Dell Studio XPS 9100 arrives with six cores, little fanfare
By Sean Hollister 
posted Jul 31st 2010 7:13PM
posted Jul 31st 2010 7:13PM
AMD had its turn in the high-end Dell desktop spotlight, but it's time for another Intel beast, as the company's quietly upgraded its tower lineup to support Intel's consumer-grade champion chip, the 3.33GHz Core i7-980X. While the new Studio XPS 9100 looks just the same as its predecessor on the outside and sports the same basic options and ports, internally there's a 525W power supply with enough juice for a Radeon HD 5970 2GB graphics card (a $580 option) and slots for up to 24GB of DDR3 memory. You won't be getting any of this pixel-pushing goodness on the $950 base model, of course, which has only a (respectable) quad-core 2.66GHz Core i7-920 and an Nvidia GeForce G310 512MB, but the machine looks like it could hold its own with low-end Alienware cousins if you get into $2,000+ territory. Call us crazy, but we think there's a configurator session with your name on it.
that is the most pathetic power supply in the world.
i'll punch you if you say otherwise.
@dedparrot
i just realized the psu isn't supposed to power the hd 5970, you're obviously going to get a better psu if you configure your system and include a hd 5970.
@dedparrot
otherwise
@dedparrot
Well I won't buy it then...I'll just configure it. Customizable options are like a drug.
@dedparrot And if I agree? Hug time?
PS: Where does it say the PSU changes, cuz that does suck?
@dedparrot I got my PC from CyberpowerPC, you can chose any power supply you want, any graphics card you want, and no sales tax.
I buy all my tech toys from small, out of state companies in order to avoid a sales tax (Newegg, NCIX, IBuyPower). I saved $100+ by avoiding the sales tax and used that money for a nice boost to my RAM.
@dedparrot he is right lol it should have at least 700+
@Sea Urchin
Yeah, my gaming beast came from CP. Their customer service and everything other then my pc sucked though.
@dedparrot
Yeah they should add an extra 200 useless watts just for the hell of it.
Freakin wannabe geeks...
Anyway, I don't need Dell or anyone to put the parts together but their cases are pretty damn neat.
@dedparrot
Now if only they'd put out the frigging streak already.
I love configuring setup's that I will never own!!
@lostcase
tell me about it
@lostcase
yes it's quite amusing when bored
sadding though realizing you will never be able to afford a 10000 machine
even if you had one though I couldn't see the use of 12 cores 4 gpus 32 gigs ram and 10 tb data storage
@lostcase
LOL, dont lose hope man! You can do it!
just get the world in another recession and use the credit option
@lostcase
After hours of playing around with their customization interface in the ultra expensive precision line, I go back to offers and select a pre-configured fast-sending, 18 month vostro/inspiron laptop :(
This is a bad boy
Building a rig from scratch will always be a cheaper option for higher specs, but this isn't a shabby offering from Dell. Oh and btw, what in God's name could anyone need 24GB of RAM nowadays?! Future proof for down the road and upgrades I am guessing.
@VAVA Mk 2
Even then, I'm pretty sure more efficient technology will be introduced by the time we begin reaching 24GB of RAM as the norm. I think it's good to future-proof computers, but not for too long. I like future-proofing mine for 3-5 years.
@VAVA Mk 2
24 gigs is a lot for most people. However, if you get into very detailed 3d animation work, you can have files that are in the gigabytes. I have mudbox files that are 2.5gb each that I'm afraid to add to just because it can grow exponentially.
@ALBGunner04
I don't know. Ram has been around for a long time. I can't see it getting replaced any time soon, even in the next 5-10 years.
@jstevens Maybe not a ram alternative. Rather much faster ram
@VAVA Mk 2
Really depends on what you're doing. I'm a developer and I run ALOT of VMs simultaneously for the work and testing I do, so I've got 12gigs in my home computer along with dual i7. And at work I've got a server class machine that has 32gigs and has 3 xeon processors in it.
Again, just depends on the line of work your in.
@VAVA Mk 2
Virtual Machines. Lots of them , I am guessing.
@PBB
i7 chip CAN"T run in a dual setup. they are single qpi. this is why they are so much cheaper than xeon equivalents. intel is proud of their dual qpi. there is no existence of a triple qpi either. xeon chips run in pairs. you just made your statement very unbelievable.
@Windhawk omg COSMO :D
I have the 420 XPS right now. it's a POS. Plus the fan died less in a year. Now I can't even find a single place that even sells a 350W power supply, thanks a bunch Dell for your over price PC. Next time I'll be getting a HP or build my own never buy Dell ever again.
@Inspector Gadget80
Manufacturers usually use the lowest wattage power supplies they can get away with. Custom builders usually go above and beyond what's necessary for the sake of future upgradeability. If the Dell only used 350W, then they're only going to stick a 350W PSU in it.
@Inspector Gadget80 ..don't get an HP, or any other brand..build it.
@Inspector Gadget80
I have one too, and it's been working pretty much non-stop ever since I bought it, almost 3 years ago now. I changed the DVD drive for a Blu-Ray burner, and added RAM. The only issue I'm having is that the X-Fi I ordered with it is going all wonky from time to time, screeching sounds and all that. My sister has the very same configuration, and it's perfectly working too.
@ManjyomeThunder
I agree, but in Dell's defense they actually underrate their powersupplies, while most aftermarket manufacturers exaggerate theirs.
If a Dell says 350 watt, it'll output that w/ 80%+ efficiency. If a HEC, Coolmax, Rosewill, or Athena PSU says 350 watt, that was in some laboratory fluke test run inside a refrigerator on a bench that no one will be able to reproduce at any reasonable efficiency level.
@Ducman69
This is true as well. Which is why I hope most custom builders aren't morons and make sure to buy from Corsair or PC Power and Cooling.
@Inspector Gadget80
I have a XPS8100 and it's pretty good, due to some sale it was actually cheaper than building my own (dutch prizes). Don't have a problem with it, running the system almost non stop for 4 months now (damn you, torrents and damn me for actually wanting everything there is to download) and it still works just fine. If any of the system would break easily it would've probably done so by now.
@Inspector Gadget80
Then get one with higher wattage.
@Inspector Gadget80 Based on what you wrote there: you didn't send it it back to get repaired then? Or at least have Dell send you a replacement fan? If it failed in less than a year, it would be covered by Dell's service plan, even if you didn't pay to upgrade it. Also, if the power supply wasn't powerful enough, why were you looking for another 350W supply, instead of upgrading to a 650W or something? Dell hasn't used proprietary plugs for power supplies in quite some time, so you could have used anything you wanted.
@Ducman69
" in Dell's defense they actually underrate their powersupplies, while most aftermarket manufacturers exaggerate theirs"
Cooler master, Lian-li, antec, seasonic, corsair, zalman, pc power & cooling, enermax would all like to disagree. I'm pretty sure dell doesn't make it's own PSU's either.
I roll my own, thanks.
@Ducman69 You mean the one I built for you? Your welcome.
XPS line rarely disappoints!
I like that case a lot.
And to think - they did it without taking down their online store - without all the techblogs speculating what they'll be upgrading it to - or if it's even being upgraded - without having to hold a pretentious 'press event' or wait for a developer's conference to announce it (and read live blogs about) - and they let you configure almost everything in it to YOUR requirements - not theirs...
Oh... and you can get it with a BD writer... :)
Someone tell me why I decided I need to have 6 cores, 24GB of DDR3 RAM, a HD5970, 1.5tb in Raid 0 + 2TB of additional storage space, a bluray burner + a dvd burner, 2 monitors (one 21" multitouch display (is that thing any good?) and a 27" display) and windows 7 ultimate?
But the damned thing only costs me $200 a month, so I'm fine.
Poor psu for that machine. Still don't understand why someone would buy this for a gaming machine, just build your own.
@WoodyHD
Not as easy as people make out. When it's all going according to plan, clipping stuff together and turning some screws is easy. However if something goes wrong and you need to start troubleshooting that's when the challenge starts.
@tobsmonster2
You seem to have spelt 'fun': 'c', 'h', 'a', 'l'...
@tobsmonster2
Very true, when you have a warranty issue in the first 30 days, you get a new one, and after that a on-site tech visits your house the next business day and fixes it (or gets three attempts before replacing the whole thing). If you built your own, YOU have to figure out if its your memory, harddrive, motherboard, or whatever that failed and call the appropriate place and convince them that you're right that its their part that is broken. For a tech thats no problem, for your average Joe, fuggedaboudid.
There are also times when big-box builders with their mass production discounts can put together a completed warrantied desktop together on sale for cheaper than you could make it yourself.
I liked the older XPS models.
I love doing the configuration of computers on Dell, HP, Apple etc. But I would never purchase a desktop because it is cheaper to build your own.
That case is fugly.
bit of a mac pro rip-off (esp. the bottom half)
but then again, it's a dell....
@sighclops
You're right, no case had metallic grills prior to the mac pro. /s