Dell XPS 15 9550 Thunderbolt and Fan Speed

I agree 100%. Bottom line is that ThunderBolt 3, at least in the XPS 15 9550 implementation, is not ready for prime time.

Right now I am running with my XPS 15 closed using an external monitor connected to the integrated HDMI port, a USB 3 adapter into which I have plugged my gigabit ethernet, my usb keyboard, and my integrated monitor webcam. I also have my wireless mouse dongle connected to one of the integrated laptop usb ports and have my power adapter connected. Fan is completely silent and everything works perfectly. I should be able to connect all of that thru the TB15 dock using the single Thunderbolt 3 connection to the XPS 15 9550 with exactly the same results. Unfortunately with the current state of drivers I cannot.

I bought my TB15 dock directly from Dell. Their can't be that many of us. You would think Dell would make the effort to make sure that all of us that did would be communicated to and taken care of...apparently not. 

Have a precision 5510 (the workstation version of XPS 15) with exactly the same problem. So far the Thunderbolt dock is not usable due to annoying fan noise even when the machine is fully charged and idle.

I have exactly the same.

XPS 15 9550 & 240W TB15.

Fan noise is awful when laptop is plugged into the dock.

I find it interesting that a 13" 9350 plugged into a dock won't ramp up speeds, but a 15" 9550 will ramp up speeds.

I called Dell for technical support on this but encountered unclear answers on whether it was going to be addressed or not:

Our resolution specialist got a feedback that the fan speed will be normal for the system type of your xps to reach the max speed for using your ac adapter when in thunderbolt, If there will be updates for this matter then we could wait for review either thunderbolt firmware or your system bios in the future.

The Thunderbolt TB15 has a normal behavior for the fan speed of XPS and any brand system with

Power Adapter Input Voltage AC 100~240 V.

So far, we can't answer about any updates from Microsoft  / Dell firmware or drivers of the dockstation. 

The reply they gave you is in very poor English and barely makes sense. That's disappointing.

New Bios that may address this issue!

Fixes & Enhancements

1. Improved the system stability

2. Fixed system may not able to boot with external monitor with lid closed

3. Fixed USB audio/mouse may be lag while connecting to Dell Thunderbolt Dock (TB15) and Dell Dock (WD15)

4. Fixed Fan may be noisy while connecting to Dell Thunderbolt Dock (TB15) and Dell Dock (WD15)

5. Fixed Bitlocker Malfunction or Keeps Prompting Recovery Key every time reboot

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=KTR76

Excellent.

I have problems 2 & 4.

I will update my bios and report back.

have your  bitlocker recovery keys ready if you install this update and have an encrypted disk.

I can confirm after testing for several hours that the XPS 15 9550 I have on hand:

1. Loses Ethernet connectivity.  I've seen this happen after larger file transfer, or if the laptop is restarted.

2. Drops USB Keyboard/mouse functionality.

3. The fan speed on my 9550 is lower.

After several weeks of waiting, just returning it.  It isn't ready for primetime. 

And yes, I've followed all the Dell guides for attempting to make it work, including this recent BIOS update, reinstall of drivers, updated Windows 10 to latest versions, tried different laptops, etc.:emotion-12:  Probably one of the larger waste of times in recent memory.

New Bios that may address this issue! Fixes & Enhancements Improved the system stability Fixed system may not able to boot with external monitor with lid closed Fixed USB audio/mouse may be lag while connecting to Dell Thunderbolt Dock (TB15) and Dell Dock (WD15) Fixed Fan may be noisy while connecting to Dell Thunderbolt Dock (TB15) and Dell Dock (WD15) Fixed Bitlocker Malfunction or Keeps Prompting Recovery Key every time reboot

Bad news: While BIOS version 1.2.0 might reduce fan speeds a bit when using USB-C/Thunderbolt with the XPS 15 9550 it does not fix the issue.

Fan speeds are still constantly at 2500 RPM (measured with HWiNFO64) which is still disturbing in moderately quiet environments.

With new bios:

- Fan speed is lower than it was, though still not particularly quiet. Still the loudest thing in the room.

- XPS 15 does now boot with the lid closed instead of hanging. But to get the dock connected USB KB and mouse detected so I could login, I had to unplug and replug the tb15 USB c connector. Unplugging the keyboard or mouse did not get them redetected.

So it is better, but there are still problems.

3 BSODs after updating of BIOS and all Drivers. Bitlocker Screen showing on some reboots. So not better (if not worse) than before. 

No solution to fan speeds here after installing the latest bios.

With no USB-C adapter connected and no CPU usage (0-2%), the fans are not running.

When attaching a simple USB-C to USB3 hub (no devices attached to hub) then fans start to run at 2500 rpm after a few second.

It can be observed that the Intel PCH temperature goes from 43-45 to above 50 degrees within seconds and the fans start running at 2500 rpm. After a while the temperature idles at around 55-60 degrees.

When removing the USB-C hub the temperature drops 5 degrees within seconds. The temperature goes back to around 43-45 degrees after a few minutes and the fans eventually stops again.

Seems like someone forgot to a small heat sink somewhere.

So it is currently not possible to use the USB-C port without the fans running. Following the bios upgrade the fan speed might be lower than before. I have not attached USB-C device before upgrading the bios.

I can confirm the issues mentioned above: After updating the Bios and all drivers on April 16th 2016, I encounter the following issues:

• High fan speed when the XPS is connected to TB15
• XPS/TB15 switches during boot to external display and audio, however the other USB devices (e.g. keyboard and mouse) are not available until you logged in
• It happens that the keyboard and mouse are not available even after logging. Removing and reconnecting the Thunderbolt connector a few times solves usually this problem.
• Audio quality is sometimes very bad (sounds as the bandwidth is insufficient for audio)
• Keyboard and mouse updates are sometimes suspended

It is frustrating that the connection to the Thunderbolt dock is not working better for such a high cost computer and dock!

when i plug in the ac adapter, the fans start running constantly and never stop until i remove the plug.

when running on battery idle the fans keep dead silent!

temp ~30c , bios 1.2

there are countless posts on this issue (eg notebookreview forums).

when will there be a fix??