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

You know, for the number of people that harp on about the 4670 and 5730 not being "gamers" video cards, I consider myself a gamer and I can happily play all of my favourite games with absolutely no problems on my S-XPS 16 (with 4670).

Oh noes, I can't turn on anti-aliasing (not that I need it with this resolution and screen size combo) or ultra-high shaders!!! I love good graphics as much as the next person, but once you are into a game, the last thing you notice the graphics... the first thing you notice after 5 minutes of gaming is whether or not the game is actually fun.

Though I am happy and surprised that Apple has put such a powerful graphics card in their laptop finally, it won't change how happy I am with my laptop

 

not to mention that barely a fraction of the owners would truly use the GPU to its fullest extent.

 

Im a gamer and I want to get as much out of my gfx as possible!
I guess to compete with the new MBP's you'll have to go into Alienware range, now.

 

MBP's and Alienware are the same price anyways, so for that money you might as well get an Alienware!

 

Dell is replacing my motherboard, heat sink, fan, and hard drive today... when I purchased my SXPS16 it came with the ATI 4670 video card. Is there any chance I'll end up with the 5730 in the new mobo? I can hope...

 

@darthmertz, A guy can hope, but i highly doubt it
they usually send the exact same part with the part #

 

I saw a few people say they got 5730s when they had a replacement - but it will probably be an availability/country issue.

Best of luck!

Why are they replacing everything?

 

I told them about the throttling (and some heat issues I had been having), so they initially sent a 130W AC adapter and motherboard. The motherboard they brought turned out to be damaged/burned, so the Dell tech made some phone calls and put in an order for another one, plus a heat sink and fan (since he thought the problems I had been having were due to heat), and a hard drive (since some failures showed up during diagnostics).

Windows Device Manager says I have an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 565v, and I have no idea what that's supposed to be. I'm downloading the drivers for the 4670 and 5730 as I write this and hope to see what it is in a few minutes.

 

Think it's the same as a 4670... (M96 core)

I share the same feeling as RacingGun on this one, 4670 is quite a good card - don't turn on anti-aliasing or ultra shaders, but practically everything else can be cranked up without too much issue. I'm running soft-modded Firepro V7750 (desktop) drivers at the moment, BIOS overclocked 4670. In CCC, turn off antialiasing (i.e. Application Settings only), 4x anisotropic filtering, quality mip-mapping.

Still looks pretty good and fully playable in SC 2 - I don't play any other game currently, but Ultra textures (the card can manage perfectly well with 1GB VRAM) and 1080p resolution are the things that make this game look great - AA would be nice, but breaks gameplay completely.

For the price, don't think I can complain!

cheers,
dave

 

Yeah, I was just doing some research, and the 565v is apparently *exactly* the same as the 4670. In that case, I just wonder why they're named differently... perhaps some things were not meant for us to know?

 

The graphic card driver which caused the graphic card to "change" name to 565v. It is not a permanent change (software). If you installed ATI official driver, the name will change back to 4670. At least that is what happen on my Dell.

Does throttling issue cured after changing the motherboard, heatsink & fan? I got mine replaced too for the same reason. Not throttling but overheating. And also it produced beeps sound when I want to turn on it after shutdown. And my notebook bricked whenever I tried to update BIOS (necessary to fix the system crashed issue when playing online HD flash video in full screen). So many things goes wrong back then. What is the CPU & GPU temperatures when throttling happen?

 

They just changed it to start with a '5' so that they could continue to sell it with (then) current-gen laptops without looking old.

 

scrap the question, all ok.

 

I was actually just trying to install Ubuntu and accidentally screwed up my partitions and bootloader. I just did a fresh install of Windows 7 (good thing I backed up all my files beforehand!). Now the graphics card identifies as the 4670.

I'm not the best person to ask at the moment in regards to throttling - I actually had the 90W AC adapter and just got it replaced with the 130W one. On top of that, my fan was somewhat clogged with dust, and gaming would quickly push my CPU temperatures near 100 and cause a shutdown. Now it's a stretch for the machine to break 80 degrees.

I, too, am interested in the temperatures that cause throttling...

EDIT
Does someone have experience reinstalling Windows? I seem to have gotten all my drivers installed correctly except for "Base System Device," which shows up twice in the Device Manager and has no driver. Windows doesn't seem to know what it is. I think it's the media card reader, but I already installed that driver.

When I select them and hit "Properties," one of them says "PCI bus 9, device 0, function 2" for its location and the other says "PCI bus 9, device 0, function 1." Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

What I meant by "What is the CPU & GPU temperatures when throttling happen?" in my previous post, I was asking your CPU & GPU's temperature when you experienced the CPU/GPU throttling with the old motherboard. Sorry about not being clear enough with my question.

 

I think it is the card reader, from what i remember the only one that works is from the 1640 this one

 

Ahh okay. On the old motherboard (with the 90W adapter, of course), I want to say it throttled around the mid 80s, but I'm not totally sure - I only recently jumped on the Core Temp bandwagon a month or so ago when the computer started having problems.

 

*sad face* I was writing this long, beautiful review/recommendation of a laptop stand/cooler that I just got for my birthday, when sadly I had a finger slip and refreshed the page, losing everything. Anyways, I'll just write a short version of it instead.

Summary: for anyone still looking for a laptop cooler or just a great adjustable height stand to get the laptop screen at eye-level, I HIGHLY recommend the Cooler Master NotePal Ergostand Notebook Cooler R9-NBS-4UAK. It is a bargain compared to many adjustable height laptop stands (that aren't coolers) and even compared to many laptop coolers. Currently only $31 on Amazon (normal price is $40 and I'd still recommend it at that price).

It has a huge, almost silent fan with adjustable speed. I didn't get this stand to act as a cooler, but now that I have it, I am strongly considering overclocking my laptop because this stand keeps the bottom of it COLD, the exhaust air is only luke warm, and the wrist pad/touch pad areas are only slightly warm. I've never had throttling problems, but my laptop definitely ran hot. The stand also has a USB hub for more USB lovin' (something I can definitely make use of since the SXPS only has 3 USB ports) and clips on the back on it to organize excessive cables.

Anyways, I had much more to say about it, but for what it is worth, I think is laptop stand/cooler is a perfect fit for my laptop and it gets a full recommendation from me.

 

Guys I own the Studio XPS 16 with the config mentioned in my signature.
I regularly used to play the F1 2010, Burnout paradise, NFS 2010. I am experiencing throttling issues from the begining itself. I Use throttleStop. but still i get the system to throttle when the cpu temp hit around 76 to 79 degrees. Is there something wrong? Do i need to alarm Dell Guys about it. last week i go a call from Dell supposrt asking about the product . I told them that it's getting heated up a lot. then they told me that they will be reverting back soon about this .

 

Try turning down the graphics settings in the game. I've never played it before so I can't suggest what to use. I know my SXPS16 can only handle modern games if I set the resolution to less-than-HD or turn down other settings instead (shaders, antialiasing, etc.).

Heat could be an issue. When my machine was running really hot and performing poorly a couple weeks ago, I really only had to clean out the fan and my temperatures dropped about 10 or 12 degrees. Give either of these a try - they might solve your problem (although there's a chance the game is just too intensive for the machine... but don't listen to me on that subject because I haven't played that game and therefore do not know its requirements or how well it runs).

 

Try one of the modded BIOS's in the initial post...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/521990-bios-modding-gpu-oc-fun-profit.html

but just as important, follow other suggestions in the thread besides mine below...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...modding-gpu-oc-fun-profit-56.html#post7218978

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...modding-gpu-oc-fun-profit-43.html#post7162055

And, if the above don't work, then try...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-paste-as5-studio-xps-1645-a.html#post5927320

but use the following thermal paste which is much safer than the one used in the video above...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186038

 

Thanks for the Quick Reply. I'll try this and See the effect.

Regardingthe BIOS I have the LAtest BIOS i Believe, As Mine is a new one, is only 6 Months OLD
My question is, Is it normal what is happenieng to my Laptop? Is something Wrong in it ?

 

No problem, there is a throttling issue with the factory BIOSes that Seeker_moc eliminates in his modified BIOSes. Which version of the Studio XPS 16 do you have? The 1640, 1645, or the 1647? I would put that in your signature because there maybe something else specific to your exact model that someone might be able to help you with. Also, those temps are not too bad but they should go down by 10C when you remove the screen on the bottom plate especially when done in conjunction with an external fan. Good luck. Also, this fan looks great and I thought I put it in one of my posts but not in the one I thought I did....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003GCQ1YI

and another forum user loves it...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...7-owners-lounge-part-2-a-177.html#post7257357

 

The base system device is typically the SD card reader, just go to your support page for the laptop @ support.dell.com and download the driver. Its typically Ricoh but I have personally downloaded this driver.

 

Thanks! The card reader driver is now installed and Windows has stopped bugging me about it.

 

Mine is a 1645 . I'll Add that to my Signature. Yeah even i had read the review about the Cooler Master NotePal Ergostand Notebook Cooler R9-NBS-4UAK. I have get it shipped to india as i reside in india

 

Yeah, probably not that easy to get all of the electronics and accessories you want there or at least, not that timely. Good luck!

 

I have to say that I am not a big fan. I just got mine and they should include different sized support clips/props (in the front). They are way too big and stick out too far and in turn, interfere with my hand placement on the keyboard and scrap against my hands and wrists as I move my hands around. Maybe I will try it without them because I don't have the laptop at a great angle. I guess it is fine if you use it with an external keyboard but that was not my intention and I expected to find different support clips/props not just one set. Also, the USB hub supplies power fine but didn't seem to connect the PC to the devices. Major buzzkills in my book.

 

Definitely unfortunate. I should have mentioned that I do use an external keyboard (I like having a "proper" keyboard for any extended typing sessions and for gaming). I haven't had any problems with the USB hub part of the stand. I have keyboard and mouse plugged into it and they are both working fine.

 

Hey guys.....i am having a huge issue now with this laptop...as in i think its my fault....because of the high temps during any normal activity on my laptop, i decided to take off the dust filters....and after i did that...i dont know what happened but now my temps are hovering above 65c continuously..and touching 95 without doing anything on the laptop....i do not know what should i do now...and since i have taken the dust filters off my warranty is probably void (since they ll get to know that i had opened up this thing )...please guide me...
thanks...

 

Your warranty isn't void. Not unless they can prove removing the filters broke it, which they can't. Also, as long as you didn't throw the filters away, you can just stick them back on.

Did you do anything else besides just removing the filters? How long a time was it between when you removed the filters and when the overheating started? Did you do anything to the heatsink/fan? Have you tried blowing out the heatsink with compressed air?

 

i did put them back on and surprisingly it did solve the issue too...(i am hoping it stays the same)...but now i am again stuck with old high temps ...though not that high..yet still this is really annoying....my warranty is about to get over in 20 days...and if anything happens to the motherboard(because of the heat)... after that...it'll be a real disaster...cause i know its gonna cost a fortune to replace the motherboard without the warranty...

 

There is a good reason why some holes on notebook casing is covered by dust filter & tape, it is to improved airflow. When you removed the dust filter earlier, it caused the cold air exit prematurely without reaching the hot part of the notebook, which are CPU & GPU. Without proper air flow, the hot air will trap & heatsink won't be able to cool down CPU & GPU efficiently.

Why don't you buy extended warranty? At least your notebook still covered by warranty for another year.

 

Guys another Problem.
My Sound card is making some "Hiss" Noise. Once i muted the Microphone it becomes silent. Even if i record something i get the noise, Why is it so? ANy Possible solutions?

 

The hiss has been my one big annoyance with this laptop. If there are no sounds for a few seconds the hiss will go away (I think the soundcard goes into power saving mode), but as soon as a sound plays again, there will be a noticeable hiss again during any silence or low-volume sounds. I don't find the hiss noticeable over the speakers, but when I use a pair of good headphones, I hear it immediately.

Sadly, I have no suggestions for how to fix this, as my hunch is that it is hardware related, and short of putting some kind of static attenuator between the output jack and my headphones (not feasible if you ask me), I don't know if this can be solved.

 

I had to do exactly that - turn off the mic.

What sort of mic are you using?

 

I'm using the in built mic that tha Laptop has. I am quite disappointed withthe performance in recording point of view. I records a lot of noise along withthe vocals . VEry disappointed. Do ineed to log a complaint ot dell abt this?

 

Hey...i just got off the phone with the dell technical support...told him about the overheating issue...(was getting 102c with 5 minutes of cod black ops...) he said there might be issues with the cooling system so he will send over the technician and he would clean the inside of the system or probably replace the cooling system...
well...my question is... should i ask him to replace the motherboard and does that mean they will change cpu&gpu as well..??? or in first place would they agree to replace it...
thanks

 

I don't know - I can only think that the inbuilt mic is actually quite poor quality.

Does the noise sound like ambient noise, or random noise? If the latter, perhaps try asking Dell about it - but to me it sounds like you'd be best off just skipping straight to an external mic plugged in, you'll get vastly superior quality.

Good luck.

cheers, dave

 

null plz disregard

 

Based on the responses concerning the mic/soundcard noise, I think I might be talking about something different then is being complained about.

I don't notice any additional noise coming through my headphones when the internal microphone array is being actively listened to. In fact, I've always been rather impressed with the internal microphone on this laptop (based on video/audio chats and random sound recordings. In fact, it is often too sensitive and picks up a lot of noise from the surrounding environment (thank goodness for beam forming).

 

Guys check out my thread its very important!
Bios issue affecting all 1645 xps models
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...confirmed-security-threat-all-xps-1645-a.html

RacingGun you have an XPS 1645 can you try this out to see what happens on yours? Thanks I've tested it out on various systems I just would like to know if its on all models in one region or who is affected.

 

Sure, I'll definitely check that out...I think I have been experiencing that and it would explain why the "wake on USB" setting never says set... I'll confirm this when I have a good time to reboot (at work currently).

 

Thanks a lot anyone else please come to the thread mentioned above and try it out. It looks like it is indeed affecting all our computers

 

Very good thread. Also, post at Dell's official site so they know that we care and they can do something: SECURITY ISSUE Dell Studio XPS 1645 - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

 

yo I still have yet to test the cpu and gpu throttling.. how can I do this quickly? I don't really play games much so I need some diagnostic program... Thanks

 

You need furmark, prime95, and throttlestop (program from UncleWeb)... basically you run furmark and prime95 then use throttlestop to monitor the CPU for any downclocking/multiplier reductions.

 

hi my laptop's motherboard was changed and gpu temperatures are now reaching a max of 66c with few webpages open...but that is acceptable knowing that the surrounding temperature is around 28c...but my cpu temps are still going to 80c in idle state...they had not changed the cpu and neither the engg cleared the residual of the last melted thermal pad...could that be an issue...what should i do..
thanks...

 

NBA 2k10 or NBA 2k11 on XPS 1645?

Does anybody know if this computer can handle this game. I was thinking about buying a PS3 just to play NBA 2K10, then I realize they sell this game for PC. Anybody have any thoughts on if the computer can handle this game. Also, what are your thoughts on the controller to buy.

 

You'd get better results posting a question like this on the Gaming board, but I'm quite sure the SXPS16 will have no problems with a sports game.