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Let’s fact the facts: it’s a beast.

It looks aggressive, it’s kitted-out to a level you could barely have dreamed of only 18 months ago, it makes a very satisfying humming noise, and it even glows red in the dark (or your choice of any one of 16 different colours).

Dell advertise that their XPS 730x Gaming Desktop range will help you make mincemeat of your gaming opponents - but will it leave your wallet feeling like it’s taken a headshot?

Starting at £2699, the XPS 730x comes in two versions with only £50 between them: the lower-priced version shipping with 640Gb of storage as standard (2 x 320Gb in RAID 1), or a 1Tb model (2 x 500Gb in RAID 1).

This being a Dell package, there is the opportunity to upgrade the specification, with the biggest surprise being that, even priced at this level, there is no monitor included.

While there is no getting away from the 4-core Intel i7 processor pumping out a frankly obscene 12.8Ghz, the attraction of 3Gb of DDR3 RAM and the glow of the LEDs, you can’t avoid noticing the price-tag. Just by making a few changes such as choosing a monitor, upgrading to a better graphics card or adding a BluRay burner, it’s easy to break the £3000 barrier.

While it’s clear that Dell’s buyout of Alienware a couple of years ago has brought them some credibility in the ultra-high end gaming market, the Alienware price-tags clearly persist, making this package, in my opinion, somewhat overpriced.

Pros

• It’s fast. It’s so very fast
• Support for a quad graphics card setup
• Did I mention that it’s fast?

Cons

• Expensive

Spec up your dream XPS 730x machine, and start working out how many kidneys you’ll need to sell to pay for it.