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For XPS 630 Owners
Of those that are left, do you like your system? Would you buy it all over again, if it was offered at $1400, with a full coverage warranty for two years? Is it a decent gaming system worth hanging onto?
Someone suggested I return it, and I did not buy it to return it. I like it, but it does have some quirks. And every company has a few bad customer service issues. Is the system & support worth it?
Most the issues I only read about recently. The video card being x8 on each slow I read about if only going SLi mode. I figured this was a heat issue, and I knew I was not buying a top-of-the-line system. I did read that having one card installed would be x16 PCI Express, not x8 which is what I am reading here. This bothers me.
Then to find out 64 bit OS is not supported by Dell, which was more of a let down. The software glitches I can live with, only hoping they would be fixed some day.
Dell dropped support for the Dimension 8400 system, and there's been nothing updated for it in a few years. I was expecting more from Dell and their support. I see the warning signs, but my old system is next to dead, save the Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop I been using here.
Are you XPS 630i Owners happy?
shdbcamping1
475 Posts
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Posted October 1st, 2008 13:00
Darrell WV,
Ditto on the DIM8200... AHHHHH the good ol' days.
Sean
- I enjoy my 630 although I'm annoyed by the lack of the claimed Crossfire support. Also the 8x and 8x PCI-E lanes are a downside, although right now they don't really matter. Sooner or later though they will be saturated and become a bottleneck in the 630. However, I do enjoy the system right now and for $830 on Dell Outlet it was the best deal I could find anywhere. They are selling them extremely low priced on the Dell Outlet versus building a new one.
I'm a happy customer.
There are no real issues that would cause me to return it. Just some minor annoyances. Nvida profiles don't get loaded on system start up. They did in the beginning but after installing stuff and configuring it the way i want it must have messed that up. No big deal. The 8 lane issue is not that big of a deal either since i plan to stick with SLI or crossfire from here on in. No more one card solutions for me.
And the occasion crashes when gaming with an OC'd CPU, not the machine's fault i think it is all software related, drivers + games.
The 630 being fully upgradeable was the deciding factor for me to get one. I plan to do some upgrades next year and I know I can still keep most of the existing parts.
64-bit support is a not a problem. If you look at any of the Vista drivers for the 630, under "compatibility" you will see that they support 64-bit Vista as well as 32-bit.
I believe that Dell should offer 64-bit as a pull-down option for the downloads for the 630 as they do for the 730 just to make it more clear, but this is a picky point rather than a real issue.
Having just installed 64-bit Vista on my 730 I highly recommend it. Easy to do.
shdbcamping1
475 Posts
558
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Posted October 1st, 2008 18:00
trojandan,
Glad you hooked a good one, and a "keeper". I may go for my 3rd try soon as Dell seems to be ironing it all out. I'm still a little leary of the hastles some still get if they receive a lemon.
My DIM8200 died for HDD and PSU... 8 years or so is a great longevity though. It was time for a new box. 2 hw pieces and I could still be rockin' mine as well.
Sean
After having returned 2 630's, the 3rd was the charm. I really enjoy my system, and wouldn't return it. For those guy's talking about the Dim8200, My Dim8100 is still being used to this day.
________________________________________
XPS 630i Black
Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz
4GB OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-800 4-4-4-12
VisionTek Radeon HD 4870
640 GB Raid 0 HD's
X-Fi PCI Sound Card
ATI Theater 650 TV Tuner
19 in 1 Memory card reader w/Bluetooth
Vista Ultimate x64 SP1
Samsung 24" 2493HM LCD
__________________________________________
XPS 420
Q6600 @ 2.40 Ghz
4 GB 800MHZ
Nvidia GeForce 8800GT
750 GB HD
19 in 1 Memory card reader w/Bluetooth
Vista Ultimate x64 SP1
Dell 22" 2208WFP Ultra Sharp- I love my computer, as it does exactly what I need it to. For the longest time my LightFx would not work, but the new drivers for it have solved the problem and once again I am very happy with it. TF2 plays great on it and I have had no problems playing Crysis either.
Darrell WV
2 Intern
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482 Posts
558
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Posted October 1st, 2008 12:00
Yes, it is a great gaming machine, not the very best but the price tag tells you that.
I have had a great time playing on my 630i as well as all the XPS systems. My previous Dell was
a Demension 8200, which like all machines just simply wore out, but I had used it since January 2002.
Now:
XPS 420 Q6600, nVidia 9800GT OC, Ageia PhysX (used as my work station)
XPS 630i Q9650, duo GTS 260 in SLI, SB X-Fi Titanium, 8 G Corsair Dominator, dual WD VelociRaptor 300
XPS 730 H2C QX9650, duo GTS 260 in SLI, SB X-Fi Titanium, 4 G Corsair DDR3, dual WV VelociRaptor 300
When evaluating any device, I ask myself, is it able to complete the task I need it for or do I need another device. Never use a hammer for a screw driver.
Best of luck,
Darrell