Does the XPS 16 have heat issues?

I really dont understand why you guys got so many issues with heat.

Well I said it before and I will again.

My system does not get any warmer than my Vostro 1500.

I get 39C° for the CPU in IDLE and 60C° when playing games.

Cheers.

 

What is everyone using to monitor the temperatures of their systems? I think I read about some software that tells the temperature of various places in the computer, but so far I've just been using my infrared temperature gun. When surfing the internet the warmest place I can find is about 40°C, and a few minutes ago while watching a DVD, doing an Avira scan, and having multiple IE windows open, it got up to 51°C on the warmest part on the underside. It's pretty warm, but not uncomfortable and certainly nowhere near hot enough to burn me. I do have my computer propped up about 2 cm in the back, so that's allowing more air to circulate.

 

How would they know? Is there a sticker or something on your heatsink that says "void if removed"?

Well do it after warranty expires lol

It's not as if your laptop magically stops working after then anyways.... I see the use of warranties, but honestly I've never had to use one(HP replaced the motherboard on my laptop even though it wasn't under warranty) so I don't see the big deal about voiding one. Normally if something breaks from manufacturing mistakes(which is what most normal base warranties cover), it breaks pretty fast in general cases.

People mostly use HWmonitor(a software) to monitor temperatures.

And yeah, having the back propped up has helped decrease the temperatures according to users here.

 

Actually he said that it WILL void your warranty if you mess with the CPU, GPU, Disk Drive etc...

 

I downloaded HWMonitor and I kept it open while I was doing some photo editing in Photoshop... The hottest part of the computer, called "TZ00", rose to 67°C while I was using the program. Would that be considered normal for a computer of this type sitting on a wooden table (which I think probably traps a lot of heat)? I think I'm still going to invest in a laptop cooler, though all the ones I've seen in stores have been made out of plastic, which seems counterintuitive.

 

I don't think you get it. I'm sitting here with the maint manual for the system. It defines EXACTLY what is a FRU (Field replaceable Unit.) and what is a CSU (Consumer Replaceable Unit) I'm telling you right here as someone who has been doing Dell warranty work for a while now that the parts I mentioned ARE customer replaceable parts. The key is that the tech on the phone SHOULD be asking you if you are comfortable replacing the parts. If you aren't they send me out. The back was SPECIFICALLY designed for user accessibility. In point of fact they state that as a key feature when they started doing this.....I think the first model was the the introduction of the Vostros series.
If you don't want to believe me that is perfectly fine. But its the truth.

PS- And if you think I'd actually give my real name on a board that is most likely monitored by Dell. Hell you may as well ask for the DCSE number as well.

 

SiliconAddict,

If you work with Dell, could you please be so kind and try to break out of their nasty sticky hands a new a10 bios for the sxps 1640 (shall be a file called 1640_a10.exe).
It's really pissing me off that since more than a few weeks all new laps have been coming out with this new bios already installed, and for the rest of us, the update is not available while it could improve the heat issue and the display properties.

 

How can Joe do "re-engineering" when there wasn't "engineering" in the first place?
So Joe wil be doing engineering (without the "re-")

Because you probably don't stress your system as some of us do. Power dissipation mostly depends on the kind of load.

Those things are also not causing a load on CPU&GPU that can lead to high power dissipation. You say yourself that it gets pretty warm then. That's with no significant load and your laptop propped up, so imagine the result when you really stress the thing without it being propped up. Then you have what some people may call "heat-issues".

 

If playing Far Cry 2 for 3-4 hours while downloading several things using bit torrent and having quite a few tabs open in opera isnt enough to stress my system - then I guess I will NOT have any problems with heat.

 

I'll see if I can get it tomorrow. I have a call 130 miles away. Not happy about that.

 

Ok when I have time I will also try FarCry 2, then we have a 1-on-1 comparison.
A few tabs open in opera is zero load in terms of power dissipation from GPU&CPU. Downloading will be negligible in terms of power dissipation from GPU&CPU.
You mention 60C for CPU:
- Is this monitored during gaming, or right after gaming?
- Is this with the laptop elevated or not?
- Is this with or without cooling pad?
What is the temperature of the GPU at that given moment?

I myself notice high temperatures when playing Half-Life 2 and Call of Duty 4: GPU and CPU both 89C.

 

Right after gaming of course. I have minimized COD4 though, had similiar results.

The Notebook is on a small desk, but there is a little hole under the notebook.
I dont have a Cooling Pad.
But I undervolt my CPU.

I dont know, since ATI tool wont work I can not tell you~

Cheers

 

Yes... SXPS 16 does have HEAT issue ... There's no smoke without fire !

 

Just if you got a chance, it would be great.
Otherwise, any other time later will suit me anyway, cause we can't expect any good news from Dell - I wonder if they will officialy release this a10 bios within the next month. Perfect customer support, Dell.

Thanks, SiliconAddict.

 

@Chrusti: you can use HWmonitor to monitor the temps of every part(then we'd also get CPU as well as GPU) of your laptop. Just start the program, start a game and then check the HWmonitor window and screenshot it

 

Isn't it unusual for an updated bios to be out for weeks and preinstalled on delivered systems and yet not be updated on Dell's site?

 

Oh dude, thanks for the illustration...I always thought it was just the touchpad. Is there any way to get some more cooling to it other than an exterior cooling pad?

 

Undervolting can lower the temperatures quite a bit. What are your temperatues if you don't undervolt?

 

Between right after gaming and during gaming there is a huge difference in temperature. It can really make a difference from 10C to 20C (depending on how fast you ALT+TAB).
I use Everest Ultimate during gaming: full screen gaming on laptop-screen and at the same time monitoring temperatures on external screen.
With CPUID Hardware Monitor you can see different temperatures: Actual, Minimum, Maximum. Can be very useful when you have no external screen and still want to measure highest temperature during gaming.
I don't know though if both tools have the same readout or if there is a difference.

 

Due to my observations, CPUID Hardware Monitor indicated the temperature about 5 degrees lower than Everest. But just measured when idle.

 

I just got a new XPS, yes it is warm, and doing some other things, but I won't get into that.

I'm debating whether or not to return it.

 

OK, thanks for letting us know.

 

Hah, sorry, I was just rambling.

 

Me too!

 

Oh look, a new (old) thread.

My XPS 1645 came with heat issues. It would overheat and throttle the GPU with BIOS A08 doing simple tasks like playing a game for 20 minutes. BIOS update A09 removed the GPU limit of 84C, but caused other parts to get hotter, i.e. the CPU (probably due to heat dissipation). The CPU would then overheat and lower its performance by a lot (separate issue from power problem, which also exists). For me, removing the dust vent covers has fixed this problem except with synthetic benchmarks.

 

What about A11?