XPS 12 Owners Lounge

Diablo at 1080P and 720P as requested

1080P - 15-19FPS....all settings high except for shadows at medium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG-LlLo2Tow

720P - 30 FPS - all settings high except for shadows at medium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkSiPT7oWbQ

 

Sounds like the "coil whine" that some folks had on their Ivy Bridge units. Someone posted a registry tweak in this thread that supposedly helped for some people.

(There was a "problem fix" compilation post not too far back, from right before the Haswell machines went up for sale. If it's not in that post though, you might have to dig a bit.)

*edit* Oh, and thanks for the pics. I returned my IB unit because of the terrible trackpad, but it's nice to be reminded how pretty the machine is. Dell is really improving with its aesthetics.

 

Alright I am on a roll

Little known, but really nice looking game (and excellent for a fun mindless FPS) Hard Reset

Hard Reset Performance on a Haswell powered Dell XPS 12 2013 Core i7 with HD4400 Graphics - YouTube

30 FPS pretty solid during an intense battle...

 

Impressive. Can't ask for too much for a ultra book.

Do u think you can hit 30fps at 1080p for D3 if you turn on only Med graphics w shadow off or low ?

 

On further checking, I don't think this is any sort of electrical phenomenon as some have looked (i.e., coil whine). When the CPU temps are under 45, this thing is dead silent. I think Dell is aggressive with their fan ramp profiles. I.e., it goes from probably either straight passive cooling to a 75% ramp the second it hits 45C in processor temps (can't measure fan profiles yet with any tool). I think Dell has some work to do to adjust this. Hopefully some others can chime in with their impressions as this unit hits more doors.

I really love the design, form fit and function of this thing. Using windows in tablet mode is great! Even my non-tech caring wife thinks its really cool. I'm watching netflix right now to test it in HD...no fan noise and the picture looks razer sharp. Can't remark on battery yet, but it appears to have legs. I have a long flight in the morning tomorrow and will let everyone know how it fares in that scenario!

Of course, as shown the HD4400 has a decent amount of HP to play even some slightly demanding games at 720P. I'm not gonna even bother trying Battlefield 3.

 

the only program that i have had reads the fan is speedfan you have to go into the options and check the dell notebook and restart program.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

 

Hey Smug, since you haven't mentioned it I assume there's no problem, but can you confirm what Chris said earlier that the trackpad works fine for you? Any problems with twitchiness or taps not registering? And, the trackpad also works fine when the laptop is plugged in, right? (Some folks had grounding issues with the previous model.)

 

I haven't extensively used the trackpad, but in using it so far it stays completely out of the way (i.e., works flawlessly). It is accurate and works fine. I tried it briefly in a game (which doesn't really work since it disables when typing), and the responsiveness was smooth and worked well. Two finger scrolling works great and smooth!

 

So for all the negative comments about my unit, I believe I may have a lemon product, so don't let my initial impressions sway you away from purchasing.

Back from my first boot, it appeared to take 3-4 boots to actually start loading windows. Maybe this is standard, but it seemed odd to me. Subsequently, I've now had two times where the screen will not wake after the unit has been asleep for extended periods of time (over 2 hours?). After it slept overnight I tried to wake it up and ended up having to force a complete shutdown. The same thing just happened after it had been shut down for a little while this afternoon. Both times the device seems to wake up, the keyboard lights up, the fan is running, but the screen is completely black. No matter of shortcuts, key presses, tricks (Alt+P+Enter), hitting the F1 (display mode?) button seem to do anything to resolve it (not that I should have to). Only thing that seems to work is a force shutdown.

Bottom line, both the fan profile and the screen are likely BIOS issues that have to do with Suspend and Resume power states and hopefully Dell can tweak. I'm highly considering returning though. Performance is great overall, so I'm not sure what is going on.

 

I had issues with that too but I just disabled the rapid start tech and that fixed it for me but isn't that big of a deal as I normally shut it down out of habit as my other one would seemingly wake up for no reason. and haven't gotten out of the habit yet.but I will keep mine as that isn't a big issue and the fan doesn't seem different than my 9q23.

 

As long as the hardware is working fine, I wouldnt go through the hassle of returning. Early releases are normally not 100% bug free anyway. But would definitely call Dell Support and make a lot of noise ...lol

 

What do you guys recommend I disable when mine comes in. I intend to get rid of the virus crap thing and install my own, but what else ? Also will anyone be doing like a wipe and reinstall ? I heard that on windows 8 you will need to pay to do that sort of.

Lemme know yer thoughts. I got the 128GB so any space saving would be great.

 

I've created my Factory Recovery USB stick using Dell Backup and Recovery. Unlike my old Vaio, it did not offer to regain space on my 512Gb SSD by deleting the recovery partition. Is it safe now to delete the PBR Image partition of 11.14Gbs?

Although quite small, what is the WINRETOOLS partition for?

There is also an 8Gb partition at the end of the SSD right after the PBR Image partition. I cannot see what it does and Paragon says it is unformatted. What's that about?

 

Immediately offload your recovery partition to a usb stick. It gives you back a good 4GB of SSD space, and that recovery drive is much more useful somewhere other than on the drive that you'd be recovering.

I'm thinking of getting the 128 as well. The fact that I'm forced to eat a $200 processor upgrade in order to spend another $300 on a larger SSD makes me think it's not worth it. In a year when the warranty is expired anyway, 512 drives will be even cheaper (and they're not too bad now). The only thing holding me back is the 4GB of RAM...

 

The Vaio Duo 13 with HD 4400 review at Notebookcheck is showing nearly identical results to the HD 5000 in the Macbook Air 2013 13-inch in their own review. I hope that means the HD 5000 in the Vaio Duo 13 is even faster, but it looks like HD 4400 is doing pretty well, at least on the Duo 13.

 

you can remove the recovery partition but would keep it if you have a 512 unless you are running out of space. and all the partitions at the front are needed to automated repairs and to boot. also the recovery partition is needed to do the reset/refresh

 

i would at least when you get it create the recovery drive remove mcafee and just use defender and would not do a reinstall at the moment as to make sure it is working ok first but if you want do it but there appear to be a ton of drivers i normally wipe my computer when I get it but changed my mind when I saw so many drivers. and as long as you do it on your computer there are no issues worst case you have to call the activation line.

 

Saw that the 4650 is apparently available on the large business site in Canada.
New XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook and Tablet PC Details | Dell Canada

So at some point they will probably introduce it as an option in the US. Probably won't be for a month or two if I had to guess.

 

I got my unit on Saturday too. But I ran into the problem with it resuming from sleep. Have you had any issue with the unit's screen coming back from sleep. I have to do a cold boot to use it if I or the unit puts itself to sleep...
Also i have the i5 version...

 

I am having the Same issue. In my unit the system has never come back from sleep. Always have to cold boot the system. I put this post on the Dell Community Forums.

"No screen after resume from Sleep, XPS 12 9Q33

Just revived my new XPS 12 Haswell system on Saturday. Noticed a problem when the system went to sleep. When I try to turn on the system from only the backlight keys come on and a steady on light on the power switch, no screen. The laptop will not show a display after it resumes from sleep. So in regular use I am unable to use the power switch to put the system down or close the lid. I loose anything I am working on because I have to hold the power switch to do a cold boot.

I thought maybe I did something funky in the settings without noticing. So since I just got the machine I did the full restore, wipe and re-install option provided at boot. System did a wipe and re-installed windows. Same behavior :/

Is anyone else having this issue....

My best,

David"

 

If you're having sleep problems, disable the Intel Rapid Start. It saves power by turning sleep into a sort of hibernate -- basically it makes low-power sleep into no-power hibernate. When laptops have problems waking from sleep, Rapid Start is often the problem. It's kind of a neat feature, I suppose, but really, how often does the power used when the laptop is sleeping make a difference to usage? I suspect most people won't even notice the difference with it turned off.

 

Disabling Intel Rapid Start makes resume from sleep work now. I used the software settings to disable, still enabled in the BIOS by default. It would be nice, well nice is soft, I would like my product as shipped to work as its supposed to. Is this a per system issue, is my silicon faulty? Or should Dell flat out disable it in the BIOS. I would rather not use workarounds on a 12 hundred dollar piece of silicon...

 

You seem to have it worse than most if it happens every time for you, but it's a pretty common complaint in general (across different laptops and manufacturers). I doubt it's fault in your actual hardware. Rapid Start just doesn't seem to be very good software. Fortunately, you basically lose nothing by disabling it.

Is there no way to disable it in the BIOS? Would be nice to just be totally rid of it, if it's not being used.

 

@Epic Yeah thanks. I hear you. 300 for an SSD upgrade which I won't fill up right away like you said in a year after warranty is over (and then you can safely upgrade without voiding since it's no longer a factor)

I'll be fine just wanting to maximize what I have. I just purchased a 32 GB stick on sale here so will do as you said ASAP

 

Can't tell you how much I agree with this statement. I had the same issue I've reported numerous times this AM on the plane. I had to shut the unit all the way down. This just isn't acceptable for me. Anyways, I will disable the Intel Rapid Start and see if it is the culprit.

Actually, have no idea how to get into the BIOS...what button is it? This thing boots fast and you gotta be quick with the fingers.

Also, to report in from a log plane flight (3.5 hours) on my usage.

About 45 minutes of Civ 5
20 Minutes of Halo Spartan Assault (worked extremely well with the XPS12 in slate mode - I guess it's called?)
100 Minutes of a movie
Probably 30 Minutes of just messing around?

Battery life is at 31% - Screen has been in auto mode the whole time (so don't know average brightness)

So what's that, 195 Minutes - let's call it an even 200 - basically three hours of medium to heavy use and it says I get another 2.5 on the battery?

How's that fair for anyone else?

 

In fiddling with my unit this AM, I was able to reliably get back from sleep after I disabled Intel Rapid Start. I didn't go the BIOS route. Just checked Off in the Intel Rapid Start Technology Manager that you will find in desktop mode, down in the notification area. You can disable it in the BIOS, tap F2 after you flick the on switch to launch it. And in the Advanced tab the Intel Rapid Start Technology option is enabled by default, disable if you like :/
My only annoyance at this point. Other than Windows 8 being a bloat ware version of 7, but i can learn to love.

 

I'm within inches of just saying "To hell with it" and buying the cheap i5/4/128 version. I want more RAM and a bigger hard drive, but not enough to add 40% to the cost of the machine to get it. I'm sure in a year or two if I'm still using the machine I'll regret the limited RAM, but the hard drive is always replaceable.

So, question: The 128GB SSD -- does it give 119GB of usable space, or 111GB? How much does the computer actually see?

(And if anyone has actually gone through and stripped out the recovery drive, turned off the hibernation cache, and done the other standard space-saving measures, how much working space did you have aside from W8 afterwards?)

*edit* And just out of curiosity, how large is the recovery partition? Are there any other meaningful default partitions on the SSD?

 

After reading both the Notebookcheck and Anandtech review of MacBook Air 2013, my best bet is there's a lot more here than meets the eye. The HD 5000 equipped CPUs seem to be thermally bound at this point, meaning that the GPU isn't running at full capacity in games and other applications which stress both the CPU and the GPU.

The folks at Notebookcheck mention that the HD 5000 in their review did not go over 850Mhz while under testing. Anand mentioned in his review that while playing games the CPU+GPU combo reached and even exceeded the sustainable TDP limit (named PL1). The package can exceed the TDP limit up to 1.2-1.3 TDP (PL2) as long as some thermal conditions are met (as long as the cooler can keep the die below a certain temp). Finally, Intel spec sheets say the maximum frequency for HD 4400 is 1100Mhz and for HD5000 is 1000Mhz.

What does this mean in the end? If all this is true then HD 5000 doesn't have a clear advantage over HD 4400 in ULT processors with 15W TDP, since the power limit is set so low. Properly cooled and properly designed ultrabooks might squeeze a more noticeable performance advantage though.

 

Well mine shipped (and I do have some issues but it's a long story) but I should get it if all goes well in the next 2-3 days. I can let you know how much space as I am gonna end up with the 128GB version. (Mind you I got the improved CPU/RAM)

 

Quoting myself here because I just did this. When I had the Ivy model, I loved the design but cursed the terrible trackpad, and so I returned it. I always said if they fixed the problem I'd happily re-buy it. I've been waffling over over the cost, weight, and smaller screen-size relative to some of the new high-end Haswell machines, but today "To hell with it" won out. By the time I get it, everyone else will already have gotten theirs and reviews will be abundant, but, something useful about the ordering process...

1) First, I confirmed that returns within 30 days are free, and don't need a reason other than "I didn't like it." This was required for me, since I needed to return the previous version.
2) Dell doesn't do anything to verify the "student discount." Order here to save a whopping $24 to $40. It's not much, but it's still $24 to $40.
3) However, I ordered by phone, because I know that Dell customer service has the power to give out $50 rebates, and I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I just said, "I'm on the fence. Are there any discounts or rebates on the base model beyond the student discount?" The CSR went away for two minutes and came back with a $1102.57 price ($1199 MSRP, $1175 student). So, just by asking I saved $72.

So, if anyone is waffling on the purchase -- you can save $100 and you can return it at no cost (even return shipping is paid) if you don't like it. I have no idea if that discount scales to better models. If I'd been smart I'd have asked about that, sorry.

Now I just gotta wait two weeks...

*edit* Oops, a detail worth noting: I indicated that my employer is a university. I have no idea if that was part of my discount or not. BUT, I was not asked to verify my employment in any way.

 

Well, I'm not sure that my device fully hibernated, but I disabled the FST from intel and it resumed from sleep just fine!

However, I think it was still just suspended (the white light on the power switch was still pulsating) - not full hibernation which I believe is the problem.

Read up on FST a bit using el-goog, and it seems to be more than just a simple tool as it tries to reduce the cache size by dumping useless memory bits before writing to the SSD on hibernate amongst other various features. I love how fast this things resumes from suspended states, which blows my 2011 MacBook Air out of the water (I usually had to wait 15 seconds for useable machine). Would prefer I keep it on, so maybe the driver/BIOS issue gets sorted out.

Still gotta keep testing this thing, but the more I use it, the more I'm liking it despite some obvious bugs in this first production unit. I went by a Sony Experience Store in a mall today to look briefly at the Duo 13. Nice, if eccentric piece of kit. It is lighter than the Dell for sure with a larger screen. It feels less...well, substantial or durable than the XPS12. The soft touch feel to the Dell, and overall aesthetics are nicer IMHO. I might cancel the Sony order and ride out a few bumps on this thing - gonna keep rocking with it for the week to see how it goes.

I have to admit, using it on the plane in "slate" mode was a pleasure - the keyboard was out of sight, the screen was close enough to reduce any strain from "reaching" out to touch the screen. It seems silly to think 8 inches of keyboard make such a difference, but it really does. I kept flipping it around and trying to play the Halo game I mentioned before in both modes. One is basically standard ultrabook mode, and the other is slate mode (someone please correct me if I'm wrong in using this name!) - and to be frank, I can see why people laugh off the touch interface in ultrabooks; it is straining to do any long term touch interaction when you have to reach over all that keyboard!

Also, update on the trackpad...it rocks! Perfect response and the full windows 8 gestures are great.

Bottom line, I'm starting to fall for this unit.

PS - One question for those out there...the audio quality out of the headphone jack could use a bit of an improvement. Overall it is OK, but not audiophile by any stretch - I noticed when watching a movie that the audio "pops" every 10 or so seconds - it's quick and usually subtle, but for someone who has expensive IEMs, I can definitely hear it. Anyone know a fix or have the same issue?

 

Ill test this out when I get mine. I typically use a DAC and amp with my headphones if I'm listening critically. What iem's are you using?

 

Thanks for affirming that. The trackpad is my biggest worry, since this is a productivity machine for me (and I already know that the keyboard is quite nice). Every time I hear that it's fine, I feel better about my purchase.

It should revive from regular sleep almost instantly. Is there a reason you specifically need to hibernate (or quasi-hibernate) the machine? I personally always just disable hibernate entirely, since it eats up hard drive capacity and I don't leave my laptop on-but-ignored for long periods of time.

Your headphone jack shouldn't be doing that. My Ivy Bridge model certainly never had that problem. Interference from the wi-fi or bluetooth perhaps? You might try turning off anything that radiates or pulses and seeing if it's still there.

 

Actually both internal speakers and any audio through the headphone jack gets some pops/crackles in a non-uniform matter. Since I noticed it while on the plane in "airplane mode" I'm not thinking this is a wireless radio interference thing.

 

That's a little distressing, then. Makes me wonder if it's a grounding issue inside the chassis somewhere. That'd be worrisome since some units had a grounding problem in the previous model, and it would suck if the issue is still around.

 

Before I cause too much consternation...I've been poking around to figure out the culprit and think I've found it. Speedfan! After shutting it down, the crackles go away. I think it's tied to polling interval and interference since it's pulling readings off the motherboard. Anyone heard of this? Right now I'm listening to clear audio on movies, music, and games. I did restart as well - but I opened speedfan because I was curious if the crackling was present when the fan ramps up but the second speedfan started the crackles started coming back into the audio stream.

Goes to show you how complex PC's are with the HW/SW interactions...you never know what's running behind the scenes.

Sorry for any false alarm.

 

Nice that you figured it out. That's the sort of the that Dell's phone support wouldn't likely have caught, and I can easily imagine a tech coming to replace all your sound components for no improvement.

Also cool that you're getting more into the machine. I have to say, the form-factor really is very appealing to me. I understand on a logical level that the flip-gimmick hurts other aspects of the laptop -- it's heavier and larger with a smaller screen compared to an XPS-13, for example. But, it's just so nice to be able to get the keyboard out of the way when you don't want it. I love watching videos with the screen flipped into "presentation mode" with the the keyboard behind it. It's also amazing as an e-reader, something that I've tried on a regular laptop and just couldn't get into with the keyboard there.

I can't help but think that next year or the year after, the redesign of this gimmick in the next model is likely to make for a real masterpiece of design. Once they find a way to make it thinner and lighter with the gimmick intact, there won't be any reason to get a traditional laptop.

 

Anyone tried updating their drivers on Dell support site to see if it clears up their up problems? Noticed many releases on 9th July including Intel Rapid Start and graphics drivers ? Wondering if there will be noticeable graphics boost ?

 

I checked as of when I got it are all up-to-date the only one I have updated is the wifi from intel.com.


also here is my sissandra results
http://www.sisoftware.eu/rank2011d/...d2efddfb93ae9bbdc5f8c9ef8aefd2e2c4b78aba&l=en
and detailed components http://www.sisoftware.eu/rank2011d/...e0ddedcba39eae88f0cdfddbbedbe6d6f083be8e&l=en

what I did to run it was downloaded it from geek3d http://archive.sunet.se/pub/games/PC/guru3d/sandra/san1950-[Guru3D.com].exe

then once installed clicked Benchmark tab and then clicked over all score and allowed it to submit my score online. and sat back and watched the ircle for appox 30 minutes. would be interesting to see what the i5 gets and the other ssds bench at.

 

Just an FYI there is a 13.3 case that was recommended - NB CASE MOBILE EDGE MESSM3-13 RT

It looks nice and it's waiting for my laptop my only disappointment is that the case doesn't have a "strap" per say to put around your shoulder and carry it, just handles.

Probably my bad for not making sure but oh well going to be in backpack anyway most of the time.

 

Does anybody else get a whine from their fan on the new 12 when it gets above 3k rpms? Want to know if I should deal or get a tech to replace the unit. For the most part the unit is silent but the fan kicks in randomly under load for brief periods. Not a deal breaker and most of the time the environmental noises drown it out.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Grrr...for some reason, I haven't been getting updates to this thread, so I've missed out on everyone getting their machines! Mine is due to arrive tomorrow!

My husband doesn't believe in McAfee, so he won't let me touch the computer until he installs our Norton Antivirus Software and sets me up on our wireless network. Any tips on what I should do first after that? I've never used Windows 8 before and don't even have a smart phone, so I'm not familiar with the whole "apps" mode of working. I am a pretty quick learner, but I imagine that I'll want to return to the Windows 7 desktop, at least at first.

 

Both of my xps 12s tend to make a louder airflow noise around that 3k point, and the older 12 has a louder whine than my new one.

Yeah stay away from Norton and use defender the built in antivirus.

 

Someone just got their hands on their Sony Vaio Duo i7-4650u w HD5000. Seems like gaming performance is a huge leap over Intel HD4000.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...vaio-duo-13-owners-thread-87.html#post9300385

Too bad I already placed my order for XPS 12 w i7-4500u since the i7-4650u won't be available in my country. The other reason is that I will need to pay $500 more just for that i7-4650u if I go for the Sony Vaio Duo.

Bit crazy that it will take Dell 2 weeks to deliver my order. I hope the new XPS12 will be enough for my casual gaming needs. Else, I may decide to sell-it off ultimately and go for the Duo.

 

Unfortunately, I think mine has a problem but I can't work out whether it's hardware or software. Sometimes the bottom half or more of the screen flashes black for half a second or so. It seems to happen after I have been using it for a while so I wonder if it is heat related although the machine itself does not feel hot. I tried reinstalling the Intel graphics HD driver off the website and that seems to cure it but then after a while it happens again. Any of you experts able to guide me to a solution?

 

I don't know what RPM it's at, but mine is loud as heck when it runs.

 

Describe "casual gaming"? While I can't quantify the advantage the HD5000 in the Sony Duo will have over the HD4400, so far the HD4400 has been a competent portable chipset for games.

I spent 2 hours on my flight last night playing Torchlight 2 at 1080P - it worked flawlessly at 30-40 FPS on battery (also at power saver plan). I played the a little the night before and was getting 60FPS at 1080P while plugged in (dell plan). I also can play hard reset at 30FPS, although while not plugged in it may not be a "on battery" type of game. Civ5 works fantastic at 1080P, Borderlands 2, Dishonored all around 30 FPS.

I plan to try some other games, but some of these games are just massive and I don't really know about allocating that much disk space to it! For example, I want to see if Dragon Age Origins works, but that is 25GB! Holy cow!

 

Also, after multiple days, I can confirm that disabling the Intel Fast Start Tech solves the resume from the sleep issue. Sounds like either Intel or Dell needs to update some software since it is NOT a hardware issue.

 

Loud as heck huh? I don't think I'd describe it as that loud, it's just a "whine" - as mentioned, I think on my first day, the average CPU temps were pretty high (although the unit stays very cool to the touch). Not sure if this was because of background ops in Windows 8 on the first startup or because my laptop was in a very hot FedEx truck all day (95 degrees out).

On day 5 of using it here and I just canceled my Sony Duo 13 order in favor of this - I really love the XPS 12. Will try to write up my full review this weekend after a weeks of use that tries to summarize it all.

 

Lol..I am actually a hardcore gamer on my desktop. But on ultrabook like this, I am happy if I can play 1-2 years old popular games at 30fps on Medium graphic settings at 1080p, first person shooters aside. Examples will be Diablo 3, Dragon Age 2, Starcraft, Guild Wars 2, DOTA 2...etc.

Actually I am not sure how accurate the Windows Experience Index is but I've seen similar 3D scores (~6.5) on XPS 12 Haswell vs Duo i7-4650.

For those that are wondering why the new XPS 12 is so power efficient, I've just come across the article below.

Dell XPS 12 (Haswell) Battery Life Tests « Ultrabook News and the Ultrabook Database