Xi 1546

I have delivered the 1546 back to the dealer since I thought something was wrong. I guess that decision was a tad quick, but I was really nervous that I would become a squished ant between two rocks and I didn't feel like buying a new laptop and then having to send it to repair for 2 weeks or so. Fujitsu Siemens help desk really didn't help at all, except saying that I should contact the reseller.
After 45 min in windows (surfing and downloading) speed fan measured:
Core: 37 degrees Celsius, HD0: 38 degrees Celsius and Temp1 (ACPI) 57 degrees Celsius.

With regards to the power scheme then I wouldn't know and now it's too late (Stupid me). The power scheme for the gcard was set to max when plugged in. As said earlier the fan speed did not increase much when being idle in windows (CPU 37 degrees Celsius) and playing cs for 15-20 min. Never the less, the conclusion was that the noise level was way too high.

I have now ordered a HP nx9420 to try out. I know (If not faulty ) that it runs really silently and keeps a whooping 4 hours on the battery at normal use. I might re-order a 1546 later on since I did really like it and it's power full x1800. Even though the nx9420 did give a 2000 point in 3dmark06 with an old 2006 hp driver, but it's not really close to the x1800 3000+ points

I guess that my next step will be to find someone close to me with a 1546 and a core 2 duo that I could take a look at and see how the fans are running. I think that is a good idea since all of the people that I have heard from - with regards to the fan noise, have all had core duo's in their machines and perhabs FSC has changed something hardware/software wise in the new versions with the core 2 duo's?

Thanks for the help never the less. You might hear from me again

 

Hello!

Please excuse me if it has been discussed already, I've search and found nothing on my question.

I'd like to ask if models 1526/1546/1547/1554 have the same kind of motherboard.

I ask that, because there is v1.20 BIOS for 1526/1554 but still only 1.17 for 1546/1547, and I suspect that all these models might have the same motherboard, please take a look here.

 

Hi, I recieved my Amilo today. Immediately reset the HD configuration to RAID0 striping (32KB stripe), and am overall very happy with the laptop, aside one major flaw. If I go to do something intense 3D (I've tested with both 2005 and 2003 3DMark), it'll last a little while, then the screen will turn blank/off, and about 5 seconds later little lights will start flicking on the LED board, the 3 to the right as I remember. It will then just cycle the wireless on, then these lights, then the wireless off, until it's manually powered down.

After I manually power it down, and restart windows it cites a graphics driver issue, however have tried several revisions of drivers so Im guessing this sounds like a laptop fault

What do you think?

 

yeah does sound like a laptop fault...have you tried any gaming and used the lastest drivers?

 

They have the same build but i have no idea about motherboard etc...but i wouldnt recommend going to bios 1.20 anyway a lot of people have been having issues with it...the fan stays on constantly...i went up to it only to go straight back down again...

 

I've tried using about 4 different types of drivers, and as considering it crashes the system within a minute or two running eithe 3dmark, I didnt feel like installing games, as I'll likely have to reinstall everything anyway if I have to get a replacement.

 

BIOS v1.20 is confirmed to be working with Xi 1546/1547, read more here.

 

Can anybody with the xi 1546 and a core 2 duo installed tell me if their fan is running all the time? I think I will re-order a xi 1546 today, but are still nervous that it will be too noisy. The prices on xi 1546 and the 1556 has been dumped a lot over the last week here in Denmark, so it’s very attractive now
Still wondering if my first 1546 had a hardware malfunction or not. I know that the fan does not run all the time on the “older” models with the core duo processor.

 

Could you fellow Xi 1546 owners check this thread I created on Hardware section. It would be helpful if you posted if you had the same event message or HDD clicking noises. Thanks.

 

BIOS v1.22 is confirmed to be compatible with Xi 1546 / 1547.

 

Hi All, have read this post and a few others with some intrest. I have a few probably dumb questions.

My Lap top spec,

Xi 1546
core 2 duo 7200
2 gig ram
2 80 gig hd
x1800

I was looking o update the graphics drivers but when I go to ATI to do it tells me to go to FS to do it basically. Where can I get the latest drivers? Also quickly when I look at the gfx clocks the setting are default 392 core 252 mem. When I look in ATI tool I can see the settings are actually 398 and 468. Getting rather confused with this one. This is my 1st descent lap top so not quite sure what's going on there.

Thanks in advance

Poo

 

Info about updating video card drivers in WinXP.

And about clocks, the actual defaults are: core 398, mem 468. Check that Powerplay is set to maximum performance in the Catalyst Control Center.

 

Is optimal the same as maximum? If so yes it was set on optimal.

installing drivers now

What sort of OC should you expect to get from the gfx card. I have also just ordered an akasa lap top stand/ cooler.

Thanks

Poo

 

The optimum in Catalyst Control is basically maximum performance, so long as the bar is moves completely to the right. Overclocking the graphics card will yield better results in games that are not limited by anything else, such as the RAM. The card is already very powerful, and unless you are really struggling playing a game, I wouldn't overclock.

On the other hand, if you want the extra performance, then you need to remember that the graphics card will get hotter. Also, since the Mobility X1800 doesn't have a temperature sensor, you cannot measure the temperature.

 

Ok thanks for the advice. I will probably just have a small tinker. Do alot on OC'ing on my desktop but don't want to break this need for the net lan party!!!

Poo

 

Has anyone in this thread actually overclocked thier 1546?

Im not intending to do a big overclock, just back to stock ATI 450/500 speeds, rather than the 395/465 speeds its on right now.

I tried disabling powerplay and then overclocking the 'balance' setting which comes into play, however this didnt work very well, and performance was actually reduced, despite the higher clock rates, when compared to the optimal mode activated when AC power is connected (very strange).

I was using ATI-Tool btw.

I then tried overclocking with powerplay enabled, however when playing a game or benchmarking, the scores were staying the same as unclocked and, the clocks seemed to be resetting back to the stock FS clocks, rather than remaining at the faster clocks I'd set.

If anyone's overclocked this successfully, avoiding the issues I've had, I'd be very appreciative if you'd let me know how you did it!

Thanks

Alex

 

here is the thread for overclocking ati x1800 (its not been used for a while but will have the stuff you need to help)

 

Thanks a lot, will take a read through it!

 

Hi everyone.
Is it possible to upgrade Xi1546 with x1800 to x1900??

 

Yes, it totally is. Both of the cards should look exactly the same, and should have their core and memory location in the same place. That means, there will be no need to alter the heatsink to accomodate the new card. However, the price for a Mobility X1900 is alot, and I'm not sure if you can purchase the card yet. Also, the performance difference isn't massive, because the drivers that the Mobility X1900 uses aren't very mature. I would advise against it at the moment, but when newer drivers for the card, and the price for the card drop significantly, then the upgrade may be enticing to some.

 

Hi!
I bought a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo XI 1546 notebook, but I have a problem with the sound. I have a Genius Home Theater 5.1 sound system : http://www.geniusnetusa.com/detaprodtw.php?idsubcate=428100&idcate=428099&idprod=30618
I have an older modell, but the specs almost the same. How can I get 5.1 sound with the laptop? The realtek sound manager only allows 2.1. The specifications shows 7.1 with digital output (s/pdif) and 5.1 with analog jacks. I have the jacks, but the sound is still 2.1. Please help!!!

 

Congratulations for your purchase and welcome to the forums. Go to Control Panel->Sounds, on the Speaker Settings select Advanced and in there select 5.1 Surround sound... Does it work now?

 

Thx the quick answer!
No, it doesn't . I tried that and I plugged the jacks in several combinations, but the sound is the same: only 2.1 channels with the right and the central speaker. Is there an alternative driver or something like that, maybe a program, what can I use?

 

Hmm.. Do you have the latest Realtek audio driver? You can get it here. Also check that the player software you are using has the 5.1 sounds set in it's options if there is such a thing.

 

Yes, I have the latest driver. I want to use the 5.1 sound mostly in games, I set the 5.1 sound in the options, but the sound is still 2.1, and the left speaker doesn't work there either. I connect the speaker system with 3 jacks, wich has a single end, what is a 9-pin din input. Any idea what can I use to get 5.1 sound?

 

This page might prove helpful. You can use e.g. this if you need to translate those German pages.

 

Thx, but I found this page and I can't use it. The laptop must contains a solution to use my analog 5.1 system, but how can I use it without a USB-soundcard or an adapter?

 

Hallo

I have a xi 1546, c2d 1,8 , 1g ram and 2*120g hd.

I know that it is possible to use raid on this notebook but how much faster will it be in startup and loadtime?

I have read a danish test of the Amilo M3438G where there was no ekstra performence to get in the raid mode.

And if I use raid will there then be problems with ekstra heat (two hd disk running) ?

 

Heat will be the same, nothing to worry about.

I saw a huge improvement while running RAID. Games loaded faster (Oblivion in 10 seconds instead of 15 seconds) en XP booted faster. Also Battlefield 2142 loaded much faster. So I think it is wort it.

 

I've been having this oddity:

Sometimes all of sudden the laptop just shutdown. No warnings, no nothing. This happens maybe once or twice a month.. Anyone else had this? What might be the cause?

 

Hello. Sorry to intercept. I am interested in buying an amilo xi1546 (for 1220 euros here in greece) as a desktop replacement. So, someone who has xi1546 could tell me his opinion about this laptop? Is it reliable? Does it produce too much heat?

 

There is a review about the Xi 1546 on this forum. Check that out. You could also read this thread, lots of info.

Here is the review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3062&review=Fujitsu+Siemens

 

Does the shutdown happen in any particular applications or program? I would suggest to check the temperature of the processor and hard dis, just to make sure they aren't overheating and causing the notebook to turn off. Use a program like Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) to check the temperature, and post back with it here.

As Notebook Solutions said, have a look at the Fujitsu Siemens Xi 1546 review, and also the Xi 1526. The two notebooks are exactly the same, except for the graphics card.

From personal experience with the notebook, I have had no problems with it. The notebooks is firmly built, and the keyboard and general input devices are very well built, and all feel very good when you use them. However, eince I bought my notebook a while ago, I encountered a problem where the notebook would not startup and simply restart once it was 5 seconds into the boot sequence. I sent it in for repair, and got it back, and everything was fine. Fujitsu Siemens said they replace the motherboard, processor and graphics card, but I believe the actual problem was the motherboard, probably because they replaced it last. Motherboards from this notebook at the time had some issues, which have been resolved now, through BIOS updates.

All in all, I really like the notebook. After the small incident when it was a few weeks old, I have had no problems with it and it can do everything I wanted to do with a notebook.

 

I recieved my second xi 1546 not long ago and I'm really happy with my final choise. Has anybody tried upgrading to 2GB 667Mhz memory? I will order 2 x 1GB Kingston PC2-5300 (667MHz) today. I think that will be a big help in games like BF/BF2, but I guess that I will also benefit from the faster speed 533MHz vs. 667MHz.
I have not seen any indications that the xi 1546 will not be able to operate with 667MHz memory?

 

ledderlappan, the Xi 1546 should be fine with 667 MHz memory. Fujitsu Siemens sell a few Xi 1546 models with that speed memory, so it accpet it fine. However, there will be no performance difference between the two frequencies, because the latency value on the 667 MHz memory is higher. So, that offsets the speed advantage the memory had over the 533 MHz RAM. You can purchase some 667 MHz RAM with a CAS latency of 4, but those modules are generally priced a bit more.

 

Yes the Kingston memory comes with CAS latency 5 and I have not found a store yet in denmark that sells any CAS 4 modules. I will post some before and after benchmarks in a few days just for the fun of it (3Dmark06, Sisoft sandra and load times in div. games).

 

Benchmarks will give a good comparison between the two frequencies. Going from 1 GB to 2 GB will certainly provide a good boost to games that require alot of RAM, such as Battlefield 2/2142.

 

Hi there,

I am very close to send my Xi 1546 to FS because I think it gets to hot. Could someone please tell me which tempratures you get on your xi 1546 with Notebook Hardware Control. 10 minutes after I boot mine, without stating any programs my CPU temp is 60 to 65 degres Celcius. By then the fan are running all the time. Not at full speed but it makes quite a sound. If use some programs, viewing pictures or so the temprature rises to 75 degres and if i start a game like HL2 im over 90 degres with the monitor program. The laptop have never rebooted or so which makes me unsure if this is the way it should be or if there is something wrong.

Any thoughts?

 

Welcome to NBR, Setter.

Those temperatures seem to be high. When I play games or do anything else thats quite processor intensive, the temperatures seem to peak at around 54 C. I would also try using another program to measure the temperature, like Intel's Thermal Analysis Tool (TAT). If the temperatures are the same, then you should send the notebook back to Fujitsu Siemens, as the problem is most likely to do with the thermal interface between the processor and heatsink failing.

 

How do you keep your peak temp so low? My CPU temp goes well past 60C after some gaming and I even use notebook cooler.

 

Thanks for tip about the Intel program, when I monior with that program I realise that I will have to send the laptop to FS. My CPU temperatures is 60-65 in idle mode. If I set the workload level to 90% the temperature peks over 90 degres. Something must be wrong, either with the thermal interface or some cooler somehow.

Im also, like ronkotus, exited to hear how you manage to have the temperatures that low.

 

I'm not entirely sure why my procesor stays at a slightly lower temperature. I might have a partial answer, though. In the frst few weeks of use, my processor temperature would reach around 60 C under some tasks, such as playing a game. After a few weeks of use, it developed a problem which is now sorted. Fujitsu Siemens collected it, and when I got it back, they said they had basically replaced all the critical components, like the processor and motherboard. Anyway, when I got it back, the temperatures seemed to have decreased, just slightly. So, when I do something processor intensive, the temperature hovers around 54 and 57 C.

I suspect it happens because the Fujitsu Siemens technicians installed the heatsink as best as they could do it. They may have also used some better thermal interface, rather than the one that came initially installed with the notebook. But, having said that, ronkotus, your temperatures seem fine. Most of the Core Duo notebooks are around 60 C on load, and some are alot more than that.

 

ronkotus, what type of notebook cooler do you use? I have had a hard time finding a cooler that fits the xi1546.

 

I have Coolermaster Notepal W1, but it's not perfect fit either and I had to modify it a bit, so I don't recommend it. Akasa 17" notebook coolers on the other hand are the best fit for Amilo Xi. They have three models for 17" laptops, but they are practically the same.

 

If im for an example playing C&C: Tiberium Wars, that game makes my comp become a few degrees higher than most other tasks, my processor will after 45-60 mins, reach just over 70-75° C, which i find pretty high, but thats with messuring with NHM, with Intel Thermal Analyser it will be about 5° lower.

When in idle it will hover about 52° C running at 997mhz, at 2ghz it will hover about 56°, thats still idleing. Doing just processor intensive tasks will raise the temp to just a bit over 60°

Ive been thinking on sending it back, as it cant be right that it has to become that high in temperatures... Just tryed a few mins with ITA running the processer at 100% at both cores, and it reached 82° in a few mins, that can not be right...

 

I also decided to try the Intel Thermal Analysis Tool. It seems to report a bit different results than Mobile meter and NHC. My system is running at maximum performance (meaning: always on - power scheme). According to TAT, idle temps for my cores seem to be around 45°C and ACPI Thermal Zone at 49°C. I ran the workload test for few mins with 100% load on both cores. Temps seemed to settle at 70°C for both cores and at 72°C for ACPI Thermal Zone, not going past those temps. After the test it didn't take many seconds for the temps to get back to near idle temps. The cooling pad propably helps a lot with that. Notebook fan got really loud at the end, going easily past the cooler fans' sound level.

 

Zero and ronkotus: What BIOS version are you using ?

Im using 1.17 my self, very old version.

Btw ive never opened the lappy for cleaning, might give a shot on that one to see if that will help

 

I'm also using version 1.17. I don't think the new versions add anything for this model. I haven't opened my lappy either, but I keep my apartment quite clean.

 

Been using it on the university the last half year, where there can be a large amount of chalkdust

But anyhow, if opening up for it dosent avoide the varrenty ill try open it and see if its just dust in the fangrill

 

i think it is possible to use the ones for the xi 1554...i will have to double check that but i dont see why not..on the actual fujitsu-siemens website forum itself i have read people have done it fine with no problems at all