Tech Review: Dell XPS 730

Performed dispositions of 10 old PCs today which inspired this post. The lesson is that most things have a life cycle and being aware of that allows you to make sure depending what you need you stay ahead of the curve and you take proper care of your equipment.

XPS 730x

Processor & Chipset
Intel CoreTM  i7-920 (2.66GHz, 8MB Shared Cache) Intel CoreTM  i7-940 (2.93GHz, 8MB Shared Cache) Intel CoreTM  i7-965 Extreme Edition (3.2GHz, 8MB Shared Cache)   Chipset Intel®  X58 Chipset
Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista®  Business with Downgrade Rights Service to Windows®  XP Professional Genuine Windows Vista®  Ultimate Genuine Windows Vista®  Business Genuine Windows Vista®  Home Premium Genuine Windows Vista®  Home Premium x64 Edition Genuine Windows Vista®  Ultimate 64-Bit   For more details on Dell systems that run Windows Vista, see www.dell.com/vista.
Memory
Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM system Memory6 Three (3) user-accessible DIMM slots 3GB1 DDR3 1066MHz (3 x 1GB1 DIMMs) 6GB DDR3 1066MHz (3 x 2GB1 DIMMs)
Hard Drives
All drives are 7200 RPM, SATA-II (3GB/s) unless otherwise noted   Single Drives 320GB7 , 500GB7 , 640GB, 750GB , 1TB7 , 128GB SSD, 150GB 10K RPM, 300GB7 10K RPM   Data Security RAID 1 500GB7 (2 x 500GB), 640GB (2 x 640GB), 750GB (2 x 750GB), 1TB7 (2 x 1TB), 300GB7 (2 x 300GB7 10K RPM)   Performance RAID 0 1TB7 (2 x 500GB), 1.28TB (2 x 640GB), 1.5TB (2 x 750GB), 2TB (2 x 1TB), 256GB (2 x 128GB SSD), 300GB7 (2 x 150GB 10K RPM), 600GB (2 x 300GB7 10K RPM)   Performance and Security, RAID 1+0 1TB7 (4 x 500GB), 2TB (4 x 1TB), 600GB (4 x 300GB7 10K RPM)
Optical Disc Drive
Single Drives 16X DVD +/-RW Drive8, 6X Blu-rayTM  Combo Drive9, 6X Blu-rayTM  Disc Writer10   Dual Drives 16X DVD +/-RW Drive + 16X DVD-ROM Drive, 6X Blu-rayTM  Combo Drive + 16X DVD-ROM Drive, 6X Blu-rayTM  Disc Writer + 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Graphics & Video
Designed to support the new PCI Express 2.0 bus architecture with three x16 graphics cards slots11, the Intel x58 Express Chipset will support single, dual and Quad Graphics solutions for sizzling graphics speeds leading to a truly immersive gaming experience.   Compatible with NVIDIA SLITM   technology - a revolutionary platform innovation that allows you to intelligently scale graphics performance by combining multiple NVIDIA®  graphics solutions in a single system.   ATI CrossFireXTM   multi-GPU technology takes your gaming experience to unforeseeable heights with more scalability, higher performance and compatibility for unparalleled visual thrills than ever before.   Single Card ATI RadeonTM  HD4850, NVIDIA®  GeForce®  9800GT, NVIDIA®  GeForce®  GXT280   Dual Card ATI RadeonTM  HD4850 CrossFireX
Sound Cards
Integrated 7.1 channel High Definition Audio   Optional Sound Blaster X-FiTM   Titanium
Communications
Integrated Dual Gigabit Ethernet12 (10/100/1000Base-T)   Optional Killer NICTM  K1 Gaming Network Card
Ports
Front USB 2.0 (x2), 1394a (x1), (1) headphone out, (1) microphone in   Rear (Audio connectors) S/PDIF Audio Out (Coax and Optical), microphone in, line-in, line-out, center/LFE, Rear Surround, Side Surround   Rear(Other) USB 2.0 (x6), 1394a (x1), eSATA (x1), PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard, Gigabit Ethernet12 (x2)
Expansion Slots
PCI: 1 Slot PCIe x1: 2 Slots PCIe x16 Gen211: 3 Slots
Chassis & Case
Dimensions Height: 55.5 cm (21.9 inches) without stand; 57.2 cm (22.5 inches) with stand Width: 21.9 cm (8.6 inches) without stand; 35.6 cm (14.0 inches) with stand Depth: 59.4 cm (23.4 inches) Weight: 21.7 kg (47.8 lb) typical configuration; 31 kg (68 lb) maximum configuration   Power EPA compliant 80+ 1KW power supply on all configurations   Drive Bays (4) 5.25" optical bays (4) 3.5" internal HDD bays (2) 3.5" external flex bays (floppy/media reader)