XPS Gen 1 - a $2500 paperweight?

I've been reading a lot on these forums and it seems like everyone on here is very helpful so I figure this is as good a place as any to start my search.

During November of 04, I purchased a Dell XPS notebook for a little over $2,500, expecting that (with all of it's amazing power and fancy numbers) it would be able to play a fairly demanding game like EverQuest or, more recently, EQII.

Now, I'm sure everyone will ask for at least three things: background info, my question, and my specs.. So, here is some background info.

I got the computer, installed my silly little game and started playing. All was well. The computer ran fine for about a month.. then slowly the frame rate starts to drop. I mean.. not a little, I'm talking 80fps to 8fps and eventually about 1 frame ever 8 seconds. Yeah, it's that bad. The computer itself was getting really hot so, thinking this would fix the problem, I cut a hole in an old desk and mounted a fan to blow air on the bottom of it (Yes, I really did this. Yes, it looked really funny) This didn't help much. The computer was sent in for repair about 6 months after I got it because I spilt water on it (whoops) The system shut off, then turned on and worked perfectly but I called them anyway, told them I spilt water (bigger whoops) and they said they'd be happy to fix it since it was out of warranty. 500 dollars and a week later I have my computer back and it's working.. ok.. say 60fps. About a month later we're back at 8fps and it's just.. really really bad. Now.. I start making calls to Dell, asking them what was wrong with it. I got in touch with a customer service rep who actually dropped off the script they have and told me that this computer has had tons of problems with over heating due to it's ****-tastic design. The only reason they fixed it for me the first time was because I told them I spilt water on it and they had a reason to charge me. Every time I call back with the same problem, they're is nothing they can do. The most common answer is for me to send it in so the techs can run some tests (The same tests that I can run from the start-up menu). So it's been a little over a year, the warranty was up in Nov of 05 and it's pretty much impossible to get in touch with anyone from dell at this point without paying 40 bucks.

Now, my question.

I'm 3000 dollars into this piece of **** computer and it still doesn't work; why and what the heck can I do?

And finally, my specs:

Dell XPS Gen1 (aka. Super Awesome Paper Weight)
Pentium 4 w/HT 3.4GHz
1gig of ram
128mb ATI 9700 Radeon graphics card
80gig HDD

 

Since you bought the "laptop" two years ago, it really shouldn't be a surprise. No matter how high-end your computer is, chances are, it'll be outdated (or might I say obsolete) by two years end. It's been that ever since I started to learn about computers (9 years ago approx) and it'll not possibly change anytime soon.

 

hmm...I suppose heat could be an issue but it sounds more hardware related. I am running the same GPU and a P4 3.0 GHz with 2 gig of ram and I can pretty much run any game I want. The extra RAM helps a lot, i remember that I got a bunch more performance when I added the extra gig. I'm not sure, others will know better some test programs to run and see what may be going on, the only thing I would suggest (how i would tackle the problem) is to reformat, a clean install and update every possible driver and then see how things are. The machine should still game well even with newer games.

 

When you talk about the drop in FPS, do you mean that the frame rate keeps getting lower and lower while playing the same game?

 

Today 07:43 PM
DMB14 When you talk about the drop in FPS, do you mean that the frame rate keeps getting lower and lower while playing the same game?

Well when I first turn the game on (EQII for example) it runs OK.. then the computer starts to heat up and the FPS fall fast.




Today 06:31 PM
Aivyn hmm...I suppose heat could be an issue but it sounds more hardware related. I am running the same GPU and a P4 3.0 GHz with 2 gig of ram and I can pretty much run any game I want. The extra RAM helps a lot, i remember that I got a bunch more performance when I added the extra gig. I'm not sure, others will know better some test programs to run and see what may be going on, the only thing I would suggest (how i would tackle the problem) is to reformat, a clean install and update every possible driver and then see how things are. The machine should still game well even with newer games.

Hmm, the additional ram could help. Do you have same size laptop (15 inch screen I think)? Did your computer ever lag up really bad when you played games before you got the extra ram.. like so bad you couldn't play it? I've reformatted and installed all the new drivers. If anyone knows any test programs I can run, let me know or link it.





Today 06:31 PM
cy007 Since you bought the "laptop" two years ago, it really shouldn't be a surprise. No matter how high-end your computer is, chances are, it'll be outdated (or might I say obsolete) by two years end. It's been that ever since I started to learn about computers (9 years ago approx) and it'll not possibly change anytime soon.

Well, I bought it a year and a half ago and the problems (same ones I have now) started about two months in. It was good after they replaced the heat sinc and some fans and stuff when I spilled the (TINY) bit of water on it, but that only lasted a months or so. I know computers get out of date but this one shouldn't have trouble playing music with WinAMP and surfing the net with Foxfire.. right?




Anyone else in this situation with a Dell laptop gen1? Let me know since I'm fairly sure this is a defect they corrected when the gen2 came out and anyone who got the first edition are just stuck with a ****py machine. I don't even think you can get a gen2 with a Pentium4 HT with 3.4GHz.

 

The P4's generated too much heat as I understand...I dont know if its an anomoly but when I got the extra RAM my machine cooled down a lot. before I had the 2 gigs I struggled with Doom 3, afterwards I ran fine(for the most part). You should be able to play most games with 1 gig though so before you go spending 100$ on more let's try and get to the root of the problem first. Try and run a benchmark using 3DMark. Lets see what you get there.

 

Hmm, yeah this one seems to make way too much heat. I don't know if the fact it has HyperThreading matters or not, but it does. When you were playing Doom3 before the extra ram did it lag so bad that you couldn't really play the game? I mean.. this laptop has trouble running AOL and playing an XviD at the same time. AOL will lag up (windows and stuff, not internet connection) and the video will quickly get off track from audio and stuff. But if I turn it off, leave it off for 10 minutes and turn it back ok it can play the video just fine, no problem at all. I know the computer is getting kinda old.. but this is just bad. I've had these problems for at least a year now and I'm just getting sick of it so here I am.

Thanks a lot, by the way, Aivyn. I'm downloading 3DMark right now and I'll run it as soon as it's done. Are there any other specs or something I can give you that would help?

 

actually, if you Ctr + Alt + Delete and run task manager, can you take screenshots of how many processes you are running and your performance chart? this may give us an idea if unwanted programs are consistently running in the background.

 

I'm constantly closing those programs and I used run: msconfig to turn off anything that was unwanted on the start up. Let me take a screenshot.

 

Here is the screenshot.. I think. It's an attachment?

 

if it's a heat issue and the notebook is two years old; have you ever opened it up to clean out the dust and gunk inside? that would be the FIRST place i would look before calling anyone or spending any money.

 

System Configuration

General Information
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
DirectX Version 9.0c
Mobo Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Mobo Model
AGP Rates (Current/Available) 8x / 4x, 8x
CPU Intel Pentium 4 3391 MHz
FSB 200 MHz
Memory 1024 MB

Display Information
Graphics Chipset ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700
Driver Name ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
Driver Version 6.14.10.6561
Driver Status WHQL - FM Approved
Video Memory 256 MB
Core Clock 446 MHz
Memory Clock 263 MHz

Sound Information
Sound Adapter Driver Name SigmaTel Audio
Sound Adapter Driver Version 5.10.0.3952

Benchmark Settings
Program Version 3DMark03 Revision 6 Build 0
Resolution 1024x768@32 bit
Texture Filtering Optimal
Pixel Processing / Antialiasing None
Post Processing false
Vertex Shaders Optimal

Main Test Results
3DMark Score 2016 3DMarks
CPU Score 49 CPUMarks

Detailed Test Results

Game Tests
GT1 - Wings of Fury 15.9 fps
GT2 - Battle of Proxycon 15.3 fps
GT3 - Troll's Lair 12.4 fps
GT4 - Mother Nature 19.4 fps

CPU Tests
CPU Test 1 4.8 fps
CPU Test 2 1.0 fps

Feature Tests
Fill Rate (Single-Texturing) 796.9 MTexels/s
Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing) 1684.1 MTexels/s
Vertex Shader 5.5 fps
Pixel Shader 2.0 30.1 fps
Ragtroll 1.8 fps

Sound Tests
No sounds Not Supported
24 sounds Not Supported
60 sounds Not Supported

Note: According to my display properties/settings tab I have the screen resolution set at 1920x1200 and it says something different up above. Is this what you were looking for Aivyn?

 

Today 12:37 PM
drumfu if it's a heat issue and the notebook is two years old; have you ever opened it up to clean out the dust and gunk inside? that would be the FIRST place i would look before calling anyone or spending any money.

I've taken out both fans, cleaned them with canned air. I cleaned the grills the fans blow over as well. I took the keyboard off and too a peek inside to make sure it wasn't too dusty. It doesn't look bad at all, it's actually pretty good looking for hardly a year and a half old. Besides, these problems have been going on since a couple months in.

 

Do the test results from above look anything close to correct? Can anyone with a similar setup run the same test so I can see your results. It's all free just google 3DMark.

 

Hey megaman, it seems you used 3DMark03...I will run my system on 03 and see what i benchmark. you don't seem to have too many processes running however your CPU was at 22%...was this at idle? because if so it really should only be running at 2-4%

 

Also, head on over and get the new omega drivers, they should boost your performance

 

Here are my 3DMark03 scres...yours SHOULD compare to mine.

System Configuration


General Information
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP

DirectX Version 9.0c

Mobo Manufacturer Dell Inc.

Mobo Model 0W1450

AGP Rates (Current/Available) 8x / 4x, 8x

CPU Intel Pentium 4 2993 MHz

FSB 200 MHz

Memory 2048 MB



Display Information
Graphics Chipset ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700

Driver Name ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 Series (Omega 3.8.231)

Driver Version 6.14.10.6601

Driver Status Non WHQL - Not FM Approved

Video Memory 256 MB

Core Clock 446 MHz

Memory Clock 263 MHz



Sound Information
Sound Adapter Driver Name SB Audigy 2 [FEC0]

Sound Adapter Driver Version 5.12.8.1081



Benchmark Settings
Program Version 3DMark03 Revision 6 Build 0

Resolution 1024x768@32 bit

Texture Filtering Optimal

Pixel Processing / Antialiasing None

Post Processing false

Vertex Shaders Optimal



Main Test Results
3DMark Score 3693 3DMarks

CPU Score 344 CPUMarks



Detailed Test Results


Game Tests
GT1 - Wings of Fury 128.6 fps

GT2 - Battle of Proxycon 20.8 fps

GT3 - Troll's Lair 19.7 fps

GT4 - Mother Nature 27.3 fps



CPU Tests
CPU Test 1 55.3 fps

CPU Test 2 3.3 fps



Feature Tests
Fill Rate (Single-Texturing) 798.1 MTexels/s

Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing) 1700.7 MTexels/s

Vertex Shader 16.2 fps

Pixel Shader 2.0 32.6 fps

Ragtroll 13.3 fps



Sound Tests
No sounds 63.2 fps

24 sounds 54.9 fps

60 sounds 47.1 fps

 

Megaman,

A good friend of mine has the same laptop with the same problems. Here is what he did to remedy the situation. He removed and blew out both cooling fans as they were caked with dust/dirt. You can go to dell's support site, then select your model and they have a step by step guid on how to remove them.

I would also think about purchasing a cooling pad from newegg or another vendor, this seems to have helped him out quite a bit. Though ti also seems when he props the back of the laptop up with any object to give teh fans better clearance it improves as well.

And lastly:
You could also try replacing the thermal pads on your heatsinks with arctic silver thermal paste. This may be complex for a novice computer person, but again there is a guide on dell's site on how to remove the heatsinks. Sometimes the stock thermal pads/paste turns into something remenicent of cement...and doesn't work as well after so many thermal cycles. Again, try this last.

Jack

 

I too have the XPS Gen 1 and I haven't had any issues with overheating/slowing down as you have described. I've added RAM (2GB is awesome) and a dell BT module, but otherwise haven't touched it, except to open it up a couple of times and clean the dust out. I have it up on a angled plastic stand that seems to do a good job of promoting airflow underneath (but no extra external fans or anything).
I'm at work now, but when I get home I'll see about running 3DMark03 and see what I can get. I use "stock" ATI drivers (had some crashing issues with Omega's, unfortunately) that have been modded just enough so that they will install; they fully support powerplay and notebook displays. There're links on the Dell forums to the program that mods the drivers.

 

Driver mod:
http://www.driverheaven.net/patje/

Also, make sure you've downloaded all the various BIOS and chipset updates from Dell

Also (assuming you don't already run these programs):
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/ (Adaware)
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html (Spybot S&D)

I've run these (especially on poorly-maintained computers at work) and noticed huge performance gains just after running a scan from each.

If I get to run any 3DMark benchmarks at home on my XPS, I'll post results here.

 

Have you gone as far as reseating the heatsinks and making sure the thermal pad/thermal paste is on correctly? It's unlikely, but maybe the heatsink wasn't probably installed both from the factory and when you got it back from repair.

If it's a heat issue, it's probably the P4 overheating and automatically throttling itself. Install i8kfangui or i9kfangui and monitor the temperatures, I think the P4 is suppose to throttle itself once it hits the 70C's. It might also be the Radeon 9700, but that chip was not very power hungry.

I just compared your 3DMark03 results with Aivyn's, there's definitely something up with your CPU. Compare the CPU scores:

CPU Score
Aivyn: 344 CPUMarks
You: 49 CPUMarks

Game Tests
GT1 - Wings of Fury
Aivyn: 128.6 fps
You: 15.9 fps

CPU Test 1
Aivyn: 55.3 fps
You: 4.8 fps

CPU Test 2
Aivyn: 3.3 fps
You: 1.0 fps

The 3DMark03 score itself is only composed of the Game Tests, but your horrible score in GT1: Wings of Fury will definitely drag your score down.

For the other game tests, they're GPU limited by the 9700, which is why your FPS isn't so far back from Aivyn's.

 

MegaMan hasn't posted since April 24th, so I assume he either got the issue worked out or chunked the laptop out the window by now.

 

yeah. I kind of gave up on him a while back.

 

and i was gonna offer him $50 for his paperweight...