XPS 15 9560 owners thread.

Yes, LatencyMon and fresh installations of Windows is mandatory for any new computer

 

I have had excellent experience with some Lenovo laptops. My sense is the hardware and software engineering by the Chinese firm is significantly ahead of that of Dell in this product.

The p51 is not directly comparable to the XPS but the precision is rather comparable. The Dell has a wonderful screen, form factor, and materials.

 

Yes, Dell and the XPS15 certinly has its merits as you mention but when it comes to things like durability, quality and software quality I would rate Lenovo ahead at the time of writing. Just look at the mess Dell has with its updates, where neither the web page or the Dell Updater can be trusted.

If Lenovo realized that the could make a P51 without the Quadro GPU it would probably be my next laptop of choice now that they have finally gotten better screen panels. But that is perhaps a discussion for another thread.

 

I mean, if you are really set on that Lenovo laptop, the P51 has the M2200. It's very close in terms of gaming performance to the 1050 (within 10%) and trumps the 1050 in terms of professional performance (CAD). Incredibly unattractive laptop though.

 

How can I use 3 External LCD with my 9650 ? I did buy a https://plugable.com/products/tbt3-dp2x/ and I can drive 2 monitors and when i do that the HDMI get disabled. I am fine with having the laptop screen disabled. Looks like
Dell Thunderbolt Dock TB16 supports 3 but have they worked out all the kinks ?

Looks like the max res is 5120 x 2880 @ 60Hz, I got 2 - 1920*1080 and a 2560*1440

Jay

 

Well, I kind of like the "industrial look" of the ThinkPads, they kind of radiates "I am a serious person"

Wouldn't dream of gaming on either of them though, there are much more suitable options for that even though I understand that some people use the XPS15 for that also.

BTW, the P51 offers several GPU options but perhaps not in preconfig depending on market etc. As a software developer I really don't need anything more than the Intel GPU although Nvidia have some advantages even for that.

 

The TB16 is much better than the TB15 but the later was a total fiasco. Overall I think the TB16 works ok, main problem being an unbelievably annoying fan that changes RPMs all the time. Kind of like the one in the XPS15 but on steroids. I gave up on multiple monitors though, in favor of a 55" 4K "monitor" and virtual desktops and wouldn't go back. But that of course depends on that need you might have.

 

Oh gosh.... Ive got the bug..

Was messing around with my mobile powerwall for my laptop and the power cycled a few times while playing bf1.. Ended up making my cpu stuck at 0.77ghz (0.798ghz to be exact)... Tried creating a new power plan, reinstalled Intel drivers, changed some bios settings but didn't do a bios reset....still stuck. Throttle stop fixes it but when I boot the pc it's at 0.77ghz. Still searching for a fix. Ugh. What a pain.

 

Just purchased the XPS 15 9560 + TB16. After a couple of weeks using it, I realize that the fan (cpu fan in the laptop, not TB16) is ALWAYS on, when plugged into the TB16. Anyone else with this problem? When using the laptop without the TB16 it is quiet, and the fan only turns on when I use software that demands more cpu power, like photoshop etc.

 

Are you sure it isn't just one when the laptop is charging? And, ayou absolutely sure it is not the TB16 fan you hear? They sound about the same

 

I've seen photos and posts from a few guys around the internet who performed "thermal mods" to the TB16. . .

 

Yes, I checked this, it´s the fan in the laptop. Not only when charging. Full battery, still running.....

 

I recently bought a Dell XPS 15 9560 with the Full HD display. After a bit of video editing and film-watching I discovered that this panel suffers quite heavily of ghosting, which seems not very suitable for car races. It's my panel to be defective or is the "standard" for the Full HD display installed on 9560? According to this topic, it seems to be it's the standard, even on the 4k version :\

 

A known issue. Some attribute it to raised PCH temperature (although in the fifties only and likely not much heat). But the fans can't reach it so they'd spin in vain. You could try padding it (shiny rectangle close to one fan and the battery) to the case bottom, with layers of quality thermal pads or a Cu or Al plate wrapped in a pad. Mind you shouldn't use good pads for the VRM mosfets because those do produce lots of heat under load, as the heated up bottom plate makes things worse.

 

I did an "thermal modification" to the TB16 when I flipped out after it refused to show the image on my monitor for the 6th time in a row

 

I have my 9560 connect to a Benq BL3200 using HDMI. The monitor is 2560 * 1440. For some reason the fonts are not sharp. I am using Windows 10.

 

It's standard. A lot of new laptops (even the Razer's one) have slow displays.
4k is slightly faster on XPS tough, this is the reason I've chosen 4k over FHD.

 

Fixed my own issue. Read some people had to take their laptop apart and unplug the battery... that's what I did and WALLA! Works again! Whew!

 

New BIOS 1.8.0

Enhancements:
1. Enhanced Xeon CPU performance
2. Improved the stability for the file transferring within pre-OS USB LAN connection
3. Enable WSMT security enhancement for Windows 10 Creators Update

 

Now my laptop won't boot into Windows....

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

So, when the BIOS said update done and rebooting it went to a black screen, didn't even put the back light on, power button did shut down but after that and the Dell logo it wouldn't boot, for some reason the BIOS had reset so the laptop was in RAID not AHCI mode.
Everything needed resetting but the BIOS froze mid setup.

Be warned this may brick you.

It may be SST related as it has gone so I need to put that back later.

 

HDMI is quite painful with the XPS15 that only has HDMI 1.4. Would recommend using a GOOD DisplayPort => HDMI adapter (if using the TB16) and a TB3/USB-C => HDMI if connecting the laptop directly. Also, you probably want to make sure that you use "extend screen" so that you dont display the same stuff on built in panel an screen (since they are different resolutions).

For sharp text over HDMI you want Chroma 4:4:4, https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/chroma-subsampling

 

So what OS will it boot into then?

I hope and believe that you manage to sort it out.

 

I'm not sure that "slightly faster" is worth the 600€ extra LOL
I would go for sure on 4K version if the majority of programs would run properly on 4K resolution like on Mac, but at the moment a wide number of program that I usually use (Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, 3ds max) seems to be intolerant towards 4K resolution and/or Windows Upscaling (150% and so on)...

I should see what this panel works if I set 1080p resolution.
I read it works perfect on 1440p...

 

I had to put it back in ahci mode after the bios reset itself.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

After installing BIOS 1.8.0, I noticed that the BIOS fast boot option is no longer a default, and, if you do want to use that option, you need to enable it in the BIOS.

The difference in BIOS boot time with that option enabled is less than 1 second, but for those who can be OCD about things like boot times (I admit to being one of them), it might be worth going into the BIOS settings and changing the default.

 

Yo man, I was wondering why my XPS was waiting a little more than usual before starting showing circles (loading Windows), after the update

Meanwhile, I discovered that even the beautiful (it was beautiful 7 years ago, not bad now too) 1080p B+G LED of my old XPS L502X suffers of ghosting, a little less than the 9560's, but the 9560 display suffers also of trailing, which was less evident on L502X. So, watching 50/60p videos on youtube is more pleasant on the old monitor because on the 9560 you lost a bit that feel of "smoothness" of the video (seems stuttering like a 30p video despite you are watching a 60p one).

 

What about bios 1.8.0 and fans behavior? Does it have the same fan regulation logic as of version 1.7.1?

With version 1.7.1 I've noticed a change and my XPS is completely silent most of the time, even on quite intensive professional daily tasks.
Sure it depends on favorable factors, basically a repasted CPU/GPU, padded PCH/VRM mosfets, a quite low room ambient temp and my tuned Linux OS, but I love it dead silent and wouldn't like a regression...

edit: probably because of the issues also reported a few comments above, version 1.8.0 has been retired and is not anymore available for download.

 

Probably the behavior it's to be more silent with less random start-up by fans, but I have to focus on for a bunch of days because it can depend from the ambient temperature and contents loaded in Chrome.

EDIT: ladies and gentlemen, my first BSOD on this laptop

 

What is your speed test when using Novabench ?

 

Congratulations

 

I fear that was caused by one of the updates the dedicated app installed yesterday together with BIOS update (that now they retired)............

 

CAUTION: If you struggle with BIOS 18.0 update, just go into BIOS setup, right after update, and put yours settings back. Especially tackle with SATA Operation between "RAID ON" and "AHCI" modes.

P.S.: Everything else will be fine, I promise you.

 

Looks like they pulled it already. It must be corrupting post flash hence it resetting to default.

 

How long was I asleep, when I went to bed 1.8 was the latest BIOS?

 

Yeah, make sense, coz it was resetting BIOS settings to the factory defaults, for everyone.

 

Even though I haven't had any problems with 1.8.0 (except for having to re-enable the fast BIOS boot option), I really should learn to wait a few days after a new BIOS release before installing it.

 

Yeah - let others beta test for you!

 

I will never learn while I have a warranty to terrorise Dell with

 

Probably, Dell have to test firmware updates before to roll it out?! Sounds fair?

 

That's not how it works m8!

 

View attachment 156392

 

As a novice who updated the bios to 1.8.0 and laptop appears to work ok, should I do anything in the bios, or just wait for the next bios update?

 

Sit and wait, unless you have obvious issues or hear so from others. Because downgrading BIOS occasionally causes bricking.

 

Any one have experience using the following Displaylink docking station with 9650

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071YTQBXM/

With the ability to support 3 monitors (my assumption is that display link is totally dependent of the graphics card on your pc ? )

Jay

 

Officially it is not compatible, probably because the USB PD power is insufficient. One review on Amazon says that it works (in a restricted power mode, unless the AC charger is used in addition). I'm not sure how well it works though, considering that DisplayLink involves heavy video data compression and graphics card emulation. Likely better for static than dynamic stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-452-BCYT-D6000-Universal-Black/product-reviews/B071YTQBXM

 

Need to find a solution to power 3 LCD. Got 2 - 4K to work but need a 3rd one (This does not have to be 4K) thus looking to see if DisplayLink is an option. All the reading i have done says DisplayLink is independent of the existing GPU / Graphics but i have not tried it.

 

That's the TB16. It can accept 3 x 1080p60Hz screens (maybe also 3 x 1440p60Hz?) or 2 x 4K60Hz screens or a single 5K60Hz screen.

 

Hi, first time posting something!

I have a question. Should I remove Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework?
I already did a repaste (Thermal Grizzly-Kryonaut) and added some pads for the mossfets. My max CPU/GPU temps are around 80 C/ 74 C. The thing is, no matter what I do, whenever I use premiere (very heavily) the CPU will be stock at around 1.69 Ghz. The same holds true when I use a stress test (Aida64) or a game (Overwatch). Now I know it's because the power limit throttling. But I'm not really sure if it's safe to just disable DPTF.
I already updated everything (including the bios to 1.80) and I read somewhere that if you disable DPTF the clocks speeds should remain at around 2.6-2.7 Ghz (I disabled turbo boost)