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

I just finished chatting with a Dell tech support rep and they will be sending out a new motherboard and fan. I hope that takes care of everything. I'll still re-do the thermal paste once the repair is made but figured I'd wait and see how the new parts work first.

I can't believe it was as simple as that. I spent hours and hours researching online trying to figure out what might be wrong. I read all the threads about 90W vs. 130W power adapters, undervolting, vent blocking, etc.

I hope the high temperatures didn't adversely affect anything else in the system. I've got my fingers crossed that the new parts will do the trick and that there won't be any long-term issues with my machine.

Thanks to everyone for all of their input. I really appreciate it. I'll let everyone know how the repairs work out.

 

Well, for me that fan is so noisy that it's not possible to not be able to tell if it's working or not. If you are not sure, than it's broken

 

hi ppl

i just reapplied my thermal paste ( AS5) on my xps and ran a gpu stress test. for some reason the temps are going higher than b4 i applied it.and i heard AS5 got no curing time.plus maybe the fact that AS5 is slightly capacitive maybe thats causing some problems? i wasnt sure of using AS5 on my lappy bcoz of that but someone here said its ok as long as im not messy.so here r some pics of how i applied it.i repplaced the heatsink then waited for a few minutes then took it out again to see if placing it on the gpu/cpu made a mess.so just take a look at the pics.thx!!

Pictures by boy_22 - Photobucket

 

Thermal paste is generally to provide a pliable surface to fill in the microscopic cracks and stress lines so that the thermal transfer is more efficient and even. From the pictures you provided, it looks like you have too much. All you really need is a thin bead of thermal paste and in this case, more is not better. What is likely happening is that you've put so much of it on that it is actually insulating the CPU and GPU.

I would suggest cleaning your heatsink, CPU, and GPU die and starting over. Place a thin beaded line of thermal paste about the width of a sewing needle, down the middle of the CPU die, starting from the top of the cpu die near the RAM in your pictures. Do the same for the integrated GPU die that is to the left of your CPU die on the processor and also for your discrete GPU die. Do not place any thermal paste on the heat sink or thermal pipe itself.

If the method above seems a bit complicated, you can alternately place a drop of thermal paste about the size of a pin head in the direct center of the CPU and GPU die, spreading it around with your finger until a thin coating covers the entire die.

Once that is done, attach your thermal pipe and screw down the heat sink for the CPU first, followed by the GPU, and then the lone screw for the auxiliary heat sink.

That should take care of your heating issues.

 

Yeah, you used way too much. Follow these instructions: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/ss/intel_app_method_surface_spread_v1.1.pdf

Also, AS5 is the brand that DOES have a curing time.

 

So the plot thickens with my heating problems. Yesterday I got back from a 4-day vacation and when I started my computer back up, the fan is working again and is keeping the system cool. It was sitting in the low 40s while idling and web surfing and stayed below 70 while playing Defense Grid and Civ V. Now this morning, the fan isn't working again and it got to the point where it turned itself off because of the heat. It hasn't dipped below 70C since I restarted and the fan still isn't working.

Outside of a mechanial problem, is there anything that could be causing the fan to stop working like that? Like I mentioned earlier, I don't know much about BIOS or programming and things of that nature, so I'm not sure if something like that could be causing a problem.

Thanks again.

 

Not sure I've heard of that one before. If I had to guess, I'd say it was the board not powering the fan properly or perhaps there is something obstructing the fan itself such as a dust clog.

 

Strike one on the Dell repair. The tech came out and replaced the motherboard and the computer wouldn't even power on. Turns out they shipped a motherboard and fan for the 1645.... except I have a 1647. They said they'd overnight the right parts and someone would come tomorrow to try again. The odd thing is they had the right model number in the email that confirmed the dispatch of the parts.

The tech was very nice though. He originally didn't reinstall the old motherboard, but after I told him I needed the computer to do some work at home, he took the extra 1/2 hour to reinstall it, even though someone is coming out tomorrow to do the replacement with the correct parts.

 

I started up HWMonitor after the tech left to see what the temperatures were at and how hot it would get playing some games and for some reason it is only showing 1 core now. In the past it gave readings for 2. It now has 2 readings under "Dell Inc. 05P36G" where there only used to be one and one of them (TZ01) is reading all 0's.

What in the world could he have done to cause that?

 

HWMonitor is back to seeing 2 cores again and neither one has gone above 68C since the tech left even though I've been playing games and running 6 programs or more at one time. I guess it still would be a good idea for the tech to replace the motherboard in case the problem starts back up again. We'll see if the parts come in today and if they can make it back over to do the replacement.

 

Hey everyone,

Been a long while since I posted, but here goes. I've had the XPS 16 for close to a year now, but recently when I play music or video's I'm getting a really annoying vibration / rattle coming from the PC. I've tried opening it up and tightening the screws... but nada. I called tech support and they're going to take a look, but have any of you experienced the same thing? If so, what was the resolution?

 

I'm looking for someone who has an XPS with an i5-460m cpu, I'm wondering what your idle and prime95 temps are. mine are:

idle 40C
prime95 (4 "logical processors" of course so 4 threads) 80C max

wondering how I stack up with others, thanks!

 

Someone came out and replaced the motherboard and fan on Monday. The highest temperature I've seen since then has been 78C on the CPU and 72C on the GPU. I'm going to try the thermal paste this weekend to see if it will go even lower.

Thanks again for all the help on this. I really appreciate it.

 

I just ordered a used 1647 with Intel i5-430M, 4gb ram, Centrino 6100, 500gb 7200rpm, RGBLED, Non-Leather version, bluetooth, ATI 4670 in black with Warranty thru 4/12 for about $800. Gettting it Thursday. I was thinking about upgrading the DVD to Blu-Ray possibly but not urgent, throwing in 8gb of Crucial RAM $90 now, and possibly an SSD, none urgent. I just got for the better screen and to play some strategy games - StarCraft, LOTR Battle for Middle Earth II, and the Command and Conquer games. I also picked up a used Envy 13 with the Radiance Panel late last year for about $700 but only 1366x768 resolution and found the ATI 4330 was good enough to play games I have so expect this will be even better. Having a great screen is a huge must have with me, the really bad laptop screens most manufacturers provide are a real step backwards from even six years ago when my Inspiron 9300 1920x1200 Trulife Glossy put any current laptop to shame with great viewing angles and a good picture. I don't understand why a backlit keyboard and a decent display aren't more readily available. I guess most consumers don't notice or care. If the Dell is a good as the Envy my movie watching and gaming will be a delight. Thanks for all the forum posts so guys like me can learn.

 

I got my used computer 1647 i5 RGBLED last night, the screen is definetly great on the eyes. I do have one issue. The person who sold it to me did a clean install of W7HP but I have two choices for Windows 7 in the boot menu and no access to the Dell Restore Icon after F8 and Repair my Computer, just the standard choices are there, no Dell choice at the bottom. There is a C drive 450gb and 14gb D drive that has what looks like a windows install in it with a smallish 500mb restore folder that looks like hidden files are in. Anyone know how to try and delete the extra windows choice at boot to save the 25 second wait and try and recover the Dell Partition? If Dell sells a DVD set, I would probably buy it to do the same and just delete the D alltogether. Also, my service tag doesn't show up on Dell.com at all, owner says he returned and got a new unit so I could call Dell, so I have to transfer ownership and then get the 130w adapter plus I wish I could see my drivers by using Service Tag, just have to type in Generic Model number 1647. I also downloaded and am using the color profile that was posted here and it looks good, although I might go back to not using it because it looks a little less colorful than RGB original did. I loaded up StarCraft II and played a mission on Medium Settings. I didn't notice much of a slowdown but I didn't think the colors were as vibrant as my Envy 13 1366x768, which was kind of a surprise, might be that the Spyder 3 Calibrations I grabbled are too muted. So far, so good, I like the look of it, I am actually glad I didn't get the leather trim, it seems like that would wear out. Mine looks almost mint, I looked high and low for wear and only found a tiny fingernail scratch to the left of the mouse pad, this baby held up great for owner one and hopefully will do me well for a long time. Also, the 9 cell battery seems to help with cooling. I grabbed bios A10, I think, it worried me at first because as it was installing the fan went on full-blast for a while, but after reboot it was normal. Who knows if I am throttling. I also installed the latest ATI drivers with modder. I got some sort of error AMD hardware not found at the very end but it seems ok, Starcraft ran good and after reboot no errors, and access to Catalyst control panel. I also got the latest DirectX and took the latest Dell Drivers. I had two unknown system hardware that required me to install the Ricoh Card Reader and now everything is recognized. I also added the Dell Dock which wasn't on my driver CD. There doesn't appear to be any DVD playing software included, but I got an unopened Office 2007 Home and Student. I really hope I can get the restore partition working I want to see if there was some cool wallpaper etc with the default install and maybe some other programs. I have a few white specks imbedded in those speaker grills and not even a Dyson could get them out!

 

Guys, should I or not (I'm not in the USA):

Studio XPS 1647 for USD 1000 (after conversion)

i5-460M
HD 5730
16 inch RGBLED 1080p
4GB DDR3
500GB 7200RPM
Dell Wifi Card thingy
Ugly leather part

I will add 3 year normal warranty for USD 200

What do you guys think?

 

I have this exact same issue. I received my SXPS 1647 as a result of the warranty on my XPS M1530. I replaced the battery on my 1530 and found that the laptop wouldn't charge the new battery. It had a three year warranty, so after a support call, Dell sent a new motherboard and a tech. That motherboard charged the battery for three days and then quit working entirely. The replacement for that motherboard was missing the BIOS battery connector. While the Dell tech was replacing the motherboard for the third time, he accidentally snapped one of the wireless card antenna connectors. Dell had me send the laptop to their depot in Houston for refurbishment. It came back with a new wireless card and new case panels. The laptop then worked perfectly for about 8 months until it developed an issue where several of the keys on the keyboard would quit working at random times. Plugging a USB keyboard into the laptop didn't make any difference.

So Dell sent a fourth motherboard and a keyboard. At this point, through the warranty, every part on my 1530 has been replaced except for the CPU and the RAM and who knows, they may have swapped those out at the Dell depot. It was late when the tech left, so I didn't get a chance to test my laptop before I went to bed. I get up the next morning and discover that this "new" motherboard from Dell has the same issue that I originally had several months before: It will not charge my battery.

Another call into Dell tech support and a good five minute wait while the CSR reads the novel that is the support history for my 1530. She finally says that rather than fix this issue, Dell will replace my laptop with an entirely different one that's either just as good or better. A few days later, a Dell CSR calls me with info about the laptop they are going to send me. I was thinking they would send me a new or refurbished 1530. The CSR tells me they don't have any new 1530's as Dell no longer makes them and they do not have any refurbished 1530's that match or exceed the specs of mine. For reference, the specs of my XPS M1530:

Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz(Don't remember the model)
3 GB DDR2 RAM @ 667 Mhz
Geforce 8600 GS
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit
250 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Fingerprint Scanner
9 Cell Battery

The CSR tells me that they are going to send me a current model instead. A Studio XPS 1647 with these specs:

2.53 Ghz Core i5 M540
3 GB DDR3 RAM @ 1033 Mhz
Radeon HD 5730
Windows 7 Home Prem x64
320 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
6 Cell Battery

I was very happy with everything except the battery size but I was told that my 1530 warranty only covered the battery for one year and the warranty on the new $150 dollar nine cell battery I had purchased was separate from the laptop itself and couldn't be transfered.

I received the SXPS 1647 back in September and I have not had a problem since. My original warranty transfered to the 1647 and expired finally in January. They wanted $500 to extend the warranty for another year and considering that I had already payed $200 to extend the original warranty out to three years, it didn't seem worth it.

 

Oh! Heh, I should probably respond to your quote.

When my 1647 arrived, I made restore DVD's and then wiped the drive and installed Windows 7 Home Prem from scratch using a retail DVD I had purchased for a custom desktop. When I went to Dell's website to download drivers, I had the same issue you did. Dell's website said that the service tag for my SXPS1647 was invalid or did not exist. I got nearly the same error when I tried to register the laptop. I talked with tech support who told me that I needed to send my 1530 in to Dell before the 1647 could be registered. I installed drivers from the generic 1647 website and sent my XPS 1530 back to Dell. Since I couldn't register the 1647, I couldn't get on to Dell's software download site either. Two weeks later, the issue still hadn't been resolved. Tech support said that the service tag simply didn't exist and would need to be created. After about 15 minutes on hold, the technician told me that, rather than fix it properly, they were just going to send me a set of software cd's for the software that came with my 1647 and also a Windows 7 installation DVD.

A few days later, the package arrived. Inside, were a few surprises. Apparently, since the tech couldn't find my service tag and therefore didn't know what my laptop had been shipped with, he had just simply sent.. everything. In addition to the standard driver disks, I got a copy of Roxio 10.3 Blu-Ray premier despite only having a DVD burner. I also received a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 even though the laptop shipped with Home Premium. Even better, the copy of Windows 7 Ultimate installed on my laptop without asking me for a license key. I've since used that disk to install Windows 7 ultimate onto my non-Dell desktop and it then asked me for a license key. It accepted the key from the retail copy of 7 ult that I purchased for that desktop but since it didn't ask me for a key on my laptop and did ask me for a key on the desktop, I'm guessing there is some kind of BIOS check involved.

The issue with the service tag did eventually get mostly resolved. I still can't access the software download site but I can put my service tag into Dell's support site and get the customized driver page as well as get the warranty and service history.

I'd suggest bugging Dell tech support. My 1647 was still under the warranty that was transfered from the XPS 1530 it replaced. I don't know if that makes a difference or not but the worst they can tell you is "no."

 

Not bad. You might see about getting one of the XPS 15 or XPS 17 models as Dell has discontinued the SXPS 16 model line.

 

For that price, you might want to consider a m6500 or m4500 from the outlet. I picked up a m6500 for $1119 delivered with a 20% discount on Wed.
Spec:

17 inch WUGA
820QM proc
4 gb ram
2 hard drives @ 320GB
ATI fire Pro 7820
3 yr Next business day warranty

I had a 1647 but had an issue with the DVD burner. Dell demanded I send it back to the depo for repair. Given I need the laptop for class, and the cost of uprading the warranty on the 1647, I chose to rerutn it and get the m6500.

 

Thanks for the info! I just called Dell. I couldn't do anything with just the service code at all, they want the express code or the previous owner's name, luckily he sent it to me in the same box he got his in and I noticed the shipping label is still there so I will call back. I hope I can get those DVDs like you got, sweet! I wonder if I can go onto a Dell FTP and just download them myself and make 8.4gb DVDs for backup.

 

isn't the 1647 i5 only? and 1645 i7?

 

No 1647 is dual cores (i3, i5 and dual core i7) [Arrandale]

1645 is quad core i7s [Clarksfield]

 

Oh right,
Thanks.

 

I wish I could put a quad core in my 1647. The 1645 and the 1647 have the exact same chipset.

 

Me too. I am surprized no one had modded a 1647 BIOS to accept i7 Quads

 

I believe that firesyde and a few others did mod the BIOS, but were unable to get it to work.

 

Thanks, i did not know that.

 

XPS 1647 users, is it possible to tweak the laptop's fan(s) speed? There's only one fan right?

I know most newer laptops' fans can't be messed with, but it would be awesome if you could. For 5 years I used an old Latitude without knowing there was a way, and after tweaking fan speed I cut CPU temps by more than half (70-80sC, maybe even 90sC on load to 30+C normal use).

My old GT 240M and i7-720QM laptop (not Dell) went up to 98C (CPU max) and 95C (GPU max). I don't want something like that (albeit on a smaller scale) to happen to my new (coming), vent-blocked XPS 1647.

Thanks. I am too noob to orchestrate a silver thermal paste do-over, and don't want to remove dust filters either. Neither do I ever want to "mod the vent size".

One more question, does removing the battery suring desk use expose the insides to dust?

 

P.S. How do people like Locutus get i7 duos onto the XPS 16? They just buy the CPU and install it?

 

I bought mine off ebay. Whatever route you go, MAKE SURE you get an OEM, and not an ES/QS. It was very easy to install

 

I don't think lack of BIOS support is the reason why i7 quad core processor doesn't work with 1647. Microcode update for i7 quad core (CPUID Revision 000106E5h) is exist in 1647's BIOS (A10). It have the same revision as 1645 have which is 3. Both are released on 29/5/2009.
Comparison between 1647 (A10) & 1645 (A12):-

However, there could be a routine somewhere in 1647 BIOS that could prevent the i7 quad core from working but that would be counter productive. Probably manufacturer implement something on 1647's motherboard which prevent the i7 quad core from working. But firesyde424 did mentioned to me that Dell told him i7 quad core does supported on 1647 but they want to charge him if their technicians to do the upgrade for him. I read someone successfully upgrade from i3 to i7-720QM on his notebook (different brand) which only available with dual-core processor. I don't know what is the different with 1647 though.

 

I know this is an older thread but did you ever solve this? I'm trying to capture HDV on my wife's 1647 laptop and having the same exact issue. I can capture SD video fine but any flavor of HD comes in all screwed up, whether it's from tape or a live feed from the camera.

 

Are you using firewire port? Try changing the default driver to " 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)".
(Right-click at the firewire device, choose "Update Driver Software..." \ "Browse my computer for driver software" \ "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer". Then select " 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)".)
I don't know whether it will cure your problem or not but I experience a problem when transferring big files via firewire with default driver.

 

Tried that and it didn't work. If I try to capture any HD it comes in with garbage in the picture. I switch to SD and the video is fine.

 

Capture HD from what kind of source? If you're taking from a Blu-ray or a cable tv HD program, then it's protected by HDCP, and can't be directly captured. This is the only thing I can think of that would differentiate why SD works but HD doesn't.

If you're trying to capture from an HD camcorder, it should work fine, and I'm not sure what's wrong.

 

HDV from a Canon HV40 camera. The video I am trying to capture was filmed at 30p HDV. I know it should work fine. I've captured with the same cameras and cable on a lesser machine with no problems. That's why this is giving me such a headache.

I'm editing in Vegas and I've tried using HDVSplit and Vegas to capture. I've tried capturing from tape and a live camera feed in all the different standards the HV40 has. It's the same no matter what. SD video will capture with no problem and the video is fine. Any version of HDV coming from the camera live or from tape ends up being messed up.

 

This was a serious frustration for me. I carefully researched this issue. I noticed that the people who posted looking for help with this had purchased engineering samples from ebay or other places. I checked to make sure the 1647 and the 1645 had the same chipset. I talked with Dell tech support to see if it was even possible. I even purchased a boxed core i7 from Newegg instead of risking an ES cpu or something worse.

In the end, all I was left with was a lot of frustration and a CPU that I wasn't able to sell.

 

Looks like if you want to sort out this problem, you'll have to spent more which is not worth it though. It's a shame it didn't work as you want it to be. Does any of your friends willing to test the CPU on another notebooks? Just to be sure the CPU is OK.

 

I had a friend test the CPU in an Acer and an HP Pro Book. Both booted just fine with the i7 installed. When I try installing the i7 quad core into my 1647, it comes on and does the same thing that the 1647 in video linked below does. As far as I am aware it is exactly the same thing that everyone else who has tried to upgrade their 1647 to a core i7 quad core has run into. Stock BIOS, modified BIOS, doesn't matter. I spent a good week screwing with the settings in the modified BIOS, playing with the hidden CPU menu. Nothing I did mattered.

YouTube - Dell Studio XPS 16 core i5 to core i7 upgrade problem.

 

I need some hlpe guys!! Recently my performance in nba2K11 started to drop and im not sure what to do, tried goin back to my old drivers(10.2) upgraded to the new set (11.2) and im havein the same slow performance, Assassins creed 2 still runs fine, so does modern warfare 2.................... HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!

 

**VERY IMPORTANT**

I was trying to install windows 7 service pack 1 and encountered an error saying some required components are missing and a windows reinstall will fix the issue.

I researched and came to realise that Driver Sweeper deletes some folders in windows that doesnt let us to install SP1.

Here is the Link. Restore those files from the backup and you will be able to install Windows 7 SP1

 

Interesting...I use Driver Sweeper all the time and I didn't encounter that error. SP1 is installed and running fine for me. I only use Driver Sweeper when I'm installing a new video driver, and I only use it in safe mode. Good to know though, but it might just be anomaly?

 

Hello to all, I have a simple question regarding my new 1647/i5.

Is there a way to switch off the two side lights and the touch buttons (the eject button, the wifi etc)

thanking you in advance!
Nick

 

Tried myself to install SP1, but did not work at all, just hid the update and that's all. It is working fine without it.
I might try to call Dell to send my a Reinstalation Win_7_Pro_DVD with SP1.

 

No there is not ant sofware way of doing this, there may be a way via BIOS editing for the touch buttons. But the side lights are hard wired, you can however open up the backplate etc and disconnect the cables powering the side lights

 

Dell has realeased a new BIOS.......A11. Im guessing this will be the last one.
So........ how have your 1647's treated you? For me....i have had zero problems. I did the 2nd HDD mod. Added an SSD, upgraded the CPU, added bluetooth, upgraded the wireless and maxed out the RAM. Its been almost completely apart and back together with no hiccups at all. I am still very happy with it. I cant be the only one. Most of this thread is about problems. How many have one that gave zero problems?

 

Same here..no worries....very happy...over a year in....cheers!!
even the 1530 is still going lol!!!...but with a new HDD...but she lives on...

 

Thanks for the post, I updated my bios this morning. I have had good luck with mine too. I upgraded to Blu-Ray and got a new wrist wrest, like my stuff to look pristine; however, the zif cable for the backlit multimedia controls doesn't work on the new wrist rest, can't quite get it to stay on, like there is a short in it, so back to the old wrist wrest, speaker top. You can get those brand new on Ebay for $35. I wish these darn shiny plastic exteriors could be cleaned without leaving scratches and marks. Other than that, mine works perfectly, gotta love the screen. By the way, what processor upgrade did you do? I have the lowest end i5 and might want to get the faster some day if I can find it reasonably priced. Thanks again for a post in this forum, I read it before I bought my 1647 recently. Oh, I was also looking at Amazon at the Crystal HD Decoder Card for $39 to add some video playback time on battery. Amazon link - Amazon.com: HB-VD904 Broadcom Crystal HD PCI express Mini Card AVC/VC-1/H.264 Enhanced Hardware Decoder/Accelerator: Electronics. When you did the wireless upgrade did you use a two cable solution, I noticed the best wireless cards have three cable connectors.

 

I went from the i5 540 to an i7 620
i put an intel 6300 in it. it had 3 connectors