Dell XPS 710 H2C Performance Gaming System

Dell XPS 720 H2C, 4 GB RAM, dual Nvidia Ultra Cards, Blu-ray player.

I just got this system after having to send back three other lesser models for various reasons.  When I overclock the machine at 3.33 or 3.66 the fan noise fluxuates for no reason.  I asked Dell about this and they said that it is normal.  I am barely pushing the comp when the fans go nuts, and I can't imagine that a machine that is factory overclocked is supposed to behave like this.  Should I go through the various temp and fan speed tests like above.  I am just curious if others have noticed fluxuations in fan noise/speed as well.

A huge waste of money! 

For $3,300 in your own components you can have a better system no doubt about it.   2qty 10K Raptors, sli or xfire, better memory, better mother board, better water cooling

$300 mobo, $300 Q6600 Overclock to 3.6 easy on water, $115 for 1000mhz Gskill 2x2gb to clock to 1100Mhz if needed, $550 2qty ATI 3870s, 2x$170 raptors, $110 500GB WD HDD, $450 extreme water cooling setup for 1cpu & 2GPUs, $150 case, $300 dell 22" monitor, $175 850 watt PSU, $300 Vista 64bit + 32bit DVDs retail, $100 TV card. 2x dvd burners $70, $20 media reader

all for $3,240

maybe I missed something but not $2500 worth LMAO.  Read it and weep suckers.. . Way to PAY ""THE MAN""

For about $2300 you can have a sensible computer setup like the one I'm going to build.  Yes it only has a E6750 but why spend Over 180bucks for a 2 more processors that aren't going to do anything to get you better gaming???  3.6ghz can be hit on the E6750 without a whole lot of knowledge in Overclocking.. . With the X38 chipset you can upgrade to a quad or a 45nano processor when they are available.  People on OCforums are taking the Gigabyte mobo to 550FSB with ease and can reach 3.6-4.0GHZ on E6750, E6850 and Q6600 with water cooling. 

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=5439674&ItemList

^^ above link will probably change in days to come.. .

chesbrougha:

Dell XPS 720 H2C, 4 GB RAM, dual Nvidia Ultra Cards, Blu-ray player.

I just got this system after having to send back three other lesser models for various reasons.  When I overclock the machine at 3.33 or 3.66 the fan noise fluxuates for no reason.  I asked Dell about this and they said that it is normal.  I am barely pushing the comp when the fans go nuts, and I can't imagine that a machine that is factory overclocked is supposed to behave like this.  Should I go through the various temp and fan speed tests like above.  I am just curious if others have noticed fluxuations in fan noise/speed as well.

The fans are supposed to switch on, and you are not at the factory overclock. You are overclocking it further to 3.33 and 3.66. There's nothing wrong with your system, and actually some people manually set the fan speeds to higher when playing games.

A huge waste of money! 

For $3,300 in your own components you can have a better system no doubt about it.   2qty 10K Raptors, sli or xfire, better memory, better mother board, better water cooling

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=5439674&ItemList 

You can say the same about any Alienware, Any voodoo PC, or any HP Blackbird. The fact is that not many people have the technical knowhow to put together a rig like that.

And even those that do can run into problems with mismatched memory, making mistakes with cards, some people have fried their equipment while putting it together.
There are a lot of things that can go wrong. Many people just prefer to buy something configured to their specifications and let someone else worry about putting it together.They also consider the warranties, service and support.
Kudos for you on putting together your machine, and on having the knowledge and the time to sit and build it, especially using watercooling. Here's hoping that nothing goes wrong while building it.

This is form someone who's done it both ways, building my own monster rig and purchasing one off the shelf.

Gel214th:

You can say the same about any Alienware, Any voodoo PC, or any HP Blackbird. The fact is that not many people have the technical knowhow to put together a rig like that.

This is form someone who's done it both ways, building my own monster rig and purchasing one off the shelf.

 The big rigs are for people with certain lifestyle that allow them to overpay for such things.  Maybe when my wife starts making 130Gs added onto my 65Gs, the $5,500 price tag wont scare me away as much.  But still.. . I'd rather save the 2-3Gs and spend that on performance parts for my car that I take to the race track or a nice long vacation. 

 This will actually be my first computer build.  Got to start somewhere.. . I have plenty of people that can help me out as well though.  I'm not watercooling my rig unless I get into to overclocking everything to the extreme which I don't think I'll do.  A good fan on the processor for a mild overclock is all I need. 

Thanks to the one person that replied with an answer.  FYI I spent 3K on this system, and I don't game I do graphics (return after return, talking to manager after manager).  They are sending a tech out with all the fan parts and a new HD just in case that is the problem.  Hopefully that does the trick.

I personally don't think that there's any problem with the fans, or your system.

AFAIK The system is factory overclocked at 3.2Ghz.

Systems need to be kept cool, and the fan sounds like an airplane taking off when it is engaged. If you go beyond that 3.2Ghz to 3.3 or 3.6 then I think it only normal for the fans to engage.The only reason you notice them, is because the system was so quiet to begin with, but I have an Alienware ALX, the original, and it is LOUD with those three fans running.

Like I said, i'm no tech, but your description of what's happening doesn't seem to represent an issue with the system, but more with your own expectations.
I have personally used nTune to turn my system fans UP manually, and my graphics card fans as well. (so I know the rrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEE sound of the fan in the H2C ^_^ When it engages it is Loud!).
You're saying that you think they shouldn't even be kicking in :-)

Clearly there's a difference there, I want my processor running as cool as possible, and my graphics card cores  as well. I'm willing to go through some noise for that, especially when I know I am overclocking a chip (Factory overclock is an Overclock) and I have two MASSIVE 8800GTX cards in the case.

Hi i have the xps 710 h2c myself. you said you can run ntune to adjust the fans manually? Do you know any other programs i can use to do the same thing. my temps at 2.66Ghz are a little high i must say @ idel i range from 40-50 degress and thats at idle.

 I've heard there's something called Speedfan , but that crashed my machine when I tried to run it. The other thing is RivaTuner, but I believe that just adjusts the fans for the graphics cards. You should know, though, that the Quad core processors run hot, hotter than you might expect. They're perfectly happy at that temperature, and I don't think you need ot be overly concerned unless you are doing some custom overclocking.

Dell sure is making some money on these computers.  I bet they don't sell a ton of them though.  They also aren't using the best hardware for the system either for more profit in their own pockets.

vicaphit:

Dell sure is making some money on these computers.  I bet they don't sell a ton of them though.  They also aren't using the best hardware for the system either for more profit in their own pockets.

I am moving and am looking to sell a fully loaded, four month old Dell XPS 720 H2C with the following specs and buy something for portable:

• Intel Core2 Duo QX6850 (3.00 GHZ overclocked to 3.67 GHZ) with quad core tech----
  4GB RAM----
  2x BLU-RAY, DVD+R/RW----
  Dual: 768 NVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra----
  Dual: 1 TB harddrives----
  Windows Vista Ultimate (32bit)----
  Windows Side Cover, Black (see picture)----
  Aegia Physx Processor----
  1 killowatt power supply----
  Dual: 1 TB harddrives----
  19-:1 Media Card reader----
• 3 year in home dell premium support----
  Lycosa Gaming Keyboard----
  Razer death addler gaming mouse----
  Microsoft office standard 2007 suite----
  Logitech Quickcam Fusion----
  Samsung 2232BW monitor (22 inch)----
  "World in Conflict"----

Total Package Price: $5,800 (buying everything new costs around $8K)

See the craigslist posting: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/ele/651633448.html

holly mother of god that is a sweet system, you should post this however in the for sale section of the forums.  

 Thanks, didn't know there was a sales section.  Thanks

np, im sure you'll get a buyer either here or from craigslist. i would def be intrested if i had that type of money.  

ice_73:

you have to realize that people have many many reasons for buying a brand name computer and flaming them for having a computer that is made by otherpeople is not a wise choice since it only shows your ignorance.

 Calling me ignorant for making an observation about the price of a computer is flaming.  In no way was I attacking anyone in this thread, I was merely stating that Dell is making heaps of money on these computers.  I don't see how you can construe this as a personal attack.

I fully understand that people don't want to build their own computers.  Hell, I have a dell computer that I have loaded with hardware after I figured out how to upgrade myself.  If someone wants to spend money on something, that is fine with me, but I usually speak up when I think they could probably save money somewhere.

well the thing i had against your post was that it was so... well pointless. you said basically said dell wants to make money,  and arent using the best hardware possible. which any one could see, and thats the whole point of any company is to make money....  you also seemed to imply that no one should buy dell.

either way. i think for both of us its best to let this one die down.

 yeah just always remember to include a picture of the item on craigslist and write "if you have any questions, ask"

nice would totally look in to if had money =( 

I really like the system,but if I were to make the system by myself,the system would get a little cheaper! 

I just clicked reply.  hope i'm doing this right.  So just a word of caution, i downloaded Gforce drivers for twin 8800s the other day, control panel reports the version as 182.08.  I've had problems with nTune, and System monitor, and control panel freezing with the inability to end task surrounding nTune service.  The previous version didn't give any problems at all, except that the cpu fan slider underperformance would only increase the fan speed in increments, and never decrease it.

I run BOINK and seti, overnight and have had this system set to 2.66 (Factory OCd 3.2) until i get to know it's personality.  It's about a year old now i guess.  With my video editing finished, now it's time to play and see what it can do.  the 2.9? setting seemed to run ok, and while maxing out the cpu with BOINK and seti processing, the heat climbed to about 60C or so while the cpu fan idled.  Not bad i guess.  But on 3.2 and the fan idling, BOINK processing 100% cpu load takes the cpu temps to 70C in no time.  I read a thread on cpu paste, and i think i just might try that.  Putting some qulity paste on older hot machines made quite the difference, maybe that's the answer here.  To be running this chip with the fan nice and quiet at 1000 rpm or so would be a dream.  Speedfan 4.37 did load ok, and it did wind up the cpu fan and kept the temps under 65...but WOW...thought a jet was flying in the room..quite entertaining.  Thermal paste...

I read a thread, where soem overclockers cranked the fans to 100% and overclocked the Core 2 extreme (can't remember my cpu number) to 3.6 and it was completely stable the the H2C cooling system.  I'm not going to try that stunt as that probably voids warranty.  But nice to hear they liked the H2C cooling system. 

I wasn't very impressed with the "XPS tech support".  I mean, they are freindly patient people if they can remain calm with the likes of me...but i would rather hear an "I don't know", than be fed a line of crap like they have done several times in the past just to get rid of me. (on valid issues i might add).  Without a doubt, i don't think many of the front line support personell have even laid hands on one of these things.  ( i would expect an XPS support technician to know the thermal limit of the CPU for example without having to wait on hold).    Anyhow, they try and they're wiilling and patient, i'll give them that. 

So no real horror stories about this machine, it does heat up the room nicely too, just i figure that bucks were paid for a factory 3.2 overclock, so i don't feel like i should be forced to back off to 2.9 to keep withing CPU thermal limits no matter what the cpu load.  Hopfully 20 bux on some paste, and some time invested in applying it will have me running fansilent and 3.2 fast.  Any thoughts??? Tips??? anyone?  Great thread so far.