BatBoy the ones that I should be using or are there other RAID drivers to use? If there are RAID drivers for the RAID0 2x 128Gb SSD where can I find them?

 

Thanks for taking the lead on this one!! +1 for you!

 

The Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver is the RAID driver. It will be fine. By default, the 1730 is shipped with a BIOS setting of AHCI w/RAID Auto Detect. From what Zath and Axiont reported, it appears you can just do a straight install and then install the driver after you install the OS.

Hopefully, other RAID 0 users will post their process. Don't worry, one way or another we'll figure out the best way to do a clean OS install using RAID 0 on 'The Beast'.

 

I've been through this a lot of times.
When you want to be sure not to run into issues, install the Intel Matrix Storage drivers during the set-up of the OS. Particularly when using RAID-0.

 

@BatBoy, my hdds are in RAID0 config. too, but I don't need any drivers when making a fresh install of Windows Vista or Seven. With XP yes, I need the sata/raid drivers, but with Vista I don't have any problems.
I have two Seagate 250GB @ 7200 RPM with 16 MB buffer. I have speeds over 160 MB/s in HDTune with RAID0.

 

I installed XP with raid, and no problem - no need to install drivers.

I did use the Dell OEM CD's for both XP and vista ultimate 64, so the discs probably already had the drivers on them...

 

Agreed. Each time I have installed Vista clean (32 or 64) I have always supplied the AHCI drivers @ time of install (even though its not necessary according to Microsoft and Intel). The few times I did not do this, the OS had install had issues... No RAID though. Just single drive. Reason why I was asking was to gather thoughts from others who have used RAID 0 and performed a clean install.

Interesting that some have not had any problems at all with not referencing the driver @ time of install.

Of course I am using a Retail disc as opposed to a dell OEM.

Thanks everyone for your replies...

 

During Vista installation you don't need to install the Matrix Storage Driver,
but it's better to do during:

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-030152.htm

During XP You need the F6 method and use an USB-stick.
You can of course use the Dell Drivers And Utilities disc. There XP will find the Matrix Storage Manager automatically.

 

When I setup RAID 0. I followed ifti's video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6g2ZQwKMYI
and used the driver(Intel_Matrix) since there was an updated one from Intel:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...OSs=164&OSFullName=Windows Vista* 32&lang=eng