Just received 1645...surprised by a low 3DMark score

I just received a 1645 with i7 (720), 4GB, and ATI 4670. Ran 3dmark05 and got about 11,000 or so. However, on my previous Vostro 1720 with a Core 2 Duo 9400 and a Nvidia 9600M GS card, I had over 10,000.

Shouldn't there have been a signifigant increase given the processor and video card upgrade? Did this on a new install of Win 7 64-bit on battery power (with powersaver off). Same results on AC.

 

Are you sure you used the same resolution? and are your drivers upto-date?

 

What???? My laptop 1645 i7 gets max 7600 +/-. AM I missing something here>
What resolution are you running on ?

 

I got 3100 in 3d mark Vantage.
In world of warcraft I still need to turn down shadow quality to have a playable fps.

 

I only have the demo version so I was limited to 1024x768 (or something like that). Either way, it was the exact same version of 3Dmark (and resolution) that I used for my older Vostro.

The ATI Drivers were the newest ones on Dell's site and the install was fresh.

I'm really dissapointed by such a marginal increase...

 

Two things to point out, nVidia uses very low graphics settings and has all sorts of optimizations, basically cheats, for benchmarking. On the ATI you'll have to decrease the mipmap and texture quality and increase CATALYST A.I. to "Advanced" setting for a comparable score. Also the topic starter is talking about 3DMark 2005, in 2006 expect a 6000-7000 score. To see a bigger gap, run newer versions of 3Dmark - either 06 or Vantage, the 9600GS will be about half the speed with more advanced rendering techniques, if it even supports them,

 

Makes sense now. I was getting ready to RMA the lappy

 

Why do people run very old versions of 3DMark, isn't this supposed to be a Direct3D 10 card? It probably doesn't touch half the silicon.

 

..and use the Mobility Modder so you can get the v9.11 catalyst driver.

 

Is it more stable or faster?
My stock driver already crashed win7 twice when watch flash video and dvd.

 

It's just an option if you want a newer driver release. I can't vouch for stability or performance, but generally speaking a newer driver release will have fewer bugs and offer increased performance.

For crashing, check your Chipset driver revision by opening Device Manager (start-run:devmgmt.msc), open up the System devices, scroll down to:
.. Intel(R) PM55 Express Chipset LPC Interface Controller - 3B03
double click it, then to the Driver tab and check to ensure it has Driver Version: 9.1.1.1013

Chipset drivers are crucial for stability.

 

I also recommend a clean wipe of your system and fresh (minimalist) install of the Operating System free of Dell's bloat. The thread in my signature covers that in depth.

 

I get about 6620 3DMark06 points, is that normal?? Not experiencing throttling...

 

3dmark 06 should be above 7000. Is on my system. people with the rgbled screen seems to have issues with 3dmark 06 due to throttling. battery, or diming seems to help

 

Mine is 6.1.7600.16385.

 

That is the OEM chipset version detected by Windows. I'd recommend you consider updating your chipset drivers. Be aware that Dell, and I, recommend updating chipset drivers first on a system rebuild. It can be invasive on a system with other driver updates installed and configured. You probably should backup your system, and be prepared to re-install other drivers after the chipset driver install, if you choose to update it.

This is the file you want:
Intel INF update

 

The file didn't upgrade driver automatically. I have to update all individual devices manually one by one. Now most intel devices show newer version. The actual driver files are still same though.
The PLC controller require restart, other driver just update version on the fly. Nothing seems different after update.

 

I got WLED, and scores are the same with battery/AC and brightness high/low etc. Should I return it?

 

Hey,
Long time lurker.

I have a fairly new SXPS 16 1645, i7 820q, 8GB 1333hz RAM, 500GB 7200rpm hdd and RGBLED.

I was also surprised with the low 3dmark06 scores of around 5500 both on battery and AC. I performed a clean OS install and tested again, both batter and AC showed the same 5500 results. I should mention with the clean install I also reloaded the dell dock.

I just read over at whirlpool that shutting down the dell dock may increase your scores. Also removing any usb powered laptop fans/coolers may also help. Will test when I get home and update.

In the mean time can any one advise if this has worked in their experience?

 

Well in the past I tried to defend this system, but the graphics in this system are actually really poor. For comparison my E1705 with GeForce Go 7900 GS has more graphics power than this system. The problem with it is it has been crippled with 128-bit memory, whereas even a 4 year old GeForce Go 7900 GS had 256-bit memory. The result is half the memory bandwidth, and significantly lower pixel fillrate which equates to poor performance in games at high resolutions.

 

Instead of that, you can actually just add -overall parameter to install everything.

 

It has been said and will be said, the best you can do with an XPS 1645 is to return it for a full refund!
This system is just a full package of problems that keep popping in your face.

 

I used mobility modder to install the latest catalyst drivers when I got my laptop and I haven't had a single crash on me while using any application....

 

Something is up with those scores mate. Probably throttling issues.

I have a i720 with 4 gig of ram and get 7100 points on 3D mark 2006 using throttlestop and 150W adapter. I have installed the latest CCC drivers using mobility modder.

 

@roshdawg sounds like on AC it was throttling, and on battery powerplay was set to max battery instead of max performance in CCC. check to make sure the CCC powerplay settings.

 

Thanks for the advice, I currently have powerplay disabled. Should this be set on Max performance or disabled? (or does it not matter which)?

Before the clean install I had the latest modded CCC drivers. - Currently I have the latest dell drivers installed. With either drive I had around the same 3dmark06 scores.

I thought there might be a problem as I have read most users getting from 6000 to 7800. Could I have received a lemon? I wonder telling Dell my scores are to low is enough to warrant a return / exchange?

Also I have been keeping up with the throttling issue - ( read every page on this site!) and it seems that mine is throttling even while idling, ie if I use Core Temp with nothing open in windows, The multiplier is constantly bouncing from 7 to 14. Usually around 8 - 10. Is this of any major concern?

 

clocking down on idle is fine.. its to conserve power when the cpu isnt in use..

If i remember right disabling powerplay locks the speeds of the gpu midway between max and min. And you have to have powerplay enabled and set at max performance to get the max clock freq the card will run at. Thats probably why its like that on AC and battery.. probably not throttling with that program with the gpu locked at low speeds.

enable powerplay, but make sure both is set to max perf

 

Thank you, you are extremely helpful. I will give this a shot tonight and report back. If this works I will be a lot happier with this laptop. Maybe 75% happy, will be 110% once/if throttling is resolved. Not sure whether to hold my breath or not tho.

 

Also does this mean that if I set powerplay to max perf that my machine will start getting even hotter than it already does? I'm wondering as if it was only running at half gpu power it still gets quite hot.

 

Turning on powerplay to max perf did the trick. got about 7100 in 3dmark06 and can play crysis on high now. Thanks Atlstang!

 

Disabling powerplay on my 1640 forced the GPU and it's memory to clock down to half their max and never change, so that is probably why you got 5500.

 

Yep exactly!

 

enabling powerplay on the new xps 1645 makes game seriously unplayable w/o using TS since it makes very unstable fps..

 

Because constantly changing your benchmark leaves you with no real way to directly compare performance gains.

AquaMark was the best dang way of testing your computer for years until it finally hit a physical limit in the score, you couldn't score any higher then a certain number in the program.

3D Mark is a pile of crap IMO, results vary too much on the same system without changing settings. It also does tests that are just silly. The CPU tests it does do a very poor job at actually testing the CPU's capabilities.

3D Mark 05/06 is as good as it gets right now, Vantage is very vague imo.

 

Roshdawg... i cringe at the thought of what you paid for your 1645 and I hope you dont get stuck with it (or dell fixes it... yeah right!)...

Waiting on Dell to send me my return label/info.

 

I too have a probplem width low scoree 3dmark06 P5532
Power play and all settings to max
Latest drivers installed
Fresh OS
where can be a problem ?