S-XPS 1645 AC Power Throttle Issue Investigation

uh guys?? are you reading this thread??.. throttle = downclock.. You are limiting the processor speed by throttling it.

 

Just called tech support and spoke with a "resolution specialist". She seemed knowledgeable and said that although the 130 W adapter will work, it has not been tested for extended periods of time as to whether or not it will damage the mobo, because the battery connector on the mobo can apparently handle more power than the AC adapter connector on the mobo (weird?). She said that it's recommended we wait for a BIOS update and most likely a motherboard update, at which point they will be replaced for free. And she and the tech rep flat out refused to send a 130 W adapter because apparently the engineering team hasn't come to a conclusion yet.

She says that this issue was raised a few days ago and there should be a fix within 15 days.

I have noticed that when I run Prime95 I get x12-x13 on my CPU and when I turn up my brightness I get x10-x12 on my CPU. I think I'll stick with this current half-@$$ mobo and adapter until they release an official fix, then badger Dell to fix my laptop.

 

hes talkin about permanently setting it to a lower clock

FOOOREVEEERRR

 

as will i

and demand a free upgrade in the process like you

or something

 

Well.. in that case, they only throttle it when you really need to use it.. don't know how that is any better..

 

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16521

 

Motherboard update = software or hardware? Hopefully on-site is available.

 

I think it was just like anything, they where rushed and problems sometimes get through without proper testing/verifying. Could be there test methods where flawed for the new tech or could be there design process lacked the proper checks. I think some of us do need to calm down, it sucks sure but yelling isnt going to help at this point. Just think if engineers investigating where browsing these forums for information on the problem, bashing them isnt going to help the cause. Problems happen and if they fix it in a timely matter then no big deal with me really. Now if their fix doesnt work, or they give us the run around then it will be time to be furious.

 

mobo update = new BIOS and new mobo like the big green chip inside the laptop

 

ok........ calm..... poised....... play pekaboo with a cat....... any more thing i should do to get ready to EXPLODE? still moderately calm. Keep in mind i'm very young (below 19) and paid for this system myself by flipping burgers and stuff that will probably get me a 12 year sentence.

 

Lol. I was under 19 when I bought this (my birthday was Nov. 17) and I paid for it all with my own $$ too. A good $2500 gone for the original SXPS 1640 + ATI 4670 and another $2400 gone for an SXPS 1640 with an ATI 3670. This SXPS 1645 was an exchange for my 4670 laptop.

 

Hi, are you fred from youtube or fred from the flintstones?

 

that is THE youtube fred you're talkin to bub

little respect

 

*gets on both knees* SORRY! My sincerest apologies GRAND MASTER FRED. PLEASE GIVE ME VIDEOS TO KEEP ME CALM and PLAYFUL WITH KITTIES.

 

see you've got a highly power-intensive computer and you were runnin crysis no problem

have you noticed any signs of this issue?

 

MOTHERBOARD UPDATE??? IN 15 DAYS? o no... leaving in < 2 weeks... won't be back to states until july...

 

its okay i'll write you

 

Not many games use CPU that much.

And no, no sign, but then again I don't know what an unthrottled laptop would be like, so I can't judge.

 

I would just like to encourage people to talk about this issue because it is very serious and if it never gets fixed whose to say that dell wont just overlook another pending issue. If they want people to wait 15 days i guess we have to wait but they cant keep pushing us away forever.

 

I think thats changing though. Already games like TF2 and L4D use extra cores to boost fps. In TF2 when i disable the multicore rendering it will actually boost the fps due to less throttling, instead of the other way around. Depends what you play of course. Unfortunately those are the only 2 games i play when i have time lol

 

so you guys are saying that this processor can only hit like 50% of its power?

 

thats what i've heard so far and of course it spikes then throttles down. hmm maybe if the dell studio xps 16 had rings on it that somehow turned red im sure they might consider helping more...

 

thats exactly what this feels like

and i was lucky enough to live that experience twice over

tryin to sell my third one here if you're interested + 15 games = $300

 

Judging from what I have seen, you might benefit more in if they can take advantage of more cores. It slows down all the cores, so when you are running a single thread you really notice the slow down, with multi core games it "might" be better. Demigod I thought was written on a multi-core engine (supreme Commander) but when I look at processor load, only the first one is pulling a heavy duty cycle, the rest are around 10-20% even though they have been throttled back to 930Mhz.

 

whats dells history on recalls

 

Looking at this thread has got me really freaked out and I'm seriously considering cancelling my order. I called up dell today (the indian toll free number) and i kept getting shunted to different departments (tech support, sales, customer care) and not one of the reps on the phone had a clue.
Would you recommend that I cancel my order or should I just wait for it to arrive and then worry.Don't really know how efficient Dell customer care is in India. I also emailed my Sales rep but apparently he's on leave till Monday so I probably wont get a reply till then.
Also, is the problem as bad with the WLED screen?
Any help would be appreciated

 

this is the gamble

will they not even bother to address the issue, play dumb and offer no support

or will we all be sending stuff back

 

I'm not going to really use my laptop for gaming as such but will probably use it for watching blu ray movies and some video editing.Is this problem a concern for these kind of tasks or will I be able to survive until a solution is found?

 

So now not only is the crap 90w adapter that overheats trying to provide enough power to feed this power hungry laptop not enough, the mobo they provided possibly might not be able to handle more than 90w??? wow, I wonder if they just slapped the i7 processor in and rushed this guy off the assembly line just to be one of the first few laptops out there with the i7 chip. So basically we're paying for a premium laptop, but getting cheap parts A.K.A a motherboard that can't possibly handle more than 90w and an adapter that's only 90w when they provide most desktop replacement/gaming laptops with 150W or more, genius. Whats next, our fan breaks down in a few weeks and we find out its crap too?!?. Good Job to the testing team who gave this the thumbs up to start shipping this model out. We Enjoy giving you 3,000$ for you to provide us with crap parts.

Props to you fred2028 for not lashing out at her, I know I would have if they gave me that explanation.

 

Hello,

I receveid this morning my AC PA-4E (130w). After running OCCT for 5 minutes, the processor runs at 12x constantly ! I switched to the AC PA-3E and the processor runs at 8-11x...
When i set the brightness (RGBLED) to 75%, the processor throttling and runs at 10-12x.

I run 2 3dmark 06 (with bt, wifi ON, gpu overclock, 1280*768 and brightness 40% and Catalyst 9.11 modded). My results :

- 90w AC -> 7012 pts
- 130w AC -> 8094 first run & 8049 2nd run
- Battery 100% -> 7987 pts



I played Crysis Demo for 10 minutes (1080p, high/medium) and i haven't any freezes now but when i set the brighness to 80%, the game lags.

Conclusion: The problem are fix at 80% for me with 130w (french user ). I think I need AC 150w for set the brighness to +75% with no throttling.

 

I believe they are addressing the issue. It takes time to troubleshoot and to squeeze the variables until you can totally isolate the problem.

I think it's prudent for them to keep on investigating the issue instead of just letting what we all want (because we may or may not have all the facts or are privy to the workings of the BIOS.)

If eventually we are untitled to change motherboards if the problem really requires this, that's a very good and reasonable thing for Dell to do. A Dell technician can do this quite quickly with NBD onsite service. I'm getting my 1645 tomorrow, ordered 7 days ago...

 

We have yet to see results for ppl who tried the 150W or 210W adapters to see if it improves things better then the 130W

 

Ignore the adaptor, lets connect the laptop directly to 240V, that should solve all of the issues.

 

I went with your advice but I have noticed smoke coming out of the laptop. Is that normal ??

 

The tech changed your SSD ? If yes, have you always the noise ?

 

Dell Holland/Belgium are unaware of the problem. Explained it as best as I could after which a tech guy came on via Dell Connect and flashed the BIOS with the latest firmware (A02) and changed the Windows performance profile setting to Run at minimum 100% when plugged in.

Going to report back with the 3DMark results.

 

Just received a 130w adapater from Dell... along with a replacement RGBLED screen to replace one that failed after I decided to test this issue and ran a game on battery until the battery was almost out of power. No idea what happened there!

 

So to sum up:

The 130W, from the one's I've read, does NOT fully solve the problem.

If this is TRUE, Zlog, you wouldn't mind updating the first post?

 

They will replace the monitor and SSD on Monday.
Hard drive is making noise all the time. It's not very loud but very annoying.

 

The mine is very loud now... The tech doesn't want change the mine because I have already 3 intervention J+1 in 3 week... And if i want change the SSD, i need to return the laptop to Dell.

I will call Dell in 2-3 week

Please, if you can do a feedback when the tech change your SSD monday

 

yeah really need to get that updated, think some people are getting the wrong idea. Hopefully not wasting money as well

 

Money saving tip how to extend your warrany

Normally when you buy the laptop there is
"1 year of coverage included with your PC [Included in Price]"

I wanted to buy 3 years Next Business Day + Accidental Damage warranty but it was to expensive for me (add £274.2)

There is an option to get 3 years warranty (without Accidental Damage) from dell for £160 .
Just call sales department and say that you want to extend the warranty to 3 years but you don't want Accidental Damage. It's so simple

I've decided to take it as the dalivery guy that supposed to pickup my laptop yesteday decided to go for a bee and I've wasted 1 day off waiting for the him.
Now I have £3yrs Premium Support, Next Business Day, Onsite Support, XPS Adamo, Alienware" and the Dell engineer will replace all my faulty parts on Monday.

I will update the post when dell engineer will replace the HDD and screen.

 

Yeah I never extend my warranty when ordering the laptop, in the past Dell has always came to me with an offer to extend the warranty months later, usually for a lot cheaper than when you are ordering.

 

I am going to return mine, as a similar problem existed with Latitudes released last year and the customers are begging DELL for resolution.
I now have no doubts that it is a BIOS problem that limit the performance of the system to limit the heat dissipation to a maximum value. It will not affect most people, but a laptop should be designed for the extreme CPU and GPU working conditions not the normal as indicated by their bloggers by saying it will be fine with office and internet programs, a $200 netbook will be as fine for such programs, not a $1000-$3000 laptop.

 

Haha,

I just received the 240w power supply designed for Alienware m17x.

This thing is HUGE! There's no way I can keep that Power Supply for my mobility needs...

Here's some pictures. If anyone wants me to test something, i'll ship back this monster on monday so I'll have the week-end to test.

 

Please run furmark and prime95 and post the cpu multipliers.
Thank you

 

Wow, that defines "brick" on a whole new level.

 

I particularly enjoy the comparison to a can of Coca-Cola. That's a nice touch.

How hot was your soda after you took that picture?

 

I have a question, how come ppl can see various In-Production stages? "build", "boxing", etc. How come I could only see "In Production" but nothing else? Where do you see the details of "In Production" stage? Thanks.

 

I just ordered an XPS 1645 with i7 core proc two days ago. Now I find this thread and wonder if I should cancel. I will be using this thing to game quite a bit, and do not understand why extensive testing wasnt done in order to uncover this issue before the systems were deployed. I'm on the fence about cancellation. :/