This has been just a fantastic resource for working with the XPS 700 desktops! I recently started supporting a Dr's office that had their old tech talk them into buying XPS 700's to act as their fileservers! What a waste. Anyways, a few years later, the motherboards started dying on them so I've been replacing them with tiny Optiplex SX280 boxes (about 1/10th the size). Now I'm trying to bring one of these beasts back to life with a replacement motherboard...

So I called the Dell Spare Parts line and first asked if they would work with me through email since it would be much easier to get them a detailed parts list of the things I wanted. They told me that they don't work through email --just phone. I thought this was just a silly system until I started getting prices and compared them to the previous parts lists shown above... Here's what I've found:

CK520 - XPS 720 Motherboard (refurb): $302.95
  --the also offered a new compatible board (YU822) for $439.99
XU556 - Rear I/O Panel: $4.99
TM476 - Front Panel Ribbon Cable: $7.99
GR709 - Front Panel Audio Cable: $2.99
XU567 - Front Panel Assembly: $27.99
HN362 - Front Panel Retention Device: $1.99
16DYP - Front Panel Retention Device Screws (x2): $1.99 ea
WJ206 - Front Panel Cosmetic Insert: **NOT IN STOCK**

These prices are considerably different from Wisc_Badger's prices just a few months earlier. It looks like the phone reps can simply give any price they feel like as there is no consistency here!! Oh well, at least my numbers are much less! I'm going to try and find another motherboard somewhere else though. Any good suggestions? I'd just rather not spend over $300 for a system that's this many years old (although I still LOVE this box!)...

Thanks again everyone for all your help and comments!!

Same story here...  XPS 710 purchased in March of 2007 just failed on April 13, 2009. Discovered the previously offered 700/710 upgrade, but did not find the parts lists as provided here. Dell Support Tech Gabriel(I suspect this is not his real name given the Indian accent) incorrectly told me that if I ordered a CK520, that there should be no additional parts needed.

Of course when my refurbished YU822 (the new part number for the former CK520) arrived I quickly noticed that connectors were different, and that I would not have success in getting my computer running this evening... so much for overnight shipment of parts.

So, tomorrow I shall attempt to locate all the parts necessary to complete my upgrade. Thanks to GARYSOFT for posting the complete list of parts.

Couple of questions...

1. What is the maximum Intel processor I can run on the 720 board. I currently have a 2.4 Ghz 6600 Core-Duo...?

2. How many motherboards need to fail at or around the two year mark for Dell to admit that there was a problem with them? I don't like beating up on Dell since I have used and/or recommended the purchase of hundreds of their systems over the last 12 years. Overall I have been extremely satisfied with their products.

Thanks,

Badger

In March 2009, after the motherboard crashed on my out-of-warranty, two-year-old Dell XPS 710, I learned there had been a Dell XPS 700/710 Upgrade Program, which ended in October 2007. There had been a kit with the necessary parts to upgrade an XPS 700 or 710 to an XPS 720. Even though today there is no all in one kit that I am aware of, I decided to try to upgrade my XPS 710 to an XPS 720.

Below is the list of parts from the original upgrade kit. I obtained all but one necessary part from Dell Spare Parts (1-800-372-3355). I was lucky to find the final necessary part at techforless.com. It appears that a few of the parts needed for upgrading an XPS 700 are already on an XPS 710, so I could reuse those.

Downloaded from a search of the Internet:

Purchased last "open box" item from techforless.com; could not get this part from Dell:

Reused from XPS 710:

Wow... just amazing.   My story is the same.  I am sitting here with everthing out of the computer and the new board mounted in and am trying to figure out why this upgrade kit to the 720 from the 710 does not have the right connections for I/O and the back panel.  First place i decided to check was the forums behind this exhange program and see many people have had the exact same issue.  This motherboard will not work with out the upgrade kit.   And after confirming strenuously with Dell sales to make sure this is the upgrade kit for my computer he repeated it was and called it the kit.   Now that i see the photos of the kit on this Dell site...it is obvious he had no clue.  Even after i discussed the dell exchange program to him and led him to the website.  All i have is a 720 motherboard without the rest of the kit required to make it work on a 710 system.   

I also laugh at the comments about the "8" transfers later.  I have found no issue (besides the sales departement) to take less than 4-8 transfer myself.   It is so fun to have to repeat your Serial tag over to every person who answers.  I purchased this machine and love it...but with the amount of trouble i have had between warranty, and follow-through from customer support it just is not worth it.  Ive had a long 11 year relationship with Dell and the Dell corporate reps who are awesome on the multimillion dollar purchases.   But when i purchase a personal $7000 setup i just cant get anything resolved or taken care of with satisfaction.  My patients for unresolved issues is gone now.   Why should i have to get my Dell corporate rep involved with every little Dell issue for my personal purchases....cant the department stand up on its own?  Complaining to my Dell corporate rep is so old now...i just cant bring myself to do it anymore.

Kovsky

I thinkd that DELL as a Big International company would have a better customer care, my company bought hundreds DELLl computers and servers. There is always a nice chit chat about the total amount of those big deals.With some nice gifts to speeden up the sale, like a couple of PDA`s etc.....

But when I got my long awaited (not available with VIsta because of none existing GF8800GTX drivers) DELL XPS 710 with the  nForce590SLI-Intel Chipset of wich I thought could put in A quadcore processor. There was no communication to me as customer tthat spend over 2400 euroonly on 1 pc.

I gave great reviews about this system on international websites, however its not a fair policy to only have a exchange program in the U.S, because I am sure more XPS 710 are sold in Eurpe then in other countries. If DELL keeps non informing his clients this way its not so hard to give bad reviews wordlwide, here in Holland DELL also had some problems on other issues. I like my DELL XPS 710 very much but I HATE IT THAT  I CANNOT UPGRADE IT LIKE THEY PROMISED WHEN I BOUGHT IT LAST YEAR!!!!

P.S.  The reason I didn't know about the upgrade is because I either wasn't aware of or browsed those websites, nor did I play any intense games requiring better performance, because I've been busy working on my Masters.  I'll bookmark those resources and try to browse them regularly.

Thanks again for your help.

Wade

Thanks for the quick response, Chris.  I checked on those motherboards and they are not available anymore; a refurbished motherboard (YU822) is shown instead for the search for CK520, and it doesn't look like it has twin SLI PCI-E graphic slots.  GT661 was listed as no longer available when I did the searh last night. I guess as they say: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"!  :-)

I'll try checking with Dell Tech Support to verify if my 700 motherboard above with 1.4.1 BIOS will support the Intel Extreme X6800 processor (I have one available to use).  I was told at one time before that it would, but a tech person who came out to replace my 700 motherboard and 670 processor (following a diagnostic test error) said that he wasn't sure the MB would due to possible motherboard and BIOS issues.  A full blown 720 upgrade would be nice, but I'd be happy just being able to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo or Quad processor.

Thanks

All,

The XPS 700 motherboard upgrade program ended on October 13, 2007. We sent correspondence to all the customers on the Direct2Dell blog, the Dell Community Forum, and non-Dell websites who were complaining about the XPS 700 motherboard. This was not a recall, so we did not have to contact every purchaser of the XPS 700. This was an opportunity given to owners that complained and reached out to us. We had our manufacturer make kits based on this number of customers. Once we had the kits, we set an end date (October 13, 2007) and posted this on the Direct2Dell blog, Dell Community Forum, and the other websites. Once the end date was reached, all XPS 700 or 710 customers who wanted to participate in the program must have submitted orders on or before 11:59pm Central Time on Saturday, October 13, 2007.

You may contact Spare Parts (1-800-372-3355) and see if they can sell you the following -
GT661 or CK520 XPS 720 Motherboard
KU128 H2C Liquid Cooling Device
XU567 Front Panel PWA Assembly Black
TM476 Front Panel Ribbon Cable
HN362 Front Panel Retention Device
16DYP Front Panel Retention Device Screws (x2)
GR709 Front Panel Audio Cable
WJ206 Replacement Front Panel Cosmetic Insert Black
XU556 Rear I/O Panel
N6370 Thermal Interface Material (TIM)
06335Thermal Interface Material Cleaning Cloth
JR085 XPS 720 Resource CD
NX581 Upgrade Kit Users Guide (manual)

ARRGG!  I just now found out about this program even though I bought (ordered) my XPS 700 in Aug. 2006 and it arrived in Oct. 2006.  Even though I'm registered with DELL and have a Warrenty thru 2010 or 2011, I was never notified about this upgrade option.

I also recently had a problem with my XPS 700 and DELL replaced the motherboard and CPU, but unfortunately it was with a 700 MB and not with a 720 MB and they used another Pentium 670 processor like the original.  I wish I had known about this upgrade because I want a Core 2 Duo processor instead of the 670.  (The 670 wasn't even the original processor that was requested.)

Can my existing motherboard (Nvidia C19/MCP55) run a Core 2 Duo processor (1066-MHz version), especially the Extreme X6800?  (I've also updated the BIOS to version 1.4.1)  If not, what would it cost to upgrade to the proper motherboard, and would I be able to get a discount since I was not informed about the original upgrade program and I'm a Warrenty customer?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

I bought a XPS 700 about two years ago and had to wait 6 weeks for parts. After running it for 1 year. I thought the video card were going bad and was able to get the free upgrade. They wanted like $800 for the cpu upgrade and I did not have that kind of money. I did get the XPS720 upgrade and ran it for about 6 months and now I can not get it to shut down. I am not impressed with Dell today. If I were to get a new pc, I would not bother Dell and build my own killer machine so I would atleast know what is in it.  

Lionel

 Can you confirm the list below are the parts needed to upgrade from a 700 to a 720.  I missed the program but I still want to upgrade my system.  It is out of warrantee so I am not real worried about voiding it.

GT661 Motherboard Service Kit
XU567 Front I/O Panel Assembly, Black, XPS 720 ASSY
XU556 Rear I/O Panel Assembly
MK376 Round Black Cable Assembly for USB & 1394
NJ062 Cable Assembly for Sound to Front I/O Panel
GR709 Cable Assembly for Sound to Front I/O Panel
TM476 Front I/O Cable Assembly

 

Lionel- 

On:  http://www.xpsupgradeprogramdell.com/Pages/Default.aspx

 Program Qualifications

All XPS 700 and 710 purchases made through June 30th, 2007 are eligible for this program. 

Why the cut-off on the purchase date?  I just bought a XPS 710 from the Dell Outlet in July 2007 - so now I cannot be part of the upgrade?

The original Dell official post says ALL XPS 700 owners are eligible for the free upgrade. Then at some point down the road they seem to have changed that to only XPS 700's ordered on or before June 1 2007..

I purchase a 700 after June 1 2007. I am concerned that not only will I not be able to get the free upgrade but I will not be able to purchase one because I do not own a 710..

Seems rather unfair to me.

Original link

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=xps_desk_genhdw&thread.id=44677

""edit""

13th october 2007 i mean not 31st oops my bad 

Deadites . it says a website will be up and running on the 13th of august 2007 for us to register our free upgrade,this will run until midnight 31st october 2007

this is awesome...so what exactly can we choose...there is no discription of the items that are pictured.also will this free mobo upgrade fix game freeze ups/blue screen of death problems ans system hanging ?

 

Will this XPS Motherboard Exchange program also be available for very recent (XPS 710) Purchases? If so what exactly will it entail ?

 Best Regards,

Arcadius.

Hi, Just wondering if this will be available for the 710 H2C as I only picked this up through the Dell outlet recently. I know I missed the deadline and will have to pay but is it possible to upgrade.

Rob, Dublin, Ireland

Thanks

Seeing as how my XPS-700 is about to turn 1 year old, and seeing at how this purchase has been a series of disappointments, do I have an option of simply returning the product and even a pro-rated refund?

I have simply reached the point where I truly do not care any more and would just as soon not bother any longer...

thanks

Hamlyn

When is this program going to start? It's been over a year since we got our XPS 700's... come on Dell, let's get the ball rolling.

I thought this was the highest priority within Dell, obviously that isn't the case since the XPS 720 is already out.

I really hope it is WORLD-WIDE or I will also be very disappointed, my own location is Sweden, so please do not forget your many customers outside USA.

Thanks in advance for an answer in this matter :)

Sincerely

Roberth

Hi,

@Lionel

what´s  now with the exchange program for the German customers? is it world-wide program or not?

?????

greetz

As a German XPS 700 customer I'm very disappointed of Dells assumption that German customers wouldn't want an option to upgrade there boards.
Can we German customers get an official statement on this?

 

I wanted to repost a posting I have seen it the past - it sure would be nice if in addition to the quad core, there would be an option to purchase 8800s (at retail) and have them installed with the motherboard (a small install fee would make sense since the tech is already going to be there, but doing extra work).

Thanks,

Dan

I have a XPS 700 Red. When I have Dell home install the new motherboard is it possible to contract with Dell to also upgrade my Nvidia 7950's SLI to the then current SLI 8800 Nvida product, install Vista Ultimate 64, and reinstall the rest of my memory ( 4 gig ), I took two gig out to try a differnt Vista upgrade option.  I will buy all the components from Dell. 

Can I get this scheduled through the normal XPS support phone # or do I have to contact some other group within Dell. I just see this an an excellent oppertunity to get my box back up to state of the art and would hope Dell can do this.  Please advise?  Best Regards:  Gene 

PS:  XPS 700 purchased new from Dell 11/9/2006, I have a 4 year in home service contract.

Hi,

 
i'm from Austria and i also would like to know if the Motherboard exchange program is available for me. It should be because the DELL seller promised me that i can upgrade to a quad core (this was in August 2006). Two months ago i called DELL and i was told thad this is impossible and the only way to upgrade is that i should buy the XPS 710. I was also told that it is possible to  upgrade to VISTA - I did it. After some problems i was told by the DELL hotline that this system is not designed for VISTA and i get no support. 

Dear ladies and gentlemen from DELL, i think that i should get some time any support - until now i did not get it.

Wolfgang 

Lionel,

Maybe you could clear up this new June 1 date for XPS700 owners.  Everything I have read so far indicates that all XPS700 owners can get a free upgrade and know you mention a date.

Hardware failures usually occur within 90 days...

 My XPS700 came with 1 year of warranty service.

 What is the warranty on the replacement 720 motherboard ?

thanks

Rob

You can remove the above. I thought it said June 1 2006......I am very safe :)

Sorry!

Thanks for the catch Trevor!

HI Lionel and thanks for all of the info. My original order was long before June but due to the issues I had several orders and cancellations. How is Dell going to know that I was a part of that issue and not look at my order date as the date of the last one?

Thanks!

I'm confused. At several places here on direct2dell it's written, that the motherboard exchange program is available for customers worldwide and now  Golem has written that it's only available for customers in the USA. I don't think that this information is right. What about a statement from Dell?

If this information written on Golem is really right I suppose many german XPS customers won't buy a Dell XPS PC again. But anyway it would be continuing the disappointing story of Dells XPS 700.

Any word on how soon this can happen. The powerswitch on my XPS 700 disappeared into the chassis and I see a new powerswitch is part of this kit. I'd hate to have to schedule two different service calls.

As a German costumer I will be very disappointed if the motherboard exchange program for the XPS700 wouldn’t be available for German costumers as well; especially after Neil Hand posted that it will be available for costumers worldwide. Until now I have always been satisfied with Dell’s service but this would be the reason for me to never buy anything from Dell in the future.

Hallo Frank,

i am a germany 710er user too, and i want to buy the 680i Board!!!

But how? 

Look here .

http://www.xps-forum.de/thread.php?threadid=2133

Sorry, I forgot to include the source for the statement concerning the nonavailiabilty of the program for germany - it's golem.de (http://www.golem.de/0706/53054.html, last paragraph).

 Any comments from dell?

That mouse pad is absolutely horrible. It's nothing more than an aluminum piece of foil. :( The 680i's been available to other's for 7 or more months. The 590 SLI in the 700/710's finally a bit more friendly when the user packs in a useless PhysX card along w/ the ubiquitous 8800's in SLI and an X-Fi (xtrememusic no less...the one wo/ XRAM and that squeels and chirps in BF2142).

And the H2C's nothing more than a CoolIT TEC w/ a TINY h20 reservoir that cools only slightly better than an all air $50 Tuniq Tower. After gaming for a bit of time a rig outfitted like that will be very loud and VERY hot.
For the $5-7 K it costs, one should SERIOUSLY look into Falcon Northwest or Voodoo PC IF THEY HAVE TO BUY a pre-built rig. Doing this yourself IF possible will save you bucks and you'll have the choice of buying a better laid out case, a more efficient power supply, a better motherboard, etc, etc, etc.

 BOTTOMLINE: Do not buy an XPS 7xx.
 

Just to make it crystal clear, I ordered my XPS 700 from the outlet on June 1, 2007.  Of course, the system didn't ship and did not arrive until almost June 8 or June 9. Please correct and clarify, I AM ELIGBLE for the upgrade since my order was placed on June 1.  It does not matter when the system actually arrived, as long as the order was placed on June 1, correct?

 Believe it or not, I knew nothing about this free upgrade until I began searching Dell's forums about an upgrade and came upon it that way. 

 Thanks for your time,

mach

WOW!!!

 A gamer mousepad thats nice Dell thas NICE! Looks likes new fUnc f-series.
 

A new power botton!!! Very nice too!!!

Red acrylic to the panel? I like my black one.
 

awesome. just awesome.

has this been cleared up before? will they send the kit to XPS 700 users or will the tech come and do it and bring the kit with them?

again, kudos to dell for their premium support of XPS customers 

Will doing the self install invalidate any remaing warranty or to keep the warranty in tact, will you need a Dell Tech to do it for you????

Thanks!

Hi all...

firstly... thx Lionel for every info about the motherboard exchange program.

@Frank Roloff:

where did you read this? that there is no exchange program for German XPS700 users?

I ask that because I am from Germany too and I have a XPS700...

greetz... from good old Germany

This is fine and dnady but I want to read a blog post titled,

XPS 720 Hardware Kit: Shipping!

When will this be? 

Chad R:

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/05/17/15029.aspx

Posted on May 17, which says: "The XPS 700 exchange program does include refurbished systems purchased on or before June 1, 2007."

If you haven't purchased your system "on or before" june 1st, I don't know why you are complaining, seems to me it was clear at least 2 weeks before the cutoff date...  If you have ordered before June 1 but received the system after, it's Dell's problem, not yours.
 

1.  I really hope we won't have to reinstall the OS because that would be painful on multiple systems.

2.   Is there a difference in cpu support between the old mb and the new?

How will I be notified when the program is available? Will I need to watch this post? I want to make sure I am included.

Chad R...

Lionel's post on May 17th about the xps700 swap indicated specifically the June 1st date.  Go look and you'll see.

Theoretically, you should be able to purchase the upgrade kit just like XPS710 owners.
 

Without the Expo marker, I'm not even sure if I want the kit anymore.  It would be a shame to see customers turning away over something that should obviously be included with the kit.

If you have remaining warranty on your XPS 700,  do you need to have a tech do the install for you to keep your warranty in order?? I was wondering if you do the upgrade yourself, it will void the warranty???

Thanks!

Why the June 1st cutoff for outlet PC's?  I now find myself in a worst-case position.  After following the XPS 700 saga for the last few months, I ordered an XPS 700 from the Dell after a) Reading that outlet PC's would qualify for the program and b) attempting *numerous* times to get solid confirmation that my order would qualify for the free motherboard upgrade.  After hours on the phone (transferring back and forth from Customer Care to Outlet Sales to Tech Support - none of whom had *any* idea of what I was talking about) and numerous emails, I was never able to get a concrete answer that my outlet PC would qualify for the upgrade program.

Every attempt at communicating with Dell on my order's qualification was met with confusion and a pass-the-buck attitude.  I emailed hyperlinks to this site in an attempt to inform Dell's own staff with what is going on with this program but made absolutely no headway.  Ultimately, I attempted to cancel my order, but made no progress there either.

Now I find my order just missed this deadline and I am stuck with a finicky, underperforming, poorly-supported machine.  It is advertised as 'overclockable', but I cannot even break a 290MHz FSB (even with high end RAM) with the 590/570 chipset.  I absolutely could not be more disappointed with this machine and now I find I cannot upgrade.  Unless I can get into the 720 upgrade program, I intend to vigorously pursue returning this machine.

Please.. have someone with knowledge  on this matter contact me as I need to get some kind of resolution to this.

Will this offer also be made in europe?  I would immediately do this and buy the quad core upgrade.

 Cor
 

thanks Lionel

great deal. i cant wait!!

yes its different as its the new improved version, i just had one fitted recently due to my power button came apart.

 the original module has a piece of plastic that points upwards into the actual switch so when u press against the outer button it hits off it, but over time it get worn down if you have to hold it, for e.g. forcing a shutdown when machine hangs.

 the new one also comes with a small black clip that is screwed into the front grill at the bottom of the outer button to prevent it from popping inwards 

Lionel

is this going to make the xps700 into the xps720? and is the pics what the xps 700 users get for free?

 thanks.

- Now where is the H2C Cooler unit ?  :-) LOL

- Please Lionel let us have an option to buy it , i;m so happy to see the pics of upgrade kit

Thanks for the update 

Great effort and very timley...

Now the challenge is to get this out to us and installed before it becomes outdated ;-)

Hello,

 I noticed that the front panel plastic piece is red.  I have an Xps 700 that is black.  Will you provide this plastic piece in black too?  Or can we still re-use the current one we have?  It appears the ports or in the same location.

Will Dell also offer a similar kit with a black plastic i/o front panel piece? (instead of red?)