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

Currently with tech support. Just got transferred to his manager and he's escalating it to the "executive" technical support.

I can confirm with the A02 BIOS: no improvement.

I was under the impression that laptops had external power supplies?

~Ibrahim~

@Zlog

Hey! Can you show me the posts/usernames of the people with the RGBLED who have good performance with the brightness 100% and the AC adapter being plugged in? I haven't seen them, but I'd love to compare settings, etc. with them! I'm using the regular, standard Dell-provided drivers if anyone cares to know.

 

i know theres a lot of talk about getting a 130w adapter. but has anyone that has one actually tried it on the xps 16 thats having this problem? or did i miss it? sorry if i did. That should really localize and confirm our theories on why this is, pretty much removing all doubt.

 

Are you still playing dumb?

 

I did.

I slowly ramped up to explaining the whole problem, though, even showed him 3DMark. Anyways, I'll get a call back with 24-48 hours on from the "executive' technical support team.

 

i'm on hold right now with a support supervisor. he says he has heard of this issue. i have:

Studio 16 XPS
i820qm
WLED 1600x900
4gb DDR3 1333mhz
256GB SSD

i also get slowdowns in crysis, and the sound crackles as well while in game. I've been running the brightness low to compensate. I'm trying to get teh 130W cord from them, to see if that works.

edit: they are sending me 130W adapter after using Dell Connect to view this thread. ^-^

i showed them them page 56 post 559 of this thread, with the 3d mark score diff, told them about the crackling, and how it works on low brightness, and also that the cpu and gpu can take most of the power. they agreed.

Thanks ikjadoon, you got me a new cord!! and nobody specified if i have to send the old cord back.

 

I think it was the first couple people who received their 1645s. The benchmarks the posted were in the expected range... i'll double check i might be mistaken, but I'm sure i saw the numbres somewhere.

 

just came back from work, as promised I've done some tests.

My Studio XPS 1645 system details:
i7 Core CPU
4GB RAM
128GB SSD
Intel Core i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz
RGBLED Display.
Windows 7 64 BIT
Power Plan - MAX

Connected devices:
- USB Zalman cooling pad
- Logitech wired mouse
- Wifi ON

beta drives for windows 7 64bit (had the same problems with games on old dell drivers)

3DMARK 2006 (standard edition) TEST RESULTS:

Charging battery disabled in BIOS:

3DMark Score : 7121 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score: 2521
SM 3.0 Score: 3094
CPU Score: 3104

Charging battery enabled in BIOS:
3DMark Score: 7166 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score: 2552
SM 3.0 Score: 3110
CPU Score: 3082


I've left my charger option enabled, will play some games and run the test again later

got the same slowdowns and sound crackles while in game (Dragon Age and new COD).

EDIT: Done one more test. Unplugged Power supply for 10 min.
Connected back power supply and runned benchmark while laptop was charging.
Results are the same 3DMark Score: 7127 3DMarks

so Why I'm having slowdowns and sound crackles while playing games ?
Drivers ?


Got 1 question.
When I'm playing for a long time LCD is getting quite hot cos all air is blowing on the left bottom corner of the screen.
Can the hot air damage LCD screen ?

 

is this brightness/performance while on ac issue present only on 1645 or on 1640 too?

 

Probably not. The TDP on the T9900/T9600 (most powerful CPUs possible for the 1640) is 35W, which gives the 1640 10 fewer watts consumed at max load. The P8600, P8700, and P8800 all have 25W TDP, and so use 20 fewer watts at max load.

 

true, i have p8600, i have still experienced the problem mentioned in #648..

 

I think the problem is the combined effect of RGBLED screen and lack of power......

 

wrong, in my case anyways. i noticed the same stuttering on my 1640 core 2 duo p8600 @ 2.4ghz w/4670. i didn't know it was power related then, so i just suffered through it.

also incorrect it seems, i have had the WLED 1600x900 in the c2d and i7 machines that stuttered for me.

 

Also remember that although the i7 has a tdp of 45W, 10W higher than the T9900 etc, it includes the northbridge in the CPU itself unlike the other pus which have it separately and it must consume some power.

 

Its confusing.... Is it an adapter issue or drivers issue or possibly a BIOS management thing that Dell applied so it draws less power for various reasons even though u have a bid adapter? ... I can still cancel my pending order with RGBLD and order WLED instead.

 

Yeah the TDP for the Core i7 chipset (PM55) is 3.5 watts while the 1640 chipset (PM45) is 7 watts. I'm not really sure what TDP means though, its supposed to just indicate the amount of heat that needs to be dissipated at maximum, but sometimes it means something else.

 

Great! They sent you a new cord? Ha....the guys on my end were all like "we can only send you another 90W". I'll have to mention this to the executive guys when they call.

@gszech

Fantastic! I'm glad that at least SOMEONE else actually has it working. But you're using ATI's 7 Beta driver? See, the only thing is that that driver (if we're talking about the same one) is meant for Windows 7 Beta and not Windows 7 RTM. But, somehow, it is newer than the one Dell has (Dell is 9.7; ATI is 9.9).

I have but one question: you were on full brightness, right?

Thanks; now I'm excited! Maybe this won't be the huge ordeal I imagined it to be.

~Ibrahim~

P.S. There is NO reason, AFAIK, to cancel for this issue. It seems to be in isolated cases and, even for those with problems, solutions seem to be right around the corner.

 

o, did i miss something, can this be solved with a diff driver? im using the most recent cat from ati, but am using modded desktop drivers.

anyways, they sent the cord, said 2-3 days, which i believe, i just had purolator come a few min ago, to drop off a cd for x-fimb, and one screw they forgot to install to my motherboard, lol. and i just ordered that last friday. so when i get the cord, ill do before and after. they asked me what cord i wanted, and i said the 130W for latitude e6400 series. if it helps, i called 1.800.999.3355, browsed to tech support, entered my express code, and spoke with XPS support.

 

Sweetness.

Man, I have no idea. Here is what I want to happen:

1. Dell Driver
2. Any brightness level
3. Any power source (adapter or battery) [if power options are identical]

Same 3DMark '06 score.

That's all I want. I have done no modding, no nothing to make anything mess up. I should be getting the same 3DMark '06 score no matter what I do.

~Ibrahim~

EDIT: Replace "Same 3DMark '06 score" with "xxx game FPS" or whatever you feel like. I know 3DMark '06 is NOT a be-all, end-all benchmark, but these variances are ridiculous. And, by the way, I have proof the graphic card is underclocking. So it's definitely a problem. Whether a new adapter or a new driver or whatever, I don't care. I just want it fixed. Whew....

 

i also gently told them i understood that this laptop has new hardware in it, and i can see how they may be shipping with incorrect adapters at this time.

what country are you in ikjadoon?

 

lol....you had some nice guys. Mine were all like "That's all I can do."

USA.

 

Guys, TDP doesn't mean power consumption. A lower clocked T series will consume less power than a higher clocked P series. TDP is more of a marketing term and refers to the maximum thermal dissipation for the CPU heatsink. Similarly, just because the new quad core i7 is 45W, doesn't mean that it will consume that much. Also, it can't be directly compared to the C2Ds since it also includes the memory controller (which is 7W TDP). Plus, the PM55 chipset is 3.5W (down from the PM45's 9.5W).

http://ark.intel.com/Default.aspx

 

So I ran 3dMark without the laptop plugged in and got a score 2000 higher than when it was plugged in. Both times at max brightness. I also have the RGB screen in case that wasn't clear.

I'm using the 9.11 desktop drivers with mobility modder.

I will try it again with battery charging disabled in the BIOS, but I don't see how that will help.

 

i've made some tests with my 1640 and the 3dmark score was about the same regardless the brightness settings (set to min or max).
(3DMark Score 6623, 3DMarks SM 2.0 Score 2479, SM 3.0 Score 3068, CPU Score 2113)
also tested with some gpu-overclocking (core @775, memory @880: 3DMark Score 7267 3DMarks, SM 2.0 Score 2780, SM 3.0 Score 3433, CPU Score 2130 )
alsoikjadoon: the modded driver u're talking about is actually the official and best driver, it's only modded cause ati can't officially release all the drivers to mobility series (because of oem licensing issues i think). i'd rather trust the up-to-date "modded" driver than some obsolete crappy dell driver..

 

OK, Scorpeeon, we're talking about the 1645.

I'm not sure this is/was ever an issue about the 1640. Not trying to discourage you, but I think we're trying to solve a different problem.

So far: RGBLED @ 100% + AC Adapter on the SXPS 1645 = decreased performance compared to battery. Only evidence contrary is gszech, but we haven't confirmed he was running full brightness, yet.

~Ibrahim~

P.S. About the driver: well...I can't make Dell do anything if I'm not running the system they way they programmed it to run. I'd love to "jump ship", but not right now with this issue here.

 

I think we can stop worrying about the power draw of the laptop, GSZECH just posted a pretty solid indication that battery charging and RGB is not causing any problems.

Like i said, software issue. The stuttering and cracking sound is probably a driver issue as the ATI card intercepts the audio for the HDMI before passing it to the speakers. Likely if the ATI driver is hitting stutters with that power feature enabled it will cause the sound problems as well.

 

No offense, but it's not going to be solid until he posts that it's at full brightness. As soon as he says that, then bam, we have our exception. But not yet.

And now we have two different results with two similar setups. Bryan505 says he had the problem with latest ATI drivers, but Gszech also with the latest ATI drivers says he doesn't. Only difference I can see is that Gszech has an SSD.

And technically, for the sake of accurate results, Gszech ran his test different. He just disabled battery charging in the BIOS. What I need from you, Gszech, is an identical run between it plugged in and then do nothing but unplug the adapter.

AND EVERYONE needs to make sure that their profiles for Battery and Plugged in are IDENTICAL. The default puts the GPU in Maximum Battery Life when on the battery.

 

ikjadoon: what i told u has nothing to do with 1640 or 1645 thing, it was about the gpu which is the same in both models.. but no offense.

at least now i know this brightness thing is not an issue on 1640 (at least on my model). but this not-charging-while-gaming issue is still annoying me a bit.

 

Ohhh, gotcha. My bad definitely. So those are the scores we SHOULD be getting for SM2.0 and SM3.0.



~Ibrahim~

 

Well, I take back what I said. I disabled battery charging in the BIOS and re-ran the 3dMark assessment, and got the same score as when it was unplugged.

Does. Not. Make. Sense.

 

what did you use to overclock the ATI 4670 on the Studio XPS 16?

 

RivaTuner. it doesn't work by default, u have to modify a config file to get it work, here u go: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5541436&postcount=13

 

Ah....disabled battery charging and now the system worked like it should. So, that would only make a difference when it was plugged in.

So, can you try this for me? Turn ON battery charging, get the battery to 100%, and run the test WITH the adapter still in. It should not be charging anything since it is at 100%. Try adjusting the brightness, too. I'll be able to run more tests when I get off the road.

~Ibrahim~

 

No, it makes perfect sense. The 90W adaptor for the 1640/1645 is unable to properly power this system under full load and at the same time charge the battery, this issue is more predominate in the 1645. A 130W Adaptor will fix this issue hands down. If only i had my laptop right now i could prove it .

If anyone wants to start taking bets, id be more than happy to, i need some cash to afford my Intel SSD upgrade

 

Well, then, if that is true then running the benchmark again with the battery FULLY charged and the adapter plugged in should give the exact same performance as the adapter not plugged in. IIRC, that is NOT the case, but Byran505, if he is nice enough, will confirm.

~Ibrahim~

 

I'll try it again when my battery charges up. But that's the first type of test I did: battery at 100%, screen at max brightness, plugged in, and I got the low 5000s.

I dunno, maybe it fixed itself.

I ran a ten minute test and it's gonna take the battery 30 minutes to recharge. I'll post the results.

 

where do u disable battery charging in BIOS? i can't find that option.

 

It's a setting toward the bottom of the list in the "advanced" tab. It's called "charger operation" or something with 'charger' in it.

 

This is a 2 fold issue,

1. The 90W Adaptor is not powerful enough to supply the 1645 with enough wattage under full load.

2. The 90W Adaptor is not powerful enough to properly charge a drained 1640/1645 battery when the system is under full load.

 

Lets make a template. People are throwing 3D Mark numbers around and its getting other people confused and concerned over what I think is a simple software issue with new hardware on a new OS.

Let me just re-state the fact that you guys are being sort of funny laying out accusations of the 90W adapter being bad with shakey at best reporting from people who own this laptop. We need some better information from people who are claiming problems and those who have claimed no problems.

3D Mark Scores: (Post your exact 3D Mark Version in these brackets)

Laptop Plugged In:
Minimum Brightness:
Maximum Brightness:
ATI Power Play On:
ATI Power Play Off:

Laptop Unplugged:
Minimum Brightness:
Maximum Brightness:
ATI Power Play On:
ATI Power Play Off:

Mentionable Notes (I.E. Configuration of PC/specs, driver versions, etc:
1.
2.
3.

 

I think the only things that should go in mentionable notes (and you should edit your post to create lines for them) are CPU, OS, Driver version, and screen type.

 

by new hardware, do you mean the i7? because i had this problem on my core2duo p8600 1645.

 

This is very confusing. I just re-ran the assessment with charging enabled and the laptop plugged in, max brightness, and got a score in the 7000s again.

Come to think of it, the only time I had a score in the 5000s is when I had a usb cooling pad plugged in. I don't have it with me now, so I can't verify that that's the reason for the low score. I don't know, the cooler seemed innocuous enough.

 

To my understandment 1645 means it got an i7. Maybe I'm wrong and they added something more though.

 

lol, my mistake, im so used to saying 1645, i had the same problem on my p8600 1640

so that would imply it has nothing to do with i7

 

Beautiful. One question: what is ATI Performance? Like the PowerPlay setting of Maximum Performance or Maximum Battery Life?

~Ibrahim~

@Bryan505

Ah....then the only correlation between you and Gszech is that BOTH of you who are getting the right performance are using ATI's (and not Dell's) drivers.

 

i don't see it. then probably 1640's bios doesn't support this yet..

 

Crysis benchmark

On Charger, Battery full, maximum brightness

Run #1- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Low ~~ Last Average FPS: 68.75

Run #2- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Medium ~~ Last Average FPS: 30.24

Run #3- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Last Average FPS: 20.38

On Battery, minimum brightness

Run #1- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Low ~~ Last Average FPS: 80.31

Run #2- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Medium ~~ Last Average FPS: 50.93

Run #3- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Last Average FPS: 29.50

Very strange indeed!!

 

Hey Guys, just want to thank you all for digging into this problem.

I have THE SAME issue. Plugged in with high-brightness "Age of Conan" gives me 30-46fps but it LAGS every few sec it freezes and unfreezes after 1-2sec. Lowering brightness helps. and from the battery it's 20-30fps but no LAGS.

i7-720 and I run stock Dell Drivers for Win 7

 

I really doubt that this is a software issue (video drivers, etc), the a/c adapter issue makes the most sense. The display driver shouldn't be aware of the display brightness. It's just a black box that outputs some frame buffer and then that goes somewhere, either an external monitor or the laptop display, it doesn't care. Brightness is a function of the system BIOS and there is a new ACPI interface that can expose this to the operating system (Windows 7 supports this), but for whatever reason the Dell BIOS does not implement this interface, or doesn't implement it correctly.

The A/C adapter problem seems the most reasonable cause right now considering running on battery works around the issue and Dell apparently agrees (seeing as they sent someone a 130 watt replacement). When someone tries a higher wattage adapter the case should be closed.

Now assuming that the issue is power consumption, and decreasing the brightness works around the issue, the difference between high and low brightness can't be more than 2-3 watts. If the adapter is pushed to its capacity, there could be variations in its performance. My adapter could produce up to 89.6 watts, yours chould be 90.4. I would also expect power usage to vary greatly during tests and games. So it's probably "dancing on the edge" of what it can handle, and some of us hit the limit easier than others. There could be a lot of variables. This would also explain why the framerate is so inconsistent and the sound crackles (likely a timing issue or bus is overloaded, not really sure).

 

Pardon me if this sounds crazy (or a waste of time), but why not run some tests with the battery removed altogether?