XPS 15 (L521X) Owner's Lounge

I update them through the Dell website except for the graphics drivers.

 

Downgraded to A12 BIOS from A13... I noticed A13, the keyboard backlite does not work with the ambient light sensor.

 

I'm sure this question has been asked and answered before but I tried to search for a solution using this forum's search interface as well as Google (using the syntax site:forum.notebookreview.com) but came up with nothing but only references to the problem.

I've just bought a XPS 15 laptop (the version with the 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD). Dell said that it will come with Windows installed on the 1TB HD rather than the SSD. My question is, what is the process to format the HDD and install Windows on the SSD?

I'm familiar with reformatting computers and re-installing Windows, but I wasn't sure if the process will be different with two HDs. Before, I'd just make a bootable USB drive and boot from it into Windows setup and format my previous OS partition and re-install on it. Will this be the same procedure I use for the aforementioned problem? Is the system automatically going to know which drive to boot from?

Thanks for any advice and apologies again for a duplicate question

 

where do you update the graphics drivers?

 

Thanks for the input but I do not think that, that is my problem. My apartment at school is small. I doubt my bedroom to my living room is fifteen yards.
I will keep that in mind if I move to a larger place though

 

I tend to use the drivers via the Dell site.

In theory they've made any required registry-setting-tuning to make it fit best with the machine.

But that's probably just phantasy.

Once the machine becomes 'mature' and the dell updates slow down then I shift to using the OEM provided drivers for WLAN and Video.

 

www.nvidia.com/Drivers

 

I'm unable to install the HM77 Chipset driver. I uninstalled the old driver, rebooted, installed the new, rebooted, but now it still shows the default driver 6.2.9200.16384, not 9.3.0.1021 A01. I have rebooted and ran the install package several more times with no success. Any one have suggestions?

Also, on a side note boot time is still slow with the dummy sd card in.

 

Anyone have issues with their optical drive doing random "ejects"? I have the Blu-Ray drive in mine, and I've noticed a couple of things--first, the eject function is rather noisy, and second, it seems to do it by itself at random times.
When I power it on, the eject sound is always heard. Sometimes, when I log into Windows 8, it will do an "eject". I've also noticed it doing an "eject" at random times during usage.

I doubt it's normal, and probably a problem. Along with the fact Dell refuses to acknowledge they sold it to me with a 2GB GT 640M but it came with a 1GB GT 630M (they say the part number on my invoice is for BOTH a 1GB GT 630M and a 2GB GT 640M...completely ridiculous),
and it came with a i5 (which is correct) but has a i7 sticker on it, i'm probably going to send it back. It was an Outlet "deal".

Thanks.

 

Bios A13 helps to eliminate the "random' eject sounds when opening programs, plugging in usb drives, etc. However, it still makes the sound when restarting, etc.

 

Thanks for the info. Now that you mention it, it does eject when i've plugged in my USB thumb drive. I'll do the update.

 

Just keep in mind the ambient light sensor doesn't work for some reason. The backlite will not work unless you turn it on manually. At least that was the case with me so I downgraded to A12.

 

That is interesting. I don't suppose you remember what the benefit was supposed to be for A13? My ambient light sensor doesn't detect anything either and i'm on A13.

 

The dell tech came and replaced the entire screen assembly, WiFi almost perfect now, though I think it would probably benefit from some Killer N love xD

 

I will go ahead to request the display replaced too, it has two white spots on it and when opening it has a cracking noise, the left hinge.
Maybe I will see the Wi-Fi improvement too.
Mr DELL-Terry B gave up helping me with this problem

 

I have already had my screen assembly replaced as well but for me it did didn't change a thing. Dell are coming round next week to collect my laptop and take it to the depot to "fix it". I've tried requesting a Killer N but Dell claim they have no clue what that card is. There customer service is horrendous!

 

The only noticeable benefit was the the laptop would not make the BD eject sound when you plugin stuff to the USB, etc.

 

strange. My bios is A04 and it never makes the BD eject sound when I plugin stuff or anything. It only makes it on start up.

 

So I've had 3 Dell XPS 15 L521X laptops for a while now and still suffering from some heat and throttling issues. But, last night I opened up all 3 and replaced the thermal paste Dell put on them with Arctic Silver 5 on both CPU & GPU. And instantly I started noticing a huge difference with hardly any throttling happening at the moment when under load in games or during some benchmarks. Under load, the CPU was sitting around 94c as a high with an average of 87c, but now it's sitting around 82c as a high with an average of 77c. The GPU was sitting around 80c as a high and 75c as an average, and now it's sitting at a high of 72c and an average of 66c.

I am able to squeeze more than a 23x multiplier out of Throttle Stop now, and push it more around 25x / 26x (25x I've tested it for lengthy sessions but only started testing at 26x).

After 200 hours of curing time of the Arctic Silver 5, I should see even greater results.

 

How did you replace the thermal paste? I thought they used thermal pads from what I could see on mine? Do you get rid of those and use paste instead? Sounds like a plan if that actually works D

Oh and has anybody noticed on the UK Dell XPS 15 Page there is a limited stock of XPS left and some option are missing? Refresh maybe?

 

I haven't pasted mine, but I've had to the HSF dismounted so I could add ram to the machine.

I'm pretty sure it's just paste on the cpu/gpu, and wouldn't take much a but a little time and patience with isopropyl alcohol and a lint free pad to clean everything well enough.

I have some Arctic left from repasting my wife's SXPS 1645 recently, so maybe I'll add that to my machine maintenance sometime soon.

As in by the end of April soon. ;^)

 

Ok - So I haven't been on in awhile but I have tried to keep up. Those that have been on since the beginning will get a kick out of this post. For new people, I have the XPS 15, bought in September WiFi issue, the machine has been replaced twice and this third machine still has the Wifi issue. I have been patiently waiting for an actual fix or lawsuit - whichever comes first.

Now to the story - My touchpad went dead, no problem Dell tried to tell me it was drivers, I strongly guessed it was hardware (techs have opened this third machine up already to replace the LCD). Finally they say ok and send someone out to replace the touchpad. Fixed - no problem, everything is good. Wifi is same, but I didn't expect anything on wifi. So Dell customer rep. calls me and asks me about the touchpad replacement - fine - all good. He says so everythign is fine. I said, well my Wifi is still inconsistent on this machine and already well documented in their history. He replies, he knows about the problem and that THERE IS A FIX THAT HAS BEEN VERIFIED WITH SEVERAL CUSTOMERS - BUY A NEW ROUTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hold on a second - can you repeat that please? Yes - Buy a new router, there was a problem with the old Intel 6235 cards and you need to buy a new router to fix the problem. So I said, let me get this straight - I paid $1700+ for the machine and now I have to spend another $100 more for a router? Ok, say I do buy a new router. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I TAKE THE LAPTOP OUTSIDE OF MY HOME, YOU KNOW JUST LIKE HOW LAPTOPS ARE USED. Do you believe he said, eventually those places will have to upgrade their routers sooner or later. At that time I just had to stop the conversation and ask for his manager.

Great customer support Dell - Buy a New Router!!

 

Guys, i am wondering if anyone else faced the same problem as me.

With Windows 8 installed, bios A13, UEFI boot.

Sometimes, when laptop goes to sleep, and then turn into hibernate mode some 30 mins later, I can't reboot the laptop properly....it will get stuck in the turning circles (you know, the part where Dell logo comes up and there's a spinning wheel of dots...the spin will freeze and the laptop won't progress).

So I have to manually long-press the power button to get it to restart afresh.

This doesn't happen regularly, but frequent enough that it's annoying me. Wonder if anyone else had the same experience?

 

No, is not the router, I tested:
XPS 15z with N-6235 fitted -> 8-10m far from old router = 20Mbps as it should be
XPS 15 L521x with N-6235 -> 8-10m far from router = 1.5-3Mbps

So, the question is, it is the router issue?

 

Don't let Dell blow sunshine up your nethers, it's NOT a router issue (*) - the notebook interferes with signal reception. Period.

* some routers/configurations/bands will work better/worse than others. Your Mileage May Vary (in the bitrate sense). Laissez Faire. Let the Buyer Beware.

 

What does N-6235 fitted mean?

 

Yes, I think we pretty much confirmed long ago that it doesn't have anything to do with the router. The only real difference is if you use a router with 5Ghz support, then performance will be ok very close to the router. Still lousy elsewhere. I tested with several different notebooks (even an old one with a 802.11G card) and the L521x's performance was significantly worse than any of the others. It's bad enough that the L521x was barely usable 15ft from the router for me, with the Alienware m14x R2 I bought afterwards I can use my network 3 houses over and it only has the inferior Centrino 2230.

 

Hey I am thinking about getting this laptop. Does using Throttlestop allow this computer to game without throttling back or will it overheat and just shut down? I am not to worried about the Wifi I have a few super small USB dongles but I am worried about the computer being throttled back.

Thanks,
-Mike

 

Only bios a04 allows ThrottleStop to work properly as fr as I know, current shipping machines are probably runnin more recent bios.

Win8 machines probably come with a12 or later.


Sent from my brain using neurons fueled by glucose

 

Hi everyone.

This is my first post. I am from spain and had got a new xps15 buy a week ago. Mine is i5 version. windows8

I am surprised whith two tings:

First- the low windows experience puntuation only 4,8 I think that this is because only detect the intel 4000 integrated gpu ¿any kind of solution for this?

Second - the cores temperature diference about 10 sec sometimes and never equal. Is this normal??

On the other side i have not any wifi and torthilng problems. Signal is like the rest of my notebooks at the same distance ranges. 1901 dell wifi card

Sorry my bad english

 

Mine doesn't overheat and shutdown, but the high temps will throttle down the CPU to about 800mhz and throttlestop cant seem to do much about that. The GPU throttling can be solved with enough tinkering. Mainly I find the CPU throttling is the issue, it kills framerates dead.

 

Ok thanks, I am not a big gamer but for the price of the laptop I don't wanna pay the money for the power and not be able to use it. The thing is absolutely beautiful though.

 

Are you 100% sure about CPU throttling??? what bios are you running?
Since bios A09 CPU throttling is being replaced by GPU throttling, which you can't avoid using throttlestop as it helps only to keep frequency of CPU... To play games at full speed and use throttlestop i would suggest you to revert back to bios A04... there's no official way to do that, you have to use hidden flash method which i have described a several pages back...

 

Well, XPS 15z comes equipped by default with Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (abgn), 3.0 Bluetooth, and I replaced it with N-6235 4.0 Bluetooth, to compare the speed with the same card on L521x

 

Nice. As I've destroyed the plug from the fan after I replaced the RAM modules I've ordered a new one from China:
Cooling Fan of Dell XPS 15 L521X 37XGD

When it will be delivered I will install it and replace the paste with Arctic Silver 5 as well. Sounds good.

 

After getting my bf a dell laptop recently using my company discount, I also received a gift card for dell ($400). I was wondering if the problems like the wifi and throttling been fixed?

 

No, you need to fix it on your own.

My suggestions: Replace the wifi card with Killer N 1202, replace the thermal paste with Arctic Silver 5, remove the sd card dummy, replace the drive with a Samsung 840 pro ssd and you have a really good notebook.

 

Is this topic for the latest Dell xps 15? If so, have they fixed the wifi issues and throttling issues with this machine? I bought one about 6 months ago and returned it due to poor wifi in my house and got a Macbook Pro 15 which I am selling now because I prefer Windows.

I am trying to decide on a new laptop and this one was one of my favorites but the issues I couldn't deal with. Any tips be greatly appreciated?

 

Look one post above yours

 

Hi, just bought an l521x. Updated the bios to a13, installed Battlefield 3. Noticing smooth performance for about 5 minutes, then throttles to unplayable levels . I heard that the gpu has been throttled and not the cpu with the latest bios. If thats the case would that mean you'd have to apply the thermal paste to the gpu and not the cpu? Is it possible to put the paste on the gpu? Do you believe that it is poor engineering and that there can be no software fix? SOrry for all the q's, im just very disappointed that such a beautifullly designed machine can have so many flaws

 

Yes. The cooling unit is one piece accross both processors (cpu and gpu). And both use the same paste.

There are two possible upgrades:
1.) use better thermal paste
2.) upgrade thermal unit (any ideas? ^^)

I think the problem could be that one/some customers played so much that the cpu or gpu burnt and so Dell was forced to set a temperature limit. Of course its poor engineering because the cooling/fan unit is to small to distribute/release the heat.

 

Cheers for the info. Will buy some paste for the unit today. That Arctic stuff looks the goods. Does Dell have a guide on how to dismantle the laptop to locate the cooling unit?

 

Cheers for the info. Will buy some paste for the unit today. That Arctic stuff looks the goods. Does Dell have a guide on how to dismantle the laptop to locate the cooling unit?

 

Yes:
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod..._laptop/xps-15-l521x_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf

Its easy if you have the correct screwdriver (Torx T5). But don't remove the plug of the fan with your finger nail. Mine is broken. First remove the screws of the fan and after that try to pull the cable to unplug.

 

Awesome, thanks for the assistance mgutt!

 

Meanwhile I've done a little bit research. You can use Arctic MX-2 or MX-4 instead of Arctic Silver 5. Its a little bit better. The best ist Coollaboratory's but I don't know if this is compatible as it is not allowed to use it with aluminium components.

 

Dell's "Owners Manual" for the l521x has full tear-down info with pictures, dig into the Dell support/manual pages and you should find it.

You'll need a Torx T-5 driver and a cross-tip. Be VERY gentle with the Torx as the driver itself and the screws are - for lack of better words - dainty. The T5 screws are used around the perimeter of the base, holding attached to the top.

addendum: re-pasting the cpu/gpu should help, but the unit has limited capability to remove heat so in the end it still MAY not be able to play games at full rate, depends on the game, etc. ;^(

 

Thanks c0derbear, its such a shame that we have to tinker with it to make it perform better, and it still wont be at its best. I was hoping to play BF 3 at medium settings. Here's hoping!

 

Did you tested a cooling stand? But this would work only with an external keyboard.

 

Could anyone with Windows 8 from Dell make a copy of INFO folder (windows / system32 / oobe / info) and OEM folder (windows / help /oem)

I forgot to copy them before reinstalled W8 and don't have Dell logos and help files anymore. I like the OEM look.

Many thanks.