Dell XPS 8900 Special Edition Review

Our Verdict

The Dell XPS 8900 SE offers VR-ready gaming performance within an hands upgradable design that's fit for both work and play.

For

Uncomplicated, easy-to-upgrade blueprint
Strong gaming and VR operation
Handy built-in audio software
Lots of retentivity-card slots for productivity

Against

Lackluster keyboard
Not every bit meaty as other VR-fix competitors

Tom's Guide Verdict

The Dell XPS 8900 SE offers VR-ready gaming performance inside an easily upgradable design that'south fit for both work and play.

Pros

+
Simple, like shooting fish in a barrel-to-upgrade design
+
Stiff gaming and VR performance
+
Handy built-in audio software
+
Lots of memory-card slots for productivity

Cons

-
Lackluster keyboard
-
Not as compact as other VR-prepare competitors

Not every gaming PC has to look like it fell out of some spooky alien vessel. But await at the Dell XPS 8900 Special Edition ($1,199 starting/as reviewed), which has the unassuming looks of a productivity PC but strong-enough guts for high-end gaming. The XPS' Intel Cadre i5 processor and GTX 970 graphics carte du jour offer a solid starting point for virtual reality, while the PC's easy-to-upgrade design ensures that you'll exist able to make this automobile even more powerful in the long run. The XPS 8900 isn't the kind of desktop you lot'll show off to your friends or stick in your amusement center, but its strong performance and future-proof design get in a winner.

Pattern

The Dell XPS 8900 SE is the antithesis of an Alienware when information technology comes to looks, but that doesn't hateful this PC isn't sexy in its own right. While Dell'south Alienware-branded PCs are known for their glowing lights and sci-fi–inspired architecture, the XPS is an unassuming black box with a sleeky front panel and an elegant upward curve along the pinnacle.

The PC's front panel sports a sleek, silver border, with a honeycomb-like vent well-nigh the lesser. While the XPS lacks the fully transparent side-panel that'due south practically a standard for mod gaming desktops, there is a small grille on the left side that exposes the green glow of the machine'southward Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card.

At sixteen ten 17.5 x 7.3 inches, the XPS won't exactly slide under your TV like the actress-compact Alienware X51 or Asus ROG G20CB volition. It should notwithstanding fit comfortably on or under your desk, withal, and isn't nearly as hulking every bit other VR-set rigs such equally the Alienware Area 51 (22.4 10 25.2 10 10.7 inches) or the Origin PC Millennium (21.4 x 24.eight x nine.75 inches).

More: All-time Gaming PCs

Ports and Upgradability

The XPS sports ii USB 3.0 ports in the front end for quickly plugging in your favorite game pads or peripherals. There are also 2 USB ii.0 ports, along with headphone and mic jacks in a small enclave at the summit panel. These are easy to reach if you have the desktop on your floor.

Unlike about gaming desktops, the XPS sports a whopping iv memory-card slots (SM/XD, CF/Doc, SD/RS/SDXC and MS/Pro Duo) at the superlative of its front end panel. This gives the sense that Dell's PC is ideal for productivity, just as it is for diggings your friends' heads off in video games.

In the back, you'll discover four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet jack and a total suite of surroundings-sound audio inputs. For your video needs, there are 3 DisplayPorts, one HDMI port and a DVI connexion on dorsum of the PC'due south GTX 970 graphics card.

Accessing the XPS' components is a cinch.

Accessing the XPS' components is a cinch. Later on removing a unmarried hand screw from the back, you can easily slide off the PC'south side panel and proceeds access to the machine's GPU, fans and storage. You'll need a screwdriver to swap out whatsoever of those parts, however.

Gaming Functioning

The XPS 8900 SE can handle mainstream games at loftier settings with ease, thanks to its Nvidia GTX 970 graphics menu with 4GB of VRAM. I jumped, climbed and swam my way through Rise of the Tomb Raider's gorgeous cliffs and rivers at a shine 60 frames per second, even with the graphics set to high at 2048 x 1536. The organization even handled a flake of Tomb Raider at 4K, though I experienced occasional frame-rate drops to below 30 fps.

On the game'southward benchmark, the XPS churned out a silky 54.four fps at 1080p with graphics cranked to the max. The PC maintained a highly playable 39.12 fps at 2048 10 1536, only sank to a chuggy 13.65 fps at 4K.

The XPS ran the notoriously intensive Metro: Final Light criterion at an impressive 66.7 fps at 4K on depression settings. However, the game slowed to an unplayable 13.67 fps with graphics maxed out.

The XPS scored a 2,513 on the 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra test (which measures 4K performance), chirapsia the GTX 970-powered Asus G20CB (ii,153) while topping the Alienware X51 (2,446) and trailing our 3,722 gaming-desktop average.

VR-Readiness

The XPS 8900 SE comes with Oculus' shiny seal of approval, but I ran it through a few VR tests just to be safe. As expected, the PC checked off every box on Oculus' Rift Compatibility Tool, which scans your machine to ensure you lot have the proper CPU, GPU, RAM and ports for virtual reality.

I also tested the XPS with Valve's more-intensive SteamVR Performance Exam, which runs a quick Portal-themed VR demo and rates a PC as Not Ready (Scarlet), Capable (Yellow) or Prepare (Green). The XPS landed firmly in the green, with an overall quality of 6.4, a rating that factors in average frame rate also as graphical allegiance.

MORE: Oculus Rift Review: Worth the Hype

Other GTX 970-powered machines, such as the G20CB and X51, scored half dozen.1 and half dozen.2, respectively. When nosotros ran the test with our GTX 980 Ti-powered Volta VZ, nosotros got a much college score of eleven.

Overall Operation

Packing an Intel Core i5-6400 processor with 8GB of RAM, the XPS served every bit an efficient multitasking machine when it was time to put the controller down. The PC performed smoothly no affair what I threw at it, even every bit I watched seven simultaneous Twitch streams while working in Google Docs, downloading a game on Steam and running a full-system browse.

The XPS scored a x,761 on the Geekbench iii overall performance test, trailing its Cadre i5-powered competitors in the G20CB (10,979) and Alienware X51 (12,526). Information technology also lagged behind the 15,211 category average.

The XPS 8900 is ideal for productivity, only equally it is for blasting your friends' heads off in video games.

Our XPS also roughshod to the competition when it came to hard drive speed. The PC'south 1TB, 7,200-rpm difficult bulldoze copied a 4.97GB batch of files at 72 MBps, falling way backside the G20CB's 512GB SSD (171.3 MBps) and the X51's 256GB SSD (279.3 MBps). Of course, you lot tin can outfit the XPS with faster flash storage if you're willing to pay actress.

Sound

The XPS ships with the Dell Audio app, which lets you lot tweak a variety of sound parameters via the MaxxAudio Pro suite. This suite features presets for movies, music, gaming and phonation, besides as a special "MaxxSense" setting, all of which fabricated whatever I was listening to sound significantly louder and brighter. You can likewise change private settings such as bass, treble and dialog; suit the chip rate; and pull up an blaster if you're really looking to fine-tune.

Keyboard and Mouse

The XPS 8900 ships with a stock keyboard and mouse combo, though you'll probably want to leap for dedicated gaming peripherals if you programme on playing seriously. Neither the keyboard nor the mouse is anything special, though the latter was more than impressive than the former.

The included mouse has pretty vanilla features, save for the peripheral'due south defended volume controls. Its square island-keys felt also stiff for my liking; I was even so able to run through the Key Hero typing test at a quick 122 words per minute with nigh-perfect accuracy, merely doing and then wasn't very kind on my fingers.

I had a better time with Dell's mouse, which seems better-suited to gaming. In that location are thumb buttons on either side of the peripheral, to which y'all can map actress controls. There's also a DPI switch in the center that displays the mouse's sensitivity level via a series of LED lights.

Configurations

We reviewed the $1,199 Oculus-ready version of the XPS 8900 SE, which includes an Intel Core i5-6400 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB and 7,200-rpm hard drive, and Nvidia GTX 970 graphics. If you've purchased an Oculus Rift headset, yous're eligible to get $200 off this particular configuration.

Dell offers four higher-end versions of the XPS 8900 SE, starting with a $1,279 config that packs a Core i7 CPU, 16GB of retention, a 2TB difficult drive with a 32GB SSD, and Nvidia GTX 745 graphics. Those looking for the almost power possible can check out the $two,199 model, which offers a Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, a 2TB hard drive with a 512GB SSD, and an Nvidia GTX 980 graphics menu.

More than: How to Buy a Gaming Mouse

If you're on a budget and can live without VR gaming, there'due south a non-SE version of the 8900 that starts at a depression $649 with a Cadre i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, a 1TB and 7,200-rpm hard drive, and Nvidia GeForce GT 730 graphics.

Bottom Line

The Dell XPS 8900 SE ($i,119 equally reviewed) isn't the flashiest among the current crop of VR-fix PCs, just it'due south certainly one of the well-nigh practical. This no-nonsense desktop sports the Cadre i5 processor and GTX 970 GPU you demand to enter the world of virtual reality, all within a uncomplicated, slick design that packs more than than plenty ports for memory cards and accessories. Simply the existent star of the show is the XPS' hassle-gratis upgradability, which allows y'all to popular open up the PC in a few seconds and add new parts.

If you lot're looking for something more stylish (or just don't have much infinite), the Alienware X51 ($ane,119 starting) and Asus ROG G20CB ($1,449 starting) both offering VR-gear up performance within supercompact designs. But both of those PC's lack the XPS 8900'south upgradability, making Dell's desktop an platonic choice for gamers seeking something they tin future-proof.

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored and was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. When not at work, you can usually grab him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.