Dell's XPS 730x H2C Core i7 gaming PC benchmarked and tested exhaustively

If you thought the original XPS 730 H2C was boss, get a load of this. The incredibly diligent benchmarkers over at HotHardware have taken the Core i7-powered XPS 730x H2C under their wings for a fortnight of testing, and they've got a baker's dozen worth of review pages to display their findings. We can't even begin to cover the array of graphs, bar charts and triple-digit FPS numbers here, but we can tell you that critics were duly impressed with how well the Core i7 performance compared to older Core 2-based offerings. Gaming performance was predictably "fantastic," and even the single GeForce GTX 280 that it was packin' held its own under pressure. All in all, this fanciful machine was deemed "a worthy update to what [reviewers] thought was the best XPS 700 series system to date," and if you've got the coin, you'll probably be incredibly pleased with what it delivers. Dive deep (and we mean deep) in the read link below.

[Cheddar @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:10PM]

$5,100...are you kidding me!!!

Ok, the rig may fly but that is an obscene amount of money to pay for something that will be obsolete in 6 months...

[renai @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:17PM]

You don't understand the hardcore enthusiast, the one that masturbates to his reflection in that shiny case...

[Shinigami @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:17PM]

If you mean "obsolete" as in "not the fastest any more" then you are right. Its not a good idea to spend this much money if you want it to be fastest. Its a good idea to spend MUCH more to upgrade every half a year!
On the other hand you can buy this for a lot of money or build similar for a smaller amount of money. And it will be fast enough for about 2-3 years without becoming unable to run new games.

[mehrad @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:52PM]

I'd have to say I agree. $5,100 is ridiculous. But for some people who don't understand the stuff and just want "the fastest," it makes sense. And that's why they will be able to sell it at that price point.

But then for people like you and me, who know prices and know how to do it ourselves, we can build one to our specifications and our likings (2xgtx280's..) then we can do that too....at a much lower price.

And for me 1,500 is going to be worth it especially since I'm upgrading from a single core amd 3700 processor. It just depends on your situation.

[happy_penguin @ Dec 23rd 2008 5:01PM]

For something that costs that much I expect something more than such a hideously ugly case! UGH!!

[Jon Doe. @ Dec 23rd 2008 5:03PM]

Umm dude. You apparently haven't been paying attention. All new systems are like this. Dell does it, HP does it, and you can bet your ass Apple does it and then some. Wait 3 months. The price will drop by 2 grand. IF for noth other reason then the component prices will drop. I mean right now the chip itself is hovering around a grand.

[Shinigami @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:15PM]

If you have the coin and no wish to bother with buying components separately and building your own gaming rig, you might be really pleased with this offer.
If you don't have $5.1k, you can ask friends that know their way with PCs and build a similar rig for a smaller price. But you'll have to build it yourself or ask someone who knows how. Its not hard at all. Its bothersome.

[Cheddar @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:17PM]

I built my last rig, it is not too complicated. Component compatibility is probably the biggest challenge. I have not priced out the components but I have to believe you could save a pile of coin if you built yourself.

[Mike10010100 @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:23PM]

Not necessarily. In most cases, yes. But I priced out the exact same configuration from the cheapest hardware I could find on the internet, and compared to the Gateway FX6800-01e, there's no way you could get the price lower. I also managed to haggle 100 bucks off the Gateway from Best Buy, which isn't possible online.

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:16PM]

Who the hell buys this carp?

It's not a typo; $5100 getting you only one GTX280 is worse than crap.

It's a slimy fish in a bag of hurt.

[Stereotype @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:32PM]

What you are saying is carp...I don't buy any of it.

[Alex @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:37PM]

Enough with the "bag of hurt"!

[aznofazns @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:02PM]

You are a wooter, aren't you?

[The WC @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:16PM]

No, it doesn't blend.

It probably plays Crysis.

Hope that takes care of all the asinine comments...

[Drruih @ Dec 23rd 2008 4:41PM]

Does it run OS X?

[superhobo @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:24PM]

Some one please pay me that much, I'll make him one faster than that.

[jakem @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:25PM]

"Have took"??? Are redknecks writing for Engadget now?

[dale1v @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:28PM]

YeeeeeHawwww iEye Joe

[JerkfacedFed @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:30PM]

its called newegg.com. if you dont use it then you arent an enthusiast, youre a noob and you deserve to waste $5k on a damn computer.

intel i7 - $300
nv 280 - $400
ocz ddr3 - $300
2x wd 1tb hdd - $200
foxconn mobo - $275
antec case - $125

thats $1600 for everything.

any 10 year old who can build legos can figure out how to put the parts together, ive been doing it since the same age, building from newegg then selling on ebay a year later for the price i bought it at.

dell cannot be beat for low end computers and monitors, but you are totally wasting your money for anything else.

[Todd Ballsack @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:54PM]

AGREED!

[SeeScottRock @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:03PM]

Power Supply? Fans?

[WhyFi @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:11PM]

...and case, schmancy cooling system, know-how for installing the cooling system, operating system, optical drives, sound card...
This also comes bundled with headphones, took kit, etc. Yeah, you've got a point, and I wouldn't buy a pre-configured PC myself, but your $1600 don't do it.

[fieldcar @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:13PM]

@SeeScottRock:
Some antecs come with a PSU, and I think every antec case I've seen has fans pre-installed.

[TJ @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:17PM]

In (somewhat) defense of Dell:

That case has got to be worth $200 - $250 by itself. Take a look at the internals in the review, it's incredibly solid, and has lots of high-end features (including hidden LED worklights that illuminate the interior when you pop the cover off, some of the best cable routing I've ever seen, a very nice looking ceramic cooler, stealthed bays, programmable lighting effects), and includes some nice extras (like a set of Turtle Beach 5.1 headphones).

The processor isn't the $300 i7, it's the Extreme Edition one that's $1,000. Add in the cost of a legit copy of Windows and support software (DVD/Blu-Ray playback), optical drive(s) that your price doesn't include, power supply, the ceramic cooler I mentioned, and finally the cost of time to test all the components. I don't know what your time is worth to you, but I'm starting to get to the point where I don't know if I want to bother assembling my next system or not. It's like changing your own oil - something that's useful to know, and fun the first couple times, but you get to a point where it's easier to just pay somebody else to do it.

I still wouldn't pay $5,100 for a computer, but the price isn't entirely unjustified.

[basroil @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:21PM]

Maybe if you paid attention to the actual components you'd see it costs quite a bit more.
i7 965 (extreme) - $999 (per 1000, you would be lucky to find it for less than 1100)
tri-channel motherboard with 7.1 outputs in three formats (coax, optical, rca), with at least 4 sataII, esata, 1394a, usb up the wazoo (more or less an ASUS P6T, but that has no 7.1 rca out)-300
memory (3x2gb)-200
3x300gb raptors (270/each)-540
subtotal-2040
gtx 280 1gb - 465
mouse, keyboard - 60
turtle beach surround sound headphones -100
high efficiency 1kw power supply - 240
well designed high end water cooling- starting at 400 (dell style at no less than 600)
OS -100
all aluminum case - 100 (if you can find one that looks good)
sub total (again) -3505
3 years of insurance (equipment failure) - 200/year - 600
total (minus taxes, shipping fees, etc) - $4105

Yes, dell makes a premium on the sales of computers, but nowhere near the $3500 premium you claim.

[Bill @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:23PM]

Tried that build thing. From NewEgg....built entire machine - and man it looked sweet. Power on. Nothing...now what? What component failed?? Swap this, try that...after a week of hurt I returned what I could to NewEgg - and they are one of the web's best companies, make no mistake about that. Ate my restocking fee, and dumped what I could not return on Ebay.

Net loss for my first build attempt...about 300 bucks. Then I bought a Dell XPS. So, yeah, you can try to build, but...didn't work for me.

[basroil @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:28PM]

Sorry, forgot 200 for the blu-ray drive and 50 for the burner, as well as the $150 x-fi titanium. Add in 100 bucks in playback software and temp monitoring tools, price is now $4605 in parts and useful software alone. That is a mere 600 less than dell asks for, and with dell you get unlimited replacement parts, and (useless) tech service.

[Alex @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:38PM]

Warranty?

[asdf @ Dec 23rd 2008 4:32PM]

interesting - I've built a couple of PCs from stuff from newegg and other vendors (techsunny - are they still in business even?)

I didn't realize people would buy year-old home-built PCs for the price of parts a year later!

If true, I should be upgrading every year

[Shinigami @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:18PM]

I have to agree with most of what you say but come on, case for $100-200? That piece of junk is customized! Customized junk is totally overpriced! $300-400 minimum.
The case is pretty nice, its well-built, has warranty (most of components have a 3-year warranty). Yes, Dell charges a premium. But since they get most of their components in large amounts, they also have large discounts.
Their premium is not "over" the edge. They just include lots of things that PC building enthusiasts won't bother with.

A very good water cooling system for CPU and GPU, including expensive 3-section radiator, water blocks, a good pump, small reservoir, 3 Noctua fans, no Al all Cu costs around $600. I built one myself. Yeah, know-how is also worth some money.

This gaming case isn't "totally" overpriced. You can get a similar performance for half the price if you build it yourself. You'll lose the very customized case, software, some other stuff you might not actually want, but you'll get it for a much smaller price. But if you want "all-in-one" offer and have the coin, Dell is a very nice option.

Alternatively, if you can make more money in a week or two than this PC costs, don't bother thinking of building your own gaming rig. But I doubt such people read these comments....

[Wingless92 @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:35PM]

That thing is sick, Not sick for that amount of money. I just spent some coin on my Rig

AMD Phenom OC 2.4
8gb Ram
1TB HDD
GTX 260

This thing smokes.

Gotta love building your own PC.

This was my first build and it was easy as pie.

Again nice PC but not for that much money.

Must be nice to have loads of cash stashed in your closet

[gonintendo @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:47PM]

how do you like the phenom? I am thinking of switching from my athlon x2 5000+. or should i wait for the phenom II's? will my psu be able to handle it ( 1 4850, 1 7200 hdd, 2 dvd drives 690g chipset) its a 450 watt @ 20 amps on 12v.

[Oli D @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:16PM]

Is that the Phenom black?

I would have used a WD Raptor, not a Terabyte disc, but each to his.

8Gb... i sure hope that wasn't DDR2 1066, cos if it was you must be wealthy!

[va jj @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:41PM]

people overused the word obselete. in 6 month this may not be the fastest consumer pc or top of the line from dell but is certainly not obselete. people who buy this will have the money for it. 5100 is not even close to what falcon northwest or the other guys are charging.

[Noah @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:22PM]

Just out of curiosity, are there any newer games that look better than Crysis yet can manage better than 35 FPS? I mean, I know Crysis is like the new Oblivion, but a year after its release, people could actually play the game on mainstream rigs, not needing $5000 computers.

[Michael T @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:10PM]

The newest GTAIV is supposed to be very taxing on the computer.

[chansthename @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:25PM]

GTA4 is a coding nightmare!!!!

They screwed up so bad.

[Alexei @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:26PM]

I've always wanted a barebone XPS case to build a computer in. But I have a feeling Dell would charge an arm and a foot for it.

[Andad @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:50PM]

The sad thing is you can just buy a crappy HP package add some ram, upgrade the videocard, get a nice mouse and headset for a total of $800 and have a PC that runs 90% of games to the level of performance 90% of players are very happy with. I have a hard time understanding what, if any, market exists for this type of premade crap.

[Inane_Asylum @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:26PM]

3 words:

Rich.

Dumb.

People.

[ChuChu @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:53PM]

NOT

FOR

YOU.



I realize Western society is all focused on the individual but realize that not every computer product released was designed with little johnny engadget as the target market.

[ihatestuff08 @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:43PM]

GTAIV probably gets ~25fps on a triple-GTX280 i7 extreme rig with 24GB of ram. it'll run like crap on this.

LAWL

[Skeezle @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:51PM]

Spend that much money to play games? I don't get it - never will.

Everyone scoffs at how much my Macs cost, but at least it makes me money & eventually pays for itself! What will these get you? High score? Maybe. A Job? Doubtful. Laid? Never...

[dale1v @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:54PM]

But what about the WoW Gold?!!!!!!

[Andad @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:01PM]

The correlation between productivity and type of computer you use is pretty much non existent. The funny thing is your argument is self defeating because most "professionals" that use macs work in some sort of entertainment/marketing industry, so if people stopped using things to be entertained then you Mr. Professional probably wouldn't have a job or a shiny mac.

[WhyFi @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:44PM]

Well... with multi-threading becoming more prevalent, to the point that GPUs are being utilized in non-gaming apps (Photoshop CS4, video encoding, etc.), a powerful gaming machine is now a powerful work tool, too. In some task-specific work, machines with gaming cojones are more powerful than some supercomputers far, far more expensive.

"What will these get you? Laid? Never..."

...says the guy with a Clockwork Orange avatar...

[Drruih @ Dec 23rd 2008 4:49PM]

Buy a PS3, it'll last longer and play GTAIV better.

[efekt @ Dec 23rd 2008 5:00PM]

It can't run Digger FFS!!! I won't be buying this...

[conor @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:37PM]

My Uncle just bought a $4k laptop and isn't even using it for games or anything.
Quad Core,
18 inch screen,
the thing is loaded.

[Boards of Canada @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:30PM]

This is a nice market... some rich kids will get it all over the world.

Anyway, its almost the same price as a full spec macpro! but at least that one ride like hell!!