Dell at PAX West: Inspiron 7000 Gaming serves quad-core and GTX 1060 for $1,000

Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop

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For starters, the big news with Dell’s latest Inspiron desktop is that it’s now sold with a clear panel. That means if you configured the PC with optional Recon Blue lighting, you’ll be able to see all the tasty hardware inside washed with a blue hue without having to remove the side panel. You can also see this illumination through the angled intake grille on the front.

As the specifications show, this gaming desktop is based on AMD processors including two of its latest all-in-one APU chips, and six of its most recent Ryzen processors. What you won’t find here are configurations for AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper chips, which are provided through Dell’s Alienware-branded Area-51 Threadripper Edition desktop instead.

That said, you will see a slight difference between the APU and Ryzen versions, such as the number of available open expansion slots, and the number of ports. For instance, the Ryzen model includes an additional USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C port on the front, and two additional USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports on the back. Neither PC provides options for Thunderbolt 3 or USB 3.1 Gen2 connectivity.

In addition to Windows 10, the new Dell Inspiron ships with trial versions of Office 2016 and McAfee LiveSafe already installed. Dell’s other pre-loaded programs include My Dell, Dell Digital Delivery, Dell Backup & Recovery, Dropbox, SupportAssist, and Adobe’s PDF converter. Windows 10 will have Flipboard, Groove Music, iHeart Radio, and Twitter apps already installed.

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming Laptop

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Here is Dell’s latest gaming laptop entry without rocketing into the Alienware zone. Packing seventh-generation Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce discrete graphics, the updated Inspiron 15 7000 laptop includes options such as an Ultra HD resolution, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, and dual storage configurations.

As the specifications show, customers can configure the laptop with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 discrete graphics chip based on Max-Q technology. This enables the GTX 1060 (and higher graphics chips) to reside in laptops measuring as thin as 0.70 inches. Dell’s Inspiron 15 isn’t quite that thin, but customers configuring the laptop with the GTX 1060 won’t see the graphics chip’s performance throttled back to prevent excessive heat in a compact area.

“A striking, gamer-focused design with dedicated forward and rearward thermal vents provides the first clue to this system’s capabilities,” Dell says. “Behind those vents are extra-capacity heat exchangers connected by oversized piping to dual cooling fans with high-efficiency blade pitch.”

The laptop ships with Windows 10, and can be configured with Ubuntu in various regions. Software installed by Dell includes My Dell, Dell Digital Delivery, Dell Backup & Delivery, Dropbox, Adobe PDF Converter, SupportAssist, and trial versions of Office 2016 and McAfee LiveSafe. Windows 10 will have the Flipboard, Groove Music, iHeart Radio, and Twitter apps already installed.

Alienware 34 Curved Gaming Monitor

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Finally, we have a pair of Alienware-branded curved monitors packing four customizable lighting zones and the trademark Alienware silver/black design. The AW3418DW model sports a curvature with a 1,900mm radius and an Ultra HD resolution while the AW3418HW has a wider curvature (3,800mm radius) but a lower maximum resolution.

According to Dell, the new Alienware monitors synchronize their lighting with Alienware laptops and desktops, but they work just fine on non-Alienware products, too. To customize the lighting, you can download Dell’s free desktop software and assign colors to four zones located on the back: three separate lines and the Alienware logo. Lighting effects include Static, Morphing, Probing, and Spectrum.

The new panels also ship with “gaming-centric” menu settings. Here you can enable built-in features such as the Timer, and the frames-per-second counter. There are also three pre-optimized profiles for first-person shooters, role-playing games, and real-time strategy games. Three additional profile slots are provided for your own customized group of settings as well.

Finally, all ports reside on the bottom of the display. The stand is actually hollow, and provides a removable cover so you can route all dangling cables inside, removing visual clutter. This stand is height adjustable, and provides plenty of tilt (-5 to 25 degrees) and swivel (-20 to 20 degrees) adjustment for your viewing pleasure.