Dell XPS M1730: SLI, Penryn, and Overclocking
by Jarred Walton on February 28, 2008 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Gaming Performance - Resolution Scaling
We decided to break out the resolution scaling charts from previous pages and focus solely on the Dell XPS M1730 in order to keep the graphs readable. We tested that 1440x900, 1680x1050, and 1920x1200 with SLI enabled, using both the official driver and the current 174.20 beta driver.
Quite a few games appear to be CPU limited, particularly at lower resolutions. There's no real need to run at lower resolutions with the system, however, with the possible exception of Crysis at higher quality settings. Most of the titles we tested perform almost identically with either driver version, but there are several titles at show dramatic improvements with the beta driver. We also see a couple of titles that drop in performance, but we notified NVIDIA and they are looking to correct the situation. (That's why they're beta drivers, right?) Dell told us they hope to have updated drivers available on their website sometime in the next couple of weeks.
While we're on the subject of drivers, we should also talk about Dell's rapid driver approval program for their gaming notebooks. Normally, any laptop drivers go through an extensive testing and evaluation process before an OEM will post them on their website. Looking at the above performance improvements in games like Bioshock, World in Conflict, and Crysis should make it clear how important drivers are when it comes to gaming - particularly when SLI is involved. Rather than going through the entire driver approval process, Dell's has a rapid deployment group for their XPS notebooks with the goal of posting beta drivers on a more frequent basis.
NVIDIA is also working to release quarterly driver updates for participating gaming notebooks, including Dell's XPS line. That's excellent news, as it provides users of older gaming notebooks that are no longer supported by the manufacturer a viable source for new drivers. Sure, you can always try hacked drivers from places like LaptopVideo2Go.com, but frequently hacked drivers don't perform as well as officially sanctioned drivers - especially on SLI setups. Case in point: the 174.20 drivers from LV2Go run on a different notebook were frequently up to 50% slower than the 167.46 drivers that shipped with the notebook.
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mark3450 - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
This is a near perfect computer for me. I'm always near a plug at a friends house or traveling for work, and in those places I want my machine to be as powerfule as possible. I bought and still use one of the original XPS laptops, and I've been happy with it. It is however getting near time to upgrade.One drawback I see however is that dell won't supply it with Vista64, which is disappointing as I'd defiantely get this beast with 4Gb and want to make full use of it. I've been using Vista64 on my gaming desktop for several months and have been very pleased with it. I'm sure Dell just doesn't want to deal with 2 sets of drivers, but Vista64 is the future and they should support it on a machine like this.
JarredWalton - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
Dell did ship me 2x2GB of RAM for additional testing, but I didn't get time to look at that (yet). 32-bit is still better for a lot of people, and I think the real inflection point is going to be when we start moving to 8GB systems. 64-bit can address all 4GB of memory without the need to split things into application and OS memory spaces, but usually it doesn't *need* it.I know Dell is starting to offer 64-bit as an option on some other systems, and I'd imagine down the road they'll have 64-bit for the M1730 (or perhaps the successor). Drivers are just so critical and notebooks don't get updated quite as often, so you really are living on the bleeding edge with SLI and Vista-64 right now. It's possible, of course, and in fact I'm sure you could install Vista-64 on the system on your own; Dell just isn't ready to support that yet.
mark3450 - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
The problem with installing my own Vista64 OS, aside from the cost, is that it's likely impossible to get NVIDIA drivers for it. I currently own an XPS/inspiron Gen2 and anything but the blessed drivers from Dell crash the machine, and it doesn't even have SLI.JarredWalton - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
Have you checked with NVIDIA? My understanding is that they now have quarterly driver updates that apply to various gaming notebooks, so even if Dell (or someone else) has abandoned an older model laptop, you might not be totally out of luck. If that does work, let me know as well - I'm certainly curious about it. The last driver release was supposedly just a couple months ago, and it should cover up through 8700M notebooks. (Dell XPS is supposed to be one of the participating vendors, so it's still voluntary, but most of the gaming notebook companies hopefully understand the importance of drivers and agreed to allow "reference" drivers from NVIDIA to work for certain systems.)Regarding Vista-64, again the above may offer a solution.
strafejumper - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
this is what i meani only use desktops my whole life so i don't know much about laptops but - for $3500 i would want to be able to watch a 120 minute dvd, and this thing can only make it through 60 mins... also can only browse the web for 60 mins, justdon't get this.
maybe i had the idea that the appeal of the laptop was you are free from outlets and wires and etc. but with these even for $3500 you still have to be near a plug to watch a dvd
7Enigma - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
The purpose is to have the power of a desktop with the portability of a laptop. NOT that you can have a 5 (heck 2) hour portable laptop. As the author mentioned, it really is a niche product. You want to be able to take your screaming desktop pc from home to work or to a friends house, not on the plane/train/automobile that a typical notebook computer is used for. If I had oodles of cash and went to lan parties frequently, this would be the perfect computer. And forget the loud fans, if you are gaming on it and need the overclocked performance, I'd be playing the games with headphones!Put simply, this is the 10lb desktop computer.
IvanAndreevich - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
Hey guys, you might want to blur out the serial number on that COA sticker on the bottom.JarredWalton - Saturday, March 1, 2008 - link
Ooops... yeah, forgot to do that. :|legoman666 - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
Thanks OP, in for 3!crimson117 - Thursday, February 28, 2008 - link
Jarred - here's some advice:Find a woman who thinks it'd be romantic to buy his and hers M1730's :)