I just finished building on a few weeks back to replace my old Dell Dimension 8200 series.
was sad really- spent 4500 on that Dell back when XP was brand new and the most powerful P4 was 1.3G...lmao...spent 1800 on the new one, but it is a monster built to slaughter stuff on Crysis, hopefully it will last as long as the trusty old dimension did.
Truthfully, I have nothing bad to say about Dell desktops, I have owned 3 of 'em over the years- they have all treated me extremely well.
The one you posted is a pretty good machine, although personnaly I would opt for the cheapest vid card and RAM they have.Then, I would buy that one, and then newegg some RAM and a vidcard.
One thing about Dell is they nick your wallet when you upgrade stuff pre-shipment.
My only valid complaint against Dell is their proprietary power supplies. If you need a bigger one, or have one blow and your warranty is up, you cant buy just any ol' thing and slap it in. This may have changed since I bought my last one, but I do know the only places to get replacements for them is direct from Dell or from those media Spin Doctors at PC Power and cooling.
Packer, I own a Dell 710 with dual graphics cards and 4gig of memory and a lot of other fast hot parts and I can truthfully say that I owe this new computer thanks to Dell. My old computer had a problem with the cover, the handle broke on the inside and I could not get into the computer. I contacted Dell and they sent a tech out, and he could not get the cover off without damaging the case so he told Dell. They sent me this Dell 710 with better graphics and with 4gig of memory, this one they sent me was better than the one I had. Cost to me was 0, nada, zip. They shipped the new one, and I shipped the old back to them, sweet. I have had a few other computers over the years, but as for buying a new one, I will buy Dell. As for upgrading, I agree that you don't want to go thru Dell, as they are pretty expensive on upgrades, and there parts are no better than anyone else's. I don't think you can go wrong with a Dell, but make sure you get the extra gig of memory and get a better graphics card. Thats my nickels worth. Hope this helps.
Okay thought I would put my 2 cents in. I've been told that Dells only last as long as the warranty and then they go to hell (shrug) I don't know how true this is but it's what I've been told. For the price though it looks pretty decent.
P.S You need a job at a Starbucks in Balantyne so you can get me a discount lol. <3's
Haha harris teeter ROFL!!!! Im looking to get a job closer down here. Was thinking about Quiznos(sp){the sub sandwitch place} cause they pay really awesome
* XPS 410 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320 (1.86GHz, 1066 FSB)
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
If you want a DELL, don't buy from there "new" section. Go to the outlet on their website, that is where I found this one
It looks like a pretty good deal.
System Price : $1,229.00
Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Home PremiumMemory
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz Dual Ranked (4 DIMMs)Hard Disk Drive
500 G (I) 7200RPM
500 GB EIDE SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)Video
768MB nVidia GeForce 8800 GTXCertified Refurbished
Certified RefurbishedBase
XPS 410 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320 (1.86GHz, 1066 FSB)Media Bay
16X DVD ROM Drive
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capabilitySoftware Upgrade
Microsoft Works 8.5Hardware Upgrade
13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Dell Enhanced Multimedia USB Keyboard
Dell Optical USB 2-button Mouse
Yuh..I think there is an age thing here in this thread...but really, if you are not in a hurry, you can build a bitchin' machine.
The one I posted in the Computer Specs Thread was started back in febuary. I did three months worth of research while saving up my seed money. From April through August I spent roughly 250 US per month buying a part here, a chunk there.
now Agust through September I admit i dropped 700 bucks..gulp...however, the machine was finished and I needed to test it out. 300 bux for a 22' LCD at Target, games from D2D and EA and stores, an mp4 player and stuff like that.
My best advice I can give you is to do research.
I picked what I wanted to do with the system (play 2142, Oblivion, and Crysis, be able to upgrade to vista at any time)
I chose a motherboard first. being an electronics technician does not the system builder make, so I took a long time reading bench test after bench test online. I went with the Abit AB9 Pro because it met my needs, is relatively future compatible, and was on sale at newegg.
Next stop was a PSU. Anyone that buys this last is a moron. next to the mobo/processor, the PSU is the most important component. this was the hardest research to do as there is a shit ton of media hype and manufacturer propaganda to sort out. If your PSU isn't powerful enough, you ain't playin shit.
(My advice here is this- more is better except in rails. professionally I will tell you that a single rail 550W PSU is waaaay better than a four rail 800W. i wont get into the gory details, but you cannot change the laws of physics. also, DO NOT get a modular PSU. they are easy to use and make a clean looking case, but the internal resistance of the shitty connectors and wire is never taken into acount. You will have many, many strange things happen in your system that could potentially fry your other hardware.) on request, i will write out a full article on the reasons behind all this, and unlike any of the manufacturer's sites I will provide the references to prove my claims...lol
Processor is next. There is two company's. two price ranges. Two diffrent rigs. and two billion shitty opinions(including mine, the shittiest) honestly it really is all a metter of opinion and budget. Just make sure you buy a processor that will work in your mother board. With intel stick to socket LGA775, with AMD stick to whatever there newest socket is(I have forgotten)
RAM- Ohnestly, stick with DDR2. there is currently NO performance advantage to having DDR3 RAM at this time.
(also when buying ram decide what OS you are going to run. remeber that the OS bit rate determines how much RAM you can use 4G max for 32 bit, 164 Terabytes for 64 bit)
Next get your OS. Cheapest LEGAL windows software I have found is on Ivorcom.com or Newegg.com, tho it wa scheaper on Ivor when I purchased, this changes from day to day.
hard drives- IDE also know as EIDE AKA PATA is an archaic fossil that should have gone extinct two years ago. Thats the big assed ugly ribbon cables. Oh, the data transfer rate is slow as hell too...never understood what the point of a raptor drive was when your actual cable and connectors determines the bandwidth. If your mobo supports it, go with SATA. you can get a 320G SATA HDD for 100$ or less. I bought ten in bulk, kept 4, sold 6 on ebay, and cut a profit....lol
Now, get your case. Remeber, you need to know what your system is and what its gonna do before you pick one. Its gotta have room for all your crap. its gotta have good airflow. Everything else is gravy. DO NOT buy a case with a PSU installed already, 99.9999% of the time, its a lousy PSU that will burn your chips before it does any good. My case came with one and it makes an excellent drink coaster or doorstop now. (I learned this the hard way)
Video cards....ugh...this is the second hardest part in my opinion. Theres a ton of good ones out there from both GPU manufactuers. See the 8800 GTX vs GTS thread for some good stuff on that confusing mess.
DVD and CD drives are all pretty much the same, just remeber to buy for your system- SATA if you have it, or PATA. Dont do what i did and buy the cheapest ones without realizing you bought PATA instead of SATA...
theres lots more to it, but the internet and google are your friends- and you got bros backing you up too
I also freely admit that the total cost of my system on the other thread also includes the cost of beer, whiskey, smokes, and bribes to my wife while I was doing this project. I got a bitchin' computer- she AND my daughter got custom made designer purses. Thankfully, the two purses together were cheaper than the monitor, but they dont know that....LMFAO
That figure is actually what is virtualy possible based on a 64 bit computing system. I should have clarified that.
Its a pretty involved math thing, but 32 bit = 4G max 64 Bit= 164 Terabyte max.
As you have found out, and as I should have included, the ACTUAL physical limit is around 128G
Personally though, I have never seen a board that can handle more than 100G worth of DIMMs, and it was a prototype for a R&D project back in my defense Contractor days.
Sometimes I get ahead of muyself at 0330 in the morning. I don't type well to begin with and I tend to think faster than i can write...lol
the real pisser is playing the newegg game. you buy it on sale one hour, and the next hour its 20 bux cheaper.
got my mobo for 139.99 free shipping, two weeks later its 139.99 with a 40 MIR, a month after that the regular price was 129 even...lmao
on that note tho, i will say I am not partial to an one particular vendor, it just worked out that newegg had the best prices on everything except the OS, Monitor and PSUs
my BFG was at Best Buy for the exact same price as newegg and tiger direct, but no shipping charges.
my 22 inch LCD was at Target
got my OS from Ivorcom.com (although it is currently cheaper on newegg, there was a 50 dollar price diffrence at the time)
As you decide on which products you are gonna buy, look em up on Newegg.com. Then Add them to your wish list AND set up the price notification option. Then make sure you click the box for their newsletter.
Now, i would NEVER sign up for spam, let alone reccomend someone else do so, but my resoning is this:
It lets you automatically keep track of prices AND it allows you to get access to the customer only deals. using a promo code from a new egg news letter, I was able to buy 10 320G SATA Bartracudas at a crazy low price. I kept four, installed two of those and eBayed the rest. The 50% markup on my ebay sales allowed me to splurge on the final fun stuff for the system. My monitor, keyboard and gaming mouse were all virtually free!
I won't include the prices here, but lemme tell ya, I got 10 hardrives for the price of 3...5 when you included the shipping.
Pricegrabber is your friend also, although sometimes items don't show up on there. Much like newegg it changes every day.
I really wish these programmer types would write personalized software agents to do searches like this ala BeazleBug in the Otherland series of books.
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Packer, I own a Dell 710 with dual graphics cards and 4gig of memory and a lot of other fast hot parts and I can truthfully say that I owe this new computer thanks to Dell. My old computer had a problem with the cover, the handle broke on the inside and I could not get into the computer. I contacted Dell and they sent a tech out, and he could not get the cover off without damaging the case so he told Dell. They sent me this Dell 710 with better graphics and with 4gig of memory, this one they sent me was better than the one I had. Cost to me was 0, nada, zip. They shipped the new one, and I shipped the old back to them, sweet. I have had a few other computers over the years, but as for buying a new one, I will buy Dell. As for upgrading, I agree that you don't want to go thru Dell, as they are pretty expensive on upgrades, and there parts are no better than anyone else's. I don't think you can go wrong with a Dell, but make sure you get the extra gig of memory and get a better graphics card. Thats my nickels worth. Hope this helps.
