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Core 2 Duo's desktop debut: three of the first PCs with Intel's new chips

Rich Brown Rich Brown, Senior Editor July 19, 2006

You can't actually purchase a PC with one of Intel's new Core 2 Duo chips in it until July 27, but Dell, Falcon Northwest, and Velocity Micro will be among the first vendors to offer them. Each provided us with a config it will start selling when Intel rings the bell: Dell's XPS 700 and Falcon Northwest's Mach V are on the heavyweight gaming powerhouse side and Velocity Micro's Vector GX Campus Edition is for the back-to-schoolers. As you can see by the review scores, we like what we've seen so far. Thanks largely to Intel's new chips, these PCs are all fast and quiet.

You'll notice that we haven't given any of these PCs an Editors' Choice award. That isn't an accident. The Dell XPS 700 might actually deserve one, but we want to see what the other vendors have to offer before we go handing out any ribbons. Same goes for the Velocity Micro. Its price-to-performance ratio is very competitive, but not only do we expect we'll see more $1,000 or so Core 2 Duo PCs, AMD has price cuts on the way for its competing Athlon 64 X2 chips. Sure, we'll see some crazy benchmark results from the multithousand-dollar systems, but we expect the budget PC market is also about to get extremely competitive.

More Resources
Read our reviews of Intel's new Core 2 Duo chips,
Our current favorite budget PC,
The next big PC story: Windows Vista,
How long before Apple upgrades the iMac?
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CNET editors' rating
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Review date July 13, 2006 July 18, 2006
The Bottom Line If you want a gaming-oriented Intel Core 2 Duo system and you have to have it right away, the Falcon Northwest Mach V pumps out plenty of frames per second but falls behind the faster Dell XPS 700 in other computing tasks. The budget desktop scene is due for a shake-up with Intel's new chips and AMD's impending price cuts, but the Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition is a strong opening volley. There's not much we'd change about this back-to-school package; it's as capable as it is attractive.
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Features
Graphics ControllernVidia GeForce 7950 GX2 - 512 MB
nVidia GeForce 7600 GS - 256 MB
Storage RemovableInfo unavailableNone
Optical Storage (2nd)Info unavailableCD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
Floppy DriveInfo unavailable3.5" 1.44 MB floppy
Storage ControllerInfo unavailableSerial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 ) ; IDE
TypeInfo unavailablePersonal computer
Hard Drive (2nd)Info unavailable- None
PrinterInfo unavailableNone
Optical StorageDVD?RW / CD-RW
DVD?RW (+R DL)
RAM2 GB DDR II SDRAM - 800 MHz
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz - PC2-5300
Hard Drive (3rd)Info unavailableNone
Cache MemoryInfo unavailable4 MB L2 cache
Dimensions (WxDxH)Info unavailable8.3 in x 19.3 in x 17.4 in
Processor1 x Intel 3.14 GHz
1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 / 1.86 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Hard Drive150 GB - Standard
1 x 250 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-150
OS ProvidedMicrosoft Windows XP Pro
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Product Description3.14 GHz - 20 in
Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition - Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86 GHz - 17 in TFT active matrix
Card ReaderInfo unavailable8 in 1 card reader
Product Form FactorInfo unavailableTower
Audio OutputInfo unavailableSound card - 5.1 channel surround
Cache Per ProcessorInfo unavailable4 MB ( 2 x 2 MB )
MonitorLCD display - 20 in
LCD display - 17 in - TFT active matrix
Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications
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