Core i7 PCs on sale from Dell, Gateway, others

We reviewed Intel's new Core i7 CPU already, as well as two desktops with the chip inside, but today is the first day you can actually make a Core i7 purchase. Dell has the best starting bid, with a deal on its Studio XPS with a Core i7 920 chip and a 20-inch LCD for $999. Gateway's FX 6800-01e is also impressive, coming in at $1,249 for a Core i7 920 in a PC that can accommodate two 3D cards. Look for the Gateway review this evening, with a review of a more expensive version of the Dell up shortly after.

Dell's Studio XPS has an Intel Core i7 CPU inside

(Credit: CNET)

On the higher-end of the spectrum, both the $8,028 Falcon Northwest and the $2,499 Velocity Micro PC's we reviewed are also available for order. Maingear has a Core i7-based Ephex on offer as well, starting at about $3,850. We're disappointed, however, to see that neither Voodoo's swanky Omen desktop, nor HP's Blackbird 002 have made the switch yet.

[tipoo_]

Phenom II had better be good.

[lundp]

What does the Falcon Northwest include that would warrant $8 grand.

[pithenumber]

dual 4870 X2's account for about 1k
i7 is another grand
80gigs of SSD, I'm not even going there

[pithenumber]

The falcon got the insane Crysis score from the ATi Radeon HD 4870 X2, not the CPU
If you're gaming, i7 not much of difference

[Rabo101]

The USD - ZAR exchange rate right now is 10.18 The Falcon NorthWest at R8,028.00 would cost me
over R80,000 What chip is worth that sort of money to a South African. It's crazy. 2 Core Duo desktops with excellent hardware can be purchased anywhere from ZAR4,000 to R8,000 (sans monitor),
so I don't get the sense of an i7 chip costing R80,000 I can buy a very good second hand automobile for that price...

[nagasin]

That Falcon PC mentioned above is a boutique gaming rig - meaning it is for people with lots of spare cash who don't want (or know how) to build their own gaming PC. The paint job alone that Falcon NW offer on their systems can be in the $1500 range so the system mentioned here (with a Core i7 965 overclocked to 3.79GHz and 12 GB of DDR3 memory) can be considered downright CHEAP (if you are one of the aforementioned people with lots of money, of course). The i7 965 CPU alone is just over $1000 retail but like others have said, that will come down the moment all the hype and fanfare over the release of the "next gen" CPU fades. Early adopters always pay a premium (willingly) when it comes to technology,

[the_iceman]

I'll jump into core i7 in a few years when the newness & extreme prices go away. Happy w/ my Core 2 Duo for now.

[guest86]

Core i7 can support Windows XP use latest drivers. I hate Vista because slow speed. Windows XP is 100 times faster than Vista. I stay on Windows XP forever now to future(2012 to 2070) when get old. Forget Vista and lousy new things with high prices are not important. Windows Vista is pure evil. Windows XP is not. Please hammer Vista off into XP to be happy. God rules! World is full of junk. Money = Junk. We will hate high money. Why new things come out again, again. Forget it. I not going buy Nintendo DSi. Look worst and easy to break it. People should get angry and complaint all times. No help for nothings. Stupid. Stop buying new things now. Our world is failure. So poor. I just happy with my classic things. I own Core 2 Duo with 3.16 GHz. Pentium 4, D and Core 2 Duo are enough!