Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
7 Posts
0
1713904
DELL Studio XPS 16 1645 i7 power problem
Update 4 (2/13/2010):
Bios A07 shows a significant improvement with the 130w charger.
There is still throttling that need to be analyzed, most likely this throttling is a machine limitation.
For now, the system is able to run near the advertised specs.
Please post your experience with the updated BIOS.
Update 3:
Dell is finally listening, they are replacing the 90 watt charger with a 130 watt slim charger with a promise of a BIOS fix version A07 that is promised to fix the problem.
Will update upon the testing of the BIOS.
here is how to place a replacement request in USA and Canada
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19320784.aspx
Update 2
DELL thinks a BIOS release will fix the problem and is working on it now.
ALL the people who performed all kind of testing in NBR assures the engineers at DELL that a BIOS fix will not fix the problem completely without the use of a charger of higher power. Using Throttlestop the system was able to consume 110-120 watts under load.
Some people will accept a BIOS that throttle up to the maximum power of the charger used so for a 90 watts charger the system throttles at 90 watts, for a 130 watts, it throttles at 130 watts.
Some people are planning a class action browse the thread for more information.
Update
Here is our group findings so far
1. The power conservative BIOS forces the system to throttle to 7x when the power consumption is around 90 watts due to one or more of the following reasons:
a. Limitation of the power supply capability
b. Limitation of the motherboard to accept more than 90 watts (This reason is from DELL, but we suspect it)
c. To increase the battery life
d. To limit heat generation
obviously DELL should be blamed for poor design if it is a, b, or d.
2. Thanks to unclewebb there is a software now to unlock the throttle, this one will almost certainly put the 90 watt charger to rest or fire.
3. Due to the power limitation, it looks like the people with the RGBLED are most affected by the problem due to the added power consumption.
4. DELL is aware of the problem, but according to them it only affects a small percentage of people that put the system on full performance.
5. DELL keeps saying that the 130 watts adapter is not the solution of the problem, which is quite true as it needs both an adapter and BIOS update.
6. After a long wait, DELL acknowledged that there is a problem and that they will address it soon without announcing a time frame.
7. We as a group lack the trust in DELL fixing the problem to our satisfaction.
I think most of our group will agree on the above.
With all the above said, i am quite happy that mine was returned back to DELL after a frustrating experience with DELL level 1, 2, and 3 technical support. This doesn't represent the other members as most of them are happy with their notebook but expect action from DELL.
------------------------------------------------------
We are among the first to receive our DELL studio XPS 16 1645 with i7. We have some benchmark results that strongly suggest that the equipped 90W charger is not providing enough power to the system. To summarize, the performance of the system is correlated to the brightness of the monitor which suggests that the power provided is not enough so when the monitor is dimmed it allows more power to be consumed by the system. Here is some findings:
Here is the findings, if you stress the laptop using 3Dmark06 the performance is correlated to the brightness of the screen, here is the findings
Full brightness: 5003 3DMark '06
SM2.0: 1664
SM3.0: 2189
CPU: 2568
Lowest brightness: 5405 3DMark '06
SM2.0:1834
SM3.0: 2326
CPU: 2785
To further see the effect of the power consumption, i ran Crysis benchmark for two cases with one difference, the power source battery and minimum brightness vs charger and maximum brightness. I used the exact same settings for power plan (High performance and optimize performance for powerplay)
On Charger, Battery full, maximum brightness
Run #1- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Low ~~ Last Average FPS: 68.75
Run #2- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Medium ~~ Last Average FPS: 30.24
Run #3- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Last Average FPS: 20.38
On Battery, minimum brightness
Run #1- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Low ~~ Last Average FPS: 80.31
Run #2- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: Medium ~~ Last Average FPS: 50.93
Run #3- DX10 1024x768 AA=No AA, 32 bit test, Quality: High ~~ Last Average FPS: 29.50
To further test the claim that the power is not enough, an external monitor is connected and to our surprise the system showed its muscles with best performance.
The correlation to the between the brightness and performance, and the heat generated from the charger strongly suggested that the charger is not providing enough power under full load.
It will be a shame if the power adapter is not adequate specially after the whole mess of delaying orders.
[Poll]
eblock12
4 Posts
0
November 24th, 2009 17:00
I'm hitting the same issue here with the Dell Studio XPS 16 with Core i7 except its much worse. When playing games on A/C power with the brightness on full, it turns into an unplayable slide show and the sound starts crackling. If I reduce the screen brightness it immediately smooths out, very strange. Also if I play on battery instead of A/C power everything works fine. The symptoms seem to be common to when an A/C adapter is underpowered, but it's just a theory. Any ideas?
asgaroth
4 Posts
0
November 24th, 2009 18:00
I experiencing the same issue :emotion-12:
"Age of Conan" LAGS big time. Than I turn brightness down it frame rate stays the same but it's not laggy anymore.
Online community thinks it A/C power issue
I would like to see some knowledgeable Dell associate comments on this issue.
Thanks
Khaledseif
7 Posts
0
November 24th, 2009 23:00
I ran crysis benchmark with all maxed on battery and found the discharge rate as 8000mW.
Then during the test i plugged the adapter and the charging rate is 5mW.
Due to the nature of the charging process there is a lot of variability starting from the current, the adapter and the laptop. This suggests that the adapter is working at its max designed power and may be insufficient at certain points.
Also using Coretemp, It turned out that the CPU is undervolting itself when working on power adapter at full load versus on Battery. This may explain the framerate drop in 1640 and 1645.
TheZlog
10 Posts
0
November 26th, 2009 08:00
Mark me down for having the same problem.
Left 4 Dead 2 runs like a dream on battery power, and then you plug the AC adapter in and it stutters and the sound crackles a bit and the FPS drops to unplayable.
I'm less inclined to think its the AC Adapter, but it does need to be fixed, whatever the cause is.
We are compiling all the evidence and test results in a single thread located below:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=437800
Yarbo1
7 Posts
0
November 26th, 2009 14:00
Here is the sysonpsis of the posts i made in the above mentioned thread.:
i820qm
WLED 1600x900
4gb DDR3 1333mhz
256GB SSD
i also get slowdowns in crysis, and the sound crackles as well while in game. I've been running the brightness low to compensate. I'm trying to get teh 130W cord from them, to see if that works.
edit: they are sending me 130W adapter after using Dell Connect to view this thread. ^-^
i showed them them page 56 post 559 of this thread, with the 3d mark score diff, told them about the crackling, and how it works on low brightness, and also that the cpu and gpu can take most of the power. they agreed.
Thanks ikjadoon, you got me a new cord!! and nobody specified if i have to send the old cord back.
also incorrect it seems, i have had the WLED 1600x900 in the c2d and i7 machines that stuttered for me.
if nothing else, the 130w should charge my battery faster. ^^
so, i am going to run 3d mark, with ATI power play on max performance, and my power plan on max performance. then, when i receive the adapter, i will run 3dmark with everything the same, and compare. if this doesnt solve my gaming problem, and 3d mark diff, then i will investigate other options.
if the 130w adapter solves my issues, id say case closed for me, and others should try.
btw, countless times today in CoD MW2 at the level where you are in suburban america, the crackling/slowdown started, and when i turned the brightness down, or switched to battery, it played silky smooth.
EDIT: also, to account for any possible diff regarding temperature ( one factor that controls the turbo mode ) , i will be running my tests outside, where it is currently 10 degress C
abhi.80
6 Posts
0
November 26th, 2009 19:00
I was about to place order for this laptop and came across few threads about XPS 16 problems. I want to buy Studio XPS 16 with i7-720QM, WLED LCD, Windows 7, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Blue-ray, 9-cell battery.
Please could you suggest if your problems are resolved and if it is safe to purchase this product? So far I was only aware of its heating issue; but I'm now confused as came across this issue and some delivery issues of this configuration in past 1 month. Please let me know if you have come across any other issues with this laptop.
Thanks in advance.
frank010890
32 Posts
1
November 26th, 2009 23:00
If you want to place order for that laptop, get ready to wait for REALLY LONG TIME. What ever they say for the reasons of the delay, you have to admit that with no surprise.
It is turning to the MONTH 3rd of my waiting next few days.
And to be honest, I AM NOT SURE WHETHER I WILL HAVE THE SYSTEM THIS YEAR OR NOT.
2by4
17 Posts
0
November 27th, 2009 07:00
If anybody is interested you can follow the thread at NoteBookreview.com located at the link below:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=437800
I recommend that the Dell Techs/Engineers view the link as well. There is excellent information about this issue.
Yarbo1
7 Posts
1
November 27th, 2009 18:00
well here is something really interesting. this is what i found while doing benchmarks
90W:
130W:
Battery:
abhi.80
6 Posts
0
November 27th, 2009 19:00
Can anyone tell if this power problem is also with Studio-XPS-16 & "Core 2 Duo" processor? Anyone here with this config?
TheZlog
10 Posts
1
November 27th, 2009 20:00
This issue is only regarding the Dell XPS 1645 with the i7 processor.
ATTENTION: This seems to be resolved. Your Dell Studio XPS 1645 has shipped with an AC Adapter that does not provide enough power to your system causing it to choke and throttle itself during high-load tasks!
You are urged to contact Dell Support and report this issue, and link them to this thread, and request a replacement 130Watt adapter at no charge. Dell may resist doing so, so kindly link them to this thread to show them that not only have they already sent out some 130watt adapters to people, but that it is FIXING the issue.
Please follow the link below to see a screenshot of full proof of how our XPS performs on 90watt vs 130watt adapters as well as battery power.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5558855#post5558855
Irulz1081
9 Posts
0
November 28th, 2009 19:00
Hey everyone,
Im like so affraid right now. I have this laptop coming on thursday and i dont know what to do. I have heard from you guys that there is a 130w model available but then i hear from other sources that there is no such thing for this laptop. I want the full use out of this machine, and considering the money i payed for it im surprised that dell didn't do something about this. Is there definitely a 130w power adapter that works on this laptop, that someone has tried, and has been successful in solving this issue. I just need to make sure. I dont know who to believe.
Thanks
2by4
17 Posts
0
November 29th, 2009 01:00
Please go to this forum located in the link below: (don't be afraid it is a fantastic system, you will love it when it arrives)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=437800
The 130W Power Adapter has been tested by Max420 at the above link and has proved that the 130W Power Adapter does work better than the 90W power adapter that comes with the system, when playing 3D games.However using the 90W power adapter under normal use of surfing the internet/using office programs is not a problem.
As far as dell is concerned at this time it seems that some techs/supervisors will approve to ship out the 130W power adapter and others will not, as the 130W power adapter has not been approved by Dell to actually ship with the 1645 as of now. Please refer the techs/supervisors to the link above when speaking with them and let them know that the 130W power adapter has been shipped out by dell as a replacement for the 90W power adapter and that it has been tested and proven to work much better than the 90W power adapter when 3D gaming.
Best of luck,
2by4
Irulz1081
9 Posts
0
November 29th, 2009 07:00
Where do you obtain the 130w power adapter. According to the Technical Support person, Dell does not manufacture a 130w Plug that is compatible with the system. Then before I talked to him I was talking to this woman from the Electronics and Accessories Sales and she said that there is a 130w Power Adapter available and it is compatible. Then I realized it is only for Australia. I cant win. Help!!!!!!!!
Khaledseif
7 Posts
0
November 29th, 2009 12:00
In addition, they have been told about the problem for a week now.