9 Legend
•
14.8K Posts
0
81
February 6th, 2025 17:08
XPS 730X A11b bios flash instruction (archive copy)
Enjoy -E
What is in this document?
This document outlines the steps to upgrade your Dell XPS 730x BIOS to an Alienware Area 51's X58 BIOS. This is possible because, when compared side by side, they seem to be the exact same motherboard in both systems. The only difference being the actual BIOS image. My XPS 730x mobo is revision A00. There has been reports that some newer revisions of Area 51's mobos have different colored PCIe slots, but the same BIOS is used for all of them. So the procedure below should work.
Note, before you start you should read through the ups and downs below to determine if you really want to upgrade.
Overclock a bit more Bclk, as voltages seem to be taking now for QPI
Support for 2100+ mhz ram
tRFC for ram limit raised to 150(which now supports low-latency CAS7 4GB sticks)
Support for Intel 980X and 990x 6-core cpus
Similar to the above, Intel's XMP Profile 2 is now supported (all newer ram down to CAS 6 or 7, and up to 2100mhz).
Better failed overclocking recovery. Instead of listening to the fans go wild and forcing you to remove your video cards to press the CMOS reset button, it now reboots furiously to attempt to fix or reset and then notifies you.
Alienware BIOS logo is kind of cool. :)
Continues the use of Dell's Alienware LightFX application to control the LED's
Continues the use of Dell's Thermal XPS application to control the case fans
You can continue to use an AMD GPU with the above two applications
No, you cannot use any Alienware Area 51 software either for the LEDs and Fans, such as the Command Center (the chassis/Master Control Board is different between the machines).
No, this procedure does not help with the 45s "boot time" delay (it's most likely one of your USB devices the BIOS doesn't like, try unplugging or move to a hub)
NOTE: Most of these may be related to my i7 920 C0, since it does not overclock well, and I am running high speed ram; others are not reporting the problems I have below, with faster CPUs and different memory (i7 920 D0 stepping, and 980X CPUs). EDIT: After upgrading to an i7 930 cpu, things are much more fluid now, so yes it is the 920 C0 cpu causing a lot of these.
Currenly a big problem with high-speed ram over 1600mhz with this CPU. Even though supported, the BIOS will not finish POST and will get stuck 1/2 way through the status bar of the Alienware logo during the BIOS. This is because having XMP set to "Enabled" in the BIOS, with the Ram timings and Multiplier both set to "Auto". The work around is very annoying: use the jumper on the motherboard to reset the CMOS (and I press the button for 20s with jumper). The next time the system boots, it will be in Failsafe mode with no XMP enabled. This is your one and only chance to go in and setup your memory profile correctly (remove the AUto, set the Multiplier to 10, set the Timings manually, and set your Bclk up to 160 or higher). If you miss it on this first post, you'll have to reset the CMOS all over again and start over.
Windows freaks out on first boot after flash (all new drivers install, NVidia couldn't find cards, Afterbuner said not supported, etc kind of messages). After a few reboots for it to reinstall all drivers, it all seems fine now. Be prepared. I was in the middle of formatting, so even though it fixed itself after a few reboots, I formatted again anyhow. This is all to be expected.
Upon big overclocking, (around 160 bclk or more) the system takes longer to boot and sometimes power cycles a few times and idles with loud fans a few seconds before finally getting to the BIOS screen. Annoying, but overclocks settings stick and system boots. Not sure if all Area 51 mobos with similar overclocks experience the same thing with such high voltages, or if the Dell 1000W PSU is just a POS like people say. I'll know more when I upgrade the PSU. NOTE: Power Button Flashing
When shutting down/powering off the system, the Power Button flashes slowly, like it thinks it is in some Suspend-to-RAM state. This is by design with the Alienware machines, as they have "glowing eyes" when the machine is powered off. The glowing eyes is actually just the power LED flashing on their systems, as it is programmed in the BIOS to do that. The fix is to remove PWD LED- pin from the Front Panel I/O connector going to your motherboard (looks like an USB connector). You can see the silk screening on the motherboard itself for the exact pinout of the connector, or view the gallery here as there are a few pictures of them. EDIT: The fix is to pull the LED light wire from the front panel I/O cable. No more glowing power button
Here's the list of Area 51 X58 BIOS updates I've compiled from Dell's site that is included in the A11b update:
A11. Fix SUT hang up while showing DIMM2 information of Memory-Z in BSU
A10. Added BIOS recovery functionality
A10. Improved XMP experience including addition of XMP Profile 2 access
A10. Changed 2x5 USB header behavior to allow all USB ports to have wake capabilities
A09. Enhanced overclocking ability with some processors
A08. Updated CPU microcode for i7-980X processor
A08. Enhancements for USB 3.0 cards
A08. Fixed issue where Side LEDs may be off after an AC recovery
A07. Adds support for Gulftown 980x.
A06. Added support for Intel Core i7 920 processor overclocking
(no info for BIOS earlier than A06)
this is only for dell xps 730x, do not attempt on xps 730 (non-x) machines. this process has been followed by 100s if not 1000s of people now, all without a single issue. it is a very reliable process. however the following can render your motherboard and/or bios completely useless. the following can destroy your bios and mobo beyond repair or any kind of hope. do not continue unless you understand these risks.
here we go...
Before you begin, you may want to follow exactly what I did:
Step 1) Upgrade to the latest bios, 1.0.5, from Dell's website before you begin. I had the unpublished 1.0.6 bios version installed before I upgraded, which is posted down deep in the Dell support forums. Don't go looking for it, it's not worth it. Just install the 11b bios posted in this group.
Step 2) In the BIOS, select "Load Optimum Settings". This will reset everything to factory defaults.
Step 3) Boot up and then close all interop (hardware interaction) applications such as:
Dell's Alienware Lights FX application
Dell's Thermal (fan) application
Any ATI or NVidia software
Also, go ahead and close everything else down you can think of in your tooltray.
Dell's BIOS updates do not provide the raw ROM. So, after some DOS hacking of the command line utility, I was able to extra the raw ROM binary from Alienware's Area 51 A10 bios utility. The zip below contains this binary, which you need to download:
https://www.reddit.com/r/730x/comments/7ch4a1/download_bios_730x_a11b_bios_dellxps730xbios/
(click the post's title to download, I've linked to the verification comment above)
direct link
https://730x.github.io/files/bios_DellXps730xBios_A11b.zip
Even though Dell has their own 1.0.5 image, I felt using AMI's BIOS utility to do a full backup of all memory blocks was the best option - since I'd be messing with the memory blocks directly.
Again, all instructions are for my Windows version I used:
Step 1) Browse to the directory below: (For 64bit users) /amibios/afuwin/64/ (For 32bit users) /amibios/afuwin/32/
Step 2) Run the program for your OS:
AFUWINx32.exe (32-bit) AFUWINx64.exe (64-bit)
NOTE: My computer is Windows 7 x64, so I used the 64-bit for my system.
Step 3) Simply click the "SAVE" button, as shown in the pictures here, and save the ROM to a file.
You have now backed up every bit of your bios by every memory block individually. Copy this file to a USB stick or something external to your machine (if it fails).
NOTE: When I was experimenting with the DOS utilities, I had a lot of problems with getting this loaded. One of the error messages was the AMI utility said there was a mismatch of the BIOS images, and asked me to load "Recommended" settings to flash. I said yes, and got a weird Hybrid BIOS image. The point is, I went through 5 or 6 flashes with these "Recommended" compatible error messages, before finally doing it the way in this document. So, if you get prompted for "Load /C?" or something similar to /C or "Compatible" or "Recommended" settings, say No. If you say Yes, you'll end up with a weird hybrid BIOS image with all sorts of issues. Don't fret, just flash again and select NO next time.
Step 1) Close and restart the AMI Flash utility, as outlined above in Backing up.
Step 2) Click the "OPEN" button and select the BIN you downloaded above (not the zip, the actual BIN file that extracted from the zip).
NOTE: If you do not see the BIN file listed, it's because your list is filtered for ROM files only. At the bottom-right of the Open dialog box you will see a dropdown box. Select "BIN" or "All Files". Now you'll see the A10.BIN file.
Step 3) Click the Setup tab in the flash utility. You are presented with a number of options. I selected the following (cause you are overwriting Dell's BIOS with Alienwares, you have to select more than normal): • Program All Blocks • Main BIOS Image • Boot Block • NVRAM • Load ROM File's Failsafe (this disabled two of the above, I rechecked those two) • Restart After Programming (user's preference)
Step 4) Take a deep breath, exhale (cause it will take longer than you can hold your breath), and press the "FLASH" button.
The process will begin by erasing, bit by bit, every memory block location. It may skip certain memory blocks, because it is not erasing or loading some defaults. Don't worry, you have a backup (right?).
Once done erasing, it will start to flash each memory block. Go grab a drink ...
Once done erasing, it will go back and verify each checksum of every memory block. Go grab another drink ...
Completed. If you did not select "Reboot after flash", then immediately reboot, go into your bios again and reset everything again by selecting "Load Optimum Settings".
Setup your SERVICE TAG Yep, this procedure erased your Service Tag. Just peak behind your computer and enter in the BIOS, on the first screen. Kind of cool how you can change it here (e.g. new case?).
If it worked for you, buy me a beer ...
http://eduncan911.com/buymeabeer/?why=Alienware+bios+hack+on+XPS+730x
And don't forget to leave a comment if it was successful
Also thanks to Alex Mack for leading me towards this venture, Stewart Blair for his support and TK Mods for the updated 11b BIOS modifications.
https://www.reddit.com/r/730x/comments/8q434u/comment/hi61n20/
redxps630
9 Legend
•
14.8K Posts
0
February 9th, 2025 20:53
The Dell XPS 730X is an eXtreme Performance System for gaming and high-performance computing[1] released November 16, 2008[2] and ended life in August 2009.[1] The XPS 730 series was unique in that they had user-servicable non-proprietary standard ATX-size computer components that allowed the user to upgrade the components through an Exchange Program.[3]
Need history details based on XPS 700 "User Upgradable" series
There were a number of differences between the 730 and 730x series.
Dell warranty support will be available until August 2012.[4]
Dell stopped internal development support for the XPS 730x in August, 2009[5] and has not released any updated BIOS nor software since.
Amongst Dell's normal line of software installed, there were two pieces of software that was unique to the XPS systems.
The Alienware AlienFX application is Dell proprietary application used to control the LED "Zones" for lighting. One internal and four external zones were configurable to show 15 different colors (plus "black" which effectively turned off the LED for that zone). Once a configuration has been set, the configuration could be saved to a Profile.
The AlienFX application also had the ability to hook into a few 3rd party application events, such as New Mail notification from Microsoft Outlook's email client.
The AlienFX software is hardcoded to only run on the XPS 730x motherboard with BIOS versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.6.[6] Using a different motherboard or changing the BIOS (see below) prevents the software from installing and starting up.
The Dell XPS Thermal Monitor application is a Dell proprietary application used to control a number of chassis devices. The three devices that can be manually controlled are:
Amongst direct control of these fans, the software is able to monitor additional devices. They are:
Using these sensors, the XPS Thermal Monitoring software is able to monitor these inputs and adjust the fans automatically. When the software is set to Automatic, the software itself does not manage the fan and water pump speeds. Instead, it signals the Master Control Board to monitor the inputs and adjust the speeds accordingly.[7]
There is also an option to override the automatic operations of the Master Control Board for the three devices listed above. Unchecking the Automatic configuration allows a user to manually set the speeds of the fan, or to build an custom monitor curve based on temp inputs.
The Thermal Monitor software is hardcoded to only run on the XPS 730x motherboard with BIOS versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.6. Using a different motherboard, or changing the BIOS (see below) prevents the software from installing and starting up.
The aluminum chassis was built and assembled in Japan[8] and shipped overseas for installation of internal parts. The case is an ATX and BTX hybrid design that mounts the motherboard from the right-side of the case, up-side-down compared to normal ATX cases. This places the CPU at the lowest point in the case, which allows the CPU's fan to receive the coolest amount of air for overclocking.[9]
The internal space is segmented between an upper chamber and a lower chamber. The upper chamber houses four (4) 5.25" drive bays, two (2) 3.5" front-mounted bays for Dell USB accessories, four (4) 3.5" drive bays mounted transversely with a dedicated server-grade high-speed 80x25mm PWM fan, and the oversized Power Supply Unit. The lower chamber consists of two server-grade high-speed 120x38mm PWM fans mounted in the front in special fan housings that includes separate detachable shrouds, the Dell Master Control Board which monitors all inputs as well as controlling all system LEDs and Fans, CPU cooling assembly, and the motherboard assembly.
The physical chassis is also structurally different from the majority of PC cases and towers that use a stamped steel construction. The Dell XPS 730 and 730X chassis uses a sheetmetal skeleton frame as the core to give it structural integrity, with the outer upper, lower and left panels glued onto this frame. The outer panels are 2.5mm thick aluminum which creates a very robust and sturdy structure.
The XPS 730x chassis was available in three (3) colors:
In addition, there was an optional "X" side panel with clear Plexiglas allowing the internal components to be visible from the outside.
There are a number of fans located in the chassis, and depending on what model (H2C vs. non-H2C versions), different fans were used in different places.
These fans are usually considered server-grade because of their high static air-flows and Pulse-width modulation (aka PWM) regulation of speed.
The upper chamber has only one fan, an 80mm x 80mm x 25mm PWM fan with general specifications of 12VDC, 0.275 Amps with a minimal airflow of 33 CFM (unknown max). It is used to cool the four HDD bays by drawing air over the front two, and push air over the rear two.
A number of different fans came in the XPS 730/730X systems in this position, but they generally all have the same measurements such as the Nidec MX940 M35613-35DEL2.
This is also one of the loudest fans in the system. Replacing it with an 80x80x25 PWM fan is usually a direct plug-n-play since there are a large number of these available.
The lower chamber has a number of different fans. The front-section consists of two 120mm x 120mm x 38mm axial PWM fans with general specifications of 12VDC, 1.4 Amps, 16.8 Watts, 4000RPM max, Airflow: 160 CFM, Static pressure: 0.883 IN H2O, dual-ball bearings.[10] A number of different fans also came in these positions, but generally they all have the same measurements such as the Nidec TA450DC.
This fan is actually used to cool the CPU's voltage regulator modules. It is mounted on the H2C's assembly and wired through the H2C connector.
The fan is a 60mm x 60mm x 20mm fan with the general specifications of Airflow: 12.4 - 18.0 CFM, Static pressure: 2.2 - 4.4 mm H2O.[11]
With the stock system, the system owner have control over the speed of this fan to limit the noise it generates.
Unlike the name suggests, this fan is actually used to directly cool the CPU's heatsink. It is a 90mm x 90mm x 38mm fan.
The system owner is not able to control the speed of this fan since it is controlled by the master control board.
Note that with non-H2C systems that use this fan, it is often the loudest fan in the system. At system start-up, it immediately is set to 100% duty cycle (full speed) for several seconds while the system performs a number of self-checks.
The motherboard is Dell P/N P270J and uses the Intel X58 chipset. Primarily, its core features were:
The 36 lanes allows for up to 3-way SLI/Crossfire[6] native to the chipset. The PCI-E slots are assigned as follows:
The PCI-E Bandwidth Links when using multiple GPUs are as follows:[6]
In addition to the three (3) PCI-E x16 "green" slots, the two PCI-E x1 slots and the single PCI slot go through the Northbridge controller. The motherboard is a standard ATX size, and is rumored to be manufactured by MSI or Foxconn. It accepts standard ATX 24-pin power.
The OEM motherboard is the same motherboard as the Alienware Area-51 ALX motherboard.[15] The only difference is the BIOS. See BIOS versions below for updating to the latest Alienware bios to enable additional support for newer RAM and CPUs.
The Dell XPS 730x BIOS is an AMI bios.[6]
The last BIOS released from Dell was version 1.0.5. This version has a number of limitations, most notable:
A number of users have installed 12 GB (3 x 4GB DIMM sticks) with this bios version. However, while the BIOS will register the full amount of ram, memory errors will be generated when using 70% of more of physical RAM because of the tRFC limitation of 100.[6] DDR3 SDRAM memory sticks of 4 GB in size requires at least an tRFC setting of 122 or higher.[16]
A BIOS upgrade to Alienware A10 or higher is required to increase the rRFC limit to 150, which allows for 12 GB (3 x 4 GB) support, as well as enabling additional XMP Profile 1 and 2 support.[6]
The last production machines sold by Dell, and replaced under warranty, shipped with version 1.0.6 in them.[17] This version was never released on Dell's website. It retains the same limitations as the 1.0.5, except the PCH voltage are now adjustable and some overclocking recovery options have been added.
List information about 1.0.6 forced upgrades, and Alienware A10 forced upgrades
List special information on how to install the non-released 1.0.6 version
List information and known issues about upgrading to Alienware BIOS, how it is the same motherboard, and how to upgrade it to A10.
Info about the special motherboard tray and ATX, E-ATX and XL-ATX 8-slot support.
Rather than having the control mechanism integrated into the H2C unit, the pump, fans and TEC are controlled separately by a Dell daugtherboard, the Master Control Board (MCB). The MCB uses Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA) to monitor and control the pump, fans and TEC in addition to controlling the XPS LED lights, other fans, and sensors. The H2C cooling and LED lighting system cannot be reused in another computer case without the MCB or custom-made control circuits to take its place.
Because the MCB is based on Nvidia's ESA technology, it is open to be controlled via non-Dell software.[7] Currently the only software available is Nvidia's System Tools which is available as a plug-in for Nvidia's Control Panel that comes with every Nvidia driver install.
The control software from nVidia will not install if no other nVidia products (such as a graphics card, chipset or drive controller) are present in the PC. The software can be installed if the motherboard uses an nVidia chipset, or if an nVidia graphics card is used as the primary display adapter. In a PC with an ATI/AMD graphics card as the primary display adpater, and no nVidia chipset on the motherboard, an option is to install a secondary graphics card with a nVidia GPU.
Need detailed information
Info about MCB tray and Fans mounting.
The Dell 1000 Watt PSU is an oversized (taller and wider) than standard ATX Power supply units, although it does use the standard ATX bolt pattern to secure it to the chassis. The PSU also has a detachable wiring harness allowing for removal of the PSU for replacement without having to disconnect all powered accessories.
The stock PSU comes with four (4) 6-pin connectors. Each pair is colored differently and each pair is on a dedicated 12V rail. This configuration easily supports two (2) GPUs with two (2) 6-pin power connectors each. To support three (3) GPUs, or two (2) GPUs with 8-pin power connectors, a person could use a combination of Molex connectors, or upgrade the PSU to an aftermarket unit (see upgrades below).
The stock PSU comes with a proprietary 10-pin power connector for the Master Control Board. It is hardwired into the wiring harness. If changing the PSU, it is required to modify the new PSU to use this same 10-pin connector to power the Master Control Board for all LEDs, Fans and sensor inputs.
The XPS 730x uses H2Ceramic cooling, also often called H2C. It is a computer cooling advertised specifically as facilitating CPU overclocking. H2C is a two-stage Liquid/Thermoelectric (TEC) hybrid cooling system that combines a liquid-to-air heat exchanger, a thermoelectric fluid chiller, and control circuitry to optimize CPU cooling with minimal power.
Another Dell-exclusive only available on the XPS 730X systems was Theater Lighting. It consists of five (5) strategically placed super-bright white Light-emitting diodes powered by two (2) AA batteries that help system builders see inside of their case for maintenance. These normally stay off until the side cover is removed. When the cover is removed, the lights are turned on and remain on until the cover is placed back on. Since the lights operate on batteries, they remain active even if the power is disconnected from the system.
The Dell XPS 730 / 730X uses standard ATX components. Because of this, users are able to upgrade the internal components to newer aftermarket versions. Depending on the component being upgraded, some custom wiring may be needed.
State the case is actually an 8-slot case, allowing for XL-ATX. Though the top 8th slot only allows for a single-slot width card to be installed and is an extremely tight fit with the chamber divider in the case.
The Dell XPS 730X uses the industry standard ATX form factor making it easy to mount any aftermarket unit.
The motherboard tray can be modified to allow fitting of E-ATX or Extended ATX motherboards. E-ATX is not an industry standard, but its general definition is extending a normal ATX from 9.6 in (244mm) to something wider. It is not uncommon for some E-ATX boards to reach 11 in (274mm) in width. But all E-ATX motherboards should be confined to 12 in (305mm) in height, allowing them to fit the Dell XPS 730X motherboard tray.
A common concern when swapping motherboards with an aftermarket unit is the front panel I/O connector. This front panel connector for the Dell XPS 730 and 730X chassis uses an USB-like interface, though the pins are different for the front panel (power switch, power light, hdd light, etc.).
It should be noted that Dell used the industry standard (industry specification needs to be stated here) USB-like front-panel connector that is compatible with several mainstream motherboard manufacturers such as MSI, ASRock, EVGA and so on. The XPS 730/730X front panel connector is a direct fit and properly wired for these types of motherboards.
Other motherboard manufacturers do not use this USB-like interface and opt to use direct pinouts which require the installer to painfully wire each pin. For example, it is common for Asus to not use this common USB interface. If you attempt to use an Asus motherboard, you will be forced to wire the front-panel connector manually by disassembling the connector and using the Dell XPS 730X pinout guide for the front-panel I/O to figure out what pin goes where (pictures needed). There are some additional options, such as USB debugging pinouts that make it easier (picture and reference number needed).
List info about support CPUs in 1.0.5-1.0.6, as well as Alienware A10 bios
List information about 120mm replaceable units
List upgrading on OEM mobo and PSU.
List full-card length support. E.g. ATI cards
List issues with Nvidia System Tools with ATI cards
Need info about 10-pin connector
It is not generally needed to upgrade the OEM fans. All fans are of server-grade quality, being extreme high-speed fans that move a very generous amount of air. Just about no aftermarket fan can move as much CFM as the OEM fans, except other server-grade high-speed fans.
List info about Dell's 5-pin connector
Inform about Master Control Board's controller
Reference information about 1.0.6 limitations above.
SATA Revision 2.0 motherboard
List information about standards for case cooling that the XPS 730x complies with, allowing for hot Wester Digital VelociRaptors to be installed
(edited)
redxps630
9 Legend
•
14.8K Posts
0
February 9th, 2025 19:01
good read on the old reddit sub
from its very beginning
https://old.reddit.com/r/730x/?count=225&after=t3_7xkphf
https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/desktops-general-locked-topics/xps-730x-general-hardware-discussion-thread/647e9cadf4ccf8a8de65a51e?page=1
(edited)
redxps630
9 Legend
•
14.8K Posts
0
February 9th, 2025 20:50
XPS 730X wikipedia (archive)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904060245/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_XPS_730x