Dell Vostro. With 19 inch lcd. One gig ram. Intel dual core. Windows XP for 399.00.

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tbogstad

Golden Member
Feb 3, 2003
1,564
0
76
Well i have the Acer deal from Circuit City from 2 months ago, and it cost less than $200.00 including tax.

it was a

A64 X2 4000+ cpu
AM2 nvidia 590 chipset motherboard with raid onboard
2 x 512mb ddr2 ram
250gb hard drive
16X DVD+_RW burner
Memory card reader
Vista Home premium

add in a LCD for about $130.00

and its still about $100.00 cheaper than this and it has a dvd-rw and 250gb hard drive

now that was a hot deal.

This is warm at best.

 

nwrigley

Senior member
Jun 19, 2005
260
0
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Does anyone know what outputs the Intel GMA 3100 has with this system? (DVI, VGA, etc.)
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
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nwrigley

Senior member
Jun 19, 2005
260
0
76
Originally posted by: bamacre
nwrigley

The only way to OC with a Dell is by using a pin mod. So no sense in adding Ballistix memory. Get some of these...
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/5297177
... as they are the same memory that is used by Dell (re-badged Samsung) and go 3GB.

If you add an optical drive, make sure it is SATA.

There is a PCI Express x16 slot, so you can add something like an 8600 GT. But do NOT get a card that needs a 6pin power connector.

The base 1 gig configuration is with 2 DIMM (no option for 1). Is it a problem to match the 1gig DIMM that you linked to with the 2X 512mb DIMMS that come with it?
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
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Originally posted by: nwrigley
Originally posted by: bamacre
nwrigley

The only way to OC with a Dell is by using a pin mod. So no sense in adding Ballistix memory. Get some of these...
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/5297177
... as they are the same memory that is used by Dell (re-badged Samsung) and go 3GB.

If you add an optical drive, make sure it is SATA.

There is a PCI Express x16 slot, so you can add something like an 8600 GT. But do NOT get a card that needs a 6pin power connector.

The base 1 gig configuration is with 2 DIMM (no option for 1). Is it a problem to match the 1gig DIMM that you linked to with the 2X 512mb DIMMS that come with it?

You'd lose dual channel. Better off going with 2x1GB and 2x512MB.
 

nwrigley

Senior member
Jun 19, 2005
260
0
76
Originally posted by: bamacre

You'd lose dual channel. Better off going with 2x1GB and 2x512MB.

2x1GB and 2X512MB still allows dual channel mode?

How much of a performance hit is there to not run dual channel memory?

 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
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Originally posted by: nwrigley
Originally posted by: bamacre

You'd lose dual channel. Better off going with 2x1GB and 2x512MB.

2x1GB and 2X512MB still allows dual channel mode?

Yup.

How much of a performance hit is there to not run dual channel memory?

Intel's FSB depends on it. I think I am correct in that assertion. :D
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
It was on my doorstep today. Literally. I came home from the car shop (oil change) and there were two large boxes on my doorstep with the words "steal me" printed on them. Er, actually the words "Dell." I don't quite have time to run the thing yet, but took a moment to open it up to see what's inside. Not too shabby...

The tower is nice and attractive. It doesn't scream "teh '377T g4m3r" but that's just fine. Drive bays are stealthed. The tower felt kind of light, and most of the weight seemed to be centered around the CPU/PSU area which is a good sign.

The CPU HSF is a radial style and has an 80x25mm fan on it. I don't know if it has a copper core (will find out when I start messing with it for real) but I'd imagine that there exists the possibility, since it's probably easier to have one HSF across the board than to have a "better" one for faster chips. The HSF is bolted down and doesn't use the unpopular push-pins.

The case is stamped steel and looks kind of like how cheap Foxconn mATX cases are made. I've seen a few styles and this chassis isn't like any of them, but the construction cues are there. Exhaust is a 92mm fan. There are two 5¼", one FDD and two HDD bays. The ventilation in the front looks to be phenominally good. Cabling was fairly tidy, with the extra power connectors already run to near the empty drive bays, a nice touch. There are 4 USB ports in the front of the case, behind a slip-down panel.

The PSU is a 300W Bestec with 18A on the single +12v rail. About what one could expect in such a system. It has just enough power plugs to be able to populate all the drive bays, with 4 SATA and one FDD power connector. Yup, no "regular" molex. I'm thinking if not loaded down with more drives, the PSU should be able to handle any PCI-E card that doesn't require additional power (the 6 pin PCI-E plug). I don't have anything to back up that statement though.

Don't know what HDD is in there (80GB SATA) since the label faces away, but looks to be a "slim" drive (skinnier than 1" thick). Optical drive is a regular SATA DVDROM.

The RAM is Hynix DDR2-667 standard latencies, two 512MB sticks in dual channel.

The motherboard is a Foxconn G33M02. The rear I/O area isn't very populated, with no legacy ports. There are 4 SATA ports and a FDD port, but no EIDE ports. It is kind of but not quite like the Foxconn G33M that is in the channel. IIRC the two PCI-E slots are reversed (16x-1x-PCI-PCI).
 

amdskip

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
22,530
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81
My last batch of dell's had western digital drives. I prefer seagates but we'll see how they hold up.
 

Apex

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
6,511
1
71
www.gotapex.com
It's back for today, with your choice of slim tower or mini tower. They've upgraded to 16x DVD+/-RW double layer burners now too.

Mini

Slim

Upgrading to the 20" widescreen Dell E207WFP LCD monitor is just $20.
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
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Originally posted by: WasabiTheNinjaPimp
The mini has a 16x pci-e slot too... intriguing.

Do NOT plan on doing any high-end gaming on either of those systems.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: WasabiTheNinjaPimp
The mini has a 16x pci-e slot too... intriguing.

Do NOT plan on doing any high-end gaming on either of those systems.

Can swap out PSUs for a more powerful one and then pop in just about any video card. Still, even with stock PSU and a midrange card, this can be a budget gaming rig.
 

Rickten

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2001
1,607
0
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I'm very tempted to get this. Does anyone know if a standard height video card can fit in this case?

edit: found the answer to this on the dell forums. The slim only accepts low profile video cards. good to know, will not order.
 
Aug 30, 2007
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Originally posted by: Zap
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: WasabiTheNinjaPimp
The mini has a 16x pci-e slot too... intriguing.

Do NOT plan on doing any high-end gaming on either of those systems.

Can swap out PSUs for a more powerful one and then pop in just about any video card. Still, even with stock PSU and a midrange card, this can be a budget gaming rig.


Yeah I wouldn't be doing any high-end gaming, but almost every video card it seems uses a physical 16x slot so just the fact that the physical slot is that size is nice, trying to sell my old pc which is total overkill and just replace it with something smaller and cheaper.
 

cmbehan

Senior member
Apr 18, 2001
276
0
0
I went ahead and ordered the mini-tower last night.

I upgraded to the 20" monitor and E6550 for a total of $140 more so my final price is $560 including shipping and tax.

I'll take it. Add a mid-level video card and you've got a pretty decent box for less than $700.
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
61
Originally posted by: Zap
Can swap out PSUs for a more powerful one and then pop in just about any video card.

Please let us know how that works out. :D

LOL, there's going to be a dozen posts next week about, "my dell psu has only sata power connectors, and I don't know how to get my 8600 GTS card installed."
 

Rickten

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2001
1,607
0
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how easy are these to upgrade say the cpu. I'm looking at the prices and $120 to goto a E6550 seems like a lot. I'm thinking go with the cheapest then upgrade at a later time to the maximum cpu the board can handle.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: bamacre
Originally posted by: Zap
Can swap out PSUs for a more powerful one and then pop in just about any video card.

Please let us know how that works out. :D

LOL, there's going to be a dozen posts next week about, "my dell psu has only sata power connectors, and I don't know how to get my 8600 GTS card installed."

I may try it just to see if it can be done. :p That, and a BSEL mod, maybe a VID mod, some lights (make a nice glow in the front vent area). Which card should I shove in there... 8800GTS that I have laying around? I'll put a bigger HDD in there too.

Of course it's all a pipe dream for now because I'm so busy. :(

Originally posted by: Rickten
how easy are these to upgrade say the cpu. I'm looking at the prices and $120 to goto a E6550 seems like a lot. I'm thinking go with the cheapest then upgrade at a later time to the maximum cpu the board can handle.

Looks like the HSF comes off with 4 screws and uses the standard 4 hole mounting pattern.
 

JWade

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,273
197
106
www.heatware.com
the processor is easy to upgrade, I have an Inspiron desktop (same as the Vostro, only white/grey) and as Zap said, standard heatsink/fan mounted with four phillips slot screws.
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
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Originally posted by: Zap
Of course it's all a pipe dream for now because I'm so busy. :(

Just buy it and send it all to me. I'll update on my success/failure.


:p