Dell dropped the XPS 700 on gamers at
the end of May backed with a 3.73GHz Pentium Extreme Edition dual-core
processor and an NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP. At the time, Dell also offered up
to 4GB of DDR2 memory, 1.5TB of storage and dual GeForce 7900 GTX graphics
cards. That may have been a smokin’ system just a few months ago, but with the recent
announcement of Intel's new breed of Core 2 processors for the desktop market;
it was time for an upgrade.
Intel's Core 2 processors are cooler and
faster across the board when compared to Pentium-D and Extreme Edition
processors, so Dell has taken the opportunity to upgrade its XPS 700. Although
CNET was given the opportunity to review
a Core 2 Extreme X6800-based XPS 700 a few weeks ago, customers haven't
been able to lay their hands on one yet.
Over at Dell's one2one
weblog, the company addresses user concerns with regards to new XPS 700 and
upgrading older XPS 700 machines. For one thing, owners of existing XPS 700
systems will be still be able to use Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme processors
after a BIOS update that will be available from support.dell.com. Dell also sanctions
overclocking with the new Core 2 processors and points customers to NVIDIA's nTune application. As
for the delays in shipping out new Core 2 XPS 700 systems, here's what Dell had
to say:
How will Dell make it up to customers who have been waiting patiently for their XPS 700 orders to ship?
Due to the delays many of you have experienced, we will provide an option of either a free upgrade to a Core 2 Duo processor or a Dell gift card for all those who have ordered systems as of July 18, 2006. We ask for your continued patience as we roll out communication to our customer care and sales teams. Customers should wait until Dell contacts them regarding the status of their orders.
If I accept Dell's offer to upgrade my order to Core 2 how will it affect my shipping date?
Unfortunately, this option will extend your wait time—due to contractual arrangements, we can’t provide a specific delivery time at this point. We apologize for not being able to give you a ship date at this time.
So if you already placed an order for an XPS 700 with a Pentium-D based processor, take pleasure in knowing
that you're covered if you want to upgrade to the Core 2 family in the future.
If you've already purchased (or want to purchase) a new XPS 700 with Core 2 processors, you're just
going to have to wait a bit longer before your system is delivered.
