New XPS 14 i7 with Optimus

Hey guys,

i've just ordered the new XPS 14 with the i7 740QM. According to the specs (and I double-checked with 2 Dell reps) it has Nvidia Optimus. But from what i've read here, the i7 CPUs don't have onboard graphics.. the specs also state 5+ hours battery life with the 6 cell battery.

So i'm a bit confused. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks.

Link: Dell XPS 14 Laptop Details | Dell New Zealand

 

As long as you order the i3/i5 + GT 420M configuration you will have Optimus.

Technically i3/i5 + GT 425M also has Optimus, but Dell currently restricts you to the i7 + GT 425M config, so the former option is the only Optimus option on XPS 14.

This is why a lot of us are putting off buying/not buying the new XPS.

 

Hmm but in NZ there's no option for i5 or i3, i7 is the only CPU you can choose. Yet it still says (and the Dell reps confirmed) that it has Optimus.

If I receive the laptop and it doesn't have Optimus, Dell is false advertising so I will be returning the laptop.

I've attached 2 images to show what I mean.. the first shows the XPS 14 description, including details of Optimus.. the 2nd shows the CPU options for the laptop.

 

Yeah, the tech exists but will not work with i7. i7 has no Intel GPU.

I have never spoken to a single Dell rep who knows what he or she is even talking about.

Return it if you don't like it, but I think they may charge you for shipping and etc.

 

Ah yeah I can see in the tech specs is lists i3/i5 as an option, but it doesn't let you choose those CPUs when customizing the laptop. I've just e-mailed Dell to see if they will let me change to an i5. I only ordered yesterday so it may not be too late.

 

I have also tried to configure an XPS 14 for my needs, but got the following
Error:
The NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M 2GB graphics card requires an Intel® Core™ i7 Processor.

So If I want to buy 100USD more expensive (but still slow) GPU, I also have to buy a more expensive CPU. Not to mention to loosing the Optimus technology. Damn it Dell, I'll buy Envy!

 

Good luck, hope Dell changes it for you.

It would be quicker to reach them by phone, they're not very efficient over the internet.

 

You would think the Dell reps would at least know something as simple as the fact that the i7 quads do not have an integrated GPU, and therefore can't use Optimus. Hopefully they'll fix it for you.

When SB finally comes out even the i7 quads will have a GPU, but for now you're screwed

 

yeah, i7 mobile dual cores work, but those i7 mobile quads (listed) don't work with Optimus. The only IGP that works with Nehalem is integrated onto the CPU package itself, so you cannot simply get an external addon chipset to make it work, or anything.

 

Hmm.. so does anyone have any idea what kind of battery life I can expect with no Optimus? I got the 9cell battery.

 

what is the wattage of the battery?

it should be around 50-70wh

so you could have a battery life of:

surfing the web 3-4h
playing less than 1 hour

remember that the TDP of the i7 is 45W and the gpu would be always on, and Nvidia GPUs are notable for the higher TDP so in the end you could be facing a consumption of 15-25wh

 

Well Dell says this:

"6-cell LI (2.6Ah) standard; Up to 5 hours, 23 minutes4 of battery life with 6-cell battery
9-cell LI (2.8Ah); Up to 8 hours, 29 minutes4 of battery life with 9-cell battery"

I don't see how that'd be possible without Optimus.

 

It's not. That 'up to' specs assume the weakest possible hardware configuration and Optimus.

 

Ok, understood.

It's annoying that they didn't state that the i7 didn't have Optimus. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.

I hope they'll take it back.

 

For what it's worth

This is the answer I got when I asked about battery life with the I7, I ended up ordering the I5.






Time Details
10/22/2010 05:29:01PM Session Started with Agent (Mohammed I)
10/22/2010 05:29:05PM Agent (Mohammed I): "Hi"
10/22/2010 05:29:06PM Agent (Mohammed I): "Welcome to Dell's US sales Chat! I hope you are doing well and thank you for waiting. My name is Imran. I can be reached at mohammed and I will be your Dell.com Sales Chat Expert.. How may I help you with your purchase today?"
10/22/2010 05:29:16PM f: "hello"
10/22/2010 05:30:15PM f: "i was wanting to know the battery like on the new xps 15 with a 9 cell and 740quad and **** nvidea?"
10/22/2010 05:30:39PM f: "life i mean"
10/22/2010 05:30:44PM Agent (Mohammed I): "Great! Glad you chatted in today, I would be happy to answer that for you"
10/22/2010 05:30:58PM Agent (Mohammed I): "Just one moment"
10/22/2010 05:31:05PM f: "ok"
10/22/2010 05:34:30PM Agent (Mohammed I): "Well , with the spesc you mentioned with regular usage online for emails and general usage it woudbe upto 5-6 hours , and with gaming upto 3 hours"
10/22/2010 05:34:52PM f: "thank you"
10/22/2010 05:35:01PM Agent (Mohammed I): "My pleasure"
10/22/2010 05:35:03PM Agent (Mohammed I): "ay"
10/22/2010 05:35:05PM Agent (Mohammed I): "Anything else Apart from this, I can assist you with?"

 

There is no way you'd get 3 hours gaming with the 740m and the 435. Not a chance. Not even with the 9-cell. The agent was just quoting the general specs for the laptop, probably doesn't know any better.

 

Yeah, that's nonsense. I would realistically expect about 4-5 hours of normal usage with the 9 cell on a Core i7 configuration, maybe an hour and a half tops gaming.

Honestly I'd be happy just getting close to four and a half hours with the Core i5 configuration and the 6 cell battery.

 

I would still go for what I said, the i7 plus the 5830 it hovers around the 15-24wh, but since the TDP of the gt 425 is around 35w against the 24w of the 5830...

so yeah dont think 5 hours

 

AMD does not include the GPU memory in their wattage calculations. Nvidia does.

 

Yeah I talked to another rep today and they said 4-5 hours normal use with the 9 cell. And I guess for an i7 quad core laptop, that's pretty decent.

The main reason i'm a bit annoyed is because they stated that it had Optimus, and that was a main factor in ordering the laptop.

Either way, i3/i5 configurations aren't available in NZ yet.. so I guess i'll stick to the i7.

 

any proof of that?

 

Again, the majority of Dell reps have absolutely No idea what they're on about.

3 hours while gaming on a i7 laptop is quite absurd with standard battery. With 9 cell, I'd have to try it.

6 Hours normal usage? Even with 9 Cell, that's a stretch. Does the person (Dell rep) realise the i7 doesn't transform into a T66xx even if you are web browsing? It will remain at least at 45-55C, and consume a lot of power, draining battery, and produce heat like a furnace.

If you turn Wifi off it's no longer web browsing. You could maybe turn brightness down, but if you're actively browsing as opposed to offline office work, it eats battery.

Hopefully the new Dell XPS systems are as energy efficient as their predecessors (i.e. M1330).

 

Hmm interesting. do you know what Dells return policy is? If i'm not happy with the battery life once I receive it, can I return the laptop? Or can I return it to get the CPU swapped with an i5? Obviously it's going to cost extra to do that probably, but it might be worth it..

Then again, if I have a moan about how they told me Optimus would work, they might do it for free, especially if I mention the consumer guarantees act which protects us here in NZ from things like this.

Edit: Ah, found the info.. 15 days to return it if i'm not happy

 

Couldn't agree more after chatting 3 times.... Not only they didn't know a thing about the stuff I asked, they pretended that they knew about it and gave me false info.

 

Isn't the 420 just an under clocked 425? I don't understand why worry about it.

I would think most of you could just clock the 420 to 425m specs its the same GPU just clocked down IIRC using MSI afterburner or EVGA Precision tools its pretty easy, and not have to worry about I5 vs I7 configuration with regards to Optimus.

 

The 415 to 435 are all just different clocked versions of the same chip. It may be theoretically possible to turn a 415 all the way up to a 435, but you have to assume that the chips are binned, and not all will be stable when clocked that high.

 

Lolwut?

The 415M has half as many "CUDA Cores" (or whateverthehell Nvidia is calling them these days) as the 420/425/435. However the 415 is still 3x as fast as the outgoing 310M. The 420M is said to be in between the 330M and the 335M as far as performance is concerned.

 

They're all the GF108 chip, the 415 just has half of the cores disabled. Though you're right, I should have said it's possible to clock the 420M as high as the 435, because even if you could get the 415 up to clocks, it still wouldn't be as fast due to having half its cores disabled.