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

Thats gr8. I guess you should provide us some benchmark to check if throttling is finally fixed or not!!

 

I would be hesitant due to it being pulled... but hell if you are still under warranty go for it....

Post some TS logs if you can.......

 

What is TS logs?
Which program to use to see if throttling is fixed?

If you find out anything about bios A10, please inform us

 

Unclewebb has created a program called ThrottleStop which locks the cpu and chipset to a set value, and writes down if the system forces it to run slower than designed to due a design flaw by dell and not giving the laptop enough power to operate correctly as advertised....

PM him for the latest version and run it while you run furmark and prime. For a more detailed walkthrough hit up the 1640 throttling post or 1645 maybe....

 

When I play HD videos I get lag, but only when selecting .m2ts (AVCHD) files. MKV and Blu-Ray's play flawlessly. I am using VLC for my .m2ts files. Any suggestions? Thx.

 

I highly suggest you play HD videos in something like PowerDVD...

 

IMO VLC is the best player by far for any type of media, the only reason I use PowerDVD is because it's necessary for Blu-Rays. I just dont get why .m2ts files lag and .mkv and .avi 1080p files don't.

 

VLC player probably doesn't use hardware acceleration, while PowerDVD and other programs do. So check if you have the newest version, and check if VLC does use hardware acceleration or not.

 

I have the latest version, and I was using it with all these same video files on my desktop pc which had an e8400 and hd4890.

 

I personally use GOM Player for all my videos and I just love it.

 

one can always uncheck the option for "hardware acceleration" in PowerDVD

 

Hi All, I guess I belong in here now. My throttled/overheating 1640 was replaced with a 1645 with a WLED, i7 720, 4670, 4gb, BluRay system. The only downgrade given on replacement was that I had RGBLED before and I do notice the difference and miss it!

 

Just wondering guys how much RAM your using and how many processes are running when your system is idle? Im at 44 processes and 1.3GB of 6GB used when just running firefox and using wifi.

 

At bootup I usually use around 1.6gb of ram and it fluctuates between that and 2GB with light usage, for example as of right now I have 110 processes and I'm using 2.3GB of ram.

 

I'm at 1.2GB @ 65 processes with only chrome open...

 

when i start it is around 1 gb of RAM and 52 processes

 

Finally got around to checking out my laptop today.

I purchsed the XPS through Dell EPP, and during the process there was no option to add bluetooth, so I assumed it would have it (bad assumption).....this is pretty annoying as I use bluetooth with my phone quite frequently.

Obviously I could buy a bluetooth dongle for cheap, but I would much rather have an integrated card. So has anyone added or know how to add the Dell bluetooth card to a computer that did not come with it (but could be configured with it)?

TIA

 

the bluetooth card can be purchased through ebay for cheap price.

 

Pretty easy to install then?

BTW I have a little experience working with laptop internals (re-doing thermal paste and stuff like that).

 

I would bet that on firwst boot after putting the card in windows will find it automatically... but if it doesn't not to worry, just head to dell for the drivers for it....

 

Thanks ordered! Anyone have a pic of the location of the bluetooth card?

I'm relieved that its so cheap though!

 

So I bought an external HDD enclosure with eSATA and my transfer rates are only ranging from 80-100MB/s. This is an improvement over USB to be sure (max 50MB/s or 400Mbps), but I thought eSATA was rated up to 3Gbps (384MB/s). The HDD I have installed in my enclosure is a Samsung 1TB 7200RPM SATA2 drive. Any comments? I also wanted to know what the max data transfer rate is for Bluetooth. I am tethering my iPhone but it seems to be way slower than tethering via USB. Thanks!

 

Mine arrives tomorrow (wednesday) hopefully ^_^. Can't wait to get it.

 

I believe eSATA is only a SATA1 interface, ie 1.5Gb/s (~180MB/s), it duzn't really matter though because the HDD will be the bottleneck. Ud probably need a SSD to saturate eSATA

 

Hello XPSters,

I have ordered my XPS 1645 yesterday. But i did not get the option to choose 130 W adapter (i specifically asked about this), so i am getting a 90W. Now, is there anyone who doesn't have the throttling problems with 90W adapter( probably those who purchased the latest ones ) ? Share some thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks,
L8.

 

I believe even most users WITH the 130 are having throttling issues.. you have to get one man.. Google dell bill 130 adapter and you will find a Dell forum with his post that you can point a rep to for proof you deserve it.

 

I just talked to the "Sales Expert" (of course after waiting for 20 min), she said that once the order is in production they can't change a thing. I have to call the "Tech Experts" once i receive the laptop (July 14) and EXPLAIN all this stuff in terms that they can UNDERSTAND and show proof and hopefully i will get a replacement. I wonder why the expert departments don't talk to each other. Goddammit, at least hire a 6th grader who can read this forum. Here starts my customer experience with dell. :cry:

 

I thought the 1645 shipped with a 130w adapter by default now?

 

yeah should do ... maybe it's a 1647?

 

I ordered mine May 30th (Canada) and recieved a 130w adapter and A09 Bios.

 

I choose power saver in power management of windows7 and i dont see any differences from balanced option.

Cpu is still running in 931Mhz with multi 7, bus133 and qpi 2128

Also when i am in power saver mode, if i run a heavy program cpu goes to 2800Mhz with 21 multi like in balanced mode. I dont see any difference.

Is it normal? Thanks in advance!

 

I am getting a lot of horizontal tearing while playing Bad Company 2. I am running at 1280x720 with settings medium averaging around 45FPS. Not that it matters because after 5mins the frame-rate just throws in the towel and my SXPS turns into complete garbage performance-wise. Is there another BIOS version I can rollback to, to combat the throttling?

 

Pretty sure the minimum processor state (the value that you are indirectly changing) doesn't affect the i7 quads at all. It's going to do its thing anyway.

 

Question for you all. Since my system arrives tomorrow, I'm concerned about all of the throttling issues many of you have been having. I know some people claim that it isn't a problem, but some of you are saying you are experiencing throttling with the newest 1645 model.

When I receive it tomorrow, what should I do to see if I will have any issues outside of actually playing games with it? And if I do experience throttling, would you recommend I return it?

 

Well if I hook up to an external LCD I can play games fine (lid is closed and onboard screen is off). Temps are about 5 degrees lower (i also have the back raised to simulate the 9-cell battery). I'm going to just lay the notebook flat now and see if I have any issues and monitor the temps when using an external screen. The real issue of course is the power consumption, not temps...I guess having the WLED screen off gives the i7 enough power.

 

Eh, I'd like to not have to resort to doing that to use the system for gaming.

 

The throttling while playing on the laptop screen is not acceptable to me either, I'm merely just testing every possible scenario. It's nice to know that this works for now and that maybe D3ll will release a new BIOS which will allow more power to the CPU.

 

Does the Sxps 16 have dual hdds? So can I put in an additional 500gb hdd after purchase?

 

BTW if you download RivaTuner and run the program "D3DOverrider" in the system tray while playing games you should never have any tearing problems again. Not sure why they are there in Bad Company 2 to begin with, but this works.

 

Dual HDDs don't come standard on the SXPS 16. However, it has space for dual HDDs, as you can take out the optical drive and put another HDD in there (you'll need an HDD caddy though). This great THREAD shows you how to do it, if need be. So it is def. possible.

 

I ran a few tests that induced artificial load using Prime95, Furmark, ThrottleStop and some temp monitoring tools and couldn't get my CPU to Throttle in regular configurations. The reason I say regular configurations is because when I had my power scheme set to balanced the CPU multiplier was throttling down to 7.0. More specifically, when my Minimum Processor State setting under Processor Power Management was set to 5% (you can change this specifically or just choose high performance), it was locking the multiplier at 7.

When play BF:BC2 on low settings with 1920x1080 res I was consistently getting 40-55 fps for about 30-45 minutes, after which I stopped playing. I never noticed the fps drastically drop.

I'd say for most moderate gamers you probably won't notice any throttling/performance issues, but if you're a heavy gamer or are ratcheting everything up to to its max settings maybe you'll start to experience performance degredation. I haven't actually had the chance to monitor the performance in different games under a variety of settings or for extended periods of time, but I haven't had any problems thus far with mirror's edge and BF:BC2.

 

In power management of windows 7
can i change the power saver mode
to work the cpu(i7-720) at only 931Mhz with multi 7 and bus133

 

I have a 1645, Core I7, Love it so far. Got a great deal from Dell. It came with the A09 Bios and the 130 watt Power Supply, so I guess I am set as far as that.

Couple questions: Is the 9 cell battery (extended life) the largest? doesn't last long. I assume that most folks turn on the "extended" life feature in power management?

Any other tips/tricks to set for best performance?

 

Go into your control panel and advanced settings and tinker in there.... I can easily get 3 hours while browsing.. and yes 9 is the largest offered..

 

Just cancelled my order for my Alienware M11x and picked up a SXPS 1645. I'm coming from an XPS M1710. M11x was taking forever to come. I ordered my SXPS 2 weeks later and i'm getting an EDD of a week before the M11x was suppose to be delivered.

1 224-7375 Studio XPS 16 Notebook
1 312-0950 9-cell Battery
1 313-7056 BLURAY COMBO,INSP
1 317-2361 i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz, 6MB Cache)
1 317-2365 6GB,DDR3,1333MHZ,2 DIMM
1 320-1307 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 1GB
1 320-8339 15.6 1080P FULL HD WLED LCD, W/2.0 MP,IN
1 320-8354 Arctic White LTHR,INSP
1 330-6222 Windows 7 OS Label,CNB
1 330-7785 RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,MDSN,XPS 1645
1 341-8989 500GB HARD DRIVE,7200RPM,M1640
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0,MLANG,I/S/X NB
1 410-2466 MCAFEE PEARL MUI,15MTH,W/O,XNB
1 412-0148 NO ISP REQUESTED
1 420-6436 PC-RESTORE, DIM/INSP
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,SW,DIM/INSP
1 420-7938 DELL CONNECT 2.1,DIM/INSP/XPS
1 420-9100 DELL DOCK CONSUMER,INB/XNB
1 420-9352 DELL,SW,WILD TANGENT INC GAMES I/S
1 420-9691 DATASAFE LOCAL BACKUP 2.0 BASIC
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-0187 DELL SPRT-CTR SW,64BIT,2.0
1 421-0188 FACIAL RECOGNITION
1 421-0323 WINDOWS LIVE SEARCH,MUI,CSMR NB/DT
1 421-0757 SKYPE VOIP SOFTWARE APPLICATION,CNB
1 421-1010 Dell Webcam Central v1.4
1 421-1361 MOD,SW,RXO,EZCD,10.3,DE,FI
1 421-1583 CYBERLINK POWERDVD 8.3 BD-P DVD,CNB
1 421-1737 WIN 7 HOME PREM, 64, ENG,S/XNB
1 421-2000 Soundblaster X-Fi HD Audio,SW Enabled
1 421-2086 EBAY-WEBSLICE, CNB
1 430-0763 Dell Wireless 1501 for Canada and Latin
1 430-3605 INTEGRATED NIC
1 410-0487 MICROSOFT OFFICE STARTER 2010,CNB
1 905-5707 HW WRTY+SVC,STUDIOXPS 1645,SOL,INIT,CA
1 906-5460 RTD,STUDIOXPS 1645,SOL,INIT,CA
1 920-5070 XPS WARRANTY SPRT, INSPIRON, INIT YR,CA
1 430-0700 DW 370 (USB module)

 

Interesting switcharoo considering how different the laptops are!

 

I was going for size. That was priority #1 with performance coming in at #2. Then I started debating myself over having a small 11" screen for the next 3 years and for sure I didn't want a 17"+. So i kind of went in between. I never really brought my M1710 around with me and I actually love the look of the SXPS...in other words the only reason i was buying the m11x was because of the 11.4" screen and the performance factor. I really wasn't much into the look and I couldn't wait around for the HP Envy 14 or the Acer 3820TG since my old XPS is on it's last legs (GPU issues)

 

My 1645 arrived yesterday (wednesday) and I decided that I'm going to return it today. I can't deal with the throttling I get in games. Sucks, since I really like the look of the system, but oh well.

 

Let me know what Dell has to say, I am considering doing the same thing myself. Love the look of the unit and using it but if I'm not going to get the full performance out of the specs when paying $1500+ whats the point right?

 

They tried to convince me to keep the system by offering first a $75 discount, and then bumping it up to a 100$ discount if you keep it. I didn't take their offers.