XPS 730x General Hardware Discussion thread

hi, Eagle hill

Thanks for your advice, my order cost me US$ 2000.

Intel i-7 920

6 GB ram

640GB harddisk

dual drive: blu-ray burner and dvd rom,

GT 9800 graphic card

creative sound card

no LCD monitor

no H2 cooler

Other than that, studio xps 435 cost around US$ 1625 with the same specs, but include ATI 4870 graphic card, no creative sound card.  

I Feel like why pay extract money to get that Xps 730x ? yes i know the light effect is cool, i love that and overclocking, what else it worths ? i’m not hard gamer.

Many thanks to you

I have an 730x H2C system and mine begines go get unstable right around 3.93ghz.  It will run but i start getting blue screens when i really stress the system.

I am also running 1600mhz RAM like mmab63

[quote user="mmab63"] My 965 will only go as high as the high 3.8GHz range before becoming really unstable.   Of course, I have the air-cooled version, maybe the H2C will achieve 4.0GHz with no problems.   And if you are using 1600 RAM, make sure you bump the 'QPI & Uncore Voltage' from Default to around +120 or +140mv or so.   And make sure your timing specs on your RAM matches the BIOS numbers.

Thank you for the information.  I have to say, though, that I am finding my 920 air-cooled system is overclocking much better than the 965 H2C system! My 920 system jumps to almost 4Ghz in turbo mode, and around 3.8Ghz normally, and is solid as a rock.

I will try the settings you stated (Turbo multiplier at 28) and see what my clock speed is when I run Prime95.    I would have thought that I could at least mimick the settings from my 920 on my 965 H2C system, but nope.  Not even close.  Kind of disappointing that with all this Extreme technology that my cheapy little 920 system is out-muscling my much more expensive 965 EXtreme system!  :emotion-2:

Here are some settings for you to try, i run these on my 730X H2C change your core ratio from 24 to 22 and your turbo ratio from 28 to 26 go to ram timings and change them to  8-8-8-23-68-10-5-5-5-CL2 bump your FSB to 150 from 133 and change your QPI &UNCORE voltage to +120 and change your ram voltage from default to 1.60. This will give you an overclock of 3916Mhz and allow you to rum your Dell 1066Mhz ram at 1200Mhz i have tested these setting extensivly on my system using Intel Burn Test and OCCT and it is rock stable.

Gary

I'm a non-geek gamer chick (oxymoron?), and thought I'd treat myself to a hot system for Mother's Day....but I need something stable.  Does the air or water-cooled systems seem to have less problems?  I don't need to overclock and stuff, just have a fast system that doesn't crash.   I read through a lot of the forums, but haven't really been able to come to any conclusions ...can some-one who knows these systems please take a moment of your very valuable time and give me some advice??  Thank you so much in advance.

p.s.  I'm currently running on an XPS M1710  laptop, and was initially going to go for the 630, until I checked their forums - nothing but trouble there.

Hi Kattkat,

I am not a gamer either; I have never played a game on a computer since the Commodore 64.  I have the XPS 730x 940 air-cooled system.  It is the fastest that I have ever used, I absolutely love this computer.  If you have read the pervious pages, then you know there are a few problems, but none that cannot be fixed.  As far as processing goes, I have put this computer through the tests (none gaming tests) and it is solid as a rock; I cannot max it out.  My experience and advice is to get what you need.  If the 730 fits your fancy/needs and you can afford it, buy it, it is vastly worth the money.  And, if it has a few initial problems when you receive it, use this thread and 'errrrrrrk' tech support, to get your system up to par.  After that, you will be in the "I love my computer club."  My only warning is to hold on to your mouse, these systems rock!!!

Good luck on your decision

Mark

Here are some settings for you to try, i run these on my 730X H2C change your core ratio from 24 to 22 and your turbo ratio from 28 to 26 go to ram timings and change them to  8-8-8-23-68-10-5-5-5-CL2 bump your FSB to 150 from 133 and change your QPI &UNCORE voltage to +120 and change your ram voltage from default to 1.60. This will give you an overclock of 3916Mhz and allow you to rum your Dell 1066Mhz ram at 1200Mhz i have tested these setting extensivly on my system using Intel Burn Test and OCCT and it is rock stable. Gary

Thanks Gary.  I watched some Youtube videos this morning, one from Dell, actually showing the settings to use on a 965 H2C 730x system.  I applied those settings, and have been able to run about 3.9Ghz and so far, it appears solid.  Prime95 ran for about an hour without crashing or blue-screening the system.  CPU temps look good although ram speed is above 1600Mhz, it doesn't seem to cause an issue (I have some good Corsair 1600 RAM that looks like it's able to handle a bit higher speed).

If my current settings turn out to be flakey, I will use your recommended settings.

Thanks again.

I'm a non-geek gamer chick (oxymoron?), and thought I'd treat myself to a hot system for Mother's Day....but I need something stable.  Does the air or water-cooled systems seem to have less problems?  I don't need to overclock and stuff, just have a fast system that doesn't crash.   I read through a lot of the forums, but haven't really been able to come to any conclusions ...can some-one who knows these systems please take a moment of your very valuable time and give me some advice??  Thank you so much in advance. p.s.  I'm currently running on an XPS M1710  laptop, and was initially going to go for the 630, until I checked their forums - nothing but trouble there.

I would say, unequivocally, that if you are not interested in extreme overclocking, then save yourself the money and get a 920-based air-cooled system.

You can, if you desire, VERY EASILY, do some simple adjustment to run that 2.66Ghz chip @ 3.2Ghz, or even a bit higher, and still have a rock-solid system.  

There is definitely no reason to spend the extra money on the H2C system for your intents and purposes.  In fact, having dealt in the past with about a half dozen XPS 720 H2C and non-H2C systems, and now with 730x H2C and non-H2C, I do not really find much advantange to the H2C (at least for the price/performance difference).  The H2C systems don't keep the CPU that much cooler, and unless you are interested in eeking out the last Hz of speed from your CPU, you'll be perfectly happy with an air-cooled.  I base that statement purely on my experiences with both these systems, and having a solid technical background (although, I am certainly no OC freak).

Not to say the H2C systems are a waste of money (maybe overpriced?) but what you want to do with it, save the money, get a XPS 730x 920 system and put the savings into something that will really boost your performance even more, like a SSD drive or two and more RAM.

Do some research (Google-ing) with regards to 920-based systems and you will find that almost any 920-based system will perform easily at the same speed as a stock, and much more expensive, 965 Extreme system.

Good luck and have fun.

BTW, check out the Dell Outlet for a great deal.  Occasionally, you can find tremendous savings on a system (like mine!), and you get the same warranty, the same 21-day return policy, and same day shipping!  It's even better when you can use a coupon to save 10-15%...so keep an eye out if you are interested!

My system is the air-cooled version of the 965 (lucky me Dell doesn't offer air-cooled 965s anymore - go figure).  Upgraded the memory from stock to OCZ Platinum 1600MHz speed RAM.   Upgraded the single hard drive from stock to dual Velociraptors in RAID0 configuration.  And upgraded the optical drive from stock DVD burner to LG Blu-Ray Drive.  Same video card (ATI Radeon 4850), and audio card (Creative X-Fi Titanium).

I have 6GB of OCZ Platinum 1600MHz RAM  (BClk is at 133MHz -- Memory Ratio is at 12 -- DDR3 Memory Voltage is at 1.65V -- QPI and Uncore Voltage is at +120mv -- Timings are manually set to 7-7-7-24 for my memory)

I have my CPU running currently at 3.73GHz (even though I can go as high as 3.86-3.89 with Turbo Ratio at 29).    Turbo Ratio is 28 on all 4 cores.  Dynamic CPU VCore Offset is at +120mv.  I0H Voltage is at 1.10V.  TDC is at 180.  TDP is at 200.

I ran Prime95 for 2-3 hours without a hiccup.   It has been puuuuuuring like a baby kitten since.  And to add to that, I just added Windows 7 (Release Candidate) a couple of days ago with a fresh install, and the system is now even faster than ever.    A few problems with some applications that need updated drivers for Windows 7, but the overall system feels more responsive than under Vista.

The only hiccup with my system really is the super SLOOOOW reboot time (mainly it's the Dell BIOS Screen that stays on for 30-45 secs before booting into Windows).

But since I keep my system on 24-7, it is really not a super concern until I update application drivers, Windows Updates, and such when I have to reboot.

Hi Ray,

Without opening my case it appears to be a white connector with at least 3 black wires running to it.

 It is not what I would call a jumper.

I hope that helps.

Good Luck!

Dudley

Hi Ray, Without opening my case it appears to be a white connector with at least 3 black wires running to it.  It is not what I would call a jumper. I hope that helps. Good Luck! Dudley

Thank you Dudley! I'll let the Dell tech know to make sure he has that part before he comes out.

-Ray

Hi Ray, the connector (fan header) next to the memory slots (near the bottom of the motherboard, to the right of the memory) is for the CPU fan cable coming from the Master Control Board. It is not a jumper pin set.

There are two black cables running along the bottom of the case right near where the motherboard edge is. One cable goes to the back of the case and is for the back (lower) LED strip. The other goes to the MB header you mention.  The cable you are looking for should be looped around a black cable-stay on the case bottom (and that cable is apparently not connected to anything right now). That cable is a bit longer than it needs to be - which is why it is looped to hold the extra length.

If you cannot see the end of that cable then it is probably trapped under the motherboard. It likes to fall under there when replacing the board. If it is under the board it is best to remove the board again so as not to pull the end of the cable off trying to get it out.

If your new motherboard was set-up for air-cooled then it would have had a fan over the Southbridge, and the tech removed (and unplugged) that fan. There is nothing to plug back into that fan header when using the H2C - but that header is up just to the right of the Southbridge. There is a second fan header used for air-cooling (that would have been used for the fan inside the air-cool heatsink shroud). It is on the LED strip on the back of the case (near the IO shield) that does not get used when using the H2C either.

However, the white header you mention - near the motherboard bottom and to the right of the memory slots - which looks exactly like the two other open fan headers just mentioned - MUST be connected whether using the air-cooled or H2C solution.

The strange thing is that you mention the BIOS message goes by very quickly. It should be stopping and asking you to hit F1 to continue or F2 to enter Setup. Also all fans should be running on high and all lights should be on default if that cable is not connected. Must be that was changed in this BIOS upgrade. The message should be "Alert! CPU fan missing or cable not connected. Hit F1 to continue or F2 to enter Setup."

Anyway unless the connector you need is caught under the MB you should see it by just looking along the bottom edge of the MB. It's a three strand black wire with a white connector on the end. The connector has two guide slots that match with a plastic tab sticking up on the header so you can’t put the cable on wrong.

Bob

Hi all...

  I've been playing with a couple i920 based 730x systems, some observations...

Slow Boot problem:  It's mostly the fault of the CARD READER.  I have CAB-200 (reader w/ bluetooth), latest firmware and the bios gets real fast if you disconnect it.  My guess is that the bios is looking for any bootable memory cards.  We need a way to prevent this and/or speed up Teac's card reader device (during boot).

S3 wakeup issue:  Sleep/Standby (to S3) fails unless BCLK is the default 133mhz.  Your system won't wakeup and/or lose its mind.  This is a problem on nearly all X58 based motherboards and hopefully will be fixed.  i965 owners might get around this since they can leave their BCLK at 133mhz and adjust the core multipliers instead.  i920/i940 owners don't get this luxury.  Which is also a glaring error in the Dell journal that describes "overclocking defaults".  That article only applies to i965 owners (and fails to mention that), probably cause that's the only cpu Dell will factory overclock.

i920 Overclocking (first look):  For me, assuming you can live with the current S3/Standby problem, regardless of your ram, BCLK around 175mhz with +40mv voltage bump makes most sense.  This is about 3.7-3.8ghz.  Both systems were stable at this setting (plus your best memory timings).  Why stop here?  because of the steep voltage ramp required for higher overlclocks.  You can get to 4ghz but the amount of power consumed and heat generated is ridiculous.  Yes, the 730x "handles" the load but your system becomes much less efficient, wasting power, generating excess heat, stressing your components and for what?  a very small performance increase.  3fps in your game just ain't worth it.  Btw, I have $100 ram and the basic 1066mhz Micron ram that came installed and CAS6 (vs CAS7) buys your very little.  Again, measurable, but in the real world you wouldn't notice the difference (so save your $$$).

Notes: They really need a power switch on back of the power supply.  Especially since we are also sans reset button.  Otherwise the case is awesome.  Strange that "Lan1" on one motherboard was the top ethernet jack but the lower jack on the other.  Motherboards are identical except for a label being moved slightly.  They should include a dual SLI cable even if you have a single video card.  The cable you'll need is about 1.75in (45mm), although most newer Nvidia cards run (fast) SLI without the cable.

PDS

Does the PCI Express slots all run x16 mode? As i thought all the PCI Express slots were Gen 2 running at x16 however GPU-Z registers one of my card running at x8 mode:

The other GTX 285 runs at the full x16, my GPU's are in the first slot (nearest to the CPU) and thrid slot (Nearest to Hard Drives), the middle slot is empty, could anyone else just check what mode their GPU's are running at and anyone knwo hwo to fix this?

Thx

hi there, 

so the xps 730x can't upgrade the ram right? so stuck on 6GB of ram  forever ?

thanks