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Inspiron 530 issues
I just got my Inspiron 530 last week. I own a dimesion 2400, so this is a natural upgrade for me.
It is no surprise that the machine is much faster (I chose more expensive 2.33 due 4M cache), but besides that I am very disappointed with the machine. I am posting a few issues with the hope that Dell can fix them in the future.
1. The machine is pretty noisy comparing to Dimension 2400. The CPU fan is very different from other Dell machines I've used, it is the most noisy Dell PC I have used. The CPU fan doesn't stop itself even I am not using a lot of CPU.
2. The BIOS doesn't provide any advanced features. There is no motherboard utility to check motherboard temperature, change bios setting, no memory remapping feature.
3. Dell says it support 4g memory, but there is no way to use it. I plugged in 4g memory, only 3g memory is accessible to OS on both XP and 64 bit Linux. To use 4g memory, we can use PAE option on XP or 64 bit Linux, OSes requires "memory remapping" feature in bios, but that is not supported by bios. So what Dell says is misleading.
I hope we can make enough noise so Dell can fix these problems.
Shawn
Message Edited by ShawnZuo on 09-04-2007 08:45 AM
SR45
12.1K Posts
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September 4th, 2007 14:00
Dells advisory about 4 gigs. Look down on this sales site rig and look for the advisory.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWDI1&s=dhs
" Systems configured with 4GB memory or more: The total amount of available memory will be less than 4GB. The amount less depends on the actual system configuration ".
Advance features are for the better gaming systems, not your mid level ystem. Do the homework first before you fork over the money.
Links takes you to a site that has a good run down on addressing memory
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1035670
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=BF4C8393BFC74A83B9EC318630B9CE7D
http://evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=60197 eVGA board with some information regarding the 64 bit OS and games, systems stability, etc
If you want the 64 bit version, than you can at anytime, purchase the OEM Vista 64 bit version from most retail computer stores or online, which does not cost the as much as the Retail version, but it’s only good of one system, and no tech support either.
Message Edited by SR45 on 09-04-2007 01:13 PM
ShawnZuo
3 Posts
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September 5th, 2007 03:00
jimi2
16 Posts
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September 23rd, 2007 22:00
Regarding the fan noise, I have the same problem. I opened a case with Dell Support, and they were going to send me a new CPU Fan. Unfortunately they mistakenly sent a Case Fan. My Case Fan is relatively silent. But the CPU Fan is significantly louder. One thing I noticed about the CPU Fan is that the direction of AirFlow is down into the CPU HeatSink. This seems counter intuitive to me, but makes me wonder if this make it louder than it would be if the air flow was up and away from the CPU HeatSink.
Another interesting thing that I had noticed is that there is a harmonic resonance that results in a high frequency ringing sound. While this is not terribly loud, it is at a frequency that to me is so annoying, that I have been avoiding using this PC. I was trying to figure out where this was coming from, so I removed the Hard Drive from the case, and the ringing sound went away. I then reinstalled the Hard Drive in the HD1 slot on the case (instead of the HD0 slot), and the noise is now at a lower frequency which is much more tolerable. I suspect that the brace that goes from the top to the bottom of the case is more flexible in the middle where the HD0 slot is, than it is near the bottom where the HD1 slot is. Also a minor complaint is that Dell Manufacturing cross-threaded 2 of the Hard Drive screws. This was obvious because I could see, before I even removed the Hard Drive, that the base of the screws were not seated flush. They must use power tools, I can't imagine them doing this by hand.
This makes me wonder about the reviews and forum posts I have read about the Inspiron 530 being "very quiet" and "silent".
I am also disappointed with the lack of a "Quick" or "Fast" boot option in the BIOS. My PC takes 11 seconds to POST from Power On to the start of the OS Load. I am hoping this will be improved in a new BIOS version. My Dimension 4700 has a "Fast Boot" option which takes a couple seconds off of the POST time. I am going to open a support case asking for this to be improved. I think if enough people open cases to complain, it might make it to engineering.
Kelly11
10 Posts
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January 25th, 2009 11:00
I will agree with you mine is doing the same thing boot takes 2 minutes for me poor design I would say. Same issue with sound from fand its so bad I can hear it thru my phone and a hum that comes thru the sound card thru the speakers with a hum noise
Kelly