Anyone got a Dell 1730 XPS?

Metalface Mark

Metalface Mark

Metalface Mark

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Im considering buying one of these with the following spec.

2.5 penryn
4gb ram
200gb 7200rpm hard drive x 2
17" screen 1920x1200
dual 8800gtx
physx card

I just wondered how noisy they are, how hot they get (to the touch), and how people find them for gaming on?
 
I'm a happy owner :)
There was a big M1730 thread that was locked for some reason :S
EDIT: Here

Don't bother with the PhysX card unless you really want it. Extra power consumption, heat and fairly pointless considering nVidia's PhysX-on-gpu drivers!
 
Got one too. When the fans spool up to max rpm it gets a bit loud but it's probably quieter than the x360 the fans are rarely on max for long so it's not a problem. It does get really hot especially at the top of the keyboard - which can be too hot to touch. I usually have two coasters underneath the rear feet to raise it off the table helps air flow. The 8800s oc quite well.

Think the physx card is apart of the package now and can't be deselected?
 
L33 said:
I'm a happy owner :)
There was a big M1730 thread that was locked for some reason :S
EDIT: Here

Don't bother with the PhysX card unless you really want it. Extra power consumption, heat and fairly pointless considering nVidia's PhysX-on-gpu drivers!
Click to expand...

Its from the outlet, no choice but to have it im afraid.

Its £1400 inc VAT, about £600 saving off new.
 
I don't use my M1730 for anything other than folding now, but our specs are almost identical (except I have the T9500 and the PPU)

The palm rest ares stays quite cool but directly above the keyboard gets toasty (that's where the GPU's are). Gaming wise it runs everything I throw at it on max detail (for Crysis I had to back the res down to 1680x1050 otherwise later on in the game it gets choppy). The creen is very comfortable on the eyes and the keyboard is great to use (if I could replace my desktop's G15 with my M1730's keyboard, I would).

Noise wise it is a very quiet machine. I've not heared the CPU fan go to its highest setting because it has never gone over 60 :D. Depending on the game, GPU load tempratures are between 74 and 83. The GPU fan kicks in at 82 but most games don't generate that much heat. Only times I've got the GPU fan to kick in is when folding.

GPU overclocking wise (if you're interested) is very good. You get a stock clock of 500 c / 799 m / 1250 s (core/memory/shaders) on the 8800m GTX, mine will do 625 c / 925m / 1700 s but yours may do better (I remember seeing some one who got 730 core out of theirs :eek:)

EDIT: Just noticed you were looking at one with a PPU. As said, don't bother. The PPU performance really sucks and the newer nvidia drivers alow PhysX to be done on the GPU.
 
Last edited:
Senture said:
I don't use my M1730 for anything other than folding now, but our specs are almost identical (except I have the T9500 and the PPU)

The palm rest ares stays quite cool but directly above the keyboard gets toasty (that's where the GPU's are). Gaming wise it runs everything I throw at it on max detail (for Crysis I had to back the res down to 1680x1050 otherwise later on in the game it gets choppy). The creen is very comfortable on the eyes and the keyboard is great to use (if I could replace my desktop's G15 with my M1730's keyboard, I would).

Noise wise it is a very quiet machine. I've not heared the CPU fan go to its highest setting because it has never gone over 60 :D. Depending on the game, GPU load tempratures are between 74 and 83. The GPU fan kicks in at 82 but most games don't generate that much heat. Only times I've got the GPU fan to kick in is when folding.

GPU overclocking wise (if you're interested) is very good. You get a stock clock of 500 c / 799 m / 1250 s (core/memory/shaders) on the 8800m GTX, mine will do 625 c / 925m / 1700 s but yours may do better (I remember seeing some one who got 730 core out of theirs :eek:)

EDIT: Just noticed you were looking at one with a PPU. As said, don't bother. The PPU performance really sucks and the newer nvidia drivers alow PhysX to be done on the GPU.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, as i said i have ordered from the outlet and it had the ppu in it.
 
Metalface Mark said:
Im considering buying one of these with the following spec.

2.5 penryn
4gb ram
200gb 7200rpm hard drive x 2
17" screen 1920x1200
dual 8800gtx
physx card

I just wondered how noisy they are, how hot they get (to the touch), and how people find them for gaming on?
Click to expand...


I've got one with the exact same spec. The CPU fan is always quiet, once the GPU fans spin up they do become noticeable, but overall are still a lot quieter than my old desktop system and my Xbox 360 Elite. The front of the unit doesn't get warm, but the bottom does. Also, there is a constant stream of hot air coming out of the back, so you wouldn't be comfortable with it on your lap.

The system comes with the usual Dell/McAfee/Google desktop bloatware pre-installed which you can uninstall easily enough.

Gaming is great. The GPU's have roughly the same performance as a single GTX 260 or ATI 4870. SLi works in every game I've tried and even Crysis is playable at 1920 x 1200 at High settings. I have an external monitor connected to mine and games like BF2, WoW, Cod4 and Warhammer Online can even be run smoothly at 2560 x 1600 with AA on. As said before, the GPU's are very overclockable, but I run mine at stock as thats fast enough already.

£1400 is a very good price, I paid over £2k for mine, although it had a BluRay writer, Vista ultimate and upgraded warranty. The PhysX card doesn't come as standard anymore and is a £130 option. It isn't worth that, but if yours has one for free, then fair enough.

Mine is actually faster than my desktop machine (an AMD FX60 with an 8800gtx), so I never use the desktop anymore and it has been relegated to a storage cupboard.

Hope this helps.
 
Yeh it does thanks, id be using it on a table, if it was hot to touch (like my previous dell 1530 was) it made gaming very uncomfortable as the wrist pad got hot, i dont mind a bit of noise when gaming, but it annoys me if fans are spinning up and down or noisy just browsing windows.
 
The palm rest never gets hot, I can assure you that :)
While not gaming, I've never even heard the fans - in a dead silent room you'd probably just about be able to hear them, they're anything but loud. I honestly thought the fans would be loud when gaming too but they're not - even with heavily overclocked GPUs.
I use mine for, well everything from browsing to design work and programming to gaming, every day for the last 6/7 months and really could not be happier with the system.
I do occasionally use mine on my lap, I just have a flat surface to rest it on so that I don't block the fans especially if I'm gaming (one of those TV dinner trays with a bean-bag bottom works a treat).
 
Metalface Mark said:
Im considering buying one of these with the following spec.

2.5 penryn
4gb ram
200gb 7200rpm hard drive x 2
17" screen 1920x1200
dual 8800gtx
physx card

I just wondered how noisy they are, how hot they get (to the touch), and how people find them for gaming on?
Click to expand...

just been talking to a dell rep about the same spec minus the physx card as the 8800 gtx will deal with that, still umming and arriinngg about one though not because of the laptop itself more my finace situation, anyone ordered a dell laptop on there finance plan before ???
 
I ordered one with the same spec minus the Aegis Physics Card, it arrived on Wednesday 24th Sept (over a week early), and my first impressions were:

-Looks amazing, the size of the machine is quite a lot bigger than you would expect from looking at the pictures, it is fairly heavy but anyone buying this monster knows that it will be for the spec. Because of its size and weight (which in my eyes is respectable and easy to handle) the machine itself runs smoothly and very quietly, even during games the speakers work great and you do not even notice the fans running, put it this way... I complain more about the fans in my desktop.

-The reason I went for a laptop is because I moved into my new house and as a gamer, did not want to spend my life in one room (the office). Instead I wanted to enjoy my gaming everywhere in the house and as I travel around, it is easy to travel around with. This is not a machine that you want to be carrying around with you all over the place though, it is something to keep at home or take on longer trips.

- It gets hot, like any laptop would this machine will heat up. However its design is very clever and the heat is mainly at the back of the laptop where your hands will never go. The space above the top of the keyboard can get hot, but nothing close to being able to burn, if anything it is a comfortable warm feel. The heat NEVER reaches the keyboard or your palms or anywhere near the front of the laptop, even during intense gaming periods.

-The wireless card in the machine is very good, I was over at my neighbors house giving him the grand tour of my new lappy and it connected with 80% strength to my router. (Around 100 meters away).

-My prime review on this machine is the fact that it will run anything, but also allow you to do so without any hassle. I can minimize, maximize, run a separate program without any delays or loading times. Everything is incredibly smooth.

One of the best Laptops I have ever used.
 
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