Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Take 2

w/8700's, you'll be writing your own stories soon enough

 

Can you explain a good reason why? >_< This doesn't sound too good.

 

Stig, you have to enable the raid in bios as well. once you do that, you will get the options on boot for raid configuration.

 

Well, I'm going to be upfront about this... I'm not sure if the 8700M cards are going to be any more prone to failure than the 8800M cards are. While, yes, they are based on the flawed G84/G86 die, the M1730 has a far more efficient cooling system than most of the other notebooks these GPUs came in... and will keep them from doing the skyrocketing temp song and dance. My machine originally came with a single 8700M card that worked flawlessly until I replaced them with a set of 8800Ms... and was put back in for a brief spell when I found out I had received a defective set. This card is sitting in its nice, protected box just in case my 8800Ms ever go south.

 

Hobbes203, I have had my 1730 with 8700m SLI since april '08... so 16 months, in the beginning I played ALOT of COD4 and after that L4D. I have experienced no issues with my 8700m's. I have however had two motherboard replaced. All the failures I read about on this forum seem to be 8800's so, I am not sure I understand the point either... other than a slower video card...

 

Okay back to the original question, can the 8700m GT SLI handle 750/1500/975 overclock stats? Core, Shader, and Memory respectively.

 

I had a chat with Dell online support today. At the conclusion of our discussion I was offered a 9800m GTX Sli upgrade:

08/12/2009 06:18:28PM Agent: "You can upgrade the Video card on the laptop to NVIDIA ,9800M,GTX with SLI feature too."

08/12/2009 06:18:48PM Me: "How much is that option?"

08/12/2009 06:29:54PM Agent : "I did check for the price options for the 9800M,GTX,SLI and NVIDIA G92 9800M-GT2 video cards."

08/12/2009 06:30:41PM Agent : "It would cost you $ 2,044.99 excluding shipping and taxes for the Video card."

Found this pretty interesting, needless to say I will not be upgrading anytime soon.

 

My 8800's are OClk'd to 650/1550/950 during game play so that might be a little to much for the 8700s. You might start lower and work up.

Also, I think the 8700's are better now since the drivers have matured. There were a lot of performance problems early on due to Dell driver support. My M1730 with 8700s would not even play COD4 when it was released in '07 and now 8700's play the game no problem.

 

Oh my... I think I sensed a bit of sarcasm and attitude from the agent.

 

I guess they didn't tell you about the world wide shortage for 9800 gt2 or gtx....

I've been having 2 weeks of the olde "they'll be here on Fri." On mon this week I got a call from a technician i'll be there in an hour. (he didn't realise my address was 400kms away. Then the next day I gat an agreement that the cards would be posted to me and i could install them myself. Then today sorry that was a mixup they will be available early Sept as there is a world wide shortage.............

 

I am 100% amazed Dell reps are talking about being able to furnish the 9800M GTX SLI for the M1730. I thought they were gone for good.

 

They are trying to appease an angry customer but they swear they are being made and will be available and they will send them to me to swap out the interim 9800gt2's................if they ever arrive.

I am at the stage of making some big demands so i'll keep you posted.

 

@gadget - Didnt think they made those cards anymore! They're not selling them anyway! I wasnt allowed to upgrade mine... or would've gone for better processor..

Looked how to install bluetooth chip, and there's no cable for it to plug into! So will have to go back to saroj and see if i'm allowed to open the laptop up to look for it! Nicked the one out my M1710 as fancied testing it!

 

@Evil - there isn't a cable??! It should be there - wow that's weird. Tell Saroj to get with Sunjay and reorder the system -

 

Oh god... thats a funtime drugged fueled party i dont want to be part of...

But yes, looks like a fully working, fully loaded, flux capacitor wielding M17X with 50" wrap around screen is the only thing that will heal my shattered life after this discovery.

 

LOL! Seriously though, removing the battery there is just a empty hole and no cable at all? It isn't hard to remove the palmrest which should expose the area where the cable should be. Just refer back to the DCSE manual if you haven't attempted it before.

Tip: Do not open the LCD all the way - have it at a 45degree angle. Once you remove the screws for the LCD it should slide up and out. If not at a 45 degree angle the LCD brackets tend to catch on the palmrest piece. Pain in the rear to remove.

 

Cheers Batboy! once again useful information! Just need to make sure opening it wont trash my warranty. As i want to keep that totally water tight for the GPU failures and subsequent replacement!

 

Just for those getting the yellow tinge problem on their M1730, another user posted details in another thread about new bios files. He forgot to mention they're video bios updates and are actually under the video section.

4 files so far (dated 30/Jul & 31/Jul), one for 9800GT, 9800GTX and 2 for the 8700GT. No mention yet on the 8800GTX (maybe the 9800GT ones will work? /shrug).

 

Did you confirm that the bluetooth bay--plastic latch thingy--wasn't already in the bluetooth cavity? They normally ship these with the plastic bay-only, already inserted in the cavity. That was the issue with my replacement system. You simply pull back on the latch and pull the bluetooth-bay/casing out and you'll fine that the cable's right underneath.

 

We talked about this a few pages back:
pg:165-168
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=386258&page=165

I tried the 9800GT on my 8800's and only got a GPU mismatch error.

 

No. Just 'i', you don't worry about case sensitivity.

Edit:
But it is odd that you're not getting any kind of screen. I don't know. You do have two hard drives though, right?

 

Yea, I should have played along a little to see if they were in stock or what. I was just really surprised the they were even offering these as an upgrade.

 

Afternoon chaps,

I've had my fair share of XPS1730 "issues" Just stumbled accross this thread while searching for a solution for my recent GPU issues.

Just to fill you in here is a summary of my experience:

Bought 1730 day it was made available. Had dual 8700m cards. Sent laptop back because the build quality was like a child had put it together Recieved replacement in a worse condition!! Sent back, called my account manager and ranted... got sent a 3rd laptop, supprise supprise not much better so I just took it apart and put it back together properly myself. About 3 months later it was having all sorts of issues so I sent it back made a massive fuss and got them to send me a 4th and include the dual 8800GTX as compensation for all the trouble.
It was ok for about a year and then had to have the motherboard, CPU, RAM, GraphicsCards and Cooling unit replaced because the laptop got so hot you litterally couldn't touch it....
That was about 5 months ago and its back to the same state again now....

Current Issue: Laptop stupidly hot. Playing World of Warcraft on minimum graphic settings and during boss fights it drops to approx 1fps - no joke Currently have the T7700 2.4Ghz CPU in it and the CPU is getting nailed while all this is going on. It frequently sits on 100% for periods.
Running Win7x64 RTM (been running Win7 beta builds for past year so its not like its a recent upgrade). Currently rolled back from 190.38 to the official Dell driver (176.78) but its not much better. So all in all, I love my 1730 but I also hate it

I have read this thread and seems people are getting good results from upping the CPU to Extreme Edition and overclocking it so the fans stay on all the time....

Questions:

1) What seems to be the best drivers for the 8800GTX SLI card?

2) I'm not up on all the latest CPU stuff so perhaps some of the regulars could throw me some hints on what I should get. I have seen mention of the x9000 and QX9300 cpus but bit confused on the ES term. Are ES pre-production test units or something? Does the OC'ing work from the BIOS?

3) Is it worth upgrading to the 9800GTX cards? I wouldn't have thought the perf was that much better... but maybe they are just more stable?


Thanks Guys

Joe

 

@kade - Theres a plastic latch that i took out. but no sign of the cable under it! So figure its buried!

Oh, and discovered [email protected] is sujay and saroj's boss... EUGH!

 

Yes if its free upgrade, no if you have to pay. And the likely hood of FINDING a 9800 GTX card these days is skant. I even got my M1730 upgrade because they cant get hold of 7950 GTX now! so looking good for those with GPU issues getting an alienware upgrade in 6-12 months when supply is ZERO!

leaving me as the lone man with an M1730... and still loving it... LOVE that backlit keyboard for night-time chats!

 

1) http://xpsm1730.blogspot.com/2009/08/19040-nvidia-driver.html
2) You can OC only C2D X7900 or X9000 (changing multipler). Setting FSB is unavailable. X9000 is the fastest CPU supported by M1730. It's old construction - Quad Croe will not work.

----

Today I noticed strange thing - sound near numpad. It's not HDD. Is't something like cheep (condenser?). When vertical synchronisation is on - all is ok. But sometimes switching it off is useful (graphic programming and checking performance) - then I can hear it. Maybe it's dangerous, maybe not - I don't know. It don't disturb me but I don't want destroy my notebook.
http://nozyck.wrzuta.pl/audio/6NnKmBsn6l2/sound (0:09)
http://nozyck.wrzuta.pl/audio/1r1ZSJfHyQ0/sound2 (0:10)

 

@sprzatacz:

That sound is very similar if not IDENTICAL to what you hear when running 3DMark06 and between test modules the resolution changes.

Is this in game/app or @ the desktop?

If at the desktop, I suggest checking your resolution settings - be sure you are set for native 1920x1200 @ 60hz.

If in-game or app, check your display settings and see if you can adjust. Most games perform better with VertSync disabled, so its best not to enable it.

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

Don't you sometimes wish those two were active forum members here?

 

In applications (OpenGL) - fullscreen (native @60Hz) or in window mode - when I resize window (bigger), sound is louder.

 

Very odd. I imagine you are covered under warranty, so keep an 'ear' on it. If it becomes worse contact XPS Support and have them replace the LCD/Inverter.

 

Ive just done a fresh install of windows and set up Raid0, everything seems fine apart from one thing.... I can`t connect to the internet via my wireless button.

On the Dell driver back up disc their doesn`t appear to be a wireless driver which is strange, i downloaded this one from the Dell europe site

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=220548

Any ideas ?

 

Stig:

Hit up my blog link for current drivers for the 1730 - both 32/64 Vista.

 

Bat

My laptop is 64 bit vista home premium, i`m looking at your drivers now, great blog btw.

Under wireless network card, do i need to download both Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG / 4965AGN Wireless Cards and their is one under the same section called Dell Multi-Device Driver for Dell 1390, 1395, 1490, 1505 Wireless Cards ?

 

Which wireless card do you have?

Check your Device Manager to confirm card model...

Right Click Computer icon ---> Properties ---> Device Manager ---> Network Adapters or type 'devmgmt.msc' into the Run command...

 

That Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN i think is the one i got from the Dell site and installed.

 

There ya go then...

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/17754/eng/ICS_v64.exe

 

Bat, you know everything! how do i use my internal mic "array" in game on L4d? usually use a headset, but useful for survival matches!

 

Thanks Bat, i`ll let you know how i get on in a bit. Do i need to un-inhstall the Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN first or do i just install the one you gave me without un-installing anything.

Do you need to right click and run as admin or just install it the normal way.

Thanks

 

@Stig: Just run the installer over the current version. With the Intel installers, its safe to do so.

@Evil: Nope sir - not everything by a long shot, but thanks for the thought. In regards to the mic, nothing really to do. When I play, I usually have my Sennhesier HD280 pro (I know, they are old) headphones on and use the LCD Mic. No need to really tweak it - but if you find people can't hear you just use the in-game tweaks for the mic.

 

Batboy, your a star. That worked like a charm, thanks for your help and keep up the good work with your blog

 

haha, fair enough bat. didnt work last time. i have a crappy cheap headset, but does the job! Got hold of the powerstation level tonight from l4dmods.com and will be giving that a whirl tonight! If its as brutal as heaven can wait, then i cant wait!

 

Evil - I forgot, are you on Vista? If not, that could be your issue. I remember when i tested Win7 during the last big pub push, I ended up going back to Vista since I had issues with the LCD Mic Array. Its not so much Win7's fault as it is Dell's for not releasing a decent driver for the M1730's Sigmatel chipset.

 

Does somebody know how much Dell will pay me back for that refund of my xps here?
Is it 100% or 80% or ....?
Now at this moment the xps m1730 with same specs here in Belgium is 3668euro(5.239usd)

 

I don`t get it, maybe the newer drivers are just bad.
I`ve played a little UT3 with 190.40, and it hits 80C , no more than that, and 86C when playing Crysis Warhead.
Now, with older drivers, 78C was the absolute max the laptop would see.
What gives?
Who has the lowest temps , and with what 180.x+ driver? no X9000 also...

 

What about framerates?

 

You will get back 100 % what you paid for it not what price they are on dells website at the moment.

What are you getting in it's place?

I have just had a call saying my laptop is coming monday, we'll see how long that lasts.......

 

Ha! just had an email from saroj. Dont think they want the cost of an engineer for a new laptop. and he's not keen on me opening the chassis to fit the internal. so he's offered me a USB one:

Kensington £14.95
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1&sku=A1992458

Trust 2.0 gold £11.21
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1&sku=A2557011

Trust 2.1 £10.16
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1&sku=A2557002

Would've preferred internal chip, but its a good result. think i'll go for that 2.1 chip!

 

Take the chip evil and then once you become familiar with taking it apart, fix the cable. I'm sure its there, it just wasn't threaded properly. When I have time tomorrow, I'll crack this one open and take a closer look at the cable and where its routed - I'll shoot a couple of pics for you as well.

 

Good news Chief!!!

The bluetooth chips the one in the battery compartment right?

 

Thx Chief for the anwer, I realy don't know what i will buy, it's difficult because when i compare with asus w90 or m17x or clevo/sager at this moment they are almost the same when you look to 3dmark06 results.
Also about waranty maybe we have alot of problems with the m1730 ( and YES we have).....but... the waranty of Dell is if everything goes correct one of the best, all the others is pick up and return.
So now i realy don't know anymore....any advice could help me ofcourse to make the right descision.

 

Cheers bat! would be appreciated!

Yeah dinks, its a plastic clip by the battery. But opened mine and there's no cable to plug the chip in! nicked the one out my M1710.

Emailed Saroj and told him cheers, but want the chip. as there's only 4 USB ports!