New Dell Dimension 600 SLi Edition

[TRow]

Heres the Dell Link

Featuring the NForce4 SLi Chipset, it should be interesting who makes the Mobo. Yet alone how they intend to cool Dual 7800's.

No AMD CPU's

[ben]

heres Dell's site

www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_xps600?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

move over gen 5

[unknowngod430]

awesome. they're getting there eventually dell will have a "full fledge" gaming machine. Personally i think the XPs are more than u'll need but all the reviews bi*ch about no sli. well now they'll have nothing to bi*ch about.. i can see the day .. Dell comps will actually be regarded again.. and not eww you got a dell..!!!

[TRow]

People will still find something to complain about when it comes to Dell. Its what they do. This particular product will REALLY give them something to bi*ch about.

Dual 7800's with a Dual Core Intel on NForce4 in a Dell XPS.

If you asked me 1 month ago, Id tell you your crazy and need help.

EDIT: It looks as if Dell has adopted a new numbering system for the XPS as well. So really, this is a Gen 6. Dual 7800's means a bigger PSU as well....this should be interesting.

[devnull]

The 7800s actually dont pull all that much juice. They are far more efficient than the 6800s. That said, you still will need every bit of 480w.

[unknowngod430]

depending on the proc and everything the 650W PSU they have on the gen 5 should cut it even for SLI. if they made the move to AMD and INtel dell would be on top again. they've finally gotten quality stuff again. Granted it's proprietary but it's better than my dimension 8100 with ME by leaps and bounds. I don't even know what all the parts were made by. least with my gen 4 i know who manufactures the parts. Granted they'llfind something to bi*ch about. but if they use an active cooling on the proc. and a standard mounting clip. they have limited OC'ing in the bios and it shows alot of potential.. HOPEFULLY they can do it. but i still have a while before im getting a new comp so back to sheathing my drives and putting windows in i go. i'm bound and determined ot have the best gen 4 wish me luck

[unknowngod430]

the 600s out.. turns out they did leave the 650W psu. Looks like it's gonna be a killer system. unforunately they don't active cool the proc but .. the have finaly dont it right for the most part. better wireing configuration.. non INTEL mobo so far they have a standing ovation from me.. grats dell u're moving back into the right direction

[devnull]

What do you mean they don't actively cool the processor? As in, no heatsink fans?

[unknowngod430]

just like what we have now... in the gen 4

[rcdjl]

Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum (registered a few minutes ago) and I'm glad I found a forum for XPS owners only. This OWNS!!

Anyways I just ordered my new XPS 600 SLI two hours ago so I can't wait to play my favorite video games on it. It has a:

- XPS600,P4,650 (3.4GHZ),HT,2MB

- 1GB DDR2 SDRAM AT 667MHZ-2X512MB,DIM,X

- DUAL 256MB GEFORCE 7800 GTX W/SLI,X

- 80GB WESTERN DIGITAL RAPTOR SERIAL ATA,10000RPM,DIM,X

- 48X CD-RW/ 16X DVD+/-RW,X

The rest of the components are standard. It looks decent huh? I think it's too powerful for the games I play haha

Anywho, as soon as it arrives I'll let you all know how well it performed and stuff.

Laterz

[TRow]

Welcome to the Forums!

Sound like a pretty solid machine you there. The CPU you chose may not be an optimal choice, but the dual cores are still a little pricey. A option you will always have, and then some. That thing got a hemi, is the only thing that comes to mind.

Again, Welcome to the forums!

Edit: Dont forget the Pics!

[rcdjl]

I totally agree with you Trow about the CPU. Is definitely not in par with the video cards (bottleneck). The problem is I can't afford a more expensive CPU. I'm a college student and I have other stuff to take care of and so that leaves me with no enough money.

Also, I was reading on anandtech.com that next year Intel will be realising a new processor that will match AMD's FX series in terms of performance. So as soon as it comes out I'll buy it ;D

[rcdjl]

Hi again guys,

My XPS 600 SLI finally arrived last friday (earlier than expected ;D). Let me tell ya, it's 5 times quieter than the Dimension XPS Gen 5. I can't believe the XPS 600 has a total of 8 fans. Two in the power supply, two for the processor, two on the video cards, one in the side panel and lastly one in the front right below the hard drive (BTX style ). Then Gen 5 had 6 fans and it was way louder than the XPS 600 lol

Anywho, I love this sytem. I love it!!!!

[unknowngod430]

hehe 8 fans total.. let me know the temps on the cards. i have 10 in my gen 4 including the 2 in the PSU spot.. my housemates laptops run louder than my system.i love my gen 4 esp now with all the modes if done. once Dell has the AMD option as well as a normal case(ie no clamshell), also to have sleeved PSU wires would be nice and maybe a window. dells with be awesome stock.. oh yea and an active cooled cpu heatsink... thatll be the day.. they're slowly getting there.. one can only hope they'll get to their glory of old days. personally i cant wait till they have online XPS chat.. well good luck with u're new system i bet it pwns.. i mean 2 7800GTX's lord i wish i had then for rendering .. man i wish i had them for rendering ...

[rcdjl]

Yeah the two nVidia 7800 GTX video cards in SLI mode are insane. You just have to have a good processor to take full advantage of their power. My processor (P4 HT 3.4 GHZ) is just not that powerful, but oh well

The temperatures I get are decent:

55 - 59 F (IDLE)
60 - 65 F (LOAD)

Of course those will go down during winter ;D

[wysiwyg]

I really wish Dell would offer a non-intel series. Not offering AMD is a major reason I won't buy Dell next time even though I still have my Dell credit line.

I decided a while back that my next PC will be an AMD Athlon/64 system. Perhaps even a dual core X2. AMD seems to get the same performance at lower clock speeds and temperatures compared to Intel processors.

I also decided to wait for Crossfire rather than SLI since, unlike Crossfire, SLI only supports dual GPUs for games specifically added to it's drivers. Crossfire also has more options in how it balances the load between the two GPUs; i.e. tiled rather than just upper/lower segments of the rendered screen.

[Zefram0911]

bad thing about Crossfire though is limited resolution... only 1600x1200... what the hell is that?

Maybe next gen Crossfire will get it right.

[unknowngod430]

the 1600*1200 is more than likely because of the drivers

[Zefram0911]

This was written by Brent Justice at Hard|OCP a couple of weeks ago:

link: www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODE1LDE=

Hard|OCP said:

CrossFire has some limitations that will have a big affect on gamers. With NVIDIA’s SLI, you are only limited by the RAMDAC and resolution and refresh rate of your monitor. NVIDIA’s SLI includes support for high widescreen resolutions at high refresh rates in SLI. With CrossFire, there is a bandwidth limit because of the external connection required and the specific single link TMDS chip on both the CrossFire master video card and slave card.

You see, the data is transmitted over the DVI connectors through an external cable. The chip that drives the DVI connection on the master card is the Silicon Image SiL 1161 chip. This single link chip receives the output that is passed over the external link from the slave card and passes it on the master card. If you go to the specs page for this chip, you will see that it has a maximum bandwidth of 165MHz. The result of using this single link chip is that the maximum resolution possible while in a 3D game with CrossFire enabled is UXGA, which is 1600x1200 at 60Hz. Yes, while you have CrossFire enabled the maximum resolution and refresh rate you can use in your games is 1600x1200 at 60Hz. This limitation does not affect 2D mode. In 2D mode, we can run at higher resolutions and refresh rates; 3D gaming with CrossFire enabled is the only situation where the limitation mentioned above comes into play. As most of us know, 60Hz is quite ugly and can cause headaches or eyestrain over long periods of time. This is not a good refresh rate for gaming, especially if you have VSYNC enabled. This can be fixed by using new dual link TMDS transmitters.

We see this as a major flaw in the current CrossFire platform because the performance may be there to run at 1600x1200 or higher, but you will be limited to only 60Hz at 1600x1200, which is not good for a gamer. There is also no support for high widescreen resolutions at all with this limit. What is the point of CrossFire if you can’t run it at a high resolution with a high refresh rate? Why did ATI forget about, or worse ignore widescreen users who run large LCDs?

It's not a driver issue. It's the way Ati implemented SLI. As of right now, the only real viable dual carded solution is from Nvidia. To be honest, Ati has been steadily going down the tubes the past few years. Paper launched and bloated driver suites... Unless things shape up, my next card will be from Nvidia.

I don't want to game at 1600x1200 @60hz... especially if you have a CRT, that's killer on the eyes.

[unknowngod430]

1600*1200@60hz on an LCD is fine though.. so i guess it all depends on what you're using .. personally i'll never use above 1600*1200