Dell XPS Renegade

[Rob Williams]

I wasn't able to make it to CES this year, but there were a few items that certainly stood out. The main product was the Dell XPS Renegade 600.

XPS Renegade (http://www.dell.com/html/us/products/ces/index.htm?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs)

The reason this XPS is different than it's sisters, is because that it's the first PC to incorperate use of Quad SLI. Basically, there are four 7800GTX 512MB's superglued together to take up two 16x PCI-E slots. Whether or not current drivers even support Quad SLI, I don't know, but it doesn't matter since we will be waiting a few months to even see benchmarks.

While this is certainly a step forward, is there really a true need? Sure, if you have the cash, spend it. But are there ANY games on the market that would benefit from Quad SLI even at max res?

The computer also is equipped with the top end Intel DC, pre-overclocked to 4.26GHz. Surprisingly, the memory is a stock DDR2 667MHz, rather than 800-1000 to match the rest of the top end setup.

Of course, we will not see a Renegade with an AMD processor. This sucks, because it's evident that AMD's are the CPU of choice for games, so we will have to wait until Quad SLI hits the consumer market before we can test out the tech there.

What's also interesting though, is that in a few leaked images of the inside of the Renegade, there appears to be an actual AGEIA PhysX card. Whether or not this will prove true or not is yet to be seen, but the release date of the Renegade and PhysX are awful close to one another.

What are your opinions on this beast?

[madmat]

I'd like to get my hands on one for about an hour to see how well the thermal management works. Dell's have never been the best at keeping things cool under pressure.

[madstork91]

Damn you rob i was jsut about to come here and post a new thread

http://gear.ign.com/articles/679/679405p1.html

[Rob Williams]

Who actually looks to IGN for hardware news?

[GeekGirl]

Who actually looks to IGN for any news?

[Rob Williams]

GeekGirl, I love your attitude.

[Jakal]

That's overkill :D. They'd really have to work on the bandwidth side to keep all of those cards running smoothly. There's no way you could push enough video to them all lol. It'd be great though you'll have at steady fps of what? 250.. 300? I really see that only as a help to video and cad companies. I'm sure Pixar would love to have a couple of those. I couldn't imagine any game using 2gigs worth of video memory. The one's today don't benifit greatly by the 512 cards. They just don't have the processes to fill all of it up. But imagine the look on your friends face when he sees them though. Priceless.

[liqnit]

i dont think there is a thing like OverKill :D when it comes to gaming the better the hardware the better the expreince.
there is always a way to bring out more FPS in a game.
this PC could be great with AMD DC CPU in it and 4GB of Ram.

[T-Shirt]

If the prices of dual SLI scared people, imagine what this will cost:eek:

[Tech-Daddy]

Funny part on this as well is the fact that the cards *alone* consume about 600 watts....

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Yep, they have their own powersupply!!!!

And that has to equate to heat during load. SO... I think the flames painted on the side of the Renegade are more of a *prediction*.... rather than just a pretty graphic!

;)

:D :D :D

Besides... Dell is looking to buy Alienware!

[Rob Williams]

Dell is looking to buy Alienware!

That wouldn't surprise me at all.

[fussnfeathers]

Me either. Alienware really took a hit when they started selling through Best Buy. With Dell really trying to lure the gamer's market, and Alienware feeling the burn of not being "boutique" anymore, Dell purchasing the Alienware name would almost be a smart move............

[Tech-Daddy]

Would also give Dell a route by which they could "back in" on selling AMD CPU's...

:)

[Worldstar]

What does XPS stand for?

[Tech-Daddy]

"Xtremely"
"Poor"
"Selection"

;)

[ducarti]

What does XPS stand for?

I think it stands for Xtreme Performance System.

It is Dell's high-end system. They can be pretty nice computers.

[skyrise]

I wouldn't use a Dell computer, even if you payed me to use one!

[Jakal]

eXpensive
Piece of
Shi-I mean computer..

Sorry I don't like dell.

[supramax]

I never can understand people hating a company when they never tried it.

I never heard of Dell until I got a summer job one year where they used Dell computers. We would call Dell on the phone when a computer would break, and Dell would send out the part immediately. Usually next day we would have our replacement part. Don't know where everyone lives, but I call that pretty good service here.

[werty316]

I don't hate Dell but don't like them either; I prefer making my own system so I know what I get plus you save more $.

[sbrehm72255]

I never can understand people hating a company when they never tried it.

I never heard of Dell until I got a summer job one year where they used Dell computers. We would call Dell on the phone when a computer would break, and Dell would send out the part immediately. Usually next day we would have our replacement part. Don't know where everyone lives, but I call that pretty good service here.
I've worked on to many of them to like them............:eek: I don't hate Dell computers because they work for alot of people who do everyday type of tasks. I just hate working on them and their bloated software packages.

[werty316]

I've worked on to many of them to like them............:eek: I don't hate Dell computers because they work for alot of people who do everyday type of tasks. I just hate working on them and their bloated software packages.

That is one big reason why I build my own.

[gliffy]

I don't like the way Windows is *locked* to a Dell hard disk. You can not later upgrade to another computer and bring your software with you.

[werty316]

Another reason to just build your own system. You don't have to worry about this. Speaking of the XPS Renegade system it seems they are all sold out; all 30 that were made are now gone

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/324/1/