Does this desktop spec look good to you?

[sameerrao]

Thanks to the Big J posting all the HD stuff that I can't run on my geriatric PC, I am forced to upgrade. Basically i want a PC capable of playing simulation games and watching HD Rips.

This is what I have come up with from Dell: XPS 410 -->
- Intel® Core™ 2 E6420 Duo Processor(4MB L2 cache,2.13GHZ,1066FSB)
- Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
- 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
- Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
- 22 inch E228WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
- 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS
- Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

I will buy a HD/Blue ray drive later when the prices come down.

Does the specs look OK?

[saadie]

Looks good to me :) ... all you'd need after that is a nice 7.1 speaker system :lol: ...

[dutchmasterflex]

Not bad at all.. is it a Gateway?

[gigdy]

Not bad at all.. is it a Gateway?

This is what I have come up with from Dell: XPS 410 -->


:oops:

[Fleischmann]

What's the manufacturer of the hard drive ? IMO you should get the Seagate 7200.10 with perpendicular recording, it kicks the ass of anything that isn't a WD Raptor. Apart from that, looks good.

[Erez]

looks pretty good.. maybe go DDR2 800..
what mobo?

[gigdy]

^^ you last 2. Its a DELL.

[Erez]

:?: what dell uses? or are they making they're own now :lol:
anyway DELL is such a rip off.. at least in Laptops.. I say check prices else where too.. if you dont want to build your own..

[inso]

enough ddr800
fsb 1333
2x500G drives raided
8800gts
would be my changes.

[ae86_16v]

Haha, I knew that looked familiar. Dell makes good bang for the buck. I would probably skip the GPU and buy after market.

Plus you could get a big ass HD later too. :)

Like this:

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=519538

Caution of note, others could probably give you better information, but I think Dell locks out their Mobo so you CAN'T overclock it. I will see if I can shoot you some links later when I get back.

[ae86_16v]

^ You probably can't get that kind of deal if you put one together. Dell definitely gives the most bang for the buck. Especially if consider that 22" LCD cost about $350 or so, I don't think you could get that much out of your local retailer.

[sameerrao]

Gentlemen, Thanks for the input.

ae86 is right about buying from Dell vs getting a grey market PC. Fryes Electronics make their own PC but it costs more than the Dell.

The 8800 GTS costs about $200-250 more than the 8600 GTS. :shock:

I can't get 800 DDR RAM in this specification.

i think I am going to buy it as it specced above.

[gigdy]

As long as you dont want to overclock there is nothing wrong with dell. Theyre not that expensive and built pretty well.

[dutchmasterflex]

Gentlemen, Thanks for the input.

ae86 is right about buying from Dell vs getting a grey market PC. Fryes Electronics make their own PC but it costs more than the Dell.

The 8800 GTS costs about $200-250 more than the 8600 GTS. :shock:

I can't get 800 DDR RAM in this specification.

i think I am going to buy it as it specced above.

I bought a EGA 8800 GTS "Superclocked" 320mb retail card over 2 months ago for $310.

There is nothing wrong with the specs you have picked out.. although what is the price Dell wants for that package?

Can't help but agree with Ronin, but it is a bit if a pain to put everything together yourself.

[sameerrao]

Gentlemen, Thanks for the input.

ae86 is right about buying from Dell vs getting a grey market PC. Fryes Electronics make their own PC but it costs more than the Dell.

The 8800 GTS costs about $200-250 more than the 8600 GTS. :shock:

I can't get 800 DDR RAM in this specification.

i think I am going to buy it as it specced above.

I bought a EGA 8800 GTS "Superclocked" 320mb retail card over 2 months ago for $310.

There is nothing wrong with the specs you have picked out.. although what is the price Dell wants for that package?

Can't help but agree with Ronin, but it is a bit if a pain to put everything together yourself.

~$1350 for the whole package

[dutchmasterflex]

A bit high? I think that's a pretty damn good price, considering it comes with software and a 22" monitor.

Go for it ;)


As for building it yourself... It's not hard at all, but can be a pain. Takes about a few hours to assemble (correctly) and then you have to install Windows + drivers and then all of the applications you need.

But one recommendation I have if buying a pre-built PC is to format the sucker before you even log into the machine.

Then install Windows yourself on the newly formatted hard drive. Dell and companies a like pre-load tons of useless software that slows down the computer.

[sameerrao]

Gentlemen, Thanks for the input.

ae86 is right about buying from Dell vs getting a grey market PC. Fryes Electronics make their own PC but it costs more than the Dell.

The 8800 GTS costs about $200-250 more than the 8600 GTS. :shock:

I can't get 800 DDR RAM in this specification.

i think I am going to buy it as it specced above.

I bought a EGA 8800 GTS "Superclocked" 320mb retail card over 2 months ago for $310.

There is nothing wrong with the specs you have picked out.. although what is the price Dell wants for that package?

Can't help but agree with Ronin, but it is a bit if a pain to put everything together yourself.

~$1350 for the whole package


damn, thats a bit high I would say. but then again, it is someone else putting it together and all that but still not worth it. in my book anyways.

either way, good luck with it and enjoy it!! 8)

I looked at the component prices at newegg.com and with shipping the self-assembled computer is approximately $100-120 cheaper than Dell's fully assembled PC. For that price difference, I would buy Dell's PC

[dutchmasterflex]

^ plus you get a warranty for the full system on top of the software licenses ;)

Building PC's is for the software pirate/geek/hardware enthusiast

[Erez]

na.. sounds good for ~$1,350, I say go for it..

[sameerrao]

It was $1350 till I thought about adding some more stuff :roll: ... Oh I think i need to burn the wallet :lol:

Does anyone track PC prices? Is it likely to drop much in 2 months time (July)?

[dutchmasterflex]

Prices just dropped for Q2.. most companies usually go by the yearly quarter system when making big price drops or introducing new or upgraded products.

Usually if you wait for the next quarter price differences for CPU/Graphics cards drop around $20 bucks. Keep waiting until next year and you can get this proposed system for half what you are going to pay now ;)

[sameerrao]

Sameer, it's hopeless. In 2 months time there'll be new toys and you would want them instead and end up paying equal...

Very true ...