Key Specs | |
| 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-2600 8GB DDR3 1.5TB hard drive Blu-ray reader/DVD±RW combo None ATI Radeon HD 5870 (1GB) Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) | |
Dell XPS 8300 Review | |
| Reviewed by: Daniel A. Begun Review Date: May 2011 | |
The last time we looked at a Dell XPS 8000-series desktop, in 2009, we were impressed with its fast performance, attractive chassis, and two-year onsite warranty. But we were also disappointed by its limited upgrade potential and comparatively high price. And after spending some quality time with an early-2011 update to the Dell XPS 8300, we can again tell you it was a serious speed demon in our test configuration, it still looks pretty, and it comes with the same generous warranty as its predecessor. But it seems that Dell didn’t get our memo: The setup still suffers from minimal upgrade potential, and the system is again a bit pricey compared with similarly configured systems from other PC vendors. Those quibbles are what separate this very good performance PC from being a big box of awesome. Seeing as Dell hasn’t changed the XPS 8000-series chassis for a couple of years now, it’s no surprise that the limited upgradability of its design is still an issue. As to the higher-than-average price, that’s still a bit of head-scratcher. While it’s not easy to find another system out there that’s configured exactly the way our test unit was, we found a number of other configurable systems from HP and Cyberpower that came pretty close, and which were between $50 to $100 cheaper. Of course, those alternatives will also likely have their trade-offs, such as a lesser warranty or a case that isn't as snazzy as Dell's XPS chassis. The starting price for the configure-to-order XPS 8300 is $749.99, direct from Dell.com. Our unit was powered by one of the speediest CPUs you could get when we wrote this (a second-generation, 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-2600), and it included 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a capacious 1.5TB hard drive, and a Blu-ray reader/DVD±RW combo drive, so its price was higher. How much higher, you ask? Before we answer that question, we should mention that our unit also came with an AMD Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, which tacked another $310 onto the system’s cost. (The default graphics card is an entry-levelAMD Radeon HD 5450.) All said and done, our test configuration was $1,379 when we wrote this in early May 2011. That's certainly not cheap, but it's well within the price range of mainstream gaming rigs and affordable performance PCs. Design & Features Connectivity on the front of the system includes a 19-format flash-card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, and a USB 3.0 port. On top of the system are two more USB 2.0 ports, plus mic and headphone jacks. The XPS 8300's white chassis and glossy black front bezel make for a pleasing contrast. The front face of the system slopes gently back and complements the midsize tower’s curved corners. At the top of the front bezel, above two optical drive bays, sits a 19-format flash-card reader. Our test unit came with just the top bay populated, here with the Blu-ray combo drive. About midway down the front of the system is a door that slides down to reveal two USB 2.0 ports and a single speedy USB 3.0 port. Two more USB 2.0 ports and a pair of mic and headphone jacks are located on the top of the system at the back of a handy depression designed for stowing your gadgets while they charge. Around the back of the system, you'll find another four USB 2.0 ports, as well as an eSATA port. There’s also a Gigabit Ethernet port, six analog audio jacks (for 7.1-channel surround audio), and a digital-audio S/PDIF (Toslink) connector for consumer audio gear equipped with this fiber-optic interface. The graphics card takes up two of the four expansion-slot backplane spaces, and it's equipped with one HDMI, one DisplayPort, and two DVI video-out ports. Another expansion-slot space houses a card with a single USB 3.0 port, which gives the system a grand total of 10 USB ports. This leaves just one empty space in the backplane on the back of the system. And as you can probably surmise from that single space, inside the system only one expansion slot is available, as well: a PCI Express (PCIe) x1 slot. There are actually three PCIe x1 slots on the motherboard, but one of them is blocked by the double-width graphics card (which sits in a PCIe x16 slot). The other is home to the USB 3.0 card. There’s also a mini-PCIe Mini Card slot on the motherboard; in our test unit, a Wi-Fi card occupied it.  On the back of the system are four USB 2.0 ports, a USB 3.0 port, an eSATA port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, six analog audio jacks, and a digital audio connector. The graphics card (it's a double-wide) sports an HDMI port, a DisplayPort, and two DVI video-out connections. Speaking of being blocked, to get to the motherboard’s four SATA connectors (two of which are already in use), you first have to remove the three screws that hold the graphics card in place and then pull out the graphics card. If you wanted to, you could avail yourself of the two unused SATA connectors by installing a hard drive into the one available 3.5-inch drive bay and a second optical drive in the vacant 5.25-inch bay. Conveniently, the power-supply unit (PSU) has two free SATA-drive-style power wires to make this possible. Before you fill every available nook and cranny inside the XPS 8300, however, you need to be mindful of its components’ total power requirements. Yes, the 460-watt PSU here is very capable, but the Radeon HD 5870 graphics card places a high demand on the PSU when it kicks into high gear (about 188 watts max, according to AMD). Some manufacturers recommend that their Radeon HD 5870 cards be used in systems that have a 500-watt or higher PSU, so don't expect to add many more power-sucking components unless you're also willing to upgrade the power supply. Closing the system back up and powering it on, we encountered a refreshingly lean and clean Windows desktop. There’s a Recycle Bin icon and the Dell Stage quick-launch bar, and nothing else. The customizable Dell Stage includes shortcuts for things such as music, photos, games, and documents. Installed on the system you’ll also find a few useful apps, such as CyberLink PowerDVD for watching DVD and Blu-ray movies, and McAfee Security Center with a 15-month subscription. We did see something potentially troubling on the system, however. While so many other vendors clog up their systems with less-than-useful software (commonly referred to as “bloatware"), Dell has in the recent past kept its systems mostly free of fluff. This time around, however, we spied a few potential miscreants pre-installed, such as the Bing Bar, Cozi Family Calendar, and Skype. In the big scheme of things, these are pixel-size potatoes, but it does have us a bit worried that Dell might be slowly slipping to the dark side of subsidized software. We really hope Dell continues to keep its PCs relatively free of pre-installed apps of dubious value. Performance To say that the XPS 8300 is fast is an understatement. Not counting overclocked and overpriced high-end gaming rigs, the XPS 8300 kicks out some of the fastest productivity performance we’ve ever seen. This is in large part a result of the system’s high-end “Sandy Bridge” processor. For instance, on our PCMark Vantage test, a holistic test suite designed to measure overall system performance, the XPS 8300’s score of 11,005 is unprecedented in this price range. The closest we’ve seen to this are the 10,410 garnered by the $1,163 Dell Vostro 460 and the $999 Polywell PolyITX-H6700’s score of 10,348. The members of this exclusive club are no coincidence: The Vostro uses the same processor as the Dell XPS 8300, and the PolyITX-H6700 uses a lower-end Sandy Bridge CPU, the 2.5GHz Core i5-2400S. That also means that this short list is about to get a whole lot longer. Sandy Bridge processors haven’t been out for very long, and system manufacturers are only just now starting to ramp up their desktop production lines with CPUs that use the latest Intel architecture. So while today the XPS 8300’s performance is impressive, we'll surely be seeing similar systems in this price range soon with comparable performance. But that doesn’t mean we aren't still impressed. On our CPU torture test, Cinebench 11.5, the Dell XPS 8300’s CPU score of 6.82 sends a loud message that its processor is taking no prisoners. The Vostro was a hair speedier with a score of 6.85, while the PolyITX-H6700 put out a score of 4.15. The Dell domination continued on our Windows Media Encoder video-conversion test, as well, with the Dell XPS 8300 and Vostro 460 both whizzing through the transcoding of our test video file in a mere 1 minute and 39 seconds. The PolyITX-H6700 lagged a bit behind at 2:09.  The double-width graphics card blocks one of the PCIe x1 slots, as well as access to the motherboard's SATA connections. With an expensive graphics card revving under the hood, you’d expect zippy 3D-graphics performance, too, and we weren't disappointed. On our first DirectX 10 (DX10) gaming test, using the title Far Cry 2 (which, while a few years old, has brought lesser systems to their knees), the Dell XPS 8300 churned out an impressive 83.4 frames per second (fps) at our test resolution of 1,920x1,200, which is the sweet spot for 24-inch monitors. The last time we saw performance in this price range from anything but a high-end gaming system, it was a score of 65.2fps from the Acer Aspire Predator AG5900-U3092 we looked at last November. (The Predator AG5900 used a slightly lower-endAMD Radeon HD 5850 graphics card.) The trend continued with an even more demanding DX10 test, employing the more recent game Just Cause 2, in which the XPS 8300 sailed through at 66.5fps at the same 1,920x1,200 resolution. The best the Predator AG5900 could do was 39.6fps on the same test, at the same resolution. Taking it even one step further, we let the Dell XPS 8300 go a few rounds on our sweat-inducing, DX11-based Aliens Vs. Predator test at 1,920x1,200, and it put in a solid showing of 28.4fps. Here, the Predator AG5900 wasn’t too far behind, with a frame rate of 24.1fps. We should point out that while the scores on this test are scraping the low end of playability, this is our most-demanding real-world gaming test, and we performed it with all the visual settings set to High. Dialing back a few graphical details will easily yield higher frame rates with this game. ConclusionConfigured as our unit is, the Dell XPS 8300 dished out amazing productivity and 3D-gaming performance for the price. This is made even more impressive by the fact that the system is a mainstream-price desktop, not a high-end gaming rig. Adding to the system’s appeal are its good looks and healthy two-year warranty. As much as we like it, though, not everything about the XPS 8300 is pleasing. The system has limited upgrade potential, and its price is a bit high when compared against similar systems. There’s not a whole lot you can do about the design’s lack of future-proofing, but you do have some control over the price. As the XPS 8300 is a configure-to-order system, you can tweak its components until you find the right balance for your needs and budget. For instance, if you don’t need the all-out gaming prowess of the Radeon HD 5870 graphics card, you could shave $240 off the price of our configuration by opting instead for a Radeon HD 5670 card. A casual gamer might find this a perfectly acceptable compromise—and perhaps not even notice the difference. | |
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