**The Official Studio XPS 1647 Intel Core i5/i7 "Owners' Lounge"**

All SSD's are 2.5" and some will come with a 3.5" mount for a desktop or server setup.

 

On a post about SSD's a few months ago, it was determined, to match the speed of a SSD, you would need a 40,000 rpm HDD.

So I think it's worth it.

 

SSD decrease in speed over time though, don't they? And they write data far slower.

 

Well technically, they don't decrease in speed due to aging, it's more of the way they save data.

This article explains that problem in detail.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531&p=8

 

I know. What I meant by over time is as they fill up. The technology isn't really worth it at this point IMO. I'd rather wait a while longer.

 

Personally I think it's worth it due to the increased boot times, loading times, no moving parts, etc.

Sure it will come down in price and advance, but it's always nice to help find the problems by testing the new technology lol.

 

lol but the boot time isn't really all that long I really don't know anyone in that much of a hurry lol I can boot mine in about 30-45 seconds and have a browser window open in another 10. I do see the advantages though. If they had a 500GB SSD available and I had the cash I'd get one lol.

 

Have you used one before? i was skeptical at first, but once ya use one.. ya understand lol. size is an issue tho and they come in 1.8" form factors as well it seems. as envy can use 2 in raid with 2 connectors it has.

 

I think you misunderstood me, I'm not saying they're not vastly superior I'm just saying that for me a normal drive is far more practical at this time.

 

So what were your order experiences like? Did it come early, late?

 

Thanks for the correction, I must have missed that. The i5-520M and the i7-620M are embedded CPU's.

 

I think its all depends on what you want out of it, would I spend an extra $400 just to drop 10 or so seconds on a boot or load no and loose half the storage no! Personally thats why I dont think atm they are worth the extra cash over a 500 7200rpm HDD. But on the other hand if you was you offer me an SSD and HDD with the same capacity and factional difference in price I would pick the SSD every time.

 

As for shipping times depends who you speak to I know alot of people who got their XPS's late dont now why it seems to be this brand. And I know some people who got theirs pretty quick

 

TRIM on new SSDs helps stop much of the old performance degradation over time...

I got an SSD. It was awesome for the first few days, but now I'm just angry when I have to use a "slow" computer that has an HDD. It definitely grows into your lifestyle when you expect it to boot in 30 seconds to print that paper, but then remember the library computers take a minute and half to boot.

~Ibrahim~

 

I hear that. Very often, I just use my iPhone to look up simple items online because I don't want to wait 1 to 1.5 minutes for my laptop to boot. If my laptop booted in 30-45 seconds, I'd probably use that instead (since as amazing as the iPhone is, it is still pretty clumsy online when compared to a PC). For this reason, I'm thinking about spending the premium on an SSD drive for my next purchase. When I run out of room, I'll just add an SATA external drive (SSD or 7200 RPM depending upon prices at the time).

 

Intel is doing a refresh hopefully in the middle of the year and OCZ has a beast new SSD coming out soon, Vertex 2 Pro.

Out of curiousity, this is how long it took my system to fully restart:



~Ibrahim~

 

Thanks for the update on the OCZ I heard something like that they are s**t hot at making SSDs.

39 Seconds wow how does that compare to the 500GB HDD ?

 

Eek. I wish I still had it. You could test it on yours; the comparison should be close-ish.

 

That actually seems slower than I expected from an SSD system. I'm using my old Dell e1705 w/ C2D 2Ghz, 320GB HDD, 4GB DDR2 667 and win7 pro 64. My 'cold' start time is 44sec. That's with 45 processes loading at startup, I guessing you must have quite a few more loading on your system.

Was hoping to see Sub 30 sec boot time when I get my new Hp envy later this week with dual intel g1 160GB in RAID0

 

Ye might give it a go dude would of done it my self but my system hasent arrived yet.

 

Hi guys, I've been following the SXPS 1645 throttling issue on these forums and on the Dell community website for quite some time. I finally took the plunge and ordered a SXPS 1647 with the following specs:

i5-540M (2.53ghz - 3.06ghz)
4GB DDR3
16" 1080p RGBLED
500GB SATA
ATI-4670

Estimated arrival is 1st Feb'2010. I just hope it does not throttle with the RGBLED screen. Will post if there are any throttle issues.

Cheers

 

Nice mate congrats ! Im pretty sure you will get throtteling issues until the updated BIOS is released. How much was it if you dont mind me asking ?

 

In Malaysia it went for RM5200 which is approximately USD1480? By the way, do we have an ETA on the new BIOS update that is supposed to fix the throttling issues?

 

Nice deal Regarding the throtteling issue, no it was posted on another thread that they havent got a set date but rest assured they are looking into it from every angle. Which is promising, I would speculate at least a couple of weeks if not a month or so before we see any progress.

 

Wrong model. That's the 1645.

 

You realize that's a restart, right? Meaning the timer starts when I hit "Restart" and stops when I'm back on the desktop?

The boot time is definitely sub-30,

Oh, yeah. I have at least around 53 processes. The usual for Win7 + 2 for facial recognition + 3 for Mozy backup + 1 for Athan + 1 for Bluetooth + 2 for Synaptics driver + 1 for audio + 1 Quickset + 1 for Sidebar + 1 for Microsoft Security Essentials + 2 for ATI drivers. Whew. I mean, I didn't buy a hyper-threaded quad-core for nothing.

~Ibrahim~

 

Does that mean that the new BIOS might not work with the 1647?

 

Im sure they will bring out multiple for all notebooks affected.

 

Wasn't the throttling issues only with the Core i7 on the 1645 since that processor uses more power? The core i5 doesn't use that much power right?

 

no idea your possibly correct. But if the i5 does have issues then im sure DELL will sort it aswell .

 

Look at this graph from notebookcheck.
The i7 dual core can consume up to 64Watt on maximum cpu load and the i5's up to 50W. Considering that the 1647 has a 35 watt GPU + everything else (WLED-RGBLED, HDD, etc) I cant see it perform without throttling with the 90 watt adapter that Dell is providing.
Can someone verify this please?

 

Just read that test article and I believe the power consumption data is the total system power used by the notebook, not just the CPU. Here is the despription of the test : "The total system's power consumption was measured between the mains and the adapter in following performance profiles:....."

Another thing to note is that they measured power usage on the AC side of the adapter. This means they did not account for the efficiency loss of the adapter itself, typically they are only 75 - 90% efficient. Adapters get warm under load due to the energy wasted in the conversion process from AC to DC.

 

Yes you are right. I just saw it again and it said "power consumtion review unit W760C" which is the laptop model.
What do you mean that its only 75-90% efficient? The adapter doesnt guarantee 90 watt?

 

No you will get rated output wattage but no adapters are 100% efficient, to put out 90W they use ~ 100+ W coming in from the wall. Look at your adapter label and compare AC input Voltage and Amps to the rated output voltage and Amps. Input rating will always be greater than output, the difference is the efficiency of the adapter.

 

In comparison the i7-720qm in the 1645 pulled over 90w from the wall at max load. That seems to correspond to my initial guess it would be close to half the power the 720qm seemed to have. They seemed to pull 58-60w alone, halve the cores and thats close to the 30 watt savings it seems to be.. Lot more room to not throttle The i5's do a lot better

 

Page 3. It doesn't throttle.

 

None of the Dell models offer Instant On feature right? Instant On from BIOS to a few functionality i.e. Browser?

 

My i5-540 is SUPPOSED to be delivered next week and I ordered it with the RGBLED screen. Apparently I would have it sooner if I picked a different screen but there is currently a shortage of these screens, hence the delay. Sigh

 

Here's a lil ole comparison table I found comparing (amongst others) HM55 and PM55 chipsets.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mobile-core-i7,2443-3.html

 

One does .. Latitude Z600. Pricey, underpowered over sized netbook but really light and thin. I had one to play with for a few weeks and the instant on was semi-useless on it. The machine itself was a huge disappointment too.

 

DELETED due te editing.

 

Hi guys, do you think we will see a dramatic increase with ATI 5 series ? I mean havent we only begun to reach the full potential of DX10/10.1 ?

I was reading in a magazine called Custom PC who reviewed the new DX11 and said that the increase in graphics was marginal and very dissapointing. I.e you couldnt see if unless you was really looking and when it showed the pictures side by side, I was buggered if I could tell the diff.

Surley some were along the line we reach a bottle neck ?

 

Ok let me know how you get along and post in in here please!

 

Definitely.

 

Well, the 5-series don't merely just add DX11 support. They are plenty faster in DX9/DX10 games, too.

If it was just DX11 and no performance increase, no one would buy them.

~Ibrahim~

P.S. Instant on feature: just Google some lightweight Linux distros and put them on like a 1GB partition. Then you can just boot to that. Of course, it won't be instant-on, but it should be close.

 

Thanks for clearing that up I had an idea they would be faster not just support Dirext X 11. Should I feel sick with jelousy know that I have bought a 4670 ? and the 5 series is on its way ?

 

biggest advantages of new 5000hd series are lower tdp and dx11 support. they are somewhat faster, but best guess would be that after update dell would replace 4670 with 5730hd which is (judging from first benchmarks on pc with i7-720 and 4gb ram) approximately 15% faster then current 4670, scores ~1000 points more in 3dmark06 (7800 compared to xps 1645's 6800).
its a difference alright, but i dont think its big enough to make you feel "sick with jelaousy".
you still have a pretty good and, if i may add, very stylish pc

 

Well I just ordered myself a Dell Studio XPS 1647. I ordered through EPP and really had to sweet talk the rep for discounts. I think I got an awesome deal. She took $350 off and I'm glad I got 6GB of ram plus RGBLED

Studio XPS 16 Notebook
Intel CoreTM i5 540M processor (2C/4T, 2.53-3.06 GHz, 3M L3)
6GB, DDR3, 1333MHz 2 Dimm
320-8335 Premium FHD WLED Display, Obsidian Black, 2.0 MP Webcam
ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4670 1GB
500GB 7200RPM Free Fall SensorSeagate Hard Drive
Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish with Leather XPS 1645
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB
9 Cell Battery
2 Year Basic Service Plan

I asked about 10 times why it says Premium FHD WLED screen when I chose RGBLED but she assured me its the RGBLED screen or it wouldn't say premium. Also I hope this is model 1647 as I see a 1645 and I hope the throttling isn't present.

Subtotal
$1,793

 

WLED is like you said totally different to RGBLED, lets hope she didnt just tell you that for the sake of the sale, because DELL dont do discounts anymore especially reps, so a $350 saving could be the drop in screen ? I only got mine cheaper as I had a problem with them.

As for your system nice going on the 6GB RAM like I have said previously wish I had the money fo shell out on some of the more lavish upgrades!

As for the throtteling issue I think it leans more towards the i7 chipset if im not mistaken ? (Please corrent me if I am)

@ogrec
Thanks mate calmed me down a little, I know theres always bigger and better things coming out but I didnt imagine so soon after the purchase lol The comment about the stylish made me laugh lol ye she is a beaut!

 

Well I did notice when configuring it the RGBLED option is referred to as "Premium". She said numerous times it is the RGBLED screen and I said why doesn't it say that then? She claimed that's how the label it and its a new system because of the i5. How would I tell when I get it if its RGBLED I have never seen one before?