Dell Dimension XPS: Gaming with all the Trimmings

Final Words

Dell has targeted the Dimension XPS at the Gaming Enthusiast who has no interest in building and tweaking a system. This user either wouldn't know where to begin to build their own system, or they would prefer the comfort of owning a system with excellent warranty protection from a top-tier manufacturer. Frankly, this is the largest percentage of potential buyers in this marketplace, and we need to keep that in mind. It may not be the largest percentage of AnandTech readers, however, but there is no doubt that most computer users would prefer to buy their system assembled from top components and already set up for them. Dell reaches this target market very well with the Dimension XPS. These shoppers are more often comparing features, and Dell has provided all the top-notch features to raise it to the top of most any comparison of Gaming Machines.

There is also substance behind the features. As you saw in our review of the 20" Flat-Panel 16ms monitor, Dell has truly provided one of the first and few flat-panels fully capable of beautiful and fast gaming performance. The 20" flat-panel is a fantastic gaming monitor – no matter how you look at it. We also found the performance of the 500GB RAID array, top-line ATI Radeon 9800 XT, and Audigy 2 exemplary. This system will certainly please many gamers who want the best and the bragging rights to go with it. Dell is also famous for delivering value with their special promotions, and if you decide that this is the system for you, Dell has provided a Special Promotion for AnandTech readers. You can buy a system exactly like the one we tested for $3399. To get this special price, you need to enter E-Value code 6V411-XPSRPW when you order the system from Dell. The E-value code is also valid for phone orders.

There are gamers who also would not think of building their own gaming system, but who would like to use the fastest memory around, or have the ability to tweak their new system a bit more to get the absolute best performance. We suspect that the majority of AnandTech readers might fall in this category. This group will likely be a bit disappointed in the lack of any adjustments at all in the Dell XPS BIOS. They will find that they will gain little or no performance increase with faster memory, which will not perform at fastest timings in the Dimension XPS. To be fair, there is another side of this coin. The Dell is set up to achieve top performance with DDR400 3-3-3-8 memory and it does perform well with this memory. The fact that the XPS performs well with DDR400 at slower timings also means you can save some money on expanding memory on the XPS. In the end, you will have to decide if this is really important to you.

The last group is the Enthusiast, Hobbyist, or Overclocker who, frankly, wouldn't be caught dead buying this gaming rig. With no tweaking options at all, the XPS would be a complete disappointment to this group, and would be considered a waste of good components. This group would be happier building their own system from the best components available.

All of this is the reason companies aim products at different market categories. The Dell Dimension XPS will be the best thing since sliced-bread for some, while others will see the Dell as far short of their individual goals. I will leave this consideration to our readers.

Last, we should look at the Dell Dimension XPS in absolute terms. At default settings, is it the best gaming system we have tested? The answer here is “yes and no”. It is one of the best performing Intel Pentium 4 machines that we have ever tested. It is not the absolute best compared to other P4 systems, but it is certainly competitive in virtually every area and simply outstanding in other performance areas. We fully expect the XPS to be even better with the P4EE processor, but we really wish we could squeeze more out of this promising machine with better memory timings.

The Athlon64 FX is still the best-performing gaming machine that we have tested. We are in the process of testing a similarly equipped Athlon64 FX gaming rig from ElitePC, and we are anxious to compare performance to the XPS. It should be an interesting comparison.

If you are in the market for a top Pentium 4 Gaming Computer from a top-tier manufacturer, the Dell Dimension XPS will please you. It has a wonderful screen and performs very well. It comes assembled and is set up for top performance. If you prefer overclocking, adjusting your computer yourself for top performance, or the ability to use a standard ATX motherboard in the future, then you should look elsewhere. The XPS is a great gaming machine that will satisfy many, but it will definitely not satisfy all.