Dell Dimension 8200

Tall, dark and mean looking, Dell's Dimension 8100 always looked powerful, even in the days when its Pentium 4 processors were looking like weedy under achievers. The new Dimension 8200 range, however, takes the strengths of the 8100 one stage further to a specification that's based on Intel's latest 2Ghz Pentium 4.

This is a new Pentium 4 altogether; the first we've seen to use Intel's new Socket 478 processor interface. The tiny Socket 478 has 55 more pins than the old Socket 423, and it's really designed to support the forthcoming 0.13micron Pentium 4 processors, codenamed Northwood.

The 2Ghz version, however, still uses the current 0.18micron core, so this is essentially the same Pentium 4 in a slightly smaller package. Intel also claims that the new socket design is more electrically efficient.

Dell has partnered the new chip with an Intel 850 chipset motherboard, 256Mb of PC800 RDRam, a 64Mb nVidia GeForce3 card and a Western Digital WD1000BB hard disk. This last item boasts a staggering 100Gb of capacity in a 7200rpm, UltraDMA100 drive.

That's a formidable specification, but then Dell seems determined not to let the standard slip anywhere. Optical storage includes a 16-speed DVDRom and a 16x 10x 40x CD-RW from NEC, while sound is covered by a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card. Like the identical VideoLogic Sonic Fury, this provides great audio quality, plus features such as onboard Dolby Digital surround sound decode and a versatile range of inputs and outputs.

With a 56K modem also included, the only thing missing is FireWire support, which could easily be added via a card in one of two spare PCI slots.

Things are just as good outside the case. The Dell 19in Trinitron monitor offers a clear, vibrant picture at 1024 x 768, and image quality hardly deteriorates when you push it up to 1280 x 1024 at 85Hz. With an ergonomic Logitech USB mouse and matching keyboard bundled, this is a very comfortable PC to use.

The only controversial selection is the Harmon Kardon HK695 speaker set. These aren't as weedy as they look, and can pump out a decent noise at a reasonable volume, but a set of Dolby Digital speakers would have made more of the Santa Cruz's 5.1 output.

However, Dell wins more praise for the system unit. First, a flap at the front covers two handy USB ports, to go with the two at the back and the two built into the keyboard.

More impressively, the Dimension has a true easy-access case. Place it flat on its right side, press down the catch and pull on the left side, and it tilts away, with all drives attached, letting you get to every area of the motherboard. Add to that the fact that all drives are on rails, and more rails come in the case, and you've got a machine that's a delight to upgrade.

On top of all this, you get a copy of Office XP Small Business version.

All the same, none of this would count if the Dimension couldn't perform to expectations. Luckily, it can. Helped by Dell's choice of Windows 2000 as the operating system, in SYSmark 2001 it's faster than the similarly specced 2Ghz machine from evesham.com that we reviewed last month. In fact, we could push the 3DMark 2001 resolution up to 1600 x 1200 and still get an impressive score of 3757.

Having the Systemax 2Ghz PC on the scene, with its new Intel 845 chipset, also made us curious as to whether RDRam really was faster than DDR SDRam.

We put the GeForce3 from the Dell into the Systemax before running 3DMark 2001 again, and we could see a slight difference - 4751 from the Dell to 4572 from the Systemax - but there's not an awful lot in it.

Predictably, the Dimension 8200 doesn't come cheap and it's £200 more expensive than last month's evesham.com Evolution 2000, which had an equally good monitor and a better set of speakers. Dell's excellent physical design, awesome speed and the upgradability of the processor still give it a slight edge, but this superb system remains an expensive luxury.

Contact: Dell
0870 907 5664
www.dell.co.uk.