Dell Dimension 9150 review

When we asked for future proof PCs that only cost £599, it was with some trepidation.

It's not unheard of for manufacturers to make their PC future-proof by cramming in every new standard under the sun, but then cut their cost by using puny components. We needn't have worried though - with the Dimension 9150, Dell has put together a system that would be impressive even if it cost a couple of hundred pounds more.

The first thing that struck us as we set up the Dimension were its looks. By the standards of this group test, the Dimension is a supermodel. Sure, most people will want to stow a PC away from tampering little fingers and the critical gaze of a house-proud other half, but we'd be in no rush to hide the Dell under our desk.

Two's company

The cynical would imagine that the Dell's neatly tailored exterior hides a multitude of unforgiveable sins, but they'd be plain wrong. The Dimension 9150 is one of only two systems on test to squeeze a dual-core processor into the modest confines of its £599 budget. While four of the other systems here make do with single-core AMD Athlon 64 processors, Dell has sensibly employed the entry-level Pentium D 820 model. With two processor cores running at a nippy 2.8GHz, the Pentium D 820 is a powerful chip that will happily keep the Dimension 9150 churning through even demanding tasks for years to come. By the time the other PCs here are gagging for a processor upgrade, the Dell will still be cruising along nonchalantly - so you can spend your hard-earned cash on upgrading other components.

It'll be a fair old while before you'll find yourself in desperate need of any serious upgrades, though. The Pentium D processor needs a good chunk of memory if its two processor cores are to work to their full potential and Dell has installed two 512MB sticks of DDR2 RAM. Aided and abetted by 1GB of memory, the Pentium D processor helped the Dell race ahead of its opponents with a mighty score of 121% in our 2D tests. Not only does this make the Dimension a whopping 20% quicker than its nearest AMD-powered rival, but thanks to its extra memory, it even beats the Q Multimedia by LG machine, which has a faster Intel Pentium D 930 dual-core processor - impressive stuff.

The rest of the specification is well up to scratch too, but if we were going to be really picky, we'd have to bemoan the fact that the hard disk is a relatively modest 160GB. Thankfully, there's a free bay ready for another drive when it's needed and the quality LG DVD writer will happily write to the capacious 8.5GB double-layer discs in case you need to backup reams of data.

Seen and not heard

But while we were peeking behind the Dell's natty side panels, we noticed something interesting. The Dimension uses a relatively new type of case layout known as BTX. This offers a different way of distributing the components inside a PC case so that they're easier to keep cool.

A single fan hidden at the front of the Dell sucks air in and thanks to the BTX motherboard layout, uses the airflow to whisk hot air away from the processor, memory and the graphics card with one quiet gust. At first glance, you'll be astounded at the huge cooler that squats over the dual-core processor - but don't worry, it's a good thing. A large fan can spin slower than a smaller one and still move the same volume of air and a slow spinning fan is a lot quieter. If it's under your desk, you'll be hard pressed to even hear the Dimension is there.

Easy on the eye