BIOS: Technology Means Business

The Dimension 9100 is Dell's latest high-end desktop PC. Sporting a new colour scheme and the first BTX case change in more than two years, the company's flagship desktop delivers high-end performance, enhanced multimedia technologies and proactive support to help you more easily manage digital content and information. Aimed squarely at higher-end multimedia tasks, hence its support for Intel's new Pentium D 800-series dual-core CPUs, the Dimension 9100 is a powerful and value-packed desktop system. Hardcore gamers, however, should hold on for Dell's brand-new Dimension XPS gaming system (due next month), which supports nVidia SLI-enabled graphics cards.

Pros: Dual-core support; improved case design; good value
Cons: Large case; supports Intel CPUs and single graphics cards only

The Dimension 9100 (445x168x445mm) is the first of Dell's next-generation desktops to support Intel's Pentium D 8xx dual-core processors. It's also the first to sport an new 'alpine white-and-arctic silver' enclosure. The colours match the company's new laptop range but we found the mix of white, silver and black created a rather messy and unfinished appearance. We would have much preferred to have seen the system completely in white, or just black-and-silver. On a more positive note, the new enclosure is much easier to use thanks to a traditional side panel that simply slides off.

Dell combines its patented QuietCase technology and Balanced Technology Extended (BTX) internal design specifications to deliver a quieter and cooler system compared to previous models, which should also help to improve the reliability of the product. However, you can still hear the whirring of system fans while the computer runs, and the optical drives are exceptionally noisy. A cutaway behind the front fascia allows the internal fans to vent the Pentium D's heat.

Technical specifications of the system are good, as expected from a high-end consumer solution. The system is based on Intel's 945P Express chipset with integrated Intel XD anti-virus protection, support for Intel Pentium 4 6xx single-core and Pentium D 8xx dual-core processors (our review model used a 64-bit 3.0GHz Pentium 4 630), up to 4GB of DDR2-533MHz memory (we had 1GB), choice of graphics cards (256MB ATI Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition with 256MB memory included here), and up to 1000GB of SATA-based storage (250GB on our review model).

The full tower case is large enough to accommodate five expansion slots (PCIe and PCI), integrated 7.1 audio chipset (optional Creative Sound Blaster card), 10/100 network controller (no Gigabit Ethernet), 9-in-1 media card reader, and seven USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately, there's no Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, FireWire or V.92 modem shipped as standard. In fact, there's not even a PS/2, parallel or serial port. You can configure the Dimension 9100 with either Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, or Windows Media Center Edition 2005. Our test machine came pre-installed with Windows XP Professional.

The front of the new chassis accommodates two USB 2.0 ports (five additional ports at rear), audio jack for easy headphone connection, two 5.25in. optical drive bays (16x DVD-ROM and dual-layer DVD recorder were fitted into our test system), two 3.5in. external bays (for use with an optional floppy drive and/or media card reader), and two 3.5in. internal bays (for use with hard drives). At the rear of the system are a number of colour-coded connectors and ports, analogue and digital video connectors, S-Video out port, and five miniature audio jacks for line-in, line-out, microphone and surround sound (S/PDIF).

The Dimension 9100 was a very good performer. Sure, its speed can be bettered by other systems supporting two SLI graphics cards, but this level of performance would double the cost of the system. As is stands, the Dimension 9100 is more than capable of running general business and leisure titles.

But if you want to accomplish more while running multiple applications, such as editing video while downloading music, make sure you opt for a dual-core Pentium D 8xx processor. Audio and movie fans may want to upgrade the standard onboard audio solution too, and hardcore gamers may want to wait a month or so until Dell's latest Dimension XPS desktop hits the shelves.

About our tests:
BIOS uses Futuremark's SYSmark 2004 benchmarking application to test the overall performance of desktops. SYSmark 2004 contains scientifically designed workloads that represent the range of activities that an office productivity or Internet content creation worker may encounter. PCMark05 Pro is Futuremark's application-based benchmark for measuring component-level performance. It uses portions of real applications instead of including very large applications or using specifically created code. Futuremark's 3DMark05 Pro runs game tests to provide an accurate overview of a system's gaming performance. In all benchmarks, the higher the score, the faster the computer.