Screech of Death

One way to figure out if it's the X-Fi causing the problem, remove it from the case. If you no longer have the sound issues then you've found the problem.

Screech of death goes back to the XPS 400, there is no solution, Dell is not even working on the issue, i replaced the X-FI card with an Asus sound card, i also bought another Brand PC, " HP/Voodoo Blackbird" please read the thread " Re: X-Fi Screech of Death"

Yeah the Blackbird is what I'm going to get. Going to send this mess back. So even when you replaced the card it still did the screech?

no screech with the Asus Sound card in my  XPS 720 . ill not buy Dell for a very long time. Depending where u live u can buy a Blackbird retail

I had the screech of death as well. I now use the onboard Realtek sound chip with excellent results. It even sounds much better than the piece of junk X-Fi. When I called Dell about it, they acted like they never heard of the problem. Not a good thing..... I have to say, other than the X-Fi issue, I'm 100% happy with my system.

Hi....

I have the same machine and all was well for a while them my games started playing up and the sound would stutter as well as the graphics.I fixed it this way... I upgraded my bios to 1.04 .... then uninstalled the original gt8800 video drivers and installed the latest 174 drivers from the dell website... then i pulled that pile of junk commonly referred to as the X-FI Xtremegamer sound card out of the case... remember to plug the cable for the front inputs into your motherboard.Next uninstall the sound drivers and the applications that come with it through control panel.Next restart and go into your bios and enable the onboard sound.My computer now runs like a dream and the onboard sound is as good as the card.Hope this helps ..no need to send your machine back as its an excellent machine.... I love mine... its just letdown by dodgy creative rubbish.

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

I guess I can remove the xifi and all but I guess the next question is why would I want to. In other words if I just spent $3,000 on a computer why should I have to do that? Why when I call tech support do tehy pretend that they've never heard of it before? With a 1 year warranty it just doesn't bode well for the future.

 

It's too bad because my last Dell was a warhorse. They're losing a customer

The X-Fi problem is a Creative issue as the SOD and various burblings happen on all sorts of systems and MoBos, including those which are non-nVidia chipset based.

 

My guess is that Dell incorporates Creative cars as they are popular and well known.  There are numerous good cards, and many better cards, but none with the same level of name recognition.  Think Bose for consumer electronics.

Sidecut1,

 

Good question. I feel Dell should give credit for these defective sound cards to anyone that complains. If I could have purchased my system without the X-Fi, I would have. I never thought Creative made good cards to begin with. And the fact the one almost blew up my expensive speakers, it really gets my blood boiling! Luckily the onboard sound chip works great. Still, there is no excuse on Dells part, for using sound cards that have KNOWN ISSUES. Dell will never come clean on this one unfortunately........

You're right there is no excuse. I have been calling them all day and they pretend tey don't have a problem. I have a pair of $300.00 speakers that were blown up and I want them replaced.I also tried tog et the machine wthout the sound card and was told I couldn't. I'm really upset now. We'll see how they like it when they get dragged into small claims court. I'm also going to call the AG in my state.

 

Dont they read their own forums?

If I could use foul language here I would. They have to be reading these forums! It gets me (the p word) that Dell does nothing to correct this problem. When I told the Dell tech that the factory installed X-Fi almost took out my speakers that I cost me over $1000 in 1994 (BTW, parts are no longer available for my speakers), he didn't seem to care. All he offered was a replacement X-Fi that would have done the same thing! I asked if I could return the card for credit. Guess what the tech said.....NO! I've been a Dell customer since the early 90's, and this is the thanks I get.

 

sidecut1,

 

They should pay for your speakers since they absolutely knew of the Screech of Death syndrome long ago. But they continue to use these cards. Makes no sense to me at all.

 

As a side note here. I now fuse my speakers. 1/4 amp fast blow for the tweeters, and 1 amp fast blow for the woofers. I'm not taking any more chances.

Your experience is an exact mirror of mine. I dont understand Dell's unwillingness to address this.