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December 18th, 2011 14:00
XPS 730 with 1 unknown usb device and Nvidia Video Card problem
I have an XPS 730 running Windows 7 64bit with 8GB RAM and the Intel quad Core Q9450.
I never had any problems until recently. My machine came from Dell with 2 Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2's and I run 4 Dell digital monitors off the 2 cards.
Recently, the PC began stopping the boot process just after the Windows 7 logo displayed and before you get to the login screen.
After a lot of trial and error, I discovered that if I remove either Nvidia card, the PC boot but not with both anymore. One card does display a blue L.E.D. next to the HDMI port on the card and the other a red L.E.D. They both used to be blue. At the same time, I began receiving an unknown USB device in Device manager.
Is there any way the USB error can affect the PCIe Video Cards? The 2 problems began at the same time.
Thank for any help.
Kong Yang
180 Posts
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December 20th, 2011 08:00
Hal,
Sorry to hear about your issue. Our support forum for Desktop is here: http://dell.to/qeG8ux. And if your XPS is still under warranty, you should open a support case.
Hal K.
12 Posts
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December 20th, 2011 11:00
It's out of warranty. I think that I have identified that one of my 2 Nvidia 9800 GX2's that came with the XPS730 must be defective. I'm guessing it's more to repair than to buy a newer card. Is that right? Do you know why I get an unknown USB device in Device Manager when the bad video card is in the machine becasue it's PCIe. Is there something on the card that uses USB somehow?
One more question if I may. If I want to upgrade the XPS 730 to a newer motherboard that accepts the Intel i7's, do you know what motherboard I need? Thank you. I'm not posting to that forum since I am pretty sure I know th eproblem now. Thank you.
Kong Yang
180 Posts
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December 22nd, 2011 12:00
Hal,
When I had a component fail after the warranty ran out, I have always bought a new replacement component. Consequently, I don't know what the cost delta is between having the video card repaired vs replaced.
As for the behavior that you observed, I haven't seen that behavior before especially with a PCIe device. I will defer to our Enterprise Client evangelist, Warren Byle, for his thoughts & expertise. Please keep in mind that Warren is OOO on vacation until the new year.
As for your motherboard question, there was a discussion that took place here:
www.tomshardware.com/.../268524-30-replace-dell .
Hal K.
12 Posts
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December 22nd, 2011 13:00
Thank you. I read the thread on tomshardware.com and it sounds like changing the motherboard and CPU to an i7 for only a 10% increase in performance it not worth it. I think the biggest thing that is confusing is why I get the unknown USB device in Device Manager when the bad 9800GX2 is in the PCIe slot. It does not even need the power connected to get the USB error. I'm wondering if there is something somewhere on that Nvidia card that uses USB. When I remove the card the error is gone. Hopefuly warren will have an answer. thanks very much. Hal
DELL-Warren B
1.1K Posts
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January 3rd, 2012 09:00
Hal,
It is quite possible for the Nvidia card to be leveraging USB, but I don't have any details on it. But if one card is causing the error and not the other, then it sounds like the card has failed and needs to be replaced. Especially if it worked fine and the problem wasn't due to any other system changes (new hardware/software).
Warren