14 DAY TRIAL // I guess Dell's idea of a PC can be somewhat irritating from time to time. And I don't say that because I think that Dell rocks. In fact, I don't like large system integrators because they are too fixed on their designs. And where there's no flexibility, the final product always comes out rather plain and boring. However, Dell has a special way with things. And although they are fixed on their ideas too, the Dell PCs still come out different from the rest. Ok, maybe I'd prefer an Alienware beast but I also like the XPS series. Talking of which, Dell decided to do something totally different this time.
I must admit that a Vapochill is not the best cooling solution in the world. While a compressor based cooling system is pretty good when it comes to cooling extreme solutions, the idea of installing such a device in a user-oriented PC is not the best. Phase-change cooling devices can be rather bulky and hardly fit in standard desktop cases. Moreover, the cooling device itself needs to be installed in a proper manner in order to work. So it's not the brightest idea ever, especially since 90% of the modern PCs don't need it. But the new XPS series does.
Or so it seems. A recent update posted by dell on the XPS 710 site revealed some future plans regarding a specially designed cooling device named "Black Ice". There weren't any details available, but it seems that the system works based on the same phase-change principle that Asetek's Vapochill uses. Dell plans to unleash the overclocking potential of its Core 2 XPSes with the help of Blue Ice. As I've said, details are unknown but simply mentioning such a device is enough for now. I'd like this project to materialize but not because I think that the XPS line needs it, but rather because it will make the PCs even more exclusive than before. And I guess that Dell has the same feelings about Blue Ice.