Good From the Factory? The Dell Studio XPS 7100
by Dustin Sklavos on July 7, 2010 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Dell
- AMD
- Radeon
- Studio XPS 7100
Dell Studio XPS 7100 Performance
No review would be complete without a look at actual performance, and here we have to add a disclaimer: we haven't reviewed any other pre-built systems lately, so we lack reference points. We're going to stick with a simple table of results format for this review and refer to our Bench results if you're looking for more details. Note that we use a fast SSD for our apples-to-apples Bench database, so the XPS 7100 is at a major disadvantage in benchmarks that hit the HDD, but you can always address that by adding your own SSD. Here's how the system performs, starting with general application results.
| Dell XPS 7100 Performance Overview | |
| PCMark Vantage | 6740 |
| Cinebench R10 1-CPU | 3596 |
| Cinebench R10 6-CPU | 16140 |
| X264 720p Encode Pass 1 | 77.29 |
| X264 720p Encode Pass 2 | 24.79 |
Not surprisingly, the results match up relatively well with our Bench database, coming within 2% of our test platform. Given the similar performance, you can refer to our full Bench results to see how the Phenom II X6 1055T performs in other tests; our Bench results use an HD 5870, so the gaming performance should be comparable as well.
| Dell XPS 7100 3DMark Results | |
| 3DMark Vantage Performance | 15533 |
| 3DMark Vantage Entry | 30856 |
| 3DMark06 | 18209 |
| 3DMark05 | 22312 |
| 3DMark03 | 69538 |
3DMark scores look to be in line with what we find online, and gaming performance is obviously not a problem for 1080p/WUXGA displays. We measured 41 FPS in Crysis: Warhead at "Gamer" settings, which is definitely playable. Considering that remains one of the most demanding titles around, it's a safe bet that just about every other game will run fine at High settings and 1080p. That said, the performance won't match custom built overclocked systems with similar components. What you're getting is convenience and a single support contact for a good price; no more, no less.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
69 Comments
View All Comments
Quake - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
Overclocking? Dell? Please...seapeople - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
The other MAJOR problem with buying a desktop computer from Dell is that you're out of luck if you want to run drivers specific to HP laptops. So if you want to run such drivers, you should probably get a computer that supports it.Also, if you're planning to upgrade to a more power hungry $400 video card in the future, isn't it possible to pay $70 for a better power supply as well?
erikstarcher - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
What in the world are you talking about? Why would you want to run specific HP laptop drivers on a Dell desktop??? Am I missing the point, or did you type something wrong?seapeople - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
I was implying that expecting to overclock a Dell is almost like expecting to run HP specific laptop drivers on a Dell desktop. It was sarcasm. I must have failed.prof.yustas - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
I have a very similarly configured system, but compared to my older DELL, it is loud. Short of changing the case (or using liquid cooling), what can I do to make it quieter?Thanks.
HangFire - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
Open it up, run it, and stop each fan one by one with your fingertip or a rubber eraser. When the big noise goes away, you have found the problem fan. Call Dell and RMA that part.prof.yustas - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
There is no problem with parts. The system is just loud because it uses more fans and those fans are more powerful, I guess.wilmarkj - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
You cant compare a Dell to a machine built from standard OEM parts. Dells tend to have non standard motherboard sizes, cases, powersupplies, power connectors with odd pinouts. SOme have suggested that dell does this to deliberately prevents users from servicing their systems. I always tell everyone a built up system will cost you more but the advantage comes when you need to change out/upgrade a subsystem, they dell you just throw away.erikstarcher - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
This is no longer true. Most Dell machines have standard mATX motherboard layouts, and use standard power supplies. Some minor modifications may be needed due to power switch on the back of a power supply, or different pinouts used for the front of the case lights, etc. The only ones that differ are their optiplex machines and they use the BTX standard, and small form factor machines, which there is no standard for. They did use non-standard parts many years ago, but not anymore.wilmarkj - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
I wont trust them as you have no control over what they use (unless i see a commitment on their website that they use standard industry parts) although you are saying this case its standard parts. Due to their history i wont trust this - a computer from dell has to be at least 20% cheaper for this to be a good comparison for similarly bought retail hardware. Just yesterday i was hooking up a recently company bought Optiplex and it had some crazy DMS 59 connector for the monitor (video card), although it appeared to be a standard ATI video card.