Sorry for the delay. I know this date has been a long time coming for many of you. We’re finally here. If you are an XPS 700 or XPS 710 customer interested in this program, here’s the URL you’ve been waiting for:
Terms and conditions may vary by region. If you are a customer in Asia Pacific, Japan or Latin America, you will informed of these differences at time of order.
To all of you who have waited for this program, thanks for your continued support.
Update 8/14—3:30CDT: I need to clarify the eligibility cutoff date for XPS 700 and 710 customers. This program applies to any XPS 700 or 710 customers who purchased their systems on our before June 30, 2007. The XPS team decided to extend that date from the original deadline that I had communicated in this blog post. My apologies for not correcting the cutoff date with the new June 30, 2007 date.
Several XPS 710 customers like theEconomist and Kurtis and gEORGE have asked for pricing details. Pricing will vary by region, but pricing for the hardware kit will not exceed $250 USD + tax and shipping, and on-site service installation will not exceed $150 USD. The on-site service installation includes installation of the motherboard and necessary parts in the hardware kit, plus the processor, if ordered. In some countries outside of the US and Europe, customers will be required to purchase the on-site service and will not be permitted to perform the upgrade themselves.
Folks like Pointguard1122, Gbakmars (in an e-mail to me) and CHSIsupplier have asked when we will ship motherboards. Ultimately, it may vary by region, but it should be about three weeks from the time you submit your order to when you will have the hardware kit in your hands. For customers who are having the hardware kit installed by Dell’s on-site installation service, installation dates may Add to that 3 week timeline.
Readers like Anubis, CoMeader and Pointguard1122 asked if customers can keep their original motherboards. If you are an XPS 710 customer who is purchasing the XPS 720 motherboard, you do not have to return your motherboard. XPS 700 customers are asked to return their original board, Dell will provide a return airbill and packing materials for your original motherboard.
Other folks like Rraallpphh13 and others have asked about limited warranties. First off, all XPS 700 customers who purchased their systems before June 30, 2007 are eligible for this program, until it expires on October 13, 2007-even if their system is no longer covered by the Dell limited warranty. All XPS 710 customers are eligible to purchase the hardware kit or the hardware kit with on-site service until the program expires on October 13, 2007. The XPS hardware kit is considered add-on new hardware under Dell’s limited warranty and that means the warranty duration is 1 year or 90 days (depending on the region) or the remaining balance of the system limited warranty, whichever is greater. The terms of this limited warranty vary by region. Details can be found on your regional support.dell.com website, under the Warranty Information section.
While I’m on the subject of limited warranties, customers like Will and scarmine have asked if doing the install themselves will void the Dell limited warranty. Doing the install yourself will not void your Dell limited warranty. If you feel comfortable doing the motherboard upgrade yourself, feel free to. Jon went a step further and asked if he could still receive on-site installation from a Dell technician if he starts the upgrade process, but can’t finish it. Yes, anyone who starts the upgrade process can contact XPS Technical Support (see next paragraph) at any time during the self-install upgrade process. Beyond that, customers who wish to set up on-site installation afterwards can send an e-mail to the XPS Upgrade Program Mailbox.
To contact XPS Technical Support, customers in the United States can call 1-800-232-8544. Customers outside the United States can do the following to find the appropriate phone number:
- Go to support.dell.com
- Choose Contact Us
- Choose Technical Support
- Choose Call Technical Support
- Look for the listing for XPS Support
Other customers like Roberth Andersson asked if things like the H2C liquid cooling hardware,1 kilowatt power supply, or upgraded video cards could be purchased to be part of the on-site installation. The on-site installation only covers the installation of parts from the hardware kit, and QX6700 processors purchased by XPS 700 customers as part of the exchange program. The QX6700 processors are available to XPS 700 customers at a price equal to 25% off the current Electronics & Accessories price for that processor.
Direct2Dell readers like Deadites have asked how the system will show on support.dell.com. After the upgrade, it will still show up as an XPS 700 when you log onto the site. However, we have taken steps to reflect the upgrade on Dell internal tools to show that your system has been upgraded as part of the XPS 700 Motherboard Exchange Program.
Customers like Dave F, Rraallpphh13 and Xecuter2 have asked what processors will be supported. One thing I should have made clear: the XPS 720 board is backward-compatible: If you have a Pentium D or an E6300 or E6400 processor, those will work fine in your new board. I listed current processors in this post, and also mentioned that we are still looking into the possibility of supporting the QX6850. Related to that, some are asking about 1333MHz front side bus support. Our XPS development team is working on an XPS 720 BIOS update that we believe will support processors that operate at the faster front side bus speed. It’s too early for me to talk about Penryn support.
Readers like Kong57, Chris and Xecuter2 all asked me about where to buy the Corsair memory that we sell as an option with XPS 720 systems. Here in the United States, you can purchase it through Dell Electronics & Accessories here. The link is DDR2 800MHz memory that can be overclocked to 1066MHz.