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

You should be able to just create an image with Windows backup, save the image on an external drive, and then restore it onto your new SSD.

 

I'd have to agree. The price for a 2 stick kit is nearly identical to the price of 2x single sticks of RAM. So if price is an object, just buy one now, and another later. Then sell your 2GB sticks on ebay.

The only thing is if you have a 4GB and 2GB mixed, only 4GB is going to run at dual-channel speeds, and the extra 2GB will be at single-channel speed. It's still faster than only having 4GB, but it won't take full advantage unless both your sticks are the same size.

 

@SkyWraith. I tried that and it had spikes when I opened up programs which i guess is fine other than that, no when a song does that it doesnt spike

@daredevilanand I have not tried another player but I like WMP. It happens on every song but its random.

Should I contact Dell? Id rather not send it in if a fix can be found.

 

Today my brand new 1645 got in. I've been waiting on it eagerly since I ordered it on July 20th. I was so excited when it got in. It came beautifully packaged. It was such a nice looking laptop, with a real quality feel to it. I plug it in, turn it on, and nothing. It was DOA. No lights, no noise, no error message, no nothing. No reaction at all. Just dead.

After spending over an hour on hold, and getting disconnected twice, Dell is sending me out a replacement. The rep said that it could take up to 4 weeks, but because of my circumstances they'd expedite it and send me out another brand new one ASAP. Hopefully it'll be here in a week. I'm so disappointed. I should be typing on my new 1645 right now. Oh well. At least I can look at it until my new one gets here.

 

Strange question here but sort of on topic , as it has to do with the i7. Dell wants to replace my current xps with a replacement. There are some differences though, so heres my current xps, and then the new one they want to send.

Current System: core 2 duo T9550 2.6GHZ Processor, RGB screen, Ati 4670 1gb, bluray read AND write.

New System: Core i7 820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache) processor , 15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 1080p Full HD WLED LCD , BluRay Combo Drive, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 1Gb


So really 2 main questions, is the i7 a huge upgrade over my current processor (especially with AfterEffects, Cinema4D etc)

And is the 15.6" LCD screen a huge downgrade from RGB. I know rgb people will say it is, but has anyone seen both screens side by side?

Also sounds like the video card is better, but not sure?
Opinions???

 

@seeker_moc - Bad times! I guess you were just one of the very unfortunate ones! I guess it has to happen to somebody though right?
Hope the new one arrives for you soon!

 

Okay, I have a couple questions - I've noticed that while gaming, my computer gets extremely hot, to the point if you set your hand on the frame and left it there you would burn yourself. This can't possibly be good for the computer, so I'm probably going to get some kind of notebook cooler. Any recommendations?

I'm also going to try undervolting the computer (unless someone tells me a good reason why I shouldn't). I think the undervolt plus a notebook cooler would do wonders.

One last thing - is it still possible to have Dell send me the 120w adapter? I've been using the 90w adapter for about 6 months. I recently bought Unreal Tournament 3 and after about 5 or 10 minutes of flawless performance it starts to throttle and stutter badly. Maybe that's just the heat, but I don't know for sure.

EDIT:
Oh wait, I meant to say I needed a 130w adapter. Silly me, mixing up the numbers...

 

The 820 is the best processor out right now (except for the 900 series extreme processors for $1000 per CPU). It should be significantly faster than the T9550, especially in heavily threaded applications like those you mentioned. Also, the 5730 is a big upgrade, about 20% faster with 9W less power consumption, and DX11.

It sucks about the screen, but I think that the CPU and GPU more than make up for it. Besides, your kinda SOL on the RGB, as they aren't shipping them with systems anymore. You could always go back and complain after your new systems arrive. Some people have said that the Dell technicians still have some RGB screens in stock and may be able to do an upgrade at your home after your replacement arrives.

 

Yeah, crap happens. I'm not too mad about it, but I kinda feel like a kid on Christmas morning who finds out there's nothing but coal in his stocking with an IOU that says "sorry, but your awesome present won't be here for another two weeks"

 

Thanks Seeker, I agree about the screen. Ive watched those dell techs replace 3 screens, and wondering if i should just swap it out with my current one. Do you know if they just send me a new one with return label and i send this one back? Also.. wondering why they dont ship the RGB ones anymore? Problems with them or somthing?

 

For me, they told me to hold on to my defective system, then return it in the box that the new system comes in.

As far as the screen goes, there's been alot of speculation that the extra power draw from the RGB screen is a significant contributing factor to all the throttling problem that the 164* series had.

 

Notebook cooler - Zalman NC-2000 - You won't ever look back from that.

130W adapter - Just call Dell and see what they say! They won't bite! Plus I called up saying that my 90w was getting too hot and they sent me a 130w out the next day! If you're throttling then you'll have no problem getting the 130w.

Undervolting - See how you go with the 130w and the cooler first!

 

If i get a 1647, should i call Dell and ask em to send me the 130w adapter or ill be fine with the 90w?
thanks

 

Sorry, double post.

 

Only just slightly better, there is the 840QM, with 14x clock to give 133MHz more than the 820QM. So only just better!


On topic, does anyone have this problem: when the laptop heats up, I get a small (~5cm diameter) yellowish splodge on my screen, assuming from heat?

 

Get the 130w just to be on the safe side. I did and I just use the 90w for travelling.

 

According to Dell, a 90W adapter is sufficient for 1647 because of the use of Arrendale processors which require less power to run efficiently. Because of this, the Studio XPS 1647 does not require the same level of power that some 1645 configurations do. But they are ready to replace it with a 130W adapter if the 90-watt adapter gets hot while powering.Also note that if you use your Studio XPS 1647 with a 130-watt adapter, it will not deliver any more power to your system than the 90-watt adapter due to BIOS limitations.

 

Mine finally arrived ... I'm officially an owner!!

Ok sorry, but I've been waiting months to finally say that

@ spenser, they're giving you a very good system, but it doesn't match very well with what you had. I'm not sure what I'd do. I wouldn't have got mine without RGB - the blu-ray burner I could do without - the i7-820 is probably going to run rings around your old processor.

@ darthmertz & aleloco: get the 130W if they'll give it to you - more than 90W is drawn by both the 1645 and 1647.
Also, I don't think you can undervolt an i7 unless there's new news on this that I missed.

 

Thanks Iceman, i am stoked about the new system, but very wary of the non RGB screen. I think once i get the new system ill just do a chat with dell and tell them to have a tech come swap my current RGB one to the new system. Or... maybe just change it out myself??? Also... just curious, obviously ill be returning this system, but they dont really have any credit card on file and i dont have a dell preferred account, so if they never got this system back, how would they try to bill me??? Just curious how that works

 

Was hoping I'd be pretty excited about the SSD. I've done a couple of quick benchmarks, and I'm surprised Windows rates my RAM as the best feature of the laptop, outdoing the i7-840 and the SSD. CrystalDiskMark shows the SSD is pretty poor at 4k reads and writes. That's sad.

I've attached screenshots - not used to adding pics or attachments - included the WEI, CrystalDiskMark, and cpuz (proud of my 840 )

What am I missing/What can I update to help the ssd improve? any likely noob errors?

edit: added CrystalDiskInfo in case that helps

 

I know that's what Dell is saying, but it's kinda silly. The power saved using the dual core CPU is negated by the extra power used by the 4670 GPU. The dual core (35w) + 4670 (35w) uses only 1 watt less than the quad core (45w) + 5730 (26w). They should really be giving the 130w adapters to everybody. Unless you live in UK or AUS where they offer the dual core + 5730 configuration; then you might only need the 90w.

 

The dual core TDP is 35w, and the quad core TDP is 45w. The actual power these processors use is well over the TDP. The i7 720QM can use at least 55 watts.

 

Is throttling only an issue when playing games or also with any extreme CPU intensive work?

I'm thinking of getting an i7-840QM to ocassionally do DVD ripping and video rendering.

thanks

 

Throttling is really only an issue if you're going to use the CPU and GPU to near maximum performance. If you're only using one at a time, you'll be ok.

I've got the 840, and I maxxed it out last night as best I could. It didn't throttle til I made the system run furmark too, which sends lots of power to the GPU and the CPU had to throttle down.

Actually, if the dvd ripping and video rendering is using the GPU heavily as well as the CPU, then maybe you'll have some trouble. I know they're trying to get GPUs to do more of that kind of work, so maybe? Anyone else help on this?

 

Could you provide me a link to prove your statement? I could be wrong, but I don't think it works that way. From Wikipedia:

"The thermal design power (TDP) represents the maximum amount of power the cooling system in a computer is required to dissipate. The TDP is typically not the most power the chip could ever draw, but rather the maximum power that it would draw when running real applications. This ensures the computer will be able to handle essentially all applications without exceeding its thermal envelope.

In some cases the TDP has been under-estimated and that in real applications (typically strenuous, such as video encoding or games) the CPU has exceeded the TDP. In this case, the CPU will either cause a system failure (a "therm-trip") or throttle its speed down."

If the processor only produces 45W of heat, then where do the other 10W of your theoretical 55W go? The vast majority of the power consumed by a processor is released in waste heat, it takes very little power to change the state of a 45nm transistor, and power just doesn't disappear. Some software (like benchmarks and stress tests) can force the processor to consume more than its TDP, but the processor would then throttle itself to prevent damage.

In the real-world, even with high-usage applications, 99% of the time the processor is going to consume less then its TDP. Unless Intel just greatly undershot their TDP specs with the i7, but I doubt it as they tend to be conservative in their estimates, and I haven't read anything saying that they did.

Besides, my point was that the dual core + 4670 combo consumed a similar amount of power to the quad core +5730 combo. Even if both processors somehow consumed more than their TDP, the comparison is still valid.

 

@seeker_moc - Since when was Wikipedia a reliable source of information?

 

LOL. I think it is most of the time, for technology and science and technical stuff. Anything like politics or controversial stuff not so much. Besides, there was a source listed for that paragraph, and I was just using it as a written example for something that I already have a basic understanding of.

 

hi, i opened up my 1647 for the first time after i bought it one month or so ago. the placement of of cpu and gpu on the MB has swtiched, dell finally has come to its sense, the new 1647 MB is about 10C cooler than the old ones(1640s).

 

how do i know if i got mine with the new placement without opening it up? i dont want to void any warranty until ive had it for a year

 

I'm guessing that Dell wouldn't have made any changes like that after the change from 1640 to 1645/47, so if you have the new processor then you should have the new layout?

Especially since nomoredell has the 4670 and not the new GPU.

 

An update to my DOA laptop problem. I took the laptop back out of the box on Friday to get the service tag, so I could call and check the status on my replacement. For the hell of it, I pressed the battery status button on the back. I noticed that the battery was dead. I though that was strange, as it was fully charged when I got it, and the laptop never turned on, so how did the battery drain?

So I plug it in, and I noticed that the circles around the outer screen hinges lit up. That didn't happen before, even with it plugged in. So I hit the power button, and voila, it powered right up like it should!!

I can't state how surprised I was that it worked. When it first came in I tried everything. Pushing the power button, holding it down. Closing and opening the lid. Hitting the keyboard, removing the battery, putting the battery back in. All for nothing. No reaction. And it's not exactly like I don't know what I'm doing with computers either.

Now the laptop works great, just like it should. I've been using it pretty hard for a few days now. So strange. I told Dell about it, and they're still sending me a replacement anyway, in case the problem is intermittent, or maybe there's a faulty connection somewhere like the power button or the power jack, where it's loose or something like that. Have to love Dell service. It's such a nice change from dealing with the useless and unhelpful idiots at Lenovo.

 

As far as the laptop itself goes, I love it. It's build quality is great, nice and sturdy. I especially like the aluminum backplate, and the low-flex, backlit keyboard. The layout is so nice and simple, and they're good sized keys for a laptop.

I was kinda skeptical about the 900p screen when I bought it, after hearing all the great comments about the RGB LED screen in comparison, but I have to say that the 900p screen is excellent in it's own right. The particular one I have is of LG manufacture, the best brand for laptop screens.

I have a colorimeter (EyeOne Display), and measurement/calibration software. In real-world measurements, I get a very good 630:1 contrast ratio, 230 nit brightness (measured with display set at 80% brightness), and a great sRGB color gamut. The software doesn't give me a color gamut %, just a picture with the laptop measurements compared to the standard, but I'd estimate it at about 85% of sRGB (less in AdobeRGB), which is also great for a laptop screen. The Blue is right on the sRGB standard, but it falls a bit short on Red and Green.

The only problem is that the default color temp is WAY off. It has so much blue, that it is right off the chart. The color temp was over 9500k. A quick auto-calibrate, and it is tracking right at 6500k like it should. After calibration, the display is just excellent. I can post my .icc profile for others with the LG 900p screen if you want it. It won't be exact for your monitor, but it'll be a heck of a lot better than the default.

Also, after some testing, I didn't have any throttling problem. I could get the CPU to throttle if I intentionally overloaded the system, but during real-world work and gaming it runs just fine. You can see the results of my test here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/507976-sxps-1645-bios-a11-available-now-4.html

 

Anyone know why my music skips sometimes yet?
Also I have changed my settings so that when i close the lid it does not close but everytime i shut down i have to redo it. but when i am redoing it, it is still set to "do nothing" so i have to click the drop down menu, select it again and apply it. Why does it keep sleeping when I have set it not to?

 

I hadn't been over this forum for awhile. But my previous xps 1640 died a week ago after installing and playing Starcraft 2 for half an hour and fried my video card . Told it was around $600 to replace the motherboard/video card so i decided to get a new one instead. Today i score this xps 1647 from dell outlet. I got it for $764 before tax, i thought it was a good deal but am not very sure. Just wondering if it is and how old is this laptop since i know they don't offer the RGB screen anymore. Any comments is appreciated! and its arriving tomorrow

Intel Core i7-620M Processor 2.66GHz (3.33GHz Turbo Mode, 4MB Cache)
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
9 Cell, 85 WHr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
16.0 inch Premium Edge-to-edge Glossy Full HD RGB-LED LCD display (1920x1080p)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

 

That's a really good deal you got, assuming there's nothing wrong with it. You might get more responses if you posted in the 1647 thread.

 

You have the i7-620M and a RGBLED display for under $1000! I'd be seriously happy seeing as I bought the same spec as you + bluray (£100) add on cost me £1500 only 2 months ago!

Bargain! Enjoy

 

So I didn't want to start a new thread, I just wanted a bit of clarification. Which of these should i install for my 256GB SSD?



I know that the older intel drivers didn't pass on TRIM, and was wondering if I should install one of these recent versions, or just stick with the stock microsoft version. Thx in advance. ^^

 

I'm about to get a 4TB external hd WD MyBook Studio II and planning to use eSATA.
I'm not really clear of how eSATA works and read somewhere that it will require a Power-over-eSATA cable which WD didn't include in their 4TB package.

Can anyone help to confirm whether the eSATA/USB combo port in SXPS 1645 will work? and what is the required eSATA cable?

 

Rapid Store Technology

 

What's the advantage over the windows 7 drivers? btw it says "4. Add Windows 7 TRIM support on supported SSD", I thought that Windows 7 already supported TRIM, or I misunderstood that somehow?

 

Hi guys im not having the throttling issues but im having a different problem. When battery is low say under 10 or 20% if i plug in or out the power supply the screen goes green i can still see everything on screen but everything is tinted green. I have rang dell about this several times since i bought it in march and they have not been able to solve this problem. I just got off the phone with them after an hour and half they told me first they would replace the screen (rgbled) and that would fix the problem but then he put me on hold and when he came back on the line he said that would not fix the problem. And get this he then proceeded to explain to me that this is the way the xps was designed and i should just make sure the battery does not go under 20%. Started to get a bit angry at this point and told him it was a problem with laptop and not the way they intended to design it. With this he put me on hold again and came back and told me they were going to work on a solution (bios update he told me) and if they did not come up with anything we would have to come up with some other alternative. Not sure what he meant by this. If theres anyone out there who has this issue can you please let me know how you got it resolved or if dell replaced with your laptop with a different model or what alternative they gave you. Any info would be really appreciated here cheers.

Yours sincerely
ANGRY DELL CUSTOMER : (

 

The Matrix Storage Manager / Rapid Storage Technology (both the same thing BTW, just RST is the 'new' version) are the drivers for the SATA controllers built in to the Intel chipsets.

I don't think you 'need' them, as Windows comes with generic drivers, but the Intel drivers might work a little better. I don't know if you could tell the difference, performance wise, but I always trust the device specific drivers from the manufacturer than the generic ones included in Windows. Also, download the RST drivers from the Intel website. The ones on the Dell site are old, and there's nothing custom or special about them.

 

Any ideas about my problem mate (post above) has it happened to your laptop at all or have you came across anyone with a similar problem.

 

Thanks man! That was the one thing holding back my re-install of windows. =D

the older ones didn't pass through TRIM from the OS to the drive. So you certainly could see a performance issue. I wanted clarification on if that has been dealt with. ^^ Thanks a lot guys, I can always count on NBR to sort me out.

 

Are these values in HWMonitor normal for my lappy ? (config. in signature)

 

Looks like normal idle temps (for the lows), about a 1C difference from mine on the CPU cores and GPU. It's normal for the CPU temps to cycle higher and lower, which causes the fan to kick in.

 

Sorry, I don't have the RGB monitor, so I can't test it out / offer a solution. The most I can say is that if Dell doesn't fix it, ask for an new one.

 

Hey, I have a question. I'm still waiting on my replacement 1645 from Dell, but I got the order number for them today, so I can check the status online. When I did, I noticed that they 'upgraded' me to the Intel 6250 wireless card. I have the Intel 5300 right now. However, I'm not sure if it's really an upgrade, or a downgrade. I know that the 6250 has WIMAX support, and is Wireless N certified (the 5300 is only draft-N). However, the 5300 has a 3-antenna array, whereas the 6250 is only 2-antenna. I never use WIMAX, so the Wireless-N performance is all that concerns me.

Do any of you know which one of the two is better (excluding WIMAX)? Should I be happy they 'upgraded' me to the 6250, or should I swap it out with my current 5300 when it gets here?

Also, they 'upgraded' me to the X-Fi sound. However, from what I understand, it is only an upgraded driver software, and the hardware is the same. If that's the case, I'll just uninstall it. I hate Creative drivers, and Windows Vista/7 handles all audio anyways, bypassing hardware acceleration. Do any of you have the X-Fi? Does it make a difference? Is it only software, or is there a hardware change as well? Thanks for the help.

 

Thanx for the quick reply.

12 % wear on battery is also ok ?

It is roughly 5-6 months old system with no changes at all, completely same as it came from the factory, no modification at all...

 

That's not too much wear, but it's not great either. What you need to do is let your battery drain to about 85%, and then disable battery charging. The option to do that is under the Power Options in the Control Panel, then on the left side click on Dell Power Meter.

Li-ion batteries last the longest when between 50-80% charge. It's not healthy to keep your battery charged ot 100% when if the laptop spends almost all it's life plugged in. By disabling the constant charging to 100%, you'll really be saving some serious wear on the battery. When the battery strength drops below 50%, just re-enable battery charging until it gets back up around 85, then disable it again.