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Nephew wants to blow his money on a computer...

SunnyD

SunnyD

Belgian Waffler
And of course, I get the call. Obviously, build-it-yourself is #1. But he wants it fast. Plus since they live in Florida and I'm up here in New York, service calls would suck.

So, exactly how upgradable are Dell's? Not only do I get a budget to work under, but he wants it for gaming. 🙁 Double whammy.
 
Originally posted by: SunnyD
And of course, I get the call. Obviously, build-it-yourself is #1. But he wants it fast. Plus since they live in Florida and I'm up here in New York, service calls would suck.

So, exactly how upgradable are Dell's? Not only do I get a budget to work under, but he wants it for gaming. 🙁 Double whammy.
Click to expand...

A 700 Dell is not very upgradeable. How old is the nephew? I'd suggest buying a book or looking at a website and putting it together from scratch

else
Sams Club has a Compaq Presario S4110CL-B for $748
XP 2600+
512 MB DDR
120 GB hd
DVD and burner
looks like probably a nforce2 mb +fireware+NIC+modem
17" monitor + keyboard + mouse

They also have some emachines and linux boxes
 
$700 for hardware and software? That'll be tough to beat Dell. The standard Dell deal is a 2ghz'ish for $350. For $400-$500 you should be able to find one that has 256MB ram and an AGP slot. Then throw in a 9500/9600 and you're set. Sorta 😛
 
I'd suggest buying a book or looking at a website and putting it together from scratch
Click to expand...

I agree. Dell is practically unupgradable (I know this from experience). They use so many proprietary things. You can upgrade RAM, but that is about it. Plus, no overclocking.

Building the comp in NY and shipping it to FL is expensive. Wastes a good deal of money.

I'd suggest telling him what to order, then guiding him through the installation process if he is over 14 or so. Does he have a webcam? Perhaps that can help.

But 700ish isn't too bad. Try this: (all at newegg)

Barton 2500+ - $90
Biostar M7NCD Pro- $57 after MIR
Radeon 9800 nonpro- $250 at your local Best Buy otherwise 9800 Pro after XT comes out.
Kreton 2x 256 MB PC3200- $77 or 2x512 MB- $150
Liteon 52x32x52 CDRW- $39
Samsung 120 GB HDD- $90

total of that is $603 or $678. Tack on what you want for casing. Will beat any Dell under $1000. I'm assuming he already has a monitor, if he doesn't, a gaming rig can't be done for that price.

 
I think it will be hard to beat this, a brand new Dell Dimension 4600 for $539 after rebate with FREE SHIPPING.

No sales tax in most states since it's Dell Home.

Dimension 4600 desktop w/ P4-2.4GHz w/ 800MHz FSB, 256MB Dual Channel DDR 333MHz, CD-ROM, Free MS Office 2003, 64MB DDR GeForce4 MX, Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio, NIC, XP Home for only $639 - $100 rebate = $539 w/ free shipping.
 
Thanks RossMAN, I think that should fit the budget nicely if I can find a decent deal like Staples had on monitors again (NEC 19" ~$40). Should round out the system, and also the price leaves a little flex room for a Video card upgrade and/or more ram. Seeing as how it's an 800MHz FSB and HT enabled CPU, it should work out fairly well. Also, some of the parts are easily junkable with various FAR or CAR (Cheap after rebate) deals, such as the CDRom.

I've been pricing parts, and it looks possible to do something higher end for around the $700 budget, minus the monitor. But I'm not certain if that's honestly the best way to go for him. As much as he wants to be into computers, his relative "effort" at it has been lackluster over the last several years. So just having him order the parts, I'm afraid 75% of them would probably end up RMA'd upon attempted assembly.
 
Originally posted by: lordtyranus2
I'd suggest buying a book or looking at a website and putting it together from scratch
Click to expand...

I agree. Dell is practically unupgradable (I know this from experience). They use so many proprietary things. You can upgrade RAM, but that is about it. Plus, no overclocking.
Click to expand...

Strange....I would imagine you could upgrade:

CPU
Hard drive
Video card
Sound card
...pretty much everything except the mobo.

People need to learn to respond to the thread. The kid is not computer savy...has $700 for a complete system...and probably won't upgrade for another 2-3 years. In 2-3 years it won't make a difference whether he's got a Dell or an Atari, he'll want/have to buy all new tech anyway 🙂
 
Tell him to save up some more funds.

$700 for both software and hardware is impossible for a good gaming rig unless you're going onboard graphx.

Anyways at that price the Dell owns.🙂
 
Just recommended this system to my nephew, but included the speakers (he has none - Altec Lansing's for $20 ain't bad), and a video card upgrade to the GeForce FX 5200 128meg for another $15. Everything else we'll be getting probably from the Hot Deal's forum - CDRW, Monitor, Harddrive and Memory Upgrade at some later time.

Thanks RossMAN again for making this one known to me. I think my nephew will actually be happy with this, and I shouldn't have to worry about service for it for the next year (I hope).
 
Might be a stupid question, but does he want IT for gaming or does he want to game and also wants a computer?

Maybe a lower end Dell (like the Dell suggestion) for computer needs and a GameCube/Xbox/PS-2/Whatever for gaming? Can get a slower computer + console for about the same budget as a computer fast enough to offer similar gaming experience and he doesn't get sucked into the upgrade cycle then. Depends on your nephew and his desires, but just another option....

Back when I was a kid we played with a potato and a dead cat and we were damn glad to have them!
 
With the 5200 that system might not be a screamer, but it will be just fine. Later on when he saves up some more cash he can turn it into a beast with a nice video card upgrade.
 
Strange....I would imagine you could upgrade:CPU
Hard drive
Video card
Sound card
...pretty much everything except the mobo.
Click to expand...

Theoratically. Sound card and video card can be done, but using those green plastics things for the HDD is very difficult. Or at least it was for me. Unless you want to replace that HSF, you can't really replace the CPU either. And I think that's voiding your warranty.
 
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