Dell XPS 730 H2C Unboxing and Preview

Finally, we removed the XPS 730 H2C from its snug, styrofoam packaging.


As you can see, the XPS 730 has an aggressive, menacing design; a combination of the shape of its predecessor the XPS 720 and its peer, the XPS 630. Our XPS 730 is an H2C model with a Victory Red anodized aluminum paint color scheme.


A windowed side-panel is offered as an option. Instead of a standard "full" window, Dell has decided to go with a stylized design.


Here, we take a quick peek at the XPS 730's internals. The XPS 730 H2C features a new and improved H2C module that is larger and more powerful than before. Our XPS 730 is equipped with two Radeon 3870 X2s in a Crossfire X configuration. While Dell has moved their flagship XPS 700 series to an ATX platform with the 730, they still chose to mount it in a BTX-style, upside down orientation.


A quick look at the Windows Vista system properties reveals that our XPS 730 H2C is powered by a Intel Core 2 Extreme X9770 that's been factory overclocked to 3.8GHz, up from 3.2GHz stock. Unsurprisingly, the XPS 730 rates a 5.9 on the Windows Experience Index, the highest score currently possible.

Right out of the box, one of the first things we did was make a quick run of 3DMark06.


Our XPS 730 H2C with its 3.8GHz, factory overclocked processor and dual Radeon 3870 X2's in Crossfire X was able to score nearly 20,000 3DMarks right out of the box. This is a very impressive result. Also worthy of note is the near-complete absence of any sort of pre-installed bloatware. The system booted up for the first time to a nearly fresh install of Vista and the only thing on the desktop was the recycling bin, a shortcut for 3DMark06, Internet Explorer and Roxio Creater Home.

The XPS 730 is available for sale right now in both standard air-cooled and liquid cooled H2C models.  At this time, a XPS 730 can be yours for just $3,999 while a factory overclocked XPS 730 H2C, like the one we just unboxed, can be had for $4,999.

So far, the XPS 730 H2C is shaping up to be a very impressive machine. However, we've barely just started to explore this system. Stay tuned and keep watching the front page because we'll have a full review of the XPS 730 H2C soon, complete with a full suite of benchmarks and, of course, plenty more pictures.