Dell's fourth-generation XPS
Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4
The product: This fourth-generation revamp of Dell's high-end gaming Dimension XPS PC adds the option to configure the system with Windows Media Center 2005. In addition to all of the standard performance components typical of a powerful gaming PC, this system gives you Media Center software and the option to add one of two Linksys Media Center Extenders, up to two TV tuner cards, and a variety of display possibilities. We're still not jazzed about the XPS's clamshell case design, and by sticking with Intel, Dell has, at least for the moment, ruled itself out of the 3D performance sweepstakes, because Nvidia's performance-leading dual-graphics-card SLI solution requires the AMD-based Nforce-4 chipset. Still, if you can put up with second-best 3D performance, the merger of a high-end gaming PC with a Media Center box makes sense. Specs include up to a 3.6GHz Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, with a 1,066MHz frontside bus, and a single 256MB Nvidia or ATI PCI Express 3D graphics card.

The price: The Dimension XPS Gen 4 starts at $2,100 with the lowest-end CPU and no media extender. Add the right components, and you can easily boost the price tag higher than $5,000.

The prospects: The large tower combines well with the Media Center Extender, as the box itself wouldn't look right in the living room. We've also been sick of this case since its Generation 2 iteration, due to its cumbersome clamshell design. Noise is also always an issue with performance PCs, and by isolating the power supply in a compartment on the bottom of the case, Dell may have lowered the operating volume. When we can look at it somewhere other than the noisy CES show floor, we'll be able to say for sure.

By Rich Brown, associate editor, CNET Reviews