Compare Prices : Dell XPS 730

Review summary: Are you an extremist? A person who wants the very best products and find that extreme (and exorbitant) prices don't matter to the wallet? If that's you, then check out this review of an extreme gaming machine from Dell.

Review summary: XPS is Dell's performance brand targeted at gamers and power users. Only recently made available in New Zealand, XPS has been carrying the performance flag for Dell in overseas markets for sometime now. Ironically, XPS desktops arrive on our shores ...

Verdict: An Intel Q9450 Core 2 Quad CPU running at 2.66GHz, backed up by 2GB of RAM and a single Nvidia 8800GT video card provide the bulk of the processing power in the XPS 730. This pushed it to an excellent score of 112 in our WorldBench 6 real-world ...

Pros: 4GB RAM, quad-core CPU, fast performance, SLI graphics, room for expansion, quiet, Blu-ray player

Cons: Could use faster graphics card options, consumes 66W of electricity even when it's shut down, could use more comprehensive RAID configuration options

Verdict: Big, bold and perhaps beautiful to some, the XPS 730 is a heavy-duty machine with plenty of heart. It could use faster graphics card options, but its twin-8800GTs should do a reasonable job of satisfying most gaming urges.

Review summary: Bringing enthusiast-level gaming to the mainstream market, the Dell XPS 730 H2C is a monster in performance but comes with a hefty price tag.

Pros: First Dell that ships with overclocked CPU and RAM ; supports both CrossFire and SLI multi-graphics card configurations ; well-designed hard drive bays ; useful software utilities with no clutterware

Cons: Poor bang-for-the-buck even for a high-end gaming PC ; limited memory upgrade until 64-bit Vista becomes an option

Verdict:  Dell's updated flagship gaming desktop incorporates the latest hardware from Intel, Nvidia, and AMD into a system that delivers some very impressive gaming scores. We'd give it a higher recommendation if it wasn't so expensive compared with systems ...