Cyberpowerinc Turbo X-Infinity v. Dell Dimension 4700

[Pretty Cool]

I just completed one those website deals. Hopefully, the site is reputable. Anyway, I can choose either system:

Cyberpower Turbo X-Infinity Gamer PC
http://www.cyberpowersystem.co...hendsystem/sp1.asp?v=d

Cyber Power Systems include a min of the following:
ATX833 Case 350W w/ Window (SILVER)
AMD? ATHLON?64 2800+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
GigaByte GA-K8NS nForce3 250 Chipset AGP8X w/LAN,USB2,&Audio
256 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR MEMORY
80GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE
ATI RADEON 9250 8X AGP 128MB DDR W/ CRT & TV-OUT
CD-RW 52X32X52
3D WAVE ON-BOARD 5.1 SOUND CA

OR

Dell Dimension 4700
http://configure.us.dell.com/d...e405abd0&l=en&oc=d47f1

Dell Systems include a min of the following:
Intel Pentium 4 Processor 520 with HT Technology (2.8GHz)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
40GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
512MB DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz
48x CD-ROM Drive


Conerns:

Cyberpower:
-Plenty of reviews saying Cyberpowerinc sends damaged merchandise, though some say they are fine.
-Heard that motherboard does not work well when all slots are populated.
-754 socket is on its last legs
-Need to add 256MB more RAM. Must use PC3200 right, since I have a couple extra PC2700 here?
-Is the Radeon 9250 okay for adventure, sports, and maybe an emulated console?
-No Windows XP

Dell:
-Bet there is no floppy bracket
-Is DDR2 the next RDRAM?
-Is the Intel 900 enough for adventure, sports, emulation? PCI Express is still rare and probably expensive.
-System includes a 40GB SATA drive. Is their any speed difference between PATA/IDE and SATA between the 2 systems?
-Doubt I will get any freebie currently available such as a free monitor.

Both companies have bad tech support, but that does not matter if the components work. So, which computer is the better selection? This system will be used, not sold on Ebay. All opinions are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: Pretty Cool
Dell:
-Bet there is no floppy bracket

It's there only if you buy the floppy.

-Is DDR2 the next RDRAM?

Doubtful, DDR2 has enough technical advantages over DDR and enough support from the DRAM cartel and Intel that it's going to be a major standard, until perhaps FB-DIMMs.

-Is the Intel 900 enough for adventure, sports, emulation? PCI Express is still rare and probably expensive.

Probably not, but PCI-e video cards are getting pretty plentiful and sometimes can be found cheaper than their AGP counterparts. New eagerly anticipated cards like the x800XL are going to appear on the PCI-e platform first as well.

-System includes a 40GB SATA drive. Is their any speed difference between PATA/IDE and SATA between the 2 systems?

The HD is much more important than the interface.

Check http://www.gotapex.com/ to see if there's any hot deals at the moment. There's a pretty nice special on the 4700 for $500 after rebate at the moment.

 

[Pretty Cool]

Thanks for the input. Anybody have any other opinions before I end up choosing the Dell?

 

[Slowlearner]

Having bought two of the Dell's cofigurations just this week for general office work, and set up one yesterday, it looks pretty good - except for the fact that it has integrated video. IMHO even a 40$ video card is better than most integrated video graphics. But this looks pretty good on the Flat panel display. Incidentally, I paid 719$ +tax for those systems as small bus. Reliability of Dell is excellent and support is quite good - this reflects five years experience with 30 odd Dell PCs.

The cybersystems rig looks better except for mb, I think either of two Asus boards would be better. Factor that it in and the fact it does not include an OS, I think Dell is price competitive.

 

[tjmaxwell]

Cyberpower probably uses less proprietary parts, but I wouldn't order from them. There's just as many horror stories as there are positive stories. Sure, Dell's not exactly lighting it up in the customer satisfaction department either, but at least you know you can get support from them -- even if it means sitting on hold for an hour.