Should I get a Dell XPS I7-990X?

[yqed]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my fairly old computer to the new Dell Studio XPS 9100 with a i7-990X processor (3.46GHz, 12MB L2 Cache). I do a lot of video encoding as well development. I received a 25% coupon from Dell, which would make me save approx $800 for a total price of $2000.

My question to you is: Should I still wait a little until the holiday period arrives? The coupon I got expires in 15 days and we are talking $800 not a $50 discount. I know Dell comes usually with better promotions near the end of year, but I'm not sure they will always have a 25% coupon like that. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Outlander_04]

depends what else is in the computer

and it depends on how the processors AMD are going to release very soon perform

and it depends on whether you feel competent to assemble your own computer

 

[yqed]

I usually build my own boxes, like I did with my NAS. But Dell is the only pre-built system that offers a killer price now on the i7-990x... I don't want to go for a 2600, plus the case looks cool. I plan to get the basic options from Dell than upgrade the disks and video card myself.

I guess, my question is: Do you think the i7-990x price will go down in a month during the holiday promotions? The 25% will make it $750, instead of $1000.

 

[jknight]

Just curious though even with the discount though why go with the i7-990x over the i7-2600K?

Sure you get it for $750 but the base Dell system you are talking about, even after the 25% discount is more expensive than the base Alienware with a i7-2600K. That base system has more options than the base Dell and longevity wise will last longer.

 

[yqed]

Personally, for my own needs is worth to spend the extra money on 990x, since I don't play games but rather work with processor hungry development apps and video encoding. I think the 990x is a good way to 'futureproof' your system for a good few years, performance wise. I did a lot of reading related to both 2600k and 990x stats, but the best place is the NewEgg reviews from real people. I also visited popular sites that allow you to customize to the bone your box (i.e. Digital Storm or CyberPower) and their price tag was almost double compared to Dell one. The ODE for example was the same price with Dell, that is 2600k vs 990x + aftermarket GTX 560.

 

[jknight]

I do video encoding too which is why I'm asking. And I've done the reading as well. On a base 990X vs a 2600K the processor does work better if you just compare processor alone. But by the time you add in RAM, clock the 2600K (which is done by already by Alienware) and Motherboard the 2600K surpasses the 990x and I'm not talking about gaming. The 990x doesn't give you access to some of the later and better motherboards, since it is older and you don't get access to Triple Channel RAM. The 2600K has a longer lifespan and upgrade-ability than the 990x would.

But if that is what you want to do, it sounds like you already have your mind made up. I was going down that route until I dug deeper into it and looked at the testing with the 2600K based on the motherboard, RAM and Video Card that I'll be using. It runs faster, processes faster at half the cost.

 

[yqed]

Is all about the price also, my coupon is valid only for the XPS 9100. Configuring the Alienware Aurora with the same settings I have into 9100 will make the price higher. I know the 2600k is pretty sweet, but you mentioned the OC... If I OC the 990x, it will be very hard for 2600k to even touch it, not to mention the lower voltage and temps you get with 990x. You do have access to a triple channel RAM with 990x's integrated DDR3 memory controller. It enables three channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, resulting in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth. Plus, the memory controller's lower latency and higher memory bandwidth delivers amazing performance for data-intensive applications.

All XPS 9100's have a LGA1366 socket and they are optimized for triple channel memory configuration.