Dell System OK value?

[drsingh]

Hi All,
long time lurker, saw this today on Dell's Canadian site, seems pretty decent for under 2000$ CDN including a 1907FP monitor. Your thoughts vs build it yourself? Primary use will be gaming, and assorted home based multimedia, nothing professional. Currently using a 4 year old HP Pavillion P4 1.6 with onboard 64mb ram for video. So I guess is this a worthy upgrade as well?

cheers
http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/con...=CADHS1&l=en&OC=OCDIMXPS6_FEAT_CHXPSP3

 

[thecolorifix]

using newegg I just put together a system with the same specs (granted I used the cheapest possible parts) and it came to $1,181.50

that's with a 19" flat PANEL monitor and no cd/dvd drive

with windows xp home

so yeah, I'd say you can get a much better deal doing it yourself, even if you got some better components

 

[sillious]

If you ever want to upgrade, be warned that it's almost impossible as Dell uses all proprietary hardware/cable etc. For instance, if this system doesn't include a floppy drive, you may think I can attach one myself - wrong! You won't find a way to do that.

 

[ownsauce]

kiddha ve
hit me at gagan@hotmail.com

i'll help a fellow apna as much as i can!

 

[bamacre]

Way overpriced.

You could build a much better system for less money.

 

[d3lt4]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Way overpriced.

You could build a much better system for less money.

very true. andfor gaming AMD is better.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: d3lt4

Originally posted by: bamacre
Way overpriced.

You could build a much better system for less money.

very true. andfor gaming AMD is better.

Meh, what matters most is video card. CPU isn't anywhere near as important as the video card. I game on a Pentium 630.

 

[drsingh]

Thank you, by much cheaper, remember this is about 1500 USD (1800 CDN) is there a configuration that seems best(most recommended)?

thx
Ken

 

[bamacre]

A good comparison would be (price wise)...

Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Mid-Tower W/X-Window 430W PSU
Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939
Corsair VS2GBKIT400C3 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Value Select Memory Retail
250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Bare Drive
Geforce 7800 GT 256MB
Samsung 913V-BLACK SyncMaster 19in Analog LCD

That is going to be a heck of a lot more bang for your buck. Not sure about which Canadian sites offer this kind of stuff, I'm sure someone here could offer than info. This all adds up to about ~1400 USD.

 

[ownsauce]

my brown friend dr singh
I can help you if you want to talk over email

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: bamacre
A good comparison would be (price wise)...

Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Mid-Tower W/X-Window 430W PSU
Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939
Corsair VS2GBKIT400C3 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Value Select Memory Retail
250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Bare Drive
Geforce 7800 GT 256MB
Samsung 913V-BLACK SyncMaster 19in Analog LCD

That is going to be a heck of a lot more bang for your buck. Not sure about which Canadian sites offer this kind of stuff, I'm sure someone here could offer than info. This all adds up to about ~1400 USD.

Convereted to Canadian (roughly) via NCIX :

THERMALTAKE SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black ATX CASE 3 CASE FANS 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT NO PS W/ WINDOW $101.15

Fortron FSP AX500-A 500W ATX12V 2.0 24PIN Blue Storm Power Supply W/ 120MM Fan Retail $99.96

Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI ATX S939 NFORCE4 SLI DDR 2PCI-E16 SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard $123.05

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor S939 Manchester 2Ghz 512KBX2 90NM Retail Box $385.02

Corsair Value Select PC3200 2GB 2X1GB DDR400 CL3 184PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit $232.56

Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 8MB 8.9MS Hard Drive 3 Year MFR Warranty $127.19

NEC ND-3550A DVD+RW 16X8X16X DVD-RW 16X6X16X DL 8X/6X IDE 2MB Burner Black OEM W/ SW $58.15

EVGA E-GEFORCE 7800GT CO SE 460MHZ 256MB 256BIT 1.1GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I VIVO SLI Video Card $371.79 ($346.79 after mail-in rebate)

Samsung SyncMaster 913V II 19IN Black 1280X1024 600:1 0.294MM 12MS VGA TFT LCD Monitor $353.61

$1,827.48

 

[drsingh]

Hi, thanks to all, looks like you can get a bit more, but once you add OS and keyboard mouse etc, the Dell is a decent deal, but slightly lower spec (video, CPU)

 

[acole1]

Remember software! If you dont have the software drsingh then it might not be such a great deal.

 

[KeithTalent]

I have a Dell laptop and have found a lot of the software that came with it to be more of a hindrance than a help.

 

[PWNettle]

I'm no guru like many here but I absolutely prefer to build my own boxes over buying them from retailers like Dell, HP, etc.

You get more bang for your buck, you get higher quality parts, you know EXACTLY what you have in your machine and how you might be able to upgrade, and you don't get a bunch of crap software bundled that you can't get rid of. You'll have a much cleaner, higher performing, and more reliable machine if you build it yourself.

The Dell system probably isn't bad, and I've heard some good things about them, but I would still build the PC yourself.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: sillious

If you ever want to upgrade, be warned that it's almost impossible as Dell uses all proprietary hardware/cable etc. For instance, if this system doesn't include a floppy drive, you may think I can attach one myself - wrong! You won't find a way to do that.

Proprietary cables... thats a good one. What will the fanbois think of next? Proprietary harddrive?

And the 2nd half of your statement is blatantly wrong. Remove the faceplate, insert, and finish.

 

[mechBgon]

Proprietary cables... thats a good one. What will the fanbois think of next?

Errrr... front-panel wiring on Dells is proprietary in most cases (haha), isn't it?

Angled DIMM slots are interesting too, I saw a Dimension 4600 with that oddball feature (to squeak the motherboard under the drive cage where a normal ATX board wouldn't fit).

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Proprietary cables... thats a good one. What will the fanbois think of next?

Errrr... front-panel wiring on Dells is proprietary in most cases (haha), isn't it?

Angled DIMM slots are interesting too, I saw a Dimension 4600 with that oddball feature (to squeak the motherboard under the drive cage where a normal ATX board wouldn't fit).

Not sure what you mean. I added a floppy to my 9100. And didn't have to take the face plate of either. As for the angled dimm slots (4600 and 8300 models), although it's a little different, I don't know why it makes a difference. I will say that the following models (4700, 51XX, 8400, 9100, XPS 400) do not have these angled dimm slots.

As far as I know the only proprietary parts now are the mobo, psu, and case.

 

[mechBgon]

The reason it would make a difference is that people sometimes want to change motherboards in their Dells (yeah, it's a crazy world out there ) and run up against this type of thing. Thankfully, as you imply, Dell doesn't have freaky alternate-universe ATX cables anymore (that I know of).

 

[bamacre]

Here is a brief comparison of a Dell and a higher-end e-machine I did a while back...

Originally posted by: bamacre
Pictars.... (and biased review below)


T6524 and XPS 400 Front View

T6524 and XPS 400 Rear View

T6524 Inside #1

XPS 400 Inside #1

T6524 Inside #2

XPS 400 Inside #2


As you can see, both systems were upgraded with 256MB X800 GTO video cards (Sapphire Blade Edition), coincidenally.


What the Dell has that the eMachine does not...
1. Screwless case
2. Screwless hard drive enclosure
3. Physical support for heavier video cards
4. Better ventilation
5. Better cable management (although there are just not as many cables in the emachine)
6. Better design for optical drive assembly
7. Supports standard optical drives
8. Standard 128MB X300 PCIe video card

What the eMachine has that the Dell does not...
1. Option for AMD cpu's (depending on model)
2. Bigger standard hard drive (200GB PATA over upgradeable 80GB SATA)
3. Media Card reader is standard (Dell offers as upgrade)
4. Standard Integrated ATI Express 200 Video

PSU differences
1. eMachines comes with 250w, Dell has a 375w.
2. eMachines PSU has almost no free power connectors, Dell's has plenty
3. eMachines PSU has no PCIe power cable, Dell has one.
4. Zero SATA power connections in the eMachines, Dell's has at least 3.

Costs:
eMachine Fixed $650 - $50 MIR plus tax (shipping usually free) (no monitor)
Dell - Varies (with Dell Outlet, you can pick them up <$400, or retail, currently starts at $969 w/19in LCD)
Of course, most of you know Dell offers coupon codes, hot deals, and with new systems in Dell Outlet, cost varies quite a bit)


I'm sure there are a few things I have left out, but I think this is a decent comparison. If you disagree, feel free to buy both and review them yourself.

 

[drsingh]

cheers, will put together a configuration from the canadian online sites and have you validate if it is a good one.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Proprietary cables... thats a good one. What will the fanbois think of next?

Errrr... front-panel wiring on Dells is proprietary in most cases (haha), isn't it?

not really. i've found quite a few motherboards that layout the pins the same way they're laid out in a dell case. at least, several year old dell cases. the dell thing is in a ribbon cable and they keep it as short as possible, so that can be a problem.

 

[dexvx]

It is cheaper to use industrial standard components than to design your own proprietary stuff. That is why there has been a major shift to industrial standard components. The reason they used proprietary stuff years ago was because there was no industry standard on a lot of parts.