XPS Gen 2 First Impressions

Case: Looks great! The cover is actually smooth... just machined to look ribbed. It has a protective clear plastic cover, very shiny when removed (in a good way). Very solid feel. Very light for it's size and power. Slight wobble on a flat surface... has six rubber feet, two are towards the middle, not the edges (one is sticking out a bit too far causing the wobble). I like the keyboard and touchpad.

Screen: Ran powerstrip: LPL0000. Great color and brightness, very glossy. Whites could be whiter. No light leakage whatsoever. No dead pixels. Even lighting. Yes there's some sparkle... not sure if it merits a screen swap yet. I'll give it the weekend.

Sound/Heat: Very quiet, even with running fan(s). On my lap the last two hours loading/deleting/3dMark, etc. Warm but NOT uncomfortable!

Performance: 3dMark05 right out of the box with no mods at 1024X768: 4885. Driver is 7.1.7.6. I didn't bother to turn off Zone Alarm Suite or anything else... don't know if that makes much difference. If I can figure out how to load the 76.10 driver I'll re-run and see what I get.

Here's a link to the test:

http://service.futuremark.com/servle...projectType=12

Overall I'm wowwed by the computer. I need to fiddle with the feet so the (minimal) rocking resolves. Don't know about the screen, yet. It has ALOT of positives... I need to live with the sparkle for awhile and see if it's a problem.

I ordered on 2/26.

I just re-ran 3dMark05 with Forceware 76.10 drivers: 5011

Joker, hope this link works; I've never used 3dMark before. There weren't any compare links that weren't greyed out... am I missing something? This page shows both tests:

http://service.futuremark.com/servle...projectmanager

No pictures! I'm not some pornographer to enable you to do naughty things while staring at your monitors in dark rooms!

Joker, Compare URL is greyed out and it says below it "This project cannot be published". Both tests I ran have a big red paragraph about the drivers not being Futuremark approved. I just went ahead and pasted the results below (this is with the Forceware drivers):



3DMark05 Project Details
Project Info
Name



Description



Date


2005-03-26 Project ID


711355 Published

Compare URL


This project can not be published.
More information...



» Full System Details » Export Results in XML



NOTE: This project has not been run with Futuremark approved drivers, or the status of the drivers can not be determined. The accuracy of the results can not be guaranteed. For more information on how to get a valid and comparable result, please refer to this page.


System Configuration


General Information
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP

DirectX Version 9.0c

Mobo Manufacturer Dell Inc.

Mobo Model 0F8460

AGP Rates (Current/Available) 0x /

CPU Intel Pentium M 1995 MHz

FSB 133 MHz

Memory 1024 MB



Display Information
Graphics Chipset Generic VGA

Driver Name NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra

Driver Version 7.6.1.0

Driver Status Non WHQL - Not FM Approved

Video Memory 256 MB

Core Clock 450 MHz

Memory Clock 1063 MHz



Benchmark Settings
Program Version 3DMark05 Revision 2 Build 0

Resolution 1024x768@32 bit

Anti-Aliasing None

Texture Filtering Optimal

Vertex Shader Profile 3_0

Pixel Shader Profile 3_0

Force Full Precision Off

Disable DST Off

Disable Post-processing Off

Force Software Vertex Shaders Off

Color Mipmaps Off

Repeat Count Off



Main Test Results
3DMark Score 5011 3DMarks

CPU Score 3541 CPUMarks



Detailed Test Results


Game Tests
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 21.7 fps

GT2 - Firefly Forest 14.7 fps

GT3 - Canyon Flight 25.3 fps



CPU Tests
CPU Test 1 1.7 fps

CPU Test 2 3.3 fps



Feature Tests
Fill Rate - Single-Texturing N/A

Fill Rate - Multi-Texturing N/A

Pixel Shader N/A

Vertex Shader - Simple N/A

Vertex Shader - Complex N/A



Batch Size Tests
8 Triangles N/A

32 Triangles N/A

128 Triangles N/A

512 Triangles N/A

2048 Triangles N/A

32768 Triangles N/A

If I'd found out yet would I still be posting tonight?

Thanks, Joker. The shipping driver (7.1.7.6) is supposedly WHQL approved... but I got the same message from Futuremark... Too new maybe? It's nice to have broken 5k with so little effort. I'm sure tweaking the system would get it up in the 5200 range. I'll let someone else blaze the overclocking trail; it will be interesting to see if there's much headroom on the card.