PC hunt

teednab-el

Ok I am on the search for a new computer at the moment. Looking to buy one of the XPS models from Dell. Reasons are .....

1. I do alot of gaming.

2. I use GIS, Autocad and various other applications, so I want to get a decent machine.


Trying to make up my mind. Its either between the XPS 9100 or the XPS 8300. Both expensive machines but I will have the computer for years if I buy?

Just want to know how good is that ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB GGDR5 Graphics card? Is it good? Is it upgradable? Is this a good gaming computer? Anyone know anything or have personal experience about the computers?

yomamasflavour

First off would you be open to doing a self-build? (basically lego for grown-ups)

Usually dell pre-built (or any other manufacturers) desktops are far more-expensive, far less customisable/upgradable, poorer spec, poorer quality and with less warranty then what you could build yourself for the same money.

Particularily if it's gaming that you're into, you'd be mad not to, as the savings you'd make from self building would allow you to include much beefier graphics cards, thus a much better gaming experience.

In terms of the 8300 (couldn't find 9100 on dell.ie) it's expensive, and max graphics card is a 5870. A very powerful card, yes but not leading edge anymore. (came out well over a year ago)

If I were you I'd head over to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842

Lots of guys there that will help you out.

teednab-el

yomamasflavour wrote: »

First off would you be open to doing a self-build? (basically lego for grown-ups)

Usually dell pre-built (or any other manufacturers) desktops are far more-expensive, far less customisable/upgradable, poorer spec, poorer quality and with less warranty then what you could build yourself for the same money.

Particularily if it's gaming that you're into, you'd be mad not to, as the savings you'd make from self building would allow you to include much beefier graphics cards, thus a much better gaming experience.

In terms of the 8300 (couldn't find 9100 on dell.ie) it's expensive, and max graphics card is a 5870. A very powerful card, yes but not leading edge anymore. (came out well over a year ago)

If I were you I'd head over to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842

Lots of guys there that will help you out.

Cheers for the reply and advice yomamasflavour. Yes I was going to build my computer online as I would have control over what exactly I wanted built into my PC. I saw the 9100 XPS PC on the US Dell site, not sure if I can buy direct from there but if I could I would be after this machine.

massy086

teednab-el wrote: »

Cheers for the reply and advice yomamasflavour. Yes I was going to build my computer online as I would have control over what exactly I wanted built into my PC. I saw the 9100 XPS PC on the US Dell site, not sure if I can buy direct from there but if I could I would be after this machine.

ow dear god if you want a good pc do not buy dell tell me your budget and ill spec you up a much much better pc dell xps are s**t

Groinshot

massy086 wrote: »

ow dear god if you want a good pc do not buy dell tell me your budget and ill spec you up a much much better pc dell xps are s**t

So is your typing. Dell aren't as bad as they're made out to be, problem is with upgrading them and usually the user, (in your case you) but i'vehad a dell for years and no problem with it whatsoever.

OP, youmommasflavour is talking about buying the components from dabs, komplett or overclockers etc, and assembling the computer yourself. It's really not complicated at all. You could spend much less on a machine for similar performance from dell, or around the same price for a solid machine. For instance, I bought a machine almost three years ago, and haven't upgraded it at all, and only now is it beginning to struggle running games, usually 1600x900 res, with full graphics, and I spent 1100 on it, not including a monitor.

teednab-el

Groinshot wrote: »

So is your typing. Dell aren't as bad as they're made out to be, problem is with upgrading them and usually the user, (in your case you) but i'vehad a dell for years and no problem with it whatsoever.

OP, youmommasflavour is talking about buying the components from dabs, komplett or overclockers etc, and assembling the computer yourself. It's really not complicated at all. You could spend much less on a machine for similar performance from dell, or around the same price for a solid machine. For instance, I bought a machine almost three years ago, and haven't upgraded it at all, and only now is it beginning to struggle running games, usually 1600x900 res, with full graphics, and I spent 1100 on it, not including a monitor.

Thanks for the reply. Well first off the reason I considered dell is because, I got 2 PCs and a Laptop in the past and I've never had one problem with them. Reliablity would be one of the most important functions of a PC to me besides getting a good machine. I would find it hard to believe that Dell are s**t like another poster described as I've owned and have had personal experience of using Dell systems.

Just wondering if I went away and created my own machine, would I get any warranty with the parts I buy? Would my own build computer have a warranty if it did misfunction?

Thanks

ShooterSF

teednab-el wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Well first off the reason I considered dell is because, I got 2 PCs and a Laptop in the past and I've never had one problem with them. Reliablity would be one of the most important functions of a PC to me besides getting a good machine. I would find it hard to believe that Dell are s**t like another poster described as I've owned and have had personal experience of using Dell systems.

Just wondering if I went away and created my own machine, would I get any warranty with the parts I buy? Would my own build computer have a warranty if it did misfunction?

Thanks

Yes the parts you buy would all come with warranties (it would be highly unusual for them not to) on top of your statutory rights which you are covered by under the law. On top of that if 10 months from now you decide to change the graphics card in your self built machine all your parts will be still covered whereas Dell would probably claim because you opened/modified the machine you voided your warranty.

If you have the time and energy to do it it's a great experience building your own machine.

IrishMetalhead

have you not seen the computer i designed out for you on your thread on pc building and upgrading? it's a hell of alot faster and cheaper plus with better warrentys from the component manufacturers aswell as the warrenty hardwareversand give's you:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71179747&postcount=12

(prices may have changed recently as the prices are always changing on that site but not by much)

massy086

IrishMetalhead wrote: »

have you not seen the computer i designed out for you on your thread on pc building and upgrading? it's a hell of alot faster and cheaper plus with better warrentys from the component manufacturers aswell as the warrenty hardwareversand give's you:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71179747&postcount=12

(prices may have changed recently as the prices are always changing on that site but not by much)

full agree self build you are buying the best performance parts and seeing as your building it not some underpaid dell employee trowing it together you know it going to last also dell use midle range parts and over charge you

IrishMetalhead

i also included the build service and os installation service there so you don't have build it yourself or you can check out the "we'll build your pc for you" thread over in pcb&u to find someone in your location to do it for you for free if you don't want to pay hwvs €55 to do that.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=2056197599

teednab-el

IrishMetalhead wrote: »

have you not seen the computer i designed out for you on your thread on pc building and upgrading? it's a hell of alot faster and cheaper plus with better warrentys from the component manufacturers aswell as the warrenty hardwareversand give's you:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71179747&postcount=12

(prices may have changed recently as the prices are always changing on that site but not by much)

Seen it cheers.

Just wondering what do you reckon, For €2000 would I still be able to get a fairly decent machine? Maybe you could try and build me one with everything for that. Hoping to buy PC in May/June. I want to do the research now though well in advance so I have an idea on what to get. Dont mind waiting. The savings here are savage compairing to Dell. There will probably be better stuff out there by that time but I need to have a fair idea on what I'm going for before I buy. I went on the hwvs site and build a computer just to have a look. Alot of components there to choose from etc.

teednab-el

teednab-el wrote: »

Seen it cheers.

Just wondering what do you reckon, For €2000 would I still be able to get a fairly decent machine? Maybe you could try and build me one with everything for that. Hoping to buy PC in May/June. I want to do the research now though well in advance so I have an idea on what to get. Dont mind waiting. The savings here are savage compairing to Dell. There will probably be better stuff out there by that time but I need to have a fair idea on what I'm going for before I buy. I went on the hwvs site and build a computer just to have a look. Alot of components there to choose from etc.

I will post my build for €2000 up here in a while. Having second thoughts about it, I reckon spending anything over €2000 is just madness right now. If I can upgrade something on the PC down the line I will. Please comment on my selections if you think you might have some useful suggestions. You will hear from me in a while.

Cheers
teednab-el

IrishMetalhead

how muc do you want tp spend idealy?

Overheal

Sh*t, self-built you can fly a PC to the Moon on €2000, and still have change left over to blow it up.

IrishMetalhead

yup it sure can, heres what i came up for €2000:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K - €262.87
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41222&agid=1617

CPU Cooler: Corsair H70 - €83.99
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38537&agid=669

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 B3 Rev. - €122.84
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43855&agid=1601

RAM: 4GB Corsair Dominator GT - €120.67
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39757&agid=1365
(Insanely fast RAM)

Graphics Card: 1.5GB Palit Geforce GTX580 - €415.01
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39743&agid=707

SSD: 256GB Crucial C300 - €461.99
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=31476&agid=1145
(Curently the fastest Sata drive on the market)

HDD: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue Sata3 - €51.15
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=39658&agid=1342

Disc Drive: Samsung SH-223C DVD+RW - €16.61
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29466&agid=699

PSU: Corsair AX750 - €140.72
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38999&agid=1630

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - €82.16
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29181&agid=185

Assembly Service - €20
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=746&agid=829

OS & Software Installation - €34.99
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=857&agid=829

Shipping: €30

Total without the case - 1843.00

Which leaves you with just over €150 to choose out a case:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp?agid=630&search.reset=1&search.sKey=

I'd highly recommend these 3 cases at that price range:

Antec Twelve Hundred:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=23012&agid=631

Silverstone Raven 2:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28596&agid=631

NZXT Phantom:
Black: http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38376&agid=632
White: http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38374&agid=632
Red: http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38375&agid=632

teednab-el

Cheers IrishMetalHead,

Nice build there.

A few questions though, apologies if they sound silly, I would like to include the following options in my system too, can I get them included?


1. Is there an option on that site for blue ray disk drive? Didnt see it but it could be there in notice of me.

2. Can I get a inbuilt bluetooth device or must I buy a separate bluetooth adapter?

3. Is there a HDMI functionality available so that I can hook up to my HDTV?

4. What would the Max Ram be for this system if I want to upgrade down the line?

Thanks for your help.

teednab-el

IrishMetalhead

the blue ray drives are here:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp?agid=701&search.reset=1&search.sKey=

The motherboard dosn't have bluetooth so you may need to buy and a adapterwhich arn't expensive at all.

the graphics card has a hdmi port on so you can hook it up to your tv

IrishMetalhead

best thing to do tbh is wait a week or two for a better motherboard because the p67 is much better for overclocking but theres nothing wrong with that one i posted earlier tho

teednab-el

IrishMetalhead wrote: »

the blue ray drives are here:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp?agid=701&search.reset=1&search.sKey=

The motherboard dosn't have bluetooth so you may need to buy and a adapterwhich arn't expensive at all.

the graphics card has a hdmi port on so you can hook it up to your tv

Cool, the usb bluetooth adapters are just as handy anyway.

Overheal

just about any board now will take 16 or more gigabytes of ram. frankly thats far more then the average user will need for some time to come: 4gb of ram was *premium* a few years ago, and is only now creeping up as the standard. Even then it leaves quite a bit of overhead.

Nothingbetter2d

teednab-el wrote: »

I would find it hard to believe that Dell are s**t like another poster described

oh yes they are.... "another poster" is spot on, dells suck.

reasons why:

1. parts failed = expensive overpriced non standard replacements that only dell provide

2. dell dont use atx motherboards (meaning if they pop you pay 3 times as much for a btx (dell standard board) than you would for an equivalent atx board (which dont fit into a dell case)

3. memory upgrades are very fussy on dells (use only kingston or crucial)

4. psu's on dell are truly awful cheap tack...they typical burn out in less than five years

5. dell fecked off and bailed out on ireland..........dont support feckers like that

teednab-el

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

oh yes they are.... "another poster" is spot on, dells suck.

reasons why:

1. parts failed = expensive overpriced non standard replacements that only dell provide


4. psu's on dell are truly awful cheap tack...they typical burn out in less than five years

Well, I didnt have that bad experience anytime previously with my Dell units so im not going to say they are **** for the sake of it. The ones I got were very reliable and ive got up to 8 years with 2 previous Dell desktops ( They STILL work but are outdated). My Dell Inspiron laptop is still going 6 years on without a part replaced. The graphics card is on the way out now but that aint bad seeming the laptop has been powered on every day and operating long hours since I bought it. HP computer models suck more than Dell if you were to ask me.

I agree with you on the upgrades and that would be one of Dells downsides. Other than that they are not as bad as what you make them out to be, but Im going building a custom PC because I can get more for less as suggested by some helpful posters here on this site.