Have overclocking options in BIOS, as other motherboard manufacturers have. This should apply to high end gaming machines, designed for people who know what they are doing. Also, i believe this kind of computers are way too pricey as I can always buy the parts and build such a machine for way less and with far more options...
I bought my XPS 710 (1kw) with the understanding that it too would be upgradable. I, like many others who bought around the August/September 2007 timeframe, bought while there was talk of a motherboard upgrade. When the plan was revealed in October 2007 it turned out that our computers would be excluded, because of when we bought the computer. To add insult to injury, the XPS 710 line was discontinued and I have yet to talk to a customer support representative that can tell me where I can get the 680i BTX motherboard that was provided to other XPS 710 owners, for free or at cost. I, like many many others was not given that option. Dell should provide the option of purchasing the motherboard upgrade to the XPS 710 customers that were left out It can't possibly be cost prohibitive at this point. 23 Comments »
** I thought I'd already posted something like this... * Dell already has an ISO available for servers that will scan a range of Dell servers and update BIOS, firmware (e.g. PERC RAID controllers), and drivers in a single reboot.
I don't know whether Dell has this for Linux as well.
However, let me suggest this could also be done via an ONLINE -scan- of the system similar to Microsoft Update ... only for ALL OSes Dell sells and for all _systems_, servers, desktops, workstations, and notebooks!
The H2C is an impressive cooling system, but the proccessor is not the only heat hog in the system. With dual bleeding edge video cards in there, I would expect there to be an advanced cooling solution applied to those as well. Alienware and others extend their liquid cooling systems to the videocards as well. Perhaps you can aim to have the fastest, most powerful desktop PC that also runs the coolest? Comment »
Temperature and fan speed sensors should be a standard feature on ALL XPS motherboards. And we should be able to monitor them using any sensor program, not just in the bios or with a Dell specific program. 1 Comment »
Dell should look into offering a separate parts page for the XPS line of computers. This would be like the separate page for service that the XPS customers enjoy.
The point being that the customers who buy the XPS line are enthusiasts and would like to upgrade and tinker with their machines. I know that I would like to upgrade RAM, maybe get a larger additional hard drive.
The parts offered on the parts page are minimal and Dell can increase its customer satisfaction if there are specific parts for the XPS line, such as 500 gigabite hard drives. I know these are present on the parts page but if they were there in a separate page for XPS customers, it would increase customer satisfaction simply by making XPS customers feel like they are part of an exclusive group. In addition, by grouping the high end items in one place, it would help alleviate frustration with digging through the parts pages for the item we want.
It can't hurt too badly to try to take at least some of the business away from Newegg can it? ;) Comment »
Today I received an email reply to my request for upgrading the CPU on my XPS720 BIOS A05 to an Intel E8500. The text of the reply " Dell does not offer processor or motherboard upgrdes for discreet items.Dell does not recommend upgrading the processor or motherboard in any given system as the design layout has been customized on all Dell systems and the power of the system may not be suitable for the system.Dell does not recommend that you perform an upgrade of the processor as this might damage the system."
The first rule of gaming PC's THEY MUST BE UPGRADEABLE and that includes Motherboards, CPU's,PSU's!
The second rule of gaming PC's Machine information and software updates such as the recent BIOS A05 must be accompanied by information posts, that tell customers what these updates do!
The third rule of gaming PC's DON'T MISINFORM YOUR CUSTOMERS that bizzare email is gobbledegook, what does the phrase "the power of the system might not be suitable for the system " MEAN!
An XPS buyer is likely to know what is possible. The E8500 is according to Intel's publicity requires both less power and cooling that its predecessors!The A05 BIOS is required and it fit's the 775 socket. SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM!
THE KEY TO SUCESS IN GAMING MACHINE SALES IS LIFETIME UPGRADABILITY AND SUPPORT in other words we don't need to buy new cases especially as the XPS720 case is a large BTX or a PSU or Optical drives. We only need to replace what is needed to be replaced and that's new generation CPU's and the occasional Motherboard on socket change and worn out componentary like hard drives/video cards. It's possible to make money selling upgrade componetary (newegg and other sellers do). It's Dell's business model policy that is the problem. 1) Dell needs to ensure on contracing for motherboards that Both NVidia and Intel are going to support them and not produce compatability problems-It's clear there is some problem with component ordering.On new CPU inroduction Motherboard providers need to be required to test New CPU's with boards. Dell should also test new CPU's on Test machines and after CPU's are tested, they can be released as CPU UPGRADES. Dell could email all XPS owners and offer upgrades to Motherboard ,CPU and other componentry and this could even be carried out by service personel at the customer 's cost (this would also save on warranty claims as a lot of people may replace Graphics cards and CPU's prior to failure in operation). This is far more environmentally accptable than the previous Dell policy of not upgrading thereby forcing customers into buying new machines. Customer may then purchase continually year in and year out rather than a major purchase every 4 years and ongoing service plans could also be sold. By whole of life I mean as long as essential components such as motherboards/fans can effectively modernize the machine around 4-5 years, however if an unexpected development occurs that reneders modernization impossible well so be it. One things for sure CPU's/HardDrives (replaced by Solid state) and better ram are going to lower power requirements. GPU cards will eventually lower power also, when they proceed down the Intel road in chip performance rather than the very low tech and sloppy SLI designed to extract as much money as is possible from customers for too little reliablity and performance. 17 Comments »
track my votes
