Reviews - Dell Studio XPS: Intel's Core i7 system for £699

[HEXUS]

Dell turns the Core i7 world on its head by releasing a fully-built system for £699. We tell you if it's worth the wonga.

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[Biscuit]

wow that is quite unbeatable value for money! i wish there was consumer mATX x58 mobos Come n gigabyte you always do that kinda thing, bring it on!

[Maccer101]

That is a pretty amazing price for the hardware, pity dell don't equip their machines with a 120mm rear fan and the option for a decent sized front one (there will not be a 3-4 pin fan header on the mobo for an extra fan and there are no molex adaptors on the PSU)

The article states it has a rear 80mm fan, this must be a mistake as the Inspiron 530 has a 92mm fan and the case is pretty much identical.

I can understand why they don't allow you to tinker with the BIOS from their perspective, but that'll keep me for ever buying another one

[Tarinder]

That is a pretty amazing price for the hardware, pity dell don't equip their machines with a 120mm rear fan and the option for a decent sized front one (there will not be a 3-4 pin fan header on the mobo for an extra fan and there are no molex adaptors on the PSU)

The article states it has a rear 80mm fan, this must be a mistake as the Inspiron 530 has a 92mm fan and the case is pretty much identical.

I can understand why they don't allow you to tinker with the BIOS from their perspective, but that'll keep me for ever buying another one

Yup, I was measuring the fan from the back, across the chassis, which was closer to 80mm. However after taking it out and measuring it again it is 92mm.

[kingpotnoodle]

That's the same case as used in Vostro machines as well, it is surprisingly good considering its very low cost. Got quite a few in the office and they do fine with mid range internals...

This is brilliant value for money on an i7 machine, lets hope Dell start a trend!

[kalniel]

Sweet!

[Maccer101]

Dell do seem pretty good at making sure they keep their products up to date, I seem to remeber they switched to offering Intel 45nm chip quite quickly.

Just went on their site and yes the cost of upgrading seems higher than on the "old" intel 775 models. Going from a 640gb HDD to a 1TB was over £100! and for a GPU upgrade its tha same as buying the PC with the standard card and buying the upgrade separately and fitting it yourself.

Still cannot argue with the base price

[digit]

I like the price but I really dislike the cooling and the PSU. A friend with an older gen dell system has no fan at the front of his case and when he decided to run with 2 hard drives both got very hot to the point where he ended up just running with 1 hard drive internally instead of 2. Fans are cheap as it is, so to not include one at the front is skimping a bit .. 120mm at the front and 120mm at the rear surely not to much to ask?

[Funkstar]

A visual look

As opposed to the non-visual looking you usually do?

[Tarinder]

As opposed to the non-visual looking you usually do?

I can look at it with my eyes closed, if that's what you want.

[staffsMike]

It's a shame, there was a 5% discount voucher until last night..

Great value regardless.

[dgcorp]

It's a shame, there was a 5% discount voucher until last night..

From the "dmxdimension com" website (/dell-uk/studio-xps-deals-codes-coupons)
"Get a further 5% discount off any Dell Studio XPS with a final order value of £699 or more by using this Dell coupon code: 0XK05NH9VBRN9X
Just enter the code at checkout to claim the discount.
Coupon expiry date: Midnight, Wednesday, December 3rd 2008"


Including the other current Dell offers and the 15% VAT rate in the UK, that brings the total price of a base system with BluRay burner and 6Gb RAM to £677.79 inc. delivery.

I think I'm going to order one tomorrow as Christmas present to replace my Shuttle XPS PC that has died recently!

[matty-hodgson]

A visual look

As opposed to the non-visual looking you usually do?

[Biscuit]

From the "dmxdimension com" website (/dell-uk/studio-xps-deals-codes-coupons)
"Get a further 5% discount off any Dell Studio XPS with a final order value of £699 or more by using this Dell coupon code: 0XK05NH9VBRN9X
Just enter the code at checkout to claim the discount.
Coupon expiry date: Midnight, Wednesday, December 3rd 2008"


Including the other current Dell offers and the 15% VAT rate in the UK, that brings the total price of a base system with BluRay burner and 6Gb RAM to £677.79 inc. delivery.

I think I'm going to order one tomorrow as Christmas present to replace my Shuttle XPS PC that has died recently!

...is it wrong for me to want to buy a dell as my main machine, id feel so dirty

[matty-hodgson]

...is it wrong for me to want to buy a dell as my main machine, id feel so dirty

tbh, i don't think you could go far wrong if you bought one. Dell are well known for good quality and at £678, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't!

[Biscuit]

well there is the fact that they will have cut all kinds of useful features from the motherboard chipset + the lack of fans in the case...

TBH i wouldnt buy one, id pay the extra 200 odd just for the fun of putting the machine together + that money would go somewhere when you think of the extra features you would get from a fully fledged motherboard. Then there is the fact i can do some overclocking if i fancy it.

I understand i just went full circle just to disagree with you there but what the hell