The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Dell Xps help

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by usher23, Jun 1, 2011.

  1. usher23

    usher23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Guys i think i have made a massive mistake

    I order a dell xps 17 core i5 with the 1gb geforce graphics card (not with 3d)

    i thought the 3d capable ment like viewing with 3d glasses etc

    now i have tried to run a few games but they won't work as no 3d

    is there anyway to update this

    or am i screwed, wanted this laptop to play games on and spent nearly £800 on it

    can anyone help, would they allow me to return it to pay the £30 to get the right gaming chip, any previous experiances like this?

    gutted tonight :( what is more annoying is i need this laptop as moved to the us in 16 days

    Steven
     
  2. edit1754

    edit1754 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,475
    Messages:
    5,145
    Likes Received:
    71
    Trophy Points:
    216
    3D-graphics games should work just fine on the XPS 17.

    The XPS 17 3D is specifically for the 3D glasses.
     
  3. usher23

    usher23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    But i used can i run it and it did not meet the minimum specs, stated 3d - none etc , i feel the website is very misleading,
     
  4. usher23

    usher23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 550M Graphics Card - 3D Capable

    1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 550M Graphics Card [Included in Price]

    Guys i went for the second option, will it play modern games etc or do i need to send it back to swap the chip over
     
  5. edit1754

    edit1754 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,475
    Messages:
    5,145
    Likes Received:
    71
    Trophy Points:
    216
    Again, 3D in this case just refers to the 3D glasses.

    What game are you trying to run?
     
  6. usher23

    usher23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Nothing special, sims 3 , age of empires , anno

    i understand i wont be able to play black ops full spec etc
     
  7. greatrift

    greatrift Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    27
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Yes you can play all those games, including black ops.

    What is the error you are getting? you may need to update drivers from nvidia, or direct x?
     
  8. usher23

    usher23 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    i used can you run it to check each game, it said no 3d for each game, meaning it failed the spec check, so i started to panic, as this was a lot of money for a student lol
     
  9. greatrift

    greatrift Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    27
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    That site is no good, no good at all.
     
  10. chingazo

    chingazo Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    @usher23: as edit1754 and greatrift hace been saying, you do not need 3D glasses to play COD: Black OPS and sims3 type games. Your lappy should be capable of running all these games without any hassle. Try installing the latest NVIDIA drivers and check again. 3D specifically refers to the tech that can be viewed via glasses.
     
  11. jalalabee

    jalalabee Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    usher23:

    a 550M is a 550M, the 3D is specific to 3D glasses.

    The reason you are PROBABLY having this issue is optimus trying to use the "intel onboard" video.

    Check the NVidia settings for the specific game you are playing and force it to the NVidia, "card".
     
  12. c-mattic

    c-mattic Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    52
    Messages:
    200
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    As others are trying to tell you the "Can you run it" website probably only sees the (at that moment) active Intel 3000 integrated graphics.

    The Optimus technology automatically switches to the dedicated graphics card (GT 550M in your case) when starting graphic intensive programs (like games). If it doesn't, you can still manually force and/or teach the Optimus software to use the dedicated graphics card with that software.

    I know the whole Optimus technology can be confusing to some at first.
    To learn more about Optimus (and how to use it), watch the following video which can be found on the (recently released) xps 17 wiki.
    Nvidia Optimus - XPS 17 Wiki