Dell Studio XPS (Featuring Core i7) Reviewed: Kicks Arse, Saves Cash

Most of the new desktops featuring Intel’s impressive Core i7 processor are straight-up gaming powerhouses, with pricetags to match. That’s why I’m so pleased to see a glowing review of Dell’s Studio XPS, which starts at a very affordable $US950. DesktopReview took it for a spin and found that, despite one or two small problems, the Studio XPS is lightning fast and a great deal.

The quad-core processor was able to handle audio and video compression a few times faster than rival chips from AMD, and was the top of the heap in almost every benchmark they threw at it. Given it’s not a gaming computer, the Studio XPS did extremely well on the gaming benchmark, and yes, it can run Crysis without exploding. The downsides? The design isn’t heartstopping, as it looks like pretty much every other Dell machine out there, and DesktopReview thinks the hard drive configuration could be faster. But all in all, it’s a stellar buy if you want a fast-as-it-gets machine that can even do a little gaming on the side. [DesktopReview via Engadget]