NEW XPS 730x Owner's thread March 15, 2010

Hi,

This is my first post here on the Dell community, don't know why it has taken me so long to join considering the number of Dell systems which I own/have owned over the years, but here goes........

I recently purchased a Dell XPS 730 H2C system, and no sooner had I got it back home that I realised that Dell updated these systems and shoved a 'x' on the end.  So not content with my new purchase, I located a XPS 730x motherboard (D/PN:).  Now the thing is, I received the motherboard this morning, complete with the motherboard tray, but it didn't come with an I/O shield :-(

I have been trying to locate this part number, but to no avail.   I have spoken to Dell through their online chat system and they couldn't help me.

Is there a list of Dell part numbers, so that I can look it up for myself, because theres another neat feature that the 730x has........Theatre lighting.  I wouldn't mind retro-fitting that to my 730 case.  it just seems like a battery pack to me, that's affixed to the side of the optical drives.

Your assistance would be appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

<ADMIN NOTE: Service Tag removed per privacy policy>

Hi Chris !!

thanks for keep supporting XPS730!!

i have little issue here, i just upgrading from vista 32-bit to windows 7 64-bit using oem kit

everything just smooth, except one things...

the chipset driver was installed alright, but i found that i can no longer access bios setting from Nvidia control panel (it only showing storage), and that makes me can't change LED like way i want before

Back while i am using vista, there nvidia 790i driver + software, but nvidia didnt provide software for windows7 and no also beta either!

do you have solution for this issue ?

as i dunno where i can change my chassis LED anymore now :emotion-9:

thanks in advance!

thanks for reply chris

gonna try the system tools right now!:emotion-2:

XPSusiast,
WN816 Rear I/O Panel Assembly

slyphnier,
I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 and the Nvidia ESA System Tools 6.05 loaded just fine?

hi again

i installed system tools just now, but the control panel only showing storage just like before i installed system tool

anyway, i am using ATI Radeon right now, because the original 9800GT that come with my system failed, and i grab new card

just want to make sure, the only thing i need to install is 790i ultra driver and system tools right ? or do i have install other things ?

i still can't make the bios section showed in control panel :emotion-7:

take note ur BSOD code (it the one like 0x00000****) from that u can look which make crash

check windows event viewer -> check what errors logged in there

remember back before 2-3weeks what u do (install or modification or download) as it can be caused by virus/troja, just to make sure, u can use Online Scanner (use symantec or mcafee online scanner) and see if the scanner detects something

do you already tried to reinstall new windows?

if everything seems with your software side... you can start looking your hardware

start with memory tester... run it for few hours, see if you got errors, if u got errors it can means ur ram failing and need replacement

use chkdsk to check ur harddrive whether it got bad sector or such

hope help

Not sure whether I own an XPS 730 or 730X...I think this varies by country?  My PC is a 730 H2C, Quad Core Extreme X9650, 4 GB, with a GTX 280 w/ 1GB graphics board and 4 drives:
- 2 x 320 as a striped RAID 0 with Windows 7 (this is my main Windows installation)
- 1 TB Hitachi HD partitioned for backup and 60GB Windows 7 Test Installation
- 1 WD Raptor for data

My PC started crashing periodically in the last 2 or 3 weeks.  Sometimes I manage to get through a day without a crash, other times it crashes multiple times in a row, sometimes with difficulty starting up again.   Occasionally it freezes, but generally it BSODs and dumps, although I have seen the screen go black immediately after I see the BSOD seemingly not even able to write the dump file.  I have run diagnostics, but these have not identified any problem.  I may be doing nothing on the system when it crashes, or I could be in a browser or gaming...totally random.

What I have noticed is that even if it is in a phase where it crashes repeatedly, I can boot up my test installation and the system is stable.  So, it only crashes when I boot to my main installation.  I have updated the BIOS to 1.0.6, and I have also updated the chipset drivers...and still the system periodically crashes.  Apart from some software packages, the real (and perhaps key) difference between the main installation and the test one is that the main one runs on a RAID 0 configuration.  Could this be an indication that my problem is related to the RAID controller on the motherboard?  Is there anything that would potentially point to a faulty motherboard?

My warranty runs out in second half of April.  I can certainly call Dell, but I fear that unless I am able to specify exactly where the faul lies, I may not really get anything resolved, and may find myself on a goose chase removing chips and components for a few weeks and not have a fix.

Anyone have an idea what the problem may be and the best approach to get this fixed?

regarding nvidia performance panel, for anyone using ATI cards instead NVIDIA one

i found how to make it work... i need ESA system tools that lower than version 6.05 (because 6.05 will only work if NVIDIA cards detected on your PC)

tested with 6.03&6.02 and working... but i can't manually change CPU fans speed and cpu core voltage for overclocking

the temp work around i can find is to make costume profile... and edit profile file and change cpu fan to something higher than 2

anyone can help with this issue ?

OK, i'll try again! - post decided to submit itself!

Thanks for your reply to my request for a part number for my XPS 730x

Great! - or so I thought.........

I typed in WN816 into ebay and what came up is the I/O Panel LED assembly. :-(

This is not the part I require........I require the metal plate itself! - you know, the same metal plate you get when you purchase a aftermarket motherboard.

If we didn't get these plates there would be a 'void' around the ports at the back!

I have been intouch with www.upgrade.co.uk and they don't seem to know what I'm talking about either, so I guess I'm not using the correct reference, perhaps you could enlighten me (as a PC technician) what the exact term is for:

A pressed steel plate, approx 6.5" length x 2" height with cut outs for the USB, PS/2, Ethernet, E-SATA and SPDIF ports......

I was always under the impression this was called a I/O shield, but maybe I'm wrong.

If somebody else knows exactly what it's called and can give me the part number it would be greatly appreciated, as I have been pulling my hair out trying to describe a component which is found in every PC on the planet!

Regards

Andy

Thanks for this response.  just a couple of points to this:
- I have the absolutely latest NIS with scans running every day
- I have another windows installation that does not crash at all...the difference to the one that crashes is that it is installed on a RAID 0 configuration, which is why I believe this is actually RAID controller related
- I do not install anything until I have actually tried it in my test installation (I have learned from past experiences).  Having said that, I did not actually install anything around the time the system started crashing...unfortunately or I could at least point to that
- finally the event log unfortunately only captures a critical problem in that the system unexpectedly stopped or crashed.  That is, no information is available, neither on my system nor online...again unfortunately

I will have to take your suggestion to heart and run diag in repeat mode to try to get an error.  I have not done a disk surface scan yet, but will probably do that next as well.

The only thing I have not done is a fresh windows install, which I may also do in the process to see before reverting back to the one I am using.

thanks again...

Chris,

just want to know, do XPS730 mobo set CPU fan to automatically adjust it fan speed ? since i didnt see any fan controller in bios

and if possible i also want to know its parameter (minimum temp and maximum temp)

not that i worried, but as far i use my XPS730 for about 1 year, the cpu fan keep on its lowest speed 1700rpm

i wonder if that normal or not

is there any tools to set fan speed from auto to manual (like many pc mobos have on their bioses) ?

thanks in advance

I was wondering if you guys will have a BIOS upgrade for people who want to drop in a Core I7 980X

I know Someone ask this in the perivous thread.

I know alot of owners want 6 cores.

I don't want to feel like I throw my money away.

And I can't upgrade past a 975.

Wanting to upgrade my memory on my new 730x.

From what I've read, these should work but wanted to make sure.

Anyone, especially you Chris (lol), know if these will work for sure?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145253

Was looking at these 7-7-7-20 instead of the 8-8-8-24's.

Am I correct in assuming the 7-7-7-20's are faster than the 8-8-8-24's?

Thanks,

Robert

Update: I ordered the memory and it works, however, I need to know what settings to use in the bios to get them to run at 7-7-7-20.
If anyone knows, please help.

Update #2: Here's what I found out...the TR3X6G1600C7D (7-7-7-20) will run in the XPS 730x, but the max you will get is..8-7-7-22. I called Corsair this morning and they said it was no problem running them like that because they are actually running a bit slower than the 7-7-7-20 rating they have and that they are running faster than the 8-8-8-24 rating of the TR3X6G1600C8D set. Also, they are about the same price so I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of returning and ordering the other set.

Question #2....

I want to set all the leds to one color, lets say Red, and have them stay at that color without running any software running in the background?

I can set the color to red using alienfx and they will stay red even when I do a restart, but if i shutdown (power down) and power back on, they reset.

i like to keep my programs running in the background to an absolute minimum in order to maximize performance.

Thanks,

Robert

Update....nevermind....I solved my problem by using the nvidia tools program.