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Hardware Dell Introduces XPS 720 H2C Edition Gaming Desktop
Brandon Hill (Blog) - May 22, 2007 10:45 AM

91 comment(s) - last by suryad.. on May 29 at 9:07 AM

Dell's XPS 720 H2C Edition Gaming Desktop

Dell's new gaming desktop to start at $5,999 USD

Dell is taking factory overclocking to the next level with its new XPS 720 H₂C Edition gaming desktop. The XPS 720 H₂C Edition leverages technologies from a number of well-known companies including Intel, NVIDIA and Corsair.

The XPS 720 H₂C Edition uses an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor that has been factory overclocked to 3.46GHz. The processor along with 2GB of 800MHz Corsair DOMINATOR DDR2 memory (factory overclocked to 1066MHz) find a home on an NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI MCP motherboard. Graphics duties are handled by two 768MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX graphics cards operating in SLI mode.

In keeping with its over-the-top bravado, the XPS 720 H₂C Edition also incorporates LightFX which was first seen on the XPS M1710. By using the LightFX toolkit, users can control three light zones, eight intensity levels and 16 colors on the computer case.

"Hard-core gamers and technology enthusiasts continue to challenge us to push limits, and we relish turning those challenges into reality," said Glen Robson, general manager for Dell’s worldwide gaming products. "Dell is committed to delivering the best PC gaming experience available, combining leading-edge hardware and accessory innovations with the most extreme games, and the XPS gaming products are designed to do exactly that."

The Dell XPS 720 H₂C Edition starts at a whopping $5,999 USD. For the price of entry, you also get dual 160GB SATA/300 10,000 RPM hard drives, a 2x Blu-ray drive, Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic sound card, 24" UltraSharp 2407FPW flat-panel display and your choice of Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows XP Media Center Edition. Dell's decision to continue support for Windows XP is a result of customer feedback from its Direct2Dell blog site.

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Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By paydirt on 5/22/2007 11:08:00 AM , Rating: 2

I'm sure there are folks who will pay the price and not want to make the system themselves, but let's see:

nice case: $200
C2Q (QX6700): $1000
OC'd 8800 GTX w/768 RAM ea: $1600 (for 2)
high-end 2GB RAM: $300
nice mobo: $200
nice PSU: $300
TOTAL: $3600

Price you're paying Dell to make it $2400

I'm surprised that this system does not have 4GB of RAM. Seems silly/greedy not to throw that in.

RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By paydirt on 5/22/2007 11:09:27 AM , Rating: 2

OK a Blu-ray burner would crank the cost of the parts up another $500 to $4100... Still paying Dell $1900 to make it.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By webdawg77 on 5/22/2007 11:15:35 AM , Rating: 2

What about ...

24" Monitor ~ $500
X-Fi ~ $125
Windows ~ $150
HDDs ~ $120 (for both)

That's almost another $900. Still way too much for Dell to pocket $1000.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By cochy on 5/22/2007 11:46:13 AM , Rating: 3

quote:
HDDs ~ $120 (for both)

150GB Raptors are $200 each.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By webdawg77 on 5/22/2007 11:52:24 AM , Rating: 1

"160GB SATA/300 10,000 RPM hard drives"

But yes, I agree, they are probably more. The $120 is based on 7200 RPM drives. I can't find a combo of 160GB AND 10k RPM. Do they really exist or did the author mean 150GB?

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By gyranthir on 5/22/2007 11:57:24 AM , Rating: 5

160gb raptors exist, they are specifically made for DELL and HP under the OEM contracts they have with WD.

Although you can find them on the open market sometimes.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By webdawg77 on 5/22/2007 11:59:49 AM , Rating: 2

Cool, thanks for the info.

I guess the HDD price should be adjusted to about $450 - $500 for both then in the calculations.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By Sazar on 5/22/2007 5:38:20 PM , Rating: 2

Factor in that you have factory over-clocked, warrantied components in the systems and factor in the cost of the chassis as well as any applicable software (the o/s is only about 100-200 bucks but still).

It adds up.

Yes, you can probably build a system for cheaper once you put ALL the items together and overclock it yourself but, as soon as you overclock, technically you have voided your warranty/ies.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By gramboh on 5/22/2007 10:20:42 PM , Rating: 2

3.4GHz on a quad core is not an easy overclock. Definitely have to factor this in.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By cochy on 5/22/2007 12:40:00 PM , Rating: 2

Really? Odd that they would make a special oem drive based on the question of how many super high end systems with 10k rpm drives are sold by HP and Dell? I'd think not too many to warrant the extra logistics involved for WD.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By Jedi2155 on 5/22/2007 9:59:33 PM , Rating: 2

I actually have a OEM Dell 160 GB raptor, but they are only warrantied through dell. I don't think it was that much logistics extra. I think a lot more are sold in the workstation area than the consumer arena.

I bet WD has always been capable of easily making the 80 GB (back when they were @ 74 GB) or 160 GB raptors, except they chose to screw the end user and only sell them to OEMs.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By webdawg77 on 5/22/2007 11:56:01 AM , Rating: 1

Wait ... 150GB Raptors aren't SATA II (3 Gbps). They are only SATA I (1.5 Gbps).

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By bkiserx7 on 5/22/2007 2:23:49 PM , Rating: 2

That may be a mistake, cause I believe these OEM models are still SATA150; Raptors still do not exceed that bandwidth. I think the reason for the extra 10GB on the 150 and 6GB on the 74 are to have room for Dell's and HP's Recovery and Diagnostic Partitions.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By jpeyton on 5/22/2007 4:17:46 PM , Rating: 2

I would be interested to learn more about the cooling solution and how noisy it is.

I wonder if Dell factors in 100% load on all four cores when they test it. Because Core 2 Quads produce A LOT OF HEAT when overclocked.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By darkpaw on 5/22/2007 11:11:51 AM , Rating: 3

And the monitor, and the OS. Dell is pocketing about $1000 on each one.

Ultra high end systems are the only items the PC industry has any real margin on. Everything else they rely on volume.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By FITCamaro on 5/22/2007 11:43:31 AM , Rating: 1

Uh..8800GTXs don't cost $800 each. They're about $500-550.

Just another overpriced computer from Dell idiots will buy.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By Assimilator87 on 5/22/2007 12:02:33 PM , Rating: 2

Why do they give you such a POS sound card and why don't they offer Vista Ultimate?

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By AmbroseAthan on 5/22/2007 12:22:34 PM , Rating: 3

The article doesn't mention this... but the H2C systems have special cooling:

quote:
The Dell XPS 710 H2C Edition has an innovative, two-stage cooling solution that helps cool the processor even at its highest mode, and does so more effectively than Dell’s air-cooling solution. The H2C hybrid cooling system combines a liquid radiator, a thermoelectric cooling module and control circuitry to optimize CPU cooling with minimal power. Ideal for gaming enthusiasts, the system is designed to help the XPS 710 H2C Edition stay cool in overclocked mode2—up to 9 degrees cooler even when you clock it at bin+2 speeds.3

source: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetail...

more specs: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetail...

They are still likely grabbing a big chunk of change... but that is an impressive looking cooling system, wonder how well it operates.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By AmbroseAthan on 5/22/2007 12:35:27 PM , Rating: 2

Direct link to the 720 H2C: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetail...

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By cochy on 5/22/2007 12:42:41 PM , Rating: 2

Yup its a very cool (haha pun) cooling system.

http://www.coolitsystems.com/

those are the guys who make it. I plan on using it in my planned Penryn build. Reviews mostly positive.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By Screwballl on 5/22/2007 12:55:16 PM , Rating: 3

Dell makes their money from advertisers (Norton, Mcafee, hundreds of others) putting as much junk on your desktop at the factory so selling their computers at $300 are pretty much $500 profit. So asking for a $1000 profit from a high end system is not asking for a whole lot.
Thats about what I make when I build/sell a custom high end system like this for my customers.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By aftlizard01 on 5/22/2007 7:47:40 PM , Rating: 2

I believe XPS's don't come with crapware.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By suryad on 5/23/2007 12:48:36 AM , Rating: 2

I bought a 3500 dollar XPS laptop from Dell and it does comme with crapware mate. I am in fact returning it and putting together a 4 gig QX 6800 system with dual 8800 ultras and 2 x raptors and a 30 inch lcd. Last time I am buying anything from Dell.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By cochy on 5/23/2007 9:49:33 AM , Rating: 2

Why buy a 8800 Ultra when you can get an overclocked GTX for lots cheaper, amounting to about the same performance? The Ultra is a big time rip.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By kalak on 5/23/2007 10:32:09 AM , Rating: 2

It's a matter of "status"...

The guy can say "-Hey, I have two 880 ULTRA in my desktop. I'm THE man !"

This has NOTHING to do with performance/price ratios....

It's a fact that some people have a lot of money to spent, so they buy the "better", without care for the price.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By suryad on 5/29/2007 9:07:19 AM , Rating: 2

Actually, the shader core speeds and the memory speeds are a lot higher than the oclocked GTXs

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By ccnuke on 5/22/2007 1:56:51 PM , Rating: 3

It is a steep price. However, do not forget, you are getting a 24/7 1 year warranty with it.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By Kefner on 5/22/2007 2:50:03 PM , Rating: 2

Another thing, that is street price. Dell, I am sure, is paying a lot less per part buying in bulk. 5999.99 seems outrageously high. I just built a new PC that has probably 80 -90% of the power of that system, and only spent around 1200 (although I had a few hold over parts from my old PC, like reused my PC case, DVD-RW drive, backup hard drive etc...). I also got a retail copy of Vista Home Premium as a birthday gift, so you could also add that to my price. Still WAY below that price.

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RE: Silly Price, Silly Rabbit

By Setsunayaki on 5/29/2007 1:46:44 AM , Rating: 2

I would like to add to this in what is realistic. The following is a build that would give you high end performance framerates sometimes around july 22nd when the Quad Core pricing drops.

Antec Solo case: $50 //microcenter (where i bought mine)
C2Q (QX6600): $266 //July 22nd price drop
8800GTX w/768MB RAM x2: 1100 // ($550 each on Newegg)
Motherboard: $150 //(a nice 650 or 680i SLI board)
Nice PSU: $179 //PC Power and Cooling, 750w silencer)
Cooling: $120 // Tuniq tower, NB cooler, 120mm fans and 92mm fans
Memory that is SLI certified (if you care: 2GB for $120)

Total Cost of PC = $1985

The reason there is not 4GB of RAM is because a 32 bit operating system can only address 4GB and 1.5GB along with caches and other memory is already being addressed by the VIDEO CARDS running in SLI MODE so in the end, 2GB - 2.5GB sounds about right as left over. 64 bit OS address more RAM but has LESS optimizations in drivers.

Strength of the System:

~Industrial Strength Power Supply
~Quad Core on Overclocking Capable MBDs (late 650i and 680i)
~Overclockable Video Card
~Sound Proofed and Noise dampened Case
~Stable Cooling for OCing the processor
~Allowing Overclocks to 400 - 450mhz bus

Weakness of the System

~High Power Consumption
~No Sound Card factored into things //bad on my part
~The presence of 2 GPUs concentrates the heat on the Soundbridge more than the NB and around the middle of the case
~Bottlenecking occurs at an FSB around 400 - 450...the p965 chipset has this limitation...It works because it was designed for 200mhz bus originally, and it functions up to 400 - 450mhz bus.
~Quad Cores have problems being overclocked on many SLI motherboards, Anyone will have to do a bios flash on my motherboards for this to be realistic
~2GB of RAM means that one should not use Vista....It kills performance and takes your memory. 1.5GB of Video ram is addressed to Gaming.....where 768MB is mirrored to a second card...this means that the only way to increase performance is to upgrade to Windows XP 64 bit where you will get a small performance hit, but can address a lot more RAM, yet........better than the 40 - 50% performance loss you will get on Vista 64 bit. Remember that a 32 bit operating system can only address 4GB of total memory.

Give me credit...^_^ I've stated things that companies will neglect telling you. Chances are the computer that they are selling you for 5500 will have problems after around 3 - 6 months of operation....

You know already that to counter the weaknesses of the system, a lot of works needs to be done. Something that will take R&D as well as time.....^_^

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Hardcore?

By Rotkiv on 5/22/2007 11:15:11 AM , Rating: 3

I thought "hardcore gamers" usually build there own machines.
Correct me if I am wrong, though.

RE: Hardcore?

By dagamer34 on 5/22/2007 11:29:25 AM , Rating: 2

Don't confuse hardcore with rich. These people would be the same ones that buy $400 Level 70 WoW accounts only to have everyone else shun then because they don't know a damn thing.

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RE: Hardcore?

By dagamer34 on 5/22/2007 11:29:27 AM , Rating: 2

Don't confuse hardcore with rich. These people would be the same ones that buy $400 Level 70 WoW accounts only to have everyone else shun then because they don't know a damn thing.

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RE: Hardcore?

By Souka on 5/22/2007 4:09:47 PM , Rating: 2

$400? Damn, I paid $850 for mine.

;)

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RE: Hardcore?

By Insurgence on 5/22/2007 11:30:01 AM , Rating: 2

No, not all hardcore games like to build their own. I know several hardcore gamers who for one reason or another do not like to build their own. I understand their reasons too, which is why I never nag on them. I don't see many of them spending ot much money this machine though at least not more than once every five years.

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RE: Hardcore?

By cochy on 5/22/2007 12:49:09 PM , Rating: 3

There is a difference between "hardcore gamer" and "hardware enthusiast". They are two different markets. Alienware et al. cater to the former, while Newegg was founded to cater to the later.

Right off the bat, a hardware enthusiast wouldn't buy this system because it's using a 680i motherboard when Intel's new 3 series chipset is a week away. Read Anandtech's multiple articles about the advantages of P35. Pure gamers wouldn't know this.

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RE: Hardcore?

By cochy on 5/22/2007 12:53:07 PM , Rating: 3

lol also anyone who knows anything about hardware wouldn't touch 8800GTX SLI as that's just a massive waste of money even for a hard core gaming.

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RE: Hardcore?

By Master Kenobi

(blog) on 5/22/2007 1:35:35 PM , Rating: 2

Not to mention it doesn't even function properly on Vista. Some hardcore gamers are migrating to Vista now, or shortly, and I know several (besides me) with eyes set on 4GB RAM minimum.

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RE: Hardcore?

By cochy on 5/22/2007 1:40:01 PM , Rating: 2

4GB for sure considering the prices for DDR2 these days. I'd go for a 64-bit OS edition, to leave me with an upgrade path to 6GB+.

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RE: Hardcore?

By Munkles on 5/23/2007 8:59:18 AM , Rating: 2

Not quite cochy,

Ive got a single 8800gtx thats currently powering 1 22" lcd and a 20" lcd and even the mighty GTX feels the stress of running two high res monitors while gaming.

I have considered buying a second GTX as a "cheap" way of getting that additional power that I would like.

That said it may also be driver related as I'm running Vista Ultimate 32bit.

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RE: Hardcore?

By enlil242 on 5/28/2007 9:21:39 AM , Rating: 2

Um, correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that running Dual monitors does not work in SLI. I have two 7800GTs and was disappointed discovering this fact after setting it up...

Have things changed in the drviers / hardware since?

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Whatt!!!

By donttrustme on 5/22/2007 11:00:48 AM , Rating: 2

2x Blu-Ray drives..damn!!....they could have simply put one HD-DVD and one blu-Ray drive.......or two hybrids.

RE: Whatt!!!

By webdawg77 on 5/22/2007 11:04:04 AM , Rating: 3

"a 2x Blu-ray drive"

not 2 Blu-ray drives ;)

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RE: Whatt!!!

By donttrustme on 5/22/2007 11:05:15 AM , Rating: 3

sorry abt tht comment.....'The system's configuration can be changed'....It didn't strike me at first...sorry

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RE: Whatt!!!

By webdawg77 on 5/22/2007 11:07:21 AM , Rating: 2

NP ... too bad there aren't faster BR drives yet

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RE: Whatt!!!

By donttrustme on 5/22/2007 11:07:57 AM , Rating: 1

@webdawg77: Dude thx for tht info...i thnk i shld b more careful with my comments.

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RE: Whatt!!!

By novacthall on 5/22/2007 11:38:55 AM , Rating: 1

Am I the only one who wants a translation?

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RE: Whatt!!!

By cochy on 5/22/2007 12:35:28 PM , Rating: 2

Your wish is my command.

He thought 2x Blue-ray ment 2 blue-ray drives. Someone corrected him. He doesn't seem to reply in the right spots.

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RE: Whatt!!!

By JediSmurf on 5/22/2007 11:08:23 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
a 2x Blu-ray drive

I think the article meant a single "2-speed", BR drive, having 2 discreet BR drives would be insanity.

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RE: Whatt!!!

By Kefner on 5/22/2007 2:53:37 PM , Rating: 2

"You must be rich, nobody has 2 TVs!" HAHA, couldn't resist the Back To The Future reference. (may not have the quote word for word)

But seriously, having two BD drives would make you the ultimate geek! LOL

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RE: Whatt!!!

By luhar49 on 5/22/2007 11:09:51 AM , Rating: 2

They are targeting a niche market and there will always be buyers for these systems.
When a millionaire dad wants to gift a gaming pc to his son on his 12th birthday, do you think he would want to be bothered about any details of the innards ?
He wants the fastest and the best looking system off the shelf. Thats where Dell and Alienware come in.

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RE: Whatt!!!

By luhar49 on 5/22/2007 11:09:52 AM , Rating: 2

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So...Why not buy Commodore?

By kalak on 5/22/2007 1:49:55 PM , Rating: 2

Commodore new Desktops are FAR better than DELL... for the SAME PRICE ...

Take a look:

COMMODORE XX (£2,899.00)

Features

This is the starting point of what's inside the Commodore xx. Most parts are customisable.

*
Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core processor QX6700: 2.66GHz 8MB Cache
*
ASUS® P5N32-E NVIDIA® nForce® 680i SLI™ motherboard
*
2x 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Raid 0 hard drives
*
2GB Corsair™ DOMINATOR™ Twin2x2048-8500C5D memory: 1066MHz
*
DVDRW optical drive
*
850W ICE Cube power supply
*
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
*
2x NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX 768MB SLI™ graphics cards
*
Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate operating system

RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By cochy on 5/22/2007 2:33:27 PM , Rating: 2

The Dell is better than the above system you posted.

Everything is the same except the Dell has better HDs, a blu-ray, and over clocked cpu.

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By kalak on 5/22/2007 3:08:51 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Everything is the same except the Dell has better HDs, a blu-ray, and over clocked cpu.

What ? WHAT ?

dual 160GB SATA/300 10000 RPM is better than 2x 500GB 7200 RPM RAID 0?

So, 320 Gb is better than 1 TB....

And the LOOK of Commodore is sooo cool ! :-)

AND the cooler system and the power supply are a lot better...

Take a look at the site:
http://www.commodoregaming.com/pcshop/Game+PC/Comm...

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By cochy on 5/22/2007 3:18:08 PM , Rating: 2

No offense but you don't know what you're talking about in this case.
To answer all your questions.

Yes 2x10,000 RPM drives in RAID 0 are better than 2x7200RPM. We are talking performance not storage space. So who cares about 1TB?

The cooler on the Commodore is a air cooling solution with a 96mm fan, not even a 120mm fan. The heat sink I'm sure is good but the Dell has a water cooling system which is just better than air.

As for the PSU, I dont know what the Dell has so I won't comment.

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By kalak on 5/22/2007 4:04:41 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Yes 2x10,000 RPM drives in RAID 0 are better than 2x7200RPM. We are talking performance not storage space. So who cares about 1TB?

WHO cares ? I care ! 1 TB is a LOT of space ! 320 GB is less then 1/3 of the space....
the speed is better, I agree, but I prefer the space.

quote:
The cooler on the Commodore is a air cooling solution with a 96mm fan, not even a 120mm fan. The heat sink I'm sure is good but the Dell has a water cooling system which is just better than air.

From Commodore Web Site:

In order to actually maintain its cool with all the heavy machinery put to work 24/7, the Commodore xx CPU comes equipped with Arctic’s positively chilling Freezer 7 Pro cooler, an ICE Cube cooler on the power supply and a large 250mm fan on the inside of the left side panel .

AND a comment about the cooler from a Reviewer (chilling Freezer 7 Pro):

After I had tested this cooler against stock cooling, it was the definite winner, lowering temperatures by 5-8 degrees in most of the tests I performed. Not only did it cool better, but it was much quieter , which is one of the biggest things that the majority of computer enthusiasts are looking for when buying a CPU cooler.

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By cochy on 5/22/2007 4:12:02 PM , Rating: 2

You obviously didn't understand what I was saying with respect to that little cooler you're in love with :P

Water cools better than air it's a law of nature.

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By kalak on 5/22/2007 6:10:20 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
You obviously didn't understand what I was saying with respect to that little cooler you're in love with :P

hahahahaha.... :-)
My question in fact is that Dell use watercooler because they NEED that (overclock). The Commodore cooler is not the BEST one, but is a very good cooler solution.

I'm a big fan of Commodore (I have a C128 and a lot of Vintage stuff...) and of course it's affecting my opinion.
:-p

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By Sazar on 5/22/2007 6:00:38 PM , Rating: 2

Sorry, but the previous poster is correct. There are many aspects that are simply not apples to apples and from a performance perspective, the 10k drives are better.

If you want storage, you can add a large drive for a relatively cheap price.

Also the system is factory overclocked and the warranty covers that.

In addition the case is simply better. I agree the commodore has a nice case but if you have spent anytime with the Dell case, you will know what I mean.

The cooler on the commodore is air-cooled. The one on the Dell is not, plus it is warrantied water-cooled setup which is pretty good :)

The side fan you are talking about is on the chassis side, not on the cooler. The poster you replied to has it correct.

I would love to see you try and compare the overall tdu's of the stock processor v/s the factory overclocked Dell system and then compare the temps.

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By Sazar on 5/22/2007 5:55:01 PM , Rating: 2

1 Kilowatt, I believe it peaks at 1.1 kW.

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RE: So...Why not buy Commodore?

By timmiser on 5/23/2007 2:52:57 PM , Rating: 2

That's not the same price. GBP to USD is at 1.99 exchange rate meaning GBP 2899.00 = USD 5769.00

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So dumb.

By therealnickdanger on 5/22/2007 10:59:44 AM , Rating: 1

I'm sorry, but I just built a desktop with a E6300, 7950GT, 2GB DDR2-800, and lots of other goodies for only $500. So far, there's not one game I've played that I can't get ~60fps at 1920x1200 with some degree of high-to-ultra settings. I haven't installed Oblivion or Rainbow Six Vegas, but I'm sure they would still look excellent with good frame rates. *sigh* If I dumped another $1,000 into this thing, I could get dual 8800GTXs (my PSU can already handle it). When the time comes, I'll probably upgrade to a quad-core and DX10 card, but even then, I'll be no where near $6,000.

RE: So dumb.

By JediSmurf on 5/22/2007 11:11:40 AM , Rating: 2

A monitor to play at 1920x1200 is probably around $500 by itself, you can't discount all the other things that come with this system to compare it with your $500 rig.

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RE: So dumb.

By therealnickdanger on 5/22/2007 12:08:37 PM , Rating: 2

My "monitor" was nearly $4,000, but for reasons I state below, I don't really count that...

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RE: So dumb.

By cochy on 5/22/2007 11:15:05 AM , Rating: 2

$500 for all that? You must be a keen shopper. I just put together a system for around $450 but it's got an Allendale c2d and no vid card.

Your system doesn't have a 24'' LCD, so that would double your system price right off the bat. Dual 8800GTX would triple it. Dominator Corsair is premium priced. The top of the line C2Extreme is 1k. Your system doesn't have a high-end cooling solution either and that's another few hundred right there. All that together for 6k is still a little much, but even a do it yourself'er would have to drop at least 5k for all that Dell is offering.

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RE: So dumb.

By therealnickdanger on 5/22/2007 12:05:32 PM , Rating: 2

Well, my point wasn't so much to match what Dell is offering, but to make the point that a similar gaming experience can be had with much less. Dell's system is much more powerful, I won't argue that, but the degree to which it is faster doesn't justify the price.

And no, my system doesn't have a 24" LCD, I'm just stuck with my lowly plasma. LOL! I didn't count my plasma or sound system in the mix since I bought those seperately for use with my home entertainment system. My computer is simply an addition to that. All combined, it might be more than the Dell system, but I'll pit the visual and aural fidelity of my system against Dell any day.

Besides, I believe my Xbox360 is also able to run R6:Vegas smoother anyway. ;-) I know, I know, apples to oranges...

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RE: So dumb.

By cochy on 5/22/2007 1:01:24 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
but the degree to which it is faster doesn't justify the price.

Certainly not. Top of the line equipment always commands a major premium mark-up. Where there is demand there is a product. They sell far fewer of these systems so anyone with simple business sense knows that a larger mark-up is required.

This is by no means a rip off when you compare apples to apples. Look at their market competitors, Velocity, Voodoo and it may even be a bargain !

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RE: So dumb.

By retrospooty on 5/22/2007 11:19:31 AM , Rating: 2

I think darkpaw summed it up best... its for "all the little rich kids that are too dumb to just build their own"... I would add, possibly also to those that are too lzy to build their own as well.

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RE: So dumb.

By kalak on 5/22/2007 6:32:08 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
I'm sorry, but I just built a desktop with a E6300, 7950GT, 2GB DDR2-800, and lots of other goodies for only $500.

WOW ! Is that POSSIBLE at all ? Only $500 ???? In my country, only the Memory will cost more than that...

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RE: So dumb.

By Mojo the Monkey on 5/23/2007 2:56:09 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
I haven't installed Oblivion or Rainbow Six Vegas, but I'm sure they would still look excellent with good frame rates.

sorry, but I call complete BS on this. I run a 1920 res gaming system off of a x1900xtx and I dont think you know what you're talking about.

Try installing the free demo of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition on your system (from steam) and you tell me that your system is anywhere NEAR sufficient at even half that resolution. 1920 would look like a slideshow with that card.

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5,999?

By Sungpooz on 5/22/2007 10:58:09 AM , Rating: 2

I'll just go build one myself.

RE: 5,999?

By zornundo on 5/22/2007 11:58:55 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
I'll just go build one myself.

But that's the point! It's for people who don't want to build for themselves. Some people just don't enjoy all the headaches that come with building a system. It's that works first time out of the box experience that they're paying for (as well as the Dell brand name.)

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RE: 5,999?

By oddity21 on 5/22/2007 2:32:54 PM , Rating: 2

It's still not worth the extra grand.

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RE: 5,999?

By Sungpooz on 5/23/2007 8:44:20 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
Some people just don't enjoy all the headaches that come with building a system.

Going to CompUSA and asking an employee to custom build the BEST computer is STILL cheaper than this car with no wheels.

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Nice overclock actually

By Marlowe on 5/22/2007 12:51:16 PM , Rating: 2

I have some mates with quad cores and not all of them has reached 3,46 GHz.. Delivering it as an factory overclock at that, making it kinda guaranteed to be stable in all operations, is pretty nice in my opinion.

Normally, with the pre-assemblied pcs, you could often build something from the quarter of the money and still surpass it in performance with some overclocking and the like.. Somehow I don't think that's quite as easy with this rig - it consists pretty much of the fastest parts at this date..

So if some millionaire asked me what the fastest computer of today is, and I didn't really care enough about him or her to build and support one, I'd maby just point to this thing - problem solved. Do you think he or she, or much less myself, care about if there is paid some premium? :P

RE: Nice overclock actually

By nerdye on 5/22/2007 10:03:23 PM , Rating: 2

I would have to agree with you on commending Dell for bringing a factory over clocked core 2 quad at 3.46ghz which is an impressive feat to accomplish under warranty. Sure I'd probably point users to this DELL that have an uncountable amount of money, yet if HP offered the same system, I would recommend that hands down, HP has done a lot right to gain the #1 status as pc maker in the world, yet hats of to DELL as they attempt a come back with this honorable factory over clock.

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RE: Nice overclock actually

By cochy on 5/23/2007 12:27:27 AM , Rating: 2

Speaks a lot for CoolIT. They have a pretty nice hybrid water cooler. Plus it's pretty compact and fits right in a case.

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Dell xps720 a Joke

By amaze on 5/22/2007 1:13:46 PM , Rating: 2

My board Asus striker extreme$369.99 HHD RaptorsX 2)$560.00 CPU X6800 $990.00 cpu cooling freezone(coolitsystems)$400.00 Case Stacker830(see through window) $250.00 Ram 3GB corsair 800mhz$450.0 PSU $240.00 Soundcard X-fi elitepro $320.00 Dell 24inch $610.00 Videocards Evga 8800gtx 2)$1100.00 OS xp pro $299.99 Sony blueray$450.00/dvd-rom $40.00 Bose companion5 $400.00 plus many other goodies like lights, antec fans, uv ide cables. My CPU overclocked at 3.937 My system shy to $6500.00 maybe $10000.00 or more if Dell were to build this monster. Build your system with the best components you can get and laugh about Dell,Hp,Apple,Gateway and so on.

RE: Dell xps720 a Joke

By cochy on 5/22/2007 1:30:00 PM , Rating: 2

Besides OEM parts 1GB less ram there system is pretty much exactly like yours. Oh and the Dell has a quad-core.

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RE: Dell xps720 a Joke

By Mojo the Monkey on 5/23/2007 3:02:36 AM , Rating: 2

you paid $300 for windows XP?

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LightFX

By Albotron on 5/22/2007 4:47:40 PM , Rating: 2

LightFX was on the XPS Gen2 before the 1710. I am typing this off one of those XPS Gen 2 machines.

RE: LightFX

By bryanW1995 on 5/22/2007 11:58:56 PM , Rating: 2

I just went to the web site. You can oc it to 3.73 for only $100 extra. It's still not a deal by any stretch, but 3.73 on a quad core is pretty impressive.

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RE: LightFX

By PrimarchLion on 5/23/2007 2:07:33 PM , Rating: 2

Thats very impressive for only $100 and its still included in the warranty. This looks like a good investment once I find that buried treasure.

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for $6k, I'd better get my money's worth...

By soydios on 5/22/2007 3:29:45 PM , Rating: 2

...but they don't even include a 3-year warranty and Vista Ultimate.
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RE: for $6k, I'd better get my money's worth...

By P4blo on 5/23/2007 5:30:43 AM , Rating: 2

For a gaming enthusiast PC keeping it XP is probably a wise decision as long as you can upgrade to Vista later once it's actually worth doing so.

On the SLI side of things. Can anyone tell me if NVidia has fixed the interleaving (no vsync) issue yet? I used to have SLI but dumped it due to lack of vsync support. The wobbly frame update was horrible on LCD's.

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Wrong or New Flat Panel!?

By fearrun on 5/22/2007 5:35:15 PM , Rating: 2

Unless I am mistaken, the flat panel pictured is the same build as the 2707WFP. If this is not the 2707WFP, would that also mean that Dell is releasing a new 24" model with the similar build. Perhaps the HC version?

On a side note, this inconsistency finally got me to register a username for posting.

RE: Wrong or New Flat Panel!?

By KristopherKubicki

(blog) on 5/22/2007 6:26:24 PM , Rating: 2

Welcome aboard. Interesting post. I'm pretty sure its the 2707WFP in the press image, even though it comes default with the 2407.

Just by eyeballing the height, it looks like the monitor is about the same proportion as the one released in the Dell XPS 710 stock photography. Granted, it looks like the image they gave us is a bit photoshopped anyway, so its hard to tell.

I fired off an email to their PR just to double check.

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damn

By darkpaw on 5/22/2007 10:57:24 AM , Rating: 2

I like the look of the case, but damn thats one expensive gaming machine. Dell must make quite a nice permium off all the little rich kids that are too dumb to just build their own.

for da yuppies and dinks with money

By zornundo on 5/22/2007 11:37:31 AM , Rating: 2

I can see this system for those yuppies or dinks (dual income, no kids) who have loads of money, love to game, and don't want to bother building their own system. Surprise!! Some people don't want to build their own systems! I know that is just crazy to the enthusiast community, but this is purely aimed at the non-enthusiast crowd.

insane

By Visual on 5/22/2007 11:46:57 AM , Rating: 2

a dual-socket (V8, 4x4 or custom from server components) or soon even quad-socket (after the expected price drops or the launch of barcelona) quadcore system can be built for less money...

yet somehow i don't doubt there will be suckers to buy this.

The price is high, but,

By gradoman on 5/24/2007 3:52:25 AM , Rating: 1

You could get a warranty and less headaches with the tech support, servicing and all. Quite a few of you are here calling those very few folks that buy this idiots, dinks, retards, etc -- no one is forcing you to buy it. Also, you can't say you have a company that's offering you to troubleshoot and fix your system if something were to happen; you have to do that shit on your own. I know 3/4 of you will say, "Oh yes, I shorely do know how to troubleshoot my computer's issues and address them!". A lot of people don't. Are you going to bash them for wanting some security and peace of mind? Congratulations for sounding so intelligent.