Truckload of dell XPS's going tomorrow

Cmar-Ireland

here.from.day.1 wrote: »

Back on topic,

Just wanted to say if anyone wants to clean install vista and has the 2 x 160gb Raptors (in Raid 0) and 1 x 500gb Baracuda configuration, you may need to temporarily unplug the media card reader and/or the 500gb drive so that the vista install will see your Raid drive.

Just did this myself and it seems to be running faster. Next on the list better Ram.

Did a clean install on mine last night. Set the raptors in mirror mode for security. Left the recovery section as it was. Have the OS on the raptors now and formatted the 500gb for storage. No issues with the card reader though, I didn't have to remove them.

Cmar-Ireland

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

No issues with the card reader though, I didn't have to remove them.

If the disk is partitioned already you'll have no problems with the card reader. But if it's blank, the Windows setup will assign drive C: onwards to the card reader and give your disk the next available letter. Easiest way round it when using a Windows disc is to run the setup, choose the unformatted space to install it to, then press F3 to exit and run the setup again with the new partition present.

CL7

unklerosco wrote: »

pm sent fionn

Sent you a pm this morning. Had a problem completing the sale with Dell.

unklerosco

Fionn has taken my dell... done n done

Cmar-Ireland

How much of a difference would we see if we installed 8500 dominator ram?

NordicDiver

The vista index score was up from 5.1 to 5.9 with epp enable and Dominator 6400, now all are 5.9.

Dunno if you notice anything in normal applications though.

Cmar-Ireland

My vista score is 5.2 atm with the ram that came with the system. I wonder is it worth upgrading

here.from.day.1

NordicDiver wrote: »

The vista index score was up from 5.1 to 5.9 with epp enable and Dominator 6400, now all are 5.9.

Dunno if you notice anything in normal applications though.

Temped to get the cheaper 6400 but it wont clock to 1066Mhz with EEP unless its the 8500..

NordicDiver

Seen this guy or ?
http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=36974
Selling his for 2.5K

thefinalstage

Isn't it against the rules to sell things for a profit on adverts?

BostonB

NordicDiver wrote: »

Seen this guy or ?
http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=36974
Selling his for 2.5K

Ummm :rolleyes:

Flaccus

Zab wrote: »

Okay, I haven't actually looked, is it the motherboard connection that is proprietary? I had thought that proprietary connections were a thing of the past, it's disappointing that this isn't the case. If it's just the case lights or some crap I'm happy to do without them.

It even crackles when it's turned off.

All Dell cases use a proprietry wiring harness for the front ports. But all Dell (votro, inspiron desktop) cases are now using atx standard 24pin and 8pin eps or 4 pin 12v connectors. The exception is the XPS 710 and 720 which uses a proprietry EPS connector. So you cannot change the PSU. Unfortunate.

Cmar-Ireland

I can get 2gb of new Corsair Dominator 8500 1066mhz ram for around 110e. Is this a good deal? Is this ram generally considered to be the best option for the 720?

Cheers

here.from.day.1

Yes thats the Ram I bought. Brings the wei score up to 5.7 although someone here said they got 5.9 with the PC-6400 Dominator.

Either way the machine seems much faster with the ram upgrade.
At the minute though im having a problem in that if I want it overclocked I have to go into the Bios every start up and set CPU and EPP manually. Its not saving them for some reason.. annoying.

fl4pj4ck

Karsini wrote: »

Not exactly. The amount seems to depend on the motherboard, or chipset more specifically. I've seen anything from 2.93GB (Intel P965) to 3.5GB (nForce 650i). While the underlying problem is the limit on 32-bit addressing it's really an OS limitation introduced for backwards compatibility, XP SP1 can see the full 4GB if PAE is enabled.

it depends of how much memory you have on your graphics card.
more gpu memory -> less ram memory, as total has to be sth about 3.8g

Cmar-Ireland

Which would you go for in a 720 H2C, Corsair Dominator or Ballistix Tracer?

here.from.day.1

Well Dell sell them with Dominator if you select it, so I chose that assuming there would be no compatability issues.

Darwin

Can anyone post a few benchmarks with the faster RAM installed on the 710 (particularly at 1900x1200)?

Ardent

I ended up disabling the piece of sh*t card reader on the 710 I got. It couldn't read read modern SD HC cards and was causing trouble with a couple of older USB devices.

Has anyone downgraded Vista to XP on these machines? Any pointers or tips? Seriously considering this, don't like Vista at all...

Cmar-Ireland

Ardent wrote: »

I ended up disabling the piece of sh*t card reader on the 710 I got. It couldn't read read modern SD HC cards and was causing trouble with a couple of older USB devices.

Has anyone downgraded Vista to XP on these machines? Any pointers or tips? Seriously considering this, don't like Vista at all...

Yeah, I'm going to disable it as well. No need for it.

Had thought about going back to XP, but I'm going to give Vista another while. Probably not being exploited to its full potential yet.

dathi1

Just to say thanks to everyone here for the advice and help. Dell lost my original 710 order and in the end sent me a brand spanking new XPS 720H2C (not bad for 960 euro). Now will I use its full capacity?.....don't think so. :eek:

thefinalstage

dathi1 wrote: »

Just to say thanks to everyone here for the advice and help. Dell lost my original 710 order and in the end sent me a brand spanking new XPS 720H2C (not bad for 960 euro). Now will I use its full capacity?.....don't think so. :eek:

Sell it than.

kaizersoze

dathi1 wrote: »

Just to say thanks to everyone here for the advice and help. Dell lost my original 710 order and in the end sent me a brand spanking new XPS 720H2C (not bad for 960 euro). Now will I use its full capacity?.....don't think so. :eek:

Nice one.:)

David Michael

thelastangryman wrote: »

Sell it than.

Don't worry ...he just posted that to rub it in

"wow look how fast that word document opened" & "I think these dual cards make the font look better" etc.... etc....


It is a crime against nature that he has it... and me with crysis....


/sighs


Still not a bad bargain for 900 odd euro!!

thefinalstage

David Michael wrote: »

Don't worry ...he just posted that to rub it in

"wow look how fast that word document opened" & "I think these dual cards make the font look better" etc.... etc....


It is a crime against nature that he has it... and me with crysis....


/sighs


Still not a bad bargain for 900 odd euro!!

Oh well. Turn, turn, turn. It will soon be old tech.