Dell XPS 710 motherboard

I have since had a new computer built, and my dell is just a doorstop now! (also makes for a sturdy seat)

The hard drives from the dell, I still cannot access as they were both set to work as RAID and I cant get anything from them when I plug them into my new machine.

All this stuff done by dell so you have to keep buying dell, has lost them my business. Im sure they dont care.

There is no system that will restore a Raid Array  that is not on the orginal system. That is why backups are extremely important.

It would not even benifit you to get a 720 board as the array would not load on a different motherboard either.

Backups are the user's responsibility regardless of whether the system is defective or not.  Dell bears responsibility for the hardware and none for your data.  You can access data on an Intel RAID setup, but you'll need to do your homework:

www.intel.com/.../CS-022435.htm

If you were in the UK, i could help as i run my own computer support business!

I too am in the middle of fixing an XPS710 PC for one of my customers (used as a business machine). Same problem, no motherboard stock left, and any that are going second hand on ebay, tend to go at high prices if you can get one at all.

My advice is to get a new PC - ATX form factor, intel i5 or i7 etc..., pop your hard drives from the XPS into the new one (into the SATA ports) and read the data off like that. Just make sure your new system doesn't try and boot off your old hard disks, as this will not work (it shouldn't cause any damage to your old drive data). Once connected and recognised in Windows, you should be able to browse to all your files and get all your data off - (outlook files are .PST's and outlook express is .DBX), pics, docs, etc... all obtainable. You can even mount the user profiles DAT files to look through the old registry to obtain Email Account settings and other useful stuff.

If you have company accounts in say a program like Sage, and you need to import the data, this and a lot of other good quality software will have a feature to import data off a hard drive.

Unfortunately, most of the hardware you have for the XPS will just have to be sold off and replaced with an ATX type PC - thats the root I'm going to take. Good luck!  Giles

Hi, I just created a Dell forum account--just so that I could reply to this one thread!

I have been repeatedly called on to fix an XPS 710 for a client with EXACTLY this same problem.

The first board died in almost exactly two years, and the replacement board died in almost exactly two years from that date as well.

These motherboards are extraordinarily "reliable" in their ability to die in two years or less--like clockwork!

What  , is that he spent around $6,000 on this system when he got it, bought all the best stuff with all the options, and all this specifically so that he would have a system that would last a LONG time and not need to be upgraded for speed for as many years as possible.

His  $500 Packard Bell has lasted 10 years (and  )         

I'm going to try the repair services of badcaps.net (badcaps dot net), and see if that fixes the problem.

Too bad it has a proprietary mainboard. I have an aftermarket Asus board in an XPS 7100 case with 8gb DDR3 RAM and 128gb SATA 3 SSD, and it absolutely flies.

HONEYWEB

I find your statement a bit disarming, I just talked with Dell this very day, Aug 01, 2012,

and they assured me, that they had the Dell XPS 710 mobo instock, ready to ship. I certainly hope and

believe they were not bs'ing me. However, after 5 times, I would think you would buy a new computer.

I have been owning a dell xps 710 since 2007 and on fridag 14th 2012 sept my motherboard died for secound time. And did call Dell but they not have spare parts i was adviced to goto  ebay and search for a new card There (thats what i call fantastic customer service.......). So now i have a computer that is dead but i still Love it. My dell xps 710 was a dream computer when i bought it and the most expensive. So after. 2 emails to dell sales dept and custumer service begging for help , but was asked to try ebay since they dont have spare parts.

So dell today i ordered a new computer (ivy bridge i7 3770k) it is not dell. So this is how u loose custumers dell.

Sorry for your troubles but 5 years on this system is very good. One has to remember that when these system were released they were supposed to be cutting edge systems but Intel threw a monkey wrench into them when it abandoned the BTX design.  

But i Love it so much.  

Wish i could fix it.

Unfortunately that is your only option. I doubt that Dell ever had a big stock of these boards and once Intel ditched the design that was the nail in the coffin. So if you want to repair it then your only source would be E bay.

Jumping onto this thread late but just to add my two cents..... I also own a 2007 XPS 710.  Other than the normal things, it's still (OK, "was") an amazing machine.  That said, I too have just smoked my 3rd Motherboard.  The first two were covered but this one wasn't.  I've pretty much resigned myself to not being able to replace or upgrade this board without a wholesale strip out & rebuild.  Thankfully I had an internal RAID 1 as well as an external WesternDigital MyBook as a CYA measure.  I just removed the drives and will be taking the enormous and beautiful, aluminum 710 "Dozer" to the shooting range soon.  I'm not exactly sure why but I just ordered a customized Alienware yesterday so we'll see if the data is preserved when it gets here late next week.  Of course, I'm typing this on my 4+ year old MacBook Pro that has only failed once when the HD died and that was just last month.  Thank goodness for the simplicity of TimeCapsule.  Getting all of my data back was amazingly simple.  I hope I'm still this calm late next week.