Dell 17r N7720 SE - user review

upgraded to the A08 and still No Boost on the GPU stuck at 745 and I tried 306.23, then ran Mark Fur GPU test with GPUZ, I have also tired Nivida Inspector, Preformer, and MSI Afterburner. No luck, I ended up going back to the Dell Driver and I'm still stuck a 745.. Hey is anyone getting the Boost to work, if so how, Should i return this and try and different one...
Thanks.

 

It's a known issue presumably with the video bios.

Power your machine off, and with the AC Adapter plugged in, start it back up - it'll turbo. Until you unplug again...

 

In fact the correct sequence is:

1- Power off your laptop
2- Once laptop is powered off, unplug the power cord and wait 1-2 sec.
3- Replug the power cord in again
4- Start your laptop.

This is the only way to get the 835mhz... until you unplug your powercord (Repeat the 4 steps again) or if you overheat and CPU/GPU Throttles back to 745mhz... sucks, but easy to do.

 

Ok That worked, also when unpluged I pulled the bat and held the power button to make sure everthing was discharged waited 3 min. Come on Dell.... fix it, that is as lame as it gets. Oh I noticed that my Windows Exp Index score when from 7.1 down to 6.8... I'm possitive it's because of the Nivida Driver 306.23 becuase when i switch back to dell it goes back up to 7.1 and with the little boost i get from the unplug and wait I got it up to 7.2...

thx

 

Agreed; waiting anxiously for a fix on this one!

 

A crackling sound. I didn't notice it for a while and only noticed it first when I played a BluRay so presumably it is a problem with sound when the CPU is under a bit of stress. After that I noticed that there had been a few times I had noticed it while gaming too.

The generic windows sound drivers that install if you remove the IDT drivers don't have the problem.

 

Anyone can tell me what record have service tag after checking status in dell.com?
its Next Business Day Support QLX and XPS Technical SupportDELL or something aslo?

 

I've been reading this amazing thread for about a month after purchasing my 7720, but with all the advice I have a few problems which haven't been mentioned before:

1. I do a lot of video editing and have AVI and MP4 files on my HDD. But when I play them the laptop always looks to the optical drive first and makes it read before playing the file on the hard drive. Very annoying. It sometimes does this when opening programs too.

2. The 3 buttons on the top right of the keyboard. I have installed Dell Quickset and yet only button 2 and 3 works. The first button illuminates, but does nothing.

3. I bought a Sandisk SSD for bay 1 and put the 7200rpm HDD in bay 2. All is well but when you run the Dell Support Centre tests, the SMART short self test fails.

Any ideas?

 

1. noticed that too, no workaround yet - might have something to do with W7 not with Dell specifically

2. Out of the 3 buttons: one is settings and it works ok, another one changes the sound equalizer mode and a 3rd one is for user customization. You're supposed to set it to do an action you use most.

3. no idea. Don't think i've run that Dell Support Centre tests - although i do have a similar setup: SSD in bay 1 and HDD in bay 2.

 

So Will Dell fix the Turbo boost issue for the GPU .? Can we expect a fix .?

And how does it affect gaming .?

 

Also what is the clock rate of the GT650M in the 17r 7720 .? Is it 735 or 835 MHZ .??

 

1- Never noticed this, but i never leave a CD/DVD in the drive, this maybe why... have you tried this with no CD/DVD in the tray?

2- My 3 buttons works, as stated the 1st one on the left is for the quickset settings, 2nd one is the sound control, and 3rd one is user custom key. Might have to reinstall dell quickset if one of those aren't working properly.

3- Got an SSD in bay one also, and in bay 2 also... and when i run the diagnostics, SMART pass without problem. You might have a problem with the disk it says in diag... who knows.

 

1. I think this is a problem on at least both our pc's then, as the MP4 & AVI files play on my old Dell laptop from the HDD without the optical bay activating. I leave no DVD or CD in the tray. I have contacted Dell and they say it shouldn't do it. They have ran all the maintenance programs they can from India and can't find anything wrong. Anyone else got this?

2. I have reinstalled quickset and still button 1 refuses to work. It did work before I did a clean install and bought the SSD.

3. I agree with you. Dell Support does seem to be developed for HDD. I have ran sandisk's own support program and the SSD is fine.

 

I agree too. Mine has gone down from 7.1 to 6.8 after the BIOS upgrade to AO8 and the upgrade Nivida Driver.
I just thought it would sort my optical drive problem (which it didn't).

 

Just got my 17R SE. The major issue is the sound. Right from the box, the subwoofer hisses and crackles whenever there is a sound playing. Tried different drivers, power adapter, isolating all nearby wireless devices. No luck. This only happens when laptop is running on AC power, no problems with battery. Raised the issue with technical support as it looks like a hardware problem. The 99% CPU trick seems to work initially, but as soon as temperature reaches about 75*C, the core gets stuck at 745 MHz.

Nice laptop otherwise. Coming from Vostro 1700, my impression is:

1. Screen. No comparison. Over twice as bright, excellent contrast (about 800:1 according to my basic measurements), saturated colours and wider viewing angles. Anti-glare coating works just as well, if not slightly better. Much cooler/whiter colour response. Plain colour areas look smooth, while Vostro suffered badly from grainy display.
2. Keyboard. Much shorter stroke, softer and quieter. Different feel, but easy to get used to. Definitely not as rock solid. No issues with space bar.
3. Touchpad. Bigger, more precise, multi-touch works as advertised.
4. Build quality. Step back. Vostro was built like a tank. 17R is surprisingly flimsy and appears less solidly constructed. On the other hand, it's 0.6 kg lighter.
5. Heat and noise. No difference, maybe a tad louder under full load. Temperatures reach about 80*C, but the top of the laptop doesn't feel hot to touch. Gets warm and cools down very quickly - sign of a good cooling system.
6. Power draw. Switching GPUs works well. At idle, 17R draws about 15 - 25 W from the socket, less than Vostro with much weaker components. Despite 130 W brick, the laptop seems to suck 100 W tops when pushed. Any more than that and throttling kicks in, despite power reserves.
7. Port placement. Not as good. Vostro had plenty of sockets at the back and out of the way, 17R has none.

A few more details. Illuminated power cable looks cool, but gets distracting at night. The trim on the screen bezel seems to be some kind of hard rubber, probably helping to seal the laptop when the lid is closed. My 17R came with 2 caddies for hard drives, despite single HDD setup (Seagate 750 GB, 7200 rpm).

Hope the support deals with the subwoofer issue quickly. It's horrible.

 

I know it has come up before but there's not enough being done about this. People seem more preoccupied with FPS and getting a couple more MHz out of their GPU.

Maybe removing McAfee helped the problem for some, though I have my doubts that it is truly gone, and anyway (not that I do but) if you actually want to use McAfee you shouldn't be forced to remove it to have acceptable sound. It is NOT an acceptable solution.

Bladteth, in the mean time I would suggest removing and deleting the IDT driver and rebooting. Windows will install the generic driver which doesn't have the issue. Again this is not an acceptable solution as the Wavesmaxx audio that was advertised with the system is then gone.

 

I have already tried that. No dice. The screeching is there as soon as OS starts to load, even before installing any sound driver. Speaking of which, I tried IDT and generic MS with no luck. I have heard that in some cases the latter helps, but only stereo speakers are supported and subwoofer is simply disabled. Poor workaround, if you ask me.

 

Well, i just noticed the SAME thing... and re-installing quickset didn't do anything either... So i guess i am stuck at same place, the wavemaxx button works, the user custom button also works... but the 1st button that should be opening the windows mobility center, doesn't work... it's lighting up when i press it, but pressing it does nothing... (beside lit the key).

Hope there's a solution for this somewhere....

 

Let's face it, Dell failed on what could've been an awesome system. Hopefully a new 17" XPS is in the works.

 

hhhmmmm. my system works just awesome.

super fast CPU
super fast RAM
super fast cache = smart writing/reading
super good GPU.............playing BF3 in 1080p with good fps (thats just WOW, for a laptop)
super great screen (one of the best TN screen i ever played with)
BIG storage (2 x 750GB)
great backlit keyboard (vostro 3750)

all this for £1000...........thats a great system for me


and IF you have hardware failure.......FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST CALL DELL AND THEY WILL SEND A TECH GUY AND REPLACE THAT HARDWARE....end of story. (and if its software issues...just call them anyway....they help you)


solution for sound crackling:

1. remove Mcafee and reinstall IDT...(it worked 100% for me...i use NOD32 as anti virus)

2. i read some guys have sound crackling in just the web browser. (youtube, etc)........
solution: use Firefox or Chrome.....and update to latest Adobe FLASH
(dont use Explorer..its crap...always been)

 

Is the sound crackling issue on every 17r or just some systems .??

Also is it a hardware issue or a simple driver issue . Please reply ..

 

I don't have nor have i had any sound problem with my 7720 since day 1.

No crackling sound at all. Just amazing sound quality for a laptop.

 

745MHz. But with turbo boost up to 835MHz, but since turbo boost is bugged and doesn't always kick in, I'd say 745MHz.

 

Okay , so is the Turbo boost bugged by dell or what .? Is it a BIOS issue .? Can we expect a fix to it .??

Also, what if we manually overclock the GPU .?

 

I jinxed it. My Mobility center button doesn't work anymore (the 1st button)
I wonder if it is related to the upgrade to A08 bios?

 

Same here, doesn't work anymore... but that is a short problem as you can get that same mobiliy with the WINDOWS-X key combination.

I also, flashed A08 bios... and i can't downgrade to A01 or A03, says bios layout error... I proceeded with a reflash of A08... and same thing... Can anyone with a bios prior to A08 confirms that the Quickset settings key is working by opening the windows mobility settings window?

 

I have got A09 BIOS and the button does not work neither. Lights up, but that is it.

 

agree........the sound quality is awesome

ps.....im glad i stayed with BIOS A03.....this A08 is not 100% good.

 

Sooo can one revert to an original bios after installing the new version, and how does one get hold of the old version?

I purchased one with i7+32gb msata+1 tb+ non 3d matte screen. Can anyone give me a service tag which matches this config? It has not yet been delivered, but I want to download the updated drivers.

 

You don't need the service tag, just need to head over to dell website and select by model instead of by service tag...

 

I think you answered your question. Dell know exactly what they are doing. 17R SE could have been awesome, but if it was any better than it is, nobody would buy XPS line laptops.

 

i have 2 different xps (m1710 & sxps 16) and now my 7720...............i wouldn't go for a xps 17..........to pricey and i dont think DELL will go over the gt650 anyway...they have their Alienware for that.

i think 7720 is the best laptop in the £1000 range.

 

A few people around the internets already confirmed that the 17'' XPS line is discontinued, no new models. I've asked DELL support and received the same answer, about a month ago. The 17r SE line is mean as the XPS replacement, filling the gap between the 17R and the Alienware range.

 

Hey bladeth, I had the exact same issue with the subwoofer, it's definitely a hardware issue, as you said, the noise starts as soon as you power on, no drivers get loaded at that stage.

It's been an issue that occurs a lot, have a quick google, a couple of threads on this very issue are out there. Dell support is aware of it as well, as soon as I described the issue, they immediately knew what I was talking about. You'll need to give them a call, the only fix they have is to replace the motherboard and the PSU brick (my bet is it's a bad batch of motherboards).

 

I can confirm that on my A03 laptop, the mobility button works ok. I guess it's no big deal if the A08 breaks this functionality, the windows key combo should still work fine...however, more worring is not being able to upgrade or downgrade from A08. Can anyone else confirm this is the case?

 

Ah I never realised that the sub was disabled. So the problem is the subwoofer then. Well sh*t! No time this week but I'll be on to Dell first thing next week.

I also let the Dell rep who seems to be around here know about the problems. I'm sure they're aware of them already but he said he would "let the research team know about the problems in this thread" and "based on the number of posts regarding a same issue we will work on that and try to get it resolved by releasing an update".

Probably nothing new there, just said I'd let people know

 

My 17R SE is going back to the factory. Since it was a refurb, they could not replace it, and I will be getting full refund.

Hmm, I have just discovered that when you squeeze the lower left corner, where the primary HDD bay is located, the hiss/crackling diminishes. With certain force, the noise disappears completely, but the speakers still work fine. Weird!

 

well. sometimes you get a model with some issues.............often it can be fixed...........then you have a awesome multimedia/gaming laptop with great sound and screen

 

I am sure i will be able to upgrade from A08... the thing is that i can't DOWNgrade to A03... or any other bios... at least, with Dell utility... so i will remain on A08 for now... i heard some people have A09... so there is still hope.

 

Hi everyone. I received my laptop today and it seems to be working well so far. I've searched many pages back in this thread but I couldn't find the answer to setting the CPU to 99% for gaming purposes. How do you do it? Please help, thanks!

 

Hi Guys,

I have one hardware question. I read somewhere that the processor / heat sink assembly is very complex and difficult to get to in our laptop.

In case of my XPS M1530, I generally open my laptop every few months and clean out a Cake of dust blocking the heat sink and fan assembly, which reduces the temperatures hugely. For this I need to open ~6 screws externally and 5 in the heat sink assembly.

Is this same procedure possible in 17R, and difficult is it? Also, how difficult is it to replace the processor's thermal paste? Would it void warranty if I do that?

 

From what I've seen, the fan intake on this model is right under the keyboard. Remove the keyboard and you'll have pretty good access to the fan for cleaning purposes.

Removing the whole heatsink assembly to reapply thermal paste is much more involved, you have to dismantle the whole laptop and take out the motherboard. The owner's manual on Dell's website has a comprehensive how-to, including pictures of where the individual screws are, what order to remove the individual parts, etc.

Not sure about the warranty, but taking apart the whole laptop is probably frowned upon by Dell... Then again, how would they know you've done it, if you don't leave any obvious damage/marks...

 

Hi
I previously had an Xps M 1530. I still have the remote control that came with it. Can someone guide me to use that remote with my 17R S.E..??

 

Well, im fairly certain that the M1530 remote uses IR(Infrared) technology(same as TV remote) and the 17 S.E. doesnt have an IR sensor so it shouldnt work at all and there will never be a way to make it work unless you buy some sort of IR to USB adapter or something of that sort. The remote was mediocre at best and thats probably why they didnt include IR sensors or remotes on the 17 S.E. line.

 

Can someone please post Gaming benchmarks for the inspiron 17r 7720 .?
Benchmarks for games like Battlefield 3 / Max Payne 3 /Skyrim etc would be really appreciated ...

Also does the GPU boost bug really affect gaming .?

 

I controll media player, tv and media center with a remote controll on my 7720. I use a usb tv stick with remote controll which give me full access on media center, etc, etc. Very nice

Ps. If you buy one. Choose DVB. Then its fully compatible.
.............
I gave put up bf3 benchmarks many times (play bf3 a lot)

1920x1080. High/medium settings. SSAO ON. VSYNC OFF. fps: 35-40

 

I've seen a few folks talk about the 99% CPU trick for better gaming. Can someone please tell me how this is done? Thanks in advance!

 

Its very easy. Go to power settings. (I use high). Then set CPU performance att 99%. Then the CPU never reach + 3ghz( turbo mode) and get cooler

 

I purchased the 17R S.E with core i5, and i notice the machine running generally on the hotter side(though no throttling) when I game on it(no extreme settings, just high). It did ship with a 90 W adapter. From what i gathered, the 90W supply should ideally be ok for my config, at reasonable loads.Should I go on buy a 130 W adapter to ensure cooler temps , or is the 99% trick ideal for me? Or are there any BIOS updates which will miraculously make things better?

 

99% trick should insure that you get the GPU boosting working which it should translate in better FPS in games.
Regarding the power adapter, after noticing my own 90w adapter getting rather hot after several hours of gaming, I went out and got the 130W slim adapter - just to be on the safe side.
The blue light is quite distracting, but you get used to it after a while.
I keep the 90w adapter in the backpack, although my 7720 didn't saw much traveling.