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Dell XPS 710 H2C

Dell has talked about competing head-to-head in the boutique gaming PC market for a while now. The company's first factory over-clocked and water-cooled gaming PC is the strongest sign yet that Dell is playing for keeps.

Introduction

About Our Program

As many of you might know by now, [H] Consumer doesn’t "review" systems; we evaluate the experiences they facilitate. We order the system the same as you would and evaluate every aspect of the end-user experience. Not only does this give us a better idea of what hardware an end user actually receives, it also allows us to obtain a more accurate picture of just how each company functions and treats its customers. As fast as PC hardware has become over the years, we think giving a personal computer "5 stars" based on a synthetic benchmark is simply irresponsible. We think service, support, and reliability are much more important factors in today's climate than speed. Fast is easily bought, but purchasing and ownership satisfaction can be elusive.

This process allows us to not only evaluate the system, but the OEM that builds it. Our goal is to give you the wide-angle lens view of the computer and the company so that you can make informed and educated decisions as to what you purchase or recommend to clients, friends, and family.

Dell and [H] Consumer

We have a long history with Dell. In fact, it is the most-evaluated company here at [H]. So far we’ve checked out nine of its systems, including notebooks, desktops, a workstation, and even a slim line unit. We’ve also evaluated several of its XPS systems, and on the whole we've had positive experiences.

Our most recent XPS experience was with the company’s M1710 notebook, which performed well, but was over-priced and riddled with bloatware.

We were more impressed with its XPS 700, which sailed through the evaluation with nary a hitch. We docked it a few points for some build quality issues and being overpriced, but we still recommended it.

A recent regrettable XPS experience we’ve had was with the company’s mid-range XPS 410. That PC was plagued with a variety of bizarre errors, and our frustration was compounded one-hundred-fold by the company’s India-based tech support (the company has since moved its XPS support back to the U.S.).

Aside from the XPS 410, we’ve had decent to better-than-decent experiences with Dell’s XPS line of computers recently, and every article since that computer has been largely positive for the company.

What We’re Looking For

The XPS 710 H2C represents the pinnacle of Dell’s engineering, and is the company’s first true no-holds-barred gaming machine, so we’re looking for unparalleled gaming performance, stunning design, rock-solid stability, and exceptional tech support. At $5,500, if ever we expected a PC to be damn near perfect, it’s this one.

Dell has stated very clearly that it wants to compete with the other hardcore PC builders, and for a couple of years now we’ve been waiting for Dell to whip out the big guns and go toe-to-toe with the best the rest of the industry can offer. With the H2C, which is Dell’s first factory-overclocked gaming PC, it has finally thrown down the gauntlet – or at least answered the gauntlet that has been thrown down by the boutique integrators.

But anyone can build a PC with high-end specs and a modest overclock. Whether or not the H2C’s build quality, Windows build (Dell is notorious for bloatware), and tech support (it also has a spotty record in this category) can live up to the level of quality we’ve seen from other boutique builders remains to be seen.

Here’s what we got: