*XPS M1730 Problems/Dell Replacement Issues*

Update just called Dell and apparently my parts have been shipped and service tech was meant to call me yesterday. I have been give a number for UNISIS with a reference number. Fingers crossed lol though i don't think we should have to chase up our own warranty lol

 

Hello, I've been monitoring this thread for a while now... my M1730 has had its share of problems, and just today I reported some problems with my vid-cards. While doing diagnostics with the tech on the line, I got an error message from my Blu-Ray drive. To make a long story short, they are going to replace:

Vid-Cards: Dual 8700 SLI
Motherboard
Blu-Ray drive
CPU HeatSink and Fan

The "System" tells them all the pieces are available and that the Tech should contact me in no more than 3 working days to make the repairs.

I know the stories, but I live in Mexico, and there is no record of replacements here... and I don't know where they get the parts if they have a different stock for Latinamerica or if Mexico gets supplied from the US.

I love my system, but if this is the beginning of a painful broken-repair-broken-exchange because of the video cards I'd like to ask if anyone knows the exchange policy for latin america.

 

I have had my system for a little over a year now...and now I cannot boot up.
When I power up....keyboard lights up as does the blue lights...but the screen stays black.

Call tech support and they are going to replace the lcd and motherboard.
My specs.. 2.4GHz, 8gb ram, 256 ssd, 9800 sli....

 

Service tech came around today and installed my new bluray writer. works like new again only took 5 days NDB lol not looking forward to when my graphics cards or motherboard fail again.

 

Tech replaced motherboard...but still unable to boot up.
All I get is a blank black screen with led keyboards and Blue lights lit up.

Have to send to Depot for repair....
Anyone have any idea?

 

Did they check the HDD?

 

Is there any hdd activity? Also, do you see caps/num/scroll LEDs blinking?

 

The tech tested the system(without and with the hdd) and said that I needed to send the system to Depot.
Boxed it up and sent it in without my SSD because I have did my credit report/analysis (social security #)right before my system crashed and I was not able to delete the data.

I did not drop my system at all.
The system just crashed...rebooted and all I got was LED keyboard and Blue Lights.

Thank you to mfractal and mafimushkila for the help.
10-14 days without my system now

 

Sending it to the depot without the SSD or hard drive is no issue. I had to send mine in after it got dropped and broke the case. Dell told me to take out the hard drives and send it to them. I'm pretty sure if they decided to replace it with something else, they would request that you send them the drives that came with the system though.

 

Quick Update:

Tech came in yesterday, repaced:

• Motherboard
• 8700M Video Cards
• CPU Heat Sink and Fan
• Blu-Ray Burner

Everything turned fine, all the pieces except the Blu-Ray were refubrished.

Laptop booted into windows OK, no activation issues.

According to Everest, my old video cards ran at 75°C on Idle, and would go up to high 80's or low 90's before shutting down.

Now with the new card, my CPU runs 10°C cooler at 45-50 most of the time.

The problem are the video cards, now they run at 68° and 80°C on IDLE

I've already had 2 shutdowns because of the heat with M1004 error code

Have to get back to dell on monday

 

Guys, I need some assistance and advice.

I've been on the phone and on chat all day with dell

It's the second time they tell me they cannot give me support because my lap has Windows 7, and it is not what the system was shipped/sold with

One engineer even tried to tell me that changing the OS would void my warranty

I told him the warranty, and what Dell sold me was a piece of equipment, and that Windows, whatever version was just a license, and that my warranty should be valid

What can I tell this guys? Please help

 

Just tell them you are on vista or whatever it was shipped with?

If you tell them other wise, they are not going to help much.

 

Well after 3 calls and one chat session that got disconnected, I received an e-mail telling me another dispatch service has been created and that a tech must call me within 24 hours to schedule the repair, but no details on what parts (if any) will be replaced...

I replied asking for the diagnostic information and details on the dispatch, hope they answer.

Any way, more ammo on my replacement case

 

Will take note on this, thanks Achilles, won't mention Win7 again

 

Very nice, another hour on the phone with dell

New CPU and 3rd heat-sink are on the way for a replacement

 

dell got my laptop yesterday and replaced the graphics(according the notes under my dell dispatch number).
Hope to get my system back soon.

 

Well... tech came in yesterday afternoon and replaced CPU and the Physx Heat-sink...

Still just launching SC2 or AC2 makes my vid card temps jump from 67/77°C to 78/90°C

Can't play for more than 45 minutes before automatic shutdown...

Time to get back to Dell and play some hardball, it's been 2 weeks, can't play, can't work, loosing money, etc.

Wish me luck

 

I've had so many issues with my m1730 as well, which itself was a replacement computer for my m1710, which itself was a replacement computer for my inspiron e1505...lol. My m1730 has had 5 motherboard replacements, 2 LCD replacements, 2 keyboard replacements, 7 sound card replacements, 1 CD drive replacement, 8 AC Adapter replacements, 2 speaker replacements, a trackpad replacement and last but not least the LEDs had to be replaced. They decided to now send me an m17x with overnight shipping, and it should arrive tomorrow they've never been rude to me though, the on site tech knows me and my whole family by name, sits down has coffee with us when he comes over, used that in my discussion with dell while pushing for my alienware replacement PC. haha, it worked

 

finally had time to put my ssd back in after getting my system back from Dell.

They gave me 9800 GTX!
I had the 9800 before but not the GTX version.
+1 for Dell(purchased through my university so this is not Dell Home).

 

I'm having issues with my XPS 1730, but my warranty has expired and there's no option to extend it... Will Dell still deal with me, or am I out of luck?

 

Why don't you contact them and see what they can do? I've seen cases where they still fixed or replaced an out-of-warranty laptop. Can't you add extra warranty now?

 

It may depend on the agent you get. Try multiple times at different times. I was given the option to extend my warranty after the initial time has expired.

 

Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll try calling them... Their XPS hotline wasn't available on the weekend for some reason.

If that doesn't work... Guess I'll try to bake my vid card.

 

I just just noticed on "MSI Afterburner" (logitech g15 screen) that my Graphics cards were on 86C and this was just while i was browsing the net only! it was really weird as the fans didn't seem to kick in at the dreaded 75C and the machine felt really hot on the palm rest and dvi port was HOT!!. . I have just overclocked machine so fans run full speed to cool them down. Should i worry? Still under warranty so fingers crossed

Only firefox was opened and graphics cards were standard clocks.

 

I rebooted again and turned off overclocking the GPUs are now sitting on 90C and hit a top of 98C i think they are dieing again. this will be my second replacement but no graphics errors yet

 

Hi guys, sorry for not posting in a while, but I seriously thought this thread was dead.

I just want to say that Dell authorized my Alienware M17x replacement system, the order went trough last friday, and am anxiously waiting to get my new toy.

If you live in Mexico and want to ask about my experience with the process please leave a PM.

Cya round guys

 

Hi! Nice to find a forum like this. Anyone here from Sweden who have had problems with the service from DELL? I am in the middle of a long case with my computer being repaired several times with refurbished parts only to break again and again. They have escalated the case two times only to come to the conclusion that they want to try repairing the laptop again. How long is this allowed to take?

 

O and by the way, is there anyone that has some mail address to some exec at DELL? I have been searching high and low but not coming up with any. When u call them they say that they are not allowed to give it to you. Wonder why!?

 

All parts will say it's refurbished, even brand new ones. A replacement part for a brand new model laptop that has zero chance of being refurb will come in a package that says it's a refurb.

 

This is the second time I have sent my laptop in for repair. It was dropped really badly from wayyy high up. Anyways, last time I sent it in I didn't get any upgrades which I didn't mind but the entire process was almost 3 months. I hope it will be quicker this time.

So far I have talked to two reps. One said the depot said it was badly damaged. The other rep (has me on hold now) is saying that it is in the status "unbillable hold" and the dispatch number has been changed on it. It also has CCC by it, and the guy doesn't know what the code means so he is checking.

My system specs as of now are
M1730
Dual core t9300? (2.5ghz one)
4gb ddr3 ram
dual 8700's
1920x1200 wugxa screen

laptop shipped on the 7th, delivered on the 10th. We'll see where this heads, hopefully to an m17x. Is it true the 260m doesnt have a dedicated physx card like my 8700s do? I couldnt find it out by looking up the specs online but I was thinking this would be a way to get 280s instead of 260s.

I really hope they dont have 8700,8800s left in stock. I bought this almost 4 years ago, really hopin for some upgrades!!!

***update***
Caught the guy in multiple lies already. He is literally just making things up. Claiming some parts were on backorder, plastic casing? claimed they were putting in a new hard drive and mother board. When I probed more and then flat out asked him. "Why are you making up things that are backordered and work they are doing on it if they arent" "oh im sorry sir." I told him "listen man, i don't mind if you don't know whats going on, but don't just make things up" and then he goes "I appologize sir, I don't have any information at this time I think they might still be diagnosing what is wrong with it"

...this is exactly like last time, lies piled on top of lies, on top of BS. The memories are flooding back....

 

OK, so I got a call from DELL and the laptop is too badly damaged and they are going to build me an M17X. It's great because even if they give me bottom of the barrel it's still going to be an upgrade.

I am interested in getting the most out of this upgrade however.

My original computer had the t9300 2.5ghz dual core with 6mb cache.

The first and lowest level processor they have with 6mb cache is the following
Intel® Core™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

Do you think that because my old chip had 6mb cache I can get them to put in this quad core because it also had 6mb cache. The dual core only has 3mb cache.

Also, is there anything significant that the 8700's had that the 260's don't or the 280 does have? for example a dedicated physx card on the 8700 but there isn't one on the 260m, but they have them on the 280 so i could push for an upgrade in that category.

Just looking to use the replacement guidelines to my advantage when receiving the upgrades. Want to get the most out of my warranty. Tips appreciated. I'm supposed to call back in about 10 days to see specs.

 

Did you drop your machine? Complete Cover? Did you have much trouble if so?

 

Yeah, I tripped over my cat and the laptop fell at least 30+ feet into a dumpster hahahaa. No they don't give you any trouble. Hypothetically you could put 100 rounds into it, say your dog clawed it and they would still replace it. That warranty is rock solid. They only really ask you what happened like twice, and it's not interrogation.

Yes complete care. Also if you have an M1730 get yours in there before warranty is up. THEY HAVE NO M1730S LEFT!! I REPEAT THEY HAVE NO M1730S LEFT YOU ARE GUARANTEED AN M17X

 

I have less then 2 years warranty left. Just not Accidental Damage.
In 2 years also spare parts will be a problem too.

 

Interesting i have Complete Cover until Feb and you can't get it in Australia anymore. I love this machine though so torn.... lol

 

Most confusing thing ever going on. They shipped (to the wrong address, overnighted) a system to me. I got an automated voicemail with a tracking number, saw it was undeliverable and to the wrong address. Called dell and the lady is trying to find out where the depot is at to correct the address and also find out what specs the new system has. I'm afraid its an M1730. I was told specifically on the phone that there were no more m1730 and that everything would be an upgrade because stock on m17x is better than the m1730.

I'm questioning whether or not they shipped my old broken system to me by accident. 16lbs total. Anyone else remember their m17x ship weight?

Anyways on phone now 38 minutes. Getting a supervisor on the line to try and really get to the bottom of this. Ugh...

**Update

They are telling me that they are shipping me back my old broken system with a way bill or weigh bill, not sure how to spell. anyways they want me to then ship it back to them. This is ridiculous. I don't even know whats going on right now. I still haven't' spoken to a supervisor, requested one for the second time now and am on hold. Also, they are still going to build a replacement but in the mean time feel like playing broken laptop tag with me?

Supervisor confirmed that's the case, said he would e-mail the dispatch people to see why they are doing this and will call me back. New system still gonna take 7-10 days to process, before I can figure out what I get.

 

Hmm, me just now got off the phone saying they would offer me a replacement for the XPS M1730 with Bluray writer dual 8800GTX graphics. THey said its going to be an Alienware and I have the option to choose any extra upgrades for which I have to pay for.
Waiting on the call with the rep to config it for me now.

Fingers crossed.

 

I just logged a fault with my m1730 on friday. My graphics cards are being replaced and said it would be done by Tuesday. I have 8700gt sli so maybe they have stock they didn't say anything to me about replacement though

 

Update they sent a single 8700gt card as replacement for 8700gt SLI. They are going to replace with 9800GTX SLI now its been 2 days since call about replacement of wrong cards. GRRRR!

 

I had nothing but nightmares with my XPS M1730. It was rebuild completely, replaced and rebuilt again... along the way none of the problems were permanently fixed. (Some problems were fixed but returned.) I purchased the 4-year onsite warranty, Complete Care with accidental damage coverage, so it was more of an exercise in frustration than anything else. About a month ago my case was escalated and I received an Alienware M17X R2 as a replacement. It has current specs (see signature) and is a far better machine. The only downgrade was no Blu-Ray burner, but that was to be sent as soon as it became available. I received an email today stating they are sending out a tech to install it, as it is now available.

I was overly polite to everyone at Dell despite the maddening frustration. Even the overseas guys that I could hardly understand received the nice treatment... took time to build rapport and used a lot of "please" on the phone. I also sent a couple of emails to customer service that were very nice. Bear in mind this was a 2 year process. Dell sent a Qualex technician to my house a total of 12 times before Dell ultimately did the right thing for me. So, be calm and patient.

I have never been a big fan of extended warranty, but I am so glad I did it in this case. Had I not done so, I would have been left with a $4,000 doorstop called an XPS M1730.

 

Hello folks. If I'm posting this in the wrong forum I apologize, but this seemed like the most relevant place for this type of problem. I'm hoping one of you well informed individuals can either shed some light on this problem I'm having or point me to some useful info on it.

My M1730 has been trouble-free since I bought it in November '08, and after reading through these forums I consider myself quite fortunate. Recently however one of my 8700GTs wasn't being detected for no apparent reason. Since I was about to make a move from Win XP Pro to Win 7 64bit Ultimate, I decided to wait 'till the new OS was cleanly installed in case it was some driver issue. I also decided to open up my case and give it a thorough dust removal, even though I stay on top of that through other measures. Turned out I had very little dust accumulation inside.

So I button everything up nice and install my new OS and presto, my other GPU was once again detected allowing me to, once again, enable SLI. However... I quickly noticed while updating Win 7 that my computer was getting very hot while idling, and it immediately dawned on me that I had forgotten to plug my GPU fans back in before I replaced the cards in their slot! Yeah, that was quite a lapse in concentration on my part. I responded immediately by lifting the back of the 1730 and getting an external fan directly on the intake ports to reduce temps while the updates finished and I could shut the computer down. So I opened everything back up and re connected the GPU fans. Now my SLI is no longer enabled and only 1 8700GT is recognized by Windows (device manager).

I feel that I seated everything firmly. When the problem originally manifested I felt that maybe something had become unseated somehow so I was very careful in making sure everything was locked down before I put the system back together during my first dance. The odd thing is that the second GPU is still detected by Everest. I wanted to ask if anyone knew what causes this issue, or if there was something specific I should look for when I do take the system apart once again, so as to make sure I address it before I button it all up again. That's a lot of screws, as I'm sure some of you are already aware. Should I screw in the palm-rest screws first when putting it back together? It seems that screws thread into the card to secure it from both sides, but maybe when I secure the bottom screws first it somehow unseats the cards in some way?

I googled this for hours and couldn't find any useful info, even though I remember coming across a thread that discussed something similar to this some months back. No luck finding it again though. Any help would be much appreciated.

I also wanna wish everybody that's going through it with Dell support good luck. I hope your issues get resolved favorably.

 

apexmoto: Since Everest recognizes the second card, I am less inclined to think there is a problem with the video module.

EDIT: You may find useful information at the following links:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=159207 -and- http://forums.techarena.in/monitor-video-cards/1365146.htm

If these web sites don't lead you to a fix, below are a few more thoughts...

Try booting up in safe mode with standard VGA enabled. When you do that, does Device Manager show both cards? If so, try the next suggestion.

Try removing the drivers for your video cards. After rebooting, without installing video drivers, does Device Manager display both cards with only the Microsoft Standard VGA drivers installed? If two display adapters are showing without drivers installed, try reinstalling the latest nVidia drivers specifically intended for your 8700M display adapters.

Observation: If you power up using the MediaDirect button on the left instead of the normal power button on the right side of the switch panel, this disables one of the video cards by design.

If the first suggestions do not do the trick, remove the plastic control panel cover above the keyboard and look for evidence of an issue with the switch panel underneath the cover. If you can figure out how to do so, power up the machine manually before reinstalling that panel. It is a remote possibility, but there could be an issue with the switch beneath the external buttons.

I do not remember where I read it, but I recall reading that there were some odd compatibility issues with Win7 and the M1730. I do not know if that is true or not, but Dell conveniently left out M1730 owners from the free Win7 upgrades that they offered on less expensive machines. In my opinion this was a strange business decision to make for the purchasers of their once flagship laptop product and I have a hunch there must have been a reason they gave a special deal to people that bought a cheaper machine.

Finally, it is only a theory, but perhaps there is an issue with the proprietary hardware on the mainboard that supports MediaDirect. MediaDirect uses a stripped down version of WinXP to boot up without loading the primary OS. Did you delete all partitions, reformat and totally eliminate the MediaDirect partition when you upgraded? If you did an in-place upgrade to Win7, that could also be causing an issue.

Perhaps there are some M1730 owners with the 8700M GT SLi setup out there that can tell us if they have upgraded to Win7 and whether they had any unresolved issues like yours.

I hope you find a solution to this problem, and hope my ideas help you with that.

 

Mr. Fox, first I wanna thank you for your timely response and input. I neglected to mention in my previous post that I had already tried uninstalling/reinstalling the Nvida drivers (258.96 and 195.62). I went as far as reinstalling Win 7 and deleting/formatting all partitions that were present on the drive.

I followed your suggestions, but unfortunately Windows doesn't detect the second card in Safe Mode, or with the standard VGA drivers installed. I also do not power on with the Media Direct switch, but I found your information on the switch panel very interesting. After removing the hinge cover I found nothing overtly unusual, but I'm gonna have a closer look once I take everything apart again, as it seems like this will ultimately be necessary. I just wanted to know if there was anything I should look out for in particular when I do.

This is definitely an odd problem. If it is indeed caused by some improper seating of the cards after I went into the system the second time, then why is Everest detecting the second card? I couldn't be the only person to have experienced this problem...

 

You are not the only person with the issue, as noted in the links I posted. Both of the M1730's I owned (the original and the replacement) had motherboards swapped out and Dell definitely had some issues with that model. I am running out of ideas and there is not a lot to be found on the web... mostly documentation of this unresolved problem. Under ordinary circumstances, I would be leaning toward this being a hardware problem. I am suspicious that is may be a compatibility issue with Windows 7 due to the fact that Everest "see" both module. This is pretty strong evidence that both cards are physically/electrically connected. The PCIe connection where the module plugs in does not allow you to connect one without the if memory serves me correctly.

Forgive me if I missed you saying if you tried this, but have you tried going back to Vista on a temporary basis to see if things return to normal? Not that you would particularly want to do that on a permanent basis, but if everything works under Vista and this problem is only present under Windows 7, then it would be a useful troubleshooting exercise.

Just for kicks, try booting your system using the MediaDirect button instead of the power button before ripping everything apart. See if anything looks different in Device Manager. Since I no longer own a M1730 I cannot do any hands-on exploring on your behalf. It's not probable, but curiosity has me wondering if the circuit panel for the power and MediaDirect switches can be installed upside down, or the electrical connect installed upside down in such a way that the power button and MediaDirect buttons are working backward. I very seriously doubt it would be engineered in such a manner as to allow that to occur, but sometimes a long shot works out.

I know you have already disassembled and reassembled the machine before and you probably already have this, but just in case you do not, you can download the service manual for the M1730 at http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1730/.

 

An update about my case.
Got a call from DELL today and got the specifications of my new system. I purched some upgrades also to reasonable price.

Old spec

1 N03X7303
1 XPS M1730 CORE 2 DUO T9300 2.50GHZ, 800, 6
1 17.0" ULTRASHARP WIDESCREEN WUXGA (1920X
1 CRIMSON RED
1 EURO SHIP ACCESSORIES
1 SWEDISH DOCUMENTATION XPS M1730
1 RESURS-CD ING?R EJ
1 ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., DUT, DAN, NOR, SWED PLACEMAT XPS M1
1 MINNE MED DUBBLA KANALER 2 048 MB (2 X 1
1 320GB (7200RPM) SATA RAID 0 STRIPE (2X16
1 FIXED INTERNAL 8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE INCLUDI
1 EURO 220V AC ADAPTER POWER CORD
1 AC ADAPTER 230W
1 PRIMARY 9-CELL 85WHR LI-ION BATTERY
1 XPS M1730 BACKPACK CARRYING CASE
1 DUAL SLI 512MB NVIDIA? GEFORCE? 8800GTX
1 AGEIA PHYSX PROCESSING UNIT CARD
1 DELL TRAVEL REMOTE CONTROL
1 EXTERNAL 56K MODEM (USB) EUR
1 EUROPEAN - DELL TRUEMOBILE 355 INTERNAL
1 DELL™ WIRELESS 1505 WIRELESS-N MINI
1 SWEDISH/FINNISH INTERNAL KEYBOARD (QWERT
1 SOFTWARE DRIVERS XPS M1730
1 SWEDISH - VISTA HOME PREMIUM (32BIT OS)
1 MICROSOFT WORKS 9.0 P? SVENSKA (ORDBEHAN
1 ENGLISH - ADOBE READER 8.1
1 DELL SUPPORT CENTER 2.0
1 SWEDISH MCAFEE SECURITY CENTRE 30 DAY TR
1 1YR PREMIUM WARRANTY SUPPORT
1 NO WARRANTY UPGRADE
1 NO ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT
1 TO ACCESS ONLINE TRAINING OR FREE TRIAL,
1 INSPIRON ORDER - SWEDEN
1 DELL INTERNET ORDER.
1 ROAD FREIGHT CHARGE PER UNIT 1-10 UNIT

New spec

Alienware M17x MLK : Base Space Black
Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 740QM(1.73 Ghz,6MB cache) 1 S
Display : 17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - RGB LED 1 S
Resource DVD : Alienware M17x MLK 1 S
Ship Accessory : Swedish Docs 1 S
Memory : 8192MB (2x4096) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel 1 S
Hard Drive : 1.2TB (2x640GB) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 "Stripe"(7200RPM) Dual HDD 1 S
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive 1 S
Power Supply : Alienware 240W AC Adapter 1 S
Power Cord : Euro 250V 1 S
Battery : Primary 9-cell 85W/HR LI-ION 1 S
Graphics : Dual CrossFire 1GB ATI GDDR5 Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1 S
Wireless : Europe Dell Bluetooth 370 Card 1 S
Wireless : Intel Wireless 6300 (802.11a/b/g/n 3X3) LAN Card 1 S
Keyboard : Internal Swedish/Finnish Qwertz Keyboard 1 S
Operating System : Swedish Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) 1 S
Software : Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic 1 S
Avatar : Alienhead 3D 1 S
No Software Anti-Virus 1 S
TimeZone : (GMT + 00.00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London 1 S
Name Plate Engraving - Generic 1 S
Standard Service - 1 year of Next Business Day coverage included with your PC 1 S
3 Year Hardware Support - Next Business Day 1 S
3 years Accidental Damage Support 1 EX
Alienware M17X MLK Order - Sweden 1 S

Paid 3500 SEK (approx 350£) for 3 years accidental support, 8 gb RAM 1333MHz, 1,2 Tb 7200rpm.
Lost the backpack due to the fact that DELL Europe does not sell them.

Does this deal seem ok!?

 

Great upgrade for your laptop!
Only thing I would change is go with a single drive and put the money towards installing an aftermarket SSD.

 

Hi im new here and ive owned my xps m1730 for nearly a year( Got it off someone else who previously owned it for about a year) Anyways the thing is my laptop's gaming performance has recently been dropping.. i will usually load a game such as left 4 dead on max res and settings and it will run smoothly for about 30 secs and then drops to a very unplayable framerate.. Is this a sign of my card dying or is there another issue that might have occurred ? And Seeing as my laptop is out of warranty does this mean im pretty much screwed if i run into any serious issues with my laptop ? Any help or info would be appreciated thanks .

 

I was offered an 128 Gb SSD instead of the 1.2 Tb double HD but that is far to less space than i´m in need of. I´m thinking of upgrading the Hd´s in the future to SSD when they start dropping in price.

However i had double 8800Gtx cards in my M1730 and acording to the DELL representative that called me there was no way that he could offer me double 5870 in the M17x as a "free upgrade" because the one 5870 outperforms dual 8800GTX by far. I was surprised about this and he even spoke to his superior but "no go". Readin the forum indicates that the answers differs from representative to representative.

On my M1730 I had close to three years next day service left and got three yers on my new system also. Question; every new system comes with a one year guarantee, does this mean that i will have 4 years next day guarantee and three years accidental damage support?

 

I suspect dust built up and heat throttling. Check that. If you decide to use compressed air in the can to blow the dust, use something small enough to stick through the grill to hold the fan blades in place. Don't want to spin the fans using compressed air (can damage the fans).

 

I had 2 8800M GTX and received 2 4870 in the M17x (5870 was not available from Dell at the time). Supposedly, one 4870 can outperform dual 8800M GTX but Dell built it for me. If it's me, I would try and call back and ask for someone else to help. It is like I paid for an extreme CPU and Dell tried to stick me with an equivalent CPU in speed but not extreme.
Although, looking at the specs you listed, I think you do have 2 5870s. I could be wrong. But it did mention dual crossfire. You don't have crossfire if you only get one card. My guess for the number '1' at the end is for one set of 5870s.
The warranty part: what ever warranty you have on your old system transfer to the new one. Dell gave me an extra year warranty with complete care which I had (on top of what I had remained) because it took them over three months and a couple of wrongly built M17x sent to the house to get me sorted out.
I went through a lot of needless hassles but was finally rewarded (or by some pure luck) with a very nice and knowledgable customer service (but it was escalated way up). The journey is long but I believe the rainbow is somewhere at the end but few never find it.