Solution S-XPS 1645/1647 Throttling Issues

Wow, really? I hope mine doesn't get delivered cause I had it shipped to my dad's work and its closed today.

 

Waiting on word of the RGBLED delays as well.

Thanks for going "above and beyond" in helping us!

 

Grrrrrrreat

 

Still waiting for your reply by email bill. When you have time...

 

130w adapter received about 36 hours after I sent Bill a PM. Impressive, to say the least. Thanks Bill!

 

Thank you Bill. Received my 130 watt adapter this afternoon. Less than 48 hours after I PM'd you.

 

Also received my 130w Pw Supply.

Thank you very much!

 

So with the 130W adapter, is the cord supposed to not quite fit the adapter? Original 90W adapter (and cord) and new 130W adapter (and cord) shown below:

 

Just noticed that myself. Couldn't even get it in without pushing pretty hard and forcing it up a bit. It looks like the cord part should enter the adapter in the opposite direction based on the gaps above and below where it enters.

 

Same thing for me on both 130w power sup.

 

My 130W Adapter cord plugs in just fine, it fits nice and flush and does not plug in on an angle.

Note: My 130W adapter plugs into the brick exactly like it does in the 90W adapter and also the plug is the exact same shape as the 90W plug.

 

I actually purchased a 130W adapter off eBay a month or two ago. The two bricks are identical, but the cables differ.

The second picture is of the first cable I received. My guess is that the second cable, just received from Dell, is incorrect.

I am certainly glad that I have the correct cable, although that does make leaving one adapter at the office less convenient.

 

I got mine to fit flush but had to force it to happen. I'm not bothered by it, just figured I'd post since it was brought up.

 

The cable from my other 130W adapter: Voltex DLC5US

The cable Dell sent me with the 130W adapter: BizLink BLB002

You're right. I applied a bit more pressure and got the cable flush as well. Oh well, just a bit odd I suppose.

 

Same here. The cord does not fit properly, I had to force it in.

 

Awesome! Thanks guys. With that information, I felt more comfortable applying more force and so I crammed it in there.

There's a Michael Scott joke in there somewhere.

 

did any of you who have recieved your 130W adapter already have to sign for it by FedEx? Mine was supposed to be delivered today, but FedEx didn't deliver b/c they said no one was home (I had to work). I just find it wierd as the FedEx customer service rep said that signature was not required for the package.

 

Most of the times its just up to the driver I believe. Last place I lived they wouldn't leave anything without a signature. Now at this place they'll leave anything outside tv, computer, doesn't matter. They ring the doorbell and are back to their truck before I can even open the door if I am home.

 

Here ya go Bill:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458668

That is really easy for you to say when you have a solution in sight. Thanks bro!

 

I noticed the cable was awkward as well, at best.

I had one of these on hand that I'd bought for my 1710 brick:

http://www.cablewholesale.com/specs/power-cable/10w1-15206.htm





The one in the link is a 6'. They also have a 1'.

 

Quick question, and please bear with me, I'm not trying to flame you or be snarky.

How long have you had your 1640 for? You say you have the throttling issues, but it seems to be that these were only noticed after Unclewebb pointed out that the 1640 also throttles.

Which would mean that either you haven't had the system for long, or you never noticed the issues in normal activities/gaming until it was shown to throttle using the benchmarks (3DMark/Furmark + Prime).

I'm not saying that this is acceptable, but keep in mind that the 1645 throttles on regular gaming consistently and is immediately noticeable right out of the box in pretty much any game that is even slightly taxing.

I know you're frustrated, and believe me, I completely empathize. I am still not pleased with the overall situation. However, I don't think your approach is going to help get your problem resolved in this particular case, especially if the above I asked you about is true.

 

I hate to be that guy who quotes himself but I missed a call from Dell corporate who left a message saying that the A07 BIOS will be released on February 12th. Mark the day on your calenders, comrades!

 

Hey all,
first let me say great job getting the adapters out, I requested mine on the Dell forum late Monday night (east coast), got a conformation & order number on Tuesday and received the adapter on Wednesday (even though it never showed on the my account page at Dell.com)
Second, my cord also does not fit properly into the brick, BUT, since I still had the cord from the 90 watt brick, I tried that one and it had more space and plugged in properly.
From what I could tell by the print on both cords, they appear to be interchangable, if I'm wrong, please let me know. So just switch the 90 & 130 cords and each will fit properly assuming they are interchangable. I'm 90% sure they are.

 

Hey, just a quick question. Might be slightly off topic, but can anyone confirm if the batter charges faster on 130w? And if so, how much faster?

 

Bill;

How do I send you a PM. I am new to this.

 

I didn't notice it charging any faster on my 150W brick. If I ran the computer hard, it didn't charge at all with or without TS. Will be interesting to see if we can charge faster with A07,

 

Read the first page.

 

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think the 130 watt adapter would be any different than the 90 watt without the A07 BIOS but I could be wrong.

 

My apologies for butting into the conversation, but I'd like a chance at answering this question.

I've had my 1640 since April 2009, and I noticed the throttling issue almost immediately, only I didn't realize it was a throttling issue, I thought it was a heat issue.

Wanting to see what my laptop was capable of, I purchased a copy of Crysis. Initially, I was quite happy with the results. As long as I disabled anisotropic filtering, I could play the game at high settings with a smooth framerate of 25-30fps. I'll admit the framerate is not ideal, but it was perfectly playable, at least for the first half-hour or so. After a half-hour, the game would start to stutter. Just a little lag at first, then over a period of a couple minutes the framerate would drop to 2-3fps. This happened repeatedly, every time I played it.

Initially, I thought that the poor framerate was due to heating. I had read the other owners concerns about the inadequate cooling on this laptop, and the keyboard was feeling pretty warm. I figured that it would make sense that the framerate would drop if the GPU was overheating. So I started monitoring the CPU and GPU temps, noting in particular what the the system temps were when the game started to stutter. I turns out that the temps were well within the safe range (about 60-65C).

So, I decided that it had to be something else causing the problem. After much Googling, I stumbled across the "S-XPS 1645 Throttling Info" thread here on NBR. In that thread I found a link to Unclewebb's Throttlestop program. I downloaded it, and ran Crysis a few times with the Throttlestop logging feature enabled. Much to my amazement, the stuttering and loss of fps corresponded precisely to the time when my CPU dropped from a multiplier of 9 to a multiplier of 3.

I posted the results of my testing to the Dell community forums here: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19306277/19635574.aspx#19635574, and Unclewebb was gracious enough to describe the situation to me in detail here: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19306277/19636456.aspx#19636456 So, that's the long-winded story of how I discovered my throttling issue.

If there are others that are experiencing throttling on their Studio XPS 1640, Tenknics has started a thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458668 Your input would be welcome.

 

You can't PM on this Forum until you have posted 10 times on the Forum

 

I had the same "problem" - if it is even a problem - and simply switched the 90w and 130w cords as well, for what it's worth.

 

However, a few minutes with an x-acto knife and it now fits perfectly. Honestly I must say I was disappointed in Dell for this whole thing, end to end.

I mean lets face it, Dell clearly planned this whole thing in advance. They tweaked the BIOS to cripple the laptop, then sent out underpowered adaptors with the original unit - adaptors which heated up really really hot under no load at all. Then stupid tech support did dumb things like send replacement 90w adaptors when I complained that it was really hot. A useless swap -- wasting time, shipping, and a perfectly functional adaptor.

Then after Dell finally admits that they were screwing with us the whole time, they send out adaptors with cords that don't even fit? is wrong with these people. Ironically this afternoon, the moment I received the adaptor box I was thinking to myself - "See, Dell took care of it after all."

But did they really? What will be next? I guess I realize that these things are very complex, but well, either you have a product to sell or you don't. If it isn't ready, then you don't have a product to sell.

 

Yeah, not really a big problem, I just want to make sure switching the cords won't lead to a future problem. I really doubt it, but I'm no electrician. So, if anyone can confirm the two cords are interchangable, it would make me feel better & save Dell a whole new rash of complaints since they let us keep the old adapters. This minor "problem is likely a result of them rushing to get us the new adapters. Probably just ordered the bricks and sent the cords that they originally had for the 90 watt bricks with the new bricks without realizing they don't fit just exactly perfect. If this is the case, then I will know for sure that they are interchangable.

 

Also, can't blame them for rushing or just not caring (since you can "make" the cord fit) after all the complaining they have had to deal with on these forums. You know the patient, qiet ones will liekly get a perfect system, thanks to the complainers, how ironic.
I also want to second the motion for a free extended warranty! Seems fair to me and doesn't cost Dell a thing if they get their products and our fix right. Anyone want to start a patition?

 

sorry for the spelling or lack thereof

 

So anyone from the EU got themselfs a 130W adapter.....?

 

This is a bogus statement, even if you aren't pleased with the laptop. Dell would never intentionally saddle themselves with a recall situation. The cost to Dell to replace/upgrade our adaptors is much higher than if they would've shipped with them originally. In fact Margins are so slim on computers these days, that I bet they are barely breaking even after the PS upgrade (unless you spent tons of $$$ on factory upgrades).

I don't understand the ongoing resentment regarding this throttling/PSU issue. It took longer than it should've, but at least Dell came out, admitted a problem, and even announced a fix (which included overnighting adaptors to NA customers). Personally I had little faith anything ever was going to happen. I'm pumped and grateful that Dell listened to us and fixed the problem.

If you have other problems with your machine they belong in a different thread. The throttling issue seemed to be the one problem that affected everybody with a 1645.

 

FYI, for all those inquiring about the 130W Adapter Cord:

The cord that they sent me with the 130W Adapter is exactly the same shape/size plug as the one that came with the 90W Adapter and the one from the 90W does fit the 130W adapter as well. Both of my cords fit nicely without forcing them

Also they are both 2.5A/125V

 

++1 I'll give you an amen on that one, all three paragraphs.

 

Chalk another one up who's 130w cord did not fit. The swap works fine though. The brick is quite a bit bigger then the 90w one but that's ok rather it be functional!

Thanks for getting it out so fast after the pm!

 

OK I will give you one more chance to think this one over

 

Perhaps I'm just jaded from dealing with corporate America, but Dell's response to this whole situation really surprised me (in a good way.) Never mind that they acknowledged the problem - a huge surprise in and of itself - but that Bill came onto NBR and offered free adapter upgrades to members? That is crazy; things like this rarely if ever happen. We can sit here and talk about how things should have worked from the start, that Dell should have recognized the problem faster, etc. But this is the real world, and things like this happen. I consider myself lucky that things played out the way they did, quite frankly.

 

Im with you Orry

 

Just thought I would post quickly here. I had the same issue where the chord did not fit the new adapter, however, the chord from my old adapter (90w) fit great and the new one fit the old adapter. That solved the issue for me at least. Thanks again Bill for getting this out to us so fast!

 

I was unable to get to any PM's last night, because I had a family member travelling through town on business. I will get to them all today, so there will be no effect on actual delivery date, since they would go out today whether I did them last night after hours or today during hours. It's just that if you are waiting for a reply that I got the PM, you will not be seeing it until later today. Sorry for any confusion.

I will also be going back through this thread and replying to anything here for me specifically shortly. Thanks for hanging in there, folks.

 

I know its kind of off topic here, but any updates for the studio 1747s

 

Me too. The morning of the day Bill showed up, I would have bet money that we would get jerked around forever. Sometimes it feels so good to be proved so wrong.

 

Hello Bill_Dell, I had send a pm to Todd back on 2/9, still donot get a reply from him yet, any idea. thanks

 

"That's what she..." Nevermind. Must remember I'm representing a brand here.

 

Thanks for the URL. I will start sizing and tracking. I will let the 1640 team know about size, scope and sentiment, then I'll ask Brad or Todd to engage your thread at some point.