XPS 730x General Hardware Discussion thread

Ray Gralak,

My specs - XPS 730x, Bios.1.0.3, Intel Bloomfield Core i7 Extreme 965 @ 3.20GHz OC'ed to 3.47GHz, 2GB DDR3, Windows XP Sp3

IntelBurnTest v2.2 Results -
Processor: Genuine Intel(R) CPU 000  @ 3.20GHz
Clock Speed: 3.19 GHz
Active Physical Cores: 8
Total System Memory: 2038 MB

Stress Level: Maximum (1622 MB)
Testing started on 6/18/2009 11:52:58 AM
Time (s)  Speed (GFlops)  Result
[11:54:06] 60.158 30.5526   3.261825e-002
[11:55:01] 47.622 38.5947   3.261825e-002
[11:55:55] 47.503 38.6920   3.261825e-002
[11:56:50] 47.675 38.5519   3.261825e-002
[11:57:44] 47.543 38.6591   3.261825e-002
[11:58:38] 47.596 38.6159   3.261825e-002
[11:59:33] 47.660 38.5642   3.261825e-002
[12:00:27] 47.710 38.5235   3.261825e-002
Testing ended on 6/18/2009 12:00:28 PM
Test Result: Success.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for running it! If you have the time could you try running maybe 50 iterations to see if your system can do that? Sometimes my system will make it through more than 10 iterations, but usually it fails after about 7-8.

Also, is bios v1.0.3 available? I don't see it in the downloads section for the 730x. I am running 1.0.2.

-Ray

1.0.3 is still in testing.

I guess I am one of the testers since the system that came to me in late May had the 1.0.3 bios on it.  For what it is worth it seems stable.  I have tried a lot of testing with various apps and have not had any serious issues that I have read about from other users.  I am a little concerned with temps but they all seem to fall within the
"safe" range.

I am thinking about dumping the dell temp app and going with the Nvidia one.  I see that Phenom has been using it successfully.  That also controls the LED's as well, so no need for the Alien FX program?  I like the Alien FX program.  Are there risks or issues with not using the Dell Apps?

Are there certain things I should watch for Chris in 1.0.3?  Any word on the changes in 1.0.3 yet?

Thanks

Mark

Which Nvidia app are you refering to? I've always found the Dell temp app to work great, but if there's an Nvidia one I'd be interested to play with it for curiosity sake.

Here is the post by Phenom:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19265952/19460214.aspx#19460214

Here is the link to the tools on Nvidias site:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_system_tools_6.05.html

This is for the latest set of tools that just came out.

There was some discussion in these forums about using this software to control fans/CPU settings more so than the dell Apps.  From what I understand they may do a better job of keeping temps down but I am no expert on them

Mark

Which Nvidia app are you refering to? I've always found the Dell temp app to work great, but if there's an Nvidia one I'd be interested to play with it for curiosity sake.

As mpfoffo stated, the Nvidia System Tools are MUCH better than the Dell XPS Thermal Monitor.  It allows you to adjust your fans, cpu and gpu clocks, and the lights on your PC.

You cannot use the Nvidia tools.  That was only for the 730's which use the Nvidia motherboards.  Our 730x's use Foxconns and therefore, the Nvidia System tools would do nothing for you.

Chris. I have the LED issue aswell and have spent a vast amount of time trying to repair it.

Also. Chris for the sake of future reference the manual IS correct. The are now selling the 730x with 12gb of ram.

Chris. I have the LED issue aswell and have spent a vast amount of time trying to repair it.

Also. Chris for the sake of future reference the manual IS correct. They are now selling the 730x with 12gb of ram.

What makes you think the MBs are Foxconns??? Everything I see say's they are MSI.

@VonCarlos - What do you see that makes you think MSI? The style of the mobo and layout look almost identical to Foxconn's normal 3 ram slot style.

Can someone please confirm that we can upgrade to 12GB ram in all of the systems that were previously only sold with up to 6GB ram?  I'm just wondering if all of a sudden Dell is using new MOBOs for the 730x?   Which would be irritating... because I'd really like to bump up to 12GB.

Check my post in this forum : http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19247444/19428141.aspx#19428141

"I have received confirmation from a Bios/Motherboard guru that the 730x motherboard does indeed appear to be made by MSI, uniquely for Dell.

Knowing this won't be of much help except to assuage our own curiosity.

The first thing I noticed was that several of the discrete component groupings seamed to be similar with other MSI boards and the give-away was the big number on the board, MS-7543."

Having used many MSI's in the past when building whiteboxes for a previous employer, I agree that the MS markings points to MSI.  However,  if you compare the actual board layouts of 730x boards vs. the Foxconn Bloodrage series, I think you would see it is very similar (ie. 3 dimm slots, north bridge cooler design, BIOS reset jumpers/LED display, component design along the edge, etc.).  Here's a pic:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186171

Also, if you ever looked at the stickers from the SATA cables, you would see that they all say Foxconn.  Also, seeing as Foxconn has been the major manufacturer for most of Dell's consumer boards for quite a long time since they went away from ASUS, I tend to think they would go this route.  I know this from friends who work for Foxconn both in the China offices and the Foxconn/QEdge USA headquarters in Fullerton, CA.  But to settle it really, I suggest we just take Chris' advice to write down the FCC ID's from the board and check them. 

Personally, I think I steered the discussion off course without meaning to.  My main point was that on the 730x with it's X58 chipset, we aren't able to use the Nvidia program to control our LED's like the previous 720 and 730 XPS models.

Dell Did not change the motherboard the system was capable of support 12gb all along as the manual stated i knew that it did from day 1 however i did not want to argue with anyone.