XPS 15 (L521X) Owner's Lounge

just recieved my xps 15 but have to step into a meeting so a quick post.

Packaging in great and you can see dell has followed mac by trying to minimise packaging. The build quality is amazing. I have never see a dell with such good build quality. It does feel very much like an apple but definitely has enough dell qualities to separate it. Also slightly heavier than I expected but very happy

 

Could you say something about battery life ? tests or something?

 

I'm really interested about temperature after stress test and score in 3D Mark 06. If someone can do that for me. I'll buy the i5/630M GT version. But if someone can do the test with the i7.640M GT it doesn't matter, it can give me an idea about the performance.

 

Yea, that is correct but not only on "your" nVidia GPUs. AMD cards also limit Furmark now by default.

 

Ah..

Ok, -Mac- is this the combo of tests you want me to run, if I decide to keep the machine? Its now not coming until July 9. Some how a machine that was supposed to ship NBD with 2 day shipping on June 26, that shipped July 3, is now going to arrive with two day shipping July 9.

 

Yeah, mine did this too. This is ridiculous. Dell's system likes to claim they shipped it July 4, so it will be delivered July 6. Apparently its not programmed to recognize holidays. Fedex actually got it at 6:00am this morning so now it won't be here until Monday. I think they could have had the decency to upgrade these that were promised last week to next day or something.

N

 

My shipping label was actually created very early on July 3. So basically they sat on it all July, 3, the 4th of course is a holiday so they get a pass on that, but why didn't it go out the 3rd.

 

Sorry, but this is not correct.
You can see the review of MSI GE70 with GT650m:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-GE70-i547W7H-Notebook.7
It perform stress test for 2 hours without throttling and without downclock the processor.
This is perfect example of good cooling system.

 

Like I said, I'll run whatever tests you want within reason. I won't do battery run down tests etc, because I'm not going to sit around for hours doing tests, but I'd be happy to run a 15-20 minute test here or there, or calibrate the screen (which I was going to do anyway), etc.

 

I'm not interested in a battery test, for me it's not a focus point.
I'm interested in particular in stress test, it's useless to have power if you can use it, specially because Dell has already limits the specs of this machine.

You can run test suggested by Bill: 3DMark + CPUPrime + Throttlestop in logging mode to see where it throttles.

If Throttlestop (I never used it) is able to log throttling you can play some game to verify throttling.

 

I am very interested to see these results as well. I hope it can dissipate heat well!

 

Yes, that setup mentioned above would be very interesting. I am interested to also see how the 128 GB mSATA with a 7200 RPM 750 GB drive with the OS installed on the mSATA compares to that above system. In other words, does the system above have significant performance improvement with a SSD main drive and an mSATA adding a layer of caching...

I would suspect that the mSATA caching an SSD main drive would be overkill since you're adding complexity to data access (check mSATA cache first and then resort to SSD) and possibly lag with a caching algorithm (perform some caching here and there when something is accessed). It would probably be more efficient to remove that overhead and just have an SSD as a main drive with no mSATA cache. Or get the 128 GB mSATA and use that for OS/Programs while the rotational drive stores bulk data.

From what I understand, the purpose of having an mSATA cache is to mask some of the poor performance experienced by rotational drive in a manner that doesn't break the bank as a large SSD would. If you already have a large SSD then that can just be used without any added complexity.

Any thoughts?

 

Agreed, I think it would just add extra latency, especially if your main SSD is a PM830 as well.

 

Now you're comparing a 17" gaming system to a 15" multimedia system built to be thin? Please try to be a little more reasonable.
Alienware M17x R4 Notebook Review - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

My xps 15's audio mixer doesn't seem to be working properly, meaning I can't use skype and be listening to music at the same time. I have no doubt that an easy fix is possible that doesn't require me contacting dell for what must be a software based problem, so was wondering if any of you had either run into this problem or know how to help?

It's a minor thing really that hasn't dampened my opinion of this laptop at all, it's really worth the money in all aspects, but I would still like to know if a fix is out there.

 

Not, I'm answering to who says that Nvidia cards Throttling ever with furmark, MSI test proofs that this is false.

 

This arrangement would perform second to the large SSD that serves as boot drive and houses OS, applications and user files.

Precisely. I would use the term "ridiculous" instead of "overkill." Why not use the raw speed of the SATA 6Gbit/s SSD to access everything that is stored on it? Why add an extra layer of Intel-managed caching algorithm on another small device (even if such device performs as fast as the primary SSD)?

• spinner = traditional, good enough
• spinner + 32GB mSATA SSD as cache = cost-effective improvement
• huge spinner + 64GB/128GB mSATA SSD for boot/OS/apps = great
• 256GB/512GB SSD for everything = expensive awesomeness
• 256GB/512GB SSD + 32GB mSATA SSD as cache = expensive craziness

 

I guess I was under the impression it was a comparison of 2 cooling systems when you said (paraphrasing) "this is an example of a well engineered thermal solution" instead of "this proves Furmark doesn't induce throttling on all Nvidia cards." My original statement was Furmark throttles on our NV cards, which you'll see that if you run it on the L521x. Only tried to point this out as a reason for that not being the best method to achieve the desired end goal of "does the GPU throttle under load?"

Fair enough, and sounds reasonable to me, but I'm still curious to see what, if any, gains are to be had with the ridiculously expensive mSATA cache + full blown SATA III SSD config. The Intel marketing contacts that work with my team have been touting their algorithm to us for months in the lead up to the launch. They've never over-hyped anything or misled before, so I'm just curious. Maybe I'll go down to the performance lab when the review units all start returning in a few weeks and swap some parts around to see for myself... who am I kidding? I'll never find the time for this.

 

I really don't see how it would improve the speed. My understanding is SSDs can basically access any data stored on it immediately. If your cache ssd is faster than your large ssd, I could see it helping maybe, but say they are both PM830s... wouldn't it just add latency, similar to Raid 0'ing two SSDs adds throughput but also increases latency?

 

Kaso did a good job summarizing my post in a more comprehensive way.

It would be nice (and good for customers) for dell to provide the following configurations aligned with their "good, better, best" XPS systems (in order of increasing performance):

This way it would be in a nice comprehensive and concise package for customers, and they dont have to think too much to get nice performance out of system (just gotta pay for it ).

If you do find time Bill, I think it would be a good test to see the performance difference between options 2. and 3. Personally, 128GB mixed in with some mass storage (option 2) is nice for me, best of both worlds. Performance for what matters (OS/APPS, and key files) and large storage for those files that just sit there and take up space. The only drawback I can see with this is that the rotational drive will get hot and add to the overall warmth on the laptop noticed by the user (which I can deal with).

I believe anandtech did some comparisons between rotational only, rotational+cache SSD, SSD only. I'll have to take another look at it now since im in the market for something new.

 

Now that's an interesting IDEA! Raid 0 the mSATA and the SSD. Kaso, we are going to have to add another level to your hierarchy:

256GB/512GB SSD + 32GB/64GB/128GB mSATA SSD in Raid 0 = expensive mind warping speed

 

Good God, man! Why don't we just laser-blast all imaginable data straight from the sky-cloud into your mind-skull? Would that be fast enough for you, or would air traffic create too much latency?

Seriously, though, that config would be killer: an SSD+mSATA in Raid 0, and I'm totally liking the idea of a "fast, faster, fastest" option set. I guess that's what I and some others were expecting from the start.

 

I think there was a misunderstanding.
When you say " I have heard Furmark always throttles on all our Nvidia cards" i have understand that Furmark throttles in all Nvidia cards used in every laptop make by Dell not only L521X.
My example it's not comparison between cooling system of MSI 17" and L521X,
but a simple proof that not every Nvidia card throttling with Furmark.
IMO the statements "this is an example of a well engineered thermal solution" is still valid.

A Little OT looks that GT650m of MBPwRD is clocked more than GTX660m, so maybe it's more powerful than it
Nvidia GT 650M on rMBP actually better than Nvidia GTX 660M! - MacRumors Forums

 

My understanding is they are all the same chip (640, 650 and 660), only difference is the clocking

 

I guess GTX660m uses a MXM connection.

 

I would guess thats accurate as well.

 

Oh I thought of another tier...

msata SSD for OS/boot drive

Seagate hybrid drive Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive for programs....

 

Dell does provide the first two "good" and "better" options, with the config having "1TB HDD + 128GB mSATA SSD boot/OS/apps" option priced at $2000.

I gather through the grapevines that you can request the "best" option by speaking to the right Dell person. It would be comprehensive if this option was explicitly included. (You can install the large SSD yourself, put Windows 7 on it, and try to "repurpose" the HDD and the mSATA SSD somehow. But you already know that.)

That would be a variation on option 2, "better," but 500GB is not huge.

 

Hi,

Ok, maybe my statement was not correct but even High-End Desktop GPUs like 7970 or gtx680 throttle furmark before coming close to their limit. I just wanted to say that this bench is not reliable any more to check throttling in terms of heat.

 

It would add some latency at least in theory, but if the Intel decks I scanned are correct, the algorithm they use "learns" what data is most used and puts it on the cache. I guess it just kind of comes down to being a page file on an expensive mSATA drive. I'm still curious.

The GTX660m on what system? The MBP? I could totally be misunderstanding based on what I know about MXM (not that much), but doesn't MXM indicate the GPU is replaceable? If that's true, then I don't believe that's an MXM slot in the MBP, since everything is pretty much not serviceable on that box.
I could totally be going the wrong direction, though. Straighten me out.

 

Hello everyone,

I bought an XPS m1330 4 years ago and to be frank it was one of my well-paid-off computer. Never regretted that purchase. Sadly, I think it's time to update my computer and thinking of getting this new XPS 15. After reading the forum, most of my questions have been answered except for one.
I'm a casual gamer. I play WC3: FT and some occasional FPS. Everytime I game, I treat my XPS m1330 as a desktop where I remove the battery and plug in the AC adapter (I know it's weird but that's just me). So for my question (sorry for the unnecessary historical story), I was wondering if it would be possible to remove the battery, used the AC adapter and still be able to run without problems.

Thanks in advance.

 

Exactly, the reviewers who use Furmark are total idiots, especially on laptops. It is absolutely not indicative of the thermal cooling abilities under gaming or load situations. All it does is shorten the life of the GPU and put unnecessary strain on the system with zero reward.

Also if I see another "Mac is better, it's too expensive, it's underpowered and so on" then the bunny rabbit gets it!

 

Yeah. With Windows 7 Superfetch running on 8 to 16GB of RAM, plus the raw speed of a large SATA 6Gbit/s SSD, there is no need for Intel caching "intelligence" on a mSATA SSD.

 

Party pooper. Now I'm not so curious anymore.

 

you cannot remove the battery but in the dell power software you can tell they system to not charge the battery ..... which should be close to what you want to do in theory but in the case ac power goes out the system will use the battery

 

Well, the battery is internal... Unless you're planning to never use it, It would be a pain to unscrew the back of the computer everytime you wanna play a game.

If your only reason to do so, is to prevent the battery from constantly charing, there's an option in the OS to disable charging... If your reason was for thermals (keep the battery cool), then no luck there!

P.S. I'm not even sure if the computer would work, without it's battery inside... Maybe someone could answer this one?

 

We speak about GTX660m in general not refereed to a specific system.
I guess that GTX660m is same chip of 640m and 650m but with different clock and GTX660m maybe comes only with MXM connection.
In according to Nvidia site seems that 650m can be clocked higher that 660m
GeForce GT 650M | Specifications | GeForce
GeForce GTX 660M | Specifications | GeForce

We have just discovered that MBPwRD uses 900MHz clock version of 650m that is better than a GTX660m.
It's absolutely sure, MBP doesn't uses a MXM connection.

 

Thanks for the reply. I saw some pictures someone unboxing the computer and adding new RAMs. I just can't tell from the picture if the battery closes the circuit or if it's parallel. Anyways I may have to do more research on that. Hopefully someone who has one can verify this.

 

where did you see those pics can u post a link thanks ??

 

Ok, you've always done me solids Bill, so if you are really really curious I can do two installs. I'll be using a 64 GB PM830 Msata, and a 256 GB PM830 2.5 inch drive. How do you want me to measure this?

 

Alrighty I am back! Sorry for not posting any follow ups been busy with Projects at work.

Most common reason for the delay would be the bios version. Mine shipped with version A03 and as Bill pointed out there was an urgent update to A04. Which I have installed.

Here are some angles of the screen. I am not good at taking pics.
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

Any information you guys wanna know? I swapped out the hdd with a crucial m4 256gb ssd. I have it running with 32msata. The 32msata is a samsung 830. I am not sure if I have running how Bill wants to test the setup. I installed a fresh copy of windows 7 pro, and reinstalled all the dell drivers. So not sure if I need to configure the msata.

I currently have 1 game installed, star wars the old republic. I run the game on medium to high settings. High you do get a few frame rate hiccups but at medium it is very smooth. Resolution is at 1920x1080.

I also did have the back cover on the laptop replaced, a peice cracked on the exhaust vent.

 

Thanks Muddy, however it you really need a darker wallpaper to show viewing angles.

Try this one and take a pic with the screen tilted back if you don't mind please.

Wallpaper spiderman, new york, home wallpapers films - download

 

Thanks for the tip. Here is the new pic.

 

Bottom angle?

 

Very good for a TN in my opinion. Thanks

 

screen is quite good wonder hat the black values are

 

Bill just a quick question. I have been installing programs over the last 12 hours and so far everything is good. HOW FAST IS THAT SSD. It loads windows before I have a chance to realise the laptop is turned on.

Anyway only one thing I have noticed which I am not sure if it is normal. Whenever I install a program etc the computer seems to check if there is a cd-rom in the drive. I can tell because the dvd-rom is reasonably noisy. It almost sounds like the eject noise rather than a normal read?

Not sure if I am being paranoid as it doesn't bother me much but just thought it might be something you could send up the line if it is an issue

Thanks mate and sorry if I am a complete IT idiot

 

I'll let the guys who know more about testing suggest a good test. I'm pretty n00bish.

I think you're actually running the setup I was wondering about. I think if you didn't change SATA operation in the BIOS, the mSATA is now the cache drive.
Have you found the Dell color calibration software thingy yet? I can get the proper name and how to find it when I'm back in the office tomorrow, but you may be able to find it.

This is when you install a program from optical media in the drive? It shouldn't make any unusual noises. I'd have to hear it to tell. And I assume this happens on different discs, right?

 

Hey Skareem2
Here's the site where I found pictures of the XPS 15. I was more interested on the internal pictures rather than the exterior look.

[REVIEW] Dell XPS L521X Review "Almost Perfect"

 

Bill, there is currently no disc in the drive. I have just plugged my iphone in or another USB device while it is searching for the drivers it as if it scans quickly to check whether there is a disc in the drive which might have a driver. It makes the exact noise the pressing the eject button with no disc in does but slightly shorter. It sounds to me like the computer is always checking whether there is a disc in the drive while searching for drivers etc. Might be a windows issue and i am just noticing it because the drive makes a noise