Thinking about buying a new PC

PAU

Hi guys,

i'm thinking about buying a new PC from Dell, what do ye think of the specs of this one?

Inspiron 545 Minitower with Black Bezel
COLOUR CHOICE Piano Black
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Q8300 Processor (2.50GHz, 4MB cache, 1333MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word)
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 year of coverage included with your PC
PROTECT YOUR NEW PC No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English
Dell IN2010N 20” Widescreen Consumer Flat Panel Monitor - UK
MEMORY 6144MB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz [2x2048 + 2x1024] Memory
HARD DRIVE 640GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/- RW Drive (DVD & CD read and write) and 16x DVD-ROM Drive (DVD & CD read)
KEYBOARD Dell™ USB Entry Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
MOUSE Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
Integrated Channel High Definition Audio
SPEAKERS No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES 19-in-1 Media Card reader
MODEMS No Modem

806 Euro it works out at.

kaimera

What do you wanna do with it?

If you want to play games a bit more advanced than solitaire, you won't be able to.

Gurgle

PAU wrote: »

GRAPHICS CARD Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100

This is the only major stumbling block.
(Though €806 is kinda on the high side...)

pisteoff

How about a mac? I got one during the summer and really like it. It was a bit on the pricey side though....

pisteoff

Came across this earlier - it discussed the mac v pc debate http://www.uchoose.ie/share-article/Does-apple-have-more-bite-than-the-average-pc-1/

PAU

I'll stay away from the Mac, but thanks anyway,I don't want the pc for games but I do want a really good PC, the price is a bit dear though.

monkeypants

Good PC means higher price. As has been said, the video chip is the low point on that spec. However, if you don't play games on your PC, it won't matter much.

You could probably drop the RAM to 4Gb and save a bit of cash there. Also, do you really need two optical drives?

I'm assuming that you have speakers already.

PAU

Probably don't need 2 optical drives really, strange that Dell dont do Dual layer drives though.

monkeypants

That's a good point. You should be able to buy one cheaply from elsewhere. I got a Sony one years ago for less than €30.

PAU

I suppose I could drop down to 4gb, would the extra 2 gb make that much of a difference?

monkeypants

According to Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/system-requirements.aspx Windows 7 64-bit needs 2Gb of RAM minimum. 4Gb should be enough. Having said that, at least a 64-bit OS will use more than that and if you can get it for a decent price, then do so.

My real concerns are that you've now got all four banks filled and two of those are with 1Gb DIMMs. If at some point in the future you want to upgrade, then you'll have to remove them.

If you save money by going with 4Gb, then I would do so. Upgrading later should be cheap.

leninbenjamin

fancy building? Here's an example of how far your money could go if you self built:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Box, Sockel AM3 139,22 €
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO, Sockel AM3, ATX 88,61 €
4GB-Kit GEIL Value PC3-10600 DDR3-1333 CL9 78,81 €
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB, SATA II (HD502HJ) 40,94 €
Antec Three Hundred 44,86 €
Corsair VX550W 550 Watt 67,57 €
Xigmatek HDT-S1283, Sockel 939/AM2,775 23,61 €
XFX RADEON HD 4870 1.0 GB DDR5 PCI-E 2.0 116,31 €
Total:
599,93 €

that leaves €200 for a Monitor/OS/peripherals, which is about right. Bit more bang for buck there than the Dell.

monkeypants

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Bit more bang for buck there than the Dell.

He's right. And you'll have more fun too.