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(Source: CNET)

If you’ve been keeping up with the recent torrent of news, you’d know that the delayed Dell XPS 700 gaming powerhouse will come equipped with Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo processors. But more likely than not, the XPS 700 is far too high-end (and far too pricey) a PC for even the gamers in most of us.

So, what do you get if you really, really need to test out Intel’s latest microprocessor offering? Get a Dell XPS 410 - a Core 2 Duo E6600-powered replacement of the aging XPS 400. CNET already has a review for it too, and they say it’s fast. Ironically though, it’s also pretty expensive - value for money-wise, that is. But its US$2K+ price is surely leaps and bounds away from the US$4K+ Dell is demanding for the XPS 700.

So, if you’re looking to own the latest in processor technology, and want a PC that’s on the high-end - though not too high - give the XPS 410 a shot. After all, 7.2 out of 10 from CNET is still pretty respectable.

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 410.

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(Source: Intel)

Intel takes the lead again with today’s launch of the Core 2 Duo processor, or more accurately, 10 Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors.

While the average consumer will certainly be thrilled by the sheer power packed within these processors (which apparently consume 40% less power too), those who have yet to receive their Dell XPS 700 gaming desktops and have opted for Dell’s Core 2 Duo upgrade scheme will surely be the happiest.

After all, now that Core 2 Duo has been unveiled, it shouldn’t take “too” long for Dell to get some of it and pump those XPS 700’s out the factory door.

[News via Geekzone]

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 .

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

Remember the delayed XPS 700 gaming powerhouse that Dell said it would start shipping very soon? Well, it seems there might be further delays, and Dell is trying to mitigate the negative impact from this by pledging a free Core 2 Duo processor upgrade for those who ordered on or before 18 July.

Customers who accept Dell’s upgrade offer will also have to agree to an “extended wait time” - presumably for stock of Intel’s upcoming Core 2 Duo to come in.

At least this time, we’re hearing direct from the horse’s mouth, i.e. Dell’s newly-launched one2one blog. So, we most probably won’t have to look at problems like the recent overclocking misunderstanding issue XPS 700 customers experienced.

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 .

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

Although not a single unit of the Dell XPS 700 gaming desktop has been shipped since its intended shipping date in May, Dell has announced through its new weblog that the long delay will end this week.

While this piece of news will assuage the many customers hitting Dell’s Community Forums, this entire delay issue is surely not-so-good news for Dell’s already battered image.

At least, we can take heart in the fact that Dell has begun replying to customer complaints publicly through its new blog.

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 .

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

About.com’s tech. guide has just published another one of its traditional tech. specifications reviews, and this time, it’s on the newly released Dell XPS 700.

As expected, the XPS 700’s strong performance was a plus point for the reviewer, but the lack of liquid cooling and limited case designs pulled down the overall score. Well, there really wasn’t a score per se, but you get my point.

Anyway, the conclusion given was that, “Dell’s XPS line gets a boost with the new XPS 700 that offers a wide range of performance options for those on a budget or with as much money as they can spend. Don’t expect a lot of case designs to choose from though.”

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 .

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While the announcement that Dell would start using AMD Opteron chips in its servers - breaking a 22-year exclusive deal with Intel - came last month, only recently did news appear that Dell would start using AMD chips in its desktops as well.

Apparently, we could start seeing AMD-based Dell desktops (perhaps even on the Dell XPS line) as early as September this year - a move which should inject the sort of variety and customizability Dell consumers have been asking for since AMD processors started showing real promise a few years back.

Now, this is definitely good news for us consumers. After all, anything that erodes Intel’s 80% market share will always boost competiton, right?

[News via IT Week]

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

Like the Dell XPS 700’s design but hate its innards (and concomitant price level)? Well, now you can actually purchase a barebones system from Dell, and customize it as you wish without having to worry about voiding the original warranty like on full-featured Dell systems (not that a barebones system would have any sort of relevant warranty anyway).

For example, the Dell XPS 700 DIY kit starts at only US$1,120, which includes the cool chassis, power supply, an Intel motherboard, 512MB of RAM, and an Intel 930 processor.

But at the time of writing of this post, the URL for Dell’s new DIY section of their Dell.com store has yet to be disclosed.

[News via ExtremeTech]

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

Remember the concept systems we saw at E3? Well, the details, at least for one of them, are here. The red figure-of-eight XPS we saw earlier is the Dell XPS 700 - a full-featured gaming desktop, or at least one with the potential to be one of “the best pre-built systems in the world” according to bit-tech.net.

With the potential to slot in a dual-slot graphics card and two PCI slot cards (the PhysX card anyone?), the XPS 700 could very well become as beastly as its Renegade XPS 600 older brother. Of course, let’s not forget the possibility of four 500GB HDDs and 2GB of RAM.

However, as usual, with great power comes sacrifice. Monetary sacrifice. At least US$2,050 of it. And that’s just for the basic black and grey model. The relatively cooler Formula Red model starts at $2,622. Of course, you’ll get a 1-kilowatt power supply capable of powering a set of Nvidia’s Quad SLI graphics cards with that.

More information and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 here.

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(Source: Dell)

In an effort to remind the most demanding users of the superiority of its product line, Dell has launched two new workstations, with the Dell Precision 690 being the more powerful of the two.

The Precision 690 comes equipped with up to two Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5000 series (64-bit) processors, up to 64GB of DDR2 RAM (yes, 64GB) via optional memory risers, and even a 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 graphics card if you have the cash to splurge. It can also be fitted with up to 5 hard disk drives, i.e. 4 SAS and 1 SATA (boot).

Of course, “up to” and “potential” are words that are pretty much useless to most consumers since only madmen would pump their workstation with tens of thousands of dollars of RAM. So, we think it is more important to note that the Precision 690 starts as low as US$1,729, don’t you think so?

More information and reviews on the Dell Precision 690 here.

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

Following up on the cool paint jobs we saw on the Dell XPS Renegade 600 (both the original flame-red design and the recent X-Men design) are the visually strong designs of Dell’s XPS concept systems unveiled recently at E3.

Among the concept systems revealed were an airbrushed notebook decorated predominantly in dark blue, and a sleek tower desktop with an interesting figure-of-eight design.

[News via bit-tech.net]

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