Hi,

I have a Dell Studio XPS9000 that has a very dummied down BIOS. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with BIOS Flash or Hack of these machines to unlock overclocking options.

Can I work with the bios or am I better off getting a new MOBO?

my opinion. new brand name motherboard. no sense wasting your time with a crappy arse board that was never intended to be oc'd

Dell = Bad

^^ Agreed. Dell = Proprietary POS !

ask around here and you will get really good suggestions on a new board.

Unfortunately it might also mean getting a new power supply as big companies like Dell often modify the pin-out on their ATX power cable/motherboard plug so that you can only use one of their overpriced PSU's in their systems. They're sometimes smaller then regular PSU's as well so getting a new one might be more hassle than it's worth.

Something to look in to before you start dropping money just so you can overclock.

This thread shows a prime example why going with pc manufacturers is always a bad idea.

They screw ya on the machine cause some people dont know better, then screw you again on the cost of repairs. Sell the Dell and get help with a build.

That, and the DELL P(O)SU is probably only 250W.

Well you have to keep in mind that most people don't care as much as we do about their systems. For instance, I have a Honda Civic and I take it to the dealership for maintenance whenever it tells me to. The prices there seem decent and the only time they've ever said I had something wrong with the car in the 4 years I've owned it was a couple month ago when something was leaking but it was still under warranty so it was fixed for free. My friend, who's really in to cars, tells me how bad I'm getting screwed and that I can do all this work for myself. In the same time as me he's gone through 2 different cars and has had a number of problems with them including things he's done wrong and subsequently caused the problems himself. Assuming most people are like me when it comes to cars with their computers then I don't really blame them for just buying a pre-built system and then just paying whatever to get it fixed when it breaks.

We buy 100% Dell at work now, unless we need the machine right now. They seem to be sticking to the standard pinouts lately.

That's good to know as I believe Dell was one of the worst for doing this in the past and then charging close to $200 for a weak power supply.

I have already changed the power supplu, it came with a "flextronics" 475w standard ATX. I put in a OCZ stealth x stream 600 W.

Anyone know of a good board (price vs performance) for an i7 920?

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Any particular features required?