Sundeep, this answer is not satisfactory.  I got the same response from Dell Support.  However, it really has nothing to do with the battery.  I followed this sequence...

1)  Booted with included 7570

2)  Successful boot, single startup beep, shut down

3)  Installed GTX660 (Gigabyte) (on your successful card test list...http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4361#sp)

4)  Boot with 5 beeps (no F2/F12/F8 options, no "DELL" splash screen), eventually boots into Win8, shut down

5)  Installed 7570

6)  Successful boot, single startup beep, shut down

At no time did I touch the CMOS battery to reseat it or to do anything with it.  If it was loose after step 3, I am not sure how it could successfully re-seat itself by the time I got to step 6.

My only guess, therefore, assuming that the board honestly thinks there is a power issue, is that the new graphics card may be overdrawing current from the motherboard, and drawing current out of the battery, which the BIOS sees as a battery issue.  The other option is that the BIOS is giving out faulty or incomplete errors.  As a further spec, my machine was shipped with the 450W Power Supply, and I have not changed it (yet).

Sundeep, were you around during the "test" of the listed video cards?  Did they boot without the 5 beeps??  The fact that another user has had the same issue gives me comfort to know that my machine isn't uniquely faulting, but I'd rather it not be faulting at all.  I understand that different makers of the same spec cards (e.g.  should result in same results, but do you have a different list of tested cards that include the manufacturer (e.g. ASUS, Gigabyte, etc)

Please Advise!!

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I understand your concern. Unfortunately, there is no specific list and neither the video cards mentioned earlier are from a specific manufacturer. Dell ships XPS 8700 system with 460W power supply. The video cards provided by Dell are specifically designed OEM video cards. Aftermarket video cards from different manufacturers have different power requirements. You may find various users online who might be able to test the system with higher end video cards after upgrading the power supply. However, these are neither tested nor endorsed by Dell.

Chino, I found the answer in a related link, and thought I'd pass on.  Here is the link, the answer is towards the bottom (second paragraph of Kelbear1's 6/28 post)...

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/p/19514003/20400121.aspx

Essentially, boot in one of the following two modes:

1) with working shipped dedicated graphics card

2) with out any graphics card

The goal is to get into BIOS.  Then, do the following...

1)  Boot and press F2 to get into BIOS

2)  Go to boot menu and DISABLE Secure Boot Mode

The link also mentions a step to flush the bios, as well as a driver uninstall, but I didn't find that was necessary.  When complete, shut down, put in your new graphics card and boot beep free (except for the post beep).  You can also see the DELL BIOS splash screen.  Apparently it is an issue with WIN8 and this Secure Boot mode.

The 5 beep that keeps getting referred to as a battery issue is a different beep.  I took my battery out and it beeped 5 times repeatedly and never made it to windows.  As you know this graphics card beep is just an annoying one-time 5-beep sequence (and no bios access) followed by Windows successfully starting.

Enjoy!!!

Thanks for your help I really appreciate it, but unfortunately no one at dell was able to help me resolved  this issue of five beeps and no dell splash screen ..how ironic ...I returned my xps 8700 back to dell.  Wrote to dell xps support until this day they have not contacted me about  fixing this problem..I really liked 8700 , I wanted to reorder but dell never really had good idea what was wrong....instead they wanted me to buy their own graphic card but I refused...xps 8700 is great computer plus good price.

As an update, I went out and downloaded updated Video Bios for the new card I had bought.  The newer Bios I downloaded was "UEFI Compatible" and supported the secure boot option for Windows 8.  I flashed the bios for the card, rebooted the machine once to allow the bios to load without forcing the secure boot option.  I then restarted the computer again and jumped into F2/Bios settings, and turned Secure Boot back on.  After saving/restarting, I got a successful boot, in Secure Boot Mode (which is faster), without any beeps.

Bottom line for Dell Support:  The answer to "5 beeps and then successfully boots into Windows" is that the new video card's Bios is not compatible with UEFI Secure Boot options (I imagine all cards sold by Dell are ensured to have the latest UEFI-compatible Bios, therefore no issues).  The fix is look at the manufacturer's website (in my case Gigabyte) to upgrade the video bios on the new graphics card.  As previously mentioned, secure boot (in the computer's Bios/F2) needs to be turned off to initially get a clean boot with the card installed.

Hi tcmilkman,

Thank you for sharing the resolution. You have a valid perspective ; appreciate it. However, Dell has tested a limited number of video cards with this system and can offer the system in specific configurations only.

Also, Secure Boot is a feature on UEFI-based PCs that helps increase the security of a PC by preventing unauthorized software from running on a PC during the boot sequence. It checks that each piece of software has a valid signature, including the operating system that will be loaded. It protects the system from low level malware attacks. For more information, you may refer to article Here.

Please reply if you have any further questions.

My XPS8700 gives five beeps as it is powered up if the monitor cable has come detached from its socket.

My issue of 5 beeps and a black screen are as follows. I have a Dell 8700 xps with a Dell UP 3214Q monitor connected though the HDMI interface. One morning I pushed the on button and I got 5 beeps and a black screen. The monitor self test was okay. I plugged the computer DVI port to an older existing monitor with the DVI video port. It worked just fine. The problem was a defective HDMI port on the NVIDIA GTX 645 video card. I did not replace the battery.