The Dell Dimension 4700 is built upon Intel's new mainstream 915G chipset. Incorporating features such as an improved integrated graphics chip and support for new DDR2 memory, new Intel Prescott processors, and Serial ATA hard drives, the Dimension 4700 brings with it a host of new technologies that add up to a strong midrange performer. Compare the Dimension 4700 to the iBuyPower Back To School PC, and you'll get an idea of the performance edge that Intel's new chipset provides. The iBuyPower Back To School PC is almost identical to the Dimension 4700, except that the iBuyPower system is based on Intel's older 865G mainstream chipset. The Dimension 4700 achieved an overall rating of 175 on SysMark 2004, a 9 percent improvement over the Back To School PC's score of 160. Take a Dell Dimension 4700 back to school or to your home or office, and you'll find it's an able performer that's more than capable of running mainstream apps.
 |
BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | |
SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
To measure application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's SysMark 2004, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop's performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver).
The Dell Dimension 4700 is one of the first systems we've tested that uses Intel's new integrated graphics subsystem--the Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900. With a score of 51 frames per second (fps) on our low-end 1,024x768 Unreal Tournament 2003 benchmark, the Dimension 4700 demonstrates a vast improvement over scores from systems using Intel's older Extreme Graphics 2 solution. By comparison, the similarly configured IBM ThinkCentre S50 uses Extreme Graphics 2 and managed to post only 13.6fps on the same test. If you're a casual gamer, you should be able to play most 3D titles currently on the market, with at least moderate detail settings. If you're looking forward to Doom 3 or Half-Life 2, we recommend upgrading to a PCI Express graphics card, because splitting memory between the core system operation and the graphics chip isn't conducive to smooth frame rates on advanced games.
|
Unreal Tournament 2003 Flyby-Antalus 1,024x768 |
To measure 3D gaming performance, CNET Labs uses Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 2003, widely used as an industry-standard benchmark. We use Unreal to measure a desktop's performance with the DirectX 8.0 (DX8) interface at a 32-bit colour depth and at a resolution of 1,024x768 and 1,600x1,200. Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are disabled during our 1,024x768 tests, and are set to 4X and 8X, respectively, during our 1,600x1,200 tests. At this colour depth and these resolutions, Unreal provides an excellent means of comparing the performance of low-end to high-end graphics subsystems. We report the results of Unreal's Flyby-Antalus test in frames per second (fps).
Performance analysis written by CNET Labs technician David Gussman.
System configurations:
- Dell Dimension 4700
Windows XP Home; 3.0EGHz Intel P4; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; integrated 128MB Intel 915G (shared memory); Maxtor 6Y160M0, 160GB, Serial ATA, 7,200rpm hard drive - HP Compaq Business Desktop dc7100
Windows XP Professional; 3.2EGHz Intel P4; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated 128MB Intel 915G (shared memory); 80GB Seagate ST380013AS 7,200rpm Serial ATA hard drive. - IBM ThinkCentre S50
Windows XP Professional; 3.0GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated 64MB Intel 865G (shared memory); 40GB Western Digital WD400BB-23FJA0 7,200rpm hard drive. - iBuyPower Back To School PC
Windows XP Home; 3.0EGHz Intel P4; Intel 865PE chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB Nvidia GeForce FX 5200; 80GB Maxtor 6Y080L0 7,200rpm Serial ATA hard drive. - MPC ClientPro 545
Windows XP Professional; 3.2GHz Intel P4; Intel 875P chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce FX 5700 256MB; two 120GB Seagate ST3120026AS 7,200rpm Serial ATA hard drives; integrated Intel 82801ER SATA RAID controller.
Editor's note: Other models in CNET Labs' benchmark tests may not be available locally.
Dell Dimension 4700
Company: Dell
Price: AU$2,633.40
Phone: 1800 812 393
13%
1%
I couldn't help but respond to this article.
I recently purchased a Dell Dimension 4700 and 8400 unit (3/12/2004 actually).
While being happy with the 8400 (well so far anyway) I have been very disappointed with the 4700. I am very interested in the comment
"If you have your eye on Doom 3 or Half-Life 2, you'll definitely want to take advantage of the 16X PCI Express (PCIe) slot and purchase a dedicated graphics card. Dell offers a low-end ATI graphics card on the Dimension 4700's configuration page for an additional AU$130, but serious gamers will want to shop around for a more powerful option. "
When I purchased this machine I wasn't aware that the end user, a 13 yr old girl, was going to be playing The SIMS 2 on it. Not knowing much about The SIMS 2 I didn't think much of the potential challenges this 4700 may have with playing this game.
The unit I have came with the INTEL 2.8 GHz chip 512MB of Memory and the onboard video. Essentially the same as your review machine.
No more than 20 minutes into a patched version of The SIMS 2 it would hang producing an error relating to the drivers for the video card. After searching for different drivers and more patches I found myself fighting with the amazingly incompetent technical support people at Dell.
Then after fighting with the Customer Care people who wanted to charge me AU$175 for shipping if I decided to return the item and also started to mention the fact that the GST component of the cost could not be refunded ( I interrupted them at this point :-O )I decided to keep this now apparent waste of money.
I told the customer care person that I was not going to take up their opportunity to upgrade the video card at a cost of approx AU$1000 and would perhaps upgrade myself later. Then they told me that that would void the warranty on the unit.
Since then I have checked on the web and despite this 4700 having a PCIe slot it is next to useless for a gaming machine as a nice card like a gforce 6600GT won't work in it without some unfortunate issues at boot time.
If you want to play anything more than solitaire or minesweeper I would strongly recommend staying away from the Dell 4700 until Dell get their stuff together.
I am now scratching around in Internet land looking for info on getting this machine running properly.
Very dissatisfied customer.