XPS 720 FAQ

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X-View Clear Side panel
You will need to call Spare Parts (1-800-372-3355) to purchase the X-View Clear Side Panel.
RX496 Removable Side Cover, Windowed, Silver (non-H2C)
WP723 Removable Side Cover, Windowed, Black (H2C Only)

H2C Standby Problems
Use these BIOS settings -
Low Power Mode = On
Suspend Mode = S3

Overclocking
Systems with Intel Extreme Edition processors can easily be overclocked by using the System Setup (BIOS). The Intel E-series dual core processors cannot be overclocked. The XPS 720 can be overclocked five steps (BIN +5) above normal settings. The cooling solution that is in the system will determine how many steps the system is overclocked from the factory.

Change the overclock settings of the processor using the the BIOS
* Restart the computer
* Press F2 when the the Dell splash screen is visible
* At the System Setup screen, press the Down-Arrow key to highlight Performance
* Press Enter
* At the Performance options, press the Down-Arrow key to highlight Advanced
* Press Enter
* At the Overclocking option, press the Down-Arrow key to highlight the field next to Performance Application Support
*Press the Down-Arrow key to change the field to ON
* Press the Right-Arrow key to highlight the field next to Processor Clock Speed
* Press the Down-Arrow key to select the desired processor speed
* Press the Enter key to accept the changes
* Press the Esc key
* Highlight Save/Exit using the right-arrow
* Press Enter to restart the system

Intel QX6800 unstable at 3.73GHz
If the core voltage is above 1.35v, it will be unstable at at 3.73GHz (bin+3). Lower the Processor Clock Speed to the default of 2.93GHz.
The sales site and the User Guide have the following warning, Dell warrants the full functionality of your system at factory overclocked settings. Overclocking beyond factory settings may cause system instability and reduce the operating life of your system components. Dell does not provide technical support for any hardware or software issues arising from any third party application, such as NVIDIA nTune 5.0, used to enable overclocking.
By the QX6700, we list, Intel Core2 Extreme QX6700 (8MB,3.46GHz Factory overclocked). That means 3.46GHz is our factory overclocked recommendation.
By the QX6850, we list, Intel Core2 Extreme QX6850 (8MB,3.67GHz Factory overclocked). That means 3.67GHz is our factory overclocked recommendation.
Lower the processor speed until you get a stable PC
* Power on the PC
* Press F2 at the splash screen to enter the BIOS
* Go to the Performance- Advanced- Overclocking- Performance Application Support
* Lower the Processor clock speed
* If your using overclocked memory, double check that the memory is set to SLI/EPP in the bios. In this mode, it is defaulted to overclock at 1066mhz versus standard DDR2 memory which is 800mhz * Hit ESC- Save and exit from the BIOS to allow the system to boot into Windows
QX6700 2.67 Core bin+0, 2.93 Air bin+1, 3.20 bin+2, 3.46 H2C bin+3, 3.73 bin+4 unstable, 4.00 bin+5 no post
QX6800 2.93 Core bin+0, 3.20 Air bin+1, 3.46 bin+2, 3.73 H2C bin+3, 4.00 bin+4 unstable, 4.26 bin+5 no post
QX6850 3.00 Core bin+0, 3.33 Air bin+1, 3.66 H2C bin+2, 4.00 bin+3 unstable, 4.33 bin+4 no post, 4.66 bin+5 no post

680i or 680i LT motherboard? We use the 680i on the XPS 720
The Northbridge is the C55 which is marked NF680i-SLI-N-A2 fully supporting EPP SLI-Ready Memory. The Southbridge is the MCP55 which is marked NF570-SLI-N-A2. We do not support the Nvidia LOM and thus do not support the dual Gigabit Ethernet controllers feature.

Automatic Tuning with the NVIDIA nTune Software
* Click Start- Control Panel
* In the left pane of Control Panel, click Classic View
* Double-click NVIDIA Control Panel
* Click Performance- Click Tune System under Automatic Tuning

Manual Tuning with the NVIDIA nTune Software
* Click Start- Control Panel
* In the left pane of Control Panel, click Classic View
* Double-click NVIDIA Control Panel
* Click Performance
* Click Adjust Motherboard Settings or Adjust GPU Settings under Manual Tuning. The number to the right of the slider is the new bus speed that will be applied. Adjustments can be made by using the mouse to drag the slider. All changes take effect immediately after clicking Apply.

Display System Performance Information with NVIDIA Monitor
* Click Start- All Programs- NVIDIA Corporation- NVIDIA Monitor

May Exhibit Low Performance While Operating in SLI Modes
The XPS 720 may exhibit low performance while operating in SLI modes if the BIOS setting for HyperTransport (HT) was incorrectly setup to 200Hz instead of 1000Hz. You may resolve the issue by resetting the BIOS CMOS using the RTCRST jumper. The value is cleared, and the BIOS can properly set HT to the high performance defaults. Also, loading the newest bios fixes the issue.

Sound Corruption Running QuickSet LightFX
Sound corruption, such as popping, may occur while running QuickSet LightFX if the transition speed is set to Fast.
* Double-click the Dell QuickSet icon in the Notification Area
* Click the LED Effects tab
* Choose any effect except for Smooth Color Rotation
* Click Apply- OK

NVIDIA nTune CPU voltage does not allow 1.6v
The CPU voltage setting normally allows changes incrementally up to and including 1.6v under Adjust Motherboard Settings. On a XPS 720, this voltage appears as 0.00v. Selecting it does not change the voltage from what it was previously set to when the change is applied. However, the CPU fan toggles to the highest setting and remains that way until the system is restarted. Nvidia needs to update their software.

RAID
The XPS 720 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 0+1 (but not 1+0)

Bluetooth/Media Card Reader
Driver Vista 32bit Application Vista