XPS 15 9560 owners thread.

I got mine and it's really great, but I think I have coil whine. I've never had it before, but can somebody confirm that it is? Basically whenever I click on something or scroll it makes a weird low buzzing sound.

 

Got mine no buzzing or whine. Got the i7 4k model with 500 GB SSD. So far nothing wrong will update once I have tried gaming etc.

 

Please be sure to include how well the 1050 overclocks! Definitely interested to see how far it can be pushed!

 

Could you download ThrottleStop and try to enable Speedshift? I'm eager to know if it works or not, like it does on the XPS 9550: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-xps-15-9550-skylake-speed-shift.796891/

 

They are shipping with twin sticks

 

Here's the ghosting I'm getting on the 4K panel: http://i.imgur.com/t0mWKAw.jpg

Taken at 1/1000s exposure, 3840 pixels per second to match the resolution.

Anyone else with the same panel able to perform the same check? I'd be interested to know how other panels are performing - I'm considering returning mine because the ghosting is quite noticeable at time due to my workflow. Machine is perfect otherwise, although I did have a bulge under the right shift key which made a nice clicking noise when I pressed it into place...seem fine now).

 

3840 pixel, what do you expect!

try the default but tbh this panel is like that, it is slow and ok ish for gaming but not for FPS. I soon learnt to live with it.

 

As I understand it, the pixels per second shouldn't have an effect on the amount of ghosting, just the distance between successive frames, 3840 is the resolution that the blur test suggests for 4K for this reason.

I tested at slower speeds which seems to show the same number of spacecraft but partially overlapping, so I don't think 3840 pixels per second is the issue here: http://i.imgur.com/w7bEvor.jpg

 

Ghosting - does it actually detrimentally impact gaming or workflow, or more an issue that you notice it and its irritating you?

 

How can you run RAID, I thought the 9560 only had room for one SSD?

 

It's more of an irritation to me than something that prevents me from working directly, but I notice it a lot due the fact the I spend a lot of time scrolling through virtual desktops and using different applications. The fact that half of a dark terminal window seems to flash from white to black as it scrolls into view can be distracting, but it's not the end of the world. I suspect I'm noting it more than most people would.

It can be a very serious issue for gaming though - games like CS:GO and other face paced games can feel unplayable with bad ghosting.

What I'm really trying to figure out is if my panel is particularity bad or if this is standard. If I can make the situation any better by getting a replacement panel then I will, otherwise I'll probably stick with the machine I have.

 

The models with smaller batteries have room for a 2.5" drive.

 

It's how the drive is configured in the bios. It is not running in an actual raid.

 

To be fair that sounds really irritating FROM A CUTTING EDGE BRAND NEW LAPTOP

 

Isn't ghosting present on most, if not every, UHD laptop to date?

 

And what would be the point of running in "fake RAID"?

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

It also sounds very much like a BRAND NEW DELL LAPTOP. Year after year...same story.

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

It's not fake RAID. The chipset can function in two different modes - RAID or AHCI (desktops have this option too). Dell from the factory comes with RAID mode (likely because some models had a cache drive which requires RAID mode). Many people switch to AHCI mode. I found that I got better performance (at least in bench marks, nothing real life).

 

For those of you who got their new XPS 9560 already, congratulations!!!

Just wondering if anyone is willing to do a more thorough battery life test. Ideally, we can get a comparison between the 4K panel and the FHD panel.

It would also be interesting to see how much battery life can we gain by lowering the 4K panel to 1080p resolution.

Thanks a lot.

 

But what is a RAID mode without actual RAID? Software RAID? Or just something Dell thought sounded cool? Would imagine that Dell reuse code for BIOSes across models including those that actually have raid. That said, in my ThinkPad P50 I have setup 2 PM961s in RAID0 and the speed is really insane

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

If you look in the bios for your lenovo you would also see the ability to switch between RAID and AHCI mode. For those laptops with a cache drive RAID is a requirement so Dell may have enabled it on every one of them by default to accommodate that. Who knows, maybe your P50 would have had raid mode set by default even if you didn't have 2 drives in raid.

 

Some more info,:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/4gke4k/a_closer_look_at_ahci_vs_raid/

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

Curious what you want me to glean from that reddit post?

 

Its a mode. Its not running any form of RAID, its just in a mode that supports it.

4k ghosting (1/1000th exposure)

 

Thanks - I get similar results on that test, so it might be that my panel is about average.

Having said that, this test isn't really designed to test ghosting, rather to demonstrate different framerates. Could you try the ghosting specific test and post your results? http://www.testufo.com/#test=ghosting

 

It is normal, be more worried about a dead pixel.

No need ot shout, technology has it's limits in a panel this thick until OLED is offered at a huge price premium.

Basically on every panel out there in one form or another, how bad is the question.

It is just a driver

And it also with the help of the Samsung/Toshiba SSD driver prevents the constant BSOD issue

It is just a driver, the laptop has no raid hardware, google software raid if you want to know more.

 

No need for more postings on an old issue as it is the 9550 panel so all the information and topics can be found on other threads where this has been done to death already. His panels average, not much more to add.

 

I think the panels are great regarding the color gamut. It is still really difficult to find laptops with 8-bit IPS panels covering 100% sRGB. A relatively affordable 4K UHD near 100% AdobeRGB was a wet dream to many a couple years ago. I think people are predominantly desperate regarding laptop panels and are not used to checking their specs. I knew about the slow response and the even slower turn-off times when shopping, well it's there in the 9550 reviews and there was no hint of a change. I'm not a gamer so I don't care so much. I believe one can get a better gaming laptop, for even less money. The issue is only if you want this particular thin shiny hipster model.
I think it would make sense for Dell to add another 6-bit FHD gaming display with faster response for those who care for fast response but not for color gamut, may 120Hz if they insist on keeping XPS "premium".

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5rdzbx/got_my_xps_15_9560_1050_down_clocks_and_games/

First reports of 9560 downthrottling in games showing up.

 

Meh... Stock paste job is probably terrible.... will like to see results after a proper repaste and new thermal pads...

Just a side note. I will be keeping my Coollaboratory Liquid Pro tube for my 9560... hehe...

 

Have any of you runt into problems with the warranty after sending back a laptop with this mod? I wouldn't want to void it, even though this seems very tempting

 

Nope.

 

I do have to say that the laptop sounds like a jet engine when playing games and the fans are at max RPM.

 

That guy is going to kill his laptop with FurMark. Our professional laptop engineer in residence (GoNz0) recommends never using FurMark with a laptop as thermals are not robust enough.

My 9550 had this issue. Repaste and undervolting helped. But still had power throttle at low temps (you can see that in XTU or HWiNFO64). XTU let me increase wattage and I am having a tough time getting system to throttle.

I would not do that without a good repaste and close monitoring of temps. Not sure if it will work on 9560:

 

Hi,
so today was the day Dell seems to make me glad I received my 9560 some hours ago and...it came with the fingerprint reader!
I orderd it on Jan, 17th by chat, because the FR seems to available just on the business site. So the agent configured it for me. A few minutes later I got notified about an error in their system telling the FR isnt available yet. But they didnt cancel and I thought about sending it back and order one with the FR.
Everything seems to be fine with the machine (7700HQ, 1TB SSD, 4k). No coil wine till now! I just opened up and repasted/repadded and will do some testing the next days.


Speed Shift is not enabled by default, but I activated it via RWEverything. Undervolting seems not to get as far as on my 9550 (about -150mV). I managed to get -120mV safely.

I will ticker with SpeedShift later, but till now I´m really satisfied and think I will Keep it!

 

Good stuff! Great to hear. Did you have to pay extra for the FP reader? According to this thread on reddit the FP is supposed to be ~€30 extra: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5relyf/anyone_in_the_uk_who_ordered_with_the_fingerprint/¨

 

It's extra.

 

You are a RockStar!

 

I have decided to get the AW 15 R3 instead. UHD version with nvidia 1070, 32gb ram and i7 6820. I wasn't overly bothered on portability but did want a power house for photo and video editing. Looking forward to receiving it now!

 

Which parts did you repad btw? Just the SSD? Or did you put padding on the VR also?'

How did the paste look? Just as awful as on the 9550 with 10x the normally required amount spread out everywhere?

 

I get no coil whine when I unplug my laptop. Is it the same for you? Maybe it's the power supply?

 

FluffyDroid, I put new pads on the VRam, the chipset (by putting some 1mm pads onto each other), the SSD and the VRMs. I did that on my 9550 too and the result was much less fan Action.

The paste job was bad as expected. Hell of paste on and around the CPU. Then they maybe run out of it and put way too less (yes, this is possible ) on the GPU.

I have to say, that I didn´t bother much with testing the temps before. I just want to get it the way it worked fine for me with the 9550.

 

Do you void the warranty by doing this? I have arctic silver 5 at home and wouldn't mind giving this a shot. Which pads do you recommend? I've never installed pads before.

 

No you can repaste, damage due to the repaste will invalidate any warranty but the chances are slim if you read up on it 1st.

Leave the pads alone, they do a perfectly good enough job as the video ram runs cool anyway, that is not a cause for concern. High thermal pads probably cause the ram to get hotter as it will pass heat from the CPU to the chips.

 

Thx, I think AS5 is pretty safe too since it isn't conductive.

 

I never mind voiding the warranty And I have sent back 2 9550s and both of them had new pads and paste. The paste I used was Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. For the pads I bought Alphacool Eisschicht (14 W/mK and 11W/mK but I think some cheaper ones will also do).

It´s quite easy so give it a go You just have to remove the heatpipe and could leave the fans in place.

 

I've done it before, so I feel pretty confident, but was just curious about warranty.
And thx for the info on the pads. I haven't decided if I'll add those, but essentially you just want them to touch the body of the laptop so that it acts as a headsink, correct?

 

Right. I just made the experience, that it caused my 9560 to run quieter and I had no throttling when gaming a bit.
For the pads I think GoNzO is right. The dell ones will do their job. I just had the pads lying around and couldn´t resist putting them in

 

GoNz0 is a professional laptop engineer so you should take his recommendations significantly more seriously than my hobbist observations.

Do note that some 9550 owners saw that the heatsink was not properly contacting 1 or 2 VRAM pads. custom90GT had over a dozen 9550s (!) and every unit had that issue. I had that issue and replacing the thermal pads helped reduce throttling. Soft fluffy pads are much easier to use (more conductive pads are very dense and only make it very difficult to figure out proper pad thickness as I figured out after a lot of trial and error).

I see a new heatsink on the 9560 so maybe it makes sense to leave them as is unless / until you see an issue...

 

How was the performance originally, was repasting/repadding badly needed?
How does the heatsink look like? Again an odd section above one VRAM which requires uneven pad thickness? I've noticed that the heatsing design is a bit different looking from above.