S-XPS 1645 AC Power Throttle Issue Investigation

khaledseif · 11-26-2009, 06:36 PM

I just finished a chat session with a supervisor who was very interested in our findings, he asked me if i have the same dropping under power saver and dell recommended power plans. I ran the test on them and here is general observation.
Under power saver, working on AC is a little better, under DELL recommended or maximum performance working on battery is better.

ikjadoon · 11-26-2009, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zlog

yeah i just got home and saw that angle on the adapter plug and was like "oh nm"

I might go buy a universal 130 this weekend and see if it works.

then i'll return it >.> and make dell send me one if it does.

I ungrayed the RGB issue, even though i cannot duplicate it on mine.

Really? Not even with Prime95?

Sorry about the luck with the X-Fi drivers.

@PsYcNeT

Mine says "FOR USE WITH ADAPTER PA-12/PA-3E". Does yours not say that?

~Ibrahim~

gaah · 11-26-2009, 07:00 PM

So besides gaming problems and performance issues, has anyone else found that the USB devices on their machines resets or malfunctions with the XPS 1645? My G5 Laser mouse would reset it's DPI and lose the ability to change into custom DPI resolutions until it was reconnectioned, and my external storage disconnects and freezes while connected. It's very intermittent but seems likely related to power or performance problems. The system randomly gllitches or has corrupt information while doing high computational tasks like parallel mp3 encoding (8 mp3 encooders at once). Oddly enough, I noticed stranged things with it running at 60x with two threads and only 40-70x with 4 threads, and in a program called 7-zip it was faster with less threads than more. I was baffled by it, but all this makes sense. Gaming has been problematic to say the least.

PsYcNeT · 11-26-2009, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikjadoon

@PsYcNeT

Mine says "FOR USE WITH ADAPTER PA-12/PA-3E". Does yours not say that?

~Ibrahim~

*slaps forehead*

Gah I just flipped it over again to look. I was at work and obviously my thourough reading skills are the pits :/

Either way, someone man up and test a 130w! We need to know!

PsYcNeT · 11-26-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaah

So besides gaming problems and performance issues, has anyone else found that the USB devices on their machines resets or malfunctions with the XPS 1645? My G5 Laser mouse would reset it's DPI and lose the ability to change into custom DPI resolutions until it was reconnectioned, and my external storage disconnects and freezes while connected. It's very intermittent but seems likely related to power or performance problems. The system randomly gllitches or has corrupt information while doing high computational tasks like parallel mp3 encoding (8 mp3 encooders at once). Oddly enough, I noticed stranged things with it running at 60x with two threads and only 40-70x with 4 threads, and in a program called 7-zip it was faster with less threads than more. I was baffled by it, but all this makes sense. Gaming has been problematic to say the least.

I've been using an '06 model Habu with this, and much like my Vista experience, when starting windows I have to a) click the DPI switcher on the bottom of the mouse, then b) unplug and replug it to get it work properly.

Games have been fine, as long as I play them on battery, with brightness on 0, or on an external.

ikjadoon · 11-26-2009, 07:13 PM

GUYS....GUYS.....GUYS....

I figured it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disable SpeedStep. That's it. So simple. Just disable EIST. I disabled it through Real Temp, but you could disable it through the BIOS as well.

That fixes the problem AND it allows us to finally reach the 13x multi we were supposed to be getting on four cores maxed out!

I'm testing 3DMark '06 right now, but preliminary results: HURRAY!

~Ibrahim~

EDIT: Never mind! Look a few posts down. :*(

max420 · 11-26-2009, 07:14 PM

[quote=Siphen;5559893]

Quote:

Originally Posted by max420

well, it turns out that if i just push the end of my 90W into the 130W brick, the light on teh brick turns on, and it charged my laptop battery, but it seems kind of sketchy, i can't really be sure it's going to be a solid connection, can I?

:unsure

Looks to me they sent you the 3 prong cable for the slim 130 and sent you the full size 130. Gota love Dell. The connection looks ok. As long as the bios is returning 130w you should be ok. The 130 adaptor I have plugs in around as much as it is on your

edit: wait... Did they send a 2 prong cable with your 130 that doesn't even work with it? The cable that comes with the 90 should be ok. Try running some speed tests after verifying in bios it shows the adaptor as 130

ya they sent me two prong cord and 3 prong brick. theyre sending 3 prong cord now. where in the bios is the adapter info?

also, there is a slim 130w? oh am i diong with this then.

gaah · 11-26-2009, 07:14 PM

What is the part number for the XPS 1645 130-watt power supply/cable? I want to know so I can ask Dell to send a completely new power cable and supply. Hopefully it's idetical otherwise to the one it shipped with. edit: I want the slim 130-watt power supply part number.

ikjadoon · 11-26-2009, 07:25 PM

Damn it....well, it fixed the Prime95 issue with the brightness, but I still only got 6.3K in 3DMark '06.

~Ibrahim~

eblock12 · 11-26-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikjadoon

Damn it....well, it fixed the Prime95 issue with the brightness, but I still only got 6.3K in 3DMark '06.

~Ibrahim~

Yeah I had tried disabling PowerPlay too, it was one of the first things. It kinda "fixes" the issue in that it locks the GPU into a "medium" clock rate and it doesn't draw enough power anymore to hit the issue. You need to stress the CPU and GPU at the same time. However, it may be an acceptible workaround for you if you're running a less intensive game.