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XPS: Replacement unit STILL locking up. - Page 5

post #81 of 94
4/7/04 at 6:37pm
Ok, further reading shows that some are still locking up with the BIOS fix. However, do these that are still locking up have the Catalyst drivers or the official Dell drivers? I would recommend using only the Dell drivers in conjunction with the BIOS. That's what I am using.
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post #82 of 94
4/7/04 at 6:46pm
Same here remember this bios fix was developed using Dell drivers not catalyst drivers
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post #83 of 94
4/7/04 at 7:08pm
Thread Starter 
I think Dell shouldn't target a market unless they know that market will conform to Dell's own software

Dell is in the wrong business marketing a machine to gamers if they think those gamers are going to stick with drivers that are based on old catalyst versions.
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post #84 of 94
4/8/04 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
I think Dell shouldn't target a market unless they know that market will conform to Dell's own software

Dell is in the wrong business marketing a machine to gamers if they think those gamers are going to stick with drivers that are based on old catalyst versions.
"shouldn't" heheh.. I'm pretty sure most of us understand what we're getting when we buy a DELL laptop.

If you want to configure/tweak h/w and s/w and experiment with different OS's then an ASUS notebook or something similar may be a better choice.

As far as driver updates are concerned... we are not ATI customers. DELL is ATI's customer and drivers will be supplied based on demand. Each driver/BIOS update DELL releases will cost them money. If the last driver release is working with no or minimal issues then an update may not be warranted.

Laptops don't really cater to the enthusiast market yet which is what you are if you want to constantly update drivers and try test different things with your configuration.. PC is a better choice for the enthusiast.
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post #85 of 94
4/8/04 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jap_
"shouldn't" heheh.. I'm pretty sure most of us understand what we're getting when we buy a DELL laptop.

If you want to configure/tweak h/w and s/w and experiment with different OS's then an ASUS notebook or something similar may be a better choice.

As far as driver updates are concerned... we are not ATI customers. DELL is ATI's customer and drivers will be supplied based on demand. Each driver/BIOS update DELL releases will cost them money. If the last driver release is working with no or minimal issues then an update may not be warranted.

Laptops don't really cater to the enthusiast market yet which is what you are if you want to constantly update drivers and try test different things with your configuration.. PC is a better choice for the enthusiast.
Then I think you missed Dell's entire point with the Inspiron XPS. It is TARGETED DIRECTLY AT THE ENTHUSIAST/GAMER MARKET!
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post #86 of 94
4/8/04 at 3:24pm
You must use your best judgement then, it is just marketing... and its DELL!

Its no different from the Dimension XPS which targeted "enthusiast" market.... right....

I bought one just to check out M9700 capabilities.. I'm very impressed. I guess i understand what to expect and what not to.
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post #87 of 94
4/8/04 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
Well, regardless, it's not a valid excuse for Dell either way. Machines are still locking up in games, the newest bios doesn't completely fix it, and that's even when people leave 'em stock.

Yes, I know it's Dell, but if they're going to target a market, they should be prepared to support that market.
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post #88 of 94
4/8/04 at 4:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
Yes, I know it's Dell, but if they're going to target a market, they should be prepared to support that market.
Agreed. But, unfortunately this is not how these big corporations operate. Nor will they change to better support their customers. Whatever marketing they can use to pull in as many customers as possible they will do it. And, they won't satisfy all of them but they still got their monies!
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post #89 of 94
4/8/04 at 4:49pm
As for the stability issues, this is very unfortunate for you and anyone else who is experiencing this behavior. I am sure that this is system specific and not a design flaw.... especially not a design flaw in the graphics chip!

Could be due to thermal problems, timing issues with memory, I865 chipset and VPU or defieciencies in one of the mentioned components.

So far I've not experienced any lock ups or other negative system behavior. I hope that it continues this way. Good luck to you.
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post #90 of 94
4/8/04 at 5:46pm
From what I have heard, the XPS issues are not just related to the ATi GPU...

for instance, the 865PE chipset was never meant to work with SO-DIMMS, yet Dell
engineered it that way.
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post #91 of 94
4/8/04 at 6:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jap_
Agreed. But, unfortunately this is not how these big corporations operate. Nor will they change to better support their customers.
I simply can't agree with you. Not with Dell actually having to withdraw operations from India because of customers complaining.

They listen - when it affects them where it hurts. No company is immune to failure, regardless of size. When a problem affects them *financially*, they listen. The way I see it, Dell will do one of two things with the XPS... Fix the problems, or take it off the market. Problem solved either way.

Time will tell which will cost them less.
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post #92 of 94
4/8/04 at 6:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevecc
From what I have heard, the XPS issues are not just related to the ATi GPU...

for instance, the 865PE chipset was never meant to work with SO-DIMMS, yet Dell
engineered it that way.
I doubt that would make much of a difference. Besides, as far as I know there are no other heat (or otherwise) related issues. All of the problems with lockups appear to be tied to 3d.
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post #93 of 94
4/8/04 at 6:21pm
I'm not saying that the game issues could not be related to the GPU, however there are other things besides the GPU. System design plays a big role, for example the layout of the board, clock stability, noise on the LVDS transmitter, PLL frequencies, memory timings, memory drive strength, etc...

I work in this area, and I can tell you that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to software bugs.

Steve
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post #94 of 94
4/8/04 at 7:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevecc
From what I have heard, the XPS issues are not just related to the ATi GPU...

for instance, the 865PE chipset was never meant to work with SO-DIMMS, yet Dell
engineered it that way.
Umm-- besides dell, gateway and clevo also use this chipset.
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