XPS m1730 hardware issue

All,

I've tested this on 3 new m1730 laptops and all 3 fail the same way. The test is:

1) enable SLI
2) be running the new Vista desktop (not classic mode)
3) try to play Freecell or Purble Place (dumb games that ship with Vista but use DX10 and SLI)

on all 3 systems the system hardlocked and had to be powered off (couldn't restart or shutdown). I tried this with the default set up out of the box, with fully updated systems (vista updates, driver updates, DX10 update 10/9) and with tweakforce drivers. all crash the same. 4 hours on tech support with Dell (XPS support out of Texas) got me the 'solution' of "disable SLI for games that crash".

Well the solution does work. If you disable SLI, then the games work and the system won't hardlock. But to me that not a real solution.

My 1730 is going back to Dell. I'm guessing this is a hardware issue. This is just a heads up to everyone else. Maybe if enough systems go back or people call in Dell with look into fixing this.

-stu_man

 

keep us informed stu, i just ordered one so i could play dx10 games in SLI.....
thats why they cost so much is`nt it?

 

#dogg,

One would think that SLI working with DX10 games would be the flagship feature of this unit. My friend that just tried the test after I told him about it this morning is actually the head IT guy where I work. He's going to do some better digging into than I can do. If he finds anything I'll post it.

thanks for the reply.

 

please do, i am waiting for my 1730 and i dont want this issue.

 

cant wait to hear the fix!

 

oops i posted a similar problem here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=179479

 

I'm having a stress attack with this news!!!!

You'd think they would play a game or two before they advertise this as a "Games Beast".

 

Esp the game that comes with the laptop

 

stu_man try http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15369

 

stu - toms hardware just did a review of the 1730 with benchmarks for games etc.....so how did they get it to work? it was vista & sli.

 

I read the review (very good btw), you would think they'd post a problem if they ran into one wouldn't you? I hear the Alienware had/has the same problem. It's reported as a vista thing...

 

I'm having a hard time following your logic here. You cant play free cell (whatever windows game) in sli and as a result your going to return your system? I think the problem is obvious, the games that come with windows are not compatible with sli, big deal! its not dells fault.

Are there any actual games thats your having problems with? From everything I've read the systems performs exactly as it should.

Maybe I'm not understanding something here but being unsatisfied with your 1730 for your stated reason is rather silly.

 

Johnelbek chuckles.

 

Gilliann,

Here's my logic (as bad as it may be). If the system totally hangs (to the point were it has to be powered down and Vista gets pissed off that you didn't exit Vista properly and wants to run a bunch of diag or boot in safe mode) _every_ time you play these 'simple' DX10 games when SLI is on, what confindence can I have that the hardware is sound?

Dell won't tell me it's a problem with Vista pre-packaged games. Dell won't say they will even look into it. They do say that the suggested response is not to run the system in SLI mode. Yes that's what they said to me. Which makes the fact that system is shipped out with SLI _disabled_ a little clearer (to me at least).

So no, playing Freecell is not a big deal. Having a stable system working with SLI enabled is. But Dell ships the system with SLI disabled, and tells me to turn off SLI. WTF is that?

Because of that I'm sending it back and waiting to see how it all plays out. I don't have the time anymore to play test boy for another companies too early released product.

Sorry if that makes me a lameass.

-stuart

#Dogg,

I don't mean to say that it won't work in some/most SLI applications. Only that the ones that I had on had to test with (actually it was my kids that tried running Freecell and Purble Place) didn't work. Is it hardware? Is it the driver? I dont' know, but I do know after 9 hours (now, 3 calls) with tech support in Texas (and all props to them, they seem to be great guys and tried to help but got shut down by management, at least that what they said and how it felt), Dell won't commit to saying if this is a hardware or driver issue, or even commit to finding out! that last part was what scared me off from keeping it.

-stuart (btw I'm still a dell fan boy, and will be getting the wife a xps desktop for now)

 

I'm nearly positive this in no way is a hardware problem, it is either driver related or simply the games themself. But either way you need to be comfortable with your purchase, thats a lot of money, good luck.

 

From day I was under the impression that SLI support in Vista is still a work in progress from Nvidia's side of things.

I guess this answers my question, it's still a work in progress. That's kind of a major bummer, considering that they basically chose SLI 8700s to make up for the fact that there isn't (at least yet) a mobile 8800 GPU.

Nvidia better get their act together and make good on some driver support, right about now.

 

I agree that it's probably a driver problem, and Nvidia needs to come up with a solution. SLI isn't needed for Freecell, but there should be some kind of failsave that will default to using one card (or giving the option to) rather than freezing the whole system.

 

Did the 1730 have SLI turned off in the review benchmarks? I wonder if that's how the Alienware kicked the 1730's butt in the game benchmarking?

If they ship with SLI turned off you'd have to know to turn it on, what a bummer. If I have to turn SLI off to play games I'm returning it the next day!

 

I've had the same type of problems with my m1730...

I can't even play ghost recon in SLI mode... Ghost recon comes with the laptop. go figure??

I installed windows XP last night and tried to play ghost recon, it's a tiny bit better but still unplayable.. (this is on med settings)..

I also tried to play Half Life 2 Esp 1, it can only JUST play the game.. in wide open areas it's very laggy and sluggish..

I'm sorry but the m1730's is ment to be "The ultimate experience in gaming".. It's hardly that atm..

PS: i've tried several different drives on vista and xp, all with the same problems..

 

I was thinking the same as a previous poster. You want to return your nice laptop, because you can't run freecell or purble place in SLI? Doesn't make sense.
Drivers, and subsequent hotfixes are always in the works. Give it some time, and you could enjoy your freecell SLI at 5000 fps. Remember, it's a new laptop, and a new operating system, a new chipset, give it some time to mature. Look at XP when it first came out, took 2 service packs but now it's a very reliable OS. Why should this be any different?

 

Damn, I don't think I want to get the m1730 now, reading all this crap - I have a m1710 at the moment and it is running games fine, and on high settings.

I wanted m1730 with vista, 4gig ram so I can be "future-proof" and play DX10 later on - but I dunno .... update this thread if you guys have got ANY idea or if anyone has a m1730 that WORKS like its meant to!

 

Your M1710 supports 4gb RAM just fine. Besides not having DX10 support, you really couldn't be much more future proof then you already are.

 

I just posted in another forum.. But I think it is good to hear all sides of the story. I don't doubt some people are having problems, but my 1730 is running Graw2, hellgate london beta, two worlds demo, call of duty 4 demo, and company of hereos flawlessly as long as i turn AA off. I definitely don't regret buying this rig. it is a great system. just give it time if you are having problems. Even the iphone had its fair share of problems at launch. Patience is a virtue.

 

I think your missing the point.. Dell released this LAPTOP with Ghost Recon and it dosent even work.. thats just poor quality..

Sure it's probably a driver problem.. who knows how long it's gonna take to fix the problem... by that time there could be a new laptop out.. So you wasted $4,000 for a gaming laptop which dosent work properly for a couple of months??

 

Wow.. Finally.. I've been trying to find someone who actually has it working.. It could possible be a configuration problem thats causing all my problems.


Can you please post your setup?? Vista/XP, driver versions etc??

Are you running graw2 in high quality textures with SLI enabled??

thanks
Steve

 

i am running Vista 32. I went to the Dell site and downloaded the video drivers that were posted on 9/27. I don't know if these are the drivers that actually came on my laptop already, but i just reinstalled these. And yes I run Graw2 with SLI enabled and with high textures and it runs smoothly. I just have the base XPS model . So I don't know what is different on mine from yours. I know my games are actually running in SLI, since you can turn on the SLI indicator bar from the control panel. This is a green bar that runs on the left side of the game and lets you know your cards are performing in SLI. I hope you get yours running right. I will be interested in knowing what is causing your problems. The XPS has been a great machine for me so far.. but i will be watching to see what happens with these issues that people are finding.

 

Replied in my other thread.

 

You said it yourself, for a couple of months. I would say, wait and see. It's a $4000 laptop, their new flagship laptop, I don't think they'll just leave their XPS buyers in the dark like that. Bad press can be worse for a company than the best advertising.

 

I'm more then confident they will fix the problem sometime in the future.. It's just a bit disappointing that the laptop has been released like this, providing it's not a configuration issue on my behalf.

 

I know. And I know that it's anyone's option to return it if they are not happy. I just think it's a waste of a good computer. I'm sure it will be fixed eventually. I'm pretty anti-dell right now (if you've read my other recent threads you'd know ), but I do still have some faith in their techs that they will try to fix it.
I'm just guessing, but I'm sure they were under pressure to release a new high end laptop with Santa Rosa, as other companies already were. It was probably a bit rushed, maybe they figured they could always fix it later, who really knows but Dell themselves?
I don't think (my opinion) the M1730 is a bad investment (if you have that kind of money and need the latest and greatest), just needs a little time.

 

I agree..

I just wanted to make sure i have the option of returning it if they cannot fix it within a resonable amount of time.

If it takes 2-3months to fix the laptop i'd prefer to return it then buy the laptop when the issues are fixed.. the price would have dropped a bit by then (i think).

 

If SLI is not working properly they should not have released the laptop. Never buy any computer hardware under the premise of drivers being fixed in the future. Look at Alienware m9750, it still does not have good SLI drivers even though it was released a while ago

 

Hi Guys,,

i've posted a pre release video card driver from dell here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2583852

It made my games a tiny bit faster.. but still not what i was expceting cant even play graw2 at full quality..

 

Hey Steve, i am unable to access your link..any ideas?

 

its been updated..

 

I just finished reading this thread, since I'm having the same problem with my notebook, but mine is a Clevo D901C, but it uses the Nvidia Geforce 8700M GT SLI, just the same as the DELL & I have the EXACT same problem, mostly hard locks & unplayble games when I try to run SLI in either XP & Vista, so Dell owners, you're not alone.

 

Very interesting posts. I took the plunge and forked out a lot of money for a m1730 looking forward to some hardcore gaming. I was aware of the problems between vista and sli and that was only because i first looked at alienware laptops and it mentioned there that sli doesn't work yet with vista. Some of you lot say sli works on your systems but i have enabled it on mine but it still doesn't show up in the control panel. Maybe its my inexperience but im expecting it to show as 512mb of dedicated memory (2x256) but it only shows as 256mb. Could anyone comment?

P.S. On dells website they make no mention of sli problems when using vista.