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 User Experience
The performance of the Dell Studio XPS 7100 is mostly an amalgam of known quantities; we've run some cursory benchmarks but performance generally falls in line with what we know of the Phenom II X6 and the Radeon HD 5870. Suffice it to say, if you're going to be doing any gaming or media work, the XPS 7100 in this configuration is more than up to the task.
Well, almost. It may very well be the SB750 attached to the single Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drive, but the system just doesn't feel as snappy as a machine with a faster storage subsystem might. Anand is a major proponent of using an SSD for the system drive and a large mechanical drive for storage and that's probably a wise investment here. Also consider that for heavy video work, it's extremely wise to use two separate drives anyhow: one to render from, a scratch drive, and one to render to, a project drive. The storage subsystem remains the slowest component of the modern PC, and anything you can do to mitigate that will help.
What's a nice change of pace from not too long ago is the lack of bloat the XPS 7100 ships with. Windows 7 already does a great job of obscuring bloat (between hiding icons in the system tray and just plain running well), but there's very little here to obscure. The included Dell software is mostly useful, offering driver updates, online support, and use of Dell's “DataSafe” online storage service. If there's an odd outlier it's Dell's dock software. The dock offers sets of shortcuts at the top of the screen not totally dissimilar to the dock in Mac OS X. It's attractive and was probably more useful when Vista was shipping, but the revised taskbar in Windows 7 renders it somewhat redundant.
There are really only two troublesome apps that come bundled with the XPS 7100. The first is, ironically, Dell's own update software. Dell's software is certainly useful, but it has a habit of just randomly popping up whenever you're doing something else, right in the middle of the screen. So if you're, say, running benchmarks all day, you might find your run completely ruined by this random interloper. Likewise, the bundled McAfee Security Center isn't at all unusual to see in factory machines, and remains one of the most obnoxious and least useful PC security suites on the planet. It nags you to complete the setup and register it just to be able to uninstall, though you can force-kill via task manager and go into the Control Panel for the uninstall process.
Overall, the experience of using the Dell Studio XPS 7100 was surprisingly a joy. The system is definitely high performance, the factory install was very clean, but most importantly and probably best of all, it just runs coolly and quietly. One might expect a factory computer to be fairly noisy – especially given the 125W Phenom II X6 processor and the 187W ATI Radeon HD 5870 – but even under load the XPS 7100 is actually remarkably quiet.
To give some sense of just how wonderfully quiet the XPS 7100 is, consider this: I have my own custom built desktop running in an Antec P182 case. I use an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650, overclocked, under a Xigmatek S1283 cooler. Hanging out below that is an ATI Radeon HD 5870. All the fans in my case are on low and the processor cooler is configured in the BIOS to run silently and only spin up under extreme load. My case produces the softest of hums, and that hum actually drowns out the XPS 7100. Some reviews – including our own – suggest the Radeon HD 5870 is pretty loud, but I honestly haven't heard it.
Of course, none of that would matter if the insides of the XPS 7100 were marinating in their own succulent juices, but lo and behold, the card and processor run surprisingly cool. Just putting your hand under the bottom vent on the face you can feel a quiet intake fan, and the clean cabling and spacing inside the case likely contribute to the excellent thermal characteristics.
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JarredWalton - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
Dell stopped using proprietary PSUs and cases (other than the BTX models) about 3-4 years back. Previously, you needed an adapter to use a standard ATX power supply with a Dell motherboard, but that has not been the case for some time. I believe I even mentioned this when I did a Dell system review in 2006... yes, here it is:http://www.anandtech.com/show/2081/4
wilmarkj - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
Buddy, you are missing my point - unless there is a commitment from Dell that it wont use not standard parts in desktop computers - connectors (all types needed by the enthusiast), voltages, cables, etc, your point is moot. And its not just about the power/mb cnx. You are merely saying that in this case... or it has been the case in systems you've worked with. They took a decision in the past to do this and the easily can again, or have or will, in some cases etc. Its a risk, one i wont take as an enthusiast to end up with an oversized brick. I SAY AGAIN - Dells have to be significantly cheaper for a level playing field. Parts you buy from ASUS, Gigabyte, from newegg, TigerD etc will always be standard and interchangeable - with one of the other 8 computers i have here. Google some key words like Dell Non standard parts etc and you will see this issue is still alive and well.LokutusofBorg - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
You may not be able to compare Dells to DIY, but I certainly can. It's a subjective comparison. You don't seem to get that point.I've been building my own computers for more than a decade. I also have built computers for family members and friends. Guess what family members and friends get nowadays? Dells. Guess what my own computers still are? Self-built.
Can I call you buddy too?
wilmarkj - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
Sure you can call me buddy. I supposed you love the 'standard' mounts for hard disks in your dell XPS, or the short psu cables, and these compare very subjectively well what you'd get with Antec etc - right.LokutusofBorg - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
I'm pretty sure you don't know what subjectively means. It means I put my own value system on the judgment, so it is completely isolated to my situation. There is no reason to talk about comparing Dells to DIY *objectively* because every decision like this (what computer to buy) is a personal one.Dell fits parts of the market very well. Lots of us that consider ourselves system builders quite happily buy Dells in certain circumstances. This was a great article from one of my favorite sites on the merits of a certain Dell model as well as the current trend of Dell to target mainstream segments with competitive pricing.
DominionSeraph - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
Try getting an i7 or DDR3 to fit on your 440BX motherboard.The simple fact is, incremental upgrades are rarely worth it, and nothing has ever been future proofed nor been universal.
AMD and Intel come out with a new socket practically every year. Server and consumer parts are rarely compatible. Multiprocessor systems can be a nightmare. RAM changes constantly, motherboards are finicky about what type/speed and in what configuration you place them, and we won't even get into buffered/ECC.
I've got a box I originally put together in '99. With a total of ~$3000 invested, it's now up to a Pentium III 700 with 384MB, a Geforce 2 GTS, and a 60GB PATA HDD. Great investment, no?
Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you buy this epitome of an enthusiast machine from me for, say, $1,149.99?
wilmarkj - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
I think you are in the wrong place - upgrades to a large extent mean Changing out: mb+ram+cpu OR graphics OR ps OR case OR monitors OR storage or any combination of these. It seldom makes sense to CO just the CPU or RAM, or the MB. Those guts (mb+cpu+ram) usually finds its way into another system (your own or sold), etc. Stuff you bought in '99 isnt likely to be worth anything really unless its an antique. Just a little primer in upgrading.DominionSeraph - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
You just disproved your own point with "another system."If you have two computers, you have two computers. Putting some new parts into an old case and transferring old parts to a new case is not somehow more efficient than leaving the old system together and buying an entirely new one. Your brain might be fooled into thinking that buying two halves for two different computers is somehow less than buying one entirely new computer computer, but it's not..
wilmarkj - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
As i said you seem to be in the wrong place. When you change out the MB/CPU/RAM to the current technology - for most practical purposes you have a 'new' system. The only other thing you may want to look at is what you video card is capable of. Other than that the other parts you are likely to put in an entirely new build will most likely perform just a well as the old parts (old for me means about 6mths to 1 year). Allowing you to take the core of the system you just upgraded to improve the performance of another even older system. This way just buying a single MB/CPU/RAM or even a new video card allow you to upgrade several systems. Theres no fooling here of the brain here - you will get measurable performance improvements commensurate with the upgrades. There, you got another lesson.GamerDave20 - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - link
Dominion,Your point about upgrades made me think back to the mid-1990's. Subjectively, most upgrades apparently ARE worth it to the upgrader.
I tend to want a completely new system after 2 to 4 years rather than upgrading my current system that I am usually quite tired of.
This may also stem from some of my past experience such as: buying a $4,000 P90 system in 1995 with a Diamond Stealth with 2MB VRAM! only to upgrade in 1996 to a Matrox Millenium ($419) and adding an Orchid Righteous 3D ($300) 6 months later.
Eventually, I swapped both out in 1998 for a $200 Diamond Stealth II which absolutely smoked my then favorite game - Soda Off-Road Racing.
Shortly thereafter, I built a P200MMX system and used the Stealth II and put the P90 back to stock and sold it at a garage sale for $200. :( (don't remember what I did with the $700-worth of video cards though).
Anyways, from this stemmed a rule for me to never by a single computer component (for a new system or as an upgrade) for more than $200 and that it's more fun to just start over - although hard drive upgrades have kept me going for another year several different times.
But, to me, nothing beats a brand new system (unless you buy it and then research all the components to find out that the vendor used all of the least expensive of everything (like my P90)!
Anyways, having hating Dell in the past due to their anemic stock RAM loadouts (256MB for WinXP in the early 2000's), this system sounds worth a look. I only periodically look at Dell's laptops (with there current lack of great video cards in their XPS laptops) and have not noticed this system or any desktop of Dell's.
Also, in the past 6 months, I haven't been able to price pieces for a system to build that satisfies me for less than $1,200 and that includes an HD 5770. So this isn't too bad.
Dave (GamerDave20)