XPS 15 (Haswell) Owner's Lounge

Interesting, the 4K display option was listed as "Possible - Under Investigation" for the next-gen XPS 15 in that leaked roadmap. Cool! I kind of wish I had it so that I could get an 1920x1080-equivalent real estate using 200% scaling rather than using 150% to get slightly more than that (with a slightly less readable UI). Oh well. But the XPS 13 refresh was pegged at Q1 2015 in said roadmap, so this is right on schedule.

At the moment I'm waiting for this bad boy to be officially available in the US (expected Q1 2015), and I will be buying one immediately: A huge 4K Philips Monitor Could Replace Your Big-Screen TV | Digital Trends. 40" allows you to run 4K at 100% scaling, and I think I'd rather use all of those pixels for extra real estate rather than razor sharpness anyway. Having done some PPI calculations, I realized that 4K would only be impressively sharp on a 24" panel. Once you step up to 27", you really need 5K to maintain that level of sharpness (which is probably why Apple did exactly that on the iMac), but this system can't drive a 5K display -- otherwise, a 27" 4K display isn't quite sharp enough to feel amazing but has enough pixels that you have to enable some scaling to keep it usable, which seems to be the worst of both worlds. And a 32" 4K display has a pixel density that's roughly equivalent to a 15" 1080p display, which I wouldn't call ultra sharp by any means.

 

That's probably because they are still working on the redesign that looks like the XPS 13 with new chips and graphics maybe ... dell did say the XPS 13 is going to be exclusive until august ... apple maybe taking a similar approach but they release in September so maybe august is the date for a completely new XPS 15.

 

I agree with you, but I needed to new laptop now. Sadly I will have to miss out the new xps 15, my laptop is just too old to perform Java equipped videos on certain websites. I am using an dell inspiron 1520 which is 8 years old right now. Got it in 2007.

 

Yup, same thing happened to me.

1st guy - Wrong motherboard
2nd guy - Replaced motherboard but still coil whine
3rd guy - Had a new motherboard but couldnt replace it because first 2 guys stripped 3 of the screws so couldnt get the case off.

The technician called someone from dell and they wanted me to send it to the depot, but I refused because I couldnt be without a laptop for 5-10 business days. I complained to the original guy who setup my claim and he sent me a brand new replacement laptop.

 

It is way too easy- way too ridiculous easy even- to strip the screws on the XPS15/M3800. I bought a driver set with every torx size out there. I used the exact torx size required, was super extremely careful, and I still managed to strip half the screws. I'm petty sure my laptop is unopenable right now.

I hope they move away from these types of screws. Even with the right torx screwdrivers they are like putty.

 

Yeah, those screws are a complete joke. They really need to find a replacement that can be used multiple times and not strip.

 

I stripped the screws on a hard drive caddy on a previous laptop and ended up taking it to a local hardware store, where the guy put it on a bench and used a sufficiently small left-handed drill bit to bore into the screw, and at that point the counter-clockwise motion pulled the remainder of the screw out. If you need to get back into your laptop, that might be your best option. And while you're there, you'll likely be able to find some screws of appropriate length and thread pitch with Philips heads to install instead.

I agree though, the Torx thing is a hugely irritating move and the only possible reason for it could be to follow Apple's lead in disincentivizing customers from opening their systems, though Dell does at least continue to provide full service manuals. Apple has actually since become even worse, having gone so far as to create an entirely new head style (pentalobe) to make it even MORE difficult. Fortunately, iFixIt has my back: https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/54-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-022.

 

How it was? They sent the new one first and after yours? I'm thinking in giving up this model if there's no solution for this problem...

Dell released the new Alienware 15 and I really like it, waiting for reviews

 

Does anyone have a step by step guide to replacing the thermal compound on the fans/heatsink? My XPS15 is fine, but when the Nvidia GPU is enabled it gets rather hot, was wondering if upgrading the stock thermal compound (like some people in this thread have done) would help?

Thanks!

 

A few people have done that and noticed temperature decreases of about 10 C under load. It's pretty straightforward. First get some proper grease like Arctic Silver, then go get the Owner's Manual for this system from support.dell.com and follow the instructions for removing the thermal heat sink assembly. Get all of the existing grease off of the heat sink and the chips themselves, apply a very thin but contiguous layer of the new stuff (this is where most people including Dell mess up by laying it on too thick!) and put everything back together. Then keep a close eye on your temperatures for a while to make sure everything looks good.

 

Even more funny is trying to order a new set of screws directly from Dell. I called in and described the screws I wanted to order as best I could since Dell does not publish a parts list like other real PC manufactures do. I was told they were in stock, and I thought great since nothing else for the XPS 15 is ever in stock. I asked is that for the complete set and she said it must be, though I was doubtful because the price was only ~$2. So I ordered what I was told was going to be a complete set for the bottom cover and that they were torq screws. What I got was 1 yes 1 Philips screw that I'm not sure where it goes (maybe the type used under the metal Dell flip label but those Philip screws don't come out).

Anyway, just another example of Dells complete service failure and over priced parts. $2 for a little screw? give me a break.

 

Ah wow, 10C is pretty substantial, I think I'll give it a try then - thanks for the quick overview!

 

I have wera screwdriver sets, these do not strip the screws as they are very high end compared to the cheap crap you find in the local shops and ebay.

 

I am about to swap form AS5 to Gelid extreme as it should shave a few more degrees off!

 

If you take a few pics of the process, I'd be super grateful! I noticed that there are some thermal pads on other chips besides the CPU/GPU ( https://twitter.com/Noodle8or/status/445805575663009792/photo/1) - did you replace those with thermal compound, or just leave those on? Thanks!

 

Sorry fella, I did it as soon as I got in from work without checking here

Temps are down again, some of it will be due to the fluff removal but the max temp was 79 degrees runnings aida64's FPU burn in. Idle floats between 40-60 but the fans are not kicking in much at idle now, AS5 has had it's day!.

You can download the manual, it tells you how to remove the heatsink, best advice I can give is start at screw 6 and work back to 1. the fans are not part of the heatsink for removal purposes.

Do not try and pull the heatsink up to remove it, break the seal between board and heatsink by rotating it a few times then get your fingernails under a solid part of the heatsink such as the CPU sink.

Thermal pads are reusable & because of the low tdp of DDR3 used the pads are plenty enough.

Oh and buy a tube of Gelid extreme, my new personal favorite. just pick a known seller and not an eBay special!

 

Quick question. Has anyone had any success getting Dell to replace the motherboard to remove the coil whine in either the UK or France? My warranty runs out in a month and I'm wondering whether it's worth going through the hassle to get it replaced.

Thanks!

 

No worries, thanks for the tips good to know about Gelid extreme!

 

If it bothers you, try it. If it doesn't, leave it be. I've had about 7 motherboards in 3 different computers, one was noise-free for about a month but the noise came back later, and the other one is still noise-free (touch wood).

So, you can try your luck depending on the amount of noise of your unit, your sensitivity to that noise, and your patience for dealing with Dell support and potentially going through multiple replacements.

 

Could you share an Amazon link? There are different products called similarly (GC-3, GC-4, etc).

 

Does that mean the XPS 15 refresh will also be available in Q1 2015?

 

only extreme is GC3.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gelid-Solut...&qid=1420834695&sr=8-2&keywords=gelid+extreme

 

Any suggestions/recommendations for a practical stand which would bring the xps close to eye level in desktop applications? All I seem to be able to find are the aluminium macbook pro stands such as the rain mstand. Then again maybe I should just come up with a DIY solution..

 

There is new BIOS A7 version at Dell support site
Dell XPS 9530 System BIOS Driver Details | Dell US
Have someone test it?
Also have someone install Samsung SSD PM851 Firmware version EXT49D0Q? Does it erase all data from ssd? Is it hard to install this firmware?

 

The same roadmap that pegged the XPS 13 at Q1 2015 pegs the XPS 15 at Q4 2015, as I mentioned earlier in the thread. That said, I can't vouch for the accuracy of said roadmap and of course plans can always change.

 

Just installed the BIOS update. Went fine, although I once again forgot to suspend BitLocker, so I had to go retrieve my Recovery Key from another machine when it first booted on the new BIOS. And reading over the release notes, it looks like we now know why the DW1560 drivers were posted to the XPS 15 Support page. I guess Dell is trying to avoid single-vendor dependencies?

I have the SM841, so I can't test the other firmware, but it's been YEARS since Samsung or anyone else had firmware that wiped the drive. The instructions/notes included with the update itself should have guidelines that would warn you about that anyway. And no, it's not difficult to do.

 

I recently purchased a XPS 15 9530-2033, so its lowest Version with Full HD I5-4200H and 6-cell battery. Because of the lower CPU and missing GPU i expected to have battery time not much worse than the higher-end models. But im suffering from really poor performance. BatteryBar v3 tells me a wastage/wearout of 0.8% so the battery should be all right.

Most of the time i got firefox or chrome with some (and sometimes many) tabs opened and spotify (this is the main use to be honest) running. In battery mode i turn down the brightness to about 20-30%, in battery-save-mode, where the brightness in general gets dimmed, its about 40%. Im achieving runtimes from about 3 hours, maybe a litte more. I replug the charger at 20% to avoid wastage. My usage is about 14-19 Wh in battery mode - thats quite a lot! How can i reduze it? I already disabled the toch screen in device manager from windows 8.1.

Is maybe some of the pre-installed Dell software the drainer? I havent quite figured out which of these are usefull and which arent.
I still have time to cancel the order and take back the money. Yet this was a rather lucky hit because i got it for 860 Euro as a refurbished model, looking out of the box (so therese no switching models or something). Also i really enjoy everything else about this notebook. Also i think Im lucky with the coil whining issue or Im just to deaf to hear it

 

initially my Dell XPS 9530 had a "minor" coil whine problem (I could live with it). After my pc had some issues coming out of standby, a technician replaced the motherboard

now the coil whine has become much worse + the standby problem is not solved yet!

My laptop is going back to Dell factory for a thorough control....

1) Do all XPS 9530 have the coil whine problem in less/more degrees? Do there exist versions with NO problem?
2) Do I have the right to replace my mother board, multiple times? untill it makes a reasonable sound?
3) What are strategic tricks over the telephone to get what I want (i.e. a laptop without noise). In the end: the noise might be considered subjective, but they made the problem worse... I don't think so many problems are acceptable after 3 months

 

In that case it appears that there may be 2 releases of the XPS 15 this year. According to most media outlets, XPS 15 with only the 4K upgrade will be released February (or late Q1). This model is almost exactly the same as last years except for the different screen/panel. Even the components maybe the same, i.e. same graphics chip. However, according to the roadmap there is another version scheduled to be released Q4. Could it be that they're redesigning the XPS 15 with an edge to edge panel like the newly released XPS 13?

 

The picture of the Q4 refresh of the XPS 15 has design language that matches the new XPS 13. As for what will happen with the 4K option for the current generation, I have no idea. My bet though is that it will just be a new panel to replace the 3200x1800 option in a system that is otherwise identical to what we already have. Implementing the Infinity Display seen on the XPS 13 with its narrow bezels would mean reducing the overall dimensions of the lid if the display size is kept constant. Shrinking the lid means shrinking the base in the same way so that everything lines up when the system is closed, and shrinking the base means redesigning the components inside. I don't see all of that happening just to offer a new display option, unless of course the full XPS 15 refresh will just happen way sooner than the roadmap suggests.

 

In addition regarding the pre-installed Dell software:
This is was is currently running. Are all those necessary drivers or can i disable some them to start?

 

I installed GeForce experience on my xps 15 and it updated my nvidia driver to a more recent one than on the Dell support page. Does this now mean i will no longer have dynamic switching between integrated Intel and Nvidia graphics?

 

ive updated to A07 BIOS without any problems.

i also installed Intel 17.13.11 wireless drivers and got a more stable connection.

 

No, not at all.

 

I was not able to install the wireless DW1560 driver. Do we really need to install this one or the intel one?

- TIA

 

You install the drive appropriate for the hardware installed in your system. I just meant that BIOS support for the DW1560 and listing that driver on the Support page suggests that at least some future shipments of this system will be equipped with DW1560 cards rather than Intel 7260AC cards. But if your system has an Intel card, you absolutely do not want to install the DW1560 driver.

 

I installed the A07 bios and using HWMonitor it seems the dram power usage is up by almost 2x over A06. Is it just me?

 

I have a Dell XPS 15 9530 running Windows 8.1

Until a few weeks ago I could plug either my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone or my Samsung Galaxy tablet into any of the USB ports and transfer data either way without any problems. Then the XS 15 started dropping the connection. When I plug either in now, I get connection made then connection lost over and over until I unplug the Samsung.

I have tried using all of the different USB ports and multiple different cables; even a USB3 cable; but I still have the same problem.

Both Samsungs connect to my desktop without any problems, and I have a Transcend external drive that connects to the XPS 15 without any problem.

Has anyone come across this problem before; and has anyone any suggestions for a fix?

Many Thanks.

 

Along with some others who have posted here, I confirm that at least some units don't have that problem. I'm pretty sensitive to electronic hums and buzzes, and I've never heard anything like that from my XPS. Even with the fan running, it's easily the quietest laptop I've owned.

My impression is that it's not a matter of version or configuration, but just random units that have or don't have the noise issue. I feel very lucky to have escaped it, as I know how incredibly annoying and frustrating that kind of thing can be. Best of luck to you....I hope Dell can help you get it resolved soon.

 

Sounds like the same issue that prevents the direct use of the AT&T Beam wwan modem. I need to use a usb hub. I bet that if you put a hub between xps and s5 it will work fine.

 

I also have the same problem that the XPS does not connect properly with my mobile phone. The advice has been to use a different cable, but that didn't work for me. Like the above poster, my solution was to use a USB hub.

 

Hi guys, this has been driving me nuts lately. There are these marks on my track pad that I can't seem to get off. I have tried to use window cleaner like previously suggested. I don't really use the track pad and keyboard a lot, I mostly use a usb mouse / keyboard, but I hope to be able to get this off. Attached is a photo. Any tips? Thanks.



Edit: here is a better picture, sorry for the shadow but the stain is the round splat in the middle of the trackpad.

 

Many thanks guho; it worked. I don't understand it because it used to work without a hub in between. Something, somewhere must have changed, but I have no idea what.

Thanks again.

 

Every trackpad I've ever had gets like that with use. It's not a stain, per se, it's just the uneven wear that happens as we rub our fingers on the surface....the center area that gets heavy use gets a little smoother and shinier over time.

 

Hi, I'm Italian and at present I'm using a 7 years old Dell Vostro.
I had the temptation to buy the XPS 15 in the configuration that costs 1999$ (that is 1549€), with the 4° generation 4712hq processor and the UltraSharp™ QHD+ (3200 x 1800) touch display, 1tb hdd + 32gb ssd. The price seems to me high but reasonable for the hardware.
BUT I know that the new XPS 15 is coming, and that probably it will have the 5° generation processor and the 4k ultra HD display (3800 x 2160) but when and for how much? I'm able to wait, but not to pay much more than the above price!

So I'm wondering if there will be so much difference between the two displays and if the first 5° gen processor are really better than the 4712hq. it seems to me that the i5-5200U Processor of xps 13 is a dual core, while the 4712hq of present XPS 15 is a quad core

the other possibility would be to buy the Inspiron 7000 that has already the new display anche the 5th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-5500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz) and the AMD Radeon R7 M270 4GB DDR3 , but it seems to me still inferior to the present XPS 15... or no?

so I'm really in a mess! please help me!

 

It might help to read back in this thread at least a little bit, but as I've said multiple times, according to a leaked Dell product roadmap, the next generation XPS 15 won't arrive until Q4 2015, so you'd be waiting at least 9 months for another system. If you can wait that long, then fantastic, but if you're always willing to wait 9 more months, there will always be something better available within that time because 9 months is a long time in the technology world.

I don't think the 4K display will be meaningfully different from the 3200x1800 display. The pixel density is already very high, so unless it's very important to you to watch pixel-perfect 4K video or be able to simulate 1920x1080 @ 200% scaling rather than simulating 1600x900 @ 200%, then I don't think that's a major issue. As for the 5th gen CPUs (aka Broadwell), they don't seem very significant to me -- and as you can see, they've only got the dual core versions out right now, not the quad cores. On top of that, the BIG revision from Intel is going to be Skylake, which despite the Broadwell delays is still expected to come out sometime in 2015. That has much more significant changes, but you'd be waiting a lot longer for it to come to market.

The Inspiron 7000 is a completely different kind of system:

- It uses a dual core rather than quad core processor.
- It only has 3 USB ports (only 2 of them USB 3.0 and only 1 of them PowerShare), whereas the XPS 15 has 4 USB ports (3 of them USB 3.0 and all of them PowerShare)
- It doesn't have DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0 (only 1.4), so you wouldn't be able to drive 4K external displays @ 60 Hz or even drive more than one external display since HDMI doesn't support daisy-chaining like DisplayPort does. That right there is a dealbreaker for me from a functionality and futureproofing standpoint since I currently drive 2 external displays and want to be able to go to at least one 4K @ 60 Hz display at some point -- and since you've kept your current system for 7 years, I assume you'll want this to be as futureproofed as possible too.
- It doesn't have mSATA cache options, and the only SSD option is 256GB. Of course you can add a larger SSD yourself, but now you're paying more, and adding a cache might not be a possibility at all if that's what you really want. You'd have to check the specs to confirm.
- It has a smaller battery than the lower end XPS 15 and a much smaller battery than the higher end versions, but I'm not sure how power draw compares between the two systems.

I also haven't compared the GPU horsepower between the two systems, but that's obviously another potential concern. Then again, if none of the things I just mentioned are important to you, then it looks like a pretty nice system and you could certainly get it for less than an XPS 15.

 

thanks a lot for your exaustive answer that comfirms what I thought about processors and what I suspected about displays
I love the present xps 15 shape more than the new xps 13 one,
My dell vostro is stll working yet if it is rather slow now (probably a format and a ssd could help. not sure for more than 4gb ram I have now), so I could wait some months more. but I'm afraid that the price of new xps will be rather higher than the 1,630€ (or less) that I could pay now for the present xps. still not clear if the new 4k display xps price will start or will end at 2,349$. simply too much for me. new display and proc really increase the price so much?

is 1630$ (1990$ full price in usa) really a reduced price for the present xps or is the regular price ? is it a good price that don't be missed? in thiis case I would buy it now, otherwise I would wait for the new!

Inspiron vs xps: the latter really wins, no dubt!

I owned 2 inspiron/vostro for 7/8 years each (the first one ended up destroyed!), so this one should last for a long time too.... once in my life I want a high end product. sometime I think to by a macbook, but it is really too expensive!

 

Hello,

Can anyone speak with authority about where I might find the driver files for the Samsung 500GB SSD in my Dell XPS 15 9530. The files listed in the Device Manager are apparently not the driver files, after all. I am building a Recovery disk/USB (using StorageProtect) -- and the Recovery ISO apparently can't see the Samsung SSD without being pointed to the proper driver files for the SSD (.ini or .inf. or .sys or whstever).

Does anyone know with authority the location of those driver files?

Cheers, Jay

 

Hard drives don't have drivers. The SATA/RAID controller can have drivers, which would be Intel Rapid Storage, but there aren't drivers for the SSD itself. But not having the proper controller drivers could definitely prevent your hard drive from being seen in a recovery environment. So to get those drivers, go here ( https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=24293&lang=eng), get the F6Flpy-x64 or x86 zip file (depending on whether your recovery environment wants 32-bit or 64-bit drivers), and your INF files will be in there. The version you use will depend on whether your SATA mode in the BIOS is set to AHCI or Smart Response at the moment.

 

Jphughan!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your advice worked perfectly, and my Recovery Environment can now see my SSD! Thank you!!

Jordan