Chardok has a moment. Help him with a new computer.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-16 12:04pm

yep. Buying a new one from Dell. Tell me what you think of my customizations, and advise on ways in which I can improve based on y'alls knowledge of what I do with my computer. (Gaming, mostly....well...all ly.)

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Dimension E510 Qty 1

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 650 w/HT Technology (3.4GHz,800FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005
Edition Unit Price $1,623.00

Dell Home Customers: Save 25% off Dell Dimension E510!
Limited Time Offer!
- $405.75

Module Description Show Details

Dell Dimension E510 Series Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 650 w/HT Technology (3.4GHz,800FSB)

Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition

Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (4x512M)

Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard

Monitor 19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel

Video Card 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon
X600 SE HyperMemory

Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

Floppy Drive No Floppy Drive Included

Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse

Network Card Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet

Modem 56K PCI Data Fax Modem

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0

CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write capability

Sound Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio

Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)

Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only

Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription

Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support

Dial - Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included

Enhanced Software for CD or DVD Burner MyDVD Plus:Copy DVDs,Edit Video,Effects,Photo Slideshows (DVD+RW only)

Operating System Backup & Recovery Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition backup CD

Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack -Basic digital Music, Photo, and Casual Gaming

SOFTWARE FOR YOUR DELL
Detto IntelliMover: moves data and settings to new PC! Qty 1
Unit Price $49.00

TOTAL:$1,266.25

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-02-16 12:14pm

Relevant details
Pentium® 4 Processor 650
Windows® XP Media Center 2005
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2
ATI Radeon X600 SE
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
Sound Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy®

Sounds like your short-changing yourself in the Video Card and Hard Drive areas. I'm not down with Intel anymore but Dell does not sell AMD's so lets assume you want to stick with Dell for the moment.

The 510 models don't let you get anything other than Radeon's and nothing better than a x600. If you want Oblivion level gaming you might want to switch models and go with a 7800 XX or a 1x00 Radeon.

And seriously the Hard drive? You can double your storage space for under $40. Speend the money, you must have room for Patchs, Trailers, Porn, The Video Game installs themselves, Porn, Mods, Basic windows files, Porn, And don't forget massive video collections of a pornographic nature.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-16 12:15pm

Upgrade the graphics card ASAP. Thats a riced up 9600XT. Oh, and a pittence should get you a far improved hard disk.

Modem 56K PCI Data Fax Modem

Can be knocked out, and why the hell do you have an AOL offer in there?

Are you dead set on Dell? Because while they are cheap, they only offer Intel, which will hurt.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-16 12:22pm

Ja. Dead set on Dell, I'm afraid. We get a KILLER deal on them through work here. (Additional 12% off if I get a system over 1200.00) So, I suppose I'll jack on up to the XPS systems as opposed to the dimensions. Then. I'll post a new system once I get all squared away.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-16 12:24pm

Chardok wrote:Ja. Dead set on Dell, I'm afraid. We get a KILLER deal on them through work here. (Additional 12% off if I get a system over 1200.00) So, I suppose I'll jack on up to the XPS systems as opposed to the dimensions. Then. I'll post a new system once I get all squared away.

The issue with Dell is that you're getting Intels, well, I suppose you'll live, but you gotta cool that thing

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-16 01:07pm

XPS 400:
Pentium® D Processor 830 with Dual Core Technology (3GHz, 800FSB) S830VH [222-1487] 1
Memory:
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs 1GB52 [311-5361] 3
Hard Drives:
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ 160S [341-1056] 8
CD or DVD Drive:
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive DVDCDR [313-3736][420-5079] 16
Monitors:
SAVE $100!! 20 inch UltraSharp™ 2005FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel 2005100 [464-6616] 5
Video Cards:
256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800 NV6800 [320-4293] 6
Sound Card:
Sound Blaster® Audigy®2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, and IEEE 1394 SBA2 [313-3427] 17
Modem:
No Modem Requested N [313-3137] 14

Network Interface:
Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet IN [430-1455] 13

Next quote. (I can get the 7800 GTX, but, it's fucking 280 bucks more. Fuck that with a chainsaw. )

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-16 01:14pm

Take off the soundcard and spring for a 78GT?

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-02-16 01:31pm

Buying a dell? Read this first! HardOCP Evaluates a dell gaming machine.

Personally, I'd downgrade the graphics card to the cheapest and use it to pay for a 7800gt ($300, effectively upgrading to it for only $150, though that would leave you with a spare card, it's a pretty sizable improvement).

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-16 03:06pm

InnocentBystander wrote:Buying a dell? Read this first! HardOCP Evaluates a dell gaming machine.

Personally, I'd downgrade the graphics card to the cheapest and use it to pay for a 7800gt ($300, effectively upgrading to it for only $150, though that would leave you with a spare card, it's a pretty sizable improvement).

Thank you for pointing me to that report. To be honest with you though, removal of bloatware and general pre-usage cleanup is something I both expect and was prepared for. Most of the gripes in that article were centered around Dell's Bloatware wreaking minor (Though annoying) havoc with the system. I will of course be polishing the rig off the second I plug it into the wall. I will definately spring for the 7800 GTX on ya'll suggestion, though, as I'm getting the impression that the technology it contains will likely power me for quite a few years. When I get home tonight I will see about some further customization and cleanup.

(Ace, alot of that garbage with the AOL and whatnot, just come with the computer. I'm not aware of any way whatsoever things such as that may be removed pre-purchase; though I may be mistaken)

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-16 03:10pm

Don't got for a GTX but for a GT theres a small preformance loss, but you save 100$ or so and I do not expect you'll be playing at resolutions that the GTX needs to stretch its legs.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-16 03:27pm

Ace Pace wrote:Don't got for a GTX but for a GT theres a small preformance loss, but you save 100$ or so and I do not expect you'll be playing at resolutions that the GTX needs to stretch its legs.

Unfortunately, it's either NV 6800, 7800GTX or ATI X600 SE.

I think the advisement to go with the 7800 is probably the best choice. I want this to be the last computer I buy for about 5 years or so. (That's about how long the comp I currently have has lasted.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-16 03:32pm

Chardok wrote:
Ace Pace wrote:Don't got for a GTX but for a GT theres a small preformance loss, but you save 100$ or so and I do not expect you'll be playing at resolutions that the GTX needs to stretch its legs.
Unfortunately, it's either NV 6800, 7800GTX or ATI X600 SE.

I think the advisement to go with the 7800 is probably the best choice. I want this to be the last computer I buy for about 5 years or so. (That's about how long the comp I currently have has lasted.

Then go for the top, hit it, large HD, if you want this to last though... ugh, the issue is Intel is going on an unupgradeable spree, by the end of 2006, everything new and better will be on another type of motherboards.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-17 01:23pm

Hmm Chardok sees good deals on systems sporting the PCI-X GeForce 6800...how is that? Not exactly top of the line, near as I can tell...but adequate?

How does it rate when compared to say, I dunno...an AGP 4x RADEON 9500Pro/9700?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-17 01:28pm

Chardok wrote:Hmm Chardok sees good deals on systems sporting the PCI-X GeForce 6800...how is that? Not exactly top of the line, near as I can tell...but adequate?

How does it rate when compared to say, I dunno...an AGP 4x RADEON 9500Pro/9700?

... You mean a PCI-E 6800. Its far better then any of those, but really, if your spending on a PC built for 5 years, get a bloody 78.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-17 02:24pm

Processor Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB)
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitors 19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Cards 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX
Hard Drives 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Network Interface Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
Sound Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio
Internet Access Service 6 Months of America Online Membership Included

Some of that crap just comes with the computer.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-17 02:26pm

Looks okay, I'm still pretty freaked out from the Intel and DDR2

.

If possible, up the CPU, but now wait for the other denzins to pop in.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-02-17 02:32pm

DDR2=bad?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-17 02:36pm

Chardok wrote:DDR2=bad?

Intel + current DDR2 speeds they support = really not better then AMD.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-02-17 03:17pm

I don't know what you're feeling about upgrades are; but I would suggest the following:

GPU:
Cheapest Possible -Take the $150, and put it towards a good card (see 7800gt)
RAM:
Cheapest Possible - Pocket the $60, and go to newegg and for $75 get a gig of ram. Effectively giving you 1.5gigs, for $15 more than dell's offering of 1gig.
HD:
Cheapest Possible
The base drive is -$50, right? Next go to Slickdeals and find a HD to buy; on first glance I see a 200gig SATA for 70. Though I'm sure if you watch it for a week you'll find something for around $50. I could easly see you finding a 160gig HD for $50; thus leaving you with 240 gigs instead of 160.
Sound Card:
Make sure the Sound card you picked is really what you want, because you can get a soundblaster SE(7.1) from zzf for $33 bucks.

Unit Price:
$1,249
After Rebate:
$936 (it was 25% right?)
Difference:
$330

Non-Dell Purchases
7800gt - $300
HD - $50
Sound Card - $33
RAM - $75

$1,394

Differences:
GPU: 7800gt (huge improvement over 6800!) + spare x300
RAM: 1.5gigs (vs 1gig)
HD: ~240gigs (give or take a little, compared to 160)
Monitor: 2005fpw (I figured you could afford it

)
Sound Card: Same? Different? I dunno! They're all pretty similar if you ask me.
Work:
-Remove old GPU, insert new GPU; add drivers
-Install new HD
-Insert additional ram
-Insert soundcard

All those goodies for a mere $130 extra; or less than you're previous config if not going with the 2005fpw monitor.

Side Note: I left it at a single dvdrw drive, which I've found to be just fine unless you constantly burn shit and are on a time limit.

Darth Quorthon · Post by **Darth Quorthon** » 2006-02-17 07:27pm

Ace Pace wrote:
Chardok wrote:DDR2=bad?
Intel + current DDR2 speeds they support = really not better then AMD.

And we will soon have AMD + DDR2!

Honestly, though, I was certain that I read somewhere that Dell was going to be offering AMD soon, but apparently nothing seems set. Is it worth waiting for? Will it materialize? I've seen conflicting reports. If I thought Dell was going to be offering AMD's new socket AM2 platform, I'd be willing to wait for that. The idea of AMD paired with some DDR2-667 memory is intriguing.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-02-17 07:33pm

Darth Quorthon wrote:And we will soon have AMD + DDR2!

Honestly, though, I was certain that I read somewhere that Dell was going to be offering AMD soon, but apparently nothing seems set. Is it worth waiting for? Will it materialize? I've seen conflicting reports. If I thought Dell was going to be offering AMD's new socket AM2 platform, I'd be willing to wait for that. The idea of AMD paired with some DDR2-667 memory is intriguing.

Dell should've adopted AMD a LONG time ago. I can't understand how they're this blind to customer demands. It's not like it's a huge secret that AMD offers superior products at lower prices compared to Intel, right now.

Ypoknons · Post by **Ypoknons** » 2006-02-17 07:40pm

Master of Ossus wrote:Dell should've adopted AMD a LONG time ago. I can't understand how they're this blind to customer demands. It's not like it's a huge secret that AMD offers superior products at lower prices compared to Intel, right now.

And why exactly did AMD sue Intel again?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-18 03:17am

Dell will not sell AMD desktops for the near future, because AMD dosn't have the capacity to fulfill demands, they are allready running every single fab they have at full capacity and still having shortages.

AMD is sueing Intel, saying that Intel is running an illegal monopol and denying fair competition. You can look up more on the Inq, it has a nice roundup. Found it.

Darth Quorthon wrote:
Ace Pace wrote:
Chardok wrote:DDR2=bad?
Intel + current DDR2 speeds they support = really not better then AMD.
And we will soon have AMD + DDR2!

AMD CPUs using DDR2 will bring preformance advantages, because whats primarily holding back DDR2 on Intel is the high latencies, however, its not a magic fix.

Darth Quorthon · Post by **Darth Quorthon** » 2006-02-18 02:51pm

Ace Pace wrote: AMD CPUs using DDR2 will bring preformance advantages, because whats primarily holding back DDR2 on Intel is the high latencies, however, its not a magic fix.

I know that. It was kind of a "just kidding" thing. If DDR2 offered a huge performance boost, I'm willing to bet we would have seen AMD adopt it much sooner.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-02-18 02:52pm

Darth Quorthon wrote:
Ace Pace wrote: AMD CPUs using DDR2 will bring preformance advantages, because whats primarily holding back DDR2 on Intel is the high latencies, however, its not a magic fix.
I know that. It was kind of a "just kidding" thing. If DDR2 offered a huge performance boost, I'm willing to bet we would have seen AMD adopt it much sooner.

DDR2 CAN offer preformance benefit, but Intel couldn't utilise the speed advantage because of its higher memory latencies and the fact DDR2 technology, untill recently, just wasn't anywhere near as latency-tight as DDR.