Dell, XPS 710 H2C

With a reputation for churning out dull-as-dust office PCs and a separate company – Alienware – dedicated to serving performance nutters, you might not expect Dell to bother with high-powered systems. However, the XPS range has proved that it can do objects of desire as well and the H2C sits at the top of it.

And lordy, it’s powerful. While the Core 2 Quad-Core QX6800 processor can’t be cranked up fast as its predecessor, the 6700, it’s still blisteringly fast and is chilled by a hugely advanced liquid cooling system of the sort normally only used by crazed tinkerers.

Paired with 2GB of dual-channel RAM, this makes short work of any application you’d care to name. Startup, loading and access times are blisteringly fast, and with 640GB of hard drive space – upgradable to 1.5 terabytes if required - it’ll sustain even the most obsessive digital video habit.

Let's get physical
Gaming performance is similarly impressive thanks to a pair of 8800GTX graphics cards, providing enough horsepower to run just about any current title at maximum detail with no problems whatsoever.

The gaming nous is cemented by an 128MB Aegia PhysX card, although that’s still of questionable value as only a handful of games currently support the enhanced in-game physics that it offers.

Audio comes care of Creative’s well-regarded X-Fi Xtreme, which beefs up audio quality in games and movies, and it’s well-equipped for your array of gadgets. A 13-in-1 card reader on the front takes care of digital camera memory cards, and there’s also a FireWire connection and two USB ports – the remaining six being hidden round the back.

Review continues after the break...

Rattle and roll
It looks suitably extreme without succumbing to the pimped-out garishness of some of the competition. The aluminium case is seemingly modelled on the 2001 monolith and about as heavy, but it's just respectable enough that you won't be embarrassed to have it on show - although the effect is spoiled slightly by the rattly, flimsy plastic grilles on the front.

The final touch is the excellent 30-inch monitor, which enables you to enjoy the fruits of all that power in glorious 2560x1600 resolution – although as with many of the other options, this can be swapped out for something cheaper using Dell’s online configuration tool if you wish.