Arkan Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Looking to get a new desktop, and since I don't have the time really to give the attention to detail needed to build it from the ground up like last time, I figured I would get another Dell, as I always have. I was going to get an XPS system, and here's what I came up with for configuration: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1) 64-bit, with free Windows 7 Upgrade (I don't know if I'd rather have XP or what) Intel "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkreku Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Three things: 1) The SLI solution: you are combining two weak cards, thus getting the worst of two worlds. Together they are not stronger than a powerful card, but they cost as much. Some games won't support SLI so you'll be forced to run on one from time to time, which will accentuate that they're low range. I'd go for one GTX 275 or an ATI 4890. 2. The amount of RAM: How do you even get 6 GB? Three 2 GB sticks? Anyhow, 4 GB is enough. If you'll ever want to upgrade the amount of RAM, this is the easiest part to do after purchase. 3) The prize: for that price you really ought to be getting a better build. Or is a screen included that you forgot to mention? Worth mentioning: I'd personally pay the extra for a 1 TB hard drive. Not because of the storage, but because they also offer better performance. Swedes, go to: Spel2, for the latest game reviews in swedish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pidesco Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Why not build your own? "My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian touristI am Dan Quayle of the Romans.I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.Heja Sverige!!Everyone should cuffawkle more.The wrench is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsquid Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 TB? Ummmmm, isn't it Bit, Byte, Kilobite, Megabite, Gigabyte? Where does TB fit in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkan Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 TB? Ummmmm, isn't it Bit, Byte, Kilobite, Megabite, Gigabyte? Where does TB fit in there? TB = terrabyte. The next order above gigabyte "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofsquid Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Must be big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkan Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Three things: 1) The SLI solution: you are combining two weak cards, thus getting the worst of two worlds. Together they are not stronger than a powerful card, but they cost as much. Some games won't support SLI so you'll be forced to run on one from time to time, which will accentuate that they're low range. I'd go for one GTX 275 or an ATI 4890. 2. The amount of RAM: How do you even get 6 GB? Three 2 GB sticks? Anyhow, 4 GB is enough. If you'll ever want to upgrade the amount of RAM, this is the easiest part to do after purchase. 3) The prize: for that price you really ought to be getting a better build. Or is a screen included that you forgot to mention? Worth mentioning: I'd personally pay the extra for a 1 TB hard drive. Not because of the storage, but because they also offer better performance. Those cards are that weak? ah nuts. I'll look into the other options. The options for ram went up to 8 gb, and I imagine it would be 3 2GB sticks. There is no monitor. What kind of build can I get for about a grand? Links? I thought about the 1TB drive, but my old comp was 200GB and I never got near filling it up. It wasn't that much more though so I might still consider it. "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkan Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Why not build your own? Re-read my first post. @mkreku: the next step up Dell offers is the GTX 285 1024MB (for +375 bucks). "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkreku Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 @mkreku: the next step up Dell offers is the GTX 285 1024MB (for +375 bucks). Yeah, that's top-of-the-line so it's a bit costly. I would suggest this: http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Core_2_Duo_Configurator/ When you click on the link, it will take you to a Core 2 Duo system for $539. Click on the "Customize" button and choose the items you like. I chose: Coolermaster Centurion 590 case (because the default is butt ugly) 750W Corsair power supply 4 GB PC6400 memory NVIDIA GeForce GTX275 896MB Video Card Street Fighter IV (free game because of the Nvidia card ) Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit (with free Windows 7 upgrade) ..and left everything else as it was, and I ended up at $929. More performance AND cheaper than the Dell above. Just a suggestion though. I have never personally shopped from Cyberpower PC. I've just read reviews about their systems and they've been good. Swedes, go to: Spel2, for the latest game reviews in swedish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadly_Nightshade Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Errr.... CyberPower, if I remember correctly, is a hit-or-miss affair with some people getting horrible systems while others get great ones. "Geez. It's like we lost some sort of bet and ended up saddled with a bunch of terrible new posters on this forum." -Hurlshot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkreku Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Yeah, that's how it is. Cyberpower demands a bit of knowledge from their buyers: "We will mention in this section, however, that the consumer must take care when ordering their system to ensure a balanced solution. Custom PC suppliers often restrict the range of components that can be ordered with a specific system, to provide a minimum baseline of performance. For better or worse, CyberPower does not restrict choice at all, so an uninformed buyer could purchase a $1500 "gaming" system with a GeForce 7400 GS or HD 4350." It's easy to build an expensive system and fail on ONE major component, making your expensive rig practically useless. But Anandtech also writes this: "For the midrange, however, we're quite pleased with what CyberPower has to offer: good warranty and tech support coverage, good components, and a lot of system choices, all at a very competitive price. We were impressed with the value of their Core i7 system, and they should definitely remain on the short list of suppliers for low- to midrange gaming systems." Source: http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=3524&p=9 As long as Arkan knows what he wants, there should be no problem with Cyberpower PC. Swedes, go to: Spel2, for the latest game reviews in swedish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rostere Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) 500 GB is puny. DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz? You must be out of your mind. Get RAM with a higher clock frequency. Oh, and I think you forgot to mention your mainboard's FSB - quite crucial (even though I'd not expect anyone to sell a "gaming computer" with a sucky mobo to anyone). Also, cooling specs? Most probably you don't want to end up with a system that sound like a lawn mower. The CPU is sufficient, but the graphic cards are almost a little bit overkill. Are you sure you're not getting an unbalanced system? Might be an idea to buy 1 better card at first and install a second one for SLI when the prices drop. Edited September 20, 2009 by Rostere "Well, overkill is my middle name. And my last name. And all of my other names as well!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janmanden Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I know how hard it can be to wait a lil' while longer once you have given in to the hardware side, but I'd recommend waiting awhile (longer) deciding on a gfx as AMD is on the verge of introducing their next generation of ATi graphics cards (EyeFinity'n stuff) in a few days or months or at the same time as Win7, in any case it's close. Maybe you'll not be on that wagon, but it seems very likely that it'll put extra pressure on Nvidia's prices.. All though I'm not sure how much you can squeeze a lemon, before it turns to dust.. (Signatures: disabled) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostStraw Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 2. The amount of RAM: How do you even get 6 GB? Three 2 GB sticks? Anyhow, 4 GB is enough. If you'll ever want to upgrade the amount of RAM, this is the easiest part to do after purchase. 6GB does come in 3x2GB sticks and is used for a triple channel memory system which the Core i7's support. Doesn't do much good in a Core 2 system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkan Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 I know how hard it can be to wait a lil' while longer once you have given in to the hardware side, but I'd recommend waiting awhile (longer) deciding on a gfx as AMD is on the verge of introducing their next generation of ATi graphics cards (EyeFinity'n stuff) in a few days or months or at the same time as Win7, in any case it's close. Maybe you'll not be on that wagon, but it seems very likely that it'll put extra pressure on Nvidia's prices.. All though I'm not sure how much you can squeeze a lemon, before it turns to dust.. True, but I'm needing this soon (I could possibly hold off, though), because I'm going to be doing a video project for my brother and my first niece, and since my last desktop died on me - I believe it's the PSU, but the MB could be fried, for all I know...it won't turn on, at least. I'm probably going to go with the DELL and the GTX 285 for a bit more money. One reason is that I have financing through dell, and I'd rather not plop down the large sum of money all at once. Two, I've always had great customer service experience with Dell even though I know a lot of others haven't. They've earned my money. "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janmanden Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I'm not familiar with Dell's prices or supply, but the price of ATi 4870 and 4890 has dropped quite a lot lately almost to the point, where you can run a dual-gpu Crossfire config of one or the other respectively for the price of one Nvidia GTX 285, still, with 4870 slightly below and 4890 slightly above. But you can't really go wrong with either of them.. or well, maybe you can I just tend to forget to include the cost of aftermarket coolers and general airflow. (Signatures: disabled) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Tech Report has really awesome system guides, I strongly recommend you check out the Fall 2009 one. They also do some sweet benchmarks if anyone cares about that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rostere Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Tech Report has really awesome system guides, I strongly recommend you check out the Fall 2009 one. They also do some sweet benchmarks if anyone cares about that... At least it's clear to see (from the link) that they chose their CPU cooling well. Although my Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme is outfitted with a Noctua fan, and not Thermalright's default fan (too noisy). "Well, overkill is my middle name. And my last name. And all of my other names as well!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purkake Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) They're a pretty nice site. I always like to check out the GPU benchmarks and the podcast is pretty nice too. Remember: if the CPU cooler isn't making your PC fall over by weight alone, you're doing it wrong Edited September 21, 2009 by Purkake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humanoid Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Not a bad time to be looking for a new system - doing so myself - there's a nicely timed confluence of new tech releases that are genuinely practical for once. The Lynnfield platform (i5/i7 P55), second generation SSDs (Intel G2, Indilinx), 80+ Gold certified PSUs (Seasonic X series), ATi 5xxx GPUs (this week), and what looks to be a relatively smooth new OS release in Win7. I've had an Antec P182 case sitting unused in its box for a year now, which I rushed out to buy when it were being discontinued in favour of the uglier P183. That was before I found out only the new non-standard PSU housings would only fit in the new cases. Hindsight, yeah.... L I E S T R O N GL I V E W R O N G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadly_Nightshade Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I guess I'll join the list of forum-goers who are going to build a new system soon, and thanks for the Tech Report link - I think I'll tweak one of their builds rather than go from scratch (as far as part ideas go). "Geez. It's like we lost some sort of bet and ended up saddled with a bunch of terrible new posters on this forum." -Hurlshot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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