Dell Xps Tower - Intel Core I7 - 2gb Amd Graphics Review

Desktop PCs are trying to make a comeback in 2017 and Dell'due south XPS line, which always stood for premium, is leading the style in the traditional category. While all-in-ones become the sexy chic, the now "classic" tower is all the same the get-to design for those looking for balanced cost and the ability to upgrade downwardly the road.

The XPS Tower Special Edition falls in line with the premium course considering it'due south already an upgrade from the XPS Tower. Featuring anodized aluminum and diamond-cut edges, the Special Edition brings a little extra flair.

Subsequently spending a few weeks with the XPS Tower Special Edition, here's what I think about it.

Configuration options galore

True-blue to all desktop tower PCs, Dell offers extensive configuration options for the XPS Belfry and XPS Belfry Special Edition. While options such as optical drives, including a Blu-ray burner, are nice we'll cut to the hunt and talk about core components.

Category	Specs
CPU options	6th-gen Intel Core i5, i7 | 6th-gen Intel Core i5K, i7K with overclocking (SE just)
Chipset	H170 or Z170 with Intel K
RAM	8, sixteen, 32, 64GB DDR4 at 2,133MHz
GPU options	NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 (SE only) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GDDR5X (SE only)
Storage	1TB 7,200 rpm SATA hard drive 2TB 7,200 rpm SATA hard bulldoze 2TB 7,200 rpm SATA hard drive + 32GB M.2 Solid Country Drive 256GB PCIe M.2 SSD + 2TB vii,200 rpm SATA hard drive 256GB or 512GB PCIe SSD
Wireless	802.11 ac (2.4GHz, 1x1) + Bluetooth 4.0 802.xi ac (2.4GHz & 5.GHz, 2x2) + Bluetooth iv.0
Media carte du jour	SD card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC)
Ports	Front end: (4) USB 3.0 Ports, mic-in, headphone, SD card slot Rear: (3) USB three.0 ports, (one) USB 3.i port, (ii) USB 2.0 ports, (1) USB 3.one Type-C port, (one) HDMI, (1) Display Port, (1) Gigabit Ethernet, audio ports (5.one channel (three Jack)
Expansion	Up to 4 total 3 HDD/1 SSD ODD Four PCIe expansion slots (x1, x1, x4, x16) Iv DIMM slots (supports upwards to 64GB)
Power supply	350W or 460W
Keyboard and mouse	Dell Multimedia Keyboard - KB216 – Black Dell Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation Scroll USB six-Button Silver and Black Mouse
Size	Height: 15.22" (386.5mm) / Width: 7.09" (180mm) / Depth 14.02" (356mm)
Weight	Starting 22lbs (10Kg) depending on config
Chassis	Minitower (23.7L) XPS Tower - blackness Only / molded plastic / sheet metallic XPS Tower Special Edition - Silverish brushed aluminum face with diamond cutting edges / molded plastic / sheet metal

As you tin see, Dell lets you mix and match to your heart's content (and wallet'southward capacity).

The configuration I'm testing here is the baseline version with Core i5-6400 (two.7GHz base of operations clock and 3.30GHz Turbo Boost), 8GB of RAM, and 1TB storage on a 7200RPM hard disk drive (HDD). That version retails for $999, and it has the optional NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card, with 8GB GDDR5 for an addition $250, bringing the total price to $1,249.

Those specifications make it a VR-ready car (fifty-fifty with the entry-level 8GB RX 480) for Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. As you lot'll see below, the NVIDIA 1070 is no joke for GPUs.

For expansion, there are iv DIMM slots for RAM and 4 expansion slots for additional storage, sound cards, PCIe SSDs or GPU cards for later customization.

Dell XPS Belfry Special Edition: Fit and experience

Dell'due south XPS line has always been near quality, and that carries over with the XPS Tower Special Edition. Featuring "silver brushed aluminum face with diamond cut edges" information technology's not a bad-looking belfry at all, and it'southward certainly ameliorate than the Dell OptiPlex PCs I remember from college. All the same, when I showed people the tower, the reaction on social media and in real life was often met with shrugs and indifference. No ane hated information technology, just the consensus seemed to be that it's a bit boring.

Because the XPS line is more than near existence professional than gamer flair, I become what Dell was going for here. The tower is not meant to exist the focal point in your room, unlike custom gaming rigs, merely rather a charming, handsome and non-spectacular design.

Regarding quality, it's top notch. The metal in the front end looks nice, and the vented grills on acme for the main exhaust fan match the design.

What makes the XPS Belfry neat, however, is the tool-less chassis. Sliding up two switches on the back lets you take the side door off and swing out the power supply to access additional expansion slots. It'due south non the nearly elegant blueprint, similar flipping doors on a car, simply it works and is certainly better than those thumb screws and "slide-to-lock" doors I take seen on every belfry design for 20 years.

Taking apart the XPS Belfry Special Edition is like removing Darth Vader's helmet, and the pieces just peel away to reveal the mechanical wonder underneath. Removing the top cover gives you access to the chief frazzle fan for occasional cleaning. Information technology's all rather clever.

Classified as a mini belfry, the Special Edition is relatively modest with a tiptop of 15.22 inches (386.5mm). You could easily put information technology on your desk in the corner (my communication) or put information technology on the flooring.

For ports, you get four USB 3.0 Ports, a mic-in, a headphone and SD-card slot all in the front, which are ever welcomed. Creatives need quick access to such conveniences during work hours, and this is the kind of design yous await. It's all rather make clean looking, too, without existence gaudy or as well techy.

The rear of any tower PC is never pretty, and that's the instance here. Yet, I'k more interested in ports, and the more the merrier. Only equally importantly, practise we get a good mix of options? Luckily, we do. Dell crammed in four more USB iii.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, i USB three.1 Blazon-C port, one HDMI, a Display Port, and a Gigabit Ethernet connector.

In instance you lost count that's a total of eight USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports and a bonus Type-C port for a hint of future-proofing. I accept zero complaints regarding port choice equally at that place is a piffling of everything to make everyone happy. Moreover, you lot are unlikely to need a port extender for this tower, which is great.

Performance and benchmarks: More than good enough for gaming

In that location are dozens of configuration options for the XPS Tower Special Edition, then operation will, of course, vary widely. I tested the entry-level version with a NVIDIA GTX 1070, a powerful GPU. Without the NVIDIA GPU option, the system falls back to a still decent AMD Radeon RX-480 with 8GB of GDDR5 memory.

I'1000 non a fan of spinning HDDs, but at to the lowest degree Dell limits it to the 7,200RPM version, which is almost equally fast as you'll go for ane. The hard drive is fine, and Windows 10 works just great with it, but when transferring multiple files from dissimilar sources, while downloading something from the internet, the transfer charge per unit comes to a crawl.

Being a belfry, though, you can later upgrade it to full SSD using something similar an affordable 500GB Samsung 850 EVO for $160. I wish Dell would just offering that choice, just desktop users tend to wait one- or two-terabyte systems, which get expensive quickly when going all SSD.

Speaking of, Dell limits the Rapid-Hybrid option, which is a combo of SSD and HDD working in unison, for the $i,699 and $one,949 systems. That'southward a flake of a shame. Such a setup lets the Bone run in the fast SSD space while the slower HDD can act as mass-storage.

CrystalDiskMark (college is better)

Device	Read	Write
Razer Blade Pro	2,571 MB/due south	2,467 MB/south
Razer Blade (960 EVO)	2,079 MB/s	1,809 MB/south
MacBook Pro 13 (2016)	1,549 MB/s	i,621 MB/s
Spectre x360	1,332 MB/southward	589 MB/due south
Surface Studio	one,327 MB/due south	512 MB/s
HP Spectre x360 15	one,128 MB/southward	862 MB/s
Dell XPS Tower SE (HDD)	133 MB/s	150 MB/southward

It's non off-white to compare the speeds of a physical HDD to that of a digital SSD. All the same, I want to put into perspective just how dramatic of a difference information technology is fifty-fifty with a 7,200 RPM HDD. Using an HDD does not affect gaming performance at all once loaded, because the GPU, CPU and RAM are doing a lot of the work. Where it matters is for transferring files or the initial loading of large apps. Certain, an SSD will get y'all faster game saves and loading of cut scenes, but I can't say using an HDD for gaming is at all bad.

Turning to the CPU and overall PC marks, and even at this baseline configuration the XPS Tower SE does a great task with a Core i5 and just 8GB of RAM.

PCMark - Home Conventional 3.0

Device	Score	Comparison
Dell XPS Belfry SE Core i5	3,420	Better than 67 percentage of all results
Surface Studio 980M	three,281	Better than 67 percent of all results
Razer Blade Pro	3,223	Better than 63 percent of all results
Spectre x360 fifteen	2,472	Better than 41 per centum of all results

The Dell XPS Tower SE – fifty-fifty with a Core i5 – does very well here, besting the Surface Studio and even the Razer Bract Pro. Going with a Core i7 and GTX 1080 in the XPS Belfry Special Edition would only increment that atomic number 82, probably past a lot.

The NVIDIA GTX 1070, however, performs quite well. Putting it up against the Razer Blade Pro, which sports a more powerful GTX 1080 and a Core i7-6700HQ CPU, and the XPS Tower Special Edition – even with a Core i5 – comes close to matching information technology.

Using 3DMark's Time Spy, which measures DirectX 12 operation, the Dell XPS Belfry is slightly behind the Razer Blade Pro but way alee of the anemic Surface Studio.

3DMark - Time Spy (college is better)

Device	GPU	3DMark Time Spy
Razer Blade Pro	NVIDIA GTX 1080	5,591
XPS Tower SE	NVIDIA GTX 1070	5,003
Surface Studio	NVIDIA GTX 980m	two,862

Furturemark's 3DMark Burn Strike is reserved for high-end PCs and really stresses the GPU specifically. Again, the GTX-1070 even with a Cadre i5 does a very nice job.

3DMark - Burn Strike (higher is ameliorate)

Device	GPU	3DMark Fire Strike
Razer Blade Pro	NVIDIA GTX 1080	12,976
XPS Tower SE	NVIDIA GTX 1070	12,315
Razer Blade	NVIDIA GTX 1060	9,100
Surface Studio	NVIDIA GTX 980m	7,961
HP Green-eyed 34	AMD RX460	four,302

For Geekbench 4.0 the XPS Tower Special Edition besides does quite well for general performance.

Geekbench 4.0 Benchmarks (college is better)

Device	Single Core	Multi Core
Surface Studio 980M	4,414	thirteen,738
Surface Studio 965M	4,200	thirteen,323
Dell XPS Tower SE Cadre i5	iv,103	11,467
Razer Blade Pro	3,660	12,325
XPS 13 (9360) Cadre i7	iv,120	seven,829
Surface Volume 965M	iii,977	7,486

The Belfry Special Edition's Core i5 processor – as expected – lags slightly behind the Turbo boost capabilities of the Core i7. Nonetheless, it still does quite well, beating a Razer Blade Pro in the process.

For CUDA scores, NVIDIA'southward technique of using the GPU for full general processing, including video rendering, the Tower SE is near the peak of the bunch.

Geekbench 4.0 CUDA (higher is ameliorate)

Device	Score
Razer Blade Pro GTX 1080	193,311
Dell XPS Tower SE GTX 1070	178,170
Razer Blade fourteen GTX 1060	139,603
Surface Studio GTX 980M	85,580

CUDA scores here reveal what we already know: the GTX 1080 is stronger than the GTX 1070, which itself is much more stiff than the summit-tier Surface Studio's GTX 980m.

At least in raw numbers, the takeaway is even with a baseline PC, the NVIDIA GTX 1070 does a lot of the heavy lifting for graphic-intensive tasks. That's excellent news, considering for a little extra money y'all could become an accomplished gaming machine for $1300.

Putting bated raw numbers, allow's accept a closer look at some real world gaming. For consistency, I'thou using Gears of War 4 (UWP) and Rise of the Tomb Raider (UWP), because both games calibration across all types of hardware with ease. The metric I use here: What are the max settings to hit lx FPS while using Vertical Sync (or G-Sync)?

Gears of State of war 4 UWP

Resolution	Graphics presets	Boilerplate frame rate
Razer Blade Pro GTX 1080	2916x1640	Ultra (5-Sync ON) | 59 FPS
Dell XPS Belfry SE GTX 1070	2560x1440	Ultra (V-Sync; G-Sync monitor) | 60 FPS
Surface Studio GTX 980m	2040x1360	High (V-sync ON) | 59 FPS

The GTX 1070 is very impressive. When using a Dell 24 (S2417DG) Gaming Monitor with i ms response time and NVIDIA G-Sync, the XPS Tower Special Edition matched the QHD resolution of the display with ease while at Ultra (maxed) settings in Gears. Unless you are gunning for 4K gaming, the GTX 1070 hits a sugariness spot.

Gears of 4 on Ultra with QHD One thousand-Sync at 60 FPS? Yes, please.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is some other favorite title that offers all types of graphics configuration options to examination fifty-fifty the almost robust PCs. Again, fifty-fifty with a Cadre i5 and GTX 1070, the Tower Special Edition impresses.

Ascension of the Tomb Raider (UWP)

Device	Resolution	Graphics presets	Boilerplate frame rate
Dell XPS Belfry Special Edition GTX 1070	2560x1440	Very High (V-Sync ON)	59 FPS
Razer Bract Pro GTX 1080	2048x1536	Loftier (V-Sync ON)	58 FPS
Surface Studio 980m	1920x1440	High (5-sync OFF)	56 FPS

The ability to play Ascent of the Tomb Raider on "Very High" settings (maxed out) while all the same hitting 60 FPS with Thou-Sync at QHD (2560x1440) resolution is impressive.

Rise of the Tomb Raider at QHD and graphics ready to 'Very High' is stunning at 60 FPS

As to why it beats the Razer Blade Pro even when the Blade Pro's settings are merely "High," it is probable due to some thermal constraints on the GTX 1080, but partially due to differences with the thermal pattern power (TDP) – 65W for the Core i5, simply just 45W for the Core i7. In other words, Rise of the Tomb Raider is relying more on a robust CPU than Gears of War four.

Dell XPS Tower Special Edition (8910) review: The Bottom Line

When I first received the XPS Tower Special Edition, I was a little worried about having simply a Cadre i5-6400, 8GB or RAM, and a slower HDD. Notwithstanding, I was blown away past the performance, which is generally pushed by the NVIDIA GTX 1070 video card.

Because the version tested hither is merely $1,249, I constitute the overall performance to be just first-class. Of course, you are more than than welcome to toss in a Core i7 and fifty-fifty shoot for a GTX 1080. Or you could wait until next year to add together those in subsequently yourself with the tool-less chassis, and you'll have some spare greenbacks.

The large top fan is whisper-quiet and does a adept job of ventilation

To be clear, the XPS Belfry Special Edition is not a gaming automobile, nor is it advertised equally such. Dell sells a very like system for gamers – the Aurora R6 - with water-cooling, different aesthetics and more than ambitious specifications.

The XPS Tower Special Edition is meant for people who want a powerful-yet-affordable belfry PC that does non draw attention, make noise (the Tower Special Edition is super serenity, with just a wisp of air flow), and that can be improved upon with ease. Considering cost, design and performance, I call up the XPS Belfry or Tower Special Edition is a viable option for those who want an affordable and classy-looking machine.

The tool-less chassis and 4 expansion bays brand upgrades a breeze

The 1 thing that keeps me from loving it is the rather unimpressive HDD, which you'll feel when the OS boots or when you lot run big apps or games. While it does not bear on gaming performance, it is a weak spot in 2017. Customers could hands toss in a Samsung 950 EVO SSD though and change everything about this machine for an extra $160.

See at Dell

The XPS Belfry Special Edition is an excellent non-enthusiast class PC for students or people who want a general computer that tin do some very impressive gaming in 2017. Upgrading the motherboard will exist challenging due to the small chassis, but that demographic is non the target market anyway.

Pros:

• Affordable.
• VR enabled.
• Repose operation.
• Convenient tool-less chassis for upgrades.
• Options for GTX-1070 or GTX 1080 GPUs.
• Restrained and refined chassis design.
• Plenty of ports.

Cons:

• Slow HDD.
• Besides bourgeois in looks.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/dell-xps-tower-special-edition-8910

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