XPS 730x General Hardware Discussion thread

Yes I am curious also why only 6gb? With Vista 64 Ultimate it should be able to handle much more than 6gb.

More precisely, why only 3 DIMM slots?  The reason--Foxconn.  take a look at Newegg, for instance.  Of all 39 Core i7-based motherboards, 35 of them have SIX DIMM slots, and 4 have only 3 DIMM slots. Guess who makes ALL 4 of those?  FOXCONN.   

Thanks Dell.  Apparently, the design team that specified only 1GB of hardwired RAM in the Mini 10 and 12, must have also voted to use the FOXCONN mainboard with only half the memory slots as others.  Of all things to limit, RAM shouldn't be one of them!  

FWIW, the Foxconn boards ARE spec'd at 12GB RAM maximum (3 x 4GB), so once 4GB modules start costing less than a mortgage, 12GB should be a reality on this board also.

In testing, we did not see any real gains in going higher.

In testing, we did not see any real gains in going higher.

Are you kidding?  I hope so, because I cannot fathom that Dell took it upon themselves to determine how much RAM

I should want to put in my system, based on some random testing.  Who's to say what is coming down the pipe next year,

in two years, or five years, but Dell has decided that I will not need more than 6GB of RAM?  Puh-leez.

I'm sorry, but that was the most discreditable statement I think I've read from you!  :)

Are you kidding?  I hope so, because I cannot fathom that Dell took it upon themselves to determine how much RAM I should want to put in my system, based on some random testing.

That is why Dell stock doesn't get over $12 per share. The engineers and designers aren't worth the paper their degree was scribbled on.

I'm sorry, but that was the most discreditable statement I think I've read from you!  :)

Chris doesn't make the rules, nor does he have a say in how the PC is configured. He is merely tech support. Someone asked a question and he answered it. There's no point for you to "discredit" him because of his reply to someone when he was only relaying the same information that he was given.

Who's to say what is coming down the pipe next year, in two years, or five years, but Dell has decided that I will not need more than 6GB of RAM?
* On that PC, correct.

I'm sorry, but that was the most discreditable statement I think I've read from you!
* Understood.

Now, on to more important issues with the 730x.  :emotion-1:

I am now having a problem with the POST screen hanging when I have an HP 24" LCD with USB ports plugged into the 730x USB ports.

I have the Dell Multimedia KB (with 2 extra USB ports) plugged into the monitor, and a Logitech nano reciever also plugged into the monitor.

At POST, it hangs with the progress bar stuck at about 25%.  

If I unplug the KB and nano receiver and plug them into the front USB ports of the 730x, then POST continues normally and Vista boots fine.

Since the monitor has a USB hub built in and so does the Dell multimedia KB, is "stacked" USB hubs too much for the BIOS to figure out?

Also, with all my USB ports occupied, POST now REALLY takes a long time.  It seems the BIOS is doing some major detecting of USB devices for some reason.  

Is there a way to turn that off?  I've not ever had a computer that took longer to POST when more USB devices are plugged in.

And, what about resume from sleep HANGING with an overclocked BCLK setting?   Will that be fixed soon?

Thanks.

Who's to say what is coming down the pipe next year, in two years, or five years, but Dell has decided that I will not need more than 6GB of RAM? * On that PC, correct. I'm sorry, but that was the most discreditable statement I think I've read from you! * Understood.

Chris, I wanted to follow-up on my comments towards you.  Without me stating as such, my comments were based on my presumption that Dell did not really do any "testing", and therefore, your response was just a made-up answer.  No offense was meant.  From a technical and even a consumer standpoint, it goes without saying that it is impossible to do any testing and decide that only so much RAM is needed for any possible scenario, and anything over that is not needed.  

The fact of the matter is, FOXCONN, the maker of the system board, only puts 3 DIMM slots on any of their system boards, except one.  Every other manufacturer puts 6 DIMM slots.  Therefore, the logical answer to the original question of why only 6GB is supported, has more to do with the manufacturer chosen for the system board in the 730x than some "big brother" decsion that anything over 6GB is useless.

It just surprised me to read such a silly excuse coming from someone with such an extensive technical background (which I assume you have!).

Again, apologies if I offended.

Anyone have any clue what fixes are in the 1.0.2 BIOS?  I have been asking for release notes for the last 3 weeks but they won't give them to me(they are missing on the driver update page).

Anyone have any clue what fixes are in the 1.0.2 BIOS?  I have been asking for release notes for the last 3 weeks but they won't give them to me(they are missing on the driver update page).

There are no "fixes" with the 1.0.2 bios revision. All it added was a new Dell logo screen and changed the C-State Tech function.

I installed XPS 730x 1.0.2 BIOS from 1.0.1 and now when  the computer is in standby-sleepmode and I resume into windows I get a BSOD? Blue Screen indicates Hardware Error with stop code 0x00000124.

I had to reinstall Bios 1.0.0 (Bios version 1.0.1 not available for download....How come?)  and the issue went away....any ideas?

No the BLCK is set stock 133.

I have a 730x H2C i7 965 Extreme system, the overclockling is at the recommended settings as posted by Chris. Except the Intel Turbo Multiplier, I set it to 29 instead of 28 for the four cores,  to get a little more overclocking out of the processor.

I installed XPS 730x 1.0.2 BIOS from 1.0.1 and now when  the computer is in standby-sleepmode and I resume into windows I get a BSOD? Blue Screen indicates Hardware Error with stop code 0x00000124. I had to reinstall Bios 1.0.0 (Bios version 1.0.1 not available for download....How come?)  and the issue went away....any ideas?

Resume from sleep problem is supposedly a known issue with X58 based system boards (any Core i7) that are overclocked by increasing the BCLK above 133.

Is your system overclocked via an increased BCLK?  You're saying that 1.0.1 (and 1.0.0), you didn't have that problem?

My own system is completely unresponsive when woken from sleep (black screen, fans on high).  I have to force a power off.

Well, as it happens, the Dell tech came today to replace the MB and fans in one of my 730x systems that I complained earlier about the front fan running full speed all the time.  

Unfortunately, replacing the MB and fans did not solve the issue.  (Isn't that odd?)

BUT, the system board he put in has 1.0.1 BIOS, and I clocked up BCLK to 160 and fired up my Vista x64 and put it to sleep.  Guess what?  I woke up properly!

Is there something wrong with 1.0.2, then?  I'd love to revert to 1.0.1 to get sleep back.  My electricity bill cannot withstand 7/24 running of this beast and i'm too old to keep waiting for this thing to boot up (yet another problem for Dell to solve--faster POST).

How can we get 1.0.1??

I think there is way you can make a back up of that 1.0.1 bios. I'm just not sure right now of the software thats needed to do that.

Still why is that version not available on the dell website? Maybe chris can answer that if he happens to see this post.