congrates on your new 1520! just added you to the proud owner list. cheers!

i got my core all the way up to 650MHz, temp stay somewhere around 62C.. quite cool. like i've said, 1520 is build like a tank. has one of the largest laptop GPU heatsink i've ever seen.

well, i opened the laptop, changed the thermal paste for both GPU and CPU to high performance ones. on idle, temp is around 45C, when full load, temp is around 62-65C. pretty cool for a laptop GPU. nothing to worry about. my 3Dmark06 is a whopping 4820. not bad for a 8600M GT eh..

when you overclock, make sure your shader clock is overclocked too. shader clock's formula is as follows :

shader clock = 2 x Core clock

eg. 650MHz Core Clock, Shader clock would be = 2 x 650 = 1300MHz.

maybe your GPU is not that overclockable, try to step back a little, say 600MHz core.

Tips:
overclocking memory gets more performance out of your 8600MGT.

You are now listed. congrates on the new purchase. did u notice/hear any "CPU whine" issues?

I've updated to A07 the day it released. everything working fine so far. not much difference in terms of usability. A07 is released mainly to support new 45nm Penryn T8000/T9000 series cpus and bluray drives.

Also added 2 more proud 1520 owners to the main page.

dell inspiron 1520 and vostro 1500 series with 8600M GT are ALL using DDR2 (400MHz). Depending on your DDR2, you might be lucky to have this RAM chip inside - HY5PS561621AFP. i find it to be very overclockable, over 500MHz (i got it to run at 550MHz rock solid stable).

only the more expensive XPS M1530 uses DDR3.

Congratulations on the new purchase Kev. you have been listed on the first page.

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Apr 27 2008, 04:22 AM

I think Dell must have changed their marketing strategy a little over the recent years. previously, the best priced laptops from Dell can only be found on their website and PC-Fair + a little effort in bargain if you know any sales person inside. another reason is Dell is trying to clear the remaining 1520 stock. i think it's close to the end of 1520's product life cycle since monteviena platform is coming out this June. well, 1520 is truly a reasonably powerful and sturdy laptop and i like it very much.

8600M GT is definately a must if you decide to play games. i noticed you only add a little bit for the display card and winxp, which is a real good bargain. happy gaming!

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Apr 27 2008, 10:27 PM

you can always get a 8600M GT spare part from e-bay or (maybe) Dell when you have the cash to spare. i've seen people upgrade their graphics card for 1520 but u have to be real careful when you purchase one because Dell's graphics card are not based on any MXM standard.

OC (with care) does not do much harm to your components. inspiron 1520 has excellent cooling system, way better than many of the laptops i've seen (opened). im not saying OC will not void your warranty, it probably will, but i for one am going to squeeze every single drop of juice out of my laptop before it becomes obselete in 1-2 years time.

u'll need a good set of driver (try v174.74) and OC tool (try rivatuner). my 3DMark06 at 1280x800 default settings is 4800 (+-50) mark. try beat that with the default factory clock. i can push it higher, but i decided a balance of performance and safety is more important
owner list updated. welcome to the club hihihehe.

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Apr 29 2008, 08:10 AM

it really depends on your luck. G84 core can be clocked at very high speed, but that DDR2 memory is the limiting factor. i am lucky to have a good set of DDR2 (refer above posts for memory model) memory which enables me to crank it up a full 150MHz above stock speed. there is just tooo much bandwidth for that poor DDR2 to handle.

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Apr 29 2008, 08:53 AM

i had 2 inspiron 1520. one i got sometime around sept 07 and another one in feb 08. the sept 07 one has trouble exceeding 500MHz memory clock. 520MHz would crash the system. the old system had a different memory module than the new one. i didnt read the model prints on it when i opened the laptop, but i can remember clearly the shape of the memory module itself is completely different.

the new one i got has the hynix HY5PS561621AFP-25 memory module, which is rated at 400MHz but i am able to crank it all the way up to 550MHz. didnt bother to test the limit because 550MHz is pretty high and i prefer to play things on the safe side. besides, my OC system is able to beat XPS M1530 (DDR3 700MHz) factory clocked system by a respectable margin in 3DMark06 benchmark, which is pretty awesome.

so what's the status of your system kev? i bet you cant get your mind off it for the past few days.

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Added on April 29, 2008, 8:46 pmhave patience and start with a slow increase ok? dont go straight to the speed stated in my SIG. not all silicons are the same. test it with several runs of 3Dmark06 to make sure it's artifact free and absolutely stable for each clock increase. i suggest you start off with 20MHz increment and slow down to 10MHz then finally 5MHz the higher you go, especially when you are threading into the realm of 550MHz core. dont expect to squeeze a lot out from your memory. i have seen some people getting only a mere 50MHz increase.

ALSO, another reason i am able to reach such high clock speed is because i had the original thermal pad replaced with Artic Cooling MX2 high performance thermal compound for both CPU and GPU. so i would not recommend going above 600MHz GPU core for those who the faint of heart. constantly monitor the temperature(GPU) and stability of the system.

lastly, as always, OC might or will void your warranty. i am not responsible for any damages caused during your OC attempt. do it with care, patience and at your own risk.

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: Apr 29 2008, 08:51 PM

hotkey (Fn+F2) for on/off wifi is no longer available in new inspiron or any dew dell laptops (correct me if im wrong). all new dells come with a hard switch for wireless (Wifi+bluetooth+EVDO) switch control which doubles as a wifi detector when laptop is switched off. you can find the switch on the left side of your 1520. settings for that swtich is found in BIOS (press F2 during boot).

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Added on April 30, 2008, 11:05 pmwhat LCD do u have? mine is AUO2077 which i think is quite ok. crisp and clear. not really grainy too. by the way my LCD is 1440x900 res.

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Added on April 30, 2008, 11:07 pmthe battery for the media remote control is just a standard coin cell 3V CR2016 battery. you can get it almost anywhere in leading shopping malls.

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Added on April 30, 2008, 11:08 pmtough luck kev, i know how that feeling felt like. anxiety, sleepless nights.. haha..

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: May 1 2008, 02:58 AM

how about intel dynamic acceleration option? cpu-z is not able to pick up the pause inserted every second to decrease the speed of the processor in superLFM mode. in other words, your processor might be running at just 6x100=600MHz.

i wouldnt worry too much about it. everything looks healthy. if you really want to force your CPU to run at full speed, try using RMCPU Clock utility. there are settings in there that can stop speed step and IDA from taking over CPU control

http://cpu.rightmark.org/

what do you want to check? RAM size? or memory timings and specs? im not sure about sisandra (havent use it for a long time, but i think it can do the job), you can try free software like CPU-Z, or a more professional approach would be lavalys everest ultimate edition. with everest, u can check everything from CPU specs to hdd,GPU,LCD, etc etc specs.

i would uninstall all the junkwares from dell first before setting up the rest of the softwares you need if i were you.

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: May 2 2008, 08:19 PM

haha... that my friend, requires you to open up the laptop. no software out there that im aware of can tell u the RAM model of the GPU.

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Added on May 2, 2008, 9:21 pmlooks like you've got the older merom core that has 667MHz FSB. but it's perfectly fine.

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: May 2 2008, 09:21 PM

try this. http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/

kev, you wont get any memory module info from that software or any other softwares that i know of. i check mine when i opened the laptop to change the thermal compound.

by the way, check out mine

This post has been edited by alexnvidia: May 2 2008, 11:06 PM


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