S-XPS 1645 AC Power Throttle Issue Investigation

Let me take a guess: he's going to fiddle with PowerPlay and / or your windows Power Plan...

 

Does anyone know if the throttling issue is a good enough reason to get a refund outwith the normal 7 day return time in the uk?

I got my laptop on the 10th Dec, not really having issues with throttling at the moment because i've not had the time for gaming but I don't want to have an expensive laptop that I can't make full use of when I want to.

I'm also i'm waiting on my screen to be replaced because its flickering like mad on low brightness, been waiting since last monday and I have the next day in home warranty. They are saying the gloss black screen is out of stock!

Was thinking of returning it and waiting to see what the CES brings.

 

No, it doesn't matter at all - you are quite right that it should stand up to the sort of loads their marketing info promises.

But as Dell's people seem to be bears of very little brain, it's much easier to say to them "It does not run {this game} as fast as {an alternative laptop/ allegedly superannuated old Dell PC/ whatever}, and it should blow the bl**dy doors off it" - a nice clean repeatable issue they can try for themselves - than to complain about it not handling some much more complex multi-activity load, where the Dell reps can easily mutter about 'unexpected interactions' and so on regarding that complex load.

Having said which, if you could come up with a simple non-gaming single task that even Dell agree this machine is supposed to be able to do - a big render, say - and show throttling, well, that would demolish their argument entirely.

 

What makes me think you didn't actually look?

EDIT: Not realizing you might have seen something different from what I was seeing. Sorry!

 

The fact that you know that you don't need to look at something produced for the express purpose of selling a product to know that it's full of lies?

 

I'm in the UK. My laptop arrived on the 19th of December and they agreed to issue me a full refund today (16 days later) due to the power throttle issue.

I plan to use my spare computer until I find a stable laptop that delivers the performance advertised and isn't limited by its power supply.

 

Thanks for the reply, did you have trouble getting a refund from them or were they quite willing?

 

If you click on the floating box you get alienware,
Wait a sec or two, it will close, or just hit close.
then check high performance mobile gaming under how fast does it need to be, and i go to sxps1645. like you said, only one to choose from.

 

Initially they tried to get me to run the diagnostic program and update the BIOS but I explained that I had already gone through this process and that the power throttle issue was documented on the Dell forum by many customers. After being transferred twice I was then told that I would receive a full refund in 7 days and that they are coming after tomorrow to pick the laptop up.

If you have a spare computer that you can use I would recommend doing this because after spending around £1,000 on a laptop you should not have to resort to finding alternative fixes and have to wait for over a month for an official fix.

 

IANAL, but consumer law is strong in Britain. The 7-day rule is a distance selling regulation; kind of a recognition that as you can't see the goods before you buy them, you get a chance to do this. Much as if (for example) you decided that if you had seen this laptop in a shop, and had checked the keyboard action, screen and build quality and so on of this one, you would have moved on because you didn't think it was good enough.

But after 7 days, it's if you saw this laptop in a shop, checked the superficials as above and liked it, and bought it on the manufacturer or salesman's word that it had the performance you wanted, which you couldn't check in the shop.

But then got it home and found out it wasn't up to spec. In such a case, when the goods turn out to be not 'as described', but not obviously so, you have much more time to discover the problem and to seek redress - you are operating under the consumer laws regarding faulty goods, and your remedies there.

Me, I have this i7 sitting semi-idle at present; I have a few bits of software loaded to check out the issues, but I'm not moving off my Tosh Equium until I'm sure I'll be keeping the 1645.

I will (though I don't have to) wait to see if Dell's promised A04 BIOS fixes this; if it does, great [1]. But if not, I don't expect Dell to say either "why the delay in returning it if you weren't happy?" or "please give us another chance to fix it".

I expect a no-cost return and all my money back.

[1] Though I don't see how they'll do this and keep the power consumption under 90w. That the promised solution does not include a 130w adaptor swap-in does not inspire me with any confidence

 

They did the same to me. Got to a CSR on the phone that would give me either $100 to keep the system, or take the system back but charge me a 15% restocking fee. The only way he would waive it is if there were notes from Tech Support that the system was defective.

Tech support said that they can't negatively comment on the system and wouldn't be able to fulfill such a request. talk about a runaround!!

Finally got them on chat to agree to a full refund. *Sigh* too much damn work.

 

@DeathWalking: Assuming (see below!) that you do see the 1645 and only the 1645, as I do there, then you have something to counter any Dell claim that this is not sold as a gaming machine.

Whether or not it is a gaming machine is a different issue. But (in the UK at least) if you put porkies in sales material that people rely on, the least redress is that you have to take the product back and refund the money. If you are found to have lied deliberately, (though I am not suggesting that Dell have) you can get prosecuted.

@Tenax. Oops, I might owe Zlog a bit of an apology then, if he did look, and that's what he found. Sorry, Zlog!

But it's very odd; clicking on that floating box, in either Firefox 3.5.6 or IE8, it just flashes for me, and nothing happens. My Firefox has a few add-ons, which might suppress any action there, but my IE8 is absolutely plain vanilla.

So I didn't realize I was being ambiguous

That the Alienware laptops don't come up with the 1645 on that selection is odd; but that the 1645 comes up does, I think, entitle us to point out to Dell that they are selling it as a gaming machine, and not just a multi-media one.

 

Midnight_Voice,
I seen ya sinking fast, thought it would be a good idea to throw out a life preserver.

 

Anyone see the T.V. commercial. He was definitely playing a game on it! And I bought it for gaming

 

that's weird - you couldn't even spec the xps 16 to 4000 in Canada if you tried..... and the M6500 goes into the 6000 range....

 

Hi unclewebb,

i notice you have updated the TS to v1.7. Could you advise if the new checkbox (Chipset Clock Mod) needs to be checked?

 

Which date for release of the Bios would be most correct? Asia Pacific records are shifty at the best of times. What do u guys think?

I am personally just happy to have the issue, finally coming to a head.

 

Well, thank you kind sir, and have a Rep point (not that I have much juju at the moment, nor likely to have if this keeps up ).

Closer inspection of clicking that initial pop-up thingy shows that it cycles thru about 3 URLs before coming back to where it was.

What's the betting that one of those URLs says 'Is he in the States? In which case we'll show him this' and then decides 'No he isn't, he's just a bl**dy Brit, so we'll toss him back'....

 

This second type of clock modulation does not seem to be used on the XPS 1645, yet. Chipset based clock modulation is being used on the Alienware M15x series and that option was added for those users.

It's easy enough to see if this is a problem for your laptop. Run ThrottleStop, check Clock Modulation to force that and check Set Multiplier and force that to the highest value and then run a stress test and look at the log file when you're done. Leave Chipset clock modulation unchecked so ThrottleStop can monitor for that. The last column in the log file shows the chipset clock modulation value. On an XPS 1645, that will likely be a column of 100.0% which shows this method is not being used to throttle your CPU.

Besides Dell, I'm sure there are lots of laptops that are using one method or the other to control power consumption or heat. It will take some time though before more users start using this new tool and start asking questions like, "What's going on here?"

 

hi, i recently bought this computer and have been reading this thread since. If I understand it correct, there should be less throttling going on when only on battery power? in my case it's the opposite, throttles when on battery, throttles less when on external power. when i play crysis i got like 20 fps with external, and 7 fps on battery. i havent been using throttle stop cause i don't have 130w adapter...

attaching log from i7turbo, while playing crysis...

Code:

  DATE     TIME   CMULTI  STDEV  MSR  LOAD%  NOTES

01/05/10 22:55:38 7.000 0.000 7.000 7.10 starting crysis
01/05/10 22:55:39 7.082 0.095 7.000 8.63
01/05/10 22:55:40 7.000 0.000 7.000 7.90
01/05/10 22:55:41 7.162 0.094 7.000 7.77
01/05/10 22:55:42 8.290 0.352 7.000 9.91
01/05/10 22:55:43 7.000 0.000 7.000 6.31
01/05/10 22:55:44 8.356 0.724 12.000 8.96
01/05/10 22:55:45 12.000 0.000 12.000 18.16
01/05/10 22:55:46 10.376 0.910 7.000 11.25
01/05/10 22:55:47 11.072 0.342 12.000 17.63
01/05/10 22:55:49 10.082 0.856 12.000 17.59
01/05/10 22:55:50 11.740 0.113 12.000 27.95
01/05/10 22:55:51 11.995 0.003 12.000 19.25
01/05/10 22:55:52 11.191 0.252 12.000 19.04
01/05/10 22:55:53 11.999 0.001 12.000 19.88
01/05/10 22:55:54 12.000 0.000 12.000 19.74
01/05/10 22:55:55 11.999 0.003 12.000 19.64
01/05/10 22:55:56 12.000 0.000 12.000 20.92
01/05/10 22:55:57 11.997 0.005 12.000 17.30
01/05/10 22:55:58 12.000 0.001 12.000 17.56
01/05/10 22:55:59 11.972 0.008 12.000 20.39
01/05/10 22:56:00 11.960 0.015 12.000 19.80
01/05/10 22:56:01 11.992 0.007 12.000 19.55
01/05/10 22:56:02 11.695 0.130 12.000 22.46
01/05/10 22:56:03 11.709 0.104 11.375 22.76
01/05/10 22:56:04 11.958 0.015 12.000 20.06
01/05/10 22:56:05 11.888 0.053 12.000 19.87
01/05/10 22:56:06 11.577 0.167 12.000 20.33
01/05/10 22:56:07 11.652 0.102 12.000 20.74
01/05/10 22:56:08 11.957 0.012 12.000 18.92
01/05/10 22:56:09 11.684 0.168 11.375 19.95
01/05/10 22:56:10 11.620 0.168 12.000 21.15
01/05/10 22:56:11 11.794 0.091 12.000 19.82
01/05/10 22:56:12 11.945 0.033 12.000 19.01
01/05/10 22:56:13 11.973 0.030 12.000 17.35
01/05/10 22:56:14 11.950 0.034 12.000 18.24
01/05/10 22:56:15 9.498 0.537 12.000 21.44
01/05/10 22:56:16 11.887 0.055 12.000 18.63
01/05/10 22:56:18 11.896 0.037 12.000 18.57
01/05/10 22:56:19 11.843 0.044 12.000 22.25
01/05/10 22:56:20 11.858 0.080 12.000 24.16
01/05/10 22:56:21 11.803 0.128 12.000 21.62
01/05/10 22:56:22 11.905 0.041 12.000 19.41
01/05/10 22:56:23 11.898 0.062 12.000 19.65
01/05/10 22:56:24 11.669 0.072 12.000 20.83
01/05/10 22:56:25 11.748 0.122 12.000 21.14
01/05/10 22:56:26 11.684 0.165 12.000 21.01
01/05/10 22:56:27 11.781 0.104 12.000 19.23
01/05/10 22:56:28 11.939 0.016 12.000 19.07
01/05/10 22:56:29 11.876 0.058 12.000 18.88
01/05/10 22:56:30 11.725 0.119 12.000 19.96
01/05/10 22:56:31 12.000 0.000 12.000 17.89
01/05/10 22:56:32 11.938 0.025 12.000 17.26
01/05/10 22:56:33 11.918 0.041 12.000 19.01
01/05/10 22:56:34 11.760 0.120 12.000 18.32
01/05/10 22:56:35 11.845 0.072 12.000 18.51
01/05/10 22:56:36 11.895 0.071 12.000 18.17
01/05/10 22:56:37 11.887 0.041 11.375 21.72
01/05/10 22:56:38 11.320 0.431 12.000 20.29
01/05/10 22:56:39 11.986 0.011 12.000 17.82
01/05/10 22:56:40 12.000 0.000 12.000 17.79
01/05/10 22:56:41 11.523 0.227 12.000 19.14
01/05/10 22:56:42 11.949 0.008 12.000 18.78 maybe crysis finished loading here
01/05/10 22:56:43 9.939 0.446 7.875 21.98
01/05/10 22:56:44 7.989 0.257 7.875 23.36
01/05/10 22:56:45 8.100 0.264 7.750 25.57
01/05/10 22:56:46 8.338 0.336 8.500 24.81
01/05/10 22:56:47 8.279 0.338 8.875 22.17
01/05/10 22:56:48 8.746 0.625 7.375 23.87
01/05/10 22:56:49 7.992 0.297 7.000 23.83
01/05/10 22:56:50 7.303 0.113 7.625 23.69
01/05/10 22:56:51 7.670 0.093 7.500 24.37
01/05/10 22:56:52 9.293 0.561 9.250 28.66
01/05/10 22:56:53 10.130 0.164 7.625 25.61
01/05/10 22:56:54 8.971 0.451 8.000 26.68
01/05/10 22:56:55 9.188 0.501 7.375 28.60
01/05/10 22:56:56 9.300 0.523 7.375 28.85
01/05/10 22:56:57 9.300 0.544 7.625 30.20
01/05/10 22:56:58 9.475 0.382 8.000 29.61
01/05/10 22:56:59 9.407 0.544 8.000 25.81
01/05/10 22:57:00 9.574 0.641 9.000 23.62
01/05/10 22:57:01 9.744 0.626 8.875 23.32
01/05/10 22:57:02 10.917 0.401 7.625 20.22
01/05/10 22:57:03 9.893 0.725 12.000 23.52
01/05/10 22:57:04 8.348 0.519 7.625 25.43
01/05/10 22:57:05 8.409 0.458 12.000 24.20
01/05/10 22:57:06 8.653 0.670 7.375 24.00
01/05/10 22:57:07 8.379 0.346 8.625 25.15
01/05/10 22:57:08 8.765 0.223 7.500 22.02
01/05/10 22:57:09 8.282 0.152 8.000 25.22
01/05/10 22:57:10 8.627 0.209 7.625 24.43
01/05/10 22:57:11 8.197 0.161 12.000 25.35
01/05/10 22:57:12 9.283 0.789 12.000 23.24
01/05/10 22:57:13 8.378 0.364 7.375 24.54
01/05/10 22:57:14 8.684 0.211 8.000 26.79
01/05/10 22:57:15 8.642 0.401 7.375 24.09
01/05/10 22:57:16 9.676 0.559 12.000 21.91
01/05/10 22:57:17 8.315 0.437 7.625 24.65
01/05/10 22:57:18 8.471 0.410 8.500 24.14
01/05/10 22:57:19 8.731 0.330 9.500 25.28
01/05/10 22:57:20 8.096 0.264 7.375 24.67
01/05/10 22:57:21 8.502 0.159 12.000 24.75 might be when i plug in adapter
01/05/10 22:57:22 11.185 0.158 12.000 22.50
01/05/10 22:57:23 10.578 0.207 10.500 23.86
01/05/10 22:57:24 10.629 0.141 7.750 23.69
01/05/10 22:57:25 10.727 0.165 12.000 23.70
01/05/10 22:57:26 11.035 0.116 12.000 23.85
01/05/10 22:57:27 10.904 0.145 12.000 24.12
01/05/10 22:57:28 10.885 0.201 11.375 24.25
01/05/10 22:57:30 10.694 0.239 12.000 23.58
01/05/10 22:57:31 10.853 0.383 12.000 21.91
01/05/10 22:57:32 10.510 0.218 8.875 23.51
01/05/10 22:57:33 10.446 0.183 11.125 23.79
01/05/10 22:57:34 10.330 0.179 9.500 24.11
01/05/10 22:57:35 10.885 0.339 12.000 31.25
01/05/10 22:57:36 11.286 0.200 10.125 31.34
01/05/10 22:57:37 10.221 0.163 12.000 23.78
01/05/10 22:57:38 10.424 0.211 12.000 23.33
01/05/10 22:57:39 10.186 0.230 8.500 24.39
01/05/10 22:57:40 9.533 0.274 9.000 24.12
01/05/10 22:57:41 10.029 0.224 12.000 24.47
01/05/10 22:57:42 10.321 0.145 8.500 23.96
01/05/10 22:57:43 10.116 0.192 10.875 23.62
01/05/10 22:57:44 10.352 0.187 12.000 23.84
01/05/10 22:57:45 10.122 0.150 12.000 23.57
01/05/10 22:57:46 10.328 0.237 7.375 23.86
01/05/10 22:57:47 9.809 0.207 12.000 24.25
01/05/10 22:57:48 10.373 0.319 12.000 23.44
01/05/10 22:57:50 11.239 0.364 12.000 21.27
01/05/10 22:57:51 11.488 0.450 10.125 33.85

 

Try running ThrottleStop but don't put check marks in the first two clock modulation boxes or in the Set Multiplier box. You can run this on a 90 watt adapter since all it is doing is monitoring for clock modulation. Put a check mark in the Log File option and then go play a game. After the game have a look in the log file to see if your performance was dropping below 100%. It probably is. That's clock modulation throttling which is on top of the multiplier throttling that is usually going on.

You can also run i7 Turbo at the same time to monitor and log your multiplier. That too ca throttle back to 7X while gaming which is half of what it should be.

 

Same is happening to me also. though im still being throttled on adapter but worse throttling on battery?

 

Our teams are still looking into this. At this point, I can say that our development team is working on an updated BIOS revision that will address throttling thresholds.

 

ok, doesnt seem to be clock modulation. here's the log files, can you make any of it?
i7turbo log

Code:

  DATE     TIME   CMULTI  STDEV  MSR  LOAD%  NOTES
01/05/10 23:49:04 7.165 0.022 7.000 20.83
01/05/10 23:49:05 7.087 0.013 7.000 21.13
01/05/10 23:49:06 7.202 0.028 7.000 21.28
01/05/10 23:49:07 7.168 0.028 7.000 21.23
01/05/10 23:49:08 9.073 1.062 7.000 13.26
01/05/10 23:49:09 9.072 1.294 9.250 14.28
01/05/10 23:49:10 9.140 1.267 9.250 14.57
01/05/10 23:49:11 7.818 0.680 7.000 7.75
01/05/10 23:49:12 7.179 0.025 7.000 20.48
01/05/10 23:49:13 7.433 0.128 7.000 21.24
01/05/10 23:49:14 7.270 0.049 7.000 20.91
01/05/10 23:49:15 9.997 1.295 12.250 24.50
01/05/10 23:49:16 11.567 1.362 7.000 24.31
01/05/10 23:49:17 7.271 0.037 7.000 20.98
01/05/10 23:49:18 7.187 0.025 7.000 21.03
01/05/10 23:49:19 7.195 0.038 7.000 21.61
01/05/10 23:49:20 7.373 0.067 8.500 21.86
01/05/10 23:49:21 7.515 0.166 7.000 21.73
01/05/10 23:49:22 8.112 0.356 7.000 22.81
01/05/10 23:49:23 7.193 0.054 7.000 10.78
01/05/10 23:49:24 14.545 2.080 7.750 21.07
01/05/10 23:49:25 10.850 1.014 12.250 12.80
01/05/10 23:49:27 13.932 2.051 13.000 19.33
01/05/10 23:49:28 14.378 1.390 12.250 26.45
01/05/10 23:49:29 13.606 1.293 12.250 19.81
01/05/10 23:49:30 15.940 2.317 13.000 17.27
01/05/10 23:49:32 16.053 2.141 12.250 17.00
01/05/10 23:49:32 16.763 2.370 11.500 16.16
01/05/10 23:49:33 16.311 2.319 12.250 16.07
01/05/10 23:49:34 14.571 1.568 10.000 21.93
01/05/10 23:49:36 15.203 2.185 12.250 17.68
01/05/10 23:49:36 12.848 1.965 12.250 21.50
01/05/10 23:49:38 14.059 1.475 10.750 21.96
01/05/10 23:49:39 14.660 1.881 10.750 19.41
01/05/10 23:49:40 13.586 1.166 9.250 20.66
01/05/10 23:49:41 14.788 1.991 8.500 17.69
01/05/10 23:49:42 13.769 1.508 10.000 21.18
01/05/10 23:49:43 14.418 1.365 12.250 20.23
01/05/10 23:49:44 14.903 2.317 12.250 16.50
01/05/10 23:49:45 16.045 2.381 10.750 16.09
01/05/10 23:49:46 11.601 1.830 10.750 19.85
01/05/10 23:49:47 14.920 1.799 11.500 18.71
01/05/10 23:49:48 15.051 1.856 13.000 19.87
01/05/10 23:49:49 14.194 1.376 10.750 22.67
01/05/10 23:49:50 14.838 1.919 13.000 18.53
01/05/10 23:49:51 14.988 1.928 11.500 18.46
01/05/10 23:49:52 14.270 1.532 10.000 20.51
01/05/10 23:49:53 14.206 1.270 10.750 20.64
01/05/10 23:49:54 15.721 1.937 10.750 17.58
01/05/10 23:49:55 15.326 2.096 10.750 17.24
01/05/10 23:49:56 15.309 2.140 13.000 17.91
01/05/10 23:49:57 16.624 2.418 13.000 15.17
01/05/10 23:49:58 15.387 2.094 12.250 17.15
01/05/10 23:49:59 14.905 2.137 10.750 16.94
01/05/10 23:50:00 15.305 2.173 12.250 17.11
01/05/10 23:50:01 14.703 1.752 13.000 19.79
01/05/10 23:50:02 15.162 1.935 12.250 18.47
01/05/10 23:50:03 16.605 2.300 13.000 15.64
01/05/10 23:50:04 13.502 1.775 13.000 18.98
01/05/10 23:50:05 11.328 1.718 7.500 20.68
01/05/10 23:50:06 8.023 0.171 7.500 25.80
01/05/10 23:50:07 8.123 0.190 7.000 25.49
01/05/10 23:50:08 8.018 0.227 7.500 24.51
01/05/10 23:50:09 8.426 0.328 8.500 24.39
01/05/10 23:50:10 8.345 0.433 7.250 23.94
01/05/10 23:50:11 7.813 0.149 7.750 24.13
01/05/10 23:50:12 7.825 0.226 7.125 24.40
01/05/10 23:50:13 7.626 0.156 7.000 24.40
01/05/10 23:50:14 8.071 0.351 7.500 24.23
01/05/10 23:50:15 9.153 0.489 8.250 22.51
01/05/10 23:50:16 8.787 0.445 7.750 26.05
01/05/10 23:50:17 9.002 0.387 7.250 27.39
01/05/10 23:50:18 9.721 0.614 7.500 28.77
01/05/10 23:50:19 9.151 0.639 7.500 28.64
01/05/10 23:50:20 9.808 0.639 7.625 28.89
01/05/10 23:50:21 10.226 0.628 7.000 29.38
01/05/10 23:50:22 9.689 0.771 7.000 29.02
01/05/10 23:50:23 10.077 0.895 7.375 25.92
01/05/10 23:50:24 11.589 1.565 7.875 21.56
01/05/10 23:50:25 9.084 0.533 11.500 23.31
01/05/10 23:50:26 8.013 0.239 7.250 25.21
01/05/10 23:50:27 8.403 0.220 7.500 24.18
01/05/10 23:50:28 8.574 0.584 8.000 24.15
01/05/10 23:50:29 8.815 0.510 7.500 23.90
01/05/10 23:50:30 8.468 0.312 7.750 24.78
01/05/10 23:50:31 8.143 0.296 7.375 22.90
01/05/10 23:50:32 8.542 0.395 8.000 24.35
01/05/10 23:50:33 8.417 0.327 7.500 24.41
01/05/10 23:50:34 8.901 0.769 8.000 23.80
01/05/10 23:50:35 8.454 0.437 9.500 24.42
01/05/10 23:50:36 7.986 0.256 7.250 24.57
01/05/10 23:50:37 8.406 0.315 11.500 24.01
01/05/10 23:50:38 9.727 0.699 9.250 23.18
01/05/10 23:50:39 8.455 0.279 7.250 24.48
01/05/10 23:50:40 8.347 0.256 8.500 24.20
01/05/10 23:50:41 8.687 0.454 8.500 25.05
01/05/10 23:50:42 8.154 0.391 7.625 22.67
01/05/10 23:50:43 10.414 0.637 11.500 24.86
01/05/10 23:50:44 9.135 0.826 10.000 25.06
01/05/10 23:50:45 8.385 0.379 7.375 23.52
01/05/10 23:50:46 8.111 0.153 7.000 24.76
01/05/10 23:50:47 8.066 0.510 7.250 24.83
01/05/10 23:50:48 8.001 0.264 8.125 24.63
01/05/10 23:50:50 8.453 0.257 7.000 24.99
01/05/10 23:50:51 7.857 0.163 7.375 24.81
01/05/10 23:50:52 8.138 0.256 7.250 24.32
01/05/10 23:50:53 8.368 0.195 13.000 24.97
01/05/10 23:50:54 10.230 0.496 7.750 25.17
01/05/10 23:50:55 10.528 0.541 10.000 24.07
01/05/10 23:50:56 10.971 0.546 9.250 24.01
01/05/10 23:50:57 10.515 0.719 7.750 24.07
01/05/10 23:50:58 10.539 0.550 13.000 23.43
01/05/10 23:50:59 10.480 0.758 9.250 23.23
01/05/10 23:51:00 10.460 0.501 10.750 23.33
01/05/10 23:51:01 9.790 0.619 8.500 24.21
01/05/10 23:51:02 10.108 0.632 10.000 24.16
01/05/10 23:51:03 10.954 1.101 11.500 23.86
01/05/10 23:51:04 11.346 0.869 7.000 23.60
01/05/10 23:51:05 10.597 1.039 10.750 24.28
01/05/10 23:51:06 10.225 0.648 10.750 23.89
01/05/10 23:51:07 10.733 0.677 10.000 24.03
01/05/10 23:51:08 11.807 0.727 10.000 23.39
01/05/10 23:51:09 11.591 0.844 8.500 23.67
01/05/10 23:51:10 11.366 0.832 8.500 23.04
01/05/10 23:51:11 10.202 0.479 7.500 23.78
01/05/10 23:51:12 9.890 0.293 8.250 23.47
01/05/10 23:51:13 9.920 0.253 7.625 23.88
01/05/10 23:51:14 11.268 0.614 10.000 23.43
01/05/10 23:51:15 11.437 0.495 10.000 24.26
01/05/10 23:51:16 11.216 0.366 8.500 23.96
01/05/10 23:51:17 10.581 0.632 8.875 24.04
01/05/10 23:51:18 9.712 0.435 10.000 21.29
01/05/10 23:51:19 9.960 0.337 7.625 23.97
01/05/10 23:51:20 10.500 0.446 12.000 22.44
01/05/10 23:51:22 11.384 0.235 12.000 23.36
01/05/10 23:51:23 11.068 0.286 7.750 30.84
01/05/10 23:51:24 7.327 0.513 7.000 5.69
01/05/10 23:51:25 7.403 0.474 7.000 9.81
01/05/10 23:51:26 8.076 0.183 7.000 27.58
01/05/10 23:51:27 7.079 0.015 7.000 23.64
01/05/10 23:51:28 7.090 0.009 7.000 22.34
01/05/10 23:51:29 8.280 0.478 7.000 22.08
01/05/10 23:51:30 9.559 0.985 7.000 23.34

Throttlestop log

Code:

01/05/10 23:49:04  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:05  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:06  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:07  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:08  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:09  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:10  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:11  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:12  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:13  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:14  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:15  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:16  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:17  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:18  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:19  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:21  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:22  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:23  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:24  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:25  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:27  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:28  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:29  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:30  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:31  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:32  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:33  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:35  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:36  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:37  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:38  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:39  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:40  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:41  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:42  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:43  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:44  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:45  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:46  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:47  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:48  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:49  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:50  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:51  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:52  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:53  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:54  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:55  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:56  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:57  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:49:59  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:00  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:01  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:02  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:03  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:04  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:05  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:06  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:07  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:08  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:09  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:10  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:11  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:12  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:13  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:14  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:15  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:16  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:17  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:18  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:19  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:20  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:21  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:22  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:23  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:25  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:26  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:27  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:28  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:29  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:30  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:31  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:32  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:33  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:34  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:35  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:36  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:37  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:38  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:39  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:40  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:41  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:42  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:43  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:44  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:45  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:46  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:47  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:48  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:49  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:51  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:52  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:53  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:54  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:55  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:56  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:57  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:58  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:50:59  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:00  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:01  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:02  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:03  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:04  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:05  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:06  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:07  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:08  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:09  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:10  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:11  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:12  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:13  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:14  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:16  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:17  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:18  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:19  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:20  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:23  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:24  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:25  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:26  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:27  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:28  100.0  100.0
01/05/10 23:51:29  100.0  100.0

 

Hi Bradatdell;
Do you have any news concerning the 1747?

 

Hey. I got the new system: works great.

Check your email.

~Ibrahim~

 

Isn't the bottom line that the laptop needs more wattage than is available? If you let it pull more than 90 watts from a 90 watt adapter, bad things happen.

If you let it use all the wattage available from a 130 or 150 watt adapter, you might have a fix ... but only if you both fix the BIOS and provide higher wattage adapters.

 

what do u mean "new"?
is the throttle issue solved?
can u give more info?

 

Does anyone know how many watts an I7 can draw under load? I have looked at the Intel datasheet and they say 45 watts is the Thermal Design Power. Later in the same document they say the maximum core wattage is 52 and that does not count power needed by other things like the cache.

It appears to me that some of it is variable, as it can draw more power when the CPU has more thermal headroom.

So ... what is the real maximum wattage they can draw? The document probably lists it someplace, but I can't figure it out.

 

May I ask a stupid question.? Is the power consumption summable?

 

Oh, sorry. System replacement since they're capturing my current SXPS 16. I can't figure if it has throttling (99% it does....it's just another regular SXPS 16) because it can't get internet. It's an issue on my side, though, some MAC filtering where there shouldn't be.

~Ibrahim~

 

ikjadoon: We all thought you had some new miracle laptop that can get 130 watts of performance out of a 90 watt adapter. Not likely.

mr.kuuk: You have no clock modulation going on but it sure looks like lots of multiplier throttling. Give me a day so I can add a few more monitoring features to ThrottleStop so all the important data is in one log file and will hopefully be easier to see when there's a problem.

 

There is almost 500 pages of documentation. Different things use different amounts of power, depending on certain conditions. I can't figure it out.

 

Any fixed date on the BIOS release? Plus, is it going to be accompanied by 130W ac adapters sent from DELL ?

 

I mean in a general way let say you have two rotors each needing 100W. If put in a serial way they dont use the same amount of power if they are put in parallel. M I right?
So when you guys trying to estimate the total power needs of an XPS, your calculus may be wrong.

 

Haha, no magic bullets here.

I mean, they've went as far as to capture my system, something I'm not aware they did with the E6400's. I don't think they're gonna leave us out in cold just yet.

~Ibrahim~

 

Cloqui,
Power is summable, this is basic electronics.

The example you provided does not apply to this issue. You are talking about changing the power draw of the rotors because you changed the electical configuration. This changes their individual power draw. The total draw will still be the sum of the two rotors, but the amount they draw changes because you changed the circuit.

For this problem, the changing the power supply is changing the amount of current the power source can provide, it does not change what the power components need to draw.

All components do not necessarily draw their maximum power at the same time, so if you are summing worst case maximum's for individual components, it is not necessarily possible to achieve that worst case. However, I don't think that is what you were trying to say.

 

01/05/2010 06:06:23PM Usuyami: "It seems there is a temporary fix available but requires a higher wattage power adapter. The 90W one supplied with the laptop is not enough, which causes the slowdown in games."
01/05/2010 06:07:07PM Usuyami: "Many people have contacted Dell and have been sent a 130W to alleviate this problem."
01/05/2010 06:07:14PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "I can understand your concern."
01/05/2010 06:07:55PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "We have not tested this system with 130 W adapter so I would suggest you not to use it."
01/05/2010 06:08:22PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "We have come across few issues like these and have already escalated the case to our product engineering team."
01/05/2010 06:08:36PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "They are working on it and the BIOS update is going to be released to correct this problem."
01/05/2010 06:09:00PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "The BIOS update will be updated on our support site in a week or two."
01/05/2010 06:09:15PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "It is unfortunate that you had to face this issue with our brand new computer which is not usual."
01/05/2010 06:11:51PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "Please be assured that we are working on this and will take care of this issue for you."
01/05/2010 06:12:06PM Usuyami: "Yes, it's quite frustrating. Are you positive the BIOS update will fully fix the problem without requiring an adapter with more wattage?"
01/05/2010 06:12:09PM Usuyami: "Alright, I hope so."
01/05/2010 06:12:37PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "I am positive about this, we are sure that the BIOS update will fix the issue."
01/05/2010 06:12:54PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "We got this update from the product engineering team."
01/05/2010 06:13:02PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "So please do not worry, we will take care of this for you."
01/05/2010 06:13:07PM Usuyami: "Great to hear that. I really hope so."
01/05/2010 06:13:35PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "We are here to take care of this issue."
01/05/2010 06:13:54PM Agent (Abdul_157527): "I can certainly understand how frustrating it could be when we spend so many dollars and the product does not work as it has to."

 

More Dell of India BS. You need more than 90 watts for these laptops to run at their full potential. End of discussion. They can dream up a new bios so it throttles less but it will still throttle unless the power adapter is upgraded to at least 130 watts.

 

to add to unclewebb's statement. It seems to me the bios is working exactly as it should. As in its not really broken, its limiting the system to 90w like it is supposed too. Really doubt the 90w adapters could handle anything more then already is being thrown at it on a stock system.

so what they are "fixing" go figure, if theyre just messing with the bios. Its not going to be a fix.

 

Probably they will just eliminate that weird keyboard induced lag problem. In any event a full reading of this and related threads indicates that Dell is saying a lot of things to people, so who knows? Bet the new bios takes longer to appear than you (and I) expect

UncleWebb has stated his opinion that Dell would never rig things so that the computer draws power from the battery even when plugged in, but I thought there were other Dell laptops where the battery did sometimes drain while the machine was plugged in and under load. I have no specific examples, but I could have sworn I'd heard of it.

If they did this, they would be able to demo the 1645 running excruciating benchmarks with little or no throttling while plugged in, which technically means they solved the problem. Heavy gamers would see their machines shutting down on them once the batteries drained, but this "new" issue would bother a much smaller minority of users and could be resolved with a larger adapter. Dell could then either ship them new adapters or spend more time investigating the issue or whatever...

Anyway, I'm tired of wondering if my 90W PS is going to melt all over the carpet so I'm getting myself a 150W replacement.

 

Is the 150-watt PS smaller than the 130-watt?

 

I would settle for a bios update that was able to determine the wattage of your AC adapter and adjust the throttling threshold accordingly.

If they did that and exchanged power supplies with those who requested them, i would definitely be satisfied.

Seems to me like if they did this, it would eliminate the need for the throttle stop application.

Personally, I am going to get the 150 watt AC adapter just to be safe.

 

The BIOS already correctly detects the adapter as 130-watt. Press F2 and check for yourself.

 

LOL I m an electrical engineer

 

only problem is they throttle it to the same wattage they do on a 90w adapter. They would have to update their profiles to not throttle so low on a 130w adapter. So far it seems they are very against that, for no really reason stated thus far. they said it would damage it at first, but then when pushed later said they just didnt "test" it. So basicly no one knows what the toll on the system will be with a 130w adapter, and will probably be part of their fud when a bios update appears.

Its not the bios IMO its their choice of the 90w adapter is the problem. Which looks so far like they have no intention of addressing/changing that. They look like they still expect everyone to run this system of the 90w, thats the key issue here.

From the wall we see they throttle to 90w, with throttle stop disabling their throttling allowing the computer to run at what its supposed to, we see a real world scenario of 100-110w from the wall on my wled + 720qm system.

a 130w/150w adapter + a bios update to allow throttling to those levels would be an appropriate fix. If the system cant handle the power then they should fix that as well. The problem is though they believe 90w is enough and think theyre going to resolve this issue other ways. Thats the problem, and is probably a huge load of BS as well.

next time someone talks to them, ask them how will a bios update allow the system to pull 110w+ watts it needs to run properly through a 90w adapter that burns up at 90w draw from the wall as is.

 

you are not the only one.. Study harder..

Maybe I mis-understood your statement about power being summable. The power specs that manufacturers give the max value it can consume under normal operating conditions, while you might not be able to attain worst case max for all parts at the same point in time. The power being used by the system is simple addition of the power used by all components to get the total power, but there is no need for complicated calculas for this type of power calculation.

 

I would try that if Dell would kindly deliver my pc to me

 

Do you think that is the same issue they have with 1747?

 

I certainly do. I mean, it is also shipped with the 90watt adapter. I cannot possibly see the machine in my sig taking less then power then those with the 1645 and i7 720qm