Dell Studio 1557

I'm using the ATi driver supplied by the Dell website under W7-64bit section

 

Ok so we've had a little play tonight....

My best mate has had his 1557 for about 3 weeks now and it's out of the box standard with the 720QM, 4Gb RAM, ATi 4570 with 1366x768 WLED screen. He also has an SDHC 32Gb memory card running in readyboost but that will prolly make little or no difference!

All screenshots taken after running conditions for 5 minutes on mains power with full battery and screen on lowest brightness setting. WiFi and bluetooth are switched on as is backlit keyboard. As you can see from the shots W7 is running in full aero mode with everything set at best quality settings.


Test 1:


This is with PowerPlay switched OFF

Test 2:


This is with PowerPlay switched MAXIMIZE BATTERY

Test 3:


This is with PowerPlay switched MAXIMIZE PERFORMANCE


The graphics driver is the latest Dell supplied driver, W7 is fully updated and the machine is running A03 BIOS. No other applications were being run other than background stuff as normal.

The screenshots clearly show that the chip with PowerPlay switched off does indeed run quite hot, however with PowerPlay switched to increase battery life the temperatures fell quite a bit and with it switched to increase performance there is a marked difference in the FPS!!!

Overall I would say the A03 update is worthwhile

 

1) Can Studio 1557 plays bluray video smoothly through external monitor at 1920 x 1080?

2) I understand Studio 1557 can supports two external monitors simultaneously with notebook display blank (off). I want to know whehter both external monitors can be set at 1920x1080 and run smoothly?

Thanks.

 

sorry for the autoquotation, has anyone an answer for this?

is that overheating issue the only problem of this notebook?

 

Why aren't you stressing the CPU with it?

Also the pics are to small I cant read them.

 

Ok guys, I found solution for my problem on one of russian forums.
So if somebody will have the same problem you will need to do this...

Step 1: Right mouse click on Desktop > Personalization > Display > Display resolution - change resolution to lower > Apply
Step 2: Start ATI Catalyst Control Center™ > Graphics > Desktops and Displays > Right mouse click on display in left-bottom corner > Configure > Change "Centered" to "Full screen" > Apply.

That's all! After this steps everything is working right.

 

Ok question
I currently have a DELL XPS 1530, 2.1 ghz core2duo, with 8600gt 256mb.
I was thinking of giving this laptop to my girlfriend and buying this Studio 15, with Core i7 and ATI card with 512mb, question: is it worth it? I mean can I expect a little better performance on this Studio 15 in games for example versus my old hag xps 1530?

 

ok im confused why do some people have a high graphics rating?

i updated to A03 and now i get 5.0 before i had 4.9, however others had 5.0 before hand and now 5.3 ???? and some people just had 4.9 like me and then upped to A03 and still have 4.9? can anyone shed some light on this?

furthermore i have the latest dell drivers and there are none on the radeon site unless you want beta's from 9/9

 

Er.... Zoom in?!?! I can read them fine, I can upload them bigger if you prefer or go to specsavers lol

The previous screenshots you posted showed the desktop running with pretty much nothing stressing the CPU other than the ATiTool 3D test image running which is why the images I posted show the same

For your benefit and for curiosity we ran another little test just now and here are the results with different conditions:

Tests 1 & 2:

Everest CPU stressing, ATiTool 3D test running as per screenshot. Ambient temperature of room is around 22 degrees....

Test 1 - This is with PowerPlay ON


Test 2 - This is with PowerPlay OFF


Tests 3 & 4:

FurMark running in a small 640x480 window with MSAAx4 as per screenshot. Ambient room temperature still around 22 degrees....

Test 3 - This is with PowerPlay ON


Test 4 - This is with PowerPlay OFF



Anything else??

PS. I even uploaded bigger screenshots for you in case you still haven't been to specsavers ;-)

 

It could be to do with display settings, temperature of the computer when the benchmark is running, antivirus slowing benchmark down.... All sorts!!

 

no one can answer me?

 

For the record I have had no power issues using the 90w power brick and I have stressed the 1557 pretty good.

 

I think something is amiss with my power adapter already (after owning the laptop for only 24 hours). The AC adapter has started making a high-pitched, random, insect-like "chirping" or "clicking" noise. When I put my ear up to it, I can also hear a low-pitched humming or buzzing noise.

The power adapter is fairly warm but not terribly warm. It is not too hot to press against my hand. The laptop also is not terribly warm under heavy load.. I have used it in my lap with no problem. However the AC Adapter noise concerns me. If it was a steady noise then OK maybe that could be normal, but it is a very random noise.

I've heard that this laptop can draw 92w under full load. (45w for the i7 processor alone). I really think that think that the 90w adapter provided with this laptop is insufficient for continuous use. It stresses the components too much. I haven't called Dell yet about it but I plan to. I spent too much money on this laptop to accept a substandard ac adapter. Compared to the laptop this thing is very cheap, and Dell should provide a properly spec'ed one.

 

Thanks! lots of people are testing the new XPS model with i7 processor, and they are all experiencing this throttling issue that slowdowns the processor

is something about the i7 moltiplicator that doesn't work as it should

I'm hoping this problem doesn't affect the 1557 too, because I'm going to buy one if it works correctly

 

I can't see a 2W deficit causing any performance problems!! AC adapters are rated to a certain wattage but that doesnt mean they stop at that exact power!! For instance the adapter supplied with the 1557 supplies 4.62A @ 19.5V when the input is 240V but if the input voltage fluctuates the output voltage will to very slightly.... It's all just not that exact as the imput power still goes through the laptops VRM units to ensure perfect voltage once it's inside the laptop itself!! In other words I wouldnty worry too much about it

And what overheating issues are you meaning??

I know of 6 1557's all with different specs and none of them overheat or even get close to overheating!! Check out the screenshots I posted an hour or so ago and that will show you that even with the CPU (720QM) being stressed the temperatures are very sensible!!

Mine does get slightly hotter as it has the upgraded CPU but I'm also running an SSD which uses less power so I don't know how that affects the overall system temperature.

Hope that goes some way to helping

 

yes, thanks a lot!!! finally a good news!

one of my major worries is about the problem I told two posts before

so I seem to be getting the idea that no one experienced this on a 1557 (with i7), right?
(talking about this http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=437800 , http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=439546 )

 

The 2nd thread you quoted there is irrelevant, that's talking about the GPU throttling and I don't think anyone has issues with that on the 1557! This laptop is NOT designed for gaming anyway!!!!

The thread about the 90W power supply is interesting, however I still don't think that's as much of an issue with the 1557 as the power requirements for this laptop are lower than for the XPS.

 

perfect!! I was quite worried about these issues...thank you very very much!!

 

so what scores do you get for graphics?

 

Wo! my studio just arrived, 1 day early!

 

I found this review on a german website..here talks about CPU throttling issue, too (even if is a Studio 17 review)

http://translate.google.it/translat...-core-i7-nkrt-1066/3&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

 

Windows experience index straight out of the box:

CPU: 7.0
RAM: 7.3
Graphics: 4.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.2
Harddrive: 5.9

standard?

 

I have:

CPU: 6.9
RAM: 7.4
Graphics: 4.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.2
Harddrive: 5.9

Got mine for almost 2 months now

 

CPU: 6.9
RAM: 7.4
Graphics: 5.0
Gaming Graphics: 6.2
Harddrive: 5.9

why do they vary?

 

I found it interesting that the DPI in windows was set to 120% as standard, can't imagine it's standard for a clean win7 install?

 

Nope it doesn't - take a look at the image below, it even says 100% is the default:

 

My recived my DELL Studio 1557 on Last Week Working Fine
I did a clean installation of Windows 7
My Rating are
CPU: 7.0
RAM: 7.4
Graphics: 4.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.3
Harddrive: 5.9

 

Well, it was set to 125% on my computer when I first booted it, thought the resolution was wrong but it was set to 1920x1080, so I checked the DPI.
Either something went wrong when they installed windows on my machine or DELL thinks text looks to small on a 1080p screen

 

I wasn't doubting you - I was just saying that on a clean install it is not set to 120%.

 

I feel too lazy to do a clean install, and it feels like there aren't much bloatware so I'll just stick to this

 

i did a clean install, but no real noticeable difference, just uninstall what you dont need, do msconfig to and turn off all the start up junk

 

Clean Installation help the performance of the system and the system run cooler that before.

 

First impressions:
Screen: Perfect size, even with my bad sight I can easily play 9 tables of poker
Keyboard: Firm, quite loud, I really like it.
Heat: Haven't really pushed it, but doing my main tasks it doesn't get hot, just slightly warm
Noise: It is "quite loud" or I should say hearable, the fans seems to be on all the time but I do prefer it to be louder and cooler.
Speed: Since I haven't pushed it I can't really tell, but doesn't feel slower than my 3ghz desktop.

Been struggeling with the decision if I should do a clean install, but I think I'll go with the old saying "don't try to fix what isn't broken". Everything seems to be working fine, I just uninstalled Norton antivirus and some DELL online backup things.

 

Hey Spetzje.

Did you manage to clear up this issue after the new drivers/A03 update?

I was having the exact same problem with the slowdown/crashing while watching streaming video.

Also, I have an issue where sometimes while watching streaming video, all of a sudden, my pointer will triple in size, and I can't get it back to the normal size without restarting.

Thanks,

Dave

 

I updated my BIOS to A03, and rolled back the drivers to the ones on the Dell support page. The crashes kept continuing after I installed the latest drivers from the ATI homepage (with help of modding tool), so I thought let's give Dell's drivers another try..

It's been two days now and no crashes so far.. I used to have 'm like once in two days.

There is no problem when gaming btw.. Only with playing video's, incl. streaming.

Maybe the sound card driver is malfunctioning? who knows..

 

I'll be monitoring this thread closely to see if you have any more issues.

I tried the W7 "beta" drivers listed on the ATI site for Mobility Radeon 4570, but I could not actually get the driver on the card updated to 8.65, as the highest version that I could get installed was 8.634.

I uninstalled all of the catalyst stuff, and just left the 8.634 driver on, and updated to A03. The unit does seem to get hotter, but no crashes yet.

I'll keep you posted.

Dave

 

I just updated my BIOS to A03 and tested with 3dmark06.

before flashing: 3043
before flashing with external coolpad: 3820

after flashing: 3834
after flashing with external coolpad: 3834

so yes, graphics performance has gotten a real boost . I noticed the clock speed changed constantly between full speed en 280Mhz with the A02 bios. With the external coolpad the laptop stays cool enough and doesn't underclock.

With the A03 bios I didn't notice any underclocking even without the external coolpad, however I do suspect that after gaming for longer periods (say some hours) underclocking may still occur. Temperatures reached 90° Celsius while running 3dmark06.

 

I just tested my system with 3DMark06:

3DMarks: 3818
CPU Score: 3049

Are you using the ATI driver provided by Dell support page?

What are your Windows Experience Index ratings?

Oh, and what external coolpad are you using?

 

hmm. Im using the 9.11 driver (modded) and score 4296

http://service.futuremark.com/home.action;jsessionid=75A974499E725F6C9B3ECBF1475DAD92

 

Hello All

Wonder if anyone can help.

If I tilt my Dell to the right e.g. lying on floor, in bed any open window/menu begins to automatically 'self-scroll' downwards. If I level the Dell i.e. completely flat the self scrolling stops immediatley! Weird!

Any suggestions greatfully received!

Thanks

Tim

New Dell Studio 1557, Windows 7 Pro.

 

that shoul'd be the score according to this page http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4570.13885.0.html

 

Windows update has "updated" your STM Motion Sensor driver to a version which is incompatible with the hardware in the 1557.

Go to the dell site, select support and go to drivers home. Input your service tag and then select your OS for the correct drivers to be displayed.

Under system utilities you will find adriver for the DE351DL motion sensor, download it.

Under your device manager find the STM Motion sensor and uninstall the device to remove the driver that windows update installed, now find the downloaded package and just run it

 

I've had the giant pointer issue a couple times on mine!! I traced it back to Flash player being the issue, it was causing an instability through the graphics driver. With the official Dell driver and latest version of Flash installed the problem was resolved

 

Tried this AND IT WORKS!!!!

According to my device manager the "updated" STM Motion Sensor driver wasn't anywhere to be seen so I downloaded and installed the driver you pointed me to on the Dell website.

It's now visible in my device manager and is called ST Micro Accelerometer. Think the original driver was called something like "ST ScreenDetector"

Spent over an hour on the 'phone to Dell yesterday about this with no luck.

Thans very, very much J. as this was driving me mad

Tim

 

anyone else found their 1557 freezes up hard sometimes after about an hour of heavy usage? am afraid it could be due to overheating but i would like to think it would throttle things rather than crash them...

 

I've experienced some serious lock ups after resuming from standby/sleep but that's it.... Temperatures have never been anywhere near high enough to cause this, I think it's a problem with the W7 installation itself!! I've had loads of experimental software on mine though so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the cause.... I'm going to do a fresh install over xmas

 

Just tested the battery, got about 2h45min playing poker for 2h surfing for 30min, ideling 15. Powersetttings was set to "Dell" and brightness 0.

Is there any way to make it last even longer?

Had it in my lap and must say im really happy about the heat, didn't get warm at all.

 

I've had mine lock up a few times over the last few weeks, wasn't running so hot, I have no idea what's causing it.

On another forum it's suggested it maybe associated with having an external device connected via USB: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19303691.aspx

I must say that I have only had it freeze while a USB device has been connected...

 

Only time it freezed for me was while playing a youtube video while on battery, found some post further back how to fix this, haven't tested it yet though. I haven't used any application or played any games that utilizes 3D so maybe I'll see problems further on.

 

Turn off bluetooth and wireless if you are not using; set the power setting to power saver rather than Dell recommended, and ensure this also switches GPU to power saver.

Set your HDD to go to sleep quite quickly, say 10 minutes.

I'm sure there are other ways, but in reality this notebook is not about long battery life.