S-XPS 1645 Throttling Info. and Updates

XPS 15 comes with a 90W adapter if you order it with i5+420M, and a 130W adapter if you order it with i7+435M. The B+RG screen is really just WLED, so no concerns there. I don't think they'll throttle, but I'm no expert.

 

so what do u suggest? selling the 920xm? get a 720qm or 820qm instead and tell dell it throttles and let them take away the 920xm?

I mean I doubt they woudl exchange the cpu again. Next thing I guess would be the mainboard. Thats why im asking, do you guys think the 5730 would make a big difference in throtteling with my configuration?

My second question:
Is this throtteling? Im asking since Fifa 2011 runs smooth with 30-60 frames/s and then 2-3 seconds it lags, stutters but framerate doesnt seem to drop and then again its smooth.
Pro evolution Soccer though runs just fine with same settings: 1920x1080 highest details.

Code:

10/29/10 15:16:27  18.35   14.7  100.0  100.0   35    69
10/29/10 15:16:28  18.94   14.3  100.0  100.0   33    69
10/29/10 15:16:29  18.68   14.2  100.0  100.0   31    69
10/29/10 15:16:30  18.57   14.1  100.0  100.0   32    70
10/29/10 15:16:31  18.49   15.8  100.0  100.0   33    70
10/29/10 15:16:32  18.75   16.5  100.0  100.0   34    70
10/29/10 15:16:34  19.07   17.1  100.0  100.0   33    71
10/29/10 15:16:35  18.76   16.5  100.0  100.0   32    71
10/29/10 15:16:36  18.11   22.7  100.0  100.0   31    71
10/29/10 15:16:37  18.17   17.7  100.0  100.0   32    71
10/29/10 15:16:38  18.19   18.0  100.0  100.0   33    71
10/29/10 15:16:39  17.86   17.5  100.0  100.0   33    71
10/29/10 15:16:40  16.97   18.0  100.0  100.0   32    71
10/29/10 15:16:41  18.29   21.7  100.0  100.0   28    71
10/29/10 15:16:42  18.02   21.6  100.0  100.0   31    71
10/29/10 15:16:43  18.71   24.9  100.0  100.0   31    71
10/29/10 15:16:44  18.55   19.0  100.0  100.0   32    71
10/29/10 15:16:45  18.50   22.4  100.0  100.0   30    71
10/29/10 15:16:46  19.43   24.2  100.0  100.0   32    71
10/29/10 15:16:47  19.61   26.4  100.0  100.0   30    71
10/29/10 15:16:48  19.25   24.3  100.0  100.0   29    71
10/29/10 15:16:49  18.53   23.1  100.0  100.0   30    71
10/29/10 15:16:50  18.21   29.2  100.0  100.0   30    71
10/29/10 15:16:51  18.82   24.6  100.0  100.0   30    71
10/29/10 15:16:52  19.39   25.0  100.0  100.0   29    71
10/29/10 15:16:53  18.67   23.7  100.0  100.0   30    71
10/29/10 15:16:54  18.65   25.4  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:16:55  18.40   23.1  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:16:56  18.28   24.1  100.0  100.0   30    72
10/29/10 15:16:57  18.28   23.6  100.0  100.0   31    71
10/29/10 15:16:58  18.53   25.2  100.0  100.0   29    71
10/29/10 15:16:59  19.52   27.3  100.0  100.0   29    71
10/29/10 15:17:00  19.69   21.6  100.0  100.0   29    70
10/29/10 15:17:01  18.99   26.3  100.0  100.0   30    70
10/29/10 15:17:02  18.49   28.6  100.0  100.0   29    70
10/29/10 15:17:03  18.78   29.3  100.0  100.0   27    73
10/29/10 15:17:04  19.16   27.7  100.0  100.0   29    73
10/29/10 15:17:05  18.42   24.1  100.0  100.0   30    73
10/29/10 15:17:06  18.34   24.1  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:17:07  18.41   21.8  100.0  100.0   30    72
10/29/10 15:17:08  18.14   24.7  100.0  100.0   30    72
10/29/10 15:17:09  19.36   27.8  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:17:11  19.48   26.6  100.0  100.0   27    73
10/29/10 15:17:12  19.64   26.8  100.0  100.0   30    73
10/29/10 15:17:13  19.06   24.3  100.0  100.0   28    73
10/29/10 15:17:14  18.62   19.8  100.0  100.0   30    72
10/29/10 15:17:15  18.99   25.1  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:17:16  19.26   19.5  100.0  100.0   31    72
10/29/10 15:17:17  19.07   21.8  100.0  100.0   29    73
10/29/10 15:17:18  17.97   18.7  100.0  100.0   29    73
10/29/10 15:17:19  18.12   19.9  100.0  100.0   30    73
10/29/10 15:17:20  18.81   19.0  100.0  100.0   30    72
10/29/10 15:17:21  18.57   24.9  100.0  100.0   25    72
10/29/10 15:17:22  18.17   25.5  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:17:23  18.21   21.8  100.0  100.0   31    73
10/29/10 15:17:24  17.94   19.2  100.0  100.0   30    73
10/29/10 15:17:25  18.37   23.3  100.0  100.0   29    73
10/29/10 15:17:26  18.99   21.6  100.0  100.0   29    73
10/29/10 15:17:27  18.80   21.9  100.0  100.0   30    73
10/29/10 15:17:28  18.75   27.2  100.0  100.0   28    73
10/29/10 15:17:29  18.40   23.1  100.0  100.0   27    73
10/29/10 15:17:30  18.14   25.6  100.0  100.0   28    72
10/29/10 15:17:31  18.14   29.7  100.0  100.0   28    72
10/29/10 15:17:32  18.08   28.6  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:17:33  18.38   25.6  100.0  100.0   28    72
10/29/10 15:17:34  18.78   26.3  100.0  100.0   28    72
10/29/10 15:17:35  18.58   25.3  100.0  100.0   26    72
10/29/10 15:17:36  18.86   26.6  100.0  100.0   29    72
10/29/10 15:17:37  18.17   23.3  100.0  100.0   31    72
10/29/10 15:17:38  19.28   25.8  100.0  100.0   28    72
10/29/10 15:17:39  20.21   26.2  100.0  100.0   28    74
10/29/10 15:17:40  19.86   26.1  100.0  100.0   28    74

 

ES is an engineering sample CPU. OEM is the ones you buy in the store or the ones that Dell ships inside their computers. Dell should never install an ES CPU in a retail computer so that's why it is a good idea to start up CPU-Z and look in the Specifications box for the letters ES after the CPU model number and MHz.

Your log file is way too short and doesn't show any throttling. Go play for half an hour and then upload the ThrottleStop log file to MediaFire and post a link here. Too much data is way better than not enough.

There's no reason to sell the 920XM. These are fantastic processors that can be infinitely adjusted to consume the same amount of power or even less power than a 720QM or 820QM. The TDP rating is not the same as power consumption. How much power a CPU consumes depends on how you have it set up, especially these Extreme CPUs.

When you right click the mouse on ThrottleStop in a blank area you will be able to access 2 menus that let you fully control how fast your CPU runs and what turbo multiplier it uses. You can also adjust the turbo TDP/TDC power settings so turbo boost will be reduced at the same power level just like a 720QM does. There's no need to do that until you confirm that you are having CPU throttling issues.

The lag might just be that your graphics card is not capable of playing the game at 1920x1080 so it slows down. An ATI 4670 is not a power house at that resolution.

Gloomy: Thanks for clearing up what power adapters Dell plans to use in their new laptops. With a Core i7, 130 watts is marginal if stress testing with Prime95+Furmark but for most applications and games it will probably be OK.

 

Thank you uncleweb. Strange that I can play Pro evo with 1920 and not Fifa 2010. Are they that differenent? Anyway...

Also, yeah I have ES not OEM? What do u suggest I do. Get a normal 820qm or stick to 920xm ES?

Next time Ill be playing for more than 30 min Ill post the log and then decide what to do I guess.

 

if Dell allows the user to swap out the CPU without voiding the warranty, then i would sell the 920XM and buy a 740/840qm, and then pocket the change. under the assumption that your 920 is throttling, why keep and use an expensive processor that doesn't do what it's supposed to?

sure, you'll be running slower than the 920XM, but honestly with quad cores + hyperthreading you won't really notice the difference.

 

I think you should keep it, and rein it in a bit.

 

Since it's an ES i'll take myself out of the bidding if you did decide to sell ...

 

An ES processor is a processor that has been stolen from Intel. It is illegal to resell these processors but that hasn't stopped some sellers on ebay from doing that. Maybe you should contact Intel and let them know what Dell is up to.

An OEM retail 820QM sells for more than a 920XM ES on ebay. Hopefully it was an honest mistake by the tech that serviced your computer and not some punk trying to unload a stolen CPU and make a buck in the process.

 

mhh im speechless now. i really should get rid of the 920xm and report it to intel instead of keeping the extra performance?

maybe i could pressure dell to give me back my 820qm and also exchange my 4670 with a 5730 instead, or id tell intel?

im not sure what to do.. damn i thought i made a nice deal...

 

in this case, Dell may have made an honest mistake, but you should call them out on it.

tell them that you want a 840QM on a HD 5730 motherboard, in exchange for taking back the 920XM ES , which as many have pointed out, is more or less illegal.

since reading that the ES models are not legally distributed amongst consumers, i think it's safe to say that you can apply pressure to Dell to make up for it?

 

I guess ur right. The only problem is that there is no ati 5730 available in europe, not in uk and germany!!!!!

And what if they cant get the ATI 5730 for me? How shoudl I proceed?


BTW:
http://www.riccardo-ulpts.com/ThrottleStopLog.txt
By the way here is a throttle log. I played Fifa 2011 for 20 mins or so, Pro Evo 20 min or so and Left 4 Dead 15 minutes or so.

Stil coudl u tell me if it throttled?

 

As far as i can see it isnt throttling at all

 

sorry, i forgot about your previous discussion about not having the 5730's in Germany. regardless, you may not really see any benefits from keeping the 920X and might be better off returning it to Dell, while asking them to fix you up with something else.

maybe, if you're partial to the new XPS series, you could see if you can get them to replace your current notebook with the XPS 15. i am thinking that Dell should have at least learned their lesson with the poor designs in the SXPS 13/16's and made better decisions in their newer XPS units. from the looks of the XPS 15, they finally put the heat exhaust port on the side of the unit, not blowing at the screen

I agree, based on your log, it looks like you are not throttling. did you notice any abnormal stuttering or slowing down of the games? if so, try playing one game for an hour, but with the low-medium settings. if your notebook throttles, it will still throttle even with lower settings.

 

Your log file looks great. It looks so good you might want to play around with what this 920XM is designed to do.

If you right click on ThrottleStop, try selecting the Turbo Ratio Limits... menu option.



By default, Intel sets these limits to 24, 23, 17, 17 for a 920XM.

That means when one core is active, the maximum multiplier will be 24. When 2 cores are active, the maximum multiplier will be 23 and when 3 or 4 cores are active, the maximum multiplier will be 17.

The most recent bios for the Alienware M15x has these set like Intel intended. On the Alienware M17x, they are set to 24, 24, 24, 24 so regardless of load, it will try to use the same multiplier. If you want to play, try setting these to 24 across the board and then go do some gaming. The games you are playing are barely using two cores at the same time so you should be OK.

If that works out without hitting the throttling point, you can also try going into the Turbo Power Limits... menu and bumping the turbo TDP setting upwards. Try adding on 10 or 20 watts, go play some more, do some logging, and see what happens. Dell gave you this CPU to play with so you might as well play with it until you decide what to do with it. If its a low voltage processor, you might be able to go faster without triggering any throttling.

 

Ok, I guess Ill do some more testing like you say and report that to you guys. In the end, I could wait till my warranty is almost over and then tell dell i found out they put a es cpu in my laptop

But check this, in Pro Evo i can play 1920 highest settings no problem. But Fifa stutters every 2-3 seconds for a little and then runs smooth again.

I doubt that fifa and pro evo are that different? Nevertheless, Ill do a log for Fifa and for Pro evo and also for Left 4 Dead. Damn that means I have to game all day haha.

I will do some testing without changing any limits and then with. Reportingback soon

BTW: So I guess Ill do some more testing. But then again, if they are short on ATI 5730 maybe I should tell them rather sooner than later?

 

I’m sure this has been posted, but the main page never updated on dell upgrades, I’m wondering who has had luck with Dell upgrading the motherboard to have a 5730? Has dell been doing it free of charge or has there been an upgrade cost associated?

 

Hello all, I havn´t been active here for a while but I´ve follwed the thread and thanks to unclewebb and some other guys I got a 130W some time ago and that and the a09 BIOS almost made my 1645 usable.

My 1645 has been working well, but I still experience throttling from time to time, if I play Call of Duty Moderns Warfare 2 for an hour on higest settings for about an hour it begins. If I use throttlestop its better, but every 15 seconds or so the Cmod% drops to 25 for one second. Very annoying!

My screen is also a bit scratched from the keyboard/topside of the battery, and also the left hand side aluminium thing thats around the hinge lost its glue, I think from heat, so now I have a 2mm gap there.

The fan is very strange, even when idling at 50C its running on "medium" speed, and sometimes switching to "high" for 5 seconds every 60 seconds. Really embarrassing in meetings and presentations!

My warranty is running out in a month, so I e-mailed dell about my problems and they said: According to your problem description these parts will be replaced: motherboard, heatsink, LCD, palmrest by technician in our repair center.

What do you say experts, will the fix it or break it more? They said I have to send it away and it will take 2 weeks.

 

If they break it more, they'll replace it. Don't worry over it.

Though there's a lot of inconvenience in waiting for the replacement. It can take up to fifteen days.

 

What are your temps when it starts throttling? On A09 the 4670 will throttle at around 100-101C and the CPU will throttle around 84-85C.

 

Im at 77C CPU and about 91C GPU check these logs:

DATE TIME MULTI C0% CKMOD CHIPM DTS
11/01/10 23:33:42 13.03 19.3 100.0 100.0 23 -all good
...
11/01/10 23:34:02 10.63 19.2 100.0 100.0 23 -multipler going down
...
11/01/10 23:34:18 7.00 29.7 100.0 100.0 25 -multipler all the way down
...
11/01/10 23:34:55 7.00 21.0 25.0 100.0 27 -CKMOD gone down to 25%

Date , GPU Core Clock [MHz] , GPU Memory Clock [MHz] , GPU Temperature [°C] , Fan Speed [%] , GPU Load [%] , Fan Speed [RPM] , GPU Temp.(DISPIO) [°C] , GPU Temp.(MEMIO) [°C] , GPU Temp.(SHADERCORE) [°C] ,
2010-11-01 23:33:41 , 675.0 , 796.5 , 91.0 , 30 , 99 , - , 91.5 , 87.0 , -163.0 ,
...
2010-11-01 23:34:22 , 675.0 , 796.5 , 90.0 , 30 , 98 , - , 92.0 , 88.5 , -163.0 ,

-no problem with the GPU, it stays around 91C when playing this game..

 

Mhh I havent notice any throtteling so far, I will post some logs soon, coz maybe im wrong, since i read that fifa 2011 does have issues, but ive been too busy with skewl.

@ unclewebb i might also play aroudn with the multipliers a bit, but i doubt since theres no throtteling it will give me any performance boosts...

Furthermore I was thinking, since dell put a ES CPU in my laptop whcih is illegal, I can finally ask or force them to extend my complete care to 3 or 4 years which they said was not possible.
I might even be that evil to ask for a 5730 board and just tell them it does still throttle

BTW has a 5730 ever been released in europe?
...
For my compelete care issue please check here, maybe u can help:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/531350-can-you-extend-complete-care.html

 

Anyone know what happens with warranty (time) after Dell changes parts in my laptop? Right now I have about a month left, and will send my laptop away for replacing some parts next week.

 

Dell isn't going to extend your warranty because they replaced parts, if that's what you mean.

 

I know Lenovo gives an additional 30 days for the part they replaced (but not labor). I thought that was kind of standard.

 

I've been using throttlestop for the good part of 8 months now, and I've been having strange problems with it that seems to be on a random basis. Even whilst Throttlestop is enabled I'll still get throttling, and is usually tied to pressing a key on the keyboard or some such where the CMod% will dip to 12.5 and bounce back to 100 when i've finished the key press. Every time it throttles i notice a fps dip and crackling audio, and persists for a while even after i've closed the game down and am running a browser or whatever.

I'm not sure why it does it but it can get frustrating, and i've set all the proper settings I think I need to be setting - 100% processor power management, Clock Modulation to 100%. The only thing that seems to temporarily fix it is if I toggle throttlestop on and off a few times which allows it to bounce from FID of 7.0 back to healthy ranges of ~13.0. I wouldn't think temperatures are triggering it, since i'm usually a good 20 degrees away from DTS, but I don't know.

My specs are:
XPS 1645 i7 Q720, 6gb ram, normal LCD screen
130w dell adapter
a09 bios
Air filter removed on intake vent

Also attached is my log file.
Cheers

 

This might have been for another issue, but for some reason I remember people were doing the 'standby' trick to fix this.. so after they come back from standby mode it was all working.

I don't have this issue so I can't check anything..

 

The CPU usually throttles around the 84-85C range with the i7 720QM on the SXPS 1645. You're probably going to need to find a way to lower the temperatures (remove dust filters, ect.).

 

This is the exact same problem I had. Touching a key for some reason interupts TS (as it's 100% CKMOD while not touching a key) and it will go to 12.5 eventually.

Sleeping the laptop and resuming from it fixes the problem for me. Hibernating or shutting down the XPS will bring the problem back (100% of the cases). This is why I always sleep my laptop

 

Hey guys,
I live in kind of a dusty place and since there is no air conditioner (we hire one for the summer as winters are cold as it is ), i can feel throttling when playing NFS HOT PURSUIT after about 20 minutes although its all in low settings and the resolution is 1280 x 720 and still it throttles. Can you tell me if it is advisable to remove the dust filter for the intake completely as in the whole thing so that more air is blown out?? My main concern being dust going into the laptop which is another reason for laptops to slow down....

 

Just dust out your laptop once in a while (canned air is best), which you should be doing anyway, with or without the dust filters. All the filter really does is restrict airflow.

 

Then bye bye filter!!! Thanks man....

 

I've been working on a new version of ThrottleStop but I need to find some testers that are still having throttling problems.

ThrottleStop 2.90b2
http://www.mediafire.com/?4i4fpydfn19xw2b

I'd be interested to find out if it makes any difference to the keyboard / clock modulation / hibernate issue that some XPS 1645 owners still have.

If you are still having issues, this new version has a hidden feature that lets you do some fine tuning so send me a PM if you have time to do some testing.

 

I'll give it a try later today

 

Okai I hibernated and started up a game. After 15min the throttling started and I quit my original TS and fired up the new beta you provided.
I enabled it but it didn't make any difference. Still throttling when touching a key.

 

As mentioned in my post above, TS 2.90 has a new feature that lets you do some fine tuning of ThrottleStop to your laptop. Click on the More Data option and the Log File option and then click a key once every 10 seconds so I can get a better understanding of the duration of the clock modulation going on. PM me a log file of this test.

Is your laptop mostly idle when pushing keys on the keyboard? Hard to understand how a whole year has gone by and Dell still hasn't fixed this.

 

Hi Unclewebb,

Thanks for the fabulous tool.

I know it's nice to get positive feedback so I thought I would give you some.

Just to let you know, I don't use the tool on a laptop, but on a core i7 - 920. Before I started using it, I had issues getting turbo to kick in even when the system was fully loaded. I do x264 video encoding on this PC & I see a +2 frames per second whit the help of throttlestop.

BTW - I grabbed the ThrottleStop 2.90b2 & it performs the same for me. So I cant confirm you fixed anything yet, but at least you didn't seem to break it.

 

You do have to tick the boxes..

 

Here is my log file from TS 2.90 beta 2, with keystroke throttling. For some reason the log doesn't show the CMOD jumps, but they occur each time the multiplier lingers at 13.00. Clock modulation is set to 100% and TS is on.

 

For TS 2.90 beta 2, I separated the monitoring code from the anti throttling code. This allows ThrottleStop to fight harder and more frequently against clock modulation throttling. Does this help out at all when gaming compared to previous versions of ThrottleStop? Is there less lag or about the same?

Now that the monitoring and anti-throttling are running in separate threads and are no longer in sync, this might make it harder to detect what is going on in the log file. The OS turning on throttling followed by ThrottleStop quickly turning it off might show up as a bit of a stutter when gaming.

If you want to help me do some more testing then send an email to me. The address is in the About box of ThrottleStop. Right mouse click on an open part of the ThrottleStop GUI to find this option.

When clock modulation is being used, it reduces the load internally on the CPU and the multiplier goes up. This is because the CPU is allowed to use more turbo boost when it is lightly loaded. When you click a key, do you get a sudden FPS drop as measured by Fraps or whatever?

ThrottleStop won't be able to 100% fix this issue but with a few adjustments I might be able to make it less of an issue than it is now. I just need to see some more data and for some users to help me out with testing.

 

hey guys, u might remember me, i had a i7 920 and got back my i7 820qm a while ago.

I was playing Fifa at 1280x720 high settings. Check this throttlestop log here: Do you think thats throtteling as i get stuttering quite a lot.

Check the log here: http://www.riccardo-ulpts.com/fifa2010.txt

As for Pro Evo 2010 I set the res to 1920x1020 high settings. I do get stuttering as well but much much less than with fifa. almost none id say.

check log here: http://www.riccardo-ulpts.com/proevo2010.txt

Max temps reported with cpuid hw monitor are 73 with gpu and cpu....

Also played Left 4 Dead 2 for a while, 1280x720 medium to high settings....

here is the log: http://www.riccardo-ulpts.com/l4d2.txt

How do I see throtteling anyway?

 

The default multiplier for a Core i7-820QM is 13. When there is a load on your CPU while gaming, you should be getting some turbo boost so the average multiplier should always be higher than the default value and never lower than that. The only time your average multiplier is going lower than 13 is when it is very lightly loaded. It's normal for these CPUs to idle down like that when lightly loaded.

What version of ThrottleStop are you using? 2.90b2 is a work in progress but unfortunately no one has volunteered to help with development for the XPS 1645 so I haven't been able to make any progress with the keyboard / throttle / hibernate issue.

 

I also logged with the new 2.90b2 before with the keyboard throttle issue but the log didn't show any CKMOD changes either.. I thought i messed up the log and didn't have time to re-do it yet..

To answer the other question, yes I get severe FPS drop when touching the key. It does show up in fraps yes.
You say that throttlestop might not be able to fix the problem, but make it less severe. Remember sleeping the XPS fixes the problem for me 100% in every single time. (I think I fixed it 50 times by now)

 

Hello folks,

So I'm another victim of throttling, nothing new here. Checking using Throttlestop, I notice that mostly CMod% is the culprit. FID does go down a bit (from 15-16 to 12-13), but CMod% will go down from 100% to 12.5% in the space of 30 seconds! Why is the throttling mostly due to clock modulation here?

I monitored my CPU temps (~80, maximum 86) and GPU temps (~80, peak 83).

Currently using A08, after downgrading from A09, after downgrading from A12, after upgrading from the original A08 (and having my mother board replaced cause it wouldn't detect the battery). A09 improved performance greatly, but I would experience the above throttling after only 2-3 minutes. So I downgraded back to A08 but it is still just as bad, only throttling occurs after about 15 minutes now, whereas originally, it never got that bad at all.

My config:
i7 720QM
4GB RAM
ATI 4670 1GB

I just want to know what the reason is for the throttling behaviour and why it keeps changing.

 

I am not 100% sure but I thought with A08 there was a max temp on the GPU of 83....which could explain some of your issues -although you don't mention your GPU throttling.

The reason why almost everyone is using A09 or A12 modded with A09 is that the temperature threshold on the GPU was 100 in this version of the bios, and this prevented any GPU throttling.

But I am sure the others could probably give you a better explanation.

 

How do I know whether it is CPU or GPU throttling?

With A12 (and with A08 straight out of the box) I had FID going down as low as 7. With A09 and when I downgraded again to A08, I get CMod% going down after a while, but FID would stay relatively high.

If it's my CPU temps, then I wonder, why does it now throttle differently than before? Or maybe the fact that previously, because my CPU was not running at max capacity that my CPU wasn't getting very hot? Unfortunately I neglected to check my CPU temps then so I can't confirm that theory.

What exactly is the version "modded" with A09?

 

Just curious, why are you guys even tolerating this throttling? As soon as I realised what was causing these symptoms on my 1640 I gave Dell ample opportunity to fix the problem and once it was obvious this was a design defect I expected a replacement. For anyone still under warranty it makes no sense why you'd put up with this flaw at all. Why bother trying to fix Dell's mistake. I recieved my replacement XPS 15 within 1 month of my original call to Dell regarding my 1640 throttling. It took 2 pointless MB replacements and an email to their corporate office but I now have a sysyem that runs the way my 1640 should have all along. I couldn't be happier.

 

RealTemp is reporting temps max going to ~90, but only very briefly...like for a second.

Code:

12/09/10 19:59:05 1955.14 74 76 74 73 35.7
12/09/10 19:59:10 2367.45 79 72 74 72 20.3
12/09/10 19:59:15 2207.84 76 76 74 75 26.5
12/09/10 19:59:20 2447.25 77 71 74 71 13.0
12/09/10 19:59:25 2553.65 77 73 75 73 13.6
12/09/10 19:59:30 2088.14 73 71 72 73 10.0
12/09/10 19:59:35 2088.14 73 71 73 70 9.7
12/09/10 19:59:40 2088.14 73 71 72 72 10.4
12/09/10 19:59:45 1928.54 72 70 73 74 9.5
12/09/10 19:59:50 2008.34 78 77 77 74 31.4
12/09/10 19:59:55 2327.54 80 74 76 74 18.3
12/09/10 20:00:00 2287.64 80 75 77 76 19.7
12/09/10 20:00:05 1768.93 80 79 79 77 45.2
12/09/10 20:00:10 2008.34 76 74 75 74 15.6
12/09/10 20:00:15 2008.34 76 74 75 75 17.0
12/09/10 20:00:20 2194.54 75 78 79 82 19.0
12/09/10 20:00:25 2274.34 82 77 77 77 22.2
12/09/10 20:00:30 2274.34 80 77 78 77 21.9
12/09/10 20:00:35 2287.64 81 77 78 77 21.7
12/09/10 20:00:40 2287.64 82 77 79 77 21.4
12/09/10 20:00:45 2287.64 81 78 79 78 21.9
12/09/10 20:00:50 2300.94 82 78 79 78 21.2
12/09/10 20:00:55 2287.64 82 77 78 78 21.7
12/09/10 20:01:00 2287.64 82 78 79 78 21.8
12/09/10 20:01:05 2300.94 82 78 79 79 21.4
12/09/10 20:01:10 2261.04 81 78 79 79 22.1
12/09/10 20:01:15 2261.04 82 78 79 78 22.2
12/09/10 20:01:20 2274.34 82 79 79 79 22.0
12/09/10 20:01:25 2274.34 81 79 79 79 22.0
12/09/10 20:01:30 2261.04 82 79 80 79 22.3
12/09/10 20:01:35 2247.74 82 79 80 78 22.6
12/09/10 20:01:40 2274.34 82 80 79 79 21.9
12/09/10 20:01:45 2261.04 82 79 80 79 22.1
12/09/10 20:01:50 2261.04 83 80 80 79 21.7
12/09/10 20:01:55 2274.34 82 78 79 79 21.5
12/09/10 20:02:00 2181.24 83 79 80 79 23.5
12/09/10 20:02:05 2261.04 83 80 80 79 22.2
12/09/10 20:02:10 2261.04 82 80 80 79 21.9
12/09/10 20:02:15 2221.14 83 80 80 79 23.5
12/09/10 20:02:20 2287.64 83 81 80 81 21.6
12/09/10 20:02:25 2234.44 84 81 80 79 22.9
12/09/10 20:02:30 2274.34 84 81 80 80 21.7
12/09/10 20:02:35 2274.34 85 80 81 79 22.7
12/09/10 20:02:40 2287.64 85 80 80 82 22.0
12/09/10 20:02:45 2287.64 85 80 81 81 21.7
12/09/10 20:02:50 2141.34 82 80 80 80 24.4
12/09/10 20:02:55 1901.94 87 81 81 81 43.9
12/09/10 20:03:00 1928.54 85 84 83 84 42.8
12/09/10 20:03:00 2061.54 88 81 81 82 37.4
12/09/10 20:03:05 2487.15 88 81 82 80 18.1
12/09/10 20:03:10 2088.14 79 77 78 79 9.7
12/09/10 20:03:15 1862.04 82 82 81 81 33.9
12/09/10 20:03:20 2287.64 85 81 82 81 19.4
12/09/10 20:03:25 2300.94 85 81 81 83 19.6
12/09/10 20:03:30 2287.64 85 81 82 82 20.4
12/09/10 20:03:35 2327.54 85 81 82 83 18.8
12/09/10 20:03:40 2314.24 86 81 81 82 19.3
12/09/10 20:03:45 2314.24 86 82 82 82 19.3
12/09/10 20:03:50 2287.64 86 83 82 82 20.4
12/09/10 20:03:55 2021.64 81 79 80 79 16.3
12/09/10 20:04:00 2008.34 81 81 80 80 15.8
12/09/10 20:04:05 2008.34 82 80 81 83 17.3
12/09/10 20:04:10 2234.44 85 82 83 82 20.7
12/09/10 20:04:15 2287.64 84 82 81 82 21.7
12/09/10 20:04:20 1822.13 82 82 82 82 21.0
12/09/10 20:04:25 2300.94 85 80 81 82 21.9
12/09/10 20:04:30 2287.64 85 81 81 83 21.6
12/09/10 20:04:35 2300.94 85 81 83 81 21.6
12/09/10 20:04:40 2287.64 85 81 82 82 22.0
12/09/10 20:04:45 2287.64 85 82 82 82 21.8
12/09/10 20:04:50 2274.34 85 82 82 82 21.9
12/09/10 20:04:55 2300.94 86 81 83 82 21.4
12/09/10 20:05:00 2287.64 85 82 82 83 21.7
12/09/10 20:05:05 2314.24 86 81 84 82 21.8
12/09/10 20:05:10 2300.94 85 83 82 82 21.9
12/09/10 20:05:15 2300.94 85 83 83 82 21.4
12/09/10 20:05:20 2128.04 86 83 84 82 25.7
12/09/10 20:05:30 2261.04 87 83 83 83 25.7
12/09/10 20:05:35 2194.54 85 84 83 83 23.0
12/09/10 20:05:40 2314.24 86 83 83 84 21.2
12/09/10 20:05:45 2327.54 88 84 83 84 21.1
12/09/10 20:05:50 2327.54 87 84 83 84 21.2
12/09/10 20:05:55 2340.84 89 83 83 84 21.2
12/09/10 20:06:00 2314.24 87 83 84 84 21.4
12/09/10 20:06:05 2340.84 88 85 83 83 20.8
12/09/10 20:06:10 2327.55 88 84 84 85 21.3
12/09/10 20:06:15 2274.34 86 84 84 85 22.0
12/09/10 20:06:20 2287.64 86 84 84 85 21.6
12/09/10 20:06:25 2314.24 88 83 83 85 21.3
12/09/10 20:06:30 2274.34 88 85 84 85 22.8
12/09/10 20:06:35 2314.24 89 84 85 83 21.2
12/09/10 20:06:40 2300.94 88 85 86 85 21.9
12/09/10 20:06:45 2167.94 88 85 85 85 28.4
12/09/10 20:06:50 2194.54 88 84 85 85 25.0
12/09/10 20:06:55 2261.04 88 84 85 85 22.6
12/09/10 20:07:00 2314.24 89 85 84 84 21.7
12/09/10 20:07:05 2274.34 86 84 84 84 20.9
12/09/10 20:07:10 2247.74 86 84 83 83 16.3
12/09/10 20:07:15 2221.14 86 83 83 83 15.0
12/09/10 20:07:20 2207.84 84 83 83 83 11.9
12/09/10 20:07:25 2061.54 83 82 82 82 10.3
12/09/10 20:07:30 1981.74 82 82 81 81 9.4
12/09/10 20:07:35 2034.94 82 81 81 81 6.9
12/09/10 20:07:40 2128.04 82 79 80 79 10.5
12/09/10 20:07:45 2154.64 85 82 83 83 25.0
12/09/10 20:07:50 1968.44 81 80 80 80 7.3
12/09/10 20:07:55 1995.04 80 79 80 80 7.2
12/09/10 20:08:00 1941.84 79 79 80 79 7.3
12/09/10 20:08:05 1915.24 80 78 79 79 7.5
12/09/10 20:08:10 1968.44 80 79 79 79 6.7
12/09/10 20:08:15 2021.64 80 79 79 79 6.9
12/09/10 20:08:20 1995.04 80 78 79 79 7.3
12/09/10 20:08:25 1995.04 80 78 79 79 6.7
12/09/10 20:08:30 1729.03 80 78 79 78 14.2

Should it be getting this hot? Even idling my CPU and GPU temps are between 60-70 C.

Also is it bad for me to be flashing my BIOS so often?

 

Do you have the 130W adapter now? I saw your idle temps which seems pretty high to be honest.

 

I'm waiting for it to be delivered. And yeah, high temps. I checked the fan and heat sink when I was getting my motherboard replaced and it wasn't obviously dusty, so I don't know what else.

 

Wait for the 130 adapter and see how you go.. I think you may run into problems as then you should get all the 'allowed' power from it, increasing performance and then of course temps..

I'd recommend you apply AS5 (or your preferred) thermal paste instead of keeping the Dell stuff.. there's a good video if you've never done it before. It improves temps a lot.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...ging-thermal-paste-as5-studio-xps-1645-a.html