NEW XPS 730x Owner's thread March 15, 2010

Why is it that Dell always seems to make the people who paid thousands and thousands of dollars for their products feel like we are the bad guys for asking for support for said products because they decided to end the production of the 730x?  We had to beg and beg for the Windows 7 drivers which have been very poorly addressed, but have been addressed.  We deserved an update for the Bios to address these issues.  Ever other REAL company which builds enthusiast ATX machines provide their customers with timely Bios update to adjust to the changing hardware environment in which these machines operate.  It just makes me sick that I bought a 730x over another brand which might have cost me a few hundred to one grand more, but would at this very date be able to be cutting edge with continued hardware updates that I purchase.  I am finished feeling like we have to beg Dell for something they readily should do without hesitation.  It is truly a shame, and the fact that Chris has to attempt to justify this type of business practice is a shame as well.

I agree...it's also sad that my 730x is less than 6 months old and Dell won't support any updates for the bios or probably anything else since they bought alienware and no longer support the 730x.

Seems like I never get any feedback from dell people on this forum either. Is Chris the only one who monitors these forums? is he too busy to handle all our input and feedback? Does Dell need to have more people involved in these forums?

We all feel that way. I don't believe this that how we are getting stone walled by Dell. I bet if we raised a fuss on twitter and every single social network they will be willing to help us. Every single OEM and MFG still support a the items they sell even when its been taking off the market. I had a GIGA-BYTE Motherboard they supported ever processor for socket 939.  All the way to the last processor. So basically everyone buys dell products are worthless and we should go to another vendor or just choose another option. Its a sad state here. I just feel bad for the people who love their 730X like me.

Guys, I agree with all of you. However, no amount of complaining will change how DELL has pushed the XPS 730/730x owners out in the cold. As you can see by the dwindling amount of posts being in this thread, there aren't many who care to help on this forum. My advice is to create a Facebook account, if you don't already have one, and join me and the rest of the crew. The DELL XPS 730 & 730x Facebook Group has 194 members and continues to grow. There, you will find a wealth of information and there's always someone who is willing and eager to offer any assistance they can. 

You can view/join the group by clicking the link in my signature or by clicking here - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=93963126733

I am the head admin of the group and I look forward to seeing you all there!

I bet if we raised a fuss on twitter and every single social network they will be willing to help us.
* Without engineers, that is not possible.

Ever other REAL company which builds enthusiast ATX machines provide their customers with timely Bios update to adjust to the changing hardware environment in which these machines operate.
* End of Marketing Life means no work for hardware not sold at the time of sale.

But how much would it take for someone to rewrite the bios? This cannot be done? I mean, can you use a logic analyzer, decipher the code, rewrite it and then flash the bios?
* I cannot do it. One of you might be able to.

Is Chris the only one who monitors these forums?
* This board, yes.

Is he too busy to handle all our input and feedback?
* All I can do is forward it to the Program Manager. But all of our engineering support has moved on to Alienware products.

Does Dell need to have more people involved in these forums?
* Yes.

I have monitored this thread for some time, and can no longer contain my frustration. I will NEVER buy a dell branded PC for home use again. The way the 730x was orphaned leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, and as time goes by it still lingers. The response from dell in this forum is actually making the bad taste come back up :)

1. If there was such a thing as a PC lemon law the 730x would certainly qualify.

2. You are in fact still selling the 730x on the outlet (24 listed as I write this). How can dell in good faith still sell a PC they have no intention of of supporting. Almost seems criminal.

3. I am sure if dell wanted to they could pull an engineer from alienware to tweak the bios. Dell CHOOSES NOT to.

4. Dell did not manufacture the motherboard in the 730x an OEM did. Dell could have the OEM create a new BIOS. Dell CHOOSES NOT to.

5. Dell DOES choose to use non-standard a parts so that the we are stuck with DELL for support. Dell CHOOSES NOT to support the 730x.

I CHOOSE to take my business and the consireable amount of money I have spent over the years to another vendor.  I will build my own PC from off the shelf parts.

After 12 years of buying Dell home PCs I am forced to say Goodbye and good day to DELL!

I Can not get past the bad taste in my mouth no matter how much I try.

I could not agree more. As someone who spent 7K on his 730x and also was a 710 owner Dell will get no more of my business. (not that  i think they care... i really don't think they give a damn) this was the last time they get any of my money. It's a shame really but i guess we as customers are asking too much from Dell when we ask for support...I will say only one more thing. The reason i bought this machine was because it was suppose to be upgradable..but that will only work if dell upgrades the Bios..i guess they lied what else is new

XPS 730x H2C
i7 965 Extreme CPU overclocked to 4050 GHz
SLi, Dual nVidia GeForce GTX280 1024MB
Core clock-702MHz,shader clock-1404MHz,memory-1269MHz
6GB Multi-Channel DDR3 at 1066MHZ (3x2GB DIMM) running at 1117MHZ (7-7-7-20-C1)
RAID 0 2x300GB(600GB) WD Velociraptor 10K 16MB Cac
Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader withBluetooth 2.0
Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 64-bit Ultimate (English)
Dual Drives: 6x Blu-Ray Burner(BD/DVD/CD) + 16x DVD-ROM
X-Fi Titanium Audio Card
Dell CPU Liquid/TEC Cooling ATX Unit
1 Kilowatt power supply
Dell 2408WFP monitor

I have noticed my 730x CPU Pump and Front fan ramping up after it has been powered on for a while.  It never used to do this.  Could I have problems beginning with my H2C or does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks,

Ben

Someone ask this question...

What is the default QPI/Uncore voltage on the 730X? This is absolutely critical to overclocking at high bclk, as it needs to be matched with vCore for proper stability. Intel's whitesheet default for x58 is 1.1v, however almost all board manufacturers are setting this to 1.2v at default. Since Dell has provided no way to measure this voltage within Windows or otherwise, what is the default value?

I am not sure I understand the response from engineering but here it is:
VTT is vid based regulator and it can be 1.1V or 1.2V depending on the vid value. Please see schematics page 36.

Where is our BIOS?????

Is that rhetorical?

Hi Chris,

I know this is not the correct forum for this, but I cannot find the answer I need anywhere here,  I have purchased a dell monitor 1907fpv and when I go to download drivers for it- the exe file is not in the zip.  I have tried many times and still the same result.  Any help you can provide?

Thanks

Thank you for taking the time to write back to me about this, I really appreciate it.  I was able to get it to update by selecting an automatic update.  All is well now.

Kind Regards

Ever other REAL company which builds enthusiast ATX machines provide their customers with timely Bios update to adjust to the changing hardware environment in which these machines operate. * End of Marketing Life means no work for hardware not sold at the time of sale.

What's sad, Chris, is that, OVERWHELMINGLY, Dell's XPS730X customers feel screwed.  They feel abandoned and left with a very expensive boat anchor (and a defective anchor at that) that Dell conveniently decided to prematurely "End it's Marketing Life" when they picked up Alienware.  Problems abound with the BIOS that would be easily fixed with an update (as Asus and other OEM's have already done for their customers who just bought cheap motherboards, not multi-thousand dollar high-end systems).  And, even you, Chris, fail to acknowledge this (publicly) and continue to spew the rhetoric that just infuritates those that have been abandoned.  Is it too much to ask for a system that is marketed as overclockable to actually work when overclocked?  Or to have a system that resumes from energy saving Sleep mode when overclocked?  I thought Dell was all about being GREEN???  Are those issues not part of Dell's commitment to it's customers when the 730x was being sold?

The fact is, Dell abruptly ending the XPS730X's life, and dropped support like a bad habit.  Why? Because it's flawed.  Flawed beyond repair?  It seems like it since Dell decided to just drop it.  

In any case, those who are smart are dumping their 730x's on ebay or elsewhere and getting something that actually works.  For myself, although I am bitter at Dell for how they are treating their 730x customers, I earn a living selling and supporting the Dell brand, and call me stupid, but I've made the switch to the Area-51 and can proudly say it is a work of art.  Very happy with that platform and it works well, just like the 730x should have, and how 730x owners who shelled out many thousands for their systems expected theirs to work.