Core2Duo VT Support Cannot Be Enabled in the BIOS

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@cmajewsk wrote:
Wow...first the delays, then the outright "weakening" of the hardware from the X-Fi sound card to the nVidia "590" Chipset, and now this. How (and why??) do you all put up with it? You know there are other, easier, less stressful ways to order a computer, right? Dell is not the only company that makes 'em. It really shouldn't be this much trouble.

Sure glad I ordered my Core 2 Duo machine from Velocity Micro. It was ordered back in late July and I have had it for about 3 weeks. No delays no stripped down BIOS, audio card, or chipset... and most importantly NO HEADACHES!!! Just a sweet machine that has EXACLTY what I ordered.

I visit this forum just to see what the latest "gotcha" is with this machine, and Dell never seems to disappoint me.

Good luck...

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UPS hauled away my XPS 700 last night. I'm perfectly happy with the system I ordered from pugetsystems.com. It arrived before the XPS 700, only took a week between order and receipt, has exactly what I want, and as you said my computer has no stripped down motherboard, BIOS, audio card, or chipset, and came with consistently great customer service,.

Wow...first the delays, then the outright "weakening" of the hardware from the X-Fi sound card to the nVidia "590" Chipset, and now this. How (and why??) do you all put up with it? You know there are other, easier, less stressful ways to order a computer, right? Dell is not the only company that makes 'em. It really shouldn't be this much trouble.

Sure glad I ordered my Core 2 Duo machine from Velocity Micro. It was ordered back in late July and I have had it for about 3 weeks. No delays no stripped down BIOS, audio card, or chipset... and most importantly NO HEADACHES!!! Just a sweet machine that has EXACLTY what I ordered.

I visit this forum just to see what the latest "gotcha" is with this machine, and Dell never seems to disappoint me.

Good luck...

WOW?!??!

I'm totally confused.. I realize I ordered a Dell, but I thought they were targeting the enthusiast market.. I.E.  All the bells and whistles..  Who in the world did they poll to determine what features were undesirable..

 

Let's see..

Disable RAID 5 and 0+1

Removed 590 Network features first packet

Removed Second 1G Ethernet port

Disable Creative DTS support

Don't support the current high end RAM

Core 2 EMT64 support (64 bit vista??)

now VT support

Dell  may be right, most people may not use these features.. But the people they supposedly marketed this machine too want to!!?!!? 

Chris, Is dell firm with this decision?  Could they update the Bios to allow VT support or any of the other above featues for the 700.

Most likely they are planning to do the same, one day they may realize that it's Debacles like this that is costing them market share.

(CNET,Tom's HW, or any other tech sites still watching these forums???)

Pinching pennies is not going to get Dell out of the problems they are seeing, money needs to be spent wisely

Disabling features on your high end machine was not money saved, but customers fustrated and most likely lost.

Actually I happen to use VMWare Workstation (which supports Intel VT) with my XPS700. When starting VMWare it tells me that my CPU supports VT but that VT is disabled.

Engineering decisions like disabling VT support MUST be stated in the technical specs of the system!!!

 

What real reason could there possibly be for disabling something that is supposed to be there by default. I mean, it takes effort to remove something so their needs to be a reason for that effort.

This is very frustrating. I just had a conversation with a friend of mine who works for Intel in Ireland and to quote him, "The really neat things about these chips (which most people don't see yet due to lack of SW/device support) is the Hardware supported Virtualisation Technology.  Imagine, if you will, having a 4-core chip, and you partition one of these cores to run a wireless link to your TV from your media collection/web browser etc. You can be working away playing FEAR or similar resource hog on your 3 cores.  The kids (or *name deleted*/*name deleted*) are downstairs watching movies/surfing/chatting.  The kids can download as many viruses/spyware as they want, you are protected from this by the silicon virtualisation.  And every couple of weeks you can just wipe their partition to clean up their system.  w00t stuff! BTW: I would throw bricks at Dell if I found out they'd disabled my VT!  This is one of the best application for N-Core!"

To be honest, I don't understand half of what my friend says about technology, but his enthusiasm for VT and shock when I mentioned it was removed in my XPS700 is upsetting...

I this stage, DELL needs to promise us a Bios update as soon as possible that improves/fixes some of these missing features. Can a bios update re-enable VT and add support for 800Mhz Ram?

 

Mike

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@SR45 wrote:

cmajewsk Keep us informed about your new Velocity, and their support/warranty. First time checking this manufacture out, and really like the Home Office systems case design over the XPS 700 system, and 410. The XPS 700 case for me looks like a grill to a old automobile, and I don't look at a case light show, but the monitor with all the real stuff is located at :smileyvery-happy:

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With the way Dell is treating its customers, and the lack of real quality parts, I really fail to see the attraction of buying from them. I purchased a Velocity Micro Gamers' Edge™ PCX Custom Gaming PC and spent just over $300.00 more than I would've spent on the Dell XPS 700 I was configuring back in July.

This was $300 very well spent! It has, first of all given me an Intel Core 2 Duo machine within 3 WEEKS FROM THE DATE OF ORDERING IT. Also, it has given me all retail version parts, and not some stripped down OEM versions. This allows me to upgrade in the future any way I want, and not even have to go thru VM. I can purchase more memory from Newegg.com, or I can get a new processor from off PriceGrabber.com. From the Intel motherboard, to Corsair XMS2 memory, to PC Power & Cooling power supply, to Western Digital Raptor hard drives - it's all retail and there was absolutely no stress in the process. It was actually exciting ordering, and not worrisome as to when it might finally arrive, or what would not be enabled/working when I booted it up. Talking to the rep on the phone was nice in that he knew what he was talking about. When the box arrived, I couldn’t wait to unpack it. From the first boot, to writing this message on the Dell forum this PC is silent, deadly fast, and hasn’t so much as hiccupped. I sure hope you guys get what you are really paying for, I know I did.

Below are some more benefits when purchasing from Velocity Micro.
* Extensive customization options. Velocity Micro systems feature only the finest brand-name performance parts, providing the best available components in each system. This makes it easier to upgrade and receive technical support. Additionally, the company works with customers to tailor their systems with items not listed on the website.
* Meticulous assembly procedures. Velocity Micro utilizes a unique, customized assembly process for each system. Every computer is hand-crafted from start to finish by trained technicians.
* A consultative selling process. Velocity Micro representatives work with each customer to design a computer based on their specific requirements. A wide range of options means each customer can customize a system to perform to their needs.
* Technically trained staff. Velocity Micro sales team members are trained technicians who are able to inform, educate, and assist the customer in technology decisions. Our tech support staff is comprised of technicians who have graduated from the production floor.
* Comprehensive in-house support and upgrade packages. Velocity Micro PCs come standard with an up to three year parts-and-labor warranty and may include one year of 24/7 phone support with onsite service. All support is in-house and US-based.

That official Dell answer is not satisfactory. My XPS 700 was sold to my business as a business computer by a Dell (business) salesperson.

So the customer survey looked like this, did it?
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Would you like the 'VT' feature of your system's processor to be turned off so that your computer is not 100% Windows Vista compatible, and so that virtual machines (e.g. VmWare) run slower?
- Yes
- No

(PS: Everyone surveyed apparently said 'Yes')

Message Edited by CPU_Upgrader on 09-15-2006 04:10 PM

Is that an actual quote from a survey Dell ran?  Or is this just satire..

I'm begining to think that the official response is a sham like some others have suggested.

I wonder if the actual reason is that their are real issues with the processor and the XPS 700 main board playing nice that keep this feature from working properly.

Maybe it's something DELL would like to enable but can't because it just doesn't work on their FrankenPC creation.

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@Anonymous-ChrisM wrote:
All,

Why was this removed from a sticky at top? Too embarrasing?
* Nope. Just cleaning up the top of the board

This should be attached to the FAQ.
* It has been added.

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Are you sure attached is the right word I think hidden or burried would be more appropriate!

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@MrAce wrote:

Yeah, but it's a critical discussion and one that may fall to the wayside if not stickied.  Anything else we need to know about before our return periods expire?

 

Are these real 7900GTX video cards?

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Well guess what, I'll be checking as soon as I receive my replacement 700.  I've got 2 XFX 7900GTX's that I bought a while back and I can compare the features to the OEM ones.

Bub

To everyone reading this thread,


** WE NEED TO KEEP THE PRESSUE ON DELL TO FIX THE PROBLEMS WITH THE BIOS OF THE XPS 700 **

So please open a support case with Dell about this issue (so that they have hard stats to track), and also register your disapproval on this public forum.

FYI, these are the major issues with the XPS 700 BIOS v1.13 at the moment:

1) No VT support
2) No EMT64 (64-bit) support

Lack of VT support means Windows Vista (which is built from the bottom up to exploit this feature) will not run optimally, and virtualisation software such as VmWare and Microsoft Virtual Server will run needlessly slow.

Lack of EMT64 support is preventing the installation of *64-bit* editions of Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista and Linux.

Both of these issues can be addressed by Dell with a BIOS update.