First Take: Dell Dimension 9100 - Reviews - Hardware - Desktops

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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First Take: Dell Dimension 9100

By Rich Brown, ZDNet US
June 28, 2005
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/desktops/soa/First-Take-Dell-Dimension-9100/0,139023402,139199282,00.htm

Dell Dimension 9100 By adding a new BTX chassis design and dual-core, 64-bit CPUs, Dell brings its high-end home desktops into the next generation of computing.

Dell recently introduced the high-end Dimension 9100 desktop, which features Dell's first new case design in more than two years. The 9100 parts ways with Dell's familiar black-and-grey Dimension colour scheme for an Apple-esque glossy white and silver. Also, the new chassis meets the new BTX (Balance Technology eXtended) specification, which delivers more efficient thermal management to ever-hotter PC interiors. In Australia, processor choices comprise Intel's dual-core Pentium D 820 and 830 CPUs, and you can configure the Dimension 9100 with either Windows XP Home or Pro.

Upside: We were never fans of Dell's old hard-to-open steamer-trunk case, so we weren't sad to see it go the way of the Titanic. The Dimension 9100's case features a traditional side panel; Dell showed us an early sample a few weeks back, and we're happy to report that it simply slides off. It's also natural that Dell would embrace the dual-core revolution. By letting you configure one of Intel's new Pentium D 800-series dual-core CPUs, the Dell Dimension 9100 is aimed squarely at higher-end multimedia tasks (think: video encoding) and next-generation 64-bit operating systems and software.

Downside: By hitching its wagon to Intel, Dell continues to limit itself in what it can offer consumers. We haven't compared all of Intel's new dual-core CPUs to AMD's entire line, but CNET Labs' initial dual-core CPU testing shows AMD in the lead. And while the Dimension 9100 provides you the choice between the highest-end (single-card) graphics from both ATI and Nvidia, Dell offers only two high-end cards and the bottom-feeding ATI Radeon X300 SE. Too bad you can't find something in the middle ground, such as the ATI Radeon X800 XL.

Outlook: We can see the Dell Dimension 9100 appealing strongly to those of you who have a specific set of tasks in mind that you know will benefit from dual-core CPUs such as daily multitasking or intensive graphics work, digital-video creation or high-level photo editing. Without support for dual graphics cards, however, neither the Dimension 9100 nor the Dimension XPS will find their way onto gamers' wish lists.