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Dell XPS 420 X-Fi Screech
The all new Dell XPS 420 with screeching parts :smileyhappy:
First the PSU now the soundcard. After using the computer for a while the X-Fi will screech and stop outputting sound for a short while. After that it will direct a lot of sound to my subwoofer which means it booms literally! To fix this you have to exit all applications using the audio which means most! Go the control panel and select quad speakers before re-selecting 5.1.
Clearly this is a fault, not being able to install the latest drivers from creative.com don't help that much either. Hopefully Chris or one of the other reps will be able to help out on this one.
So far Dell UK have ignored all attempts to communicate with me and the telephone technical support is erm rubbish...
paulbeattie87
241 Posts
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June 20th, 2008 17:00
packerFan07
705 Posts
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June 20th, 2008 18:00
paulbeattie87
241 Posts
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June 20th, 2008 19:00
packerFan07
705 Posts
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June 20th, 2008 20:00
I think the issue is that they are as davet50 likes to say "franken" cards - manufactured specifically for Dell. Because of that, the creative drivers don't always seem to work (from what I have read) and both Creative and Dell can push the blame on each other and/or Microsoft....
I was somewhat leery myself, but saw that others had added the retail version of the cards without issue. It was easy for me since I got the 420 with on-board audio thinking I would simply add the sound card later if I wanted to go that route. (First PC WITH a soundcard).
Even if you can't get $$ back, maybe you can get a credit to purchase something else...
paulbeattie87
241 Posts
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June 20th, 2008 20:00
Yeah, after the trouble I have had with this machine from ordering until now I'd quite like an extended warranty too. Just feel that it would reassure me. Already had the PSU, Graphics Card and Motherboard replaced as they turned out to be faulty.
Like I say the computer has been brilliant but feel that Dell could have handled the issues much better than the have.
linthorn
9 Posts
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June 21st, 2008 13:00
I guess you don't make your living from your PC. Problems like this are exactly why I don't buy an extended warranty. Sure they will pay the $50-$100 to replace your card (refurbished) but you will go through months of effort trying to get them to agree that you have a problem. A good friend of mine always buys the 3-year warranty and has spent the last two years trying to get a problem with the video card corrected. He will likely get his money's worth in terms of replacement parts, but he has lost countless hours due to downtime and working with Dell Support. My time is more valuable than that. If my video card goes, I'll just pick up a new one and pay the money. Right now, I'm still in the one-year period and I've spent maybe 30 hours between web support, phone support, swapping cards, reloading drivers, flashing ROM, etc. Not to mention the frustration I feel whenever it goes "screech" in the middle of something. If I made minimum wage (since I'm an astrophysicist, I don't) I would have "spent" about $150 already for my "free support." Simple economics says if it costs me $150 to save $100 it's a bad deal. Not to mention that the additional warranty costs money.
Now, if my motherboard dies, that's another matter. But how much is a motherboard? How many months would I go without the machine trying to get them to fix it? How much data would I lose diagnosing the problem?
Only insure what you cannot afford to replace.
Toronto699
1.7K Posts
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June 22nd, 2008 01:00
Toronto699
1.7K Posts
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June 22nd, 2008 01:00
JAGXPS
12 Posts
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August 10th, 2008 09:00
Well, it appears I too have this problem, but upon further investigation with Dell's tech. support, we realized Dell shipped my system with the wrong audio card. (Thanks Chris, for your picture link.) I ordered the X-Fi Xtreme Music, and somehow ended up with X-Fi Xtreme Gamer card. The packing list even mentions Xtreme Music -- Go figure.
Emailed Customer care and hope we can resolve this -- Not sure if there's a difference between the two cards or whether or not my "screech" will cease, but, here's hoping.
Do_Not Know
20 Posts
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August 26th, 2008 15:00
Toronto699
1.7K Posts
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August 26th, 2008 21:00
do a seach on" screech" i in this forum xps 720 screech , 420 screech xps 420 screech , there thousands of posts.
XPS_BLITZ
16 Posts
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October 7th, 2008 16:00
Hello there, this is my first post after reading a lot about the so called "screech of death"...
First I thought my DELL soundbar was to be blamed but after reading so many post about that problem this has apparently a far bigger dimension.
Driver Nr.: 6.0.1.1283
Downloading and executing the driver setup from the DELL support site brought no success: it said that the installed driver was up to date and the setup routine quitted.
On the Creative website i found another driver for the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer and Vista 32bit: 2.18.0004 from the 30.07.2008. Should I install this one or does someone know if this solves the screech - problem? (Should I de-install the old one first?).
XPS_Blitz
Toronto699
1.7K Posts
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October 7th, 2008 17:00
Gabhan
44 Posts
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October 7th, 2008 19:00
If you still have noticeable problems with the latest creative drivers, you could try these. Was having a screech at least once a day. None in over two weeks since I installed these...
http://www.youp-pax.org/viewthread.php?tid=615&extra=page%3D1
Gabhan
Kerry
Ireland
XPS_BLITZ
16 Posts
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October 8th, 2008 06:00
Thank you for your answers!
I decided to buy a DELL because of the good service but sometimes gold turns out to be led...
I will install the latest X-Fi driver, console driver and Alchemy (which I deleted during my Creative "investigations" on my PC -_-). For the (pre) installed rest (like Creative Media Source 5) I don´ t have any purpose.
I think I will also use that driver sweeper - thx for the link, Toronto.
If these steps fail I will install the PAX drivers linked by Gabhan: Do I just install the PAX PCI XFI driver in additon the original Creative Console and Alchemy drivers (Edit: because it states in the description: "world first creative console launcher" )?
thx & greets
XPS_Blitz