xps 8940

8940 is the first XPS of Dell that uses proprietary non standard motherboard form factor and proprietary psu (6-4-4 pin).  the case can not be used with other motherboard.   cooling wise it is better than immediate predecessor XPS 8930 (which uses standard mATX mobo and ATX psu) but not as good as the successor 8950.

I suggest you go back to where you bought the 8940? I doubt it was Dell that sold it to you (unless it was a reconditioned sale?)?

The XPS8940 were sold in 2020/2021, so what you did buy is NOT new, either reconditioned or sold by another user.

I am using the 8940, and I, like others did have problems with some Nvidia drivers. Mostly cured now with the latest ones.

Also, newer BIOS is required along with the newer Nvidia drivers...

You never stated what BIOS or ever OS and its version you have? If you want help here, you'll need to give details on the h/w and what the actual PROBLEM is.

I do suggest you return your purchase if possible. Buy the latest version Dell Tower Pro, and many configuration cost less than $2,000 USD. The performance boost would be significant, depending on the 8940's configuration you have.

Complaining here is futile, especially without purchase and configuration details.

If you DID buy it from Dell, they more than likely have a return policy you could use.

@ispalten​ I bought it from Dell in 2021. I can't return anything. No need to give anymore specs. It runs hot, freezes and a general bad computer. I'm not looking for help.

@E3rra​ 

The 'freezes' are probably what some call 'lock-up'. That is the PC appears to be 'stuck'. Only way out, Power Off the PC and back on.

If that IS what you have, it is due to the Nvidia driver. Best solution I have is in the Nvidia Control Panel, 3D settings for POWER, set it to MAX. POWER... solved the problem for me.

Running hot, some have had that problem, depends on what you are doing. Most I recall had i9 CPU's as well. Common solution, add a fan.

Search the forum here, this one in particular, for any problems you have, none are new, but look for 'lock-up' too if that is what you are having, vs. a momentary freeze which I don't recall anyone having.

Heat can also be happening due to 'dust' collection on the inside... when was the last time you opened the case and used a 'can of air' to clean it out?

@ispalten​ thanks for the tip about the Nvidia settings. I'll look into that. My PC is always clean. It's so small, I'm not sure a fan would fit inside it but I'll check into it. 

@ispalten​ So in 3D settings there is an option for "Power Management Mode" to be set to Normal or Max performance. Is that what you are referring to?

@E3rra​ 

Yes, that one. However, before like 3 or 4 months ago when I got a new Nvidia driver I had to set it to MAX. POWER. I learned that as some driver reset that to whatever your card DEFAULT value is (cards do not all have the same default). How did I know it was changed, I'd lock-up, and then I'd look in the Control Panel and see for my RTX2060 is was set to Optimal Power... so for some months after every driver update I would check and almost every time it was reset to default but not always...

At one point I got tired of doing that (Nvidia dropped new drivers it seemed weekly) and left it. Yes, I still had a lock-up, but at some point it didn't happen. So now I just don't even look. I'd say it has been maybe 3 months or more since I've had a lock-up, even with my cards default setting of Optimal Power.

You might want to read this web page as well, https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-nvdia-control-panel-settings/ as it has other suggestion as well. I probably made a few but not sure?

Oh, I always do a CLEAN INSTALL whenever I update the driver.

@ispalten​ thanks for the tip my friend. I've adjusted some settings and will see what happens.  I got a message from Dell telling me not to promote people avoiding dell products. I will still never buy dell again. 

@E3rra​ 

I've worked in Support forum, and the vendor usually has rules of conduct. They 'own' the place, and have every right to not have people disparaging their products in their forums. Think of it as a business store you have and as people come in to buy something some person inside the store tells them not to? Not sure where you saw 'massive' amounts of people calling for a recall. 

Yes, I saw some of those trying and that was back in 2021 probably. When Dell couldn't 'solve' the XPS8940's locking up. Started when BIOS version 3 (or maybe 4?) was installed. Mind you, not every 8940 though. Matter of fact one user bought 2 'identical' 8940's together. One had 16GB's of RAM, the other 32GB's of RAM. All other 'parts' were the same. Same RTX card, same CPU, same PSU, etc. Since there was only the RAM difference, he swapped the RAM, didn't matter, same PC locked up.

Dell never was able to recreate the problem either it seems. They offered to exchange my PC. It would be a Refurbished one, with at least the same options I had, maybe more. The rub though was they wanted me to leave the PC as-is. All my personal data on it. All my programs, even the licensed ones I owned. I was told I'd be told what the configuration was before approving the swap. However I wouldn't do it due to my personal info on the PC.

Years ago on a Dimension I owed, there was a mother board problem. Dell replaced my PC, but I was allowed to wipe it clean. So they don't always need your PC back as-is.

We've had other vendor PC's, Sony, HP, and I've even built my own. Dell's hold up much better. Trust me. Did have an IBM PS/2, and that was one that was built to last.

Wife's XPS8500, circa 2012, was replaced this year by a Dell Tower Pro EBT2250. 13 years usage out of the old PC. Only thing done to it, replaced probably 10 years ago the Hard Drive with an SSD... and at one time, the video card died and I put another one I had from an OLD PC into it.

In the garage sits my old XPS8700 as well.

Generally speaking, I'll upgrade when the OS goes out of support or the PC 'slows down' and can't handle new programs well. MS Flight Simulator was the driving force for me to replace the XPS8700 with the XPS8900... both the video card and CPU wouldn't cut it.

My wife is very happy with the Dell Tower, and although it in terms of performance, she can't really see it in the 'feel' of it? I had put on the 8500 a Network AC USB adapter. We've got 1Gbps ISP service and Internet stuff was fast. Router is Wifi 7. Of course the 8940's Wireless adapter was N speed only I recall? However, I've replaced the M.2 adapter with an Intel M.2 BE200 WiFi 7 adapter on the motherboard. It also has a fast SSD for C:.

Hard to 'feel' or tell the difference when using either PC.

I wanted to put MS Flight Sim on her Tower with the RTX4060 in it, but the version I have I lost the sales slip from 2020 with the license on it. She doesn't want it on her PC, much less let me buy the new one. I'm pretty sure the 8940 wouldn't handle it well. Might have to wait until I get a NEW PC... but I can't justify getting a new one yet. The 8940 just works and does what I want/need now. 

As I've found out, with electronics, it seems the 'grass is always greener' in a different forum. Like I said, from my Support prospective, on forums are the people that are either having problems or complainer's. You'll hardly ever see satisfied customer's there. What is important is the ratio of those with problems to those who don't have problems. You, as a user doesn't know that? 

As I recall, the 8940 lock-up problem also hit Lenovo PC's. They released a file fix for something, I forgot, and it solved the problem?

Your 'eyes' are here, but look at the forum of similar products. More than likely they look the same.

Not every forum has vendor employees in it, or even just monitor it. I know of one Router vendor that even closed its official support forum.

Dell used to have US support people. Like most other vendor's they moved it off-shore, but in the move, the XPS line still had US Support. No longer true though. That is ALL not that bad though. Language and clearly understanding the agent is the biggest problem, not the knowledge of the agent.

Look, I too was in the camp at one time not to buy Dell again,... but considering the other PC experiences I've had, and I was able to somehow have the Nvidia problem go away, I did buy a new Dell. 9 months later, we've had a few problems with the Tower, one in my own making, and later on with an MS Update, it might have been an MS problem even. Did have another MS Update that didn't install, but later on it would? Don't recall what fixed it though?