After 2 months of owning this machine I figured I'd post a general review.
First off, it's as fast as it says it is, from boot times, to load times, to gaming, to dreamweaver, flash, internet, it runs everything about as fast as humanly possible.
I 3DMARK03 at 12066 with NO overclocking and a 500/500 settings on the X800 XT. I know I can push that if I use overdrive, but why bother? I play Doom 3 and Half Life 2 at high settings on 1280x1024 (anything higher hurts my eyes.)
The graphics are unreal, and the display (2001fp) is amazing. I heard all this stuff about how LCD's arent good for gaming, well let me tell you, its GREAT for gaming. I have a 22 inch NEC Multisync and a 21 inch Trinitron, and this is the SHARPEST picture of any monitor I own. Gaming, internet, desktop, pictures...its an amazing monitor, and Im NOT just saying that because I own it.
The Raptor 148gb RAID 0 array is sweet. The boot times and level load times seem pretty quick, programs load instantly, and you dont have to wait for virtually ANYTHING to be processed..no pun intended.
The P4 EE obviously helps push Doom and Half Life 2 out at high frame rates, but its hard to tell if everyday performance is any better due to the $1000 dollar processor. I would probably guess a 3.6-3.8 is just as fast in everything but gaming and multimedia type programs.
DVD burner runs like a champ, DVD player is great too. 1GB of RAM seems to be enough, though im not sure if DDRII is much more than DDRI in terms of performance.
The case is huge, and you can hear the system fans, especially during INTENSE gaming if your speakers are off. But this "loudness" that people complain about is non-existant and over exaggerated. If anything, the heat this thign pumps out when playing an hour or two of Doom 3 is most noticable. Its like a small space heater. The drive cover is a flimsy peice of plastic, and I DEFINETLY think they need to adjust it, and come up with a more solid drive door design.
Got the 3 year warranty, so I know I'm covered for a while. Dell shipped the thing in 2 days after order, and it was here in 2 days after that. I did get 40% off, which brought the total for the system itself down to 2055 bucks with 100 dollar mail in rebate and free shipping. A steal to say the least. As usual no problems with delivery, credit card being charged, or the rebate which arrived right on time. It pays to deal with big business...sometimes!
Overall feeling: If you're into gaming, the XPS is a serious contender, and can take on any game you throw at it, and will pass with flying colors. Select the top hardware, and you'll be able to play anything on pretty much any setting. Enjoy and feel free to message me for any other info!
Take care all.
COMMISH
First off, it's as fast as it says it is, from boot times, to load times, to gaming, to dreamweaver, flash, internet, it runs everything about as fast as humanly possible.
I 3DMARK03 at 12066 with NO overclocking and a 500/500 settings on the X800 XT. I know I can push that if I use overdrive, but why bother? I play Doom 3 and Half Life 2 at high settings on 1280x1024 (anything higher hurts my eyes.)
The graphics are unreal, and the display (2001fp) is amazing. I heard all this stuff about how LCD's arent good for gaming, well let me tell you, its GREAT for gaming. I have a 22 inch NEC Multisync and a 21 inch Trinitron, and this is the SHARPEST picture of any monitor I own. Gaming, internet, desktop, pictures...its an amazing monitor, and Im NOT just saying that because I own it.
The Raptor 148gb RAID 0 array is sweet. The boot times and level load times seem pretty quick, programs load instantly, and you dont have to wait for virtually ANYTHING to be processed..no pun intended.
The P4 EE obviously helps push Doom and Half Life 2 out at high frame rates, but its hard to tell if everyday performance is any better due to the $1000 dollar processor. I would probably guess a 3.6-3.8 is just as fast in everything but gaming and multimedia type programs.
DVD burner runs like a champ, DVD player is great too. 1GB of RAM seems to be enough, though im not sure if DDRII is much more than DDRI in terms of performance.
The case is huge, and you can hear the system fans, especially during INTENSE gaming if your speakers are off. But this "loudness" that people complain about is non-existant and over exaggerated. If anything, the heat this thign pumps out when playing an hour or two of Doom 3 is most noticable. Its like a small space heater. The drive cover is a flimsy peice of plastic, and I DEFINETLY think they need to adjust it, and come up with a more solid drive door design.
Got the 3 year warranty, so I know I'm covered for a while. Dell shipped the thing in 2 days after order, and it was here in 2 days after that. I did get 40% off, which brought the total for the system itself down to 2055 bucks with 100 dollar mail in rebate and free shipping. A steal to say the least. As usual no problems with delivery, credit card being charged, or the rebate which arrived right on time. It pays to deal with big business...sometimes!
Overall feeling: If you're into gaming, the XPS is a serious contender, and can take on any game you throw at it, and will pass with flying colors. Select the top hardware, and you'll be able to play anything on pretty much any setting. Enjoy and feel free to message me for any other info!
Take care all.
COMMISH
I suspect he's registered here because of his 600m. I for one appreciate the report on the XPS desktop, however. It's never a bad thing to expand your knowledge. 
