Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Take 2

If I were you i'd get the Aleinware M17X (maxed out), yes we have had problems with our M1730's but obviously the hardware support is good because you end up getting a new laptop. your money back or an upgrade....so really it's a win win situation, if you can be arsed with arguing with dell like I and many others have.

Good luck with your decision.

 

My early impressions of an M1730, i was fortunate that i could get an M1730 that was fairly much maxed out with an X9000 Xtreme processor, dual 9800M GT cards in Sli, bluray read and write drive, 2 x 200GB @ 7200 FFS hard drives etc etc.

Ive come from a Vaio that had a T7700 2.4Ghz processor and hard drives that had a speed of just 4200rpm, the difference is like night and day. The boot up speed on the M1730 is rapid and very smooth, doing every day things now like web browsing and running applications is a plseasure as its so fast.

Positives: A great looking machine, incredible speed from boot up to running applications, a high quality LCD, a quiet fan that only comes on now and then, quality graphics, its a stunning all round laptop.

Negatives: These are nothing major, its just things i think Dell could have improved.

The keyboard feels soft if you know what i mean, their is a lot of spring in the keyboard itself. The actual keys feel nice. I don`t think it needed a number pad, the extra space without a number pad could have been used for things like an optical drive eject button and some other short cut buttons.

The buttons on the front edge of the laptop for sound and video play back are sunk too far into the palm rest, they needed to petrude out more as you find your pressing against the plastic palm rest a lot of the time.

On the back of the LCD where the coloured blue panels are you get a lot of light bleed from the sides, they should have used a less transparent plastic on the sides so it kept the light in. Thats just minor but i think it would have finished it off better.

Overall i think its a stunning laptop, the speed of the machine is incredible, the negatives above are just minor ones where i think they could have improved an awesome laptop to be even better. I made a great choice, ive no regrets at all.

 

ok so weird thing has been happening to my 1730 - when I hit the power button to turn it on, sometimes I get no POST screen or anything - just sits black. I have to hold the button down to turn it off and press it again to turn it back on before the POST screen shows up. And the startup bar takes FOREVER because of this - almost like it's detecting new hardware or something. Any ideas? I'm thinking it might be the hdd because I never see the light coming on the first time I boot up but it shows up the 2nd time. My 2 drives are on RAID 0 right now...

 

Hi all.
Have been away for a while...Man, does this thread grow fast!
So, anyways took me a few days to catch up to all the latest news. Sorry to hear about people having all these problems with the beast and Dell's terrible CS. Congrats to those who managed to get M17x as a replacement. Hope that batboy will still keep his blog up to date
And just when I was going to say that my laptop's been working fine from day 1, it broke on me My logitech screen stopped working. Whenever I turn on the laptop after it's been off for a while, the screen is blank. However, backlit works and I'm able to control it from OS. In about 30 mins screen starts to work properly. If i restart laptop or turn it off for a very little period of time, screen would still work properly. This happens only after it's been off for about 1 hour. I get the feeling that the actual screen matrix is dying on me. Any thought would be appreciated.
I also read a few pages back some people selling their powerbricks. I'm interested in buying one if they are still on sale. Please PM me.

P.S. new PhysX driver just came out. According to release notes it is optimized for Terminator Salvation and Batman Arkham Asylum.

 

Did I miss something lately? No 1730's for sale on Dell's site anymore? I assume they are going all Alienware now? I really don't remember hearing about them stopping the 1730...

Tom

 

DDT5, when you say 'seems', you're going on hearsay?

 

http://www1.euro.dell.com/be/nl/thu...?refid=xpsnb_m1730&s=dhs&cs=bedhs1&~ck=anavml

 

@DDT5:
Blog will still be updated. Might have trouble confirming functionality since I wont be able to test directly, but that's where the lounge come in...

Thanks for the PhysX update - I didnt even notice. Blog updated.

 

When I said 'seems' I meant this is what's written in the release notes

They are still on sale on Irish website.

 

I ran this Bench after PhysX update, someone my be able to run before to see if there is any improvement here.
I will also check out GRWA2 later as this was heavily coded for PhysX.

 

I just noticed this and dont recall it being on the other release notes, but:

This might factor in why some 1730 Ageia owners are not seeing any change in performance as newer drivers are released.

 

So it got worse to the point where even shutting down/turning on wouldn't bring up the POST screen. I ended up unplugging it and disconnecting the battery, then pressing power for 30 seconds and reconnecting the battery. That did it.

Maybe there's some sort of cached info in the laptop that needed to be cleared in order for it to access the hdd? Seems very strange..

 

Damn a lot of new XPS users here now I see since the old thread. I didn´t hear much people in the old thread had any problems with their´s M1730´s but now reading all this it seems mostly problems.

I am lucky I don´t have any problem yet for my M1730, I´ve had it for quite a while now and it works great.

 

Good to hear your system is still good Magnus. When was it first shipped? Over 1 yr old now? I think most (could be wrong on this) started to see issues just after the 1st year...

 

Great, mine is coming up to 1 year old in sept. Glad the NBD warranty is extended until 2012

zath, I sometimes get that really long loading startup bar thing, it seems to happen when either the laptop hasn't shut down properly, has crashed or when the power supply is dislodged, then when re-fitted it doesn't recognise it as an official dell power pack, so I then re-boot and have to watch the bios screen for a good 3-4 mins until it finally loads.

 

yeah, I've had the bar thing before. What concerns me is that the screen doesn't even show when cold booting. Thanks tho

 

All hail teh Magnus. Dude, I found that new thread about low frame rates, and got a chance to give your dandy config a shot again - great work! And welcome back, as always.

Remember that line from the link I sent you, how did it go?
"Nvidia are trying to oprhan the old Ageia hardware by using their drivers to push the GPU physx on their new cards." - Something like that.

 

Does anyone know what the optimal GPU temp is for the dual 8800m gtx sli. I've seen varying temps and I am curious. Also, is there a way to change the fan profiles via the bios? I'm also curious as too how long Dell will have m1730's to send out as system replacement's if anyone has a guess.

 

I didn't quite like the LG display my m1730 posses, so today I did the thing that nobody else thought it can be done. I swapped the LCDs from my 1720 to my M1730. Apparently the Inspiron 1720 Samsung LCD that I have is excellent, and colour accurate, which is quite vital for my photo editing and 3ds Max work. I didn't quite like the LG (LPL0000) display due to the fact that it was a little too over saturated and overly vivid.

I found out that the Samsung LCD (SEC3155) is only available to the Inspiron 1720 and XPS M1710 models, and not the M1730. However they're compatible and swapable. It runs fine overall.

Just something I'd like to share today...

You can change the fan settings in the vBIOS with Nibitor but I wouldn't recommend it as it might screw things up and brick your 8800s. What kind of temps are you getting for your 8800s? Optimal temps are in the 40-50s while idling. (powermizers disabled) 70 - 85*C while gaming. Check vents and fans and dust em' if you reach 90*C and above.

If with X9000 OC'ed to 3.4GHz your gaming stress temps should be in the 60s range - for my system that is. With furmark stressing with Xtreme Burning Mode turned on should be in the 70s.

 

Nice, the M1730 screen was good, but the color saturation did bother me sometimes.

 

Hey. I see you are still breaking records in 3D Mark
Main 17" screen works like a charm. It's only logitech screen I'm having troubles with. I use the latest version from batboy's blog, which is v 3.02.173. I've tried to reinstall it...no luck there. I tried to reattach the connector, in case it got loose, but that didn't work neither.

 

These 2 non working/as is 8800m GPUs recently sold on ebay, Wow, I was surprised at the prices.

 

I am using the 190.40 drivers and it seems they are doing alot better with temps. The "powermizer" in the nvidia control panel is also on. I had to leave my laptop on all night (9 hrs or so) to transfer files over and the max temp was 73C with the lowest at 58C and it has been idling around 60-65C. When i had the 186xx drivers....I would be at 70-75C frequently.

I haven't even hit 75C one time in 9 hrs. Using HWMonitor.


edit: It hit 75c and is staying on the high side now that the file transfer is over

 

Considering you could probably use the oven fix to repair them, that might be quite a steal...

 

A little better, of course.

Such as?

Welcome back dude.
Mine`s since March 08 and appart from the dead and replaced battery, all`s good.

Try games like Crysis or newer ones, and let me know. We should do a comparisson test, with new games if you have them.
Available for anyone actually, since I seem to hit 85-86C pretty often, and that`s less than 1 month after the fan cleanup that I did.

 

strange things happens here, after a clean reinstallation of O.S. vista 32bit, the fluogreen & blue issues or gone now......only when i play company of heroes the game is flickering, maybe for that a driver problem (190.40)....hmm what i'm going to do now with that refund Dell will call me for next week

 

Is anyone in here using a digital tv card with their M1730, i take it the M1730 will accept one ? If so do you have any recommendations ?

These M1730`s are great machines btw, i`m loving the speed of my new one

 

Received the M17x replacement on Friday and the techie came out and replaced the GPU for the dead M1730. Copied all the data to the M17x and will likely send the M1730 back to Dell this week.

This is the old system...
Dell M1730
Intel T9300 2.6
4Gb DDR2 667
2 x 256Gb 7200 SATA (raid 0)
NVidia 8800GTX SLI 512mb

This is what they replaced it with...
Alienware M17x
Intel T9600 2.8
4Gb DDR3 1333
2 x 256GB SSD (raid 1)
NVidia 280M GTX SLI 1Gb
+ Windows 7 Ultimate coupon

And before anyone asks about the RAID 1 option on the replacement, that's how it came from Dell, and being a developer who occasionally works away from my SourceSafe server I'm actually considering leaving it that way

Little floored by the update. I would of expected cheaper platter drivers, and maybe even just 260M SLI. This rig is allot more expensive than my original M1730. Not gonna complain though.

A side note to this is we are a business customer and have made large purchases from them in the past. This may have something to do with the quick upgrade option from Dell.

Been running the M17x all weekend and am loving it. A very impressively built box.

 

Congratulations, dude. As always, a win for you is an inspiration for us all. Glad you got the ace-treatment.

That brief about your history as a customer--business--and circumstances is actually very important information. It might be nothing, but it could very well be something very significant and big.

BatBoy, I think we need to take note of this factor.

 

i use a haupage wintv 950 works great.

 

I'm using an AverTV Volar Max. Works like a charm. What I also like about it is the fact it comes with inputs - I want to say composite and S-Video, but component might be included, too. So I can always hook up a recorder to it and record video off of it.

And an update to my problem - I contacted Dell chat support and we did a diagnostic test. After the test, the beast performed fine for a couple boots but is once again having the issue. I'll be doing the more intensive memory test later. I'm thinking that maybe the memory test "fixed" the problem temporarily by writing 1's and 0's across the board. Maybe the RAM is starting to die? I don't think (or hope it's not) the hard drives... Maybe motherboard?

As a side note - the agent tried to get me to let her go help someone else TWICE. I almost choked when I saw it the first time. "I want to take Ownership of your call, after the test, just chat back and ask to be transferred to me or reply to the summary email that I will be sending you and I'll get back to you as sson as I can." My response - NO! first we have to deal w/Dell closing their XPS line, and now we get people trying to weasel out of helping us? Though my guess is they get paid per call they take, so that might have something to do with it.

btw, I think I'm going to update my sig w/my system specs and how many times each has been replaced. Might be fun if we all started doing it

 

Happened again later on. Grr.

Also forgot to mention that when I was running Dell's diagnostic routine, the memory tests showed two chips, one at 3gb and one at 1gb. Very strange, considering they're supposed to be 2x2gb. I even verified that the chips were 2gb chips by booting up with only one installed - Vista verified it was 2gb in size. So why did it split the memory up that way? Maybe 3gb is the limit for the bios to recognize so it splits it from there???

 

I'm getting high 60's idle with mid 80's gaming. The system is relatively new so dust should not be an issue.

 

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but personally when my GPUs hit anything above 80c I started asking why... from the time I received my 1730 up until when all the GPU issues started, I never exceeded 75c - no matter what. I could play Left 4 Dead for hours and still the temps were always stable. When temps started rising above 80c I started to monitor it more closely. When the GPUs started hitting 90c I knew there was a serious issue... Shortly after that my system was useless as I started locking up and seeing the ever so lovely nv display error crash message.

So I guess what I am trying to say is anyone seeing temps above 75c+ should be watchful. This doesn't always mean your card is failing, but my personal take on it is you need to keep an eye on things.

Make sure you cover all your bases and check things like Driver version installed (are you using a driver that properly supports PowerMizer - 185.66+), are you overclocking, have you checked dust buildup, do you have proper airflow, etc. Don't play with apps that try to control the fans and above all else, make sure you start documenting the behavior you are seeing in case you need to contact support.

Also keep an eye on CPU temps - if you notice an increase in your CPU temps and Intel Chipset temp (AHCI) in conjunction with higher than normal GPU temps, its time to contact support.

For what its worth, my 1730 specs were T9300, 8800M GTX. No X9000 so CPU overclocking was not a factor.

 

I make you right Kade why should a large purchaser get better treatment than somebody like us.

 

Well. That is an argument about ethics. But it's also worth the note because then we can tackle how to approach Dell.

I think from what I've learnt so far, between myself, and some of the others, especially BatBoy, what matters most is that you make a solid case. However, as a company, they will always fear a customer who is closely linked to another company or business - because while individual customers are loud, companies and groups are even louder!

 

@ eleron911
Sorry for all the confusion. What I meant to say was that according to the release notes new PhysX driver is optimized for Batman Arkham Asylum, which is not out yet as far as I know, and Terminator Salvation.
Btw, anyone played Batman Arkham Asylum? How does the beast perform?
Gonna edit that post.

 

I dont think so. When you rebooted it gave the GPUs a chance to cool down anyway so I don't believe this is an accurate representation of an issue with NV Sys Tools. Just keep an eye on the temps... and watch those clocks

 

i played the demo with everything maxed out 17-24 fps everything medium 25-32.

 

does anyone know why the volume is only displayed on the gaming lcd and not on the monitor like when you change the brightness? Im useing quickset verison 8.2.20. i tried useing bat boys quickset guide but it never worked so i went back to the standard quickset from dells website. pm me with answer.

 

Unholiest of unholy ****! Hikkoo's memory clock is. . . frightening! I think I see Satan and Michael Dell huggling in the corner, pi***ng themselves!

 

The demo is out, but I haven't really played much of it yet. I'm playing the STEAM version of the demo...


Later - Mike

 

Yeah. Seems kinda' slow. I don't get why. Is it using Dual GPUs? Because the older drivers don't support SLi for a lot of the new demos. Even the RE5 benchmark requires at least 190.38 to run on dual video card solutions.

 

Really? Worked for me just fine. In fact, I accidentally uninstalled mine a few days back and used his guide to get it back up and running.

 

ya i cant get my to work at all and i went through bat boys guide and it didnt have the quickset for the gaming led lights. anyone explaine it to me?

 

The Beast was fine until this summer (a little under a year).

By the way, I'm thinking it's RAM because I had the same problem this morning and took out one of my chips. If I stop getting the problem, then we've found the culprit. Let's just hope Dell will ship the RAM directly to me instead of having a tech come out to install it! And UGH Vista 64-bit on 2 gigs of RAM is just plain wrong.

Regarding Quickset - also works for me. The only thing that sucks about it is having "Windows Mobility Center" pop up every time I start the computer. Also I wouldn't be too upset about volume on the gaming LCD - it means when you're in games you can actually see the volume changing. With the way I have it now, I have to use trial and error or alt-tab out of the game to see the volume popup.

 

@Zath: They should, its marked as a user serviceable item. Also, for what it worth, this replacement GPU I have in the 1730 at the moment – less than 3 weeks old, throwing NV errors and locking up. LOL – glad to box this crippled system up Monday and send it back. I just hope they don’t send it out as a system replacement… I should mark it somewhere on the chassis. Perhaps a little tiny NBR stamp. Haha

 

speaking of GPU, I just noticed in HWMonitor that the 8800's are not displayed again. Looked in the Device Manager, and the drivers did not load... again. SONOFA!

 

That behavior I saw as well Zath, with the first GPU replacement just before it crapped out completely. If you have NV System Tools installed, check the information link. What I saw was GPU#1 listed as 'Unknown'. Really good indicator the card is toast.

 

Playing the Batman Arkham Asylum Demo, below is my setup and a couple of screens. Initial observations, Sli, although shown selected in the NV control manager for that game, there is little to no Sli activity via the green activity bar. Also I turned ambient occlusion off since I am not sure if it supported with 8800m and has been know to cause FPS hit; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUtOxYQS9_Y.
Even though the FPS was lower then I would have thought the game play was fluid and performance was pretty good.