The "new" XPS 8300 5215 still has Sandy Bridge recall issue

Hi Skeptical2011,

Wow, good catch. I have alerted others.

Believe me, Best Buy would sell color TVs to blind people is they could get away with it.

The Intel chipset issue had nothing to do with video.  Actually the chipset issue only affected a very few systems.

Start a new thread and post your video problem. Someone here may be able to help you.

If you bought the system, new, directly from Dell they are built to order.  Thus the date on the Dell invoice is within a few days of the actual build.  Dell stopped selling these when the Intel problem was reported and didn't restart selling these until the new motherboards witht he updated chipset was available. 

Does your machine have a white or black case? I was wondering because I played with an i5 machine today at Best Buy, both the i5 and i7 Dell XPS 8300 have black cases with black fronts at Best Buy but Dell's website pictures the machines with white cases and black fronts.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-8954682381718101959&id=pcat17080&type=page&lcn=Computers&sc=abComputerSP&st=processingtime%3A%3E1900-01-01&usc=abcat0500000&cp=1&sp=-displaydate+skuid&nrp=15&qp=q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat0501000%23%230%23%2329~~nf510||44656c6c&add_to_pkg=false&pagetype=listing

I guess the question I have about all this is HOW can we tell if our 8300 MOBO is the new one? I bought from BestBuy in January 2011 and received the sandy bridge recall announcement in March. Yesterday I went to BestBuy and picked up a "new" XPS 8300 5215 mode as a replacement. When I opened the box, the Mfg. date on both the inside box top sticker and on the computer was 12/10/2010. It was NOT dated after 3/1/2011 as I expected and as recommended in other posts I've seen.

I tried calling Dell, but couldn't get through. I also talked to the Geek Squad, but they were barely aware of the recall. They just knew to take back the old XPS 8300 5214 model and sell me something else. They knew nothing of dates, or anything else about the recall. They thought the 5215 was up to date but didn't really know.

So that begs the question. Is the XPS 8300 5215 model truly an updated replacement irregardless of the Mfg. date, or just a repackaging of the remaining old computers with the problem that will still need a MOBO replacement? And how can we, as consumers, tell the difference between an updated model and one that is not?

A clarification by Dell and/or BestBuy would be nice.

I purchased my Dell XPS8300 with the Intel Core i7 on 3/20/11 from Best Buy.  Best Buy had taken these computers off their website after the problem with the i7 was identified.  Dell had started selling these computers on their website again and Best Buy started selling them also, so I assumed that the ones that Best Buy was selling were okay.  Wrong!

I contacted to Dell representative today and found out that because my computer was manufactured on December 28th 2010 it was affected.  Dell has volunteered to send out a technician to replace my motherboard.  I also called Best Buy.  They said that I could return the computer and get a new one; however, they will not transfer programs from the current computer to the new one.  They told me that they would sell me a service contract for 50% off.  Needless to say, I will never buy anything from Best Buy again.  They were totally unapologetic....said that they were unaware of the problem (which is not true because they took the item off their website).  I have a lot of  photography software on this computer, so it will be a real hassle to reinstall all of it.

My question is....will a new motherboard solve the problem or would it be better to take this one back to Best Buy and get a new one?

To tell if you have a new revised motherboard run CPUID and look for the version on the main screen. In the revision it should state B3

I ran Davet50's suggested CPUID and had the Rev B2, not B3 on my machine. After checking several BB stores and finding they were all selling the old computers, I chatted with Dell support to find my options. The Dell guy set me up to have a technician come out and replace the MOBO. The next day the tech came out and had the MOBO replaced with a Rev. B3 in 25 minutes. Not bad! In less than 24 hours I had the whole issue resolved thanks to Dell, NOT Best Buy.

The letter from Best Buy was useless as their geek squad knew very little about what was going on, and didn't even have updated computers to swap anywhere in the greater Boston area.

Dell was easy and painless. I just had to be in during a 2 hour period for the tech guy.

So my suggestion to everyone is to use Dell support and don't bother doing the Best Buy return, refund, buy, and hope you get a new one with the new MOBO routine.

Doug

this supports my theory that Dell is awesome ... i don't buy anyone else's stuff.

I did make the decision to go with Dell sending a technician out to replace the motherboard.  I had the same great experience, the tech had the new motherboard in less than 24 hours and came out the next morning to replace the motherboard.  Great service on the part of Dell.

By the way, after complaining to customer service I did get a call from someone in the corporate office telling me that the local store (Daytona) was totally wrong and should have transferred my programs.  I thanked her but told her that I had more faith in Dell and would not be returning to Best Buy for any reason.  It just boggles my mind that they continue to sell the affected computers.

I went to Best Buy yesterday wanting to purchase this computer...I had all my information about the recall and knew that anything dated before 3/1/11 would be needing a new motherboard...BUT...silly me got into the store to make my purchase and forgot about checking the date! Wouldnt you know it when i got it home the sticker inside the box and on the computer stated the MFG date of 1/10/2011!!!! AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! I called Best Buy as soon as I noticed this and of course they knew NOTHING! Told me I would have to go through the company about the recall... After finding this support forum discussion I followed Daves advise and went to the CPUID website and downloaded CPU-Z...after all my information was gathered i clicked the 'Mainboard' tab and in one of the boxes it stated 'Rev. B3'............so does this mean that my computer is ok and will not be needing a new motherboard?

Yes if your being shown as Rev B3 then your motherboard has the latest  chipset. and is fine. A lot of time the manufactor date is not updated in a recall. IT should be but is not.

I went to Best Buy yesterday wanting to purchase this computer...I had all my information about the recall and knew that anything dated before 3/1/11 would be needing a new motherboard...BUT...silly me got into the store to make my purchase and forgot about checking the date! Wouldnt you know it when i got it home the sticker inside the box and on the computer stated the MFG date of 1/10/2011!!!! AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! I called Best Buy as soon as I noticed this and of course they knew NOTHING! Told me I would have to go through the company about the recall...

After finding this support forum discussion I followed Daves advise and went to the CPUID website and downloaded CPU-Z...after all my information was gathered i clicked the 'Mainboard' tab and in one of the boxes it stated 'Rev. B3'............so does this mean that my computer is ok and will not be needing a new motherboard?

Thanks for the speedy reply!! And you just made my day! :emotion-1: