**The Official Studio XPS 1645 Intel Core i7 "Owners Lounge" - Part 2

Here is the new Thread for the:
Official Studio XPS 1645 Intel Core i7 “Owners Lounge” :yes:

This thread is for Owners of the Studio XPS 1645 Intel Core i7!

Congrat’s to Garrett for being the first one to receive it….
And, as being the first to receive, Garrett….please…please lead into discussion!
I’m sure there will be more Owners to follow shortly!

(oh, and I received permission to start this thread, if there are any questions from anyone)

Helpful Links:
Cases and bags for the Dell Studio XPS 1340 and 1640
The Best Free Security Software:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=190538
Dell Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program
Monitoring Notebook Temps: nVidia & ATI, CPU, HDD - Do your temps worry you?
Windows 7 Subforum
NBR Vista Tips and Tweaks Guide
The Ever-Growing Free Windows Software List
Links to Bag Makers, Dealers and Reviews
Studio XPS 16 1080p RGBLED Settings? Thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=382939
(Thanks for the suggestion, RifterAD!)

Dell UK i7 Linky

Link for the Drivers for the Studio XPS 1645 - Win 7 64 Bit

Link for the Drivers for the Studio XPS 1645 - Windows Vista 64 Bit

Link for the Studio XPS 1645 System Bios



Edit:
Edit to the above (as requested by Ibrahim) 10/15/09...Peep's this really should clear up any confusion.!! Thanks Ibrahim :
"Dell is having some issues with their invoices, particularly with monitor choice. If you ordered the RGBLED and it says WLED, don't worry: you still have the RGBLED, it is just marked incorrectly. Some users who ordered the RGBLED have these part numbers:

320-8335
320-8341
320-8332




**Please PM me..if you want anything updated to this post..Thanks.

***PLEASE*** Keep discussion in this thread to ownership of the 1645....Questions, Benchmarks, testing, Updates, Noted issues, etc...

ANY ORDER Status/Issues, Delays, Cancels, etc..Should be placed in this section of the forum:
Dell Shipping Order Status and Customer Service Issues
Thread:
The OFFICIAL Studio XPS 1645 Intel Core i7 Order Status Thread


Cin...


--------------------------------------
Note from Mod:

Part 1 of **The Official Studio XPS 1645 Intel Core i7 "Owners Lounge" can be found here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=433085
--------------------------------------

 

I ordered mine on the 11th, same EDD. I got a message from Dell saying it will arrive on the 29th :/ We wont get the 130W charger, we'll have to request for it after we get the system.

 

Has anyone tried New ATI driver from here version 8.712 ( dell provides V 8.634)

release notes

Is there any change in GPU throttling after updating to this?

 

Nopes, GPU throttling remains the same. I have been using 10.3 since they leaked on to internet.

The only thing that differs is the catalyst control pannel, now with hydra vision. and also the microstuttering in the FPS of few games like crysis has decreased.

 

I've gotten some strange scratches on my system screen... When I recieved the laptop the screen was perfect, although the hinge didn't look quite right - in the place where it splits into two parts, one side sticks out more than the other. Now, after 3 months of carrying the computer around in my backpack, it has these wired scrapes/scratches in a couple places. I'm not at home but I may post pics later. Would carrying it in a backpack somehow rub the screen Staunton the keyboard/body and produce these scrapes?

 

I found a Thermal Paste with the brand GELID, type GC-2, is this better than Artic Silver 5 or around the same?

Is it safe to apply it to the CPU and VGA yourself?

 

This thread offers some good suggestions as to how to handle your screen and avoid it getting scratched. Usually the scratches are caused by the keyboard on the screen, as the rubber stoppers below the speaker grills of the 164X don't do the best job in protecting the screen. Most especially when you have the system in your backpack and the screen is being pushed against the keyboard area. If it's already scratched, there is no real way (I don't think) to fix the scratching, apart from calling Dell to replace it. I'm not sure if you need complete care for that, but those screens are expensive so Dell should, hopefully, replace them for you regardless. Tell them about the hinge as well as that could also be causing the scratches.

 

I updated to catalyst 10.3 that was leaked. I am not able to launch the catalyst control center anymore though? Whenever I try to launch it it just shows the loading icon and then nothing happens...

Should I uninstall everything from control panel and then reinstall? What is the proper method?

Also is there a link to the 10.3 leaked again so I can reinstall it?

 

Ahoy to all forumers!!

I just ordered my laptop 1 week+ ago. I browsed through the 300+ pages of i7 studio xps owners club. hehe. Checked out my local website which is Malaysia (.my) and it shows there that I'll be shipped a 90w AC adapter. My question is what should I do now? Its EDD is 1st of April.

Thanks!!

 

Here's a link to strags. It has the new one (zipped in .rar format) and then a new FIREPRO ATI driver from Dell (compatible with 4670/3670). I think that the FIREPRO one is the one that includes the Catalyst Control Center. So you want to install the notebook one, like you have now. Then run the FIREPRO one for the CCC. So, in your case, just download the FIREPRO, install it, and see if the CCC shows up. Good luck.

 

Here is the official release from ATI: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx

 

Thanks. I actually just tried to install over the last install and it is doing the same thing... is it standard procedure to uninstall the old software first?

 

yes, and you must use driver sweeper and uninstall CCC everything

 

Has anyone used the SD card reader on their laptop yet? I tried for the first time today and when Windows is installing the driver it stops and says device unplugged. Then if I take the card out and put it back in, the SD device will show up in my computer. However, when you try to open it, it says to please insert a disk into the device. Any suggestions?



Edit: I installed the Ricoh card reader drivers from Dell, and it works well now.

 

the new thread...

 

You can ask for replacement once they deliever to you..call customer care and explain that you are experiencing Throttling...they will provide 130W hopefully..

or you can also give them the dell forum link where they have mentioned to get 130W adapter for ppl who experience throttling..

 

Haha pardon my ignorance, what is throttling? I tried to read a few of the 300+ pages and it has smth to do with the heat and power transferred to the laptop?

 

This Dell XPS throttling is the computer hardware essentially failing to perform to it's expected standards based on its specifications due to over heating (poorly designed vent system covered by the monitor) and an under powered AC adaptor that doesn't give the newer more powerful hardware enough juice to get the job done.

Essentially, (especially noticed) with graphics intensive gaming the GPU will over heat and cause issues and unless you have the replacement 130 watt adaptor the CPU will not get enough juice to perform to its rated expectations.

Not to mention the 90 watt adaptor gets INCREDIBLY hot to the touch (even when not gaming) as it is pushed to its limits constantly... Which is a potential fire hazard and huge lawsuit waiting to happen.

Yet, Dell continues to send out 90 watt adaptors to new orders, and doesn't even list a 130 watt option in their accessories page for the 1645 on their site.


Nonetheless, with a proper laptop cooling pad, replacing the original thermal paste, the new BIOS, and the (what should be) mandatory 130 watt adaptor you have a hell of a laptop for a hell of a low price when on sale compared to other similarly specced machines (minus the damn vent issue).

 

Is it really all that essential to change the thermal paste ? and for general everyday use, like surfing ... word processing, watching few movies will I need to use a cooling pad ? then I might as well go and buy one ... my laptop is arriving tomorrow .

 

Thanks for being so informative. You just summarized everything into one post which is very kind of you. I am going to order a CoolerMaster Infinite as my cooling pad. BIOS I shall just update from their website and the thermal paste, what actually do you have to do? I have applied thermal paste on a desktop processor but how is it done in the laptop world?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=462021

Cheers.

 

In indian website they have included 130W in option...

 

Dell.ca is the culprit I was referring to. It's good to hear that some country's webmasters have updated their site. I also think I remember Dell was charging $ for the "option" in India that should be given as default. There are plenty of customers who don't know any better and are essentially getting ripped off. Considering we're at the end of the month that Dell already issued a statement they would start automatically including the 130 watt adaptor it was rather alarming to see what I saw on Dell.ca (and to receive my laptop this week AFTER "confirming" the 130 watt would be included in the initial shipment and it wasn't). The best part was when I called Dell and they insisted they'd sent me the 130 watt adaptor in the box, and I asked the agent if he had broken into my house to confirm it in person, then read the model # of the adaptor to him and his response was "oh, that's odd...."

As for the cooling pad, may I strongly recommend the Zalman NC2000 model or the NZXT Cryo LX as those 2 are worth the money. I'm currently using the NC2000 and enjoy its looks and fit coupled with its performance.

Glad I was able to help summarize for you!

 

Ok i just got this laptop yesterday.
the color on rgbled screen is indeed saturated but i like the colors.
brightness of the screen is little dimmer compare to B+RG screen on studio 17.
I just tried to play some warcraft 3 games, oh man what is this it stutters mad crazy and i can't play game like this.
I don't get it, warcraft 3 isnt demanding game like those newer fps games.
So i assume this is the throttling issue everyone is talking about. I am gonna have to return both this xps and my studio 17. They both are stuttering in game.

 

maybe your game is corrupted ? ever thought of that ? and do you have the 130W charger ?

 

Hello everybody !

I got my Dell Studio XPS 1645 a fortnight ago. I have got it with a 90W adapter, so far I haven't felt any throttling. Can anyone tell me when or why it throttles ? Should i go for 130 W adapter even if I don't feel any kind of throttling with 90W one ?

One more thing, I hear load noise when burning a CD/DVD, Does it happen to every notebook or is there any kind of issue with mine ??

 

game doesn't stutter when im on battery power i assume 130w adapter should improve issue but i dont want to chance that when i have 21 days of return period if this thing stutters again in future with more demanding games even with 130w , then im out of luck.

 

130w will improve the condition. You're going to need it. That's the bottom line.
You will need to update to A08
If comfortable, redo the thermal paste
If comfortable, I recommend a clean install of Win7 with the newest drivers

Do these 4 steps, and you will have a sweet running system.

 

So I have someone from Dell coming tomorrow to replace my touchpad and give me a 130w adapter which is good news.

However recently when I'm watching videos after 10 minutes or so my screen goes black (can still hear audio) and lags like hell. Pretty much only solution is to shut it down/put it to sleep and then power it back on and I can use it again. Problem with my video card perhaps? Or is it another problem other people have experienced?

Cheers

 

i'm also from India..can u tell when u ordered and when you got laptop?

and which place are you from?

P.S: please enable ur Private messaging..i cant able to message you

 

yippy my laptop arrived today but no one was at home to collect it for me have to wait till tmr. Should I perform a clean install once I get it?

 

i did. but wierd thing is the boot time of the original install was 33 seconds (after you set it up ofcourse). now on a fresh install its 60 seconds.

 

All i know is my new laptop hasnt throttled yet on my 90w playing bc2 yet but im still going to try to get that 130w ps.

 

I don't really have any throttling issues if the system is plugged in and the battery is NOT charging. If I play a game while trying to charge, the game will lag and the battery basically won't charge. System is much faster when I first turn it on, but then it gets really warm after a while. Considering my air conditioner doesn't work, I'd better get one of those Zalman (or however you spell it) coolers before the 98-degree weather gets here in July.

 

Mine did the same thing. It is a problem with a driver. When I boot in safe mode it shows it hanging at classpnp.sys. I still havent figured out what the cause of this is.

 

I've been needing a new laptop for software dev and gaming and finally pulled the trigger on a dell outlet refurb today, somewhat spontaneously. The specs were too tasty for me to resist, but a lack of prior research kept me from knowing that there are apparently some issues with this model. Am I pretty much guaranteed to have issues with this config? I'm getting buyer's remorse before I've even got the machine...

Here are the tasty bits:

Studio XPS 16 - 1645 Laptop Certified Refurbished
Processor: Intel Core i7-820QM Quad Core Processor 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
16.0 inch Premium Edge-to-edge Glossy Full HD RGB-LED LCD display (1920x1080p)
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
8X DVD+/- RW(DVD/CD read/write) Slot Load Drive
Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Panzer software version 1.2
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
125V Power Cord
Obsidian Black
130W A/C Adapter, 3P
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
9 Cell, 85 WHr Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Hopefully a satisfied 1645 owner soon,

Trey

 

If you mean when you're watching videos online, try installing Flash 10.1 Beta 3 (it's very stable despite it's "beta" title). Uninstall your current flash version first, and if you're using Firefox download the "plug-in for windows" (IE uses the active-x). I had the same problems as you, installed that, and all was fine . I think it was a compatibility issue with 64-bit windows and flash, or something like that.

Nice specs. I can see how that'd be hard to resist . Don't worry, it's a good system, especially since you get the 130w adapter with your purchase. You've essentially fixed the worst issue, the CPU throttling (just make sure you also have BIOS A08 running). The only other problem you might face is the GPU throttling caused by heat (above ~84C) and that could be non-existent depending on a number of variables (ambient temperature, cooler/thermal paste availability, luck ). With a little USB fan that I have facing the bottom vent during gaming, I never get above 80C on any game I've played so far (note: I did also change my thermal paste to AS5). Just try it out for a while and see how you like it.

 

The day has arrived!!! *hyper* so tvdang7 and 06voy has its boot time started up slower after a clean install. Still wondering wether I shud do the same.

 

Cheers mate, yeh it was a video online (NBA.com) so hopfully downloading that fixes it.

Just 1 more thing (which could be solved by the end of today anyway) with the touchpad. If you guys alt-tab from another window into, say, firefox, does the scroll on your touchpad work immediately? If I swipe down the side of the touchpad after alt-tabbing from another window (or even clicking on the window, doesn't have to be alt-tab) it never works on the first swipe, instead it just moves the mouse like there is no scroll function. The down/up keys work so it's not like the window isn't being focused on. Does that sound like it's the touchpad that needs replacing? Also, the scroll hardly works in programs like Steam where it's very hit-and-miss and never scrolls smoothly. It should work, it scrolled fine on my old laptop so here's hoping it's the touchpad that needs replacing as I'm getting a new one today!

 

Weird issue I realized about the laptop. When I put it to sleep it will stay in sleep mode for a good while but in the middle of the night it will randomly just turn on and stay on.

What could be causing that?

 

i'm also from India..can u tell when u ordered and when you got laptop?

and which place are you from?

P.S: please enable ur Private messaging..i cant able to message you
__________________
Dell S-XPS Core i7 720QM 1.6Ghz 4GB DDR3 RAM ATI RADEON 4670 1GB 15.6"

Order Recieved:12/03 Still manufacturing...

========================================================
I am from Himachal Pradesh, I got my lappy on 26th of feb which I had ordered on 19th of Jan

 

Oh yeh, I have that problem occasionally...no idea why, so yeah if anyone has the same problem or knows how to fix this would be nice....it seems to turn on and be LOUD as too.

 

Amazing Customer Care support from Dell

Called them yesterday and asked about what is this issue on throttling while playing games ? He said not to worry and sent me a link to A08 version of BIOS. I installed it.

He further said he will be sending me a 130W adapter, and I have my door bell ringing even before I woke up in the morning @ 8 a.m. today. A dell represenative standing in front of my house so early with the adapter...

So, now I have a 130W adapter within 24 hours of calling Dell Support

Simply amazing Customer Care Service

 

You have just been Lucky. Congrats! Hope your luck continues

 

Can Anyone tell me about the noise issues while burning a CD/DVD on 1645 ?

 

Oh boy did I have this issue when I received the laptop back in november. Every night I'd put it into hibernate and wake up with it on....or in sleep mode.

So I found the culprit to be many processes that are set to wake up the computer when they are timed. The major culprit was McAfee scans which were scheduled for 5am and were set with a priority to wake computer to run scan. Additionally, so were windows updates.

you can find this under the control panel....in administrative tools. there were a lot of processes to go through - but go through 1 by 1 and ensure all are set to not wake up the computer.

Oh - you might also want to check that you have your wireless adapter set to not wake up on LAN that can cause it too.

best of luck 0- drop me a message if you need more specific details.

 

8 a.m.. How did they came at 8? their office starts at 9 minimum..

Its weird...Check adapter carefully...you might have been conned..
Just kidding..

At least you get wht you want...I have ordered dell on 12th march and EDD was 31st march and now it went to 12th april..

 

okay, is the screen supposed to shut off when I close the laptop lid? Because mine doesn't. It just keeps blazing away until it hits the screensaver time.

 

hard drive failure. am being sent a new hd and a new 130 watt adapter. i have had a 130 pa13 seance i got this thing and very rarely have any throttling issues, but it is neat the new adapter has a fancy light at the plug... 2nd issue, but nothing major. strangely happy with this thing, never thought that would happen with dell

 

Bummer, had the whole palmrest replaced today hoping it'd get rid of my troubles but they're still there...

Can someone confirm this for me? If you alt-tab into firefox and then try scrolling using the touchpad does it work straight away? For me my first swipe after alt-tabbing just moves the mouse, it's like it doesn't have the firefox window on focus but if I use the up/down keys it moves which confirms it has focused on that window. It's not just for firefox, it's for everything, but that's just the example I can use.

Also, scrolling in Steam and other applications similar to that don't work well at all. Really annoying. Does anyone else here have Steam that can confirm if scrolling with touchpad on the 1645 works/doesn't work? I have tried both the Dell drivers and Synaptic ones and neither help.

On the bright side, I did get the 130w adapter today so that's SOME good news

And thanks to zimmyntrn for that, I looked in there and found a few things scheduled for 1am-5am which is rather silly. Hopefully that'll stop the random booting from sleep at night!