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XPS 13 9310 Display brightness flicker when under single core CPU load and on charger
Hi guys,
I just received the XPS 13 and was getting it setup, when I noticed that often when the PC is under single core load and charging (never happens if on battery or system is idle, or multicore load), the brightness of the screen will dim and brighten significantly, roughly equivalent to one hotkey brightness up and down in quick succession. This is very distracting, very noticeable and not a premium experience for this device. It looks like the display is glitching out, some kind of power issue, and seems to be related to when the processor boosts to a higher clock when in single core load. This is not a standard brightness variation, there is no animation between the brightness levels and it is fast, ~4 times per sec (this is why I call it "flicker").
I also had the "usual issues" with the 9310 series, like weird colours, HDR problems, etc. Those are all solved after following the other posts' measures, such as:
- Disable all Intel power saving modes from Intel Graphics Command Centre.
- Disable HDR
- Disable Auto screen brightness
However I can still get the issue with this brighness glitchiness.
I can reproduce this very easily by running a single core Cinebench, and will be taking a recording with my SLR camera with exposure locked, hopefully it shows the issue up on video. In the meanwhile I thought I'd post this. Is my XPS defective or is this a known issue? Is there any workaround? This is with the i7 11th Gen 1185G7.
Thanks in advance.
- James
vvdf
9 Posts
0
March 4th, 2021 09:00
if your problem is about slight brightness flickering than try to disable turbo boost in bios.
DELL-Cares
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March 4th, 2021 09:00
@jabonz2048
I have replied to you from a private message.
-Gautam.
Esokra1es
34 Posts
1
March 4th, 2021 11:00
@jabonz2048 Do you have the 2-in-1 model or the regular one?
@vvdfAre you affected too? If so, which model?
I have the 2-in-1 9310 model and have the same issue. I have done much research to look into that issue and have written about it in detail here (the post gets constantly updated, so make sure to check it out in the future as well):
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/lj5qak/xps_13_display_issue_affecting_7390_9300_and_9310/
In the linked post you find videos, different methods to reproduce and many links of other affected users, even on this forum, e.g.:
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Bug-Report-XPS-9300-screen-brightness-blink-flicker/m-p/7782999/highlight/true#M76816
@DELL-CaresPlease do something about this issue. It seems ALL XPS 13 devices are plagued by this defect, it wont help to change people's motherboards, engineering needs to know about this and come up with a solution.
Not a single user who is affected by that issue got a solution yet, not even a replacement unit solved the issue for users, see the reddit link above (e.g. user u/Dense_Information681 got a replacement unit and it has the same flickering, u/FaSuu got a new motherboard and it still flickers).
It's time for Dell to acknowledge this issue and do something to fix it.
jabonz2048
4 Posts
1
March 4th, 2021 11:00
Hi Esokra1es,
The full spec I have is XPS 13 9310, clamshell, 1200p, 16gb RAM, i7 1185G7.
This is fantastic, this is EXACTLY the issue I have.
I didn't notice before, yes it only happens when it is plugged in AND it is not charging (either 100% or charge limit in Dell Power Manager / BIOS) AND there is turbo boost active. Also I noticed the battery indicator in Windows keeps toggling between "not charging" to "charging" and that is exactly when the issue happens, on this transition point. So this is a hardware/firmware issue?
Of course I am all up to date on BIOS (2.0.0), SupportAssist is happy, Windows Update is happy, I even fully reinstalled Windows 10 and installed the new Intel drivers dated 02/03/2021, nothing helps with this particular issue.
I'm not a user on Reddit but I will sign up to support your post.
It's a shame as I would like the XPS if it weren't for this usability issue. I will disable turbo boost in the meanwhile to see if it helps, it's not that useful anyways as the laptop throttles very easily (I expected this when I bought it).
Thanks.
- James
jabonz2048
4 Posts
1
March 5th, 2021 03:00
Confirmed that disabling Turbo Boost workarounds the issue fully.
Now, is it acceptable to do this? The performance loss is interesting:
950 vs 1400 on single core Cinebench. Overall ~67% of the performance with Turbo boost. This is still faster than an i5 4690 desktop (score of 800).
Multicore is interesting, as in, the frequency stays at the nominal value all the time (~2.8, ~3 ghz), as such the actual multicore performance with a long task is very similar (~4500 score). Turbo Boost tries to go over 3 Ghz and then gets throttled down very under 3 Ghz very quickly.
The upside of disabling Turbo Boost is that the voltages stay nice and low and don't jump all over the place. Might even improve battery life.
It seems to be that this is just a hard design flaw of the XPS 13 9310? People on the Reddit post have gotten full board replacements with no change. I'm still not sure whether I want to see if they'll give me a refund/exchange.
Has anyone tried with higher wattage chargers (>45w)?
pauluea
4 Posts
1
March 5th, 2021 04:00
I have tried with a 60w charger and it made no difference. The only way I have found to stop it is to disable turbo boost in the bios. Not ideal but I can live with it for the moment as the performance loss for day to day tasks is not that noticeable. It shouldn't be necessary though on a brand new and quite expensive machine!
I am the user mentioned above who has already had a replacement unit and it was exactly the same on my original machine. i.e Disabling turbo boost was the only solution.
Esokra1es
34 Posts
1
March 5th, 2021 07:00
@jabonz2048Thanks for confirming the workaround and listing your exact specs.
I got my replacement unit (Manufacture date 23. Feb. 2021) today. It has the same exact issue.
This is clearly a hardware design issue.
As for the question whether is an acceptable solution to disable turbo boost: NO
This is not a solution. This is a 2k laptop, you pay for that and it should work without making the display flicker. Also the point of turbo boost is not to keep frequencies high all the time, but to boost for a short time to accelerate short duration tasks like application launching, loading websites etc. This is also the reason why it flickers in those situations: the processor boosts to make those tasks as fast as possible.
Dell it does not make sense to sell the most powerful i7 paired with a super nice screen if you can't make it work together without troubles. Also this design defect is now present in the 3rd iteration of the XPS 13 16:10 display design (started with 7390 2n1, affected 9300 and now affects 9310 clamshell+2n1).
On top of that, (premium) support agents don't know about this issue and clearly don't understand that you can't fix a hardware design issue by swapping motherboards over and over again.
Esokra1es
34 Posts
2
March 5th, 2021 08:00
@DELL-Justin C We need help here from PRO support guys. This is something that engineering needs to sort out.
jabonz2048
4 Posts
2
March 11th, 2021 10:00
Hey guys,
I have returned the laptop for a full refund.
I hope you guys at Dell manage to get to the bottom of this on the engineering side.
Before returning it, I wrote some notes about my perception of the laptop ("review to myself"). I really like the laptop as a whole. Such a shame that it had this big visible issue I could not tolerate.
I still want a new laptop and I love this form factor, we will see if Dell will update the XPS 13 with AMD / Alder Lake CPUs when they are out, but for sure I will be checking the forums and Reddit to see if this issue is solved before buying!
- James
DELL-Cares
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March 12th, 2021 04:00
We are working on your case, we will Private message soon.
pauluea
4 Posts
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March 12th, 2021 04:00
I agree with you. Great laptop but this issue is a massive let-down. What alternative machines are you considering now? I've been having a look around but nothing is quite as appealing as the Dell. I'm unsure what to do......
aleksDotF
3 Posts
1
March 12th, 2021 10:00
I have the exact same problem, on a max specced arctic white XPS 13 2-in-1 9310, 4k UHD+, bought in Dec 2020.
I tried Windows, ePSA and Linux.
Turned off HDR and PSR, did all the steps mentioned above.
It happens even when using the BIOS (which I updated to the latest version, but it happened on each version).
This was discussed ad nauseam here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/lj5qak/xps_13_display_issue_affecting_7390_9300_and_9310/
It's a hw flaw, the point is: will Dell actually follow up with it? Or will customer service ignore such an obvious flaw that plagues each model making a top notch screen look awful?
Markers.ink
1 Message
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March 12th, 2021 11:00
Same issue here
plivy
27 Posts
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March 13th, 2021 09:00
Dell can't do anything about this. Even if they fix the design issue, the can't afford to go around replacing everyone's computers. I've got an order for one of these things pending, and I guess I'm going to cancel it. I went through Dell support and design flaws with my current xps, and I'm not doing it again. I went through 4 motherboards and two unit replacements.
Fasu
3 Posts
0
March 15th, 2021 12:00
I just received my replacement unit today and as I expected it has the same flickering problem.
I charged my new XPS 9310 2-in-1 (manufactured Feb 2021) 70%battery, reduced the brightness (anything under 100%), set the Battery Configuration to Custom 50 - 60 and did a Quick Test with On-board Diagnostics right away. Straight out of the factory.
Result: Same flickering that is haunting me even after 2 mainboard replacements and a new replacement unit.
Color me impressed, Dell knows how to NOT share information between each other. Replacing the mainboard does not solve the problem and the Dell Support still attempt it again and again. Talk about waste of money.
The technicians should have gotten some faulty units already but I guess Dell is ignoring the problem because they cannot admit that many or even every unit has a hardware / design flaw.
I already tried everything with my old unit, the only solution is turning off Turbo Boost or throttling the CPU.
I wish Dell Support would read the reddit thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/lj5qak/xps_13_display_issue_affecting_7390_9300_and_9310/
The technicians could check the units before sending a faulty laptop if they follow the instructions.
I'm just asking for honest research results of the faulty units, I already gave up on the idea that Dell would find a solution and repair the units.