HOT! Dell E521 $279!

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Slikkster
re: various comments

AMD only for overclocking? Who says? Nonsense.

Ony SATA connectors? Aren't there SATA/IDE adapters?

Sheesh...some silly stuff.

There are known issues with this model and SATA/IDE adapters. I strongly recommend adding the DVD burner if you want one in this system.

Another thing to remember with this model, like the E520 and E510, dual slot video cards do NOT fit. So single slot video cards are your only option. There is also only one 4pin power connection, and no PCIe x16 power connector, so you will need an adapter if you want to add a video card that requires the 6pin PCIe power connection. The PSU does 18A on each of two 12V rails, and I have had zero problems running both a 7950 GT and an X1950 Pro card with the original PSU.

 

[Midwayman]

Not a bad start for a media center type computer though......

 

[LS20]

man, all these people calling it a basic starter computer... my main home rig is athlon 1700+ xp with 512mb ram, radeon 8500le video card with a dying fan, and just basic eide harddrives...

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: TekDemon

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
For a basic computer that can hook into an average broadband connection this isn't bad at all. Bumping it to a Athlon64 3200+, a 17" CRT, and 1 gig of ram (debatable) came out to $400. With a CRT and the 6150 running things at 800x600 people could even do some gaming on that thing (nothing to brag about on the forums, but I know many people happily gaming on less).

Ugh...that description makes me want to puke, and I run a 2.4Ghz Northwood as my primary machine! CRT?!!?
eewwww

Something wrong with CRT's? So they're big...but (ATM) you won't find an LCD that's as sharp or as fast as a high quality CRT.

 

[aka1nas]

Up it to 1GB of RAM or so and drop a decent aftermarket video card in (The PSU should be able to handle up to a 7600GT or so) and you have a pretty nice budget gaming box. With a PSU upgrade you could technically be able to drop a quad-core K8L into the thing next year even.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: aka1nas
Up it to 1GB of RAM or so and drop a decent aftermarket video card in (The PSU should be able to handle up to a 7600GT or so) and you have a pretty nice budget gaming box. With a PSU upgrade you could technically be able to drop a quad-core K8L into the thing next year even.

Actually, if you'll see my post above, the PSU can easily handle a 7950 GT and an X1950 Pro, I've tried both.

 

[Modular]

Wow, this is tempting. The rents sure could use a new computer.

It's interesting that they're using DDR2 for an Athlon 64 build. Just goes to show you how expensive PC3200 has gotten.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: Modular
Wow, this is tempting. The rents sure could use a new computer.

It's interesting that they're using DDR2 for an Athlon 64 build. Just goes to show you how expensive PC3200 has gotten.

DDR2's are currently more expensive than DDR ram.. AFAIK.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Modular
Wow, this is tempting. The rents sure could use a new computer.

It's interesting that they're using DDR2 for an Athlon 64 build. Just goes to show you how expensive PC3200 has gotten.

It is a socket AM2 cpu, thus the DDR2.

This is a must for Dell, because it makes logistics easier, and thus, cheaper. They are using the same memory for Intel and AMD systems.

 

[knightc2]

Originally posted by: LS20
man, all these people calling it a basic starter computer... my main home rig is athlon 1700+ xp with 512mb ram, radeon 8500le video card with a dying fan, and just basic eide harddrives...

Yeah, I thought the same thing. This is better than my one year old office computer and my current overclocked home rig. In fact this is a better computer than most people need. Keep in mind that most computer users out there do not game, edit video, etc. or do anything that requires a C2D and 2GB of ram to run properly. That said I am sure the majority of members here on AT may be a little ahead of the average user but still at this price this is a nice machine that is upgradeable. Try building a similar machine for that price...

 

[DLM]

DDR2's are currently more expensive than DDR ram.. AFAIK

i found just the opposite yesterdat (Sunday 10/5/06) while making a comparison of popular brands, of course i was only checking the prices on their value ram and not there TOTL stuff,(approx $7 a gig less, not much but still cheaper)

 

[aimanzym]

ehhhhhhhh....... i would prefer Intel Inside. thx

 

[Midwayman]

If you could get it with xp MCE and thus upgrade to vista home premium when it comes out Id be all over it just for the money the OS would save me eventually + a cheap PC.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: aka1nas
Up it to 1GB of RAM or so and drop a decent aftermarket video card in (The PSU should be able to handle up to a 7600GT or so) and you have a pretty nice budget gaming box. With a PSU upgrade you could technically be able to drop a quad-core K8L into the thing next year even.

Actually, if you'll see my post above, the PSU can easily handle a 7950 GT and an X1950 Pro, I've tried both.

Sorry, missed that. Thanks for the info about the video cards, I am trying to get my brother into one of these if his budget can handle it.