14 DAY TRIAL // Dell has been trying to wrap its latest gaming system in a veil of mystery for about two months. Well, the XPS 630 desktop computer is finally here, but it's far from what the company hinted it would be like.
The new XPS 630 desktop computer extends Dell's gaming PC offering. Although Dell touts the new-comer as first OEM PC to support the Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA), the system is still far from what the boutique custom PC integrators used their customers with. The Dell XPS 630 is just an entry-level gaming rig with a boutique price tag. The computer follows the general lines of the more pricey 700-series in a slightly smaller chassis.
It's true, the model has its interesting parts, such as the ESA architecture, that lets users monitor some aspects of the computer's functionality, such as airflow, lighting and temperature of the chassis, power efficiency and power-supply temperature via Nvidia's nTune software.
The XPS 630 gaming rig features an Nvidia nForce 650 SLI chipset, two PCI-Express x16 slots, four internal 5.25-inch HDD bays, Corsair Dominator system memory on four DIMM slots, GeForce 8800 GT 512MB graphics card, Light FX 2.0 technology as well as a 750W power supply to meet the energy demands of the power-hungry beast. The system is powered by a Core 2 Quad 6600 (2.4 GHz) CPU, and a 320 GB hard drive to meet the storage requirements. There is more, as the user can ask for additional hardware such as an AGEIA PhysX physics accelerator card and a Blu-ray drive.
"Since its inception, the Dell XPS line has been committed to delivering aggressive, competitive and attractive options for a broad spectrum of PC gamers," said Dell gaming head Arthur Lewis. "With the Dell XPS 630, we have the unique and exciting opportunity to offer a system that brings together the needs of enthusiasts and casual gamers."
The main use for the rig is gaming, and Dell made it extremely overclockable. Pricing for the XPS 630 starts at $1,299 for the basic configuration, but it will increase proportionally with the requested hardware subsystems. The company also offers a $1299 version of the gaming rig, which comes with a second 8800 GT graphics card. The XPS 630 will start shipping on February 27.