This thread should not be used to constantly update how much cheaper and faster alternatives to the studio xps are until we all go nuts.
Heh... Yep. It started when I saw that new 435T... But the smart thing all along was to buy the least RAM from Dell until they stopped offering that option, because the aftermarket has always been cheaper AND better.
And now, it's REALLY Cheaper and Better. But most were stuck with their configs. In my case, I got a great outlet deal including the 6GB. I do wonder as I don't think I've seen anyone with 12GB of 1333Mhz ram yet. It's going to tax the system I'm sure.
Ironically, my 435MT, which had totally stopped going into fan blower mode, has now returned in the last three days in all its craziness. It appears more random, leading me to believe there is something amok with the controller or bios. I can understand why Dell wont offer the overclocking and ultimate control of this machine's bios. But I really wish they would come to bat on the fan controller issues with a viable solution from THEM. It's all over their forum and the net, and I have not seen ONE MENTION by them officially on the 434MT page. You notice that the 435T is a whole new board, too. I wonder if that might be the culprit to some extent.
On the
4850 manual fan control, you'll see some really lower temps if not gaming. The bad thing I noticed, is that if your environment is VERY quiet, including ye olde case fan,
you'll hear the ATI 4850 fan at anything above 25%. Your regular temps will be way down at 34% but you'll pay a bit of the price again.
In my latest test, I shut down my machine totally for a few hours allowing everything to cool, then restarted and moved the GPU fan setting to auto for now, bringing the GPU temp up by a good 25 degrees. I'm try to recreate the conditions that brought kept leaf blower mode out of the picture. Seems when my temps went up in the house a bit, moving from needing heat to doors open with spring like temps, things took a turn for the worse. A few degrees rise in your room temp and this beast really reacts. This is not the machine for those with no AC either. It puts a ton of heat out and for those that have the tower in the foot section of their desk area, you're in for some toasty legs! heh.
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IMPORTANT Dell Studio XPS 435MT BIOS UDATE
Studio XPS 435MT BIOS 1.0.12
13 Mar 2009 12:43PM
All XPS 435MT owners should download and install the
1.0.12 BIOS update.
Fixes/Enhancements:
1. Fan Control Enhancement.
2. Fixed system can not return to last state from power lose when AC Recovery is set to "Last" in BIOS Setup.
3. Change the default boot sequences to Hard Disk, Optical Drive, floppy and Onboard NIC.
I've had a chance to load the new 1.0.12 BIOS update for the XPS 435MT and the first thing I realized is that it apparently does NOT offer end-user control of the fan settings, something I assumed. Unless I've missed it in my post-Flu delirium, it appears as if "fan control enhancement" really means it's being done via the bios automatically.
I will say that since installing the 1.0.12 update, my fan(s) have not moved into leaf blower mode as of yet. Right now, my core temps are between 42 & 45.
Was hoping for more manual control but at least the leaf blower has not kicked in as of yet. So far, I consider this a GREAT upgrade and a solution from Dell that seems to have solved the leaf blower ramp up headache.
kh