A prebuilt desktop

[zolo]

I was chatting with my cuisine and he asked me to look for a prebuilt desktop for him. He doesn't want to build one, instead just a pre-built one for now. I checked the dell outlet store and I can find pretty neat deals like this one:

Inspiron 530

Intel Core2duo E4500
Windows Vista Home Premium
1 GB DDR2 NON-ECC SDRAM 667MHz (2 DIMMs)
320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Certified Refurbished
16X DVD +/- RW
USB Keyboard
No Floppy Drive
Dell Optical USB 2-button Mouse
$309.00

-I want to make sure that the desktop that I buy/ship for him will accept video card & processor upgrades cause he's gonna throw some money down the road to upgrade those parts, a system that a 8800GT/GTX size gfx card will fit easily, has a 16X pci-e slot ( I've read DELL cripple the pci-e slot?), and a quad core compatable.
-What size of PSU does the 530 take? Off the shelf PSU's or a propiratory psu crap ?
-What's the difference between the 530 & 531? I've downloaded thier manuals and can't seem to find any differences.
-It doesn't say anything about warrenty when I check the specs there, don't they come with a 1-year warrenty?

Any other options than the Inspiron 530?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TheStu]

1: If Dell doesn't put a graphics card in there in the first place, then getting one after teh fact is usually tricky
2: I have no idea, and I don't think that this system is guaranteed to be non-proprietary
3: Usually if there is only a digit difference (the last digit specifically) between 2 models, then one is AMD and the other is Intel
4: should come with a 1 year warranty, yes

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Go to the small business line and check out the Vostro line. Far better machine for not much more money if any. Also, in that price range check out the small business Dell Outlet. Certified Pre-owned can snag you a good bit of awesome for chump change. I've personally had nothing but headaches with Inspirons. Vostros have never given me problems and also feel far sturdier.

Any non-slim Dell Inspiron, Vostro, XPS, Optiplex, or Precision desktops come with a PCI-E x16 slot for graphics cards. Also any non-slim Dell now uses standard ATX power supplies. They are still very weak in the Inspiron line (250-300 watts). The Vostros are better (I've found a 400 watt unit in one unit, though I'm not sure the model number), and the XPS and Precision systems usually come with the best PSU's (Some backing 650 watts and up).

Also to clarify, even the slim Dells have a PCI-E x16 slot, but the machine will only hold half-height cards. Also the PSUs are usually either a combination of proprietary internal PSUs, or a 120V / 240V AC to 12V DC power brick that feeds into a small 12V PSU inside the machine.

The 530 is an Intel build, whereas the 531 is an AMD build (the 4000+ X2 being the only option).

All desktops come with a 1 year limited warranty that does not include on-site help, keep-your-harddrive-while-being-replaced, or them funding shipping cost for faulty parts. You can upgrade to a full 3 year, all the bells and whistles warranty with on-site help and them paying to send a box to you and you ship the part back overnighting both ways etc. for about $300 on most desktops.