Dell sure dragged it out long enough, but they've finally gone official on four new desktops, two of which hold those elusive -- at least for Dell -- AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core chips. Privy to the Athlon action are two new Dimension models, the E521 and C521 (pictured), while the new XPS 210 and Dimension E520 fight for truth, justice and the American way, Intel Core 2 Duo style.

The E520 and E521 sport all the usual options, including ATI and NVIDIA graphics, dual TV tuners and dual HDDs. As for processors, the E521 can handle anything from AMD Sempron to Athlon 64 X2, while the E520 covers Pentium D and Core 2 Duo processors. Oddly, the E521 only sports one PCI slot, compared to the E520's two, but matches its Intel brother for slots otherwise, with room for a x16 PCIe and a x1 PCIe card. The C521 slims things down to about half the size of the E521, and lacks multiple disc drive and HDD bays, but still manages to match the E521 for PCIe/PCI action. Similarly, the XPS 210 keeps things small, with even less expandability, but measures a mere 1 foot tall. In other news, Dell is moving ahead with their retail strategy, and has plans for opening a New York store in early 2007.