Dell XPS 600 story!

[crbn79]

I went out of town for 3 weeks and had all my power strips turned off. When I came back into town I powered them back up and noticed my XPS hadn't started up.

After some investigation I was presented with the Solid yellow power light and the dreaded number 4 diagnostic light. I did a little digging and noticed I had about 8 blown caps. On a gamble I ordered some replacements from this site.

Today the replacements arrived in the mail and I methodically replaced all the blown caps and repaired an inductor. On power up I was greeted by the same issue. I removed every component 1 by 1 to include the memory and the processor.

Finally the error code changed after 2 hours of playing around. After another couple hours of fiddling around checking every possible issue I gave up and went the old route of pull the plug, wait 10 seconds and plug it back in. Each time a different diagnostic code would show.

FINALLY after at least an hour of plug play it booted! I replaced all my components and have power cycled 5 times with success each time.

I kindly thank whoever runs this site as I did not want to order my caps in bulk and this site provided an easy outlet for small orders.

A replacement MB for my computer would have cost me more than a new computer, but for $10 and some change I was able to salvage my computer.

[Wizard]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

I didn't get you, did you go through one recap session completely to replace all bloated and suspect ones? Fussing and power cycling is very stressful on computer hardware.

Cheers, Wizard

[crbn79]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

I didn't get you, did you go through one recap session completely to replace all bloated and suspect ones? Fussing and power cycling is very stressful on computer hardware.

Cheers, Wizard

I went thru one recap session and the computer came back with a different error displayed. My power cycling wasn't as much pull, plugin, pull plugin etc, it was more plugin, error, pull components try again, new error, replace components one at a time, wash rinse repeat.

After a couple days of use I've come across a bit of an oddity. Any time the power cord is removed the system exhibits the original problem again. The only way to remedy this is to remove the 4pin secondary power connector which powers the processor,gpu etc, then power up the system and allow it to idle a couple seconds. Then reconnect the plug and the system powers up fine.

I thought maybe an issue with the power supply, but all the components within test out fine and the voltages coming out of it are dead on for all pins.

[momaka]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Sounds like you (still) have the typical bad capacitor issue.

Open your power supply and check for bad capacitors.

Also, on your motherboard, did you replace only the capacitors that bulged?
The thing about capacitors is, they can still be bad even if they haven't bulged. When a capacitor from a certain brand/series is bulged on your motherboard, it's best to replace all of the capacitors from that brand/series.

I suggest posting a list and/or a picture (with a map) showing the capacitors you replaced and the capacitors still remaining to be replaced. Post brand and series(usually given by a 2 or 3 letter code) for both your replacements and the original caps still left on the motherboard.

[crbn79]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Sounds like you (still) have the typical bad capacitor issue.

Open your power supply and check for bad capacitors.

Also, on your motherboard, did you replace only the capacitors that bulged?
The thing about capacitors is, they can still be bad even if they haven't bulged. When a capacitor from a certain brand/series is bulged on your motherboard, it's best to replace all of the capacitors from that brand/series.

I suggest posting a list and/or a picture (with a map) showing the capacitors you replaced and the capacitors still remaining to be replaced. Post brand and series(usually given by a 2 or 3 letter code) for both your replacements and the original caps still left on the motherboard.

I'm planning to do a complete cap replacement in the future. The XPS is my 3rd computer so it's no big rush, and as long as I don't pull the power cord it boots just fine. It has rubycon caps as stock and I replaced all those that tested bad.

[crbn79]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

*update*
After some investigating it appears my current problem is being caused by an overheating northbridge, with a couple mods and added fan it seems to remedy the issue.

I was planning these mods and fans anyways because I wanted to bump the 3.0ghz Pentium D up to 4.0ghz with the bsel pad mod.

[Scenic]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

bad idea to overclock one of those mini-hotplates.
Pentium D is basically a Pentium 4 Prescott x2

the last Pentium D sys i had here wouldn't even idle below 50°C with a huge ass tower cooler (revoltec pipetower pro) designed for the highest end Core 2 Quads

[Ami Sapphire]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

lol, my first thought on hearing the 3.0GHz to 4.0GHz thing was:

[crbn79]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Non load temp = 42C, full load didn't break 55C after 12 hours of break-in. Pentium D's are rated for 70C+. I'm running (5) 92mm fans on the system and the case is pretty much a wind tunnel. I haven't increased the voltage so the temp increase is only about +5C compared to stock.

The 3.0 to 4.0 is actually a tame O/C, it's only a 66mhz FSB bump to 266mhz.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Pentium Ds run hot, but not THAT hot. They still get owned by the lowest end Core chip tho... and low end C2Ds really suck. Anything lower than an E4xxx isn't worth running on a machine that is used for intensive work, especially since the prices are so close together (and cheap) now.

[crbn79]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Pentium Ds run hot, but not THAT hot. They still get owned by the lowest end Core chip tho... and low end C2Ds really suck. Anything lower than an E4xxx isn't worth running on a machine that is used for intensive work, especially since the prices are so close together (and cheap) now.

I agree, if someone is running 55C at idle they are not doing something right.

As for the C2D, I'm simply trying to keep my XPS running and get a little bit of a boost from stock. I don't have the option of replacing the Mobo as it's proprietary.

However, I'm pulling better benchmark numbers from this cpu @ 4Ghz than my C2D overclocked to 3.5. And before anyone starts on that one, again it's a FSB overclock and 32C at idle with 40C under full load.

This summer I'm replacing my C2D with a Quad.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

If you're using a P4-optimized benchmark it's obvious you're gonna get better numbers. The long pipeline of the P4 makes it slow when the instructions are random. Does good at things like video encoding tho.

[Wizard]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Keep in mind Prescott CPUs are horrible CPU to use. Very long pipe line is worst thing to have and do not use closed benchmark software, this distorts the results. I had a prescott cpu and a prescott celeron, I was so disgusted that I can't get performance increase at all then sold whole thing in a month. Kept going on with Barton 2GHz Athlon CPU for another year or two then moved on to E5200 & P5K and got good jump. When northwood CPU got to 20-30 dollars range on Ebay, I bought three and fixed up 3 computers for work and for father's PC. Does well for the needs and performance is better actually! Now 2 PCs with 2.8C GHz is due to be rebuilt or replace eventually.
But money is right now allocated to my caravan's 2.5L 4cyl rebuild and coming up insurance this summer, so that will take awhile to happen.

And C2D is cheapest now and give much better advantage due to updated northbridge, higher clocked data buses for memory and CPU-northbrige, better PCI-E buses.

Prescott tops out at 800. C2D starts from 800, 1066 and 1333.
i3, i5 are now good prices right now, especially i5-2500. Just to keep in mind for anyone who are trying to push lousy Prescott CPUs. They run hot also, don't forget P4 started to have thermal throttling by design.

Cheers, Wizard

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

They run hot also, don't forget P4 started to have thermal throttling by design.

Yep, if there's anything worse than a hot CPU, that is a hot AND slow CPU.

[Heavysteel]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

I had one system that only had a solid amber light while the other had a flashing amber light. Both displayed the number 4 troubleshooting light. Dell's troubleshooting lights 1 thru 4 were no help at all. Opened the case and looked at the 2 large capacitors next to each other that run parallel to the memory slots on the motherboard. Your symptoms are identical to one of my 2 XPS 600 computers. I found that the capacitors that I have noted have split open on the silver cap end and appear burnt. Both of my XPS 600 systems failed with in 6 months of each other in 2010 and the same capacitors failed on both boards. Both systems are also out of warranty so Dell will not help. They offer no replacements or suggestions for repair. As for their special XPS 600 support Telephone Number while the systems were still in warranty, that was a joke. I would always get someone in India and very few had a good working knowledge about the XPS 600. Understanding the support people in India was another challenge.

I have since found a refurbished parts distributor that handles the Dell XPS 600 motherboard replacements for about $100.00 a piece. I have replaced both motherboards myself and installed a new CMOS battery in each board since the old batteries were better than 4 years old. Don't forget to get a good thermal paste for the processor when you mate the heat sink back to the processor on the replacement motherboard. Both systems are running great with the refurbished motherboards. The power supply was fine on both systems, but many people will suggest that you should change the power supply to. Not the case with either of my systems.

Dell Part Number GC375 was the earlier generation Motherboard, which used 533Mhz memory.

Dell Part Number XH241 was the later generation Motherboard, which used 667Mhz memory.

The XH241 Motherboard will work in either system. If you had the earlier GC375 Motherboard, then consider this an upgrade. Your old 533Mhz memory will work in the refurbished XH241 board if you choose not to upgrade the memory. I realize that these are old systems now, but for the replacement motherboard price I think it was worth the investment since these systems performed well for my needs and continue to do so.

If you do some research you will see that many motherboards including XPS 600's out there were manufactured with faulty capacitors. Dell will not admit this. They turned the other cheek and ignored their loyal customers. Pfftt!!! I use to brag about my Dell systems and the awesome support offered by Dell, but no more. I should have been more pessimistic when it took Dell 3 separate orders to deliver a working XPS 600 when I ordered my 1st gaming computer from them.

[kingdavidbaker]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Hello, the OP mentioned repairing an inductor. How did you go about doing this because i have the same blown caps and fried inductor issue. Did you repair as in "replace" and if so do you have the specs on the inductor so I might find one for purchase? Also if you happen to have the specs on the capacitors as well so I can purchase those I would greatly appreciate it.

[SUPERIQ]

Re: Dell XPS 600 story!

Hi,

I have the accept same problem... same capacitors and coil near the ram.
Please where did you find the $100 dollar motherboard replacements? My lady really needs this computer working again. Please please share the link. only one found refurbished was $399. She can't afford that. I think with the black marks on motherboard it needs replacing.