Need new system

[DangerAardvark]

Anyone have experience with Dell refurbs? I'm planning to pick a up a cheap (<$500) desktop, and throw an 8800 GT in it when it comes out. I'll also add RAM if I can't find a refurb with 2g already in it.

The prospective system is an Inspiron:

Proc: Inspiron Desktop 530 Mini-tower: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550 (4MB L2 Cache,2.33GHz,1333 FSB)
OS: Genuine Windows Vista Home
RAM: 1 GB DDR2 NON-ECC SDRAM 667MHz (1 DIMM)
HDD: 320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
GPU: 128MB NVIDIA 8300 GSCertified Refurbished
System Price:$479.00

My concerns are:
1) Will the PSU be good enough and have a free molex (I don't know if the 8800GT will need it)?

2) Will an 8800GT (I think it's single slot) fit in a regular Inspiron and the Slim version?

An E6550 is the minimum proc speed I want, but basically all I want to do is play Bioshock on high (not necessarily max) settings for as cheap as possible. I'd prefer not to build, though might be persuaded if I can do it for significantly cheaper. I've had bad experiences OCing, so I'm steering away from that.

 

[JDMnAR1]

I have purchased a number of Dell refurbs over the past several years, and continue to recommend them to budget-conscious buyers who ask me what to purchase. For the money I typically spend on them, I would be hard pressed to buy components and build it myself. Each one has had at least one available connector on the PSU, but depending on your needs you may need an adapter. I don't have any experience with that particular model, but if it is the mini-tower you can generally fit pretty much any card in it.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: JDMnAR1
I have purchased a number of Dell refurbs over the past several years, and continue to recommend them to budget-conscious buyers who ask me what to purchase. For the money I typically spend on them, I would be hard pressed to buy components and build it myself. Each one has had at least one available connector on the PSU, but depending on your needs you may need an adapter. I don't have any experience with that particular model, but if it is the mini-tower you can generally fit pretty much any card in it.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll stick with the mini-towers or bigger. I don't wanna take a chance on though silky-smooth slims. Great taste, but less filling.

 

[nwrigley]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll stick with the mini-towers or bigger. I don't wanna take a chance on though silky-smooth slims. Great taste, but less filling.

Definitely avoid the slim case Dells if you think you may ever upgrade it more than just adding memory -they really limit your options. The slims are a good choice if you're going to buy and then leave as-is until it's time for a new system.

 

[DangerAardvark]

The most urgent question is whether or not the crappy 300W PSU will support an 8800GT. I guess if no answers are forthcoming I could just try it out and Frakenstein a spare PSU on there if necessary.

 

[bamacre]

Yes, its a great idea, I do the same.

But stick with an XPS 410 or a Precision 390 and save yourself a lot of headaches. Those mid-range systems just were not designed for gaming.

The last Insp 530 I had my hands on only had sata power connectors.

Edit: The XPS 410 and Precision 390's do not support the new 1333mhz FSB cpu's, but you can pop a Q6600 in them.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Yes, its a great idea, I do the same.

But stick with an XPS 410 or a Precision 390 and save yourself a lot of headaches. Those mid-range systems just were not designed for gaming.

The last Insp 530 I had my hands on only had sata power connectors.

Edit: The XPS 410 and Precision 390's do not support the new 1333mhz FSB cpu's, but you can pop a Q6600 in them.

I may do just that since apparently the XPS' have slightly beefier PSU's. Is it worth calling customer support to ask about specifics? I've heard naughty things about Dell in this area. Well hell, I might as well try, all it costs me is a phone call (and a little bit of my soul's innocence).

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark

Originally posted by: bamacre
Yes, its a great idea, I do the same.

But stick with an XPS 410 or a Precision 390 and save yourself a lot of headaches. Those mid-range systems just were not designed for gaming.

The last Insp 530 I had my hands on only had sata power connectors.

Edit: The XPS 410 and Precision 390's do not support the new 1333mhz FSB cpu's, but you can pop a Q6600 in them.

I may do just that since apparently the XPS' have slightly beefier PSU's. Is it worth calling customer support to ask about specifics? I've heard naughty things about Dell in this area. Well hell, I might as well try, all it costs me is a phone call (and a little bit of my soul's innocence).

Screw that, just ask here.

The 375W power supply in the XPS 410 and Precision 390 has two 12V rails @ 18A each, and can handle an 8800 GTX just fine. If you want to go with a GTX and a Q6600, make sure to get a G0 Q6600 (SLACR) and you'll be fine. I would wait for the 8800GT due out next week though which uses less power, is half the price, and only a bit slower.

If you want to wait, the XPS 420 and Precision T3400 have the X38 chipset and two PCIe x16 slots (IIRC, have not bought one of these yet). These new systems however are not in the Outlet yet, and may not be there for another month, or even two.

Edit:

Pictures...

Precision 390
http://www.majortoker.com/images/prec390_pics.html

XPS 410
http://www.majortoker.com/images/xps410a_01.jpg
http://www.majortoker.com/images/xps410a_02.jpg
http://www.majortoker.com/images/xps410a_03.jpg
http://www.majortoker.com/images/xps410a_04.jpg

Oh, one more thing. If you go with an XPS 410, make sure any drives (hard or optical) are SATA. There are no PATA connections on the motherboard. The Precision 390 does have one PATA connection for two optical drives however.

 

[DangerAardvark]

The Vostros offer some decent setups below $400, but the Inspirons seem to come the best configured for the money. The XPS' are a close second there. Plus, a few come with 8300 GS's for only a few bucks more, which will tide me over till I can get my hands on a real video card.

Inspiron 530 for under $500 well configured or XPS 410 which starts at $700 well configured but is more likely to support a high-end videocard.

I'm leaning toward the Inspiron right now simply because even if I can't get a top of the line videocard in there, it's just too ridiculously good a deal to pass up.

Thanks for the feedback and pictures. Time to roll the dice.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
The Vostros offer some decent setups below $400, but the Inspirons seem to come the best configured for the money. The XPS' are a close second there. Plus, a few come with 8300 GS's for only a few bucks more, which will tide me over till I can get my hands on a real video card.

Inspiron 530 for under $500 well configured or XPS 410 which starts at $700 well configured but is more likely to support a high-end videocard.

I'm leaning toward the Inspiron right now simply because even if I can't get a top of the line videocard in there, it's just too ridiculously good a deal to pass up.

Thanks for the feedback and pictures. Time to roll the dice.

I'm telling you though, if you ever want to do some higher-end gaming, you are going to regret getting an Inspiron or Vostro.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
The Vostros offer some decent setups below $400, but the Inspirons seem to come the best configured for the money. The XPS' are a close second there. Plus, a few come with 8300 GS's for only a few bucks more, which will tide me over till I can get my hands on a real video card.

Inspiron 530 for under $500 well configured or XPS 410 which starts at $700 well configured but is more likely to support a high-end videocard.

I'm leaning toward the Inspiron right now simply because even if I can't get a top of the line videocard in there, it's just too ridiculously good a deal to pass up.

Thanks for the feedback and pictures. Time to roll the dice.

I'm telling you though, if you ever want to do some higher-end gaming, you are going to regret getting an Inspiron or Vostro.

I know I'm backpedalling a bit, because I did say I wanted to game on this, but when I look at the PC games out in the last 6 months... Bioshock is the ONLY one I want to play. Any other game I might play is either an MMO (not generally graphically demanding) or a year or more old.

 

[DangerAardvark]

GOD DAMN IT! I tried ordering two times, and they both took a week to process only to be cancelled with no warning and no explanation. Two fucking weeks waiting on this bullshit, chatting with incompetent assholes who just parrot information I can find on the website and wading through 10 min. of phone tree just to get a pre-recorded message. Fuck Dell with infinity dicks.

 

[JWade]

if you are trying to ordfer a vostro, it is because you probably have a home account and not a business account, has happened to me multiple times when i tried to get a vostro. by the way, I have seen xps 410's for sale on the outlet for below $500, they had like e6300, e6400, e6320 processors in them. I did manage to pick one up for my brother with the followign stats:

e6320
2gb ram
320gb hd
8600gts
dvd burner
blu ray
vista premium
$549

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
The most urgent question is whether or not the crappy 300W PSU will support an 8800GT. I guess if no answers are forthcoming I could just try it out and Frakenstein a spare PSU on there if necessary.

I had my 8800GTS/320 in my Acer E700 (Q6600, 4 500GB HDDs, 4x1GB RAM, 2 tuners, etc..etc...) and it worked great. That has a 300W LiteOn PSU.

A quick read of Anandtech's reviews site show typical PSU requirements for most desktops are in the 150-200W range with an 8800. For this machine (above) it was in the 250W range given the CPU and the extra hardware in the machine. A 300W PSU handled it all just fine.

 

[magreen]

LOL. That's a pretty funny rant.

What were you ordering?

 

[DangerAardvark]

I was ordering a system similar to the one in my OP. Oh well, at least Dell convinced me to build. Little more expensive, but well worth it if I never have to deal with Dell again.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
I know I'm backpedalling a bit, because I did say I wanted to game on this, but when I look at the PC games out in the last 6 months... Bioshock is the ONLY one I want to play. Any other game I might play is either an MMO (not generally graphically demanding) or a year or more old.

Ok... so you're using the past to predict the future, despite the dearth of decent games in the last six months because they're all coming out in the next 6 months?

Crysis, UT2007, Alan Wake and various other games are coming out soon now that DX10 will come of age.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Prospective build:

Case: ANTEC New Solution Series NSK6580 Mid Tower Case w/430W Earthwatt PSU
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10006027
$105.99
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Intel® P35 + ICH9 Chipset DDR2 1066 ATX GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10006307
$96.39
CPU: INTEL Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz FSB1333MHz 4M LGA775
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10005522
$193.90
HDD: SEAGATE ST3250410AS 250GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Hard Drive
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10005934
$69.95
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista HOME Premium 32-bit English Single-Pack DVD OEM
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=604699
$104.99
DVD Drive: SAMSUNG SH-S203B/BEBN 20X SATA DVD Burner
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10006485
$35.99
RAM: I'll be using 2GB of DDR2 800 that I already have.
$0
Videocard: 8800GT whenever the god damn prices come down!
$200-250

Total: $607.21 ($800-$850 with videocard)

I'm going to try to overclock the E6750 to 3.2GHz.
Reusing mouse/keyboard and monitor... at least until I can see if Black Friday brings some cheap LCD's my way.
Love me some Zipzoomfly right now since their only charging me $27 to ship all this crap to Hawaii, while Newegg wants to charge me $91. Even though everything I want at ZZF qualifies for free shipping, there's no such thing as "free shipping" to Hawaii.