Dell XPS 720 non-standard motherboard/power supply
Someone asked me to help fix their computer.
It was a Dell XPS 720 (ie a high-end gaming PC), and it would run for a few minutes, and then suddenly switch off.
It seems like a failing power supply, so I think it shouldn’t be difficult to fix…
Once I’m in front of the computer, I see the PC is really large… one of the largest PC cases I’ve ever seen… and its really heavy!
It takes me a while to figure out how to open the case.
Peering inside, I see a computer that looks quite different to any modern PC… hard drives, power supply, motherboard… all laid out in a non-standard way.
Despite the huge case and cables neatly arranged, I still need to take out the hard drives, in order to get a good look at the motherboard.
After figuring out how to remove the hard drives, I then see that the power supply is plugged into the motherboard in 2 different places, using non-standard power connectors.
This is something I’d expect to see in the late 1980’s !
Anyway, I realise there is no way I can replace the power supply at short notice, so I reassemble everything, and give the customer the verdict: Either he (or I) will need to contact Dell, and get the power supply for this model PC (and I suspect it won’t be cheap!).
Dell: why do you do this?
I am working on a Dell pc at the moment, Had to bring it back to the office, no PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse, the keyboard and mouse onsite worked no problem but I can’t get the system to boot up to install USB keyboard and mouse, also, I can’t in-place upgrade as windows crashes half way through loading the initial install files, I can only assume it’s because I can’t change from sata native mode to backwards compatible like I can on every single other sata system I have ever came across, ever. so ditto on your last line m8. 🙂
Hey Im a tech also, i wouldnt think this pc would be totally non standard like that….especially on one of their xps systems……can you take pictures of this…it doesnt sound right to me.
Believe it Matt.
I can’t take pictures. This happened a few weeks ago, and the PC is with the customer.
Apparently this is a very common “problem” with the XPS line of Dell PCs
I guess Dell thinks if someone is prepared to pay a huge amount for a top-line PC, then they don’t mind paying even more to have it fixed.
I have an XPS in the laptop line. I wouldn’t buy Dell (or any brand computer) without buying a full warranty for this reason. I think the XPS series should come with a minimum of 1-year warranty, and Dell treats the XPS customers better than the regular consumer customers, so it really does pay off if you need it.
I’ve serviced around 500 Dell computers in the last few years and I don’t think any use standard power supply connectors. Even the older ones that had standard looking ATX connectors were missing weird pins or had wires crossed. The XPS series are especially bad about odd layouts and parts too.
DELL IS CRAP! THEY ARE THE WORST!
THE XPS SERIES IS A JOKE! AND
MICHAEL DELL IS A DOUCHE BAG!
The XPS 700/710/720 systems do use a Intel standard board / chassis design. The standard is the BTX design. The BTX design was going to be the next great form factor from Intel however that did not play out well for Intel as only Dell, Gateway and a few intel boards were ever made based off this design. It had some adavantages but with no takers it died a quick death. The new XPS 730 systems appear to have gone back to an ATX based design.
Recently DIMMS 3-4 stopped working so lost ddr function on my 720, phoned dell up a year and a 1/2 outta warranty see what they would say fully expecting to pay upto 100quid (Prity Fair IMO). Price was £317 for a 2 and a 1/2 yr old motherboard. Laughed and asked if can be any budge in that, come back 2mins later and “Sorry no” so i hung up, then looked into the corner of my room and seen 2 other dell pcs, one 6 yrs old and another 7. Completley standard and still working, how odd i thought. Day passed and so thought fuckit, lets see how big dells balls are, phoned up xps phone line again, told the guy he is being recorded, (rly didnt like that) quoted the “Sale of goods Act” , Few moments later i was onto the manager and he said he’d call me back within afew hours, Hay preso New mobo on its way free of charge, Wish i pushed em for a service man to come fit it but tbh i wouldnt want some dell nobber fuck about with my rig. God Bless the sales of goods act. Covers you upto 5 yrs in UK..
I had the exact same problem. I sent 4 e-mails to Dell but I never got a respons. After that I brought my XPS to a computershop nearby and they said that there was something wrong with the power supply and I needed to contact Dell. So I e-mailed once again and no answer. Great service…
I bought a Dell “All-In-One Desktop Computer”; with an:
INTEL CORE2DUC PROCESSOR
2 GB DDR2 MEMORY
320GB HARD DRIVE
BLUETOOTH, WIFI, TV TUNER
WINDOWS 7 PROFESSIONAL COA
and about four months later after the limited Warrantee Expired (Unit had been used in the Store) the Power Supply “Part # GW715” – Fizzled; returned it for repairs and was told it needed a Power Supply and that such was hard to find – that was several months ago; have personally searched on-line via Dell’s on-line Computer Help – but they too could not find the Part! Has anyone suggestions of where such a part might be found??