XPS 15 9560 owners thread.

Ahh good to know then. Do you have any interest in the UX550? Looks promising but I don't want to wait so long.

 

I thought you were done with Dell "forever"!

Welcome back to the dark side...

 

Hi all, I received my xps 15 two weeks ago (4k, 512gb, 16gb) and I my screen is flickering sometimes. I was wondering if everyone on this page is experiencing flickering?
I followed many forums on the matter and there seems to be not much recent comments, especially regarding the intel update 4664. I was wondering if the flickering was solved with the update?
If not, I am seeking your opinion on either returning the machine (as I am in the 30 days period) or keeping it and hoping for a fix (or accepting it as it is). Moreover, if you suggest a return, what machine would you recommend?
Last question, do you know if flickering happens with the 4k screen even at a lower resolution (hd perhaps)?
Thanks a lot!

 

once you have reported a problem within the returns window you explain that if it isn't fixed or replaced to your satisfaction you will be returning it.

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Go to the flicker thread, it's all there.

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I'm going to buy an XPS 15 9560 with hybrid storage (1TB+32 GB).
Does it work well? Is it a good idea to replace the 32 GB SSD with the larger one to install Windows and programs?

 

Hell yes.

 

Thank you for the quick response.
So, the built-in hybrid storage is not really fast right? Then which type of SSD will suit my XPS 15?

 

Any m.2 nvme drive

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I had the flicker as well (same configuration as you do). I updated to creators edition as I got the laptop and updated all the drivers through windows update and the Dell update utility but still had the flicker. I had to download the latest nvidia drivers and install it as well as the latest Intel graphics drivers. I had to use the zip version of the Intel drivers as the executive gave an error saying I should use the latest drivers from my OEM. After using the zip file I then installed using the exe. After all that I uninstalled dell premier color and installed the latest version. I now have 0 flicker and dell premier color works great.

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Thanks for the quick reply! Can you confirm the intel and nvidia driver version and bios version?

 

Thanks for the reply, however there is very little user comments regarding the recent updates and I haven't seen anyone running the 4k display in 1080p. I was wondering if anyone tried to use it at a low resolution if it solved the problem.

 

Intel driver is 4678, nvidia driver is 382.53 and bios is 1.3.3

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It's significantly thicker and larger, plus it has that trampoline keyboard. I'll need to see it in person.

First, winning my case against Dell for a full refund then selling the XPS put me in a better mood . Plus, being able to inspect beforehand in a store means I could finally make sure I didn't get a ****ty lemon when I re-bought.

 

Did you try slaying dragons with it and concluded it was bad at that also?

 

And you should keep in mind that GoNz0 has never experienced any problems with his XPS(es)

 

Most issues are driver related (outside of the ****ty sound quality). I bought mine used very good on Amazon and came in a brown box. It came with signature edition windows 10 and the fingerprint scanner so I think it was a Microsoft store return or something, but it looks and functions as new. Saved a few hundred dollars and am 100% happy with mine!

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Most of my issues with the 10+ XPS's that have passed through since the 9530 have been screen issues, I could fix all the other niggles!

 

[Modification Guide] One-Finger Open for 9560 (9550 unconfirmed)

I dont know is someone posted this already, just in case if someone is interested i did it yesterday and it works great!

 

How loose is the hinge after? Will shaking the laptop slightly move the screen? Will it move from using the touchscreen in a normal way?

UPDATE:

So I went ahead and did the mod myself. It was pretty straightforward to do and took about 10 minutes to disassemble and to get the hinge at the optimal stiffness (that sounds weird to say lol) but the end result is I am able to open the laptop with one finger and the hinge is still firm enough to not be flapping around. Recommended 100% and as i said, it was very easy to do.

 

You know these are factory pre tensioned so they open the same, as soon as they don't you will be putting stress on one side, the end results (seen it many a time in my line of business) is either the screws work loose on the stiffer hinge, or it rips the mounts out the board due to flexing the chassis and the worst one if you open it by pulling on the corner above the weakest hinge is the screen cracking (to be fair that was only a big problem on a Toshiba ultrabook where they took out the metal frame under the bezel to save weight)

The other reason they are stiff is to stop the screen wobbling around when using touch screen, yes it could be a great mod for the FHD but I would warn off touch screen 4k users

 

Mine is stock, same as the others I own/owned and picking it up from the floor with the screen open and putting it on my lap is enough to move the screen, if it is looser than stock and you move it quickly you may break the hinges or snap them off the screen.

 

Thanks for the info, I updated the guide accordingly. In all my experience doing this kind of mod to other laptops (including cheaper plastic chromebooks with substantially less durable midframes) I haven't had any such problems (the hinge here is actually screwed into what appears to be a magnesium alloy insert here as well) but will keep a lookout when I open it back up to upgrade the SSD for any stress marks or anything.

Also, I did hear back from a couple 4K users and if they don't use touch it works pretty well, but the display is heavier than the FHD by just enough that it gets wobbly all by itself

Intuitively, it would make sense for that to be the case if it comes to a sudden end of its range of motion, but in this case is it already at that limit of its range of motion? If it is already open, the looser hinges don't play much of a role. If you dropped it and it wasn't fully open I would see there being more of an issue, but if it's already at that limit of its range of motion a tighter hinge would give the same amount of cushioning as a looser one.

I found in loosening mine that when it was just barely loose enough to open with one finger (this is the FHD variant) even swinging the thing around fairly vigorously didn't really move the display. You'd have to be quite rough on it to have an issue with sudden stops at the end of the range of motion of the display, but I guess I baby my stuff more than a lot of people so YMMV.
--For others who did the mod, is this an accurate assessment, or have you had different results in this regard?

They actually overbuilt this machine a remarkable amount from what I've seen (the insert for the hinges inspires quite a bit of confidence, even if the bottom plate is mostly floating and just screwed into plastic,) but if I hear from anyone that it's started to cause them any problems I'll definitely take the guide down.

Definitely looking for more feedback if anyone has any, I'll try making more exact measurements of the optimal amount of torque to try to fine tune things in the meantime. Cheers

 

Let me know how well it is holding up a week from now. You're one of quite few 4K owners who has tried it, and as a FHD owner I don't have the means to test as much with how to balance it. If you could measure the amount of torque you set each hinge to have a resistance of, that would be awesome so I could add it to the guide. I'm still finding exact numbers for the FHD but will update it when I have time to test.

 

Well, it seems sturdy enough but closing down the screen anything beyond say a 30 degrees causes it to fall shut. With the fhd screen, are you still able to have it stand on its own at any angle without falling shut (20 degrees or so)?

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No, IIRC it did that before modifying it. It closes at about 30 to 35 degrees for me, but I can probably tighten mine just a tad more (haven't had the time to fine tune it.) I'm guessing it's there to keep it closed generally and make it so that it doesn't spring open by like 2 or 3 degrees after closing and let stuff into it inside a backpack. A lot of computers without latches seem to do this to keep them closed, actually.

 

I don't remember mine doing it before, not from such a wide angle anyhow as I remember being able to have the lid almost closed and it stay open. I'll probably try tightening mine just a tad though but so far so good and though I don't use the touchscreen a lot, I used it tonight while photo editing and it wasn't an issue at all, in fact when I used it I didn't even remember that I had modded it. I just used it as I usually would and it didn't wobble around.

As a side note (unrelated) , I find that TouchPad gestures don't work as they should in some apps (all Adobe apps, Ableton Live and Capture One Pro). 2 finger scrolling doesn't work as it should with these apps (or as it does on a Mac) To scroll I have to do the pinch to zoom gesture or use the touchscreen. I'm wondering if it's an issue for touchscreen windows laptops or just a precision trackpad issue.

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Unfortunately I can't comment much as I'm a Davinci Resolve, Ardour and Gimp kinda guy

I can say that I haven't had that issue personally, but I would imagine it would be a precision touchpad driver issue as IIRC the touchscreen and touchpad are handled differently. I'm purely talking out of my *** at this point though, so ask for a second opinion or even ask Dell. Make a note of what bloatware they install in the process, but they should be able to find at least some solution to the issue. Good luck in figuring it out!

 

When I had my XPS some apps don't support pinch to zoom. You had to scroll with 2 fingers in order to zoom. Gesture support is vastly superior on Mac because all apps support it natively and because the Mac has superior touchpads for years, while only few Windows laptops only have good trackpad for like 2 years.

 

Any comments on this review of the 9550? I feel that it is somewhat superficial (eg no mention of battery capacity without which the battery time measurement is meaningless).

John

 

It's a 9560 John
I wont comment on the review page as it is very non descript unless you want me to?

I get near the end and it mentions review but I felt I was still waiting to read the review after what seems similar to Dell's product page and a couple of benchmarks beforehand.
It needs build quality by nit picking, how good is the screen on a solid white and black background, redshift is a massive issue on that panel and uneven whites can also be a instant RMA when it arrives. Inside shots seem a must nowadays, no info on what make and model hardware was inside. Dell use so many different suppliers unless you include what NVMe drive it was why bother showing a benchmark?
Wifi tests, the list could go on but I will resist

Mr Michael Wall could have got a lot of info from this thread (and a few others) to really go at the review with some depth, but this is just me talking. When I do a review it will be in bits and put back together again

 

IMO pretty much all XPS 15 reviews (and most laptop reviews in general) are quite superficial. NotebookCheck generally does pretty well at being objective, and Mobile Tech Review is a fairly good video review channel, but a lot of reviewers for the 15 fawn over it's looks and perceived build quality, list a couple specs that could be found on the Dell info page, and call it a day without much discussion of thermals, durability, color accuracy, or general reliability. If you're looking for a really in-depth review NotebookCheck is, again, very good about those things generally but a lot of times what the average buyer ends up wanting to watch/read most is a lot of pretty B-roll, some ASMR inducing adjectives, and soft music in the background of the pretty photos. I guess real reviews are a bit jarring to some people

Personally, if I'm looking at buying something the best info is usually in forum posts and such, though. Review units are often cherry-picked, reviewers don't have to pay for devices so price differences are brushed aside and they are a bit more likely to let flaws slide. The people who pay a ton of money for a product then use it as their main computer for months on end tend to come away with a greater number of things to nit-pick about, and often see the worst parts of the machines they bought.

 

I intended to type 9560 but sometimes there's a communication breakdown between brain and fingers.

I'm a believer in looking inside and also providing insights which go beyond the sales web page.

I also noticed that the PC Mark scores are worse than those for my Precision 5510. Does the UHD panel drag the scores down?

I agree: Notebookcheck is the first place I look for detailed and consistent reviews.

There was a time when this site used to have long discussion threads associated with reviews ( an example), which added considerable value to the review, but this no longer happens.

John

 

What CPU do you have in the precision? It also may have to do with what SSD you have (the majority of 9560s now ship with ****y Sk Hynix drives that are even worse than the Toshiba ones. It also could have to do with how the Quadro handles things as opposed to how the GTX 1050 handles things for that benchmark.

 

Details of my Precision 5510 (as received from Dell) are here. However, it's now running with 32GB RAM (bought from
@GoNz0) and a 1TB Sandisk X400 SSD. I'd like to upgrade to a 2TB SSD but in M.2 format they currently cost more than the notebook.

John

 

It looks like the processor you got in the Precision is a measurably faster part than the 7700HQ in the 9560 ( http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-7820HQ-vs-Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ/m185229vsm211019)

That could account for some score difference by itself. I wouldn't imagine the resolution difference would change anything, as they need the test to be consistent across different test benches that may be hooked up to monitors of varying resolution. They cap the rendering resolutions for standard benchmarks and use fairly little resources for rendering any live logs of what is going on.

 

I don't think the panel has much to do with it but again we have no idea what settings he ran it on as it seems we don't need to know any details. It really does seem to be a "30 minutes to kill what can I do" review

 

I've got the Skylake i7-6820HQ which is slightly slower than the 7700HQ plus the latter probably comes with slightly faster RAM.

The bottom line is that the review creates more questions than it provides answers. One aspect where it is right is the limited travel, but easy to get used to, keyboard.

John

PS: Also published today is this Thinkpad X270 review, which both provides much more detail and reveals a dual core machine which outperforms the XPS in PC Mark. Perhaps we are wrong in assuming that the mis-typed CPU model in the XPS review is the 7700HQ.

 

Hello guys!

Regarding XPS 15 9560 and gaming, how is throttling?

I'm not going to heavy gaming, just games like StarCraft 2, CS Go, some BF

 

I bought the 9560 i7 last week, new to gaming. Runs gta 5 all ultra high settings, the division all high too. Played for over 4 hours and not noticed any issues

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My XPS 15 4K, i7, 16 GB ram laptop is experiencing terrible frame rates (while gaming unplugged) on very old games.

Played the BloodRayne series, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, and Outlast all at lower settings all games are choppy as hell. What the...

 

Are you playing them at 4K? Are they perhaps running on the iGPU instead of the dGPU? It sounds like it may be running on the iGPU and (possibly) reducing CPU speed as well. Definitely check power profiles and what GPU they're running on.

 

I second that ^

I've just played around with power profiles tonight and it helps massively too. If I play unplugged it used to use the iGPU instead of the dGPU. Now it's all how I want it and all runs sweet

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How do you change GPU use via power plans? I can't seem to find it within power options...

Also, my laptop froze once tonight while playing a long youtube video (just ambient sound), and a few hours ago I got this weird orange screen with a sad face emoji that said "an error has occurred" and the computer froze again and I had force shutdown while playing another youtube video.

 

Have you updated windows and all drivers to the latest versions?

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You do it via the nvidia control panel normally but I can't say I have ever seen an option to use on battery only?

 

There is the "battery boost" setting available only in Geforce experience.

 

Hey guys, I just wanted to share:

My CPU (7700HQ XPS 15 9560 FHD/512/16) is undervolted -120mV, (cpu and cache), iGPU undervolted -70mV. Both CPU and dGPU would still throttle in games.

I solved this in two ways:
1. I setup ThrottleStop to turn off turbo boost if the CPU went beyond 85C OR if the dGPU (1050) exceeded 65 C. In my experience, they can't ever be both running at max at the same time, it just throttles the whole system down (even with BD PORCHOT off).
2. I managed to undervolt my GTX 1050 (despite it having a locked bios) by increasing the frequency settings at lower voltages. (i.e. instead of hitting 1771 MHz at 1.05V, it'll hit it at 0.925V). For those interested, I used MSI Afterburner and I've included screenshots below. I can now play games endlessly with the CPU hovering at around 80C and the GPU not exceeding 75C. Neither throttle. (Edit: I got the GPU stable at [email protected] in Unigine Superposition 1080p Medium. Maxed out at 70C.)

pics: (I don't know how to embed it sorry)
http://imgur.com/a/xoD3w

 

I have updated the Dell BIOS, and the Nvidia graphics drivers, but I still got the blue screen of death while watching YouTube videos.

I did figure out the stop code: "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION". What does that mean??

And I mean like 15-25 fps on old games playing at 1024x768 resolution. I even went into Nvidia Graphics Panel and chose "Preferred Nvidia Processor" for all applications. Still really low frame rates on older games.

 

See screenshot here:
http://imgur.com/ztkZfRw

Navigate to Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings, then hit Change advanced power settings..

Change as you wish.