Is this right?

Question

Thanks in advance to all those that reply.

Two issues sine my new box arrived.

1. BIOS will seemingly random reset it's self to default values. RAID was not the default [though shipped that way]. Therefore no boot. However system comes lights on with fan's in full speed. BIOS access screen never appears. I have to remove all USB and Monitors to get the 'lock'. Turn a monitor on and see the prompt to enter setup due to no drives found. I spend several minutes setting the BIOS up and all is well until next time. Could be a day, could be two.

2. RAM shows it's operating at 800MHz. Order summary shows 4gig OC'd to 1066 for $600 up charge. nTunes and BIOS show 800MHz. Order details show Item number 311-7251. My assumption is when the first BIOS reset occurred, the RAM was dumbed down and I just haven't seen the setting to get it back up [first lock occurred 4hrs after open the box on Ultimate Upgrade reboot].

CPU temp: 51c

System temp: 30c

GPU1 temp: 82c

GPU2 temp: 73c

CPU and System fans typically 1400 to 1700 rpm

Back to the subject title. Is this Right? Specifically do I have the RAM I bought. Does anyone else have the BIOS experience i'm seeing? 3DMark is not as impressive as I might have thought, but i'm assuming that is due to the Monitor config i have setup.

jim

Latest addition to my 6 Dell 5 Clone home:

Dell XPS 720 H2C - Ordered Jun 12, 2007 Delivered July 31, 2007

4 x 24" Dell FPS at 1920x1200
NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Core 2 Extreme QX6800 2.93 (o/c 3.73)
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 (o/c 1066) [that's what I ordered anyway]
Dual 768MB 8800 Ultra (FW 162.22)
2 x 750GB RAID0
1 x 500GB Hitachi

BlueRay DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster X-Fi
Vista Ultimate 32
3DMark06 = 13058

cademetz · Answer

Definitely doesn't sound right -- if the BIOS keeps resetting, there is definitely a problem. I would call Dell support and see what they can do -- could be the motherboard battery is lose or faulty.   As far as the RAID problems -- it seems an occassional system ships without the proper quality checks. My system was suppose to come with a 2x250GB RAID0 array (total of 500GB) yet on the very first boot the MediaShield BIOS showed an error for an unhealthy array. Somehow, someway, whoever configured the system created two RAID arrays using one disk in one, and both disks in the other. I don't have a clue how it even booted. I wasn't all THAT upset since I planned to reformat anyway and as such wasn't a big deal.   For the RAM, there is a SLI/EPP setting under Performance in the BIOS (I can never remember the exact name) which enables the higher clock speed for the RAM by utilizing a special SPD profile.   For the 3DMark06 score, since it looks like you're new to the forums, there was a VERY LONG discussion and fix found for this problem. It has to do with the HT Frequency defaulting to 200MHz instead of 1000MHz. It is possible you need to make this change. See here ( http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/07/03/19894.aspx) for directions -- there is both a software and hardware method for the fix.

odenwalder · Answer

Actually the memory is probably right if you can figure out why the bios is resetting. DDR2-1066 memory is really DDR2-800 that is overclocked automatically once SLI is turned on in the bios.  So my bet is you have the right memory but also have a bios issue.   I have read about this happening to others when the new machine has not gotten out of Factory Setup mode. I think the fix was to disconnect everything but the Dell supplied keyboard, mouse and your monitor and turn the machine on and let it boot completely before doing anything to change the bios. Then once it appears to be stable go back and make the bios modes like enabling SLI and Overclocking etc. You may want to PM Dell Chris on this for help.

BubBowen · Answer

fyi,

Memory SLI is not the same thing a Video Card SLI. The one in Bios is Memory SLI. You only turn on and off Video Card SLI using the nVidia Control Panel.

Good luck!

Bub

jmorey_mvp wrote:

Thanks Silver. Your suggestions were right on. Mistake on my part when i broke SLI [shipped config] and hooked up 4 monitors. Seeing the SLI setting in the BIOS, i naturally thought it needed to be set to standard as well.

The lock ups, reboots and BIOS resets are an issue and my sales rep opened a support ticket to help figure those things out. I've already had to replace one of the 8800 ultras [ran 120c on first boot].

when it's up, it really is fun to play with ;-)

jim

Latest addition to my 6 Dell 5 Clone home:

Dell XPS 720 H2C - Ordered Jun 12, 2007 Delivered July 31, 2007

4 x 24" Dell FPS at 1920x1200
NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Core 2 Extreme QX6800 2.93 (o/c 3.73)
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 (o/c 1066)
Dual 768MB 8800 Ultra (FW 162.22)
2 x 750GB RAID0
1 x 500GB Hitachi

BlueRay DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster X-Fi
Vista Ultimate 32
3DMark06 = 13315

jmorey_mvp · Answer

Thanks Silver. Your suggestions were right on. Mistake on my part when i broke SLI [shipped config] and hooked up 4 monitors. Seeing the SLI setting in the BIOS, i naturally thought it needed to be set to standard as well.

The lock ups, reboots and BIOS resets are an issue and my sales rep opened a support ticket to help figure those things out. I've already had to replace one of the 8800 ultras [ran 120c on first boot].

when it's up, it really is fun to play with ;-)

jim

Latest addition to my 6 Dell 5 Clone home:

Dell XPS 720 H2C - Ordered Jun 12, 2007 Delivered July 31, 2007

4 x 24" Dell FPS at 1920x1200
NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Core 2 Extreme QX6800 2.93 (o/c 3.73)
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 (o/c 1066)
Dual 768MB 8800 Ultra (FW 162.22)
2 x 750GB RAID0
1 x 500GB Hitachi

BlueRay DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster X-Fi
Vista Ultimate 32
3DMark06 = 13315

Locked Topics – Desktops General

Is this right?

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