Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Take 2

No, Performance on Demand. I basically set it up at 3GHz, then went into the BIOS and turned it up to 3.2, but then didn't alter RMClock's settings at all, so it doesn't have the 16x multiplier enabled.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5164046&postcount=97

Another guy baked his broken 8800M GTX and got it working again.

 

@kade: Good point. Let them sort it out by sending the correct drive 'Next Day Priority Overnight'.

 

Right. Let's see where that goes.

However, do help me out with this little cocnfusion. I'm just not 100% sure on how the warranty policy and cross-referencing technique works on a per-part basis.

Won't this mistake result in my warranty only covering a dvd-drive?

What if something goes wrong with the BD-RE, and I call 'em, quote the service tag number, only to find myself on the wrong end of a b*tch-slapping rhetoric like, "Umm. Sir. Your order and service tag state you have a DVD-drive, we can only replace a DVD-Drive with a DVD-drive."

 

Can they not alter the components for your system on the computer their side so it shows as having a BD?

 

The 8700's are immensely inferior to the 8800's. If I were you, I'd push for those cards (was your e1705 video card the cheapest option when you bought it?).

I really wish the 1730 would have come with an HDMI port.

Another thing to consider might be size/weight - this beast is pretty heavy to lug around on your lap!

I'm looking at the Studio 17 right now - the highest res offered is 1440x900. I don't know who's more trustworthy though - Dell's website or Dell's customer support...

Is there a thread for the Studio 17 on these forums? If so, I'd ask in there if anyone is getting 1900x1200 resolution on theirs...

Edit: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=265631

 

So what youre saying mate is keep the HyperX and install it in the new one?

Is 4Gb enough for Vista 64bit?

Even though the new laptop will have 6gb?

I'm getting confused now.

What's wrong with the ram in the new M1730?.

Thanks.

 

Couldn't you request for a warranty amendment? Or if that's not possible, then a signed letter from a Dell higher-up which states that your computer w/service tag xxxxxxx has been upgraded to include the BD drive?

 

Yep, that's what I meant after seeing your other post. It's better to have them correct the issue and send you out a BD-RE. Better not to swap it out yourself with the one in the system you are slated to return.

 

Kade - major caveat in Dell's terms there. It seems to be hit or miss. Reread my story of what I did with Dell to get my 1730 to begin with (few pages back), similar to batboy's story. When I got Dell to send me an 8800 instead of the 8700 that came with it, after the 8800's burnt out (2 or 3 times since), I had to go through HELL explaining to them I got 8800's in the system now instead of 8700's. They didn't update the old component list to my system, they basically have a loosely patched together case based on intermitten notes and old Tech support chat convos saved. Some people tell me "the 8800's were a one-time deal since you were not satisfied with the 8700", while other people have been nothing but cordial in asking me what card I have and what is wrong with it, and then sending me the same card.

My point being, expect the unexpected. It'll probably take some arguing to not go through trouble with the DVD/BR mixup.

 

I had the top of the line video card in my e1705 at the time of purchase. Yea i just received my m1730 in the mail.. This thing is huge. I wish they would just give me a studio xps16. I would rather lose and inch in screen size before I downgrade my graphics card.

 

About to put the 190.40 drivers up against L4D on full everything! wish me luck gents, we're going in!

This is going to hell in a handbasket REAL fast!

 

LOL @ Evil. L4D Quotes... too funny.

Yesterday I had to visit a family member in the hospital and as the elevator doors closed I thought to myself, "I hate elevators... I hate hospitals..."

 

Ah. I get the point.

I have told 'em to do this, but you know how things are on their end. I'm going to send you a PM about some details that'll bore the fine masses here, so give me your thoughts when you get the time.

Regarding the warranty, I have some information.

I got an e-mail from the technical agent. According to him, if Customer Service sends the part with respect to that given service tag and order number, then it is automatically on their record as being covered under the same warranty package. The man even said that I can use the e-mail in question and reference number of case to support future claims, if the scenario were to ever occur, which he assures me will be highly unlikely.

Of course, I just like to keep my grounds covered because things can get rather shoddy. Hankaroon57 already touched on this important part, and yes, I have read his story - it's nothing out of the ordinary for Dell because they're virtually drowning in their own bureaucratic cesspool.

"We are not responsible for this problem. You must get in touch with Deparment X, because Deparment X never informed us of any change, and all we have on file is details that say otherwise." - Dell

This is why I like to cover all grounds because when it comes down to the wire with these guys, sometimes you'll get a few amongst their staff that are eager to plead ignorance to certain important facts because it wasn't stated on paper and then you, as a bloody customer, must do the paperwork and history-lesson/homework explaining the 'what is' and 'what isn't' of your case to them before any proper action is taken on their part.

Meh. I've got the e-mail as an insurance policy. Then again, I've got a f'-ton of e-mails packed up in my personal dossier, in case something goes wrong. So I'll wait for the Blu-Ray writer to arrive. The collections team has already contacted me, and they'll pick up the old laptop next week. If I don't get my BD-writer until that day, you guys can guess what else will be 'replaced' when they receive the old laptop.

Technically, your config is fine - with 6, or with 4. You could get some extra 3dMark points, but vista with 3GB+ of RAM is always good with all games. You need not stress about this subject. Keep the sticks, or settle with 6 - your general games will perform roughly the same. Although I give kudos to Ernstig and Hikkoo on their RAM strategies, because they've done some nifty stuff to up their 3dMark06 scores.

 

Well after my 3rd GPU failure, Dell is replacing my M1730 with a brand spanking new Alienware M17x, woohoo. It's already in production and due next week.

<---- is very happy

They didn't hold anything back either, other than the processor (which is still only a dual core), everything else is maxed including the graphics (SLI 280Ms) + Windows 7 coupon.

----------------------------

With the M1730 though, I think I posted this previously, but I'm pretty sure those who are running Extreme edition processors (espeacially those overclocked), will likely have allot longer lifespan on this laptop.

With each consecutive failure (all when idling in Vista, never had a failure during gaming) I've been monitoring the temps (using Everest) to see where the issue lies. The thermal threshold for the CPU for the fans to kick in seems to be 45C, but the GPUs seem to be at 75C.

So if the CPU is never reaching it's thermal threshold the GPUs will generally operate at around 70C, with the fans kicking in and lowering the temps to 65 when they reach 75.

While gaming however I've notice the CPU is kicking the fans in allot sooner because the CPU is being stressed and reaching its thermal threshold earlier. I've played for hours with the GPU temps being as low as 45C (L4D, WAR etc...) simply because the fans are on allot more consistently.

Since I was using my M1730 for 8-9 hours per day for programming, I'm guessing the GPUs idling at around the 70 mark for that period really lowered it's lifespan. The last failure was a week after the replacement was installed.

I already made a post on Dells support forums and submitted a support request to get Dell to release an updated bios with lower thermal thresholds for the GPU (also asked for a Fn-F2 key like the Alienware laptops for kicking the fans into gear). The post has as of yet not been responded to and the support request was closed (received the close event email) without any acknowledgement.

/shrug, I'm not going to dis Dell too much though, not after them coming to the party as they have.

NVidia is the main culprit in this I think. 75C isn't a temp these cards should be failing at anyway. Another issue of the substandard substrait material as in the G82/84? The drivers are also to blame I guess, the fact that they no longer down-clock when idle is definitely a contributing factor.

 

Congratulations, KracsNZ, yet another win for M1730 owners with warranty.

All the best with your new machine.

 

Cheers

Also, for my own curiosity I've posted a poll thread here asking if about peps M1730 configs and GPU failure rates. Not too detailed but I'm kind of interested in the results.

 

is anyone interested in buying a spare xps m1730 power supply from me for 50 bucks? they're 120 on dell.com, so you'd be getting a great deal.

let me know.

 

@batboy, lol! Just gotta love the quotes! Cheers for the help on the 190.40 drivers too. installed nicely and seem to be running lovely! would tell you about any fps increase in L4D, but fraps crashed!

 

I've voted. I'm in the dual-core category, and on my fifth GPU failure. They replaced my system with a new M1730.

I gotta' ask, just to quell some thoughts about Dell's replacement strategies. Are you a US-customer? Or would you happen to be from EU?

 

oh by the way, the link to the power supply I'm selling is here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190324209372

 

@KracsNZ f a n t a s t i c deal.
am i jealous? noooooo

 

Neither, Oceania, NZ.

Just a side note, I was very persistant, but also very calm and patient when dealing with the CS rep. After the 3rd failure and the difficulty in sourcing replacement parts (i.e. having to wait 2+ weeks for GPU) I basically said 'Look, this is getting beyond a joke, it's costing me allot in lost productivity, is there an alternative product that you can supply?'. The rep said 'I'm not sure, let me see what I can do' and it was he that supplied the M17x (and spec) as the alternative.

It may well be just down to attitude, persistance and, most importantly, being lucky in getting a decent CS rep on the other end of the phone. /shrug

Oh, remember to go and vote folks . Only a few so far but already at 3 failures on the non-extreme version, hmmm.

 

i've voted to ofcourse

 

Just voted...from what I've seen a lot of these machines get rather decently treated so the failure rate is a bit disconcerting. My rig is running without a hitch, and I was lucky enough to get a brand new 8800M setup.

I'm really hoping that my machine still stays ticking well for a while. I just priced a new M17x, and in order to get what I'd consider to be a decent upgrade from what I already have I'd be spending over $3K on it. That, and you lose the really useful G15 LCD.

I guess if my cards fail, I'll save up and get another set. I've got my original 8700M card to fall back on just in case.

 

@KracsNZ:

Thanks makes #2 Good for you... Congrats.

 

I have a buddy who's an engineer and maintains several circuit board type setups for a local company. I wonder if I could get him to solder my g15 into an m17X motherboard...and make it work.

 

Alrighty...

To be honest, I've been pretty much lurking on this side of the forums... been a bit active in ThinkPad land due to my new T60. However, I'm honestly wondering if my machine is running up to spec... I think it is, but I want to see where I'm at in relation to my hardware, and to see what I should consider trying to milk some more performance... or if I really need to.

Here's my specs, in detail:

ES X9000, 3.2Ghz OC
8800M SLi, stock clocks, 185.68 drivers.
4GB RAM(2x2GB)
2x 500GB WD BEV5000T drives(non-RAID)
PhysX card enabled
running Vista Ultimate x64

Just ran 3dMark06, and the score is 13,104. During the test my peak temps were 67C GPU, 63C CPU. I'll get up to 82C after a few hours on Far Cry 2, but I think it was partially since I had the machine sitting inside a 'cubby' and it was cooling itself with its own warm air. I've since removed that restriction.

So, what should I consider doing next? Mild overclocking? What drivers are everyone using these days, anyway?

 

FWIW, I think the LCD setup works off a USB interface. If there was some way to tap into one of the USB ports on the M17x and some way to gracefully mod it into the case, you might be able to get that to work.

 

Yes legendary is correct, it is simply a USB connection. You could literally unscrew it from the chasis, wire up the connection to an actual USB plug and plug it into a USB port.

 

I tried 186.03 Nvidia Driver. System had right click hang and feels sluggish.
I just had a momentary hang from Nvidia's control panel.

Nvidia still requires me to reboot the computer to enable SLI.

 

@Blood:

190.40 dude ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5159473&postcount=1716)

 

190.40 installed fine, no right click delays but nvidia's control panel still prompts me to restart the computer to enable SLI.

Nvidia CP v. 2.7.130.18 is this the latest CP? If not what is and where do I get it?

 

That version# is ok. I see the same thing. If you want to eliminate the prompt to reboot the INF has to be modified prior to running the driver installer.

If you really want it, I can do it for you. I personally like the prompt - it keeps everything tidy and ensures there are no glitches.

 

Thanks for the offer Batboy but if Nvidia wants me to reboot to enable SLI then I guess I will just do that. As you said, it keeps everything tidy.

Slight bump in my 3dmark score 11625 or 12022 depending on which resolution I run it at.

I'll have to watch my temps to know if there's any reduction.

Thanks for the heads up on this driver, I'll have to throw some games at it.

 

Ran 3dmark06 and got a smidge over 9000.. Thats the awesome power of a 2.1ghz processor i assume! And the slightly lighter 9800 gt's.

 

Evil, what's your score break down? like shown below

Main test results
3DMark Score 8315 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 3919
SM 3.0 Score 3698
CPU Score 1936

 

At work at the mo Gadgetboi. Will check when i get home. Was hammered on the CPU. Only got that 2.1ghz. want to upgrade it, but then it wouldnt be covered under warranty! Will try it again when my 4gb RAM turns up this week.

Edit: Oooh! Just became a notebook guru! Huzzah!

 

Be aware that the 190.40 (190.38 as well) driver has a new feature in the control panel. When you look at your Global Settings as well as your Program settings, there is a pulldown called 'Power Management Mode'. This is supposed to function like PowerMizer.

I suggest having Global set to Adaptive and your individual game set to Prefer Max Performance. Also set any benchmark apps to Max Performance.

 

@ batboy - Woah! really?! I better check that out! I get hit by the windows ones at time! when a game turns really laggy, and it turns out you've pulled the power out... Hope that will get me closer to 10000! Not that its valid really. as long as fallout 3 runs at 30fps minimum on full, i'll be content this weekend!

 

One last benchmark before she gets packed up next week...

Highest I could push the old girl with the 190.40 driver.

3DMarkVantage: 9047

CPU: T9300
GPU: 650/950/1550

 

BatBay, why didn't you enabled Physx? With Physx on, I got over 9100 points without any overclock (I never OC my laptop).

 

lol dude - that was with the AGEIA card enabled. I forgot to do a run with one of the GPUs handling PhysX. *SIGH* now i have to do it all over again. maybe tomorrow. too tired to mess with it now.

EDIT:

Ok. Enabled PhysX on the GPU and scored 11174. Same GPU clocks as before. This was @ default resolution (1280x1024) with the Performance preset selected.

Will push it a bit more tomorrow.

 

Huh... BatBoy, I don't get it. You still have the M1730?

 

I've got a quick question for you chaps,

When I get my replacement M1730 I want to use a 320 GB hard drive that is in my old lappy.

The replacement has a 500 GB hard drive and has an extra slot to take another drive.

Is it a case of just fitting the HDD and vista will detect it or will i have to do a re-install?


Will I have to format it as it is a back up drive and does not have windows XP installed on it, it's just shown as a drive in 'my computer'.

Thanks.

 

Will do mate

 

I just came across this great benchmark/stress tool, Fur Mark. Dell just replaced my 8800s and I found this while trying to stress test them. Could some of you try this and post your scores at 1920x1200. I got a score of 1620 at the above resolution. When I did the stress test I hit 98 degrees after 10 minutes, do you all think this is normal for a new card? Maybe this program just really really pushes the cards.

http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

 

Ah, New Zealand. Nice.

I have one more question. Are your CS reps in general, East Indians? And when you say 'Customer Service' reps, do you explicitly mean customer service or are you also referring to 'technical service' reps? I ask because at least from what I hear in UK, it is the Technical Service team that one must go through first, and usually they decide on what to give out. Customer Service merely insures that the right parts be delivered. Once again: This is what a customer service rep told me just yesterday.

A side-note of my own. I've been too nice, and almost spineless. What makes the situation worse is the fact that many of these reps speak very quietly and sometimes, don't comprehend the jargon or language too well, and vice versa, as a result of the accent. It gets frustrating, and almost embarrassing for me to say stuff like, "Pardon?", "Would you repeat that, again, please?", "Sorry?" Yeah, it is a matter of luck.

You can just fit the thing in and Vista should detect the drive. However, if you do a Raid configuration, especially Raid(0), then both drives will be formatted.

 

Yes, you said it right there.

Running furmark on a continuous basis isn't healthy for your GPUs. Furmark is designed to ultimately stress your GPU cores to the maximum stress level. Most games do not function at this insane amount of physics calculations for your GPU like furmark.

I get 75*C while running this however with Xtreme Burning mode for 3 hours - but that is with the X9000 OC'ed therefore the fans will blast to full speeds. I did this becuase I applied MX2s on my 8800 cores.

I ran once and I won't run it again; I had a few bad memories running this and I can tell you by experience - it ain't good. I want to make my 8800s last.

 

That's awesome. Especially since I've had the video cards replaced twice now in one year...