Many thought Dell's XPS gaming brand would vanish into obscurity after the company acquired Alienware. Little did they know Dell would continue to produce outstanding gaming rigs, the flagship model for which is the brand new XPS 710 H2C.
On the surface, the machine resembles the original XPS 710, but it introduces two key elements we've never seen on a Dell computer. Firstly, it's factory overclocked, and secondly, it uses a space-age water-cooling system.
Our review sample of the H2C 710 can be customised up from the base spec on the Dell Web site for £3,203.45 (the base spec costs £2,998.99), although this is subject to change. It comes with a range of optional monitors up to 24 inches in size, but if you really want to push the boat out you can get Dell's 30-inch UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC, which brings the total to £4,218.
Design
The chassis for the XPC 710 H2C looks really intimidating. Given the choice between confronting a deranged serial killer or this monstrosity, we'd take the knife-wielding psycho every time. We're intimidated by its size, by the ominous whooshing sound it makes when we press the power button, and by the way the chassis is subtly slanted forward -- like it's about to pounce on your face.
Those brave enough to get close up are in for a treat. The exterior is made of glossy black aluminium, not that cheap plastic nonsense you get on Alienware desktops. Unfortunately, the metal doesn't extend to the front; instead you get a flimsy-looking plastic grille, which feels as if it could break under a heavy-handed touch.
We'll ignore the flimsiness, though; the tower has a set of four LED lights that shine down on the grille in such a way that the light beams seem to disappear gradually inside the case. The effect is attractive -- we've yet to meet a person who doesn't like it. There's also a light on the rear of the case -- the IO panel is lit by an LED, so it's very easy to see which holes you're jamming your cables into.
Features
The XPS 710 H2C packs some serious hardware. It uses an Intel quad-core QX6700 CPU -- that's the one with four individual processing cores on a single die. Not only that, but it's been factory-overclocked from the default 2.66GHz to a monstrous 3.2GHz. Imagine Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Heinz Wolff and the Nutty Professor all mashed on to a single chip then force-fed a load of Omega 3 -- it's that quick.
Dell could be forgiven for installing half a dozen cooling fans to keep the overclocked CPU from going into meltdown, but it's gone one better by installing a space-age two-part cooling system. The custom-designed H2C cooler combines standard water cooling with thermo-electric heat dissipation of the sort you usually find on a NASA space shuttle. The ceramic tiles deflect heat away from the CPU and clever circuitry inside regulates the temperature so the chip isn't damaged by condensation.
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User reviews3
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the-nth-warrior 21 March 2009
Good: The processor and cooling system.
Bad: The price, and everything else.
Comment: Check out what you can buy on Cyberpower systems for the same price. You will never look at Dell or Alienware again.
Binky 16 January 2008
Good: Huge beast of a PC, loads of raw power and looks it
Bad: No games can use it! PC applications cant quad core
Comment: What a beast, unpacking this is Geek heaven, there is something about a gloss black behemoth that just is Geek sex. Sadly though the first thing you want to do is use it and feel the power, but finding anything that stretches this beast is impossible, so living with it us ultimately futile and disapointing, perhaps the best analogy is being given a Porsche and having no driving license... having 200fps in your game makes you king, but you cant frag with fps.. what I need is skill.. damn you Dell...lol
Ryan L 1 May 2007
Good: Design & simplistic size is enough to make you wet your pants & hand over your wallet
Bad: Hugely expensive, temperamental to crashing constantly, built like a Dell (i.e. badly)
Comment: Let me get one thing straight early on, I like this computer (or should I say nuclear powered, kick boxing Black Mamba); in fact I so badly wanted to come and describe it as phenominal. But it just isnt.....I feel disappointed.
The H2C looks incredible, night or day. Its larger then most cars, has a specification that at least on paper causes its competitors to simply curl up in a corner and weep uncontrollably; and consumes more electricity than most major South American cities. Dell have definitely pushed out all the stops with this creation, allowing frame rates, rendering times & multiprocessing to break new records. The XPS range can finally enter into the Direct X 10, Quad-Core, MacPro world all us gamers demand.
BUT (and its a big one) H2C still fails to meet expectations let alone surpass them with a system of this price! Firstly, its built like a Dell..i.e. badly; with poor quality wiring, disk drives made from the cheapest of Chinese plastics and general fittings not up to par. Secondly, is the systems instability. I have had it for over 3 months now and I have lost count of the number of restarts, shutdowns, CTRL+ALT+DELETES I have done. Games shutdown unexpectally & BLUE SCREENS with graphics driver errors are a common sight.
But probably the biggest upset has been its performance. Yes with the Half Life's, Battlefield's and even Oblivion's of the gaming world, it has no problems. FSX is a different story with jittery frame rates at max resolution, slow responses. Playing Test Drive Unlimited is near impossible with STOP START part of the experience.
I am going on a bit but unlike other 'review' sites, I am tell the perspective of a real world user. Dont get me wrong, the H2C is a hysterically fast computer be it for video editing, current gen gaming & multiple program use. However I always thought it would be faster, free of problems......my mistake.
With Vista arriving asap and the impending launch of Direct X10 games, I hope this £6000 machine will start to impress...justify its price......even though simular power is available for 1/2 if u DIY!
Conclusion: A beautiful, fast, some may say dangerous machine only reserved for a select few. Yet with its dependance on the awful XP OS & slightly nubb real world gaming performance.....thinking twice about becoming an XPSer has become a real possibility.
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