XPS 730x General Hardware Discussion thread

Look for your question in this massive list...

What is the native/default memory standard for the motherboard? I'm assuming it's the DDR3 1066mhz and to use the 1333mhz or 1800mhz you'll have to overclock the memory, correct?
* Correct.

So with the new Alien-FX light program on the XPS 730x will this be available for people witht the original xps 730?
* There are two scenarios where any XPS 630 and XPS 730 customer can use the Dell AlienFX OR the retail ESA software without incurring any issues -
(1) Load the NVIDIA System Tools with ESA Support, Dell AlienFX, and the Dell XPS Thermal Application and use the Dell AlienFX to control the colored LEDs but do not use the Dell NVPerformance to control the colored LEDs.
(2) Load the NVIDIA System Tools with ESA Support by itself and use that software to control the colored LEDs but do not load any of the Dell software, Dell AlienFX included.

Also will the original XPS 730 get the software that enables the lights to turn on when you open the case? also was wandering if there was going to be an upgrade program??
* No and No.

Had a look in the Dell driver page but could not see them so where do you download it from?
* Correct. Technically, we do not offer support for the NVIDIA System Tools with ESA Support on the XPS 730i, BUT, it does work for changing the colored LEDs and the fan speeds.
* Dell AlienFX
* Dell XPS Thermal Application

Also is there is an upgrade program the we should be entitled to the extreme Core i7 for free considering the QX9770 (£1000) is worth more then the extreme version of the Core i7 (£850).
* No.

I know this is a General Hardware thread, but I was curious if you had information on real lead times for the 730x. The reason I ask is that I ordered one today (great price BTW with a 25% coupon) pretty decked out (GTX280 SLI, 6GB RAM, I7-920, Ultimate 64) and the estimated ship date is 1/12. I have an XPS710 that I seem to recall shipped much sooner than the estimated ship date.
* No sir. A Customer Care agent might know the lead times.

I am looking on info on the 730x. Anyone have info about what type of motherboard is use with the new i7 cpu.
* Do you mean the maker (Foxconn, MSI, etc.)? If yes, we do not release that information. But, if someone got the FCC ID number, they could track it down.

Why would Dell pick a moutherboard that only as three Dimm slots for a computer such as the XPS 730X? If you look at all of the other Core 17 machines that our out there, they almost all have the ability to ave 12G over 6 slots. Although it seems that this motherboard will handle 12G of memory, you will have to pay for the 4G Dimms which are now $700+ for 4Gx2.
* That was based on our wanting a PC that would allow overclocking and still be stable. We discovered the sweet spot was 6GB.

Do you think I can replace my motherboard at a later date to accomindate the 12G of RAM via 6 slots?
* In theory, yes. But support for that motherboard would not come from Dell.

I cant find any information on the Corsair Dominator CM3X1024-1800C8D? I'm getting 3GB of ram in my 730x and I wanted to look into the higher performance ram  and or higher performing stock ram. I found only this for stock ram:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Memory_Upgrades/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555&sku=A2296386
I talked to Corsair and they gave me this model number ram: TR3X6G1600C8D
http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/TR3X6G1600C8D.pdf
* It is just not on the market yet.

Can anyone tell me how to get the systems lights to flash when receiving E-Mail, also I do not see a teaming option in the broadcom software. I know both of these things should be able to do on the 730x
* No idea.
I currently have an XPS 600 and am looking at the 730x.  I'm in Canada and can purchase the H2C TEC cooling option instead of the standard cooling.  Since the 920 represents the best bang for dollar due max OC, do all 730x's permit OC'ing and will there be any benefit in spending the extra $ on the cooling option? I have the same question. Can one purchase the base model with the 2.66 i7 and then overclock it in ROM to maybe 3.2? I've read that i7 can be reliably overclock with air cooling.
* You cannot overclock the i7-920 2.66GHz and the i7-940 2.93GHz.

Is it possible to load XP onto a new 730x? How about Vista32? Several of my key apps won't run properly on Vista64.
* Yes to both. I have tested it.

What I do not understand is that the Dell Canada site will let you configure a XPS 730X with the H2C (for $500 Canadian) as an option with any configuration, yet the US site only allows the configuraton on the most expensive Core i7.  Why would they have a better configuration options?
* Not sure. Those marketing departments are independent of each other.

Hi all, i just received my XPS 730x a few days ago and been having trouble with it ever since. Haven't been able to pin down cause.
Its stock standard i haven't overclocked anything.My specs are XPS 730x, i7 940, 6GB PC-8500, Radeon 4870x2, 300GB WD Raptor. All using standard drivers that came with the 730x (eg Catalyst 8.522, etc i never upgraded any drivers). The problem is the whole system consistantly just crashes and reboots itself after i try to run the following
3DMark Vantage 1.01 (can be anytime in chapter 1 - never got past chapter 1 the Jane and speedboat scene)
3DMark 2006 v1.10 (against never gets past scene 1 the invasion attack scene)
I haven't got a chance to load any games up yet so can't see if it is crashing in games will do that when i get time over next few days. I suspect it will crash as well. I did run Prime95 and it has run 7 hours+ stable. It is a pain after spending so much money on the system. There has been various posts on the internet around 4870x2 that indicates power supply problem to the card can cause such reboots. Has Dell or anyone had any issue with 4870x2 on a i7 XPS 730x?? I am guessing it is the 4870x2 but can't be sure could be motherboard, etc.
* What is the status of your issues?

Can anyone confirm for me what sound card comes with the XPS 730x? Is it the X-Fi Titanium or the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer? On the Dell site, when configuation the system, the only option available is the X-Fi Titanium, but after placing the order (like I have this morning), it switched to the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer on the Order Confirmation e-mail. Does the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer have an 'optical out' port like the X-Fi Titanium?
* The card is the X-FI Xtreme Gamer and it does have optical out.

Also, can anyone confirm whether the i7-965 is factory overclocked when shipped? On my order confirmation page, it doesn't mention the CPU factory overclocked to 3.46GHz.  Only the i7-365 at the stock speed of 3.2 GHz.
* Yes, it will be overclocked to 3.46GHz.

Can someone please tell me the Dell Part Number of the motherboard in their XPS 730x?
* C771N Mother board service kit

I Placed my order last month for my 730x and found that I could get a little more detail from calling the automated order status thing and it will tell me what stage it is in, rather than just "In Production" My question is, what are the various stages? What does each stage mean? My order was in the "Build stage" but is now in the "Kitting stage"

I currently have an XPS 600 and am looking at the 730x.  I'm in Canada and can purchase the H2C TEC cooling option instead of the standard cooling.  Since the 920 represents the best bang for dollar due max OC, do all 730x's permit OC'ing and will there be any benefit in spending the extra $ on the cooling option? I have the same question. Can one purchase the base model with the 2.66 i7 and then overclock it in ROM to maybe 3.2? I've read that i7 can be reliably overclock with air cooling. * You cannot overclock the i7-920 2.66GHz and the i7-940 2.93GHz. Can anyone confirm for me what sound card comes with the XPS 730x? Is it the X-Fi Titanium or the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer? On the Dell site, when configuation the system, the only option available is the X-Fi Titanium, but after placing the order (like I have this morning), it switched to the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer on the Order Confirmation e-mail. Does the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer have an 'optical out' port like the X-Fi Titanium? * The card is the X-FI Xtreme Gamer and it does have optical out.

With all due respect - you are mistaken on these 2 points (at least in my case). You most certainly can overclock the i7-920. The only thing you cannot do is change the multiplier. The BIOS supports several adjustments to optimize and facillitate overclocking. It does not have the "packaged" overclock settings as my XPS710 did (i.e. only 2 generic overclocks "built-in" to the BIOS). BTW - as a disclaimer - NO I have not applied any overclock settings to my XPS730X as I know it could affect my warranty and would never recommend doing so, however I did look at the adjustable settings in the BIOS, including the 133 clock as well as various voltage settings.

The card that came with my 730X is absolutely an X-fi Titanium. I thought I was also to get the xtreme gamer, however that is not what arrived installed in my case. I pulled it out due to the well-known SCP/SOD issues and upon examination and comparison - it is indeed the Titanium and does have the optical out. The EXACT card I have is pictured here: (down to the last capacitor!)

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=17927

I just got my i7-965 system today, and I can absolutely confirm the audio card is an 'X-Fi Titanium', and not the 'X-Fi XtremeGamer".

I forget to add that the QPI Link always stays around 3200 MHz.   Is that normal with the i7 965 CPU?   Isn't it suppose to be around 6400 MHz?

I don't know.   Like I stated before, my PC seems to be wicked fast thus far.   My old PC was a 3.4GHz Pentium 4, so you can see I'm definitely happy with the performance thus far.  

Just a little perplexed about the numbers I'm seeing in the CPU-Z application and would like to get clarification if the numbers I'm seeing with i7 965 Extreme CPU are normal or not.

I have a question about my CPU.

When loading CPU-Z, my core speed/multiplier never stays the same.   It varies wildly from 1600 Mhz with a multiplier of 12 to 3450 Mhz with a multiplier of 26.   It is constantly swinging wildly up and down with rarely any stability at all.

IS THIS NORMAL?  I envisioned the core speed/multiplier to be pretty much stable varying between 3200 - 3450 Mhz and a 24 - 26 multiplier in turbo mode.

I've gone in the BIOS and checked all the numbers for the 3.46Ghz overclock and everything checks out just fine.

So far, everything is wicked fast thus far and I couldn't be happier with my purchase except for this one issue, which may not be an issue at all.

And maybe a few programs I had on my old PC are not 64-bit compatible...i.e. Weather Channel Desktop, Spyware Doctor.

Yes - the multiplier will change dynamically based on the load / application. During gaming my multiplier stays consistently at 21x for a speed of 2.8 GHz.

I am .

Just found out that there's no SERVICE MANUAL shipped with the XPS 730x!!!   (yeah it took me a day to find that out)

I got a Quick Reference Guide/Setting Up Your Computer/Safety Environmental Regulatory Manuals and even a Dell SALES Brochure inside the box, but no SERVICE MANUAL??????

Spare me the DOWNLOAD/PRINT IT ONLINE or the IT'S AVAILABLE IN WINDOWS JIVE....what happens if my hard drive, motherboard, memory or power supply DIES on me?

I won't have ACCESS to Windows or the internet to browse the Service Manual!

And I currently have NO ACCESS to a PRINTER, and even if I did, we are talking many MANY pages to print the entire SERVICE MANUAL!!!

Very VERY dumb on the part of Dell......6 years ago I bought my first PC (Dimension 8200) and IT HAD A SERVICE/OWNERS manual!

If you can send me all this other JUNK aforementioned....why not send....hmmmm let me see....a OWNERS/SERVICE MANUAL?????????

Did anyone get a SERVICE/OWNERS manual with their system?

I don't have it with me right now since I'm at work, but ... what's the manual that's inside the fake leather binder that's included in the box with the keyboard and CDs?  I didn't really look at it, but I remember a book.

All,

There is not a part number for the manual so we cannot send it out.

All,

When loading CPU-Z, my core speed/multiplier never stays the same. It varies wildly from 1600 Mhz with a multiplier of 12 to 3450 Mhz with a multiplier of 26. It is constantly swinging wildly up and down with rarely any stability at all. IS THIS NORMAL? I envisioned the core speed/multiplier to be pretty much stable varying between 3200 - 3450 Mhz and a 24 - 26 multiplier in turbo mode.
* I am using CPUZ 1.49. Yes, that is normal. The Core Speed is dynamic, not static.

I forget to add that the QPI Link always stays around 3200 MHz. Is that normal with the i7 965 CPU? Isn't it suppose to be around 6400 MHz?
* Frequency/Voltage Control- QPI Frequency is set to AUTO, CPUZ QPI Link = 34xxMHz, multiplier = x26 to x25.5

* Frequency/Voltage Control- QPI Frequency is set to 6.400GT, CPUZ QPI Link = 34xxMHz, multiplier = x26 to x25.5

* Frequency/Voltage Control- QPI Frequency is set to 4.800GT, CPUZ QPI Link = 24xxMHz, multiplier = x26

I don't have it with me right now since I'm at work, but ... what's the manual that's inside the fake leather binder that's included in the box with the keyboard and CDs?  I didn't really look at it, but I remember a book.

That's the black Quick Reference Guide....useful, but it doesn't cover the technical aspects of installing/replacing/removing parts of the PC.

Can anyone tell me how quiet or noisy the XPS 730x is ?

Is there any tech data on this? Decibel numbers ? SPL dBA ?