Dell Targets PC Gamers with XPS

Dell is gunning for high-end PC gamers with the release of its new Dimension XPS PC this week: It features Intel's latest processor and chip set, ATI's newest graphics card, and a redesigned tower chassis with plenty of room for upgrades, starting at $2199.

The PC vendor hopes that the XPS can win attention from advanced users who either build their own PCs or turn to smaller specialty vendors such as Alienware and Falcon Northwest for high-end rigs (often with AMD processors). These buyers are important because they are the tech-savvy folks to whom everybody else turns for PC buying advice.

"These gamer-enthusiasts are influential with other buyers," says Mark Vena, director of Dimension product marketing. "If we can provide a good solution for the 'show me' type of users, this will have a trickle-down effect."

Power to Spare

To build a more powerful PC, Dell started with a new power supply. The XPS features a two-fan, 460-watt power supply that sits in the bottom section of the new tower case (most Dell PCs use 300- to 350-watt supplies). The extra juice makes it possible to load up the unit's open PCI card slots and drive bays without pushing the system's stability, Vena says.

Isolating the power supply also helps keep temperatures low, Vena says. The unit has three additional fans beyond the usual two. Two of the extras pull air from the CPU and motherboard, and the third keeps the PCI cards cool.

Dell did more than just load the case with fans, says Vibha Monteiro of the Dimension product marketing team.

"This market loves fans, but we don't just put fans in there. We monitored the system to strategically place all five of those fans," she says. "We make sure there are no hot spots in the system."

Careful engineering lets Dell run all those fans quietly, Vena adds. "Other high-end systems run loud, and people just accepted that," he says. "But because of the power supply location, we will have a very quiet unit."

The XPS chassis is distinct from its high-end Dimension 8300 unit in other ways, Vena says. The XPS can accommodate up to three 5.25-inch drives and three internal 3.5-inch drives, and offers a front-accessible 1394 port.

Latest Technologies, Support

All that power and cooling should ensure strong performance from Intel's latest processor, the Intel 3-GHz Pentium 4 with an 800-MHz frontside bus, Vena says. Combined with the new Intel 875P chip set, which also supports dual-channel, 400-MHz DDR memory, this system should be among the fastest, he says.

Dell also offers ATI's Radeon 9800 and 9800 Pro graphics card, support for Serial ATA hard drives in RAID 0 or RAID 1 configurations, and Creative's Audigy 2 sound card.

Another bonus for XPS users: specialized support. The tech support personnel staffing phones for XPS customers are hand-picked from Dell's regular tech support staff, he says. Dell expects the average XPS owner to be a pretty sophisticated user, and the tech support has to be, too.

"We want to build credibility with these customers. We want to be able to answer the high-end, specific questions that these buyers will have," he says.

Base Configuration

Although Dell hopes to win over PC aficionados, the company's base XPS model may nevertheless leave some gamers feeling a bit underpowered. The $2199 base unit includes--besides the 3-GHz P4 with an 800-MHz frontside bus, 256MB of DDR400 SDRAM, a standard Radeon 9800 graphics card, and an Audigy 2 sound card--a 60GB hard drive, a 16X DVD drive, a 19-inch CRT monitor, and Windows XP Home.

Most gamers would likely insist on more memory, a larger hard drive, and the Pro version of the Radeon 9800. They can do so thanks to Dell's direct sales model, which lets users build the XPS to their precise specifications, Vena says.

Still, Vena defends the base model. "We have quite a few customers buying 256MB models, he says. "This is a relatively aggressive price point because we didn't want to soup it up so high that it would be too high for people to consider." The system can handle up to 2GB of memory, he adds.

Dell plans to market the XPS in new ways. The vendor will participate for the first time in the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May. The event showcases the latest and greatest in gaming technology.

The company is planning some grassroots efforts to get people interested, Monteiro notes. Watch for Dell to get involved in some big-time LAN parties as well as online gaming, she says.