XPS 1640/1645/1647 heat vent issue

After about 20 mins watching a 1080p movie, I do also notice the screen being quite hot. However, almost more concerning to me, was that the 9cell battery was very hot from the exhaust air (fyi I was running off AC power). I burnt my leg setting my laptop on my lap

 

Ok, this is kinda off topic, but I didn't want to create another thread...

On my SXPS as probably on all of them the fan keeps kicking in during idling/downloading/surfing etc. every few minutes and it's quite annoying because the difference in RPMs is huge (I think that fan is actually switched off most of the idling time)...it seems like the first step for fan is like 3000RPM...

A have a proposition for Bill and engineers at Dell: could you please, PLEASE add another fan level at for example 1500 RPM so that it doesn't jump to so audible RPMs so easily???

I don't even mind if the fan was constantly at 1500RPM rather than switching from off to much more RPMs frequently...

 

Someone posted in another thread that the fan seemed more quiet with the A08 BIOS. Perhaps you could try that out?

 

I've written that with A08 :-( So no I see no difference between A07 and A08...

I don't mind having vacuum cleaner during gaming, but during idling I expect silent laptop...

 

Mine also goes on/off instead of idling at 1000rpm or sth

 

It's individual...for me this (and speaker rattling) is more of a problem than GPU throttling...I can rarely make the GPU throttle during games...

And I have this problem of keyboard touching display as well.

EDIT: and I meant periodical increase of fan RPMs rather than just on some special occasions...for example when my laptop just sits on a desk doing nothing at all, the fan is off for about 5 minutes and then switches to (high) first level for about a two minutes or so...and so on whole night...

 

Where Dell can delete individual postings, or entire threads, at will? No thanks.

 

Do you have a link to the Service Manual that I can download?

 

The " Service Manual" is the one you want .

I do agree with Pedire, it'd be worthwhile to have a thread on this issue going on the Dell forums as well. It seems as if Bill and Todd have sort of phased out of this issue (despite Todd appearing once in a while). It'd garner more attention if it appeared on the Dell forums as well.

 

My first instinct was to quote:-

Teach not thy parent’s mother to extract
The embryo juices of the bird by suction.
The good old lady can that feat enact,
Quite irrespective of your kind instruction.

But it doesn't quite apply to the above - for that to be the case, the advice would have to be sound.

 

Yes, I agree.

I think we have learned our lesson about posting on Dell fourms and it offered us a glimpse into how DELL operate.

 

I'm surprised this defective laptops have 4.4/5 rating in dell.com
I wrote a review about all issues before, it disappeared already

They deleted whatever they want to keep their customer in headache

 

First of all sorry for my bad English, I'm also an early adopter of studio xps 1645 but just hiding inside my shell.

Just want to share this time and hope to contribute. not really sure bout my theory but i know you guys are experts on this. here it goes....

Is it possible for the vent portion to be replaced? if yes maybe DELL can design a new vent in such a way it will blow the hot air upward and not directly to the monitor? put the more vent holes vertically (upward and downward direction) since the upper portion (above the power button) has nothing in it and still got some room. problem right now is... the vent hole is only positioned horizontally and hot air is focused directly onto the screen.

my theory is, if the vent will be opened hot air will alteast not be concentrated being pushed directly to the screen?

 

Looking at the service manual, it appears that it is fairly easy to swap out the old vent if Dell provides a newly designed vent.

Problem is that Dell is not seeing this issue of hot air being thrown towards the screen is a problem since it is well within their operating range. I am not sure why would you design something which defies the logic, but then again..

 

Folks, a quick warning and reminder of the forum rules:

OT posts are also not permitted. Simply posting with a 'Sorry for the OT' is not enough. If it is OT, do not post. If you have a question for another member which is OT, take it to PM.

Any questions on the forum rules, send me a PM.

Thanks.

 

Hi Todd,

Did you forward these photos to your engineers? Can you give us more updates? Your silence here means that you have everything you need to convince your engineers or you simply give up on this issue? Did you have a chance to run a modern game and feel the heat coming out from the left bottom vent?

Please do not take this personally, but do you think you could get Bill on board with you on this issue? If I remember correctly for the Throttle issue, we kept on receiving updates from you every month or two at the Dell Community without any real development or push until Bill showed up and started to give us bi-weekly (if not daily) updates and get the situation really going. please understand the fraustration I have. The bottom of my screen is still burning hot everyday and there isn't any update on the issue. I am sure that in the long run, there will be some serious damage on my screen due to the heat...unfortunately by then I won't have my warranty any more. But I guess Dell wouldn't care...

Please know that your help is really appreciated here.

 

If I dare respond to this after Bat-Boy's warning: but I'll try to keep it to 'debate and discussion'.

I can't speak for QuietCat, but if you look back through my postings, I don't think you'll find that they support your contention at all.

However, my 1645 hasn't even been run with its hard-won 130w adaptor yet, so I've had nothing to say about it for a while. I've had some real work to do recently, and I'm doing it on my Vista Toshiba and my wife's superannuated XP Compaq laptops, so perhaps even my silence on the 1645 speaks volumes.

But its not that the 1645 is beyond redemption necessarily; rather that I simply can't afford to spend any of the time it might take to get it up to production standard right now.

But I hope to, and I hope it will come up to the required standard. Though I have the nagging fear that instead of buying the future-proof (for a few years anyway) machine I thought I was getting, I merely have a failed beta for that machine, which Dell have yet to launch. Still, I hope I'm wrong.

But please rest assured that if I'm not, then I will take the swift and decisive action necessary to persuade Dell that an exchange will be in order, whether there are 3 or 3,000 people in this thread. If there are 3,000, then it will get Dell's attention, and the job will be easier.

But even if there are only three it will happen. I shall of course start off by asking nicely, and reasonably; but it will not be in any public forum that this takes place.

However, if in the meantime I have any information to help the common cause of getting this machine to its optimal level, please rest assured I will post it here.

 

Lets leave this out of the thread. This is not about Dell's community forum moderation - if you are not happy with the way that forum is being managed, then email the webmaster/forum contact person.

This thread should focus only on discussing the vent topic.

I'm going to be very strict here since there have been multiple violations of the NBR forum rules in this thread.

Thanks in advance and if anyone feels the need to comment on this, send me a PM.

-BB

 

all we want is some update on the vent issue. Maybe it will be easier to convince a Dell rep to return the laptop than getting any information here.

 

My temperature usually hovers around 48C....is this an issue? I don't play games and, to be honest, I don't feel much heat coming out of the left corner....

 

try again with a modern game running, or even just a HD movie 1980*1080.
Don't burn your figures though...

 

This is certainly viable. When faced with a technical support issue, you contact support. If support is not able to assist you or is not responding to your requests then you have the option to escalate the problem -

Dell provides an option on their main site to assist in escalating a given issue which is not being resolved through normal tech support channels.

Most of the Dell websites have a link at the bottom of the main page. For the US, UK and Malaysia sites, its listed as 'Unresolved Issues'. If you are in another region, check your Dell website for your specific country - some sites do not have this feature/link.

• US based customers - Unresolved Issues
  
  
• UK based customers - Unresolved Issues
  
  
• Malaysia based customers - Unresolved Issues

When using these links, you will be greeted with two options:

1. Customer Service (this is defined by Dell as 'Missing, damaged or incorrect orders, Lead time issues or Refund or exchange problems')

2. Technical Support (this is defined by Dell as 'Products not functioning and Operating System problems')

When filling out the related webform, be sure to provide your case#. Your case# is generated when you first contact Dell Technical Support for assistance. Recap the situation and be polite. Provide your contact info and request a follow up.

NOTE: You need to contact Technical Support and work with the Tech Support Rep prior to using the Unresolved Issues link. Dell will not accept straight contact via this link without first reporting the issue to tech support and allowing them a chance to resolve it. Again, you must contact tech support first. Unresolved Issues should only be used if you are faced with a brick wall and are not receiving any response to your requests for assistance.

This can also be used to discuss replacement or returns however that is something you have to discuss with the rep.

 

That's my point...I have no interest in gaming (use ps3 for that) so should I be concerned by this vent issue? Surely I'm not the only in this thread who doesn't use his xps to game....

 

then I guess you will be fine. But I guess most of us here bought it as a game machine or even a multimedia machine for HD content-- as Dell clearly advertised.

for me, two things I do the most, watching HD movies and playing games are making my 1645 a volcano...

 

same here.

 

Wont it take a child being burnt by the computer or something obvious like that to start a class action law suit against Dell for a known safety hazard?? All do respect, getting beyond the throttling issue, dangerous excessive heat on a consumer electronic screams "law suit".

 

I don't think a class action lawsuit is the best option here.

EDIT: And the reason I don't think it is really the best option, is because laptops CAN get hot. At least as hot as the heat vent itself if poorly managed. My ol' Inspiron 1521's bottom half, especially if it got covered up, could burn my leg. (Great in the winter as a lap-warmer though. XD)

 

LMAO!!!! Liked the extremity!!! haha.....

 

How about put a black tape on the first 2 or 3 vents to make them unusable? This way, you can force all of the hot air to use remaining 3 vents which is away from the screen, and have an internal fan work harder and longer.

I would rather have wear out fan then damaged screen in long run.. Any thoughts on it?

I am sure it won't work for the gamers, but should work for most casual users.

 

Although what you said will stop the hot air from blowing onto your screen, the overall temperature will increase by around 5-7 degrees.... May be more too.... The A07 bios itself unlocked the CPU threshold and with that the overall temperature also increased as there heat is not properly dissipated...

I think unless you have a notebook cooler, sealing off the first 2-3 vents is a really bad idea....

I am gonna get a cooler anyways (COOLER MASTER INFINITE)...... And am gonna see how good it is at reducing the temperature....


@ Bill or TODD: Awaiting your inputs on the VENT ISSUE guys....

 

Yeah. . . unless you want to cook this goose, better not try it. And for all we know it could void the warranty.

 

Got the Zalman nc2000 and it works pretty well
GPU and CPU going around 49 C after 1 h 720 p watching movies.
Dont know if that is good or bad thought

 

Will Cooler Master Infinite be large enough to fully support xps16?

 

How noisy it is? I have cheap Targus that barley supports my laptop, and I think it works ok, but noisy and laptop hangs outside on both side..

 

The Zalman is insanely quiet, even at full speed (the speed is adjustable on the side). As for size, it's slightly bigger than the SXPS16, but lightweight and sturdy (mostly made of aluminium instead of plastic). The entire laptop sits really well on it. I'd say it's the perfect cooler for this laptop.

 

Seems somewhat odd to me since I'm getting around the same temps without a cooler while watching a full-screen video (albeit not HD).

 

I agree its very quiet. Best out there

 

Have to take into consideration your room temp which varies from different places in the world. If you live in Seberia you will have a different temps then those living in the deserts

 

Even for my modest and quite cool-running Toshiba, the handbook carries a warning not to take 'laptop' literally. Both because your body may block the cooling intakes and make the laptop hot, and because the machine is likely to return the compliment and overwarm the area it is resting on.

So, like you, I don't expect the 1645 to have to perform in such conditions. As a minimum, I recommend interposing a flat, hard surface, a tea-tray for instance, between (wo)man and machine.

 

Anyone knows where i can get the ZALMAN 2000 in INDIA(good ol green )??? I have tried a lot of stores and online ones too.... But can't seem to find them.

Thats the main reason i am going for the COOLER MASTER INFINITE....

Any inputs?????

Thanks a lot in advance....

 

Since XPS 16 overheats due poor vent design...maybe it's time for us to start sending receipts for cooling devices. If DELL decides to not pay I think no one should have a problem returning laptop for a full refund.

 

This wouldn't work. and i have a NZXT cryo LX its frickin awesome changed the way the fans blew and my idle temps are low 30's cpu and low 40's GPU

 

Can you plese explain bit in detail what modification did you do? I am not clear on whether you modifed the cooling device fans or the actual laptop's fan?

I have pretty much given up on Dell coming through for a fix..

 

I "modified" the coolers fans for some reason mine were sucking air down and not blowing air up so i flipped the fans in the cooler and this thing is like im sticking it in a hurricane sooooooooo coooooool

 

Well, call up DELL and tell them your laptop was overheating and you had to purchase additional cooling device and they must pay the bill since laptop's vent blows towards screen and is not cooling laptop sufficiently.

I am sure DELL knows by now the vent problem on XPS 16 and due to safety issues they would be willing to pay or offer sufficient cooling device.

 

how noisy it is?

 

Now with NZXT Cryo LX laptop becomes a desktop ...and that's definitely not fun

 

exactly.. I think Zalman appears to be the nicer cooler then NZXT.. I don't think Zalman needs dual USB power or AC..

 

Ahhh I would have to say specs wise and performance wise the Cryo is alot better lemme explain (my brother has the Zalman)


1) 3x 120 MM fans (placed in the rear to efficiently cool the cpu and gpu one fan literrally aims to the fan of the sxps) where as zalman has 2 x 80 MM fans and you have to turn around and it raised the laptop in an odd position for me

2) not as bad as you think carrying it around It folds up and isn't heavy at all i even use it on my lap if i feel like gaming in bed (IMO of course)

3) full aluminum like the Zalman with lots of rubber to keep your laptop stable

4) Cryo does not need dual USB power only single and it has 4 extra ports on the back plus the ac adaptor isnt huge or anything( some people have said that the USB doesnt draw enough power for the cooler but I haven't had a problem)

5)All black aluminum which goes great with the laptop

6) adjustable fans

7)very easy to take apart to clean

8) its not really noisy but you can hear it lemme put it this way when the SXPS fan kicks into high i can hear that over the cooler I.e with an overclock and throttlestop running but even then max temps are 55-60 CPU and 60-65 GPU which is pretty darn good from what ive read on here

now without the bangs and whistles(OC,TS) max temps hit 40-50 and gpu never hits passed 50-55 all degrees are in Celsius of course

9) it has slots running through the entire frame not like the holes on the zalman and its also adjustable

10) this thing can cycle air like nobodys business it will hold a piece of paper to the bottom of it or it will send a piece of paper flying a little bit and the way they set the black mesh casing around the fans the holes are big so more air can flow in from sides and bottom


Now the Zalman is NOT by any means a bad cooler I just prefer this Beast over the zalman


Ill post pics when i get a chance on a diff thread W/ a proper Review

 

Thank you so much for detailed description Look forward for the pics with the laptop on it.