S-XPS 1645 Throttling Info. and Updates

I'm not familiar with the program you are directly referring to, but you could have some setting that only shows two cores, or the program simply wasn't designed to show four.

 

Unclewebb,

Per your request. This is my replacement. Running Prime 8 Threads, Plus Furmark. I locked the GPU at Stock Clock, and heated her up. This was an approx 12 minute test, maxing both CPU and GPU.

I'm very happy with the temps in this scenario, and did not encounter GPU throttling as I did not hit the threshold, never would have happened with my old one.

I just don't have the heart to run this test with Throttlestop in monitoring mode, as it throttles just as bad as my original one; as you will see at the end of the log.

For me, A.08 plus Throttlestop.

 

I just fired up CPUID Hardware Monitor and for me it shows 4 cores under the "Intel Core i7" branch of the display..

 

Helloo?? I'm STILL having the problem where my CPU will NOT go to normal speeds after hibernation/sleep... this basically means i CANNOT use either of them and are forced to use shutdown.
On a notebook, this sucks.

Bill said they were working on this problem a long time ago but still no solution..

Any update?!

 

Also, now with A08 and 130W adapter i cannot get my superpi under 20s...whereas before my laptop scored 15s.
I run throttlestop and see #7 stay at multi 10.
Also before, my CPU would go ~2.5ghz, whereas now it stays at multi 16

Log attached

Any help?

edit: if I set the affinity to 1 cores, it also scores 20s.
If i set the affinity to 4 cores, it scores 15.5s
If i set the affinity to 8 cores (default) it scores 20s.
Can anybody explain this?

 

Super PI is some very old single threaded code and can not take advantage of your CPU. It sounds like hyper threading is actually slowing it down.

Why not run wPrime that can take advantage of multi core CPUs. You can even set it manually to use from 1 to 8 threads.

Your results seem to show a lot of background activity going on while testing. Are you sure there isn't an antivirus or similar program sucking up CPU cycles. It can be difficult to test these CPUs accurately unless background tasks are reduced. What does task manager show for load when idle? Unused cores need to be able to go to sleep so your CPU can use its highest multiplier more often while running Super PI.

For comparison, my T8100 isn't too far behind.

 

Alright well, my 1645 is being replaced by another 1645, which according to my CSR guy, will finally be fully functional. I'm pretty pessimistic about this but he said they've done extensive testing on this new batch of laptops and there have been no problems so I guess we'll have to wait and see. Has anyone heard anything about this?

 

My new replacement throttles... who'd of guessed?!

Applied some ICD7 last night and she still throttles.. hopefully the curing time will have some positive effects.

So basically to cure this you all are running ThrottleStop whenever gaming? Just a question, not questioning the performance of TS at all..

 

I don't have any AV programs installed and my CPU idles at 0-2%... so no.
Also, it will score 20s everytime i run it...where before it would always score 15-16s. Note that this is a 30% decrease in performance (in superpi that is).

I also encounter problems while playing games. For example in FSX (very cpu intensive 'game') my FPS jumps 10fps every 30seconds or so. When i check the logs i see that it keeps jumping from 12-13x multi to 16x multi or even higher multi's. The result is that the FPS in-game is very unstable and it makes many games unplayable.

Lastly..do you know anything about the hibernation/sleep issue I posted before? I cannot believe that such a huge issue is just ignored.

Thanks,

Walter

 

They have done extensive testing and finally decided to put in place new motherboard...

Once you receive it lets us know if that's the case....more likely it is.

CHEERS!

 

Maximum performance in single threaded benchmarks is dependent on how many cores are able to enter the C3/C6 sleep state and stay asleep as long as possible. It's possible that they changed something in bios A08 that has changed this. While running Super PI, what does the Task Manager show for CPU Usage? It should be somewhere around 13% to 14% if you don't have too much background activity going on as this bench only loads 1 of your 8 threads.

Does running ThrottleStop enabled make any difference to your Super PI times, good or bad? Does the C States option make any difference to your times? Once ThrottleStop is set up, minimize it to the system tray when testing. Here's the latest version.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/ThrottleStop.zip

Mobile Core i7 CPUs that have multiple bins of turbo boost can run at a very inconsistent speed when running multi threaded applications. When lightly loaded the multiplier can be in the high teens and when heavily loaded, even when not throttling, they can drop down to 12.0. Not exactly great for a consistent gaming experience. That's why I've always thought that gamers would be better off with the Core i7-620M Dual Core that is able to stay at a very high multiplier the majority of the time. When fully loaded they are able to still use some turbo boost and you will see a multiplier of 21 to 23 which is a hell of a lot faster than 12 or 13.

 

Hm well it happened in A07 too, i just downloaded A08 yesterday to see if it would be better.

Yep it stays at 14% here.

Hm, I just ran superpi and now i'm scoring 16-18 seconds.. that's with throttlestop OFF. When i turn it on (with set 13 multiplier) it doesn't seem to make any difference.. Do I still have to put my laptop in sleep before throttlestop works?

Hm makes sense..but can't I lock the multiplier somewhere mid-way?
edit: Oh btw, my wPrime score is 18.8s for 32M..any good?

Thanks

 

ThrottleStop is only designed to help out with issues when your CPU is fully loaded. When running a single thread of Super PI, it shouldn't make any significant difference to your times whether ThrottleStop is enabled or in monitoring mode. On Core 2 Duo CPUs, I can measure a very slight performance boost when running TS but nothing significant.

You can only lock the multiplier on these CPUs at the default multiplier or lower. The CPU itself determines how much turbo boost you get so the multiplier on any individual core can be rapidly cycling between the default multiplier of 12 and the maximum multiplier of 21 depending on how many other cores are in the active state and how many cores are asleep in the C3/C6 state.

Here are some benchmark comparison numbers for a Core i7-620QM.

Super PI 1M = 13.026
wPrime 32M = 16.099

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/455347-i7-620m-benchmarks.html

Even in a benchmark that can fully take advantage of 8 threads like wPrime, the Quad Core i7 can lose to the Dual Core i7 because of the significant speed advantage for the Dual Core.

 

130w, a08 bios, lum max, wifi on

 

It would be very interesting if someone ran the Windows Performance Monitor program and added a counter to track the Battery Discharge Rate.



This is in milliwatts so divide that number by 1000 and you will see that bios A08 is limiting power output of these new adapters to less than the full 130 watts DC that they are rated at.

The result, most users are not going to be able to run Prime95+Furmark at the same time at full speed. The XPS 1645 will still throttle to keep the power adapter from outputting its rated wattage. If you want to run a load like this then you will need to buy a laptop from a different manufacturer because Dell considers this to be too great a load for an XPS 16. For comparison, the HP Envy 15 can run P95+Furmark at full speed without any issues.

A sad situation but Dell hopes that this isn't a problem for most users.

If you still have throttling while gaming then you'll be forced to use a program like ThrottleStop to get back some of the lost performance.

 

Well the Hp Envy isnt necessarily a great machine either. So, what ur saying is that the XPS with latest bioas a08 and 130w still throttle? would u actually "feel" the difference?

 

Interesting.

I'm considering buying a Studio XPS 16. I was leaning to the i7-720QM Quad because of its speed and potential for future applications to take advantage of it. However, your comments and others leave me wondering whether I should consider instead the i5-430M or Dual Core i7. Currently on the Canadian site only choices are i5-430M or i7-720QM Quad, but that changes weekly so the Dual Core i7 may return.

I use my laptop primarily for: WWW; MS Office Word, Excel; photo and graphics editing (but not heavy duty); ripping music from CDs using EAC; playing lossless music files, usually using iTunes.

Do you think I would notice much advantage in the i7-720QM Quad, or would I likely see almost as good performance with the i5-430M, or the Dual Core i7, and also possibly enjoy less risk of heat and throttling issues?

Thanks for opinions.

 

Even in very well threaded applications, there isn't a lot of difference between these two CPUs. In most single threaded applications, a fast Dual Core is the better choice. I haven't seen any games that can fully utilize a hyper threaded Dual Core let alone a hyper threaded Quad Core.

You also end up with less chance of throttling.

Riccardo83: If you have an XPS 1645 then it is easy to test to see if it still throttles. In the applications that you run, if you don't see it throttle or if the throttling that does happen isn't noticeable then that's great and there's no need to be concerned about throttling.

 

Thanks.

So since we're now back into dual cores, what about i5-430M versus the Dual Core i7 (assuming the i7 returns to the order page as an option)? Is there much noticeable difference between them?

 

Have anyone noticed that on DELL US website there is no option for video card on Studio XPS 1645.

....hoping that DELL will be updating video card on xps 1645

I guess DELL has decided to update motherboard and now video card on xps 1645.

Have anyone purchased Studio XPS 1645 lately and can confirm it?

 

damn, I don't think this laptop is an entertainment machine, the sound has too much of spikes, I got a lot of red bars using DPC Checker. Anyone has some way to workaround with this? Please help

 

bump....

 

Dell replaced my first XPS-1645 running Windows 7 with Intel's I7 processor with another just like it. The new laptop is configured the same but came with the new BIOS (A7) and the 130w adapter. Now, it seems to run well when plugged in but I can't even access the internet when using the battery power. ??? From reading other posts it seems their problems lessened when using the battery while my problems increase. Has anyone experienced this and if so what solution have you heard? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Does anyone know what's the power consumption of Dell's E4300 on full load? I don't think I should waste money to buy a watt meter when it cost as much as the 90w adapter.

 

Interesting.

The full-blown XPS 1645 that you've not been able to get for a while is back on Dell's UK site.

16in RGB LED screen, Blu-Ray RW drive, both of which weren't available last time I looked. 130w adaptor as standard spec now.

Pricing my 1.6 GHz i7 720QM configuration, it's £75 more than I paid, and that includes factoring in the 10% discount code now available, where I only got 5%.

So either Dell have fixed something (Dell-dudes, any comments?) or the screen and the drive never were factored in as power/throttling considerations, and it really was the case that Dell just couldn't get hold of them.

For what I did pay, BTW, I could now get it with the 2.4 GHz i5 540M, which UncleWebb reckons would be faster for most real-world usage.

But I have to remain optimistic that quad-core will win in the long run, or at least not lose by much

 

How do you mean "can't access the Internet?" Are you using wi-fi or wired? If the latter, what is the signal strength with and without it plugged in? How far away is your wireless router?

If it's marginal on battery try placing it right next to the router, or try a wired Ethernet connection. Try it with the mains adaptor plugged in but not switched on; maybe the wire is acting as an aerial.

This isn't really a throttling issue though, so we ought to take it somewhere else; I'd use PM but you're too new for that. Guys, which is the forum Warmfield should be asking this in?

 

I just ran DPC Checker and I found a 1000us spike occurring every 10 seconds. Not bad, but it is a sign that a driver is behaving badly. Anyways, I was able to completely remove the spike by disabling the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6250 AGN adapter in Device Manager. Obviously, this disables wireless, so it's not an ideal solution, but it indicates that something is not quite right with Intel's driver for the network adapter. I'll investigate further and see what I find.

*edit: Have removed the Intel WiFi and WiMax Connection Utilities and reinstalled just the latest drivers from Intel for my adaptor. Still have spikes every 10 seconds, but only to 500us now.

 

I think it is something to do with the new wifi adapter they have installed..... When you play online games you freeze every 15-20 seconds..... For that, there is a work around.....

Change the wireless mode to b&g in the adapters advanced properties and then if possible disable wireless-n and then it will work perfectly..... Found it in a blog..... I think one of the two will do the trick although i haven't tested it out...... If you can check it out and tell me....

 

Well, running the latest bios(A09) and drivers, I reached 94C with it sitting on the couch...( http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4867/furmarktemp.jpg) All of this was on the battery though.

Didn't seem to throttle... I will try with the adapter when I get home later.

 

So you mean no 84C limit??? Right???

 

Is this with or without ThrottleStop?

Also, I wouldn't recommend doing anything that could block the vents more than they already are with the battery attached. Heat kills batteries quickly.

 

This is without throttlestop! http://www.sendspace.com/file/rzxpnf

When I got home and had the lappy on the desk and it didn't get as hot. Thanks for the tip about the battery though.

 

With the new bios, my GPU is no longer throttling either... I've had GPU temps up to 90C and still the frequencies are locked in. I'm also running the new ATi drivers from Dell.

 

2 confirmations of the 84C limit being removed, that is fantastic news. Does this mean that Dell was actually listening to us ? I'll try BC2, the one game that made my system GPU-throttle, without my cooler to see if this is the case. This would mean really mean something if that is the case. Oh boy, I'm somewhat excited ...let's see now

EDIT: Scrap that excitement

 

I have a feeling you will be pleasantly surprised .

 

Yeah the limit has been raised, hit 94C yesterday.

 

this thread needs to be updated...

 

[Cross post from A09 thread but figured it would be useful here too]

Hi, new here.
Specs:

Dell 1645 Studio XPS i7 820QM model 0Y517R
BIOS: A09
ATI Radeon 4670 1Gb
Dell 1520 Wireless/370 Bluetooth
16" HD 1080p RGBLED
8Gb DDR3 RAM
8xDVD RW (no Bluray)
130W adapter (replaced fried 90W)

Fresh Win7-64bit install but
No Face Recognition
No DataSafe
No Failsafe
No Dell Remote Access
No McAfee
SB XFi removed, other Creative left as is
Current drivers as per Dell website or Windows update only (no modded drivers)

Started with laptop out of the box randomly giving me hard lockups (killed my 2Tb external drive during one of these lockups, thank god I was only backing up my 1Tb...) anywhere from once a day to every 10 mins.
Found this site and then Dell forums.
Undid XFi and voila - no lockups ever again and my laptop is on 24/7 (longest period without restart is over 2wks).
No issues with sleep/hibernate on A07.
Then 90W adapter died (was REAL hot just about all of the time).
Plugged old PA-10 90W from a Dell I6400 and decided to run Prime95 (standard torture test settings) for the 1st time as a test - overloaded the PS and tripped it. Thankfully switching it off and on reset it so it's still going.
Confirmed bad CPU throttle (mult 9x clock mod at 12.5%!) and 84C GPU throttle with A07/90W running Prime95 and Furmark simultaneously.
A09/130W no CPU throttle (mult 13.0 and no clock mod) with Prime95 and full brightness,
BUT add Furmark (standard settings + post-fx and extreme options) and it throttles - mult 9x and 50-62.5% clock mod at full brightness. At min brightness no clock mod but multiplier still fixed at 9.0.
GPU throttle gone (got to 92C).
Haven't found a site yet to test the Flash to see if I need to try the Adobe Beta software or modded ATI drivers (no full flash vid from southparkstudios in Oz) or whether A09 has done the job.

Any pointers? Any particular Youtube vids that are known to be problematic? (briefly tried some HD movie trailers in fullscreen @ 720p but most are only 2-3mins)

 

hey

i've locked in 100% on both chipset clock and clock modulation on throttlestop

but still when i play assassins creed 2 i starts to go to 12.5% after 10-15mins...does this mean i've set up throttlestop wrong?

i7 720M
XPS 1645

 

Might sound like a dumb question...but did you make sure TS wasn't in monitoring mode? It should say turned on.

 

yea lol im sure!

im just gonna re-install windows for the heck of it and see...

 

EDIT: Never Mind..will do more testing

 

can anyone explain how i can use throttlestop to log to see how bad my laptop throttles?

what app should i use to push my system to the max

 

Download ThrottleStop, run it and click on the Log File option, run Prime95 Small FFTs and Furmark. If the multiplier starts dropping down to less than 12 or the CMod Clock Modulation column starts showing less than 100.0% then your CPU is throttling. Post a log file when you're done and I'll have a look at it if you're not sure what it's telling you.

The first post in this thread has some more information about ThrottleStop and testing.

 

What should I set the multiplier to for the i5 540m?

 

Getting my XPS today can't wait to check it for throttling and should it fail return it ASAP.

 

The download link for throttlestop in the OP doesn't work. Anyone have a safe link to use?

 

dude look up a few posts!!

It is in unclewebbs sig......

 

Does the MediaFire link work? Tell me what file sharing site works for you and I will upload it there. People complained about FileDen so that's why I switched to MediaFire. Some ISPs block some of these file sharing sites.

Here's a SendSpace link in case that helps.

ThrottleStop 2.54
http://www.sendspace.com/file/9ieyrd

Set your multiplier as high as ThrottleStop allows. That should give you full turbo boost.

 

Got it, thanks.