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

Just for your info, this happens to me on Dell's drivers, as well.

Not sure what the issue is here.

~Ibrahim~

 

Hello again, I have a few issues that I hoped someone could help me address..

What are the normal furmark scores for the 1645? I wanted to compare my 975 score at 1900x1080 to some other scores. (I've had my new XPS 1645 for a week, 5730 1GB, i7 Q720, 4 GB RAM)

Also, when I run GTA4, the benchmark tells me I am only using 23% of my CPU. What gives? Im getting about 15 FPS average on the benchmark at default settings.

I'm not sure if I am CPU or GPU throttling or what. Is this normal? Can anyone tell me what FPS they achieve on some modern games (TF2, Just Cause 2, GTA4, Bad Company 2, etc) or direct me to the thread where people discuss this sort of thing? Thanks, I really appreciate all the help I find here!

 

So I ordered it the 15th, and it was in production until the 21st where it got shipped out to me. I got it on the 24th. Pretty speedy.

 

Congrats on the new laptop, sounds awesome! There are so many variables that it's hard to nail down poor performance sometimes. I'm sorry I can't help with the 3dMark scores as I don't bother with that anymore, but my gut feeling says that the laptop should be able to run GTA4 just fine. I play TF2, CS:S, L4D2, and DoWII at 1920x1080 and high setting at beautifully smooth frame rates.

Now about the variables I mentioned:

What setting are you playing at? Is there any Anti-aliasing enabled? That always kills framerates and is hardly needed at 1920x1080.

What power plan setting are you at in Windows? High performance is what you want.

Any applications running in the background?

Plugged in or on battery power?

Which videocard drivers are you running? I like the latest Mobility drivers from AMD/ATi.

You may be experiencing throttling, though because you have consistently low frame rates, instead of them starting after a while, I'm inclined to think it is something else.

 

Thanks! I'll post my GTA4 benchmark at the bottom of this post.

I am using High Performance. As someone advised me earlier, I changed the minimum CPU state to about 50% and that helped in Just Cause 2.

No applications were running in the background (except Steam)

Plugged in, 130w adapter.

I am using the drivers on the Dell Support site (they're version 8.something). I've been told by friends and dell support that using the ATI driver is "dangerous" so I am hesitant to try that out without some advise.

Statistics
Average FPS: 16.01
Duration: 37.73 sec
CPU Usage: 24%
System memory usage: 74%
Video memory usage: 84%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1080 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Shadow Quality: High
Reflection Resolution: High
Water Quality: High
Texture Filter Quality: Anisotropic x2
Night Shadows: Medium
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 25

Hardware
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Video Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730
Video Driver version: 8.14.1.6091
Audio Adapter: Speakers / Headphones (IDT High Definition Audio CODEC)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz

 

Using the ATi mobility drivers is perfectly safe, though the latest Dell drivers should be fine. If you are interested, here's the link to the ATi drivers: ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

I'd try turning down the shadow quality a notch or two, as shadows can also be pretty intensive. Also, for my "high performance" power plan setting, I have the min and max CPU state set to 100%... definitely what you want for max performance. Hopefully someone else who plays GTA4 can reply with info about how the game runs on this laptop.

 

Yea, if someone could post their experience with GTA4 on their 1645, I would really appreciate it!

 

I can do that, I have both GTA4 and GTA:EFLS. I will quickly run a benchmark on EFLS with high settings at 1080p. Wait

 

Alright guys. I do get severe throttling but didnt occur during benchmarking. I have A09 Bios and Ati Catalyst 10.6 installed.
Attaching the TS log during benchmark. As I can see XPS1645w/5730 does perform a bit better than Ati4670. From what I think about CPU usage, its a quad processor with 8 threads so it doesnt really give up while gaming

GTA: TBoGT log:

Statistics
Average FPS: 14.08
Duration: 32.39 sec
CPU Usage: 29%
System memory usage: 73%
Video memory usage: 77%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1080 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Shadow Quality: High
Reflection Resolution: High
Water Quality: High
Texture Filter Quality: Anisotropic x2
Night Shadows: Medium
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 25

Hardware
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

Video Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
Video Driver version: 8.17.10.29
Audio Adapter: Speakers / Headphones (IDT High Definition Audio CODEC)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz

BTW my system is getting replaced with a brand new XPS1645 with a bit of upgraded specs

 

Does anyone else have any "squeaky" keys? My spacebar today started sqeaking slightly and I thought it wouldn't bother me at first but it is really annoying. Build quality -1.

 

Looks like mine was shipped. Ordered June 24th, in production until the 30th and it shows shipped the 30th. EDD is still the 8th though. I also have no way of tracking it since nothing really shows up in my account. Going to contact a rep later.

 

You should be able to use your order number and use fedex track by reference number option.

 

ya im in Canada...looks like they ship Purolator

 

I ran 3Dmark just now. I have the 5730 1GB card, the i7 Q720, 4GB RAM, high performance mode on, the AC 130w adapter pluuged in. Here are my scores..

3DMark Score P3593 3DMarks
CPU Score 5682
Graphics Score 3200

How does this compare to other Studio XPS 1645s? I thought I read about people scoring in the 7000s.

 

Was this @ 1280 x 1024??

 

Yes, and I had my zalman cooler running at full blast the entire time.

 

Not to be a noob, but to be consistent in things.. was your res. @ that or something higher?

 

My desktop was at 1900x1080 but I ran the test (Trial version locked me to the defaults) at 1280x1024

 

Yeah same here I will give it a go...

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...your-xps-16-futuremark-3d-mark-06-scores.html

You're way off if this is the same test (3593?). Make sure powerplay is on maximum performance.

 

With brightness at full and wifi off..

3DMark: 7293
CPU Score: 3073
Graphics Score: ???? I don't see this...

 

PP is enabled and at max performance...??

Wouldn't my overall 3d score be bad if something was wrong? I am getting right @ 7300..

 

True they ship Purolator but if you log into your dell account and review your order, it will give you a Purolator tracking number. It did for me at least.

P.S. Happy Canada Day

 

Same to you! even though i'm working

Ya i checked it isn't there yet. I called and the rep from India said that they needed to call a dept to get that tracking # and of course they are closed because of Canada Day since that dept is located in Canada. I called Purolator wanting to use my order# but i am on hold for such long periods of time that i just give up and hang up lol

BTW, how long did it take to get to you and where are you in Canada? I don't even really care when it gets here, i just want to plan it so i make sure someone is at home to sign for it.

 

Took 4 business days (got here on the 4th day) to get to me in Edmonton once the lappy was shipped.

 

I used 3D mark vantage since it's directx 10. I'll try out 3d mark 06 (directx 9).

 

I just ran 3D mark 06, and I got a 5694 score. My CPU score was 1705. Specs for the new page... (I need to add this to my sig) HD 5730 1GB, i7 Q720, 4 GB RAM, 130w AC adapter plugged in, high performance mode on in power settings. I turned my zalman nc2000 on about half way through the test because I forgot to turn it on at the beginning.

Any advice? I am REALLY far from the 7200~ average for the Studio XPS 1645 and it worries me.

EDIT: I rebooted my PC and ran 3dmark06 again, and I got a 7200 something score

 

Father Flex, my laptop took the same time as wetcardboard did. I'm in Ottawa and took about 4 days too. Pretty speedy for having to go through customs.

 

I just ordered a Studio XPS 1645 with 820QM, RGBLED and HD4670. (no HD5730 available in Belgium) Probably the worst throttling combo ever, but i'm gonna test my luck. How much throttling chance do you guys think I have? Pick a number.. 25% - 50% - 75% - 100%

And if it indeed does suffer from severe throttling issues, then Dell should give me a replacement system right? (SXPS 1647)

 

hi all .i am a new user at this website . by reading this thread ,i found it very useful and informative .
i have a Dell XPS 1645 . i am facing a problem and need ur help regarding
wireless connection .
i have Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6200 AGN.
the problem i am facing is ,after an hour the internet connectivity issue arise .and some time my wireless connection turn off or restart . after pressing the wireless button it still give "wireless connection is off". this problem is solved by restarting my laptop.can you please help me in this regard

 

i will be very gratefully to you .

 

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone in here has GTA IV installed, and how does it run for you?

I recently installed it via Steam, and I am getting horrible performance lag. I've turned all settings on low/off, and still no use. My XPS 1645 has the latest drivers, bios update, and latest graphics driver through ATI.

Here are my specs:
Intel Core i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz)
15.6 inch Edge-to-Edge HD+ Widescreen WLED LCD (1600x900)
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
9 Cell, 85 WHr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
130w Adapter

Thanks!

 

I have the same specs, plus a 5730 rather than a 4670. GTA4 runs like crap for me as well. I haven't been able to find a way to maintain a steady 30 fps yet, though I did give up trying. Turning down your resolution and shadows might help.

 

Have you (@barnone and @lardmaster) got the latest GTA 4 patches installed? (Last I remember was 1.4 or 1.5). It ran like for me till I got the patch. Runs at a steady 25-30fps after the update for me on Med/high settings for me, even in 1080p!! My 1645 rocks

 

I want to know if the hyper-threading which is featured in the i7's draws more power than if hyperthreading was off. If it draws less power with it off, how do I turn the feature off on my 1645? I have an i7 in my desktop and in the BIOS I disabled it since I don't need 8 theoretical cores, 4 will do.
As a side question, does Ubuntu 10.04 draw less power then Windows 7? I'm seriously thinking partitioning my drive to install Ubuntu.
Thanks in advance,
Spike

 

You can park the hyperthreaded cores 100% of the time, but you'd probably have to experiment to see which were real and which were HT.

Ubuntu probably has better battery life, but that's just an assumption. If you can't find the answer on Google, Ubunutu has their own forums and I'm sure at least one person has done battery life comparisons.

~Ibrahim~

 

just recently bought l4d2 and gave it a whirl today. my temps got up to 89 degrees C on the gpu and and 87 C for my cpu. This is with a cooler running as well mind you. This seems pretty hot, i dont even want to know what the temps would be without my cooler. Do you think its about time to call dell again? I had my mobo replaced already a month ago.

 

Yea I have the full version on Steam. I'll fiddle around with it sometime. Did you get 25 FPS in the benchmark or just playing through the game?

Also, how does Borderlands run on the 1645? I am thinking about picking it up with this Steam deal (so a fast reply is extremely appreciated!)

 

Hi, yes I'm fairly certain I have the latest patch, because I just purchased and installed it from Steam, and it has auto-update enabled. Still getting the horrible performance lag though

 

Should i do the parking the core method or get throttlestop?
I think they do the same thing?

 

@lardmaster and @barnone

Actually, while I only get an average of 23 fps in the benchmark, it performs much better on average while I'm playing the game itself. I've actually attached the benchmark file - see if that helps. I suppose I could attach my settings file later if you still can't get it going properly. Couple of things which have to be kept in mind while playing - I've seen with the 1645 that ambient temperature is a huge factor in performance. Should be perfect at anything below 24 deg C. Plus, make sure you're running the A09 BIOS - the best BIOS, by far, for the 1645 right now.

I'm sorry I haven't played Borderlands on the 1645 myself, but I know its a pretty well-optimised game, so I'd bet that it'll be just fine on the 1645. Except for the heating issues, the 1645 hasn't failed me in any game yet

 

Hey Friends , I am from India and new to this website ..

Its almost 2 months I have purchased my StudioXPS 1645. Till yesterday My DVD/CD slot was working perfectly .. Then I ejected one DVD and tried to Insert another .. The other DVD went inside , made some 2 click noise and returned out (ejected automatically) .. I tried to insert the same DVD again and it did the same .. eject out.. Then I tried to insert my previous DVD which was working fine .. even that got ejected and now none of the DVD is getting accepted .. It gones inside ... Makes 2 click noise and the ejects out .. Can anyone tell me what went wrong ..??

Whats the next step I shld be taking ?

 

Actually, they're different in what they do.

Throttlestop is meant to stop computers which throttle unnecessarily by forcing the CPU to maintain it's full speed (MHz-wise).

Disabling/tweaking core parking is only applicable to i7 CPUs on Windows 7. Intel devised this power-saving mechanism that makes cores enter a very low power state when not used. But, sometimes this causes a performance lag when the cores need to be enabled to the normal power state. Disabling core parking forces the CPU to keep all cores active.

Core parking is different from Turbo Boost,I think. The latter actually disables/turns off the core while core parking (I think) only makes them enter a low-power-state.

Yes or no?

~ibrahim~

 

Does anyone here know where I can find linux drivers for the DW1501 Wireless-N card in my XPS 1645? Right now I'm stuck using a LAN cable until I can find them. I posted the question on UbuntuForums but wanted to know if anyone else here knows of them.
Thanks,
Spike

 

Quick question guys - just got my SXPS 16 with the 5730 GPU. Preloaded with A09. Inexplicably, I'm seeing GPU throttling at 78-79 deg C. Could one of you with the 5730, running the A09 BIOS quickly check Catalyst Control Center for which BIOS version and BIOS date you have?

 

Okay...HELP!!!!

Just got my replacement 1645 last night with the 5730 GPU, and straightaway, trouble.

I have no idea how this hasn't been brought up till now, but the damn GPU throttles like the axe. And it freaking throttles at 78 deg C. With ANY BIOS! Even A09. I know that A09 updates the video BIOS for the 4670, but DOES NOT for the 5730. Even A10 has me stuck as some GPU BIOS from 20/11/2009 (or is it just me? By some freak chance?)

Which leaves my GPU downclocking to 450MHz as soon as I hit 78 deg C, and even worse is, it does not rise back up when the temperatures fall.

I've been trying to get Rivatuner to work so that I can lock the clocks, but haven't had any success so far.

Hows it going for the rest of you 5730 owners? Any way you've gotten Rivatuner working? Or has anyone else seen a video BIOS update?

PS - Another weird thing, I noticed that I'm seeing some throttling with the slimline PA4E 130W adapter I got. But the PA-13 brick I had with my old SXPS16 hardly causes throttling. I'm sticking with the brick for now I think

 

replied to this in the other thread you posted...

 

@ all 5730 owners

Temporary fix found for people who are throttling at 78 deg C ONLY FOR HD 5730. Clocks can be locked using Rivatuner. This is how:
1. Download Rivatuner
2. Download Atsiv and Rivatuner batch file from the following source
Atsiv.zip - download now for free. File sharing. Software file sharing. Free file hosting. File upload. FileFactory.com
3. Extract zip to Rivatuner folder.
4. Open Rivatuner.cfg using Notepad
5. Scroll down to RV770 in the [GPU_1002] section, add a comma and the string "68C0h".
6. Start Rivatuner using the Rivatuner.bat file that was extracted earlier.
7. You should have Rivatuner running now with 128bit, RV770 (400sp) below your GPU name. Click on customise, then Low lever system settings (leftmost box)
8. Click on checkbox Low level overclocking>Detect now>set clock speed to 651 (yes, 651, not 650).
9. APPLY! It will NOT downclock at 78 deg C now

This hack works despite the fact that 5000 series cards are not yet supported by Rivatuner. Not very elegant, but atleast you can freakin use that 5730 now

 

Been reading this thread for a while now, always an interesting read! I got a SXPS 1645 a few months ago, i7-820QM, 4670. I'm a bit disappointed I missed out on the 5730!

I've got the usual power problems, I'm using the 90W adapter still, amazed at how hot it gets while gaming! (It still doesn't seem normal for the sticker to "bubble" on the power supply...)

I'm also having a problem I saw earlier in this thread, sometimes my screen doesn't turn on after sleeping, and sometimes even just turning the laptop on. After some time, trying to turn it on again, it works! =/ Currently running A10 and CCC 10.6, any ideas why this might be?

Also, the laptop I've currently got is 4GB of RAM, how easy (or possible at all) to add a third 2GB stick of RAM, for 6GB total?


- Jono

 

Impossible I'm afraid. The CPU only supports 2 memory channels so if you need to upgrade to 6 Gb then you'll just have to swap one of the 2 Gb sticks for a 4 Gb stick!