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Gateway FX510XG

Dell XPS 410

Alienware Area-51 7500
Here comes the first wave of Core 2 Duo

Intel's Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors were announced two weeks ago with much fanfare from the hardware editors and the enthusiast community. Intel had brought a great-performing chip to the market that was faster than every processor currently available and was much cooler than its Pentium-D predecessor. Today, there were a slew of new desktops and workstation announced that use Intel's new Core 2 processors for desktops, so let's get started.

Gateway has announced new desktops based around the new Core 2 processor: the FX510XG and the FX510XT. The $2,199 FX510G comes equipped with a Core 2 Duo E6400 processor (2.13GHz), 2GB of PC5300 memory, 320GB SATA II, 21" widescreen LCD, 16x DL burner and an ATI Radeon X1900 XT graphics card. The $3,999 FX510XT brings a Core 2 Extreme processor (2.93GHz), 4GB of PC5300 memory, 1TB of storage (2x 500GB SATA II in RAID-0), 21" widescreen LCD, 16x DL burner and dual ATI Radeon X1900 XT CrossFire graphics cards.

On the Dell front, there are three new Core 2 offerings: two desktops and one workstation. The XPS 410 and Dimension 9200 can be equipped with a variety of Core 2 processors and up to 4GB of 800MHz DDR2 memory. Hard drive options range from a 160GB SATA offering up to 500GB with DataSafe data protection. Also available are ATI graphics solutions along with AGEIA physics accelerators. The machines come loaded with external ports including two front/six rear USB 2.0 ports, an optional front Firewire port and an optional 13-in-1 media reader for photo enthusiasts. Operating system options include Windows XP Home, Professional and Media Center 2005. And of course, both are Windows Vista ready. The XPS 410 and Dimension 9200 will start at $1,595 and $1,674 respectively.

Dell's latest workstation offering is the Precision 320. This monster can be equipped with Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme processors and fits right in with any company needing a high performance OpenGL platform. System memory is scalable up to 8GB and both ATI and NVIDIA graphics solutions are available. Hard drives up to 750GB are available as are numerous RAID configurations. Prices start at $1,050 for the Precision 390. For those that would like to see the Precision 390 in action, Digital Video Editing has posted a review of one equipped with a 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme processor.

Samsung has a new Core 2 Duo solution of its own. The new BZ60 desktop is powered by a Core 2 Duo E6300 processor, 1GB of PC5300 memory, a 320GB SATA II hard drive and a GeForce 6200 graphics card. Pricing is not yet available for this Core 2 offering.

And we can't forget Alienware's new Core 2 gaming desktops: the Area-51 7500 and the Area-51 ALX. Both feature Alienware's new P2 chassis, can be equipped with Core Extreme processors, NVIDIA SLI graphics solutions and can support up to four SATA hard drives in a RAID configuration.  The Area-51 ALX ups the ante by offering an NVIDIA Quad-SLI graphics solution. Alienware's Area-51 7500 starts at a mere $1,799 while the Area-51 ALX isn't even warmed up yet until you fork over $5,999.

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X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/27/2006 9:27:06 PM , Rating: 2
So X6800 is currently priced at $1,360 at newegg and is OUT OF STOCK! Wow.

Well, if I were newegg price setting guy, I'd start with $1,500 US right now, especially after reading those AT reviews ;-)

Half of USA is going to kill for Conroe at the moment - and newegg stops at $1,360?! Oops - outta stock. That's pretty stupid. Let's hope they set it to something more reasonable - I think $1,600 would be nice to start with :D I love to see rich kids to pay hard! :-))




RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/27/06, Rating: 0
RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By TomZ on 7/27/2006 9:32:13 PM , Rating: 2
newegg is gouging. Other vendors are still listing them at just over $1000, although they are not showing stock either.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/27/06, Rating: 0
RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By TomZ on 7/27/2006 9:47:40 PM , Rating: 2
That might be, but I personally don't give my business to companies who do that. Availability will be the same at other online vendors whose prices will be closer to list price. There's no reason to pay such a high ransom.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/27/06, Rating: 0
RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/27/06, Rating: 0
RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By cscpianoman on 7/28/2006 8:33:49 AM , Rating: 2
You must not eat, drive a car, or live in a house, because quite literally all companies do what newegg is doing. It's called supply and demand. Low supply, high demand leads to higher prices. My guess is each of these companies are "testing the waters," so to speak. They're counting how many hits are nailing the core 2 pages and estimating initial prices accordingly. The only difference between tigerdirect and newegg is newegg has given a more realistic idea of what the price is going to be while the others are giving the "MSRP." Once a company realizes they can sell these things for more and make more profit do you think they will keep these prices low?


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By rklaver on 7/27/2006 11:33:58 PM , Rating: 2
Newegg hasn't had sold any Core 2's yet. I was around when that E6800 page popped up and it never had the "add to cart" option.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By daschneider on 7/28/2006 11:36:27 AM , Rating: 2
I've poked around the newegg site and I can't fine C2Ds listed anywhere. Is that page still up? Can you post the link?


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/28/2006 12:04:16 PM , Rating: 1
RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/28/2006 8:27:49 PM , Rating: 1
gah, my newegg link's dead now - cry cry Intel kiddies - or go buy somewhere else, there are other stores, you know that dontcha :))


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Tsuwamono on 7/28/2006 12:34:09 AM , Rating: 2
Tiger direct has them for 1400$ canadian... which lands it about 1300$ US... i would say its a fair price for the rich kids who hate upgrading.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By PunaProgrammer chris on 7/28/2006 12:51:55 AM , Rating: 2
Actually, TigerDirect is selling them for $1150 USD, a bit cheaper than $1300.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/28/2006 12:02:23 PM , Rating: 1
Canadians pay those commy taxes, you know, +15% everywhere - hence they are $150 more expensive here...


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By ChronoReverse on 7/28/2006 1:01:31 PM , Rating: 2
The GST is 7%. Which while still annoying isn't quite 15%.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By ChronoReverse on 7/28/2006 1:03:05 PM , Rating: 2
Argh, I mean 6%. It was just recently lowered.


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By AtaStrumf on 7/28/2006 2:39:24 PM , Rating: 3
We in Slovenia pay 20% VAT, but for that we get free college (for now) and almost free health care. I'll take that over $150 off of a C2D any day of the week ;-)


RE: X6800 freaks attack!
By Pirks on 7/28/06, Rating: 0