Dell 730x Mini-review

After years of building my own boxes, I bit the bullet and purchased a Dell XPS 730x on Jan 10th, 2009.

Configuration and Price
-Silver case with clearcoat
-Core i7 920
-6gb 1066mhz RAM
-500gb HD (that I replaced with two 1TB Samsung F1's in raid 0),
-GTX 280
-X-Fi Titanium
-Two year on-site warranty
-Vista home premium
-Flash card reader + bluetooth
-Air cooled
$ 2,108.93 including shipping and tax after the 25% coupon. Discover card also had 5% cashback on Dell for a real total of $2003.48.

To set things off, let me say that I have never been happier with a machine. It is brilliant. It is fast, stable, quiet, and everything from the packaging, to the manual, and then the computer itself is of very high quality. The build quality of the enclosure is second to none. I have yet to see an aftermarket case this smartly designed. Tools are not needed, even to put hard drives in. There are 8 or 9 well placed fans; all of them variable speed, commanded by the motherboard. It has very thick, solid, aluminum panels which is easily removed with a sliding handle in the back. Putting it back on is simple and smooth. SATA and power cables for four hard drives and one extra optical drive are in place from the factory. Now, on to the stuff Hardforum members care about: overclocking settings.

The BIOS won't satisfy a veteran/elite overclocker, but Dell has included all of overclocking functions a casual overclocker needs. The list as follows: Clock speed, Multiplier, memory divider, pci frequency, pci-e frequency, vCore, QPI voltage, DRAM voltage, and an extensive list of memory timing parameters.

With only 20 minutes of effort, I have my 730x with the i920 running at "3.0ghz (150x20)." Intel Turbo mode has the processor at 3.2ghz (150x21) and sometimes 3.4ghz (150x22). I have never seen the multiplier go down to 20, even with 8 threads of Prime 95. Coretemp shows the processor idles at 33-35C. Prime 95 warms things up to a peak of 72C. It warms my office up to 78F. I never did run Prime95 before bumping the clock speed up. I only adjusted the “FSB” setting. RAM speeds just followed along at their 2:8 divider.

The factory 533mhz RAM is at 600mhz (1200mhz effective) without slacking off on the timings (7-7-7). It remains cool, quiet, and stable.

All things stable, I found the factory OS install a bit clunky. It is cleaner than most other retail machines, but it still took forever to boot and the drivers were not current. After deciding I was going to format and start fresh, I threw in two 1 TB Samsung F1's in RAID 0 and did a clean install of Vista. HD Tune reports 230 MB/sec max transfer, 170MB/sec average, and 13.9ms.

Following I created a Pro’s and Cons list.

Pros:
Looks and feels great, everything is high quality
-Future-proof (1KW power supply and three 16x PCI-e)
-Quiet
-On-site warranty (they bring a part to me next day if it breaks)
-Stable
-Overclockable in BIOS- FSB/Memory Divider/Voltages, all there.
-Lighting inside and out. Even unplugged when you open the case LEDs come on
-Roxio (Dell CD/DVD burning package) is fantastic. Straightforward, quick, easy, no prompts, just works, has everything in it normal people want to do, nothing more
-Included Dell keyboard and Logitech 5 button mouse are nice for no charge items.
-GTX 280 is quiet and fast.
-Changing the light colors every day made my girlfriend think she was going crazy.
-ATX standard case that allows any motherboard/processor to be installed in future

Cons:
-Only three DDR3 slots so it won't support 12gb unless you pay out your ass for 4gb sticks
-Way bigger than the picture would lead you to believe (a 3.5" external drive bay sitting upright on top is as high as my desk)
-BIOS takes a long time to get through on startup. More so when you turn on RAID functionality.
-Heavy. My package was 85lbs, no monitor.
-You really should wipe the HD and start fresh w/ latest version of drivers.
-Dell's Power DVD version is a pile of junk.
-Came with Seagate 7200.11 500gb drive which has really gotten a poor reputation
-The wiring could be cleaner.

The conclusion? You can save money building a system with these specs and this performance, but to get one with this level of refinement, next day parts service, stability, and quietness with none of the build your own box headaches, is improbable.


Comparison w/ Newegg System
I configured something similar from Newegg for $1860 shipped. That includes:

Six BYTECC 18" Serial ATA-150/300 Cable $17.34 ($2.29 each)
SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe $27.99
COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1010 ESA RC-1010-KSN1-GP Full Tower Computer Case $249.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive $64.99
BFG Tech GeForce GTX 280 1GB $314.99
Creative PCI Express 1x Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Retail $99.99
Rosewill RX950-S-B 950W - $149.99
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $5.99
Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model $145.00
ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $249.99
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz - Retail $294.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM $99.99

Subtotal $1,717.64
Shipping $62.38

Total $1780.02

Difference of $328.48 not counting the Discover card deal. You could probably save more by going to a cheaper case and lesser power supply. That was the best price on a video card and US supported memory. Best price of any 3x SLI motherboard. $330 for a premium machine? To me: Worth it.

Questions? Picture requests? Flames?


Dell e521, Bottle of Wine, Dell Precision T3400, Dell XPS 730x

my 8800gtx started artifacting on me today.


i am interesting in a pic of the insides, to see the wiring and stuff. since u said it wasnt too tidy...

I always liked that Dell case. Did you take any pic of the inside? moar pics!

Pictures added to original post.

I love that case, I wonder if I could mod in a 240mm or 280mm rad into one.

thanks for the pics.

As others have said, the case is pretty sweet looking. Great paint job on it.

The problem I have is that this computer is supposed to be their "top of the line" and it only has three DIMMs and a maximum of 6GB RAM offered at configuration time.

I'm sure it's a big upgrade though.

Uberbob102000 said:

I love that case, I wonder if I could mod in a 240mm or 280mm rad into one.

Click to expand...

This model is actually available with water cooling, so it does make me wonder where they put it. I'd guess in the front.

The wiring looks like my cat got in there.

Glad you're happy with your purchase, though...thats all that matters.

Congrats!

Shawnasee said:

The wiring looks like my cat got in there.

Glad you're happy with your purchase, though...thats all that matters.

Congrats!

Click to expand...

i agree, you would think dell would have some sort of standard for wiring, considering it can hinder airflow when wires are all over the place.

For a Dell. It's not too bad.

After some more overclocking, I have it running at 3700mhz (185x20 Turbo mode off). With 8 threads of Prime95, max temperature is 75C. I had to bump CPU voltage .040 to ~1.28v and QPI voltage up one notch. I have not ran in to any instability, just stopped at 75C and 3700mhz.

I had to turn turbo mode off because it kept bumping my multiplier down at 75C.

Benchmark requests? Am I safe at 75C? Should I keep going? Ideas for stress testing?

in alot of reivews i see on dell high end machines they just get ok reviews. compared to other companies. looks like a nice machine. my local microcenter has a velocity micro and an alienware and an hp blackbird i like to compare all nice machines.

Great review, thanks for posting. I own an XPS720 and like you, I've built a lot of my own machines, but I love this Dell. It's rock-solid reliable, fast, and hassle-free. Looks killer too.

I think they're water cooling system is self contained in a HSF like thing only bigger.
One would assume it'd be pretty easy to get a rad up front somewhere.

I like the Dell XPS a lot, got the XPS 630 myself... The only problem is the 2 PCIe only work at half speed on the 630. That thing looks perfect, wish I would have spent the extra money and got that system.

I took some time and rewired the 730x. It made it a much nicer machine and seemed to make it a little quieter, too.

Before:


After:


More 730x specific overclocking information here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034099719&postcount=30

Nice job on the cable management.

When I got mine, it looked horrible with the wires everywhere.

I think I will take your pics and try to copy it on mine.

Cool, Thanks.

Here's a high resolution version of that picture. It may help.

http://shoeish.com/uploader/images/730xrewirehuge.jpg

Nice job rewiring everything, so what monitor are you using with the setup???

Thanks. A Dell 24" (2407). 1920x1200.

After reading this I was thinking of snagging one of the outlet page with the 15% off coupon, missed a great deal on one.

hi

first post...

thanks for the pics, I am thinking of getting the same set up or pretty close to it.


does anyone know if the 25 % coupon is still active?

if not, any discounts?

I did get some "relief" about $150 off on a quote of an XPS 730---

6 gig ram, 300GB 10k rpm dirve, 9800 GT 512 MB nvidia card for $1849...meh, kinda ok


so, how is your system doing?

did you do any more mods, or upgrades?

still happy? (hope so!)

thanks

Last week they had a 6gb, Radeon 4870x2 machine for $1999 but I can't find it again.

My system is great. One of my 1gb Samsungs nearly crashed so I went back to a single drive until the new one comes. I have also added a second GTX280 I got on ebay for $230. An SLI adapter did not come with the machine, so I had to buy one from the forums here. I also had to buy a second 6 to 8 pin SLI adapter.

Shortly after I did the second card, the first one had a video memory problem (crazy pattern on screen, 2d and 3d). Dell overnighted a new card after a 15 minute call. The XPS support guys are pretty great.

I'm very happy with the machine. Downtime due to the failed card was minimal, which I like.

That sounds good! Yah, I am deciding on new or used 730x.

I am getting the i7 920 proc and overclocking it.

3 or 6 gig

I would like a 10K raptor drive, but the refurb systems that have them are expensive, I can always but one later.

Is there a big diff in 3GB and 6GB?

Is there a big diff in 7200 rpm and 10k rpm?

I am gonna get dual 22 inch screens and I am just internet surfing and some business apps, maybe some "light" gaming.

I don't even have a computer game! I will prolly get call of duty first.

I know the 730x is overkill for what I need, but it is SO COOL and it is scale-able---so it will upgrade/grow if need be.

------ can you use those coupons on the refurb stuff?

-------any coupons now, besides the 25 percent off select accessories?

Thanks!

Al

Oh, and pictures will be posted when the system arrives!

I would get 3gb, being that dell wants $100-$150 for the upgrade. If you decide you need more later, 6gb from newegg.com can be had for less than $60.

Get the cheaper 7200rpm hard drive and swap in your own raptor (or ssd) for much less money.

The 730x is a nice machine, and it should support the 6 core chips. Its downfall is that it only has 3 memory slots, not 6 like the rest of the i7's.

Okay. Thanks!


Wow, didn't know that 6gb was that cheap.


Yes, at least I know I want the 730x box (for now)

I could replace the mobo to get more mem slots, correct?

Don't think I'll need that nuch power tho.


Good call on adding the 10k later. Sounds good.

Al

Al

Check this deal out before you buy, its smoking!

http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/jump.php?m=dellsys&id=6v620&arg=dxdwwy9&track=xps730

It is the i7 920, 6gb, Radeon 4870 x2, 3 year onsite warranty, 640gb hd, and memory card reader for $1999 + cheap shipping. You can downgrade to the gtx285 for $200 back for a total of $1799...

6gb of RAM is enough for a long time, and by the time 6gb is not enough 4gb DDR3 chips should be out and cheap which will allow you to go to 12gb of RAM.

looking now, thank you ! good lookin' out...woot woot!

dont think I need that much GPU, but hey!

I could sell the card, get a cheaper one fo rmy needs and save some dollars!

I am thinking of running the dell sx2210 22 inch HD monitors, two of them

al

Tax makes it close to $2000

But if I had my friend in Oregon buy it... it'd be a cool $1800 and $30 in gas to drive down

Not bad at all.. but I still intend to build my own... even if I am at $1350 without any HDD's or VGA cards... (those I already have... even then...)... that's also with 12GB of ram, a $300 case (x500b), and $400 (EVGA Classified) motherboard... but oh well...

If someone was looking at buying a new computer and were spending $2 grand I'd probably recommend this to them if they wanted no-hassles support for 3 years..

Bios pictures for those that don't believe the XPS 730x can be overclocked in bios:

I've had a few questions on steps I used to achieve my (mostly lame but speedy) overclock results with this 730x, so here it is:

The first thing to remember about overclocking is that not all systems will achieve the same results. Even those from the same manufacturuer with the same parts.

My methodology goes like this:
1. Check stability.
2. Bump speed up
3. repeat until unstable
4. change voltages, change ratios, change memory timings, sacrifice an animal, increase cooling
5. repeat all

Sometimes stability can be gained from increasing voltages, other times by changing other multipliers/speeds, sometimes by increasing cooling, and all of the time by decreasing the speed. Finding the right combo of all these things is an art... none of which I have ever had much success with.

On my 730x, I slowly moved up the CPU BClk 2 or 3 mhz at a time, booted in to windows, and checked stability using prime 95 to load the system and coretemp to monitor the temperature for about 10 minutes. I repeated this many many times until 3.4ghz or so.

When I found that the turbo mode was disabling itself (due to intel's definition of "too much heat"), I disabled turbo mode all together so I could define how fast I wanted the processor to run without something slowing things down for me.

I then increased CPU BClk until it wasn't stable (prime 95 will usually generate an error before a full crash). I increased the two voltages ("Dynamic CPU VCore Offset" to +40 and "QPI and Uncore Voltage" to .40), went up to 3.78ghz or so, found my system to be stable and quiet, bumped the CPU BClk down 2mhz to be safe, and have ran my system from there since.

I'm sure I could go faster, but perfect stability, 3.7ghz, nearly silent at idle, and just audible at full load is exactly what I wanted.

Questions?