I have been asked to purchase, from the Dell site, the best non H2C configuration on offer.
That makes the choice quite simple - the XPS 720 (dell.co.uk)
It would be used for gaming and for video editing.
To that end, I have a few questions:
Does 4096MB of 800MHz RAM perform much better than the same amount of 667MHz RAM?
Would it be better to have the standard 500GB HDD setup (16MB Databurst Cache) or the 250GB HDD, with SecureData Backup (2 x 250GB)? I am inclined towards the larger, single drive - for the editing - but is the security of another HDD necessary (as I almost never use that amount, for non video material)?
Dual 512 MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or Single 768 MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX? Why? I looked at cards, rated on this site, and (based on overall fps on a number of games), the 8800 GT is not far behind the GTX. Surely two GTs must be better, yet the more expensive setups have the single GTX. What am I missing?
Blu-Ray drives (considering it is now the dominant HD format)?
One key reason that I am being asked to purchase from Dell is because of the customer service. Take this out of the equation and is there another major manufacturer, that can offer the same or a better specced (versus Dell XPS 720) pc, for the same or a cheaper price.
If you have the time, I'd appreciate a reason for each response. Thanks a lot
1) shouldn't be a huge difference between the RAM unless you plan on overclocking (may not even be possible on that system)
2) In my experience HDD don't have a very high failure rate, so the single drive would be my choice for the capacity.
3) Dual 8800GT's will give you better performance, but not by a huge amount. The GTX is still a more expensive card (about as much or more than 2 8800GT's) so that's why those systems cost more.
4) depends on how important HD content is to you. Also depends on if your monitor can handle HD resolutions.
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