Will this be worth it?

[w00p]

I want to upgrade my current PC from a P4 2.0ghz, 1GB Ram, 6600GT and a 20" old flat panel monitor to something a little more 'modern'. One caveat is that I have zero desire to build a PC on my own, so buying it from a company is the only option.

I can get a pretty sweet deal with Dell through the company I work for, but I wanted to run it past the 'experts' before I press the button. Here is what I am looking to buy and the cost.

XPS 700 Special Edition Formula Red
C2D E6700
XP Media Center (express upgrade to Vista)
4GB 667Mhz Ram
320GB Raid 0 (2 x 160GB SATA Drives)
2 x 512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX Video Cards
24" UltraSharp 2407FPW Monitor
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
13 in 1 and 3.5" floppy
Dual Drives - 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl Layer
Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Card

Total price, including discount, tax and shipping comes to $4,040. I saved close to $850 with my discount.

I'm going to use this rig solely for gaming, and my question is, should this get me through the next 12 - 18 months with minimal upgrades needed? Also, should I see a difference in Raid 0, or should I just opt for a single drive configuration?

Thanks (in advance) for the input.

 

[Doughbuy]

Ewww... does Dell not offer the 8800GTX? A single 8800GTX wouldn't be much less performance than 2 7900GTX and will save you a couple hundred bucks...

Everything else looks fairly nice. I would also recommend to see if you can get a e6600 instead of the 6700 since there isin't much difference between those 2, and the added price premium won't justify the performance increase.

Other than that, it looks good, and it should last you for at least 2 years.

 

[w00p]

Hmm .. Let me check to see what they offer on the CPU's and the Video Cards.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[w00p]

They do offer the e6600 and it will save me about $200 (compared to the e6700) -- Thanks!

In terms of the video cards, here is what they have:

For XPS 700 - Red:
- Dual 512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
- Dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU Graphics Cards, Quad SLI
- 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU Graphics Card


For XPS 700 - Black
- Dual 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS High Performance - High Value
512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
- Dual 512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX
- 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU Graphics Card
- Dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU Graphics Cards, Quad
SLI

The other option would be to get the standard/lowest cost video card and buy an 8800GTX from somewhere else and swap it out ... thoughts?

 

[Doughbuy]

Buying a cheap gfx card and then swapping out would be a good idea, but there is the simple problem of whether or not the Dell's included PSU can handle it... which I don't want to take the chance...

Have you looked at Alienware? See what they offer, Dell recently acquired them so it would be virtually the same thing, maybe. Not sure if your discount will cover that also. Or you can try calling in and see if they can add the 8800GTX as a custom option or something... no point in getting older technology when newer one is out...

Worse comes to worse, yeah, get the lowest card, then get the 8800GTX, and swap it out. Just hope the PSU can handle it, if not, you might have to get something like the TT PurePower to help deliver more power, but no biggie.

Best option though, you have a friend who's willing to build it for you? Heh...

 

[w00p]

The XPS Black comes with a 750watt PSU, the XPS Red comes with a 1000watt PSU, so it should handle it.

I am not sure if it will void my warranty -- swapping out the video card -- in any case, it's an option I can look at. Where should I look for an 8800GTX?

I looked at Alienware, but the $800 savings through Dell might be too good to pass up.

Any thoughts on the Raid 0 vs. single drive for gaming performance?

Thanks!

 

[Doughbuy]

Hmmm... I doubt it will void your warranty, if any part dies in your computer, just RMA it and they will never know you changed anything out. For the 8800GTX, you can get them from most online e-tailers, Directron, Newegg, etc... etc... Actually, I think even Dell offers it online...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A0775614

Ahhh... but it is almost 100 bucks more expensive than online e-tailers...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=8800GTX&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all

There you go, choose one from there...

Raid 0 vs. single drive, it will help your games when they need to load large levels or anything else that requires a higher sustained throughput, but otherwise, it will barely affect it. Raid 0 is just designed to allow data to be transferred faster, but it also increases seek time a bit because the data is spread out on two drives. Raid 0 is basically up to you... you might notice the difference loading windows and certain apps/games, but it won't be anything really significant. However, my opinion is, if you have 2 HDD's, why not go raid... no point not too...

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Ewww... does Dell not offer the 8800GTX? A single 8800GTX wouldn't be much less performance than 2 7900GTX and will save you a couple hundred bucks...

Everything else looks fairly nice. I would also recommend to see if you can get a e6600 instead of the 6700 since there isin't much difference between those 2, and the added price premium won't justify the performance increase.

Other than that, it looks good, and it should last you for at least 2 years.

Doughboy has a huge point. The 8800 is the way to go. You don't want to spend 4 G's and not have a DX10 card.

 

[RTK07]

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/

Dell forum can answer any question about the Dell 700xps

After glancing at the xps 410 psu at 375 watts, I was at first thinking it is way underpowered. However, after reading through the forums it is surprising that (if I recall correctly) that there is 30 amps on two of the twelve volt rails. It can handle many high end cards with no problems.

For those wanting quad core, check out the xps 710....

RTK

 

[Doughbuy]

Meh, I'm generally distrustful of mass-manufactured systems from most Tier 1 System Integrators because I don't know what I'm getting... which is why building it yourself makes so much sense for me personally...

Maybe if Dell provided the specs on everything they use I would feel more secure when suggesting a system from them, but eh...

 

[bullaRh]

i know u have zero desire 2 build it urself but u could probably buy the same system with a 8800gtx that support dx10 and twice as good as a 7900gtx for $2800 or less, and then u know what motherboard it is and what ram u get + its cheaper. and its freaking easy 2 build it urself =D

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

I want to upgrade my current PC from a P4 2.0ghz, 1GB Ram, 6600GT and a 20" old flat panel monitor to something a little more 'modern'. One caveat is that I have zero desire to build a PC on my own, so buying it from a company is the only option.

I can get a pretty sweet deal with Dell through the company I work for, but I wanted to run it past the 'experts' before I press the button. Here is what I am looking to buy and the cost.

XPS 700 Special Edition Formula Red
C2D E6700
XP Media Center (express upgrade to Vista)
4GB 667Mhz Ram
320GB Raid 0 (2 x 160GB SATA Drives)
2 x 512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX Video Cards
24" UltraSharp 2407FPW Monitor
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
13 in 1 and 3.5" floppy
Dual Drives - 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl Layer
Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Card

Total price, including discount, tax and shipping comes to $4,040. I saved close to $850 with my discount.

I'm going to use this rig solely for gaming, and my question is, should this get me through the next 12 - 18 months with minimal upgrades needed? Also, should I see a difference in Raid 0, or should I just opt for a single drive configuration?

Thanks (in advance) for the input.

Ask Dell to include a GeForce 8800 GTS (not some OEM non-spec one either) with the PC instead of 2 video cards, and knock off a further $550 at least.

Check the monitor (if any) has tilt, swivel, height, and rotate adjustments, many 'Dell monitor stands' are really poor quality, while the TFT screen itself is good.

I'd also go a Samsung or LG TFT personally.

 

[bullaRh]

i wouldnt buy samsung in 24'' :\ they r not good with games but the dell 2407 rev 03 and the Acer AL2423W should be ''ok''

but still i think its sick using $4000 and not even getting the best hardware out there :?

 

[-silencer-]

Even for buying a pre-built machine, $4k seems excessive after an $850 discount for these specs.

I can vouch for a few of the components though - I'm looking at the 24" 2407WFP monitor as I type this on a G15 keyboard, and I love them both. I've had the monitor for 3-4 months now and I have no regrets - it's a fantastic display with a ton of features. HDCP-compliant, 5 different inputs and picture-in-picture, no visible ghosting in games, fantastic colors in 3DSM/Photoshop, and extremely bright. I even keep it on the lowest brightness setting and it's perfect. The display can rotate 90 degrees between landscape and portrait modes, and the base is very solid. I'd buy it again if I had the choice to do over.

Consider having a trusted system builder put something together - you're guaranteed to get much more for your money on a high end system than any retailer. High-end systems are actually a lot of FUN to build - so reputable builders should enjoy making only $75-100 for the work..

 

[-silencer-]

Here's what I'm talking about in a price comparison..

$510 E6700 processor
$60 Zalman 9700 heatsink
$250 eVGA 680i motherboard
$578 4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800C4
$240 2x400GB Seagate RAID0 (or RAID1)
$630 eVGA 8800GTX
$800 Dell 24" 2407FPW LCD
$125 X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty (w/64MB XRAM)
$264 Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers
$72 Logitech G15 keyboard
$46 Logitech G5 mouse
$8 Sony 3.5" floppy
$61 2xLite-On SATA DVDR
$115 Antec P180 case
$170 Corsair (SeaSonic) 620W Power Supply
$110 Windows XP Media Center w/Vista Upgrade coupon
$4039.

The hard drive space & speakers were just to show what else you can add to get to the same price point. Considering a system builder shouldn't charge more than $100, and total shipping shouldn't be more than $100, it's a small price to pay to ensure all quality components (and overclockability). Nearly every component listed is going to have a better warranty than Dell's standard, so there's no argument there. Not to mention, this system has the proper subset for overclocking - free extra performance. Yes, building and tuning this one would be a lot of fun..

 

[1Tanker]

Here's what I'm talking about in a price comparison..

$510 E6700 processor
$60 Zalman 9700 heatsink
$250 eVGA 680i motherboard
$578 4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800C4
$240 2x400GB Seagate RAID0 (or RAID1)
$630 eVGA 8800GTX
$800 Dell 24" 2407FPW LCD
$125 X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty (w/64MB XRAM)
$264 Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers
$72 Logitech G15 keyboard
$46 Logitech G5 mouse
$8 Sony 3.5" floppy
$61 2xLite-On SATA DVDR
$115 Antec P180 case
$170 Corsair (SeaSonic) 620W Power Supply
$110 Windows XP Media Center w/Vista Upgrade coupon
$4039.

The hard drive space & speakers were just to show what else you can add to get to the same price point. Considering a system builder shouldn't charge more than $100, and total shipping shouldn't be more than $100, it's a small price to pay to ensure all quality components (and overclockability). Nearly every component listed is going to have a better warranty than Dell's standard, so there's no argument there. Not to mention, this system has the proper subset for overclocking - free extra performance. Yes, building and tuning this one would be a lot of fun..

And no bloatware.