Dell Inspiron 9400 With Intel Duo Core Available (specs)

How did they void their warranty(specifically)?
CCBR01: What is the difference between sp2 and standard xp pro? For some reason they are sending me the sp2 and I don't understand the diff.

To those that have their 9400/e1705's, have you checked temps while overclocking and multi tasking?

update* shipped today, will arrive sometime next week. I, too, can't wait

 

My 9400 should *finally* get here today. Dual Core goodness. I can't wait to get it here so I can run benchmarks on it and set it up to dual boot.

Should be interesting to see if my linux distro compiles correctly.

 

SP2 ==service pack 2.

A service pack contains patches for the winXP up to the point of release. However, SP2 actually got some major security updates/features ...like The DEP i was talking about earlier (a system designed to prevent buffer overruns by locking memory), got an IE update ...some security settings were turned on by default...and a greatly improved firewall.

bottom line: Be glad they gave you win XP service pack 2

Edit: Sly2k: "Should be interesting to see if my linux distro compiles correctly" oooo, check to see if a usb device drains your battery (up to an hour faster drain). That way we can see if it really is a win XP problem...or, more related to the core DUO cpu or chipset. (i tend to think it may be hardware...since Toms hardware states both MS and Intel knew about this problem from JULY. If they coulda fixed it easily, they would have)

 

its becoming more and more noticable. thought i might be able to ignore it but i think i'll be calling dell about the light leakage... other than that i'm happy as a pig in...

 

My coworker's 9400 also has pretty horrible light leakage. He doesn't care but I think it'll bother me a bit. Don't count on dell to do anything about it though. We complained about the 9300s light leakage also and they said it didn't cause problems with the laptops functionality so they didn't plan on fixing it.

 

thats piss poor seeing the kind of $$$ we're putting down...

on another note, i've never had a notebook before and i was looking for info on the sound card in the system info where i noticed there are options for output, up to 7.1. so i'm wondering if i have to buy a external card or if i can find an adapter to plug into. i was going to buy the audigy 2 zs but if i can just get a headphone jack adapter even better.:budget:

 

"inclimate weather delay" from Purolator. Delivery delayed until tomorrow. They're telling me the TransCanada Highway was closed into Kamloops yesterday. Yeah right, that would be big news around here and I didn't hear a thing. Anyone else on the board happen to be from Kamloops area and have a comment?

I swear I have the worst luck. Tomorrow I will be out all day for a funeral so of course they will try to deliver it then. Purolator didn't have a local number for the depot for me to call them even.

My oh my, sucks to be me.

 

It's no picnic over here either, flames

They also say the east coast is experiencing bad weather that's affecting deliveries. Neither one affects me, but my laptop is still "in transit in US". What's funny/depressing is that I ordered a keyboard/mouse, external harddrive, and snap-on cover for the laptop on Tuesday and the keyboard was delivered Wednesday, the harddrive today, and the snap-on cover will be tomorrow.

I'll be calling purolator/dell later to see what's up with my long-awaited lappy.

Looks like opposed to "first in Canada", it'll be more like "last in Canada".

P.S. Anyone try hooking up more than one monitor? Think it's possible to have 4 total (Built-in, one on DVI, one on VGA and one on Svideo???)

 

I got the dual screens set up...pretty cool ey?

I can watch a movie on one screen, while using photoshop or surfing the net on the other

 

very sweet!

 

Overclocked she gets pretty hot... the core of the gpu according to my mobile extreme driver is around 68-70C. Core theshhold temp is supposed to be 95C. So she warms up quite a bit when running things like 3dmark. Idle it stays around 63C

 

Well - the guy at Purolator I talked to doesn't know what he's saying because now the website is updated and says it's in Victoria on the delivery truck so I WILL GET THEM TODAY!!

I've got the following ready to install: Fear, COD2, RCT3 (+Soaked, Wild exp), Civ4, Half Life2 and Far Cry.

Exciting. Don't know how much work I will get done today!

 

Does the laptop case get hot at all anywhere that you've noticed?

 

I'm waiting for mine to show up today too Flames. Waiting is the hardest part! Got the mobileforce drivers downloaded, 3dmark05, and fraps. So as soon as I get the bloatware off and the new drivers on, I can put on some games and see what it'll do. I'l try and get some fraps shots of BF2 or Doom3, and maybe a couple from WoW or Lineage2.

 

You overclocking your video card. That is voiding warranty. Dell, didn't give you the option to overclock, but you did whereas voiding warranty. But like I said, add some arctic silver to the gpu. The temps should come down a bit, so you can overclock some more. ( http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm) here is the product info.

 

Ive had mine on for a few hours now, the actual laptop itself is not hot (the part where you put your hands when you type). The base of the system is quite warm however.

 

Hey Guys,

I have been monitoring this forum for a while, I try to put input in where I can...since I am a I9300 owner. As far as temps on the bottom of the computer go...you can lower them by using this laptop cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16834999336

It is loud, but does the job...it dropped my temps between 7C-10C for almost everything. Just a thought. Especially since the RAM doesn't have a fan or much airflow under the comp.

Edit: Forgot to add that they system hangs about 1/2 inch off each side of the cooler...right and left side. Doesn't affect anything though. CPU and GPU get more are from underneath because of the angle.

 

haai there
I'm from belgium a smaal country somewhere in europe. I've ordered a 9400 a few days ago I hope i will get him fast but if it takes so long to deliver a notebook in canada what will it be to deliver to belgium??? will they even find belgium? So I ws wondering what I will do when he arrives, should I install the non-dell drivers? I study architecture and will use the notebook for programs as cad lightwave 3ds and also for gaming...
and I have also ordered the carbon fibre look does anyone have it and what do you think about it?
grtz

 

Okay, got mine!!!! Can anyone post a list of what software to remove from Add/Remove Software. I'm not sure what I need and don't have time to do a rebuild for a few days...?

 

Thanks for the info

 

Well, the european Dells are assembled in Ireland, so don't worry, it won't take very long. It took a week for me to get mine from when i ordered it, and i live in Sweden.

EDIT

And yes, i found a "free" Nero on my favourite website, guess you know which one i mean

Also i installed COD2 today and i thought it worked nicely. Didn't try on the highest pssible settigns, but i think i went up to 1600x1200 or something and it worked fine. But the touchpad isn't very first-person-shooterisch Hoping to get my Copperhead tomorrow so i can try it out for real.

 

Well, it's finally made it across the border. I will be getting it tomorrow. For those that are interested and/or for future reference, here's a breakdown of my shipping durations (to Barrie, ON, just north of Toronto):

Dell i9400: Ordered Jan 17, Re-ordered Jan 18 (don't know why), Shipped Jan 28 (from Texas), Arrived (will arrive) Feb 3
Dell 1100 printer: Ordered Jan 17, Shipped Jan 24 (from somewhere in US), Arrived Jan 26
Mouse/Keyboard: Ordered Jan 31, Shipped Feb 1 (from Mississauga), Arrived Feb 1
External Drive: Ordered Jan 31, Shipped Feb 1 (from ?), Arrived Feb 2 (now awaiting at Depot)
Snap-on cover: Ordered Jan 31, Shipped Feb 2 (from ?), Arriving ? (scheduled for Feb 3)

Well, that should end my ordeal. I will post the aforementioned pics, benchmarks, etc once I have 'em.

 

ccbr01:
"You overclocking your video card. That is voiding warranty"

it is not overclocked ..the part is rated at 400.

Again, Dell is underclocking the GPU with their drivers.


EDIT: Where is the review of the 9400 from this site? it has been 2 weeks since i predicted it would appear and that was based on the Moderator's "soon" comment.

 

But from a Dell perspective, you overclocked when you pushed the radio button "Auto Overclocking or Manual Overclocking." I know its supposed to go up to 400mhz but from a Dell perspective it is. Like Nvidia releases gpus for the desktop market. The different makers set their own clock becaus that is the optimized temp for their hardware. Makes sense?

 

nope. On the desktop the lowest clock is the rated core from nvidia or ati. 3rd parties then bundle the cards with varying cooling solutions (from stock to water cooling) and then overclock (go beyond rated core ...hence the over in overclock .).

They don't underclock it and then claim you are overclocking to get to stock..

(the manual/auto overclocking does not take into account an underclocked GPU...it just assumes you are using the utility to go beyond stock. An incorrect assumption in this case)

The only way i see this as being overclocking is if Nvidia really did fob off a bunch of GPU chips that did not make the grade of 400.

 

That could be true. Dell probably told them to create a gpu that can be a low power user and still have great power. Dell says what is good, not Nvidia.

Edit: I saw were the ramdacs are supposed to run at 400mhz, the same as the 7800gtx. I would say that you can probably get it up to the 400mhz mark, but it is going to be really hot because of the cooling system in the dell. C'mon, the 7800go has only one copper heat pipe (the same as the 6800) instead of the two that the 7800gtx does. And maybe Dell used a better thermal compound for the 7800gtx because of the higher clock speeds whereas because of the lower end status of the e1705 in gaming terms, they wouldnt pay close attention to cooling. Understand? I didn't want to cause conflict. Many people asked about overclocking, and I said no because of the warranty. That's all. Sorry if I caused any mishap.

 

you are making the mistake of comparing the go7800 to the gtx as equivalant in heat profile.

Since data is somewhat lacking still...it makes sense to compare the go7800 to the 7800gt and the go 7800 gtx to the 7800 gtx (256mb version)

the 7800 gt is clocked at 400 but the gtx is clocked at 430.

but the biggest difference is that the gtx has 24 pipes and 8 vertex vs the 7800 GT's 20 pipes and 7 vertex.

So the 7800gt produces alot less heat than the gtx version (requiring a smaller cooling solution).

NO, i am still looking for an official explanation of why Dell felt compelled to underclock the go7800 to the equiv. performance of the midrange ATI x1600 video card (as demonstrated in that pcmag preview).

1 comment suggests it is to differentiate between their costly premier gaming solution... and the 9400. It is a nice conspiracy theory. But a theory that does look compelling given only our limited facts so far.

 

I would take a look at ( http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1887322,00.asp) . Basically that says the notebooks are clocked a little lower than desktops

 

indeed. i understand they will be a little lower.

but 260 from 400 is not a little

Edit: This is why i thought the max was 387 and not 400...that or defective chips This is also why i keep insisting no one has overclocked the chip yet.

Edit 2: (the safest bet is that it is 260 to save on the battery. Which means you can set it to the cards actual core. I think that is what most of us are betting on)

 

I got a blue screen from the 83.20 mobiledrivers. Some Nav_disp.dll or something was in a loop. Has anyone else tried these ones and had problems?

Which drivers do we know work with the 9400 (if any) from tweaksrus???

Please help I'm in driver hell right now...

 

If the max temp threshold is 93, what is considered safe? I'm ranging from low 60's to low 70's. Should the Fan Always On checkbox be turned on?

Are people going past the optimal settings?

I've been a little disappointed so far with what I've seen.

 

Sorry guys another question. Initially my screen resolution while at 1920 x 1200 displayed programs much larger on screen then my computer does now with the mobileforce drivers. Still 1920 x 1200 but everything is so much smaller. My wife has not changed hers at all yet (we both got one) and so I can easily compare and see hers is much "bigger" while in that resolution. What gives?

 

from fredrikandersson back around page 42



Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Lax?, Sweden
Posts: 63
Rep Power: 1
Re: Dell Inspiron 9400 With Intel Duo Core Available (specs)

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Yeah, got a not so exciting problem now. Parts of the textures strted flickering, gonna try to install the 81.97 drivers again, changed to the 83.20 or whatever today.

EDIT

After a change of drivers, back to the 81.97, it works better. Ran the same race and none of the earlier probs came up. So 81.97 drivers and Optimal clocks seem to be the best working set up for now for me.
__________________
Dell i9400 ? T2500 2.0GHz ? 2GB 667MHz ? 80GB 7200rpm ? 17" WUXGA ? DVD-RW ? GeForce 7800 Go @ 376/911MHz 3DMark03: 13280 3DMark05: 5910

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81.97

 

Thank God someone else is on this board right now. I read every page of this thread looking for that (i remembered reading it) but couldn't find it. I've installed these now and so far so good, at least it boots up. I've yet to try a game again. I've got the forementioned problem with screen res now though!

 

heh. you will have to wait for some1 with an actual machine to show up...no doubt they are all too busy actually using them now.

I remember a post about enlarging fonts and such...but really i can't help ya..i have only ever been on 1027*... mode

1900 res is still just a myth to me

 

I just changed my font to custom 140 or 150 I think. I like it a lot better this way.

 

Font Size or DPI Setting??

 

replies=536+ ;views=34,756+ ; rereading posts= 2+; E1705 shipped today=or so they say; try to remember everything I read just on this thread=useless

 

hehe, I like. I think 34,750 of the people viewing this thread feel the same way. Seems very difficult the last month to get much specific info on the i9400. Ahhh, things were much easier when there was just the i9300 - there really wasn't any choice in the matter, that machine for that price just rocked!

 

I got my E1705 laptop earlier this week and I am very happy with it. Ordered it last thursday and received it on Tue (Im in the US). When I placed the order on the phone I requested Windows XP Media Center with a backup CD and got it at no charge. For those of you who didn't get one it might be worth calling and asking them to send you one...if you are lucky they might send it to you for free. The CD (its actually a DVD but whatever) made it easy to reformat, erase the hidden backup partition, and get a fresh OS without all the bloat.

 

my bad. DPI setting. I use 150 percent and it turns out really nice.

 

I don't call them on the phone anymore. I use the chat. Last phone call I made, they didn't include the cd's on my order. I chatted with big complaint about not receiving email confirmation and not knowing what I was getting until it was posted on the the website. Since you can only modify your order via the email, I couldn't order the cd's. I told the guy I wanted to order but they screwed up and not me. He said "As far as the back up cd's are concerned we have stopped sending them as the software is factory installed, however, I will make an exception in your case any send you there back up cds." I got

1 Kit,Software,Overpack WXPPSP2A,Compact Diskette W/documentation,English $10.95
1 Kit,Compact Diskette,Portable Resource Cd,Inspiron,9400 $10.95
1 Compact Diskette,Software DELL-APPS,BKUP8,Inspiron $10.95

Sub-Total $32.85
Shipping $0.00
Tax $1.98
Total Price $34.83
for free
Now I just hope That my laptop is not a dud. My sister just informed me the desktop she had a ton of issues with was a dell. I remember her even going to the BBB in PA., but not that it was a dell . Only time will tell.

 

Order date 31/1/2006
delivery date 24/02/2006

aarg

 

I wold to know if any of the fans of the 9400 are ALLWAIS ON, even a small speed.
I wold a nothebook extremelly quiet!!!!

Thanks a all

Iranis.

 

Dont worry, mine was estimated to be delivered on the 20th of February...I ended up recieving it on the 31st of January...so yea, the estimations are pretty inaccurate.

 

ooh that's good news, because I really need another computer, I'm working on a project right now and the rendering time is about 3 days for a movie in 3ds so right now I have to work 3 days on a benq joybook S52, but it's a really crappy notebook for me, It's a good notebook for presentation but for grafical design it's really bad...

 

I just got my 9400 and I got a 3DMark06 score of 2110 in stock form. Then I installed the 83.20 drivers and overclocked and now I get 3123.
What scores are you getting?

 

Idon't think the fan is always on. When I first boot up I don't really hear anything. After I do some intensive applications or games, then I hear a fan kick in, but it's still pretty quiet.

As for the display.. the UWXGA... I really really like it. It does have some light leakage at the bottom of the screen, but the clarity and resolution and crispness more than make up for it. It' s like comparing a CRT monitor to a standard LCD display. The Uwxga screen is very very close to a CRT. It does have a lower Hz rating though at 60 but I don't notice any flickering.

To me it's a pretty quiet laptop... quieter than my sonata silent desktop thats for sure..

 

OK, short and to the point. My lappy is here. Haven't turned it on yet (eating dinner as I type, while it charges).

-It's heavy, but manageable (my last/only laptop was an emachines M5310 15.4")
-The "Deluxe Nylon Case" is reeeeealy good (almost XPS-ish)
-Got the NEC DVD+RW
-Got the Samsung screen
-Got the MCE OS install disc (although "dell" branded)
-Even got the SVideo adapter/breakout-box I was mentioning (outputs Svideo, Composite Video, and Coaxial Digital Audio)
-Got the MCE remote (didn't order the tuner, tho) - it's infrared (I'm used to my AIW RF remote)


That's it for now. Will supply pics/benchmarks at some point.

 

Am I the only one that got the 2002 version of MCE?? My order confirmation shows me that I should have got the 2005 edition, but my computer says I have 2002...

EDIT - Nevermind, after looking at the key on the bottom of my laptop, it says i have 2005 edition...but its weird because when I right click>properties my computer, it says I have 2002...

EDIT 2 - When I run "dxdiag" it says I have XP professional!? What the heck...