Dell's Phenom II-equipped XPS 625 benchmarked to the hilt

Yeah, we already heard that Dell's Phenom II-equipped XPS 625 was a solid value, but what does that really mean? The testing fiends over at HotHardware sought to find out, and after putting this gaming beast through more tests than it ever wanted to endure, they mirrored most of the earlier (positive) sentiments. In fact, it was found to boast one of the best price-to-performance ratios out there, and the "minimalist" software installation definitely earned brownie points in our book. One thing that bothered critics, however, was the excessive amount of noise. We too have noticed that Dell's ginormous XPS towers -- which, by the way, reviewers also found to be unnecessarily heavy and unwieldy -- can emit some serious decibels under heavy loads, but you'd think the engineers in Round Rock would've figured out a solution by now. Still, those quirks are probably small hassles to deal with given the savings compared to similar rigs, but we'd highly recommend digging into the read link just to be sure.

[The Walrus @ Mar 6th 2009 2:41AM]

It may have a good price-to-performance ratio for a prebuilt, but it is nothing compared to the savings you get from building one yourself.

[LordFarkward @ Mar 6th 2009 3:04AM]

To many, myself included, the XPS customer service and the peace of mind is well worth the premium.

[Oli D @ Mar 6th 2009 3:11AM]

But if you build it yourself it wont spontaneously combust...?

Or are you too good for apparently unprovoked explosions?

[Oli D @ Mar 6th 2009 3:16AM]

And this also looks like its going to topple over...

[Mark @ Mar 6th 2009 5:01AM]

XPS customer service and peace of mind is good and all, I love it on my laptop. But I would NEVER buy a prebuilt computer. You don't need customer service for a computer you build. If something fails, you send it back to the manufacturer if its under warranty. If its not, (and in this case, XPS or not you'd be out of luck with Dell too) you get to upgrade it.

I've build 5 pc for myself and friends, and I've had 2 power supplies go out and a few noisy fans replaced.

I sleep well at night.

[Orappa @ Mar 6th 2009 2:37AM]

no specs?

[Oli D @ Mar 6th 2009 3:11AM]

Welcome to Engadget

[KarlW @ Mar 6th 2009 5:23AM]

I'll start you off - It's got a Phenom II

[Oli D @ Mar 6th 2009 3:10AM]

Dell, i would like you to meet my friend AMD.

[AltairAntares @ Mar 6th 2009 3:25AM]

A friend with the inability to put out a competing product that can keep up with current technology...

[Oli D @ Mar 6th 2009 3:26AM]

It can compete, it just doesnt make a big thing of it.

[ebonebrake @ Mar 6th 2009 11:19AM]

They compete, but they compete for price/performance ratio. Not necessarily top dog bragging right of, say, a $1000 i7 965. I don't know if you've noticed, but most people don't have the problem of not having enough pockets for their wads of cash.

[Eltorro @ Mar 6th 2009 12:00PM]

AltairAntares, people like you = dumb. AMD will always have a competing product. Who cares if they don't have the fastest processor out atm. You really think you could use that fastest processor to it's fullest?? My guesss is not.

[Bakkoda @ Mar 7th 2009 8:39AM]

Only thing that really stands out is the 750w PSU. Enough juice to slap another 4850 in there. Other than that pretty lackluster.

[Mr.E @ Mar 17th 2009 11:27AM]

Ginormous.... again? Gigantic or Enormous.... is spelling not a prerequisite of writing for engadget?

[rafa @ Mar 6th 2009 5:30AM]

I thought Dell is doomed. No?

[Gillah @ Mar 7th 2009 2:41PM]

"A friend with the inability to put out a competing product that can keep up with current technology...!"

LOL, now that sounds like a true INTEL fan! The reality, if you noticed in the benchmarks only the Core i7 bestest the Phenom 2 940. The Core i7 beat it by alot, but not earth shattering the way you make it seem. When did the Core i7 come out anyways? So when does a chip the best the top end Core 2 become midrange. I hear alot of bias in thar article.

[CraigButrick @ Mar 6th 2009 7:05AM]

Is it me or does thing look like a clone trooper?

[Gomer @ Mar 6th 2009 1:05PM]

"the engineers in Round Rock" *cough*China*cough*

[olsonick @ Mar 6th 2009 1:15PM]

I think Oli D is bored. I just don't know what I'll do without my final-boss-style red LEDs glowing forth from the XPS's grille.

[olsonick @ Mar 6th 2009 1:17PM]

In case anyone can't be bothered to click through a few pages, here's the spec sheet:

AMD Phenom II X4 940 (3.0 GHz) Quad-Core Processor
Passive Copper Heatpipe CPU / Active Northbridge Cooling System
4 GB DDR2-800 Memory (2 x 2 GB)
AMD 790FX Based Custom Motherboard
ATI Radeon 4850 Graphics, 512 MB, PCI Express 2.0
Western Digital Velociraptor 150GB, 10,000 RPM
Integrated 7.1 High Definition Audio (8-Channel Analog + 7.1 Optical S/PDIF)
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
8 x USB 2.0, 2 x Firewire 400, 1 x eSATA
750W ATX Power Supply
Custom Dell Chassis with AlienFX Lighting System
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64 Edition

[betelgeus @ Mar 8th 2009 12:52AM]

whats all this keeping up with intel and being aggreively priced.

the phenom 2 940 is only 10% cheaper than an i7 920 retail.which would you pick?

[Jake2k @ Mar 8th 2009 5:51PM]

epic fail on the case design imo

[Ian @ Mar 24th 2009 1:46PM]

fail