Does the XPS 16 have heat issues?

I've read reviews mentioning heat is an issue for the XPS 16, and I've read other comments saying that's false. Does anyone have hands on experience with this notebook? Does the speedfan app work with this computer?

I plan on doing some pretty graphic intensive gaming that would likely push this notebook to it's limit (Raiding in WoW at full graphic settings) so if heat really is an issue, I would most likely experience it.

 

No more than a new Macbook Pro.

It gets warm, and I wouldn't game with any laptop while its in your lap - but it does a fantastic job of WoW at its highest settings. Just Raided last night and didn't have any problems (aside from the fan spinning up).

I would say go with the XPS 16 - I have only owned it for a couple of days but it has completely blown me away. I really love this laptop - and if you have patience you can pick one up at the Outlet for around $900.

 

Heat is a big issue with the SXPS13 - that is probably what you were reading.

 

No issues for me. CPU idling(browsing/reading/etc) @ approx 35-38C and it only gets hot while gaming(but not uncomfortly hot). So no issues there!

 

Awesome. What kind of FPS do you get when raiding at max graphics? And what diver are you using for the gpu?

 

A laptop heating isn't really anything new so it's not an "issue".

I'd say heating is an "issue" when it starts to hinder the laptop's performance which is not the case of the SXPS 16. Sure, it gets hot, but considering what's in there it's kinda normal. I suppose you could say compared to other laptops it may be warmer, but hey, they don't all use the same cooling system >.>

 

I game alot with my 1640 and haven't had any problems with heat.

With a laptop built out of metal your going to "feel" the heat more. Many people are over reacting in my opinion.

If you fear the heat just undervolt the CPU. At only 0.9875v my 2.66ghz cpu runs around 60c at full load. Thats not hot at all in my opinion.

In the 1640 the cpu and gpu have their own heat pipe that run to the same fan. Reducing one heat source does have an impact on the other heat source. I have gamed for a few hours with the 1640 on my lap and it wasn't any more uncomfortable than other laptops I have owned.

Really enjoying Demigod at the moment.

 

I just received my studio xps 1640 this morning and played some Wow after reinstalling the OS/downloading new drivers/etc. Graphics were set to Ultra and I had no lag/stutter/connection problems while pvping for an hour or two.

The laptop was sitting on a normal table while I was playing and got warm, but nowhere near too hot to play. The screen also looks AWESOME.

 

mine got so hot while playing games that i couldn't have it on my lap and even if i put it on a table the keys and palm rest were uncomfortable to use.

i ended up returning it but my unit had more issues then just overheating.

 

It is definitely warmer than the new Unibody Macbook Pros which run quite cool. I seem to remember early models of the XPS 16 running pretty hot and complaints aobut it. But I think there has been a bios update since then that has the problem under control. I have seen alot of complaints about the heat of the XPS 13.

 

Heat is bad for laptops or any electronic component as they have a much reduced life span.

 

HIGH heat is bad. If the temps are within thermal tolerances there is no problem. Yes excessive heat will shorten the life of electronics, but normal heat will not.

Any time you add electricity to electronics you get heat as a by product engineers know this and build it into the design. The XPS 1640 is well within the CPU and GPU designers thermal tolerances. (mine only hits 60c and 71c)

And who ever said that the MBP doesn't get hot is living in an alternate reality. I have to support a whole division that uses nothing but the new MBPs and I get lots of complaints about how hot they get. Then I have to explain about the thermal conductivity of metal. But I doubt any of those laptops will have a short life.

 

Yes, the Dell XPS 16 has heat issues. I used mine for 7 days and sent it back for a refund. It has a bad thermal design period.

It cannot handle the ATI 4670 (or probably even the 3670) and they should have never offered this type of graphics solution in a thin suffocating chassis with poor airflow. Let me explain: Air intake comes only from the bottom of the chassis and there is only one fan. Both the CPU and GPU heat pipes actually join in the same area where the single fan attempts to remove heat. The exhaust is blown out thru a vent on the rear of the chassis.

However, the display panel when opened blocks a large area of this exhaust vent!

The result: Set it on a big flat cool surface (like a granite countertop) and when gaming is you get about 10 - 15 minutes before it overheats and throttles way back. Game over... literally. Maybe a good cooling pad will prevent this but Dell chose form over function on this one. Looks good on the showroom floor, overheats in the highway.

My config was: My system: 2.4G core 2 duo, 4GB memory, 7200 rpm HD, ATI 4670 w/ 1GB video memory, RGB LED display.

This thermal design is absolutely inferior to my Dell e1705 with an Nvidia 7900GS (excellent gaming performance still to this day btw). There are two fans, one on either side of the chassis, air is pulled in thru the top, sides and bottom and forced out the rear. The heat pipes for the CPU and GPU route to each side so they are seperate and the fans run independently. The display panel when open does not block anything. You can set this thing on a pillow and game all day long.

 

I can assure you that heat is no issue for me. I had a Vostro 1500 before.
And the XPS 16 is just as cool as the vostro.

Cheers

 

I am a proud (and I emphasize the word proud) owner of an XPS 1640 and I can honestly say that there are only two "uncomfortable" areas on my laptop where you wouldn't want to have your hands or fingers. The first being overtop the processor area (the solid section just above the power button), but that's not a typical place to lay or place anything and the second area being just front of the touchpad along the frontside of the laptop and even then, my thumb may grace that area, but not for long. Those "hot" areas are hot, but as for the rest of the laptop, it doesn't get much warmer than any other laptop running a separate video card and a high end processor.

Other than the less than important issue of heat, my laptop runs like a champ!

 

I think we should just simplify this to "SOME sxps 16's have heat problems, it really depends"

 

Due to competition, Dell is under pressure to offer sleek and sexy chassis' and the XPS 1640 is a beautiful machine despite the fact that it's a fingerprint magnet. I can't imagne 'some' of these systems not having heat issues unless you opt for the lowest config, you might knock off 3-4 deg c. It's all in the design,

The 1640 just has too much horsepower for its chassis. One air intake and one exhaust vent and that exhaust vent is blocked by the display panel. It's like trying to run a marathon without being able to exhale.

I understand people will love this machine and defend their investment in it. However, the unfortunate consequence of the XPS 16's poor cooling solution will be a short lifespan from random hardware failures due to fissure cracks occurring in solder joints from all the expansion and contraction.

Maybe the competition is just as bad. All the better for the replacement cycle for these companies as they may be designed to fail before they become obsolete.

For a good gaming notebook, I would try Alienware next time (also owned by Dell). Take a look at the * design* of the M17 chassis. It may not be sexy, but that thing looks like it can move some serious air.

http://www.alienware.com/products/m17-notebook.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-M17&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

 

Why would people even associate the XPS 1640 with gaming? It's a multimedia notebook with a bit of gaming capacity. It's certainly not a gaming notebook as it doens't even possess a high end GPU.

Btw, the Vaio FW is about as thin as the XPS 1640 yet there doesn't seem to be as many complaints of heat(and the GPU is roughly the same, but underclocked) so it really seems to depend.

 

Wrong. Again.
There are many people who are using the 1640 for gaming with no heating problem. You are making sweeping generalizations. Mine runs fine, so do many others. As noted above and for the hundreth time, this is not a dedicated gaming machine. If you bought it for that purpose, you did no research. It's a multimedia machine and serves that purpose well.

You have made a total of two posts both hyper critical of a machine YOU were not happy with. Thousands of others are happy, including me. Yes it can get warm, and if so the get a cooling pad. Sorry you can't game whiile laying on your fluffy pillows....

 

I love mine, the biggest flaw in the entire build is the placement of the southbridge and the lack of any cooling on it. You can see it marked in yellow here:



This is what makes the touchpad occasionally pretty hot.

 

SXPS 16 have no heat ISSUES, but it does get warm. Not too warm to touch, not so warm that it "burns" as some people claim.

It's a thin laptop with pretty good performance, so where do you think all the heat goes, especially with bad circulation?

It's a good laptop though. Just get a cooler (they're like $5 off eBay) if you game a lot, otherwise don't worry about it. Oh also, if you have AC in your room and it's about 22 degrees, the laptop runs fine on just a desk I've noticed.

 

Seconded. Dell's SXPS are multimedia, Dell's Alienware are gaming. Although I did buy this laptop for its gaming capabilities (did my research though, very thoroughly), it's also a winner because of its thinness, looks, and power.

 

Wrong? About a poor thermal design? I think not. People want real world and unbiased opinions based on people who have actually bought and used this thing... not the typical journalist review based on specs.

 

I agree. Its kind of like a Audi S4 without the overpricing. Its nicely made (albeit not the best), its pretty fast (albeit not the fastest but still pretty good), not too flashy/trendy but still stylish (ie MB/BMW) and its usable for everyday tasks (ie not like a Lotus Elise). Its pretty hard to find a laptop that can do all the SXPS16 can do, while still being portable and relatively inexpensive.

 

Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit.

 

Thermal design seems sound, a friend of mine recieves hers n a few days, i know single fan machines that run really good, so i wouldn't see any problems with it, will post back the results in a few days.

 

Maybe you are missing the point. My critique of this notebook is not a sweeping generalization but a review of its thermal design. It's my analysis and opinion only based on my experience with it and previous generation notebooks.

I'm glad plenty of people are happy with their machine. I have owned many notebooks but the trend towards stuffing ever more heat into smaller chassis is not a good one. Those who can defend that engineering practice are proponents of form over function.

It's not important what *I* bought it for, what is important is to let people know what to expect and to be aware of the design tradeoffs which were made that cause this notebook to run much hotter than it needs to. Unfortunately, these design flaws are not *obvious* until you get your hands on one and really inspect it up close. It's very difficult to defend a display panel that opens up only to block the only exhaust vent on the machine.

This is a powerful notebook and has plenty of horsepower for gaming. The ATI 4670 with 1G of video memory is not a lightweight. Do you really need that much power for general multimedia stuff? Why wouldn't one expect this to be a good gaming notebook? It certainly sports the specs. What *other* research would you suggest? My 3 year old Inspiron e1705 certainly was an excellent dedicated gaming notebook, never overheated and always stayed cool to the touch on the topside thanks to it's excellent design. Yet the XPS 16 is more powerful yet and got excellent frame rates in the most demanding games. However, it would soon overheat and throttle back.

But even just surfing the web and doing other mundane stuff, this thing gets uncomfortably warm... quickly. Had they designed in better airflow and a chassis that could handle the heat better, it would run much cooler. They really should send this thing out with a custom cooling pad.

The picture posted with the bottom cover off shows one of the XPS 16's major thermal design shortcomings. You want a sexy chassis, you have to make design compromises like this... not good.

I submit a picture of the e1705. Dual fans and heat pipes routed to each side of the chassis as they should be. This chassis also has excellent venting all the way around. I wish the XPS 16 had used as similar chassis and just made cosmetic adjustments.

 

It's not a gaming machine because it doesn't sport a gaming GPU. Sure, the HD4670 is powerful, but it's still 2nd class compared to high end GPUs wih 256bit bus widths or dual GPU notebooks.

Also, the fact that you mention that those who own it and say there's no heat issue are only defending their purchase is more or less a generalization in itself. You haven't tested their machine and therefore your word on their experience is as good as anyone's.

Seems to me it's a hit and miss type of thing. I've seen people at my school with Studio XPS 16s and they use it without any problem so I doubt it bursts into flames.

Did Dell make sacrifices for looks in the Studio XPS1 16? Yes they have without question. Has this made the Studio XPS 16 an unusuable machine? No it hasn't.

If it was, honestly Dell would just plain stop selling them(unless 90% of the population who bought it are dumb and don't understand the concept of "refund")

 

I'm at the library right now using the XPS 16 with 9-cell, without power adapter plugged in. It's only lukewarm around the entire palm-rest/touch pad, doesn't seem to have any out of the ordinary heat.

On Power-Saver setting and ~half dimmed screen.

 

I have been sitting here using mine all day, eight hours or more.
Watched a movie, and doing "mundane" computing. It is barely warm.
If yours becomes uncomfortably hot duing these tasks, that would suggest something is wrong with it.

 

I think you guys are being unfair on flatstatus. He makes a valid point in regards to the design - you say its a 2nd tier graphics card, but, it is capable of running majority of games, I have seen lower graphic cards (7900gs and the like) perform 90% of games without a problem - and only if they hit something like Crysis would they have an issue. Flatstatus is stating that, just normal use or playing games which a card/spec'd laptop like that should be able to, say something like CoD4/WoW etc, it will heat more than it should due to its design. Whether or not yours does - is somewhat irrelevant in that, by design it is more likely - is what is implied I guess.

He made a fair comment, I was about to purchase this laptop over say an m1730 - but I will not since their is a chance that If I was to use that laptop to the capabilities its specs state on paper, it will probably die - due to the design of it.

I havn't owned an XPS 16 and I can understand why some of you will have a confused look when you find your XPS is running fine - but it does make sense - I have single fan laptops and I do usually notice they get hot pretty damn fast, and if its made in a chassis like that of an 16, it could only add to it.

 

I understand what he's saying about the graphics, but he's wrong in calling it a "gaming notebook". Neither Dell nor anyone advertises it as that so there's no reason to do so. Can it play games? Yes it can play all games quite well, but that doesn't make it a gaming notebook. My desktop can play the majority of games out yet I don't call it a gaming rig...

And yes, I agree the design isn't the most efficient for cooling. However, if some people aren't having heat issues, then there is some level of efficiency to the cooling system.

 

Gamers get gamiing systems AND still get coolers, that's common sense.
For casual gaming, and all other laptop uses this system is fine.

 

In my opinion, the cooling design is without a doubt insufficient for the hardware it has to cool.
The Studio XPS 16 gets warmer than laptops with comparable hardware.
People are reporting throttling of GPU/CPU during high load.
Southbridge cooling is insufficient
More argumentation in a previuous post of me about this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5263610#post5263610

I don't agree. Power dissipation in GPU&CPU depends on how you use your system, which applications are used. Most people don't notice heat issues, just because they don't use the system in such a way that the power dissipation is that high that it causes problems. Among the other people, there are many who have very high temperatures.

 

I sad "some level of effiency", I didn't say it WAS efficient. If you look closely, probably half of those who comment no heat issue mention that it's when they do regular tasks(surfing the internet, word processing etc.).

Obviously if you stress the machine it'll get worse. I wholely agree that the Studio XPS 16's cooling system is subpar. However, a cooling pad and other measure should be taken if you intend to stress the machine up to such a point.

 

Yep and that is exactly my point. Internet surfing and word processing don't stress the CPU or GPU at all. Even a 2W Atom CPU and GMA4500 IGP can do those things without effort. I bought the sxps 16 because of the acceptable power under the hood, and I expect that a system manufacturer takes the TDP-values of the CPU and GPU into account when designing a cooling system for a given configuration. The cooling design of the sxps 16 is just insufficient.

Same opinion here. And what makes me conclude that the sxps 16 has a heat issue (to answer the question in the topic title).

A cooling pad, undervolting and reapplying TIM are well conceived work-arounds for the heat-issue but don't change the fact that the cooling system is insufficient. Those things shouldn't be needed for the system to work properly within an acceptable temperature-range. Cooling pad: costs extra money and refutes the concept of a laptop being mobile. Undervolting: the average consumer does not have the knowledge/skill to do this. Reapplying TIM: the average consumer does not have the knowledge/skill to do this.

 

I take your points well - and I know they don't advertise it as a gaming system.

However, it is like, having a car with parts that boasts it has engine which can do 200 MPH - but the design of the car makes it dangerous to do this. I mean, why not just give it parts that it can handle? I think this is what people are annoyed with the XPS 16 - they have put in parts which look good on paper (4670 etc), but when used as they have the capabilities to, won't function properly because the design is flawed.

It is only fair that, they should have considered that the laptop is able to function well - if it has gaming parts why shouldn't it be able to game well? If you don't want it to be for gaming/high GPU based application, why stick a 4670 in it then? Isn't that just for boasting then to attract people to buy it showing off a graphics card it can't handle?

 

I don't care how it is called. It is just a matter of definition. You can call it a gaming-system, multimediasystem, supersystem, HD-system, stylish-system, crapsystem.
I don't care what name you give it, that doesn't change what is in it. I just look at the components and the cooling design and I conclude that the cooling is insufficient.

So the discussion whether to call it a gaming-system or not, is not relevant for the question does it have a heat issue or not?

 

Well, how are you exactly going to define "Does it have a heat issue" ?

Under what condition , what range of temperature must the CPU/GPU reached in order for you to say "This machine has heat issue".

I think it's pretty much subjective.

As long as it doesn't burn your lap, I would say it doesn't have heat issue, at least for me.

 

Good question.

Too warm for your lap is subjective. But still I think it is too warm for many to put it on the lap.
Throttling is not subjective: it does or it doesn't, and if it does, it is undoubtedly a "heat issue".

 

Went into Best Buy today and played with the XPS 16 and it was just on the desktop and it was much warmer than the other notebooks. NOT bad much warmer than your average notebook.

 

Ok let's get something straight...

Heating and overheating aren't the same. Overheating means problematic. Overheating means OVER the point of heating. This means(in extreme cases) that the laptop will have reached its threshold temperature. In some cases(ex: my old dv2000), it will apply failsafe measures such as shut itself down immediately to avoid frying parts.

I think we agree that the Studio XPS 16 hasn't reached the point of overheating(at least from the comments I gather).

Another thing is when do you consider it an "issue"? Yes, it heats up, but I hear accounts where the heat doesn't prevent it from doing things i.e. it doesn't downclock or throttle(some of these accounts were while playing games). Now, either people have different machines or somehow there's something different in the ways they stress said machine.

Anyhow... I agree that the Studio XPS' cooling system is subpar. In fact, considering the Vaio FW from Sony can have nearly similar specs, a similarly thin chassis yet provide very little heat says something about Dell's cooling system.

 

It's much cooler than the 1330XPS but its still a sperm killer like most newer laptops.

 

No actually Macs will have a shortened life because they trade off heat dissipation through the body for fans that run much slower then normal. (Steve Jobs is obsessed with having no fan noise coming from the system.) The problem is you don't dissipate heat as fast through the shell then through a heatsink...as such these systems still get pretty damn toasty.
My MBP died 3 times due to heat. They replaced it, then it died once until I realized the key was forcing the fan to a "normal" state. Where its running the fan at 2K RPM constantly.
Also Apple has ALWAYS run the components of their laptops WAY closer to the thermal envelope that they can handle, because of Steve Jobs's fetish with all things thin, which is why every so often you see one of their laptop lines with a system board recall: they miscalculated and ran into production issues. The last being a Powerbook 13'er. Its also why I will never own another Mac ever again.

As for Dell. I do warranty work and I can say that the smaller your Dell the higher the likelihood your system is going to have thermal issues within its lifetime. Part of it is that Dell uses the cheapest thermal paste on the market. But also the these fans can clog up way too easily. (which I think is why most, but not all, modern dells have user accessible heatsinks.

There are more then a few models that are known to get a little too crispy. The 13xx series is well known to have serious heat issues when you have a discrete GPU solution. As is the D6xx and some of the D8xx line of Latitudes. Ditto with some of the mobile workstations as well. The good news is as of right now we've seen very few XPS 16 laptops. The fan used in that model is a beast and assuming its kept reved at a solid RPM should keep the system pretty cool.

Public Service Announcement: Thankfully the 1640 has an easily accessible heatsink from the bottom. I HIGHLY suggest picking up some high quality thermal paste and lube your computer up Your CPU, GPU, and Northbridge(Chipset) will thank you in the long run.

 

Thereby voiding your warranty.
You left that out...........

 

The problem is you nor anyone else on this board knows what the outside edge of the thermal envelope of these systems are. No one but the engineers who created these system do. So saying we haven't reached the threshold of overheating is pulling a stat out of your.....hat.
It can also vary. Say if you are using your laptop on the bus January first in Minneapolis where its 8* above the air being pumped through your system is going to do a better job then in an unairconditioned apartment where its *93. I've seen systems overheat with variants of 15*.
Also I hate to break this to you but if a system physically turns off to protect itself. Damage may have already been done. What its doing is avoiding a catastrophic failure. However I've experienced first hand a server room overheating (112 in the room...is NOT pleasant.) and systems turning themselves off. Within 6 months we replaced at least half a dozen power supplies on systems that had been running for years. The reality is that you don't need to overheat a system to put enough stress on it to accelerate the failure of a component.
I'm not saying the 1640 is closer to that edge then previous models, and I'm not saying its farther away. All I'm saying is we don't know. You are right though. Heat is normal. Heat enough to burn your lap....debatable.

 

It doesn't void your warranty. You will get Dell techs on the phone to ask you to remove the heatsink if you are troubleshooting a random shutdown event. I've seen it first hand. Why do you think they designed it to be accessible from the base.

 

Do it after a year then!

And warranty is void when you remove the bottom cover?? That makes no sense because then you wouldn't even be able to replace RAM or HDD without voiding the warranty...

Btw Silicon, I get what you're saying, but it seems people tend to overexagerate heat. I've had a genuine overheating laptop(it'd failsafe shutdown simply by iddling too long) and I managed to get it to cool off and it's working fine now. The question is that once we've reached that problematic point, something happens(and my example was a worst case scenario btw...). That something can vary from throttling to shutting down. Basically, something getting warm or hot doesn't mean it overheats.

 

It makes no sense because it isn't true. I work for Dell. Trust me on this. Removing a cover does not void your warranty. Removing the heatsink doesn't either. Ditto on RAM or hard drive. However processor, optical drive, etc...yah.

 

Removing the bottom cover? Obviously not.

Taking apart your CPU, GPU or other components to do your own "improvements? Why don't you call them and ask. Just what they want, Joe "two left hands" doing his own re-engineering on the manufacturers product.

Tell them at Dell "Silicon Addict" said it was ok...