Dell is putting me thru hell on a Brand New Workstation

What is the purpose of buying that machine?

this is the only vid of it I have seen. Apparently he had to upload it to yochob to show dell what the problems are.

First let me tell everyone how grateful I am for your time & effort and also recognize everyone's assumptions So let me make everything clear.

Currently I am using a 10 year old Dell T-7500 workstation with a Xeon 5645 CPU, 3 simple GPUs each running 4 Monitors with 4 mDP ports. I bought the system 10 years ago because it had 3 X16, 1 X8, 1 X4 & 1 X1 PCIe slots. I separately bought 3 AMD FirePro 2460 512 MB from market & rest is history because I am still using that system with 12 Monitors without any major problems except now fans are making noise & time to have new hardware & software.

So I did extensive research on two Dell models that will have at least 2 X16 & 1 X8 slot to run 12 Monitors. I came up with Dell 5820 which is a 3 year old mode with USB 3.1 Ports.

But Dell 3660 is a new model with New ports like USB 3.2, & Type C & DP etc. But one drawback. It has only one Full length X16 slot & two very short length X4 slots. But Dell did offer two GPUs NVIDIA T-600 & I told sales guy to make sure that I should be able to run 8 Monitors.

Then I tried to find out where will they put 2 Full length GPUs & someone told me that probably they will cut one end of X4 slot & put it there & he was right. So they did put 1 GPU in X16 slot & 2nd in X4 slot. He also suggested that T-600 is an entry level card & X4 is enough for it.

Then I thought with all those latest & powerful Ports I will somehow add 4 More monitors & thus have latest system & decided to go for it & price was right.

So here are the specs of Dell 3660.
CPU : Intel i-7, 12700
GPUs : Two NVIDIA T-600 (Now they changed to T-1000 & that answers the question )
3 X M.2 NVMe 512 GB + 3 SATA 4TBs ( 5400rpm )
16GB DDR5
8 Dell Monitors I already had ( 1920x1200 )
Advanced coiling with 750 Watt PSU
Win-11 Pro
3 Years ProSupportPro ( 24x7 with Next day Onsite service )

I also paid for Dell installation to make sure that system will run with 8 monitors which it did except resolution of two monitor is different & Microphone did not work at the time of installation so I didn't sign installation complete form as a precaution.

Later I found that Font size was a problem if I try to increase text size more than 125% & scale also more than 125% & if I did that it will cut the text in half. galscutter knows that from my previous post & he has gone out of his way to help me in last post so once more Thank You for being so kind.

I listed only 2 issues because they are most likely to be hardware problems.
I use microphone to just make calls using Skype & it works great on my 10 year old system.

It has been more than a month & 4 different Dell & other engineers have not solved a single issue & Dell is giving me a run around with excuses that I described in this thread.

I hope I cleared up most assumptions & take any guess work out but if not I will be glad to.

Please tell me what I can do to have Dell either give me the same model or a different model or money back. I gave them all these 3 choices without any resolution.

Thank You all, you have been very generous with your time, research & posts.

By the way I bought this system Directly from Dell except microphone that they don't sell & all 12 Monitors are Dell's & are working fine right now on my old system.

The thing is despite all the folks with Dell you've worked with on this, there's no way you can MAKE them do anything. My own experience wasn't that Dell WOULDN'T help me, but that I was never able to get past lower level support to get to someone who COULD help me. Once I was able to, they stuck with me.

If you have worked with senior engineers you should have a direct email link or phone number to them. Politely email your Dell contact for an update to your case. If they do not respond, ask them point blank for a refund so that you have the request on record. If they still don't respond about all you can do is keep writing letters to upper management or contact an attorney to discuss your rights as a consumer.

What Dell (or any manufacturer) does in cases like this is set up a lab environment using the same hardware and try to duplicate the problem. This is how they determine if the problem lies in a design flaw or an OS limitation. They co-ordinate their testing with their Microsoft counterparts if it comes down to the OS. Of course I have no way of knowing, but possibly that is the holdup.

When you purchased from Dell, you could have returned the system within the 30 day return window without any hassle. Now, you are basically at the mercy of Dell wanting to do what's right.

You are most definitely within your rights to expect the system to run and operate properly. However, you must also understand that running 12 monitors is not exactly the norm. Yes, I know these monitors work on your older system, but it's like comparing apples and oranges. Newer systems are designed entirely differently than old ones. Their motherboards, power distribution, etc are not the same. Video cards are not the same. Even if it is not a hardware issue, there may be some limitation in Windows 11 as to the number of video outputs one can use. Having 12 video outputs doesn't necessarily mean one can run all 12 at one time if the OS limits it.

glasskuter said:

The thing is despite all the folks with Dell you've worked with on this, there's no way you can MAKE them do anything. My own experience wasn't that Dell WOULDN'T help me, but that I was never able to get past lower level support to get to someone who COULD help me. Once I was able to, they stuck with me.

If you have worked with senior engineers you should have a direct email link or phone number to them. Politely email your Dell contact for an update to your case. If they do not respond, ask them point blank for a refund so that you have the request on record. If they still don't respond about all you can do is keep writing letters to upper management or contact an attorney to discuss your rights as a consumer.

What Dell (or any manufacturer) does in cases like this is set up a lab environment using the same hardware and try to duplicate the problem. This is how they determine if the problem lies in a design flaw or an OS limitation. They co-ordinate their testing with their Microsoft counterparts if it comes down to the OS. Of course I have no way of knowing, but possibly that is the holdup.

When you purchased from Dell, you could have returned the system within the 30 day return window without any hassle. Now, you are basically at the mercy of Dell wanting to do what's right.

You are most definitely within your rights to expect the system to run and operate properly. However, you must also understand that running 12 monitors is not exactly the norm. Yes, I know these monitors work on your older system, but it's like comparing apples and oranges. Newer systems are designed entirely differently than old ones. Their motherboards, power distribution, etc are not the same. Video cards are not the same. Even if it is not a hardware issue, there may be some limitation in Windows 11 as to the number of video outputs one can use. Having 12 video outputs doesn't necessarily mean one can run all 12 at one time if the OS limits it.

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Well you're not taking it to account that they told him this configuration would work. If they can't make it work (which seems to be the case) he's entitled to a refund.

Sorry to read of your problems! I personally have never had any trouble with them, but I have had many problems with other vendors over my 40 years working with this stuff, experience has taught me that at some point you have to decide how much your time is worth and quit throwing good money (and time) after bad. Send it back and get your refund. Life's too short.

Please tell me what I can do to have Dell either give me the same model or a different model or money back. I gave them all these 3 choices without any resolution.

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Did you give them a time limit?

I don't know how it works in your country.

You could email them again , say your previous email hasn't been satisfactorily resolved and say politely what you expect within the next 14 days or 30 days. You need to look up the consumer protection in your country.

sean said:

Then I tried to find out where will they put 2 Full length GPUs & someone told me that probably they will cut one end of X4 slot & put it there & he was right. So they did put 1 GPU in X16 slot & 2nd in X4 slot. He also suggested that T-600 is an entry level card & X4 is enough for it.

Then I thought with all those latest & powerful Ports I will somehow add 4 More monitors & thus have latest system & decided to go for it & price was right.

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I'm so baffled that they chose to do that this way. I'm really hoping that they had the board manufactured with the X4 slot as open on the end, versus just cutting it out by hand like you occasionally see online in the YouTube world. But I don't understand why they wouldn't have done a 2 full slot mobo for this workstation when they intended it to support dual GPU. That one really has me baffled. Just because you CAN cut out the end of an X4 slot and put a larger connector into it, doesn't mean that you should.

For the 2 monitors that have the resolution problems.

1. If you disconnect any of the other monitors, does the resolution problems on these 2 go away?
2. Are the monitors with the resolution issues connected to that GPU on the modified X4 slot?

Personally, my experience with Dell has been generally solid. I've used them a ton for work (servers, latitude laptops and precision laptops). For my personal home use, if it's a machine that I haven't built myself, I have bought from Dell. I have purchased a couple of Mac's along the way, and obviously those have come through Apple. Support can really be hit or miss. For my work stuff with SLA's and Pro Coverage warranties, they have been great to work with. For home stuff, they can be challenging to work with, but no worse than any other OEM vendor I have worked with on computer components.

Badger said:

he's entitled to a refund.

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He most certainly is, but it doesn't negate the fact it's up to Dell to give him one. That's exactly why I also mentioned an attorney if it comes down to that. I think Dell will make this right, but it may not happen overnight if they actually are testing it in a lab environment.

When I had my problems (not the same as his)Dell's engineers were working from home and the Dell lab was shut down due to covid. Luckily for me, the engineer I was working with was really knowledgeable. He realized I was experienced enough to handle hardware changes and asked if I was willing to do it because he didn't know when their lab would re-open. Their contract company had already changed my motherboard 3 times. They shipped me a box of parts which I changed on my end while he ran tests remotely from his end. We worked together for over a week. Ultimately, I had all new ram with a different part number that solved one problem (twice the amount I started with and I didn't have to pay for it) and a new bios was released a week later that solved the other. I was also allowed to keep all the spare parts for my trouble except for the i9 cpu.

I documented every step of my frustrating journey just in case I ever needed it as ammunition. I was so happy it never came to that.

sean said:

Then I tried to find out where will they put 2 Full length GPUs & someone told me that probably they will cut one end of X4 slot & put it there & he was right. So they did put 1 GPU in X16 slot & 2nd in X4 slot. He also suggested that T-600 is an entry level card & X4 is enough for it.

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That makes no sense. No manufacturer would cut a PCI slot to hold a card as it creates performance, security, and safety issue. I'm afraid you got bad info there.

sean said:

Please tell me what I can do to have Dell either give me the same model or a different model or money back. I gave them all these 3 choices without any resolution.

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Request in writing/e-mail that it's been 4 months and Dell has been unable to resolve the issue with your current PC. If you've used a credit card you might contact the card issuer for help.

That said, your problem here is you let the issue seep into 4 months, so I'm not sure how Dell or whoever sold you the PC will view that.

Good luck.

I must apologize. I thought that the Precision 3660 had two PCI-E X16 slots, but the second one was wired as X4. I see that's not true. It has a single PCI-E X16 slot, plus two X4 slots.



I find it difficult to believe that Dell would hack the X4 slot (23) to take an X16 graphics card.

As far as I've been able to find, there are no PCI-E X4 versions of the Quadro T-600. (Or any Quadro card.) I wonder what Dell did? (Slot adapter? They exist.)

A quick look suggests that if you want a Dell Precision workstation with a Gen12 CPU and two full-length PCI-E X16 slots (regardless of how they're wired), you're out of luck. For the moment.

Dru2 said:

That makes no sense. No manufacturer would cut a PCI slot to hold a card as it creates performance, security, and safety issue. I'm afraid you got bad info there.

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Yeah, makes 0 sense to me, but obviously if the owner has physically inspected the machine and it indeed has 2 full length cards utilizing that X4 slot they must have modified it. Unless they got some custom made video card that goes into that X4 slot with fewer pins.

Honestly,I don't see us being of any real help in this matter. Time for the OP to confront Dell firmly on this matter demanding a quick resolution, be it exchange or refund. Exposing the way Dell has handled this situation is valuable for anyone contemplating purchasing a Dell system. I'm sure we would all appreciate the OP letting us know what the final outcome turns out to be.

Enlarge that image and you can see a difference in the two slots, looks like the bottom one will take a full size card.

pparks1 said:

Yeah, makes 0 sense to me, but obviously if the owner has physically inspected the machine and it indeed has 2 full length cards utilizing that X4 slot they must have modified it. Unless they got some custom made video card that goes into that X4 slot with fewer pins.

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That makes zero sense as GPU's don't fit in x4 slots. Additionally, both cards being T600 (now T1000) should be the same cards with the same full length slot pins. Did Dell suddenly shave half the pins away? NVIDIA T600

That said, "If" that was done, that's negligent damage and that right there should warrant a full refund. I too find it hard to believe Dell would intentionally damage a motherboard in such a way to satisfy as build they couldn't do with a board NOT supporting a dual GPU setup.

clam1952 said:

Enlarge that image and you can see a difference in the two slots, looks like the bottom one will take a full size card.

(snip)

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That seems bizarre, and it's not obvious from that image. However,



The back end of the lower X4 slot does appear to be open. Further, it appears that there may be a mechanism (not present in this image) that would hold the back end of the card in place, as is done with an X16 slot.

I don't think that this is standard for a PCI-E X4 slot. But the motherboard seems to be highly Dell proprietary. Maybe they're prepared to break standards.

I regret that this discussion isn't helping the OP very much.

I'd suggest switching to a single graphics card with 8 outputs, but they may be expensive.

Still wondering why the OP wants 8 (or 12) 1920 X 1080 displays. None of my business, of course.

I'm assuming the OP has done the obvious and swapped the cards in the slots. If the slot is supposed to work according to Dell, maybe it's an issue with one of the GPUs?

clam1952 said:

I'm assuming the OP has done the obvious and swapped the cards in the slots.

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To anyone following this thread, it is pertinent to go back to the beginning of this posters problem. There are 4 different threads. Originally he had issues running 8 monitors. Before that problem was solved it appears he has now added 4 more. At the beginning I suggested process of elimination to narrow his font issues down to a specific gpu/slot but he did not give any indication it was ever done. At some point Dell got involved but it's been so difficult to follow who knows what testing they performed.

If the buyer explained how many monitors he was planning on using, whomever he worked with at Dell when he purchased the computer should have known that the motherboard had only one x16 slot so that is the Dell rep's fault if it was made clear by the buyer. I hope Dell does right by him.

If Dell or any other manufacturer no longer use motherboards with 2 x16 slots, he may well have to have one custom built to fit his needs. I think for his specialized purpose, his requirement would be better met with a 2 high end x16 GPUs. But even then, it's my understanding that though a GPU may have 8 outputs, only 4 can be active at one time. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong about that.

glasskuter said:

To anyone following this thread, it is pertinent to go back to the beginning of this posters problem. There are 4 different threads. Originally he had issues running 8 monitors. Before that problem was solved it appears he has now added 4 more. At the beginning I suggested process of elimination to narrow his font issues down to a specific gpu/slot but he did not give any indication it was ever done. At some point Dell got involved but it's been so difficult to follow who knows what testing they performed.

If the buyer explained how many monitors he was planning on using, whomever he worked with at Dell when he purchased the computer should have known that the motherboard had only one x16 slot so that is the Dell rep's fault if it was made clear by the buyer. I hope Dell does right by him.

If Dell or any other manufacturer no longer use motherboards with 2 x16 slots, he may well have to have one custom built to fit his needs. I think for his specialized purpose, his requirement would be better met with a 2 high end x16 GPUs. But even then, it's my understanding that though a GPU may have 8 outputs, only 4 can be active at one time. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong about that.

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Thanks for trying to sort out the chaos.

There are Z690 motherboards (for Intel 12th gen CPUs) with 2 or more X16 slots. However, if two X16 slots are used, they'll both run at X8. (PCI-E lane resource issue.) For PCI-E 3.0 and later cards, I assume that's adequate.

Whether you can get that feature in an appliance PC, I don't know. The Dell Precision 3660 doesn't offer it. I'm unconvinced that it's necessary, if all that is desired is to run two Quadro T600 cards. (I don't know that for certain.)

I wish that I was competent to suggest a source that could meet the OP's needs. Especially at the price the OP seems to want (maybe $2k US).

glasskuter said:

If Dell or any other manufacturer no longer use motherboards with 2 x16 slots, he may well have to have one custom built to fit his needs.

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From reading this thread, I feel that would have been their best option. With that said, Dell should have been honest in the beginning and told them that the motherboard wouldn't meet their needs.