S-XPS 1645 Throttling Info. and Updates

Thanks a lot for the input.... LL ask them....

One thing Bill.... Just really curious!!! Any update on the "HEAT VENT ISSUE"?????

Many of 'em are awaiting your reply for the same. Any input on the same would be very much appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance!!!

 

Again it depends on the usage. With a six-cell and the 1645's configurations not long at all. I would imagine under an hour playing games, and then probably two to two-in-a-half at optimal configuration. Logically, you would lose a third of your battery life. . . (6 cell/9 cell 2:3)

EDIT: Personally if you invest in a six-cell while it is better for on your lap and storing it in a case, it won't allow for better airflow you get with the nine-cell. Still, I suppose if you get an additional battery you can take a spare when you're out and it won't be so burdensome around the house.

 

Mitchell,

Glad I could help.

I would again call Technical Support, maybe they could swap out the heat sick, MOBO or both; as you should have similar results.

Good Luck.

Dan

 

Perdire,

Sorry,

That thread was the first result that Google returned when you typed in Dell Studio XPS 1645.

Even after a few days, the cache was still there, but if you had gone to Dell's forum, it said "Resource Not Found."

Midnight was the first to point this out.

It was a legitimate point that he had made, as now when you type in that search query into Google, you get directed to this forum.

If you had typed 1645 into the search box on Dell's site, the results would show the i7 power problem thread; but when you had clicked on a result, you would still get a "Resource Not Found."

I'm glad to see that Dell has restored the thread.

 

I don't know. It seems just as likely some sort of error did in fact result. Maybe the forum got moved so no one could find it? Regardless, its there, thereby no claim can be made Dell completely deleted it. :6:

 

Hi Bill,

Thanks for lettting us know that the original thread is still there at dell community. I don't know what happened, but it was quite effective, as no one left any messages after March 6th and maybe not many saw this thread in the last two weeks either. But still, it is really good to know that it is now restored. (my bookmark didn't work for 2 weeks, and it works now.)

Do you have any update on the GPU throttle issue and the vent heat issue? We are not getting much from Brad on the other thread? Any new development?

Thank you very much for your help.

 

HAHA, I was witness and support that that thread was most definitely GONE! But now its back...so maybe someone decided to flick back the "on" switch and bring it back . And maybe that was only after they saw we noticed...hmm...Oh Dell...

Hi again Bill, please I second the notion and would appreciate it if we got an update on the heat vent & GPU throttling issues (they seem to be linked problems), as there has been no real feedback from Dell for a while regarding that. Thanks

 

Hi guys, want to share my experience after the A08 upgrade.

The GPU will heat up quicker using Furmark, I guess thats allow more performance??

And the lowest speed of the GPU is now 220MHz, instead of 300MHz in A07, thus better power management??

Most game are playing well, COD 6 and Dirt2 can run on 1080 with full /high details, without any shuttering. More to try soon.

NFS Shift is still the same (more or less). Note When I play NFS Shift in high res or full screen, when I hit cars, or bump into cone, or AI cars hit each other, my screen shuttering. Only way to avoid is driving in bumper view, or (interesting) running in windowed mode.

But windowed mode I cannot get it work for high res, its workable in around 1360x768. Anyone playing NFS Shift please share your settings/setup?

Oh, yeah, so far no heat throttling in games, partly because I don't play for long, but it does heated up fast. I have a mini usb table fan blowing the LCD/Vent and underneath area, thats help to cold off the surface/LCD, but Realtemp shows only 2-3C drop in the CPU/GPU .

 

Im having really bad gpu throttling due to heat
My gpu is at 85'c when playing l4d2 are you guys getting around that temp too?
Is the temp getting this high due to a problem with the heatsink, motherboard, or gpu?
Or just a vent related problem?

 

Hi Dell_Bill_B. Yes, that's the one. But please look more closely at that page 53 you link to. There's a post from Dell_Todd_S on 6th March, and then nothing until 17th March, when the normal volume resumes.

However, I was subscribed to get the thread as emails, and I haven't had these new ones, so I guess that's still broken.

But it does seem the thread hasn't moved out of the area entirely after all; it's just been on its annual vacation, and not even remembered to send me a postcard

NB: Given a choice between cockup and conspiracy, I'll go for cockup every time. Glad to see it looks like that's what this was.

 

It's the same, if anything had changed it's not because of V/BIOS. Last time there's any indication of GPU thermal table changes is from July and that was before the current VBIOS version. CCC shows BIOS date.

 

I had the same thing until I changed my thermal paste to Arctic Silver 5, that now leaves me at 74-77C after gaming for like 4 hours on a cheapo cooling fan.

But honestly it only happened to get that high in 2 instances, and for 3-4 seconds max. It usually stays at 69-72C

 

I just contacted Tech support via chat and they were unwilling to send me the replacement 130W adapter. What do I do now?

 

PM me that chat log, please.

 

Dan,

Most bits of a new machine are on the way (MoBo, Screen, Heatsink), so I will have more on this tomorrow... I really like this machine, but if it keeps failing on me, I *will* send it back.

I just hope they can get it right this time. Apparently it is possible, as I see temps more than 10c lower than mine mentioned here!

 

Hi Bill,

So I guess you are here, but you can't give us any update on the GPU throttle and Heat Vent issue. Should we assume that you can't not convince your engineers on these two problems, and there isn't any development on these. Should we also assume that these two issues will not be looked at in the near future, ie, in the next coming weeks.

Another question if I may, do you know what they changed in the Bios A08? anything related to the GPU throttle or the heat issue?

Thank you very much.

 

I am here, but really Todd or Brad are the external responders. I just kind of jumped in to help them out when we had multiple issues breaking that required more engagement with customers than the two of them had time to cover.

Todd should have provided an update on the vent issue on the vent thread. I will get with him to see what his status is on the issue. I got him connected to the engineers to provide the information, but I'm not sure where it went from there. I will follow up with him, and ask him to respond to that thread.

On GPU throttling, I have not started tracking that issue formally, but I have seen a lot of mentions of it. I can get started on that.

What my job entails is measuring size and online sentiment around a given issue, then escalating the issue with that information to engineering to be addressed. Once engineering completes investigation and comes up with a plan, that information is provided to me and our product group. Product group handles the field service portion, ie, AC adapter swaps proactive or fix-on-fail, internal and external knowledge base articles, and so on. What I do with the information from engineering and product group is to make sure external communicators like Todd, Brad, Lionel, etc, have talking points and information they need to provide updates to community sites like this one, Facebook, Twitter, our own forums, etc.

So, now that you have a basic familiarity with my role in the whole Dell process, you may understand my next request: Please start a new thread on GPU throttling, and post the link back here where I can see it. I will measure hte volume and sentiment there, as well as other venues that may be discussing the issue, and escalate the issue to engineering to get the ball rolling. The good news is that I have been building out the process to be more agile and quicker to respond over the past couple of months, so hopefully Todd or Brad can get you an answer much quicker than we saw happen with CPU throttling on 1645/47 and 1747.

PS
Good news coming soon to 1640 customers on the CPU throttling front. Stay tuned.

 

I ordered a (UK) 1645 on 8th March. I have been told it will ship with 90W. When I asked for a 130W they said when it arrives (24th hopefully) I can request one, not before.

 

Sorry, forgot to answer this question. I think the release notes on this one pretty much cover it. It looks like the Dell diags must have caused a bit to get stuck in the BIOS that disabled the external speaker jack. A08 was solely to address that. It does not address GPU throttling at all. Per my last post, just please start a new thread for GPU throttling, and I can get it sized and escalated.

 

I've started a GPU thread here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=462786

If anyone else would like to post, that would be great.

Bill, been there, done that; however, the thread is still up. I think that you can see that to some of us, myself included; Throttling is Throttling.

If anyone would like to contribute their findings.

 

Just wondering if everyone would recommend updating to the latest 1645 BIOS. I think this is A08? Does it have any disadvantages over previous versions like limiting the maximum power output of the machine or anything?

 

Heres the gpu throttling issue
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6038599#post6038599

 

Anyone from INDIA know where i can purchase the ZALMAN 2000 NOTEBOOK COOLER????? Dying to know.....

Please reply guys.... Really wanna get one soon..........

Thanks in advance.....

 

Yeah! I just got my slim 130w power supply. The part number is CM161.

http://www.itsnotpersonal.com/itsnotpersonal/upload/130w.jpg

 

Hi, i'm new here, just bought Dell XPS 1645 on saturday, and found out that it throttles too much when i play games!

I have been reading some tips you guys give here..so far, what i understand is that I would need to:

1. Upgrade my Bios driver to the latest one, A08 if im not mistaken (right now mine is A01 =.=)

2. Replace the 90W adapter to 130W one

Now my question is, by doing these 2, will it make the throttle disappear? and would be cool down like a normal laptop when playing games?

Oh and one more thing..is it dangerous to upgrade bios by yourself? i heard if it fails, the warranty's gone =(

thanks!

 

You should definitely do 1 n 2 the throttling might not completely disappear but it might go away to the point thats it's not as huge a problem this is what i've come to understand from reading this thread

and definitely if the bios fails your warranty will not be voided your motherboard will need to be replaced but your warranty that will still be intact

 

Ah ok, thanks for the info dude!
Hopefully i'll be able to play games like i normally do once i upgrade the bios and change the adapter to 130W

cheers =D

p.s oh one last question, has dell release the 130W adapter? or do we have to use some unknown brand as long as it works? thx

 

You just call Dell tech support tell them "your Throttling" and that you have the A08 bios and you need tthe 130Watt adapter if they try to hardball you don't take no for an answerr

 

Just wonder, If approx 400 pages for an issue with XPS, including other issues with this series laptop, How come still Dell continues selling these model without first solving these issues ? Is it like Dell is more happy to sell a buggy laptop ???

 

so the problem is not solved yet...

I've been reading this forum and previous ones for 4+ months
Was following instructions to update BIOS from A02 to A07, replaced power supply to 130W and talked with Dell engineers for hours

The premium support is not really a premium, it's takes ages for Dell support to pickup the phone and they will ask you plenty of stupid questions and try to convince you that the problem is not there or it's not their fault or they will say that it will be fixed in next BIOS release ...

Online chat support was never working for me...

That's the last time I've bought dell and I will not recommend it to anyone. Sold my XPS 1645 model !

Want to get rid of the throttling problem, sell or send back the laptop to Dell - that's the only 100% solution.

 

OMG !

Then why people still buy SXPS laptops in spite of the buggy laptop sold by Dell ? Are they really ignorant about the problem or still can not resist to buy the laptop knowing everything about it ?

 

That is because the XPS is still one of the best (and the best I've actually seen) machines. Even with the throttling issues, it's really good for most things apart from playing demanding games. Now with the throttling issues solved with the help of the community and a few dedicated Dell staff , it's really good. It's not perfect, sure, but it's darn close...

 

In INDIA, for this price this is the best laptop and none of the other makers have released i7 yet here... And if they have it is above $2000 minimum....

The price is the main concern and also people have the confidence in Dell to solve the issues that are bugging this laptop...

As of now, there is only one issue bugging the majority of the people... The vent issue which is leading to GPU throttling. Otherwise the laptop is kinda awesome!!

Just my two rupees!!

 

Dude, How much INR you have paid for your configuration showing in your signature ? Do you know you could have get MacBook Pro 15" with that price what you have paid for your SXPS 16

Be it Dell, or HP or Sony all international brands are simply looting Indian consumers, means what you are paying for the same configuration/model in India would have at least 20-30K INR ($450-$650) cheaper in USA. So buying a laptop in India is totally not advisable, if you have contacts its always BEST to buy from USA.

 

Yeah that is true in the case of other laptops. But for this configuration i got it for 80k (the bluetooth headset is actually free with McAfee 15 months subscription... regret doing it because it is McCrapee!!)...

When i bought the laptop back in december the stock price was 69k for the i7 model and i configured it with 3-year for another 10k and voila.... For this config at that time there was a maximum difference of 5-7k between INDIA and US.... So i thought i'd rather not wait for some guy to plan his travel... Wanted it so bad~!! regret doing it now though... Could have saved 7k..

The MacBook Pro 15 starting price is Rs.1,00,000.. And so i said no thank you to it... And as i am a gamer did not prefer it.... Love the design though... Will attract any person towards it!!

 

If you have purchased in Dec 09 generally it should have less price by now. But I was trying to configure your specs, it goes above 80K pretty well. Then how come you got at 80K. Anyway do not you think after spending 80K (approx $1800 USD) you should have at least a Full HD screen, instead you got a 1366x768 resolution screen.

 

hey URPradhan.. the screen resolution of "alchemist" is 1920x1080 and not 1366x768. because the former is the standard one and RGBLED is the upgrade for that. I own a 1645 with the same spec and it costed me 75.6k(80.x k but as im a tata employee i got a 5% off). I think when you consider the hassle of buying it in US and converting the owernership and change of warranty location it is better to buy in india. any way if you consider the savings it wont be more than 3.5k.

Until Jan the base price was 69990 and it got a price boost of 3k (72990) by the mid of jan. currently its base price is 73990. so it is a 4k increment in price after jan mid

@alchemist
I too bought that mcrapee for 900 and got a bluetooth headset as a free one. I ditched that mcrapee and using avast right now. so basically i spent 900rs for blutooth headset:>)

 

It may not be true. The time when I was configuring it (may be in Nov-Dec) the price difference was of 20K+ INR. Even I had posted the screen shots of the India and USA prices for the same configurations of SXPS.

So, do not be in illusion, definitely you can save a lot if you buy from USA. Obviously, if you have less than 3 years of USA warranty, it won't be valid in India. For warranty validity, you have to buy at least 3 yrs warranty from Dell (as explained by Dell sales agent).

BTW, Does Dell, India give 5% discount to TCS employees ?

 

The XPS 1645 is a bomb computer. I havent had a crash since back in Dec when I bought it. To be honest this throttling issue has never been an issue for me and I use this computer everyday. If you were having issues it probably wasnt the computer. I have to agree though, tech support is lacking is some areas...

 

Just got a 1645. Can the GPU be upgraded?

 

No.

The GPU is soldered to the mainboard.

 

I thought that this thread was about Throttling?

 

it is
i had 3 posts open and posted in the wrong one
I apologise

 

Dude... Now, if you check the difference between the indian site and the US site there will be a difference of 10-20k... As they have increased the price of the laptop by 4k... But when i bought the laptop here there was hardly a difference of 5k... And the Indian version of the XPS has the initial configuration itself pretty beefed up.... It has the 4gb ddr3. The Full HD screen, 500GB 7200rpm n all... Lemme check now and come up with the difference..... lets see....

 

@ alchemist
i have done the math matching with us and india.

us - 2047 + shipping
same config in india - 933xx + shipping free

by doing math 2047 * 45 = 92115.

with tata 5% off ill get 87509.

b.s - matched the specs of us with india
i7 - 720, 6GB, 1980*1080 WLED, Mcrapee 15 months, windows 7 pro, 3 years premimum warranty, intel 5300(A/B/G/N), Blutooth 370(free in india with mcafee)

 

First of all, there are no i5 version of SXPS is available which is my primary requirement instead of quad core i7 (generates more heat), still see the difference now for below configuration.

i7-720QM, 1080p Full HD, 1 GB ATI 4670, 4 GB DDR3 ram, 500 Gb 7200 rpm HDD, 3yrs warranty, bluetooth, intel wireless 5300 abgn, 8x slot load dvd drive ...

USA Price: $1449.00 USD == Rs 65,205/- INR (1 USD=Rs 45/-)
India Price: Rs 84,563.80 == $1879.17 USD

Difference: Rs 19,358/- INR

Again, USA model includes 1 yr lojack theft protection which i did not found on Indian version.

Now you say ...........

 

Hey... Compared the price difference between both the laptops from US and INDIA now.... The laptop that i bought for 80K then is now 87k in INDIA.... How about that??? 7K difference.... Meanwhile the same config in the US is about: 75K..... The cost of the laptop in US has been the same since then.... And so for me the difference was only 5K dude...

The base configuration of the laptop in US has a lower spec than the one in INDIA.... Check it out...

And yeah... For tata employees they give a 5% discount on Dell products...

 

Dude the warranty you have added in the US site is the basic warranty... But the one i have added is the advanced service plan...... Check it out.... That adds another 200$ to the share making it correct...

 

Like Dan said: "I thought that this thread was about Throttling?"

Maybe you guys should create a separate price comparison thread?

 

Oops... Got involved in the discussion..... Sorry bro....

Back on topic...... Any updates???