Is the sandybridge fiaso now over?

I am now thinking of ordering an XPS 15 (i7)

I know there was a fiasco a couple of weeks ago about Intel sandybridge problems..... those treads somehow seem to have vanished as hot topics here on the forum

So my question are?
1) Has Dell now replaced or started shipping the XPS with Intel's fixed solutions? or Did Dell Just come up with another Fix?
2) If Dell is still selling the defective cpu's how come people are still buying?
3) What is so different between the screens for XPS 15 & 17 in terms of 3D?

cheers

css_jay99

 

The defective southbridges affected the initial launch of Sandy Bridge. Everything shipped today is fixed.

 

Notice the ship dates on the new configs is 3/21, I believe the just started getting the new boards this week, so they are giving themselves 3 weeks to build and deliver.

 

I just ordered the XPS 15 with 2nd Gen i7 2720QM 2.2 -- is that the SandyBridge everyone is talking about? I get confused between the L501x and L502x -- for instance, I didn't get an option to change the keyboard with or with out backlight, and I keep hearing about that.

 

The 2720QM is one of the Sandy Bridge processors. You can generally tell from the amount of numbers in the model. The first series Core i3/5/7 where all 3 digit i.e. 720QM.. but the 2ng gen Sandy Bridge cpu's are all 4 digit i.e. 2720QM.

There's quite a big difference in performance and power consumption. So you've ordered at the right time

 

Performance yes, power consumption no. Quad core i7 are still 45 watt due to IGP being on the CPU die, though things will finish faster so in one way it will save you power.

 

cheers guys,

so re 3D, does it mean that you can sit with glasses to watch 3D on the XPS17 but you cant do that on the XPS15 ?

 

I'm sure he was talking about idle power consumption.

 

The new sandy bridge processors are also gated better meaning that at idle they will use significantly less power. Under heavy load they will still produce a 45w thermal load, but between idle and load they should use less juice. TDP in and of itself isn't necessarily a good indicator of power consumption, it's simply an indicator of maximum heat output when loaded. What happens between idle and the loaded condition can make a huge difference in power consumption.

 

It is an indicator of cooling. A processor can, and will, exceed its TDP for short amounts of time.

 

You are correct. I was just trying to keep it simple. It's a thermal load specified by intel so manufacturers can design their cooling systems to accommodate the chipset/cpu.

 

Okay thanks guys. So I guess I do have on order the lx1502 or whatever then.

Will I need to apply new thermal paste like I did on my 1645. I still have some arctic silver 5 from when I used it last year.

 

Nobody really knows for sure yet, but it's probably safe to assume it will be business as usual at dell and they will generally do a crappy job with the thermal paste. Only way to know for sure though is to test it when you get it and see if the temps are acceptable.