A longtime player in the home/multimedia markets, Dell is starting to make inroads into the gaming machine market as well. In its new XPS D300, Dell has put together some solid components, including an AGP version of STB's Riva 128-based Velocity 128. The result is a pretty stout rig that fared well for the most part in testing and caused no notable headaches during setup.

A large step-by-step foldout manual details the setup process, and we got the box ready to roll in ten minutes. The system's Phoenix BIOS allows rudimentary access to low-level system settings, though it doesn't get into much granularity. Getting to the innards is a breeze: Remove one thumbscrew and the tower's side panel slides off to reveal easily accessible system components. Other accoutrements include a 19-inch monitor, an Altec-Lansing ACS-490 speaker system, and Microsoft's SideWinder Pro joystick.

The XPS D300 arrived with DirectX 5 installed, though this unit is a press eval road-dog, and DirectX may have been installed at its previous stop. In real-mode drivers, Dell goes two for three: Mouse and audio drivers are ready to go, though a real-mode CD-ROM driver wasn't included. In a quick look at its USB functionality, the XPS D300 detected the ThrustMaster Top Gun joystick and installed the driver without incident.

As for performance, sometimes second best is fine. The XPS D300 turned in very respectable second-place finishes behind Falcon Northwest's mighty Mach V in most tests and actually edged out the Mach V in the CD-ROM WinMark test. In all four game tests, the XPS D300 posted very speedy frame rates, and it never hiccuped during general gameplay. In fact, along with the Falcon, this Dell box was one of the least troublesome rigs we tested.

Perhaps the XPS D300's only downer is its somewhat plain-Jane configuration. While it certainly covered the fundamental bases, including a US Robotics Sportster 56K X2 modem, Dell opted not to include more game-specific hardware, such as a PCI-based sound card that supports 3D positional audio, or a dedicated game card that would better hold calibration settings for analog controllers. Also absent was a Zip drive for larger files and backup. Of course, all these items can be picked up after-market, and the Zip drive is an add-on option from Dell.