Have to Buy A PC

[NewYorksFinest]

My brothers birthday is coming up and him and my 3 year old Nepthew want a PC. Now, I already have 2 PCs in line to build, so I am going to save a few hkurs and buy one. They dont game too much, but the nepthew plays minecraft and my brother plays the sims and sim city and Hoyle card games. However, there are 2 I am stuck in between...

Dell Inspiron 3000 Series ($399.99):

Intel Core i3-4130
4GB DDR3-1600
1TB 7200RPM
Intel 4400 graphics
2 DIMM Slots
http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/u...7-small-desktop&mboxDisable=1&un_jtt_redirect





Dell XPS 8700 ($699.99):
Intel Core i5-4400
8GB DDR3-1600
1TB 7200RPM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 635 1TB DDR3
4 DIMM Slots
Capable of 3HDDs and 1SSD
http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/u...del_id=xps-8700&mboxDisable=1&un_jtt_redirect

 

[birthdaymonkey]

My brothers birthday is coming up and him and my 3 year old Nepthew want a PC. Now, I already have 2 PCs in line to build, so I am going to save a few hkurs and buy one. They dont game too much, but the nepthew plays minecraft and my brother plays the sims and sim city and Hoyle card games. However, there are 2 I am stuck in between...

Dell Inspiron 3000 Series ($399.99):

Intel Core i3-4130
4GB DDR3-1600
1TB 7200RPM
Intel 4400 graphics
2 DIMM Slots
http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/u...7-small-desktop&mboxDisable=1&un_jtt_redirect

This one. The more expensive one has a quad core CPU and a terrible video card that isn't much better than the Haswell iGPU. If they want to be able to play any games, get another 4GB of RAM ($40) and a GTX 750 ($120) and you'll have a much stronger system for much less money.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

This one. The more expensive one has a quad core CPU and a terrible video card that isn't much better than the Haswell iGPU. If they want to be able to play any games, get another 4GB of RAM ($40) and a GTX 750 ($120) and you'll have a much stronger system for much less money.

Just saying though, the GTX 750 only has 1GB of GDDR5. How about the GTX 750 Ti with 2GB of GDDR5? Or is 1GB enough with those games?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Just saying though, the GTX 750 only has 1GB of GDDR5. How about the GTX 750 Ti with 2GB of GDDR5? Or is 1GB enough with those games?

For those games, it's enough but if you can step up to the 750Ti for an extra $30-$40, then it's a good buy too. You could get a more powerful card for less from AMD, but they all require PCI-E power connectors, which may be too much to ask of the Dell OEM power supply.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I agree for moderate gaming, go with the first one and add a discrete card. The XPS has a power supply that has 2 6 pin connectors, but the i3 undoubtedly will have no external power connectors. The video cards it would handle would be a HD7750 or GTX 750/750Ti.

For the games you mentioned, you might even try gaming on the igp first and see if it is satisfactory, and add one of the cards I mentioned if it is not. The igp might well handle those games at something like 720p, but adding a 750Ti would give you a pretty good low/mid range gaming rig that would play most any game at 1080p, although you will have to lower settings in some games.

Edit: I just noticed that the i3 is in a small case. I would be concerned about a full size graphics card fitting into that. If you can find a similar unit for the same price in a bigger case, I would advise that. The 750/750Ti are fairly small cards I believe, so I think you should be OK, but it would pay to check it out.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

For those games, it's enough but if you can step up to the 750Ti for an extra $30-$40, then it's a good buy too. You could get a more powerful card for less from AMD, but they all require PCI-E power connectors, which may be too much to ask of the Dell OEM power supply.

What about an upgraded PSU? Also, what form factor is it? Micro ATX, etc. Also, there is a version with a bigger case...

I agree for moderate gaming, go with the first one and add a discrete card. The XPS has a power supply that has 2 6 pin connectors, but the i3 undoubtedly will have no external power connectors. The video cards it would handle would be a HD7750 or GTX 750/750Ti.

For the games you mentioned, you might even try gaming on the igp first and see if it is satisfactory, and add one of the cards I mentioned if it is not. The igp might well handle those games at something like 720p, but adding a 750Ti would give you a pretty good low/mid range gaming rig that would play most any game at 1080p, although you will have to lower settings in some games.

Edit: I just noticed that the i3 is in a small case. I would be concerned about a full size graphics card fitting into that. If you can find a similar unit for the same price in a bigger case, I would advise that. The 750/750Ti are fairly small cards I believe, so I think you should be OK, but it would pay to check it out.

How can he hook up the GTX 750 to the PSU?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

What about an upgraded PSU? Also, what form factor is it? Micro ATX, etc. Also, there is a version with a bigger case...



How can he hook up the GTX 750 to the PSU?

The beauty of the 750/Ti is that neither card requires a special PSU connection. You just need to make sure that the case/motherboard can accommodate a PCI-E graphics card.

EDIT: It may be better to avoid the small form factor version and just go with the standard size micro-ATX Inspiron. It's $100 more but it comes with the 8GB of RAM already, and a standard 750/Ti would definitely fit.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-3847-desktop/pd?oc=fdcwrn1358&model_id=inspiron-3847-desktop

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Here's the manual for the $499 model with the larger case. There's clearly lots of room for a video card and the motherboard has the appropriate slot.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...nspiron-3847-desktop_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf

I also checked out the manual for the smaller version, and the interior looks very cramped. There is a PCI-E x16 slot on the motherboard, but the case seems like it would only accommodate a limited set of low-profile graphics cards.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

The beauty of the 750/Ti is that neither card requires a special PSU connection. You just need to make sure that the case/motherboard can accommodate a PCI-E graphics card.

EDIT: It may be better to avoid the small form factor version and just go with the standard size micro-ATX Inspiron. It's $100 more but it comes with the 8GB of RAM already, and a standard 750/Ti would definitely fit.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-3847-desktop/pd?oc=fdcwrn1358&model_id=inspiron-3847-desktop

Should I tell them about the 750 Ti? Will the normal 750 be fine? Also, how about the Radeon R7 260X?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Should I tell them about the 750 Ti? Will the normal 750 be fine? Also, how about the Radeon R7 260X?

750 or 750Ti would be perfect for light gaming--get whichever he can afford.

The R7 260X requires a PCI-E power connector from the PSU, so it probably won't work. The best AMD card that doesn't require external power is the R7 250 or the 7750, both of which are a lot slower than the Geforce 750/Ti.

 

[NewYorksFinest]

750 or 750Ti would be perfect for light gaming--get whichever he can afford.

The R7 260X requires a PCI-E power connector from the PSU, so it probably won't work. The best AMD card that doesn't require external power is the R7 250 or the 7750, both of which are a lot slower than the Geforce 750/Ti.

Thanks! It is only a $30-$40 dollar difference; he can afford both. So the 750 Ti will be better?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Thanks! It is only a $30-$40 dollar difference; he can afford both. So the 750 Ti will be better?

Yep, should last them a long time.