how their system performs with WoW? cause i can't go past fair video quality, w/o the game just being choppy and unplayable. i can't even get past 30 fps, this just seems ridiculous to me. i have all the latest drivers, my pc undervolted, a cooling pad, so i doubt its overheating. i'm using W7, if anyone has any suggestions for me other than a fresh install i'd greatly appreciate it. if worst comes to worse i'll do a fresh install, but i'd rather not redownload all the i have on my laptop.
I'm looking my XPS 1640 using GPU-Z today, and I'm really confused about the GPU code. It reads out M96, which should be mobility radeon 4650 according to this amd website:
I posted a few weeks ago about how my 1640 might be throttling. While with unclewebb's ThrottleStop shows that when I run Furmark and Prime95, the multiplier of the CPU goes down to 3x.
I'm going to do some intensive testing tonight with my system and hopefully some other 1640 users could come out and test theirs since most of us have different configurations. (Please see my signature down at the bottom for system specs)
Also, I see that in the other thread about the S-XPS 1645, it was normal gaming that caused it to Throttle. Games such as TF2, Demigod, and D.A .....
I was planning on buying this laptop and was wondering if you all with recommend it or not and why.. For people which the 4670 gpu, does it run really hot?
A Dell Studio 1737 OR the Dell Studio XPS 1640? The Studio 1737 has been out longer for any problems to be fixed and whatnot and comes at a lower price. The Studio XPS 1640 has been out for just a couple of months and there are dozens of reports of BSOD's, heating issues, etc...
I would like to get the Studio XPS 1640, but generally I wait about 4-6 months after the product has been released before buying. There are talks about a built-in TV Tuner, but I haven't seen that on the Dell website. People are also saying Dell is going to upgrade the video card .....
I got a good deal on Vostro 1320 base model and just got confirmation from Dell Canada. Now can any one share your opionion whether it is worthwhile to add the integrated 1.3M webcam for $40 and upgrade HD from 160G 5400rpm HD to 250G 7200rpm HD with free fall sensor for $50 (all before tax)?
I might call them to see if they can manually upgrade for me.
I know I can upgrade the HD afterward, and I usually can find a good deal on 320G 7200rpm Hitachi HD for $70 or so if I can wait.
But my question is how difficult and how much hassle is to upgrade HD myself, and does that invalid the warranty, also what does the free fall sensor mean? Worth to have it?
Some people may remember me as not liking Vista too much, and going out of my way to keep XP or installing XP in place of Vista.
I have used Vista for some time though, and familiarized myself to it. I used it for about a year if anyone is interested (still have XP on my main laptop though).
I have been out of the loop regarding technology and software, and last week, I found out that Windows 7 came out. I remember reading about Windows 7 and heard its supposed to be this "GREAT AWESOME NEW OS YO" and "waaayyyy better than Vista... cant wait for it to come out". So I got excited, made plans to buy a new HDD and install it on my ancient but still running dv9500t. Before I actually make that sort of investment and commitment, I went to Best Buy to try it on their laptops...
To me, its just like Vista. It looks and acts just like Vista. Am I missing something here?
Are there supposed to be great improvements? If so, then what? And how true are these claims?
A quick look at the new Windows 7 site by Microsoft showed me that they are comparing the Windows XP from the stone age to Windows 7, rather than compare Vista and Win7... that makes me laugh and wonder. The things that they list about Windows 7, I noticed that Vista had them too, with the exception of "shake the window and only focus on it". Whats going on here?
I'm in love with the computer but it seems to be lacking a bit in speed. I usually use my desktop that has a Q6600 along with 4 GB of RAM. I do use this frequently though while on the road and while it's fairly quick I notice that it gets a bit bogged down at times. It currently has a T4200 along with 2 GB of RAM. As with all of my new computers I formatted it it upon delivery with Windows XP Pro SP3 so it's not a matter of bloatware and such. Is it worth it to upgrade the processor? Would bit be a significant difference in speed? If so could you please suggest a processor that would be the best bang of the buck? I stated the P8700 because it's the fastest processor that Dell offers but if there's something better please don't hesitate to offer a suggestion.
Do not upgrade... the upgrade killed my motherboard, I dont know what happened. I as installing it fine then it was totally unresponsive and would not shut off. I then had to take away the power supply and now Dell is coming to replace my motherboard.
Take a close look at the two pictures below. Showing two XPS1640's and their "Rear Cap" (ventilation). They are different. I drew a green line in approximately the same location. "v2" definitely has more ventilation slots towards the bottom. Looks like Dell has an upgrade policy going on regarding the early 1640's:
So I tried updating my BIOS to version A14, the current one on Dell's site. Running Windows 7 Ultimate 64, btw. It seemed to update fine, but when it restarted, I got a black screen.
I waited about 20 minutes, powered off, then back on. It booted into Windows, now however my keyboard does not work. Most keys do not work, and the ones that do produce incorrect characters.
Also, whenever I restart Windows, it does not reboot. It will hang at a black screen until I power off and back on. Currently typing this on a USB keyboard.
When I go into setup, it does say version A14, so I'm assuming it went through, but for some reason is not compatible with my system. Can I downgrade to fix this, and if so, where can I find an older BIOS version?
For those of you that have a 1640 and have upgraded from Vista to 7, how long did the install take you? And my second question is...did you run into any complications with the upgrade process that I should be aware of before I start it on my wife's laptop?
I currently have the default driver which is 8.612. Looking at the ATI, there is a new catalyst suite that came out a few days ago, version 9.8 for the 4000 mobility series. Should I download that, or should I just go for the one listed on the dell site?
I used to have a 3670 motherboard and dell gave me a 4670 and everything is great, but I can no longer see gpu temp in the monitor. I could at first and some how it's just gone now.
My dell technician ruined my laptop 1640 and they are going to build a new one for me. Shall I go for the 1647 i5-520M + 5730 DDR3 or my previous build 1640 T9600 c2d 2.8ghz + 4670 GDDR5? I've added a screen shot of the specifications.
I wanted to use the hardware acceleration on the ati 4670 but when i go to use it with powerdirector it shows it as faded, does anyone know if the drivers that dell has doesnt enable this feature on the 4670's?
I just noticed on the most recent bios update page for the Studio XPS 16 under the the Fixes and Enhancements tab it says "support new configuration with Gfx ATI Mobility Radeon?HD 4670".
This is probably an indication that the HD 3670 is going to be replaced with the newer HD 4670 sometime soon. If you are thinking about buying a Studio XPS 16 anytime soon you might want to wait.
