DELL™ CHAMPIONS VIDEO GAMING AND THE SEARCH FOR EUROPEAN GAMING EXCELLENCE
Dell supports CPL European Winter qualifier as key sponsor as gamers go head-to-head using Dell’s latest gaming system – the Dimension™ XPS Generation 4
Bracknell, UK, 2nd December 2004 - Dell today announced its sponsorship of the European qualifying heat of the CPL Counter-StrikeTM Championship Tournament taking place between the 3rd and the 5th December 2004 at Black Isle Film Studios, London. Sixteen teams will compete in real time using an online version of Counter-Strike, an action-oriented multiplayer computer game, for a highly regarded position in the Dallas CPL Finals held 15th December - 19th December 2004, with an almighty $1,000,000 (£520,000 / 750,000 Euro) prize fund.
Gamers will battle it out using Dell's latest gaming system - the new DimensionTM XPS Generation 4 desktop - Dell's first home desktop to offer the Intel® 925XE Express chipset with the latest Pentium® 4 and Extreme Edition processors.
Intel® is overall sponsor of the gaming tournament which also encompasses the Bloodline event to find talent for the '4Kings' clan and a 'Bring Your Own Computer' LAN-Party for up to 400 players and facilities for spectators.
Dell recognises that gaming is a serious contender within the entertainment sector and that it is now perceived as a leading entity within the interactive market. Video games are now more widely accepted in everyday mainstream society and this can be seen through vehicles such as the media. As more and more video games touch on different aspects of every day life, video games have naturally become integrated into key cultural sectors such as virtual art, education, interactive entertainment, film, music and many more. Celebrity endorsements and AAA licenses see video games and the industry itself, propelling itself into mainstream culture and other channels at an increased rate.
Gavin Duncan, Product Marketing Manager, Dimension Products, Dell commented, "This key strategic alliance and sponsorship of the CPL gaming tournament clearly demonstrates that Dell are 100% committed to supporting the gaming industry. We designed the fourth-generation Dimension XPS - our fastest gaming system ever - to seamlessly run the most intensive applications and games such as those featured in the tournament."
"We are thrilled to have Dell supporting the event. The CPL qualifier is set to be an outstanding event with the cream of European talent competing. The World Tour is the world's most ambitious gaming competition, with the aim to find the best gamers and offer them the opportunity to compete against the best of the best," said Simon Shipley, Intel UK Brand Manager.
"By supporting the CPL European qualifiers Dell is demonstrating its serious commitment to gaming and helping to promote it as one of the UK's fastest growing competitive sports," explained Jaffer Mir, Managing Director, Game Frontier Ltd, the official CPL strategic partner in the UK.
A downloadable movie of the event will be made available on the event website on the 13th December 2004 at www.bloodline.jolt.co.uk.
The new Dimension XPS system is now available across Europe starting at £1830.35 / €2649.33 (ex VAT and delivery pricing). All XPS systems come standard with dedicated XPS support to meet the unique needs of gamers.
Dimension XPS Generation 4 Highlights:
- High resolution capability with PCI Express graphics cards: 256MB ATI® RadeonTM X800XT, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GTO, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800, 128MB ATI® RadeonTM X300SE Intel Pentium 4 processor Extreme Edition 3.46 GHz with 1066MHz front side bus
- Up to 4GB dual-channel DDR2 memory at 533MHz
- Specialised thermal cooling fans
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (D) with DVD-Audio & IEEE 1394
- Expansion slots: two PCI Express slots (one x1 and one x16) and four PCI slots
- Integrated RAID 0 or 1 functionality via the ICH6-R controller with Intel Matrix Storage technology
- Hard drive options: Up to three 400GB SATA hard drives
- Media drive options include 16X DVD+/-RW double layer drive
- Integrated Gigabit networking capability on PCI Express bus
- Eight USB 2.0 ports standard
- Front-mounted 1394 port
- Microsoft® Windows XP Home or Professional
- Dell Picture Studio for digital photo organization, and Dell McAfee SecurityCentre for antivirus, firewall, and privacy controls (all software optional)
- Dell Media Experience
- Standard 1 year limited warranty plus 1 year at-home service; optional upgrade up to 4 years
- 24 x 7 dedicated XPS support from technical experts who understand gamers' needs
Additional information on Dimension products is available at www.dell.co.uk/xps.
Product photography is available at www.dell.com/photos.
Further event information is available at: http://www.gamefrontier.com/index.php?page=510001
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Nina Jenkins
+44(0)1344 372059
Clare Gibbins
+44 (0)20 7309 1037
About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures. Company revenue for the past four quarters totalled $47.3 billion. Dell, through its direct business model, designs, manufactures and customises products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained at www.dell.com.
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