Hi all,
Having some issues and hoping to get some thoughts and insights on them. I know Dell discontinued this model, so I'm a bit nervous about the level of support I am going to get. My history is as follows:
I purchased an XPS 730x in June of '09. It is a pretty top end machine with the following specs:
Intel Core XE i7-965 (Factory O/C'd 3.73 GHz, 8MB L3Cache)
6GB RAM Multi-Channel DDR3 at 1066 MHz
Dual GeForce GTX 285 video cards
640 GM - SATA-II, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
Windows Vista SP1, 64-bit home premium
Problems with it started on Saturday. I attempted to start it up and the bar on the initial Dell logo screen with get about halfway up and then the machine would die. It never even reached the point where it would start booting windows. It was working on Friday, then just stopped working on Saturday.
I called support and the general thought was the motherboard was likely fried so they scheduled a tech to come out. He visited yesterday (tuesday) and replaced the motherboard. Lo and behold, the machine starts up. However, I noticed an error message flash on the screen before it booted windows. We restarted and paused on that screen and the error said "Warning! CPU fan not working". Something like that. We open it back up and realize that he forgot to plug the fan in. So he plugs the fan in and starts up the machine again, and the original problem returned. The system couldn't get past the Dell logo screen again. So, now, the thought was that the circuit board that the fan plugs into is actually the defective part (it is a different board than the motherboard). So he ordered a new one of those boards, along with a new fan and heat sink. He said he'd be back when he had the parts and he told me that I could probably run the machine with the CPU fan unplugged by leaving the case open and having an external fan blowing on it. Then he left. He also added that in all his time working on Dell machines, he had never seen a problem like this (lucky me).
So, after he leaves, I leave the case open and open all the windows (it's freezing outside where I am) and blow a fan on the CPU. I didn't plan on using it for very long, I just wanted to log into it and see how things were running. Well, the answer to that question is, not very well. The system takes forever to login to windows. Trying to launch any app, whether it be Excel or a game or whatever, takes minutes where it used to take seconds. You can't do anything in the app once it finally does launch. Basically, it is running worse than a 15 year old machine would. I went and looked at the overclocking in the BIOS and it looks to not be overclocked anymore. I tried adjusting it (bear in mind I am not an expert at O/C'ing) and the system popped an error that the overclocking failed and it was reverting back to factory settings.
Does anybody have any thoughts as to what is going on here? Does the CPU throttle back if it detects that no fan is plugged in? Do you think that simply fixing this fan will allow me to overclock the machine again and regain the performance? Something about that just seems unlikely to me. If any of you have dealt with Dell, what are my options with them? I would tell them I want a new machine but, like I said, they decided to discontinue this product line. I won't accept a downgrade in machine.
Sorry for the long story and all the questions. I am just very aggravated that I may have wasted $5000 on a tin can with some wires in it.
Thanks for the feedback.
Having some issues and hoping to get some thoughts and insights on them. I know Dell discontinued this model, so I'm a bit nervous about the level of support I am going to get. My history is as follows:
I purchased an XPS 730x in June of '09. It is a pretty top end machine with the following specs:
Intel Core XE i7-965 (Factory O/C'd 3.73 GHz, 8MB L3Cache)
6GB RAM Multi-Channel DDR3 at 1066 MHz
Dual GeForce GTX 285 video cards
640 GM - SATA-II, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
Windows Vista SP1, 64-bit home premium
Problems with it started on Saturday. I attempted to start it up and the bar on the initial Dell logo screen with get about halfway up and then the machine would die. It never even reached the point where it would start booting windows. It was working on Friday, then just stopped working on Saturday.
I called support and the general thought was the motherboard was likely fried so they scheduled a tech to come out. He visited yesterday (tuesday) and replaced the motherboard. Lo and behold, the machine starts up. However, I noticed an error message flash on the screen before it booted windows. We restarted and paused on that screen and the error said "Warning! CPU fan not working". Something like that. We open it back up and realize that he forgot to plug the fan in. So he plugs the fan in and starts up the machine again, and the original problem returned. The system couldn't get past the Dell logo screen again. So, now, the thought was that the circuit board that the fan plugs into is actually the defective part (it is a different board than the motherboard). So he ordered a new one of those boards, along with a new fan and heat sink. He said he'd be back when he had the parts and he told me that I could probably run the machine with the CPU fan unplugged by leaving the case open and having an external fan blowing on it. Then he left. He also added that in all his time working on Dell machines, he had never seen a problem like this (lucky me).
So, after he leaves, I leave the case open and open all the windows (it's freezing outside where I am) and blow a fan on the CPU. I didn't plan on using it for very long, I just wanted to log into it and see how things were running. Well, the answer to that question is, not very well. The system takes forever to login to windows. Trying to launch any app, whether it be Excel or a game or whatever, takes minutes where it used to take seconds. You can't do anything in the app once it finally does launch. Basically, it is running worse than a 15 year old machine would. I went and looked at the overclocking in the BIOS and it looks to not be overclocked anymore. I tried adjusting it (bear in mind I am not an expert at O/C'ing) and the system popped an error that the overclocking failed and it was reverting back to factory settings.
Does anybody have any thoughts as to what is going on here? Does the CPU throttle back if it detects that no fan is plugged in? Do you think that simply fixing this fan will allow me to overclock the machine again and regain the performance? Something about that just seems unlikely to me. If any of you have dealt with Dell, what are my options with them? I would tell them I want a new machine but, like I said, they decided to discontinue this product line. I won't accept a downgrade in machine.
Sorry for the long story and all the questions. I am just very aggravated that I may have wasted $5000 on a tin can with some wires in it.
Thanks for the feedback.