Dell XPS Generation 4

[jamesbond007]

Hey guys! I just ordered a Dell XPS Gen4 rig last night using the 40% off coupon. Saved about $1100 off Dell's website.

For those of you who have a Gen4 XPS, what do you think about them? Are they quiet with a 6800 in there? How is the case? Sturdy? From the looks, the machine is a beastly rig with lots of cooling. Dell is usually noted for making a quiet system.

Anywho, comments?

Link to my new XPS!

 

[Red Dawn]

That's a lot of money for a desktop.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
That's a lot of money for a desktop.

I'd like to see your comparision or parts list for a comparable desktop with a similar LCD with all of the features. (ie: USB ports on the monitor, bling bling lighting on the case, 460W PSU, case with a PSU on the BOTTOM so it's not top-heavy)

 

[tfinch2]

Seems like a decent price for a nice system with a monitor

 

[Passions]

WTF, Travis, you like having all ur personal info up like that?
:Q

 

[Albis]

i think it's a great price with that coupon you used. without coupon, dell sucks but they have hot deals all the time

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: Passions
WTF, Travis, you like having all ur personal info up like that?
:Q

Erh, yah, wrong link. lol My bad! Will fix in a sec.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: Albis
i think it's a great price with that coupon you used. without coupon, dell sucks but they have hot deals all the time

Yeah, there's a lot of links and such on a ceretain website...I don't think we can post links to coupons/offers, can we? If so, I'll let y'all have the info.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
That's a lot of money for a desktop.

I'd like to see your comparision or parts list for a comparable desktop with a similar LCD with all of the features. (ie: USB ports on the monitor, bling bling lighting on the case, 460W PSU, case with a PSU on the BOTTOM so it's not top-heavy)

I didn't say it wasn't worth it ... well to you. I just said that is a lot of money for a Computer these days. Most people spend at most $1,200 and on average a lot less than that for a desktop.

 

[jamesbond007]

Ahh my bad man! Sorry for throwin' the flame at you.

Yeah, it is a lot for a desktop these days, but I tried and tried to come up with a comparable price through NewEgg for similar parts and just couldn't cut it. I wanted a beefy machine that has style, class, and is stable. For a sexy case and a beefy PSU, I was looking at spending roughly $200 for just that part, not to mention a 3.4 processor, which are $260+ alone. This is my first prebuilt desktop I've ever bought and was a bit skeptical at first, but my girlfriend has a really nice Dell too and our university is almost 100% Dell, minus a few Macs.

At any rate, needless to say, I couldn't custom-build a similar setup for less or about the same price. A quality 17" LCD with DVI and 12ms refresh rate runs you $350+.

For once I can just turn it on and enjoy it...well, I'll definitely format first and do a clean install of XP Pro to get rid of all the junk that is bundled with the machine. But after THAT, then I can use it.

 

[dabuddha]

Looks pretty nice. How much did it cost you?
(didn't see the price)

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
That's a lot of money for a desktop.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: MadCowDisease

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
That's a lot of money for a desktop.

yea. i want an axim.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
Looks pretty nice. How much did it cost you?
(didn't see the price)

Price is at the bottom of the JPEG. $1640 or so. I just sold my Dell 600m laptop last night, along with a few other things like some DVDs I didn't watch anymore and things like that, which equated to MORE than the cost of this new XPS. I just wasn't satisifed with the LCD display and the mediocre graphics card in the Inspiron. I see it as basically trading my laptop and a few DVDs for this machine, one that will last a LOT longer and will be infinitely times faster. I figure this machine will be my ticket to get me through the rest of my years at college, too. I'll be able to game and do everything for a long time. I originally bought my laptop thinking I would bring it to class or work on projects with friends at school. However, there are MANY labs with computers and rooms we can reserve for a group with computers so we can do projects like that together. The portability I saw in the laptop soon became useless. I was stuck with a LCD I was not happy with (very hard to do graphics on it, not to mention rather poor visibility, IMHO).

For those of you who say it's a lot for a desktop, how much do you spend? I'm assuming you don't game? Once you go with RAID0, it's very hard to look back. I love the multitasking abilities that HT gives you, which is why i wanted an Intel in the first place. AMD64s are fast for games and will favor you with about 10-20FPS more, but I'd rather have smoother operability and multitasking abilities (since I run a lot of programs at once) than just a few more unneeded FPS in a game.

I use to think that custom building was the best route. Then I realized that I already always had my 19" LCDs and Klipsch speakers on hand. That raised the real cost of the machine exponentially.

Seriously, how much do you guys spend? (honest, with all the fixin's from the keyboard, mouse, and to the speakers and monitor(s)?)

 

[300MDemon]

Thats a damned good price considering what you got with it...boss and I were gonna order two for ourselves at work but just couldn't justify it. I wish they had this coupon a few weeks ago but we did get nice 8400's.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Seriously, how much do you guys spend? (honest, with all the fixin's from the keyboard, mouse, and to the speakers and monitor(s)?)

I tend to spend $600 for a gaming computer (with monitor) that can play all of today's games. Sure I can't run the highest resolution with AA, but I don't mind. Wait a year, spend $300 on a new video card and I can blow any $1600 one year old computer away in games.

 

[Czar]

I have a series 3 sitting right here in front of me, going to set it up tomorrow (not mine sadly)

so far I must say .. the case... veeery impressive, but alot of green plasticy things covering just about everything. One thing very unusual is that the powersupply is on the botttom of the case and is very flat and takes about 6cm of the whole bottom area. Humoungus heatpipe heatsink also on the cpu

 

[TheAudit]

Originally posted by: Albis
i think it's a great price with that coupon you used. without coupon, dell sucks but they have hot deals all the time

I agree. I'd definitely take that system with the coupon. Without the coupon, forget it.

 

[His Lord Uberdude]

They don't have an SLI option. I know a lot of people don't need that, but they don't even have a 6800 ultra option.
Also, they will NOT cut a deal with AMD. So you can't have the FX-55, and you can't even get the P4EE with the 1066 mhz FSB! Plus they don't even tell what kind of ram they're putting in there, so you could be paying $200 for a gig of generic.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: 300MDemon
Thats a damned good price considering what you got with it...boss and I were gonna order two for ourselves at work but just couldn't justify it. I wish they had this coupon a few weeks ago but we did get nice 8400's.

How do you like the 8400s? They were my second choice for a tower, but I figure with 40% off, I had to have the best, since it was really basically a 'trade-in'. (My old laptop + DVDs for this new XPS)

Are they pretty quiet? Do you have a loud graphics card? How do you like it?

The custom machines I use to make were so dang loud. The GPU was always the loudest component. The last videocard I used in a home-built rig was a Radeon 9700 Pro AIW and it was quite loud. Though, the tower does sit ON the desk, next to the monitor, so that probably attributed to the amount of sound I heard.

 

[nakedfrog]

I've been using AMDs at home since my only prebuilt system (which was a PII) and have no problems multitasking.
Honestly, all the newer Intel-based Dells I've seen seem to choke fairly easily when multitasking, even when equipped with 512MB of RAM (based on the machines we've got at work now and a couple people I know). I don't know what causes it, but it would cause me to shy away from getting one. Of course, I'd rather just keep building my own systems anyway.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Seriously, how much do you guys spend? (honest, with all the fixin's from the keyboard, mouse, and to the speakers and monitor(s)?)

I tend to spend $600 for a gaming computer (with monitor) that can play all of today's games. Sure I can't run the highest resolution with AA, but I don't mind. Wait a year, spend $300 on a new video card and I can blow any $1600 one year old computer away in games.

Can I ask you to post your specs? Outside of gaming, what do you do with the machine? I should have mentioned that I also do video editing and rendering, which is why I went with RAID0 on the HDDs. It also attributes to why I put 1GB of RAM in there.

Not saying mine is better or bigger, but I'm just curious as to how you got the cost so low.

Also, Czar, having the PSU on the bottom is the next best thing. It makes the tower so it's not so top-heavy and it is more stable. It's easier to pick up and it won't wobble in your arms.

The PSU seems to look similar to 1U rackmount PSUs.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I've been using AMDs at home since my only prebuilt system (which was a PII) and have no problems multitasking.
Honestly, all the newer Intel-based Dells I've seen seem to choke fairly easily when multitasking, even when equipped with 512MB of RAM (based on the machines we've got at work now and a couple people I know). I don't know what causes it, but it would cause me to shy away from getting one. Of course, I'd rather just keep building my own systems anyway.

I would agree on the fact that AMDs feel more 'snappy' when opening My Computer or doing simple OS-related tasks, but they feel so damn slow when you start hitting 60-70 processes. That is when HT really shines.

I haven't noticed any choking on our university machines or my friends' Dells. Maybe it's some software that your work has loaded on there that is conflicting with the OS of some sort?

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Can I ask you to post your specs? Outside of gaming, what do you do with the machine? I should have mentioned that I also do video editing and rendering, which is why I went with RAID0 on the HDDs. It also attributes to why I put 1GB of RAM in there.

Not saying mine is better or bigger, but I'm just curious as to how you got the cost so low.

Also, Czar, having the PSU on the bottom is the next best thing. It makes the tower so it's not so top-heavy and it is more stable. It's easier to pick up and it won't wobble in your arms.

The PSU seems to look similar to 1U rackmount PSUs.

Virtually all computers I buy are in the $500-$600 range. This is wheter it is for my gaming, for my work, or recommendations I make for my friends/family. (There is the occasional high end dual processor workstation that I order for work which costs a lot more). Of course they all have different needs and uses. Obviously you aren't getting dual 160 GB HDs, etc with a $600 computer. The vast majority of users will never use more than 10 GB, so that is really a personal thing.

Here is the last computer I bought. It was for work, 1 month ago for $530:
Dell Dimension 4700
2.8 GHz P4 - 800 MHz fsb with HT
512 MB DDR2
80 GB HD
17" LCD
Integrated graphics (graphics card ready)
2 year warranty
Standard keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.
Clearly its not for gaming. If I were gaming, I'd get a CRT instead to save money and use that money on a decent but not top-of-the-line video card and 1 GB memory. The whole thing would probably be a bit over $600.

Basically to me, style is meaningless. I'd love to get a cheap case as I could care less. I save money with PS2 keyboards/mice and then I have that many more USB slots free. Etc. Its all about getting a computer that does what I need and still has tons of room for expansion when prices of today's top-of-the-line parts become dirt cheap. You did get a very good price for that computer. But for me personally, a styleless computer would have basically the same performance at a lower cost.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I've been using AMDs at home since my only prebuilt system (which was a PII) and have no problems multitasking.
Honestly, all the newer Intel-based Dells I've seen seem to choke fairly easily when multitasking, even when equipped with 512MB of RAM (based on the machines we've got at work now and a couple people I know). I don't know what causes it, but it would cause me to shy away from getting one. Of course, I'd rather just keep building my own systems anyway.

I would agree on the fact that AMDs feel more 'snappy' when opening My Computer or doing simple OS-related tasks, but they feel so damn slow when you start hitting 60-70 processes. That is when HT really shines.

I haven't noticed any choking on our university machines or my friends' Dells. Maybe it's some software that your work has loaded on there that is conflicting with the OS of some sort?

I don't think it's any work specific software, especially since I've seen home users having the same problems. I suppose it could just be varying qualities of RAM, I dunno.