wat the? Dell XPS M1530

Okay, so I just bought a Dell XPS M1530 two weeks ago, and I decided to format it on my own to get rid of all the bloatware.

Now, the installation went fine, and i installed all the drivers that Dell gave me (with the exception of the vid card driver, where i updated it to 177.41)

Now, what I dont get is, I ran 3DMark06 after all this (without AC Adapter, but on high performance settings) but I got a score of... *gulp* 942. yea. no joke. I did notice that lately that after I formatted my laptop, the 3D stuff didn't run as smooth as before.

Is there anything I can do to improve the score OTHER THAN OVERCLOCKING or RETURNING the laptop? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Recommended nVidia drivers wouldn't be that bad either.

(btw, my system restore doesnt work either. when i press F8 on the boot screen and go to system restore mode, there's an error message that has no text on it, and just shuts down)

 

What is the score with the power adapter connected?

 

I am going to try it RIGHT now.

 

Did you select high performance, or did you really go into the settings and set everything to run at max?

And when you would you be playing games and such when not on the power adapter?

 

LOL when im out and bored.
haha u know what, I ran the test with the AC Adapter on and it gave me 4214... which is decent for my specs i suppose?

any recommendations to improve performance?

 

keep the laptop cool (force fans to run if they aren't if ur on AC), give plenty of ventilation space...get the newest driver(not from dell)

besides, how high do u want ur performance? 3DMark06 is just a score, and m1530 isnt going to break any records.... any performance gain would be a 1-2fps gain only...

 

ohhh snap i see
speaking of cooling the laptop, I actually have a VERY big dilemma

See,I live in Canada, and they do NOT sell the Zalman NC-2000 around Toronto... (****... O btw I have a 9cell battery)

but they have the Zalman NC1000 and the Bytecc NC-820... now, im aware that NC1000 is better quality, but Bytecc NC-820 is larger and can possibly cool my laptop more effectively. So which one do i go for,

the Zalman (that wont fit my laptop) or the Bytecc (which reportedly shows some problems in use)... btw price is NOT a factor, because the Zalman only costs about 5 dollars more.

 

Some have found (and posted reviews), that the NC1000 and 2000 don't do much for the M1530 due to the design of the laptop. Honestly, just keep the laptop on a hard level surface while gaming (you have a 9-cell battery, so the physical design is great, because it keep the laptop elevated), and you should not experiance any problems at all.

If you want/need more performance, you could always look into overclocking the GPU. The 8600M GT GDDR3 overclocks like crazy. Just with all things, don't be stupid with it, and watch everything closely.

 

yeah like i said in my first rep, im not gonna OC
i dont wanna do smth stupid and mess my laptop up and having to reinstall vista, etc

thanks for all the help you guys, and a decision/methods to cool my 9cell would be EXTREMELY appreciated god bless

 

Overclocking too much wouldn't force you to reinstall Vista. Worst case scenario, you'll have artifacts (in games) and/or overheating.

 

Overheating - the one issue i dont want to happen LOL
and speaking of which, im in need of a good cooler/cooling method. OTL
PLEASE HELP ME OUT on which cooler to get,

either the Zalman NC-1000 or the NC-820 from Bytecc. (Zalman NC-2000's are not available in my area... cripes.)

 

Overclocking too much wont "force you to reinstall vista". It'll just make you have to downclock the card back to factory, or lower.

Artifacting, crashing, and related symptoms simply mean that your card is overheating and is well above the temperatures it should be. Worst case scenario is you decide to continue to use it and/or are stupid enough to disable overheat protection and your graphics card gets fried which may or may not do permanent damage to your motherboard or your graphics card, or both, since the gfx card is soldered in.

 

Hmm, I was led to believe that the 174.31 driver from dell was the best and most stable non OC'ing driver for the 8600m DDR3...can anyone recommend me a better driver?

 

I do not think a cooler is necessary for the XPS M1530. It stays fairly cool, and since you do not seem to even like the idea of a little overclocking (which can't hurt and won't void your warranty) you'll system will run even cooler. At stock speeds, the temps on my XPS M1530 are almost as good as my desktop on idle. Of course, laptop CPU/GPUs are made to run much cooler and use less power. But, desktop CPUs have huge ass tower coolers the size of a small house and big 120mm fans.

 

Yeah, the cooler is not necessary. You might want one for the M1330 because of the design flaw, but M1530 does great in cooling. Just make sure you dont cover the intake and output vents with your lap and your good.

Yep your right, I've tested it out myself and the ones from Dell are the best. The problem many people had about a month or two ago was due to the fact Dell only put up drivers for the 8400GS and not the 8600GT, but they have put up 8600GT drivers now and they are great.

I've tested it myself and with the default drivers from Dell, I am able to max out Assasins Creed entirely with full anti-aliasing, shadows, and everything. Though with other drivers, the FPS is a lot slower and I have to turn down to level one anti aliasing, and have no shadows. Even still, it performs worse compared to the default Dell driver at the same settings.

 

oh wow lol
see the thing with the nvidia drivers is, here's my results:

177.41 (the one driver most ppl find stable):
3DMark06 score was 4214

177.66 (the one i have right now, the most recent as well)
3DMark06 score was 4586

and ehh as for the OCing, i just dont wanna risk it now 'cause
a) i only had this laptop for like... 3 weeks up to date
b) im going to university next year, i dont wanna make any damages now only to see it down the road

and as for the cooling...
well i havent checkd on Rivatuner or anything, but u know the area left of the touchpad? it's just too hot so my left wrist is always hot after using it. i think if anything, i might get a cooler. although its not totally necessary, never a bad idea to get one.

 

Those scores do not always relate to real time usage and gaming.

 

That is your hard drive. Be sure you don't block the vents on the bottom and it shoudn't get too hot. If you use it on your lap a lot that is hard to avoid and a cooler may benefit you in that case.