S-XPS 1645 AC Power Throttle Issue Investigation

Making Dell believe that the 130W fixes the problem....because they have no idea now, LOL..

~Ibrahim~

 

Got the 1645 today. Slim 90W power supply. It had the A01 bios, I updated to A02. Been playing WoW at full 1080p, maximum setting, no problems. Then, fullscreen Blu-Ray, no problems.

I'm using a Zalman NC2000 cooler though....

 

I see what you're saying...I guess that would be detrimental to getting an official fix. Its really sad that a crack team of engineers cannot fix a throttling issue...especially one that seems to be stemming from problems with power rather than heat. It seems to me like they took the Studio XPS and slapped an i7 in there without thinking about the ramifications for the overall system. I love this laptop (with the exception of the fingerprint magnet gloss finish >_> that drives me insane.) but the throttling issue is a serious pain in the when I want to game on this thing, I've been doing what you guys suggested and turning down the brightness, which does work but why should I have to do that? I paid extra for a great display I should be free to use it as I choose.

 

thats because WoW takes no toll on a computer like this

try crysis at max for a while

 

lol or Dragon Age, that's what I've been playing personally.

 

Anyone know if this is a problem if your xps 1645 came with a 720 QM and no RGBLED but just a regular LED at (1600x900)?

 

From what I've read (someone correct me if I'm wrong) is that its less of an issue but it still exists. I may be mistaken.

 

You are right on, Fenikkusu.

 

Has anyone else encountered BSOD errors? I'm not sure if the two are related but its happened to me two or three times since I got my laptop...

 

What is the stop error?

 

It always happens when I'm sleeping actually lol and it reboots long before I'm awake to find out what the stop code is. I can't seem to find it in the event log and I don't think its occurred since my BIOS was updated. If it happens again I'll make a note of the code...

 

If anyone has a multimeter and some high gauge wire, PM me. I have an interesting idea to try.

 

I just got my SXPX16 today (so say my parents) I ordered on 11/29 with an EDD of 12/21 and it was shipped to my home in Georgia today. I don't fly back until 12/20 so I won't know if I got a defective model or not until then, but what do you think the odds are? Not too good I assume.

 

I am exceptionally certain that your parents received a laptop which suffers from the power throttling issue.

There were a few Dell reps who said that Dell knew about the problem and were updating the motherboard with some extra capacitors, or some such nonsense, but there have been people since who received their laptops which are clearly not fixed. Additionally, Dell is still trying to get info on what's going on. Plus, how does adding extra capacitors allow the to draw more power from an already overtaxed 90W adaptor? lol

 

check your crash dump files usually inside the "minidump" folder.

 

New Bios from Dell is now out: A03

 

cool thanks for the tip, will update it tonight.

I wonder if it will cool down my power supply.
Yesterday my girlfriend managed to iron my shirts (using XPS AC adaptor) while I was playing games.

A03 update:
1.Enhance system stability.
2.Support FailSafe feature.

 

LOL, I made a grilled cheese on it.

 

No mention of any power management fix??????? WAAAA
What is FailSafe anyway? Com On Dell i hope this fix has more enhancements than the mentioned.

 

has anyone verified this does not fix the power issue?

 

Not yet, but I am sure that when one of us is able to do so they will post the results, so keep checking back.

 

on the other thread a user is reporting that he is noticing slowdown and longer boot times and icons taking time to load also, less bright screen.

My fear is DELL downclocked the CPU

 

FWIW, I haven't noticed a slowdown.

I did notice that the screen wasn't as bright, but that was easily remedied with Fn+ArrowUp. My guess is that the BIOS update changed the default brightness, since mine was previously set to 100%.

 

I'm just curious to see if this improves the throttling for anyone. The fact that default brightness has been reduced tells me they're trying to cut the power consumption.

 

It could just be a side effect of the BIOS update, nothing that Dell could have tweaked, only some default settings. And I don't think that they would try to trick us by reducing the maximum brightness of the screen.

 

i dont think this is the fix we been waiting for, for one theyre still investigating the problem. A quick bench test still showed the cpu downclocking. doesnt mean they didnt do improvements though to help the situation. hate to be a buzz kill

not related. but whats interesting though, and wonder if anyone can confirm. Using prime95 alone the cpu stays at a constant 12x multi.. but using intel burn test the cpu alone doesnt hold a steady multiplier on the adapter but will on battery. brightness seems to affect it as well when on adapter. wonder if anyone else could try the intel burn test and report their results

 

I have a Question:

If the issue is not existent on battery, then doesn't that mean that the motherboard can handle enough power to power the system sufficiently? since in that case it is drawing it from the battery. and the issue is just that it seems to capping power from the adapter? [or can the the fact that it is capping power from the adapter also mean a motherboard problem AND not just a BIOS problem?]

 

Ah Oh? GOOD question?
You are right, if throttling does not occur under battery then AC adapter is the problem, yet a higher rated 130W adapter still did not rectify the problem, Dell engineers say it is the Bios and Dell sales reps saying it has been fixed, that's why I am going to jump off the Empire state tonight.

 

Make sure to take some food with you, its a long way down and might die of hunger

 

Seriously though? If the system runs on the battery, then the motherboard can handle the neccesary power, because it's getting it from the battery. So wouldn't this imply the motherboard is fine and it is the BIOS? unless capping power from the AC adapter is a hardware issue *shrugs*

 

its all speculation, there are hardware type circuits to limit power etc that i know of. but i would assume that would cause crashes etc. As it seems the computer is being actively throttled to lower power consumption, and not just cutting the power. As cutting the power i would think cause crashes etc. If i where to take a guess, somewhere in the bios is a bunch of tables that estimate power consumption and it throttles off that. Or its measuring directly and throttles. could and probably very well be wrong though.

I dunno what to think really, im a bit taken back that they cant seem to confirm this problem for themselves, even after a week of supposedly looking into it. From what we have found every i7 xps 16 is going to have this issue. Its really hard to believe that "engineers" who do this for a living cant even identify the problem, and i wonder if something else is going on behind the scenes.

 

FailSafe is a Pheonix BIOS feature that uses new hardware based anti-theft and data protection features built into newer Intel processors.

 

Ok so its has nothing to do with the problem

 

Nope, the BIOS Updates seems to have done nothing from what I have been reading.

My S-XPS 1645 Estimated Delivery Date is Dec 29 and right now it is "in-production". So I hope these issues will be sorted before then so they can put in the new "motherboard" or "update the BIOS". So I receive a fully functional laptop >_>

 

Well the SPXPS is great machine and works great...unless you intend to game. In that case the suggested work around it turning down the screen brightness or playing on an external monitor.

 

^

Or buying an extra battery or two

 

We need some new tests to confirm any changes ( if any)

 

Haha that too I guess, however I'm quite spent after purchasing the laptop itself lol, I'm a bit of a stereotype, broke college student etc... So I'm sticking with the brightness workaround for now.

 

Just don't buy the batteries from Dell, unless you like being raped.

 

I'm not much or a hardcore PC Gamer anywayz. I'll prob work with the brightness workaround if this problem is not solved. I just wanted something that could play starcraft 2when it comes out and something that could last me the next 2-3 yrs for school

 

Yeah the updated BIOS doesn't address the issue (Dell reps lie, big surprise). I ran Prime95 and furmark, multipliers drop to 7x as usual.

 

Updated BIOS to A03 version:

No performance changes. Checked 2 games and they are freazing (even on a bios default medium brightnes)

My mute button is not working now !!!
Anyone had the same problem after BIOS update ?

ps. I'm thinking to use my power supply as a cup warmer

 

Most likely a mobo update also, since apparently the power draw from AC adapter on the mobo isn't as tolerant as the battery draw, so APPARENTLY prolonged 130 W power draw from AC might damage mobo.

 

LMAO true enough.

On an unrelated note, this is my first laptop so there's a lot I don't know but one thing I'd like to know is if I choose to upgrade parts like RAM or the processor, down the line does that void my warranty? I figure I can afford to get more RAM in a few months and who knows what might happen with processor prices next year. I don't think you can upgrade the video card on this thing much to my chagrin >_>

 

I don't know nearly enough to say you are wrong, but I'm REALLY hoping you are. I don't want to go through the headache of hardware replacement.

 

Well do you want to fix your laptop or not ?

 

Here's what this RE told me when I called in.

Mobo has connectors to battery and AC right, for power.

Battery connector supports > 90 W, however AC connector does not (I know, weird).

If 130 W charger is used for prolonged periods (say a year), apparently there might be damage to the mobo because the AC connector cannot take that much power.

Therefore, mobo update so AC connector can take > 90 W, like the battery connector.

Mobo replacement isn't hard. I've watched the Dell tech do it on my laptop a few times and I can do it myself if I had the parts.

 

I do but I'm just saying I'm clinging to the very optimistic hope of a fix via BIOS + adapter. Odds are though, they will need to replace the Mobo though...

 

BIOS alone will not change any hardware. From what I heard from Dell, it's a HW related issue of AC power drawer not allowing > 90 W safely.