Dell cooks up competitive six-core AMD desktop
Dell introduces an AMD-only version of its Studio XPS desktop line, complete with AMD's new six-core CPUs
We wish Dell had announced the Studio XPS 7100 a few weeks ago, because then we might have included it in our midrange gaming PC roundup. As it stands we'll have to add it in after fact. That's too bad, because based on what we know about its specs, it sounds like this new all-AMD system would have made a competitive showing.
Like almost all Dell PCs, the Studio XPS 7100 is customizable. We wouldn't be surprised to find a few fixed configurations at retail, however. For the online version, the starting price comes in at $499, and options include Athlon II X4 and Phenom II X6 processors (including overclockable "Black" editions), 3D cards up to the fast ATI Radeon HD 5870, and up to 4TB of storage space and 16GB of RAM. The system uses AMD's new 880G chipset, so you don't get a second graphics card slot, but at least the 460-watt power supply should have enough headroom to support single higher-end cards.
Dell has a review unit headed our way, and though we don't know exactly what we're getting, it mentioned a configuration with a six-core, 2.8Ghz Phenom II X6 1055T and a Radeon HD 5870 for $1,199. Such a build would very likely compete well with the