Dell to Rig Its XPS M1730s With Dual GeForce 8800M GTX Graphics

Back in September 2007, Dell announced their high-end XPS M1730 notebook, an extremely powerful mobile system that came with a 17-inch display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, dual drive configurations , as well as a plethora of ports and connectors.

The XPS notebook quickly became a success, and since it would flawlessly run the latest gaming titles, Dell issued a special version, dedicated to the World of Warcraft fans. Initially, the original XPS M1730 models came with Nvidia GeForce 8700M GS graphics controllers with Nvidia SLI technology and an Ageia PhysX hardware processing unit. Dell upped the ante and came with an offer no one can refuse: Nvidia 8800M GTX with dual SLI technology that is alleged to offer a 49 percent increase in benchmark video performance as compared to the previous 8700M.

"The XPS M1730 has been recognized as the standard for gaming laptops," claimed head of Dell's XPS group Glen Robson, in a statement. "With the addition dual GeForce 8800M GTX graphics with NVIDIA SLI technology, the XPS M1730 delivers DX10 gaming performance approaching high end desktops."

The dual GeForce 8800M GTX graphics processors come with 1GB of GDDR3 memory, and reach a performance of 13,500 points in the 3DMark2006 benchmark when running on the XPS M1730. The two new video cards are offered optionally for a $1000 upgrade if you already have a M1730 model that include a single 8700M GT chip. It would cost you less ($700) if your laptop comes with dual-8700 M GT processors.

However, if you decide to buy a brand-new M1730 system rigged with the dual 8800M GTX cards, then you'll have to pay at least $3400, but don't worry, additional options such as solid-state drives will raise its price up to an uncomfortable $7000. Given the price, Dell competes with almost any major boutique PC vendor, and especially with its own premium brand Alienware. The best Alienware could come is the well-known Alienware Area-51 m15x, that costs between $2100 and $5200, but only comes with a single graphics card, be it GeForce 8600M, 8700M or 8800M GTX.

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