suddenly in the market for a new machine

[mnewsham]

yes but it is a 400w unit from dell, NOT a 400w seasonic or antec. Consider it more of a 300w unit. And as long as OP is okay dealing with dell's techsupport, and their cheap components. then by all means, buy it.

 

[dclive]

Most people would say the opposite - that Dell's 400W PSU is underrated, rather than your suggestion it's overrated.

Anyway, net-net, most concern about PSUs and such is silly unless you're buying REALLY high-end $500 cards. If that's what you're buying, usually you're making your own computer anyway, or at least not buying $400 Dells.

I've found Dell's tech support to be decent; how are they lacking?

How do you find Dell's components cheap? Details, please.

 

[mnewsham]

Most people would say the opposite - that Dell's 400W PSU is underrated, rather than your suggestion it's overrated.

When has anyone EVER said dell made quality PSU's? Please i beg you to tell me when this happened.



Details please.

 

[betasub]

^ Dell don't make them. By reputation at least, most PSUs in Dell systems have good reliability - and it's in Dell's financial interest (considering the number of extended warranties they sell!).

 

[DaveSimmons]

Most people would say the opposite - that Dell's 400W PSU is underrated, rather than your suggestion it's overrated.

Anyway, net-net, most concern about PSUs and such is silly unless you're buying REALLY high-end $500 cards.

A $200 560 ti needs 2 x 6-pin connectors, and one Tom's Hardware system with a 560 was drawing over 400 watts under heavy load.

My Vostro q6600 works fine with the 8800 GT 512 it shipped with, but a 560 ti needs more power and I wouldn't want to burn out the system if I ran into a driver or game bug that caused high GPU load like the Starcraft II 1,000-fps menu screen bug.

 

[dclive]

A $200 560 ti needs 2 x 6-pin connectors, and one Tom's Hardware system with a 560 was drawing over 400 watts under heavy load.

Can you point us to that test? I see a max of about 350W. AND that's with an overclocked card. AND that's with Tom's overclocked CPU system. Norm of around 300W. A more typical system with a standard 560Ti and not-overclocked i7 would consume quite a bit less power.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...tx560-graphics-card-overclocking,2858-20.html

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ d'oh! My mistake, it was actually a HardOCP test not Tom's, using an i7-920 (The 628 watt result is for SLI):

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/02/21/msi_n560gtx_ti_twin_frozr_ii_oc_sli_review/9

I'd agree that's venturing into worst-case territory for a Dell, but that does show you have to give the graphics card's power draw some thought even for a $200 card not just a $500 card.

 

[dclive]

The 628W result, as you wrote, is with SLI. Where is the non-SLI result showing over 400W is required?

 

[DaveSimmons]

The 628W result, as you wrote, is with SLI. Where is the non-SLI result showing over 400W is required?

It lists the 0-GPU draw as 190, 2-GPU draw as 628. So with a bit of simple division, each card is adding 219 watts to the power use. 190 + 219 = 409.

 

[dclive]

...for a heavily overclocked system, which idles at 190W cardless (assumedly 200W with one graphics card in the system), which is 100W more than Tom's system at idle.

Doesn't that seem a little odd?

In any case, a normal non-overclocked Dell will have a profile far more similar to Tom's setup (or less, because it isn't overclocked) than HOCP's.

 

[mfenn]

Most people would say the opposite - that Dell's 400W PSU is underrated, rather than your suggestion it's overrated.

Anyway, net-net, most concern about PSUs and such is silly unless you're buying REALLY high-end $500 cards. If that's what you're buying, usually you're making your own computer anyway, or at least not buying $400 Dells.

I've found Dell's tech support to be decent; how are they lacking?

How do you find Dell's components cheap? Details, please.

I was with you until you said "net-net" :awe: All kidding aside, a refurb Inspiron or Studio XPS (w/ warranty) from Dell outlet is probably the OP's cheapest way to proceed. I also agree that Dell's PSUs are pretty good. Not world beaters, but not Raidmax-caliber POSs either.

...for a heavily overclocked system, which idles at 190W cardless (assumedly 200W with one graphics card in the system), which is 100W more than Tom's system at idle.

Doesn't that seem a little odd?

In any case, a normal non-overclocked Dell will have a profile far more similar to Tom's setup (or less, because it isn't overclocked) than HOCP's.

Yeah, HardOCP's test rig is completely out of whack when it comes to power draw. You have to be trying really hard to get even an overclocked Bloomfield to idle at 190W. Anandtech's numbers are far more reasonable IMHO.

OP, it really comes down to build vs buy. If you don't want to hassle with building, the Dell is certainly a viable option. However, mnewsham's build does have a lot more upgrade potential (airflow and not needing to replace the PSU) if you want to go for a high-end GPU later.

 

[Ruptga]

Someone I know is upgrading and loaning me a pair of HD 3850s. Right now I only plan on running one. It looks like those cards pull 15A/180W on the 12v rail. Will I be able to run one with a Dell or the Enermax? Both?

 

[dma0991]

If your PSU has a single 6 pin PCIE power connector it should be able to run a single card. You would need two 6 pin PCIE power connectors to run in Crossfire and usually there would be a single 6 pin PCIE power connector for any PSU that is less than 500W.

I do not recommend using an extra molex to 6 pin PCIE cable for the second card. Get a 500W PSU if you want to run it in Crossfire. Info about the power requirements of your card can be found here.

 

[DominionSeraph]

$30 off with promo codes EMCKDGK26, EMCKDGK23, EMCKCKJ29 (case, PSU, RAM)
$80 in MIR.

Can save $27 by dropping down to 4GB RAM, but as that mobo only has 2 slots and it is only $27 for double the RAM, I wouldn't do it.

That case looks to have a 2.5 inch bay if you want to drop the spinpoint for your laptop HDD.
With OS and DVD-ROM, minus the Spinpoint, it's $635.


If you want to go with an Intel build, the DVD-ROM you chose above combos with most Intel processors for $10 off.

 

[mfenn]

Someone I know is upgrading and loaning me a pair of HD 3850s. Right now I only plan on running one. It looks like those cards pull 15A/180W on the 12v rail. Will I be able to run one with a Dell or the Enermax? Both?

Would not bother even trying to do Crossfire with 3850s. 1.5 times slow is still slow.

 

[Ruptga]

Would not bother even trying to do Crossfire with 3850s. 1.5 times slow is still slow.

I considered it because one of those is twice as fast as my old laptop's gpu, and because both are free. That said, I don't really want to mess with the stuff that comes with multi-gpu, I was just exploring my options.

 

[Ruptga]

Is Dell Outlet still a good place for deals? I realize I'm taking a (reasonable) risk on the PSU being adequate, but it would save me a lot of hassle and maybe even some money.

For example, this is looking tempting at $550.

• XPS 8300
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2300 processor (6MB Cache, 2.8GHz)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• 1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
• 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz, (2X2G/2X1G)
• 16X DVD +/- RW Drive

 

[mnewsham]

when i click the link

Server Error

404 - File or directory not found.
The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

But yes it is still a decent place for deals in fact i plan on ordering a small 14" laptop from the outlet in about a week.

 

[mfenn]

when i click the link

But yes it is still a decent place for deals in fact i plan on ordering a small 14" laptop from the outlet in about a week.

Yeah, the stock changes quite quickly. Agree that it is a good place for deals though.

I would not expect the PSU to drive a card that required more than one PCIe 6-pin though.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I would not expect the PSU to drive a card that required more than one PCIe 6-pin though.

Yup. 6750 should do him fine if he's coming from mobile 9600GT, though. It's nearly twice as powerful as a desktop 9600GT, which is twice as powerful as a 9500GT, which it looks like the mobile 9600GT is closest to. (32 steam processors and 128bit memory)

So ~$670 for a i5 2300 with 6750 inc. OS... doesn't sound like a bad deal.

You can actually get a 6770 for the same price as a 6750, but it uses more power which I'd be wary of in a Dell. The difference in performance between them isn't that great.

 

[dclive]

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=353979&t=3073135 has some info on the Dell outlet promo going on now - $100 off any XPS series box, so get their cheapest $550 box, drop the price $100 to $450, and then add a beast of a graphics card (PSU is 460 watt, so you'll be fine with just about anything in reason) - grab an nVidia 460 GTX, for example - and you're all set for about $570 or so.

 

[mnewsham]

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=353979&t=3073135 has some info on the Dell outlet promo going on now - $100 off any XPS series box, so get their cheapest $550 box, drop the price $100 to $450, and then add a beast of a graphics card (PSU is 460 watt, so you'll be fine with just about anything in reason) - grab an nVidia 460 GTX, for example - and you're all set for about $570 or so.

You wont be able to add anything that needs a 6+2 pin or 2 6 pin pci power tho.

 

[dclive]

Agreed - you'll need to keep it reasonable. A $600 graphics card likely won't work without spending 20 minutes replacing the PSU that's in this unit with a more expensive one. For just about everything else, you're all set.

 

[Ruptga]

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=353979&t=3073135 has some info on the Dell outlet promo going on now - $100 off any XPS series box, so get their cheapest $550 box, drop the price $100 to $450, and then add a beast of a graphics card (PSU is 460 watt, so you'll be fine with just about anything in reason) - grab an nVidia 460 GTX, for example - and you're all set for about $570 or so.

That's awesome.

Is there any reason I shouldn't take this for $439 after the promo? It's certified refurbished. My research tells me that 5670 is better than the 3850 I'd otherwise have, so the PSU is a non-issue. I'd rather have a better 4-core over this 6-core, but it looks like it should be adequate.

Studio XPS 7100

• Processor AMD Phenom II X6 1045T (2.7 GHz)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• Studio XPS 7100 Desktop
• 250 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
• 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (4 DIMMs)
• 16X DVD +/- RW Optical Drive
• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5

 

[dclive]

That's awesome.

Is there any reason I shouldn't take this for $439 after the promo? It's certified refurbished. My research tells me that 5670 is better than the 3850 I'd otherwise have, so the PSU is a non-issue. I'd rather have a better 4-core over this 6-core, but it looks like it should be adequate.

Studio XPS 7100

• Processor AMD Phenom II X6 1045T (2.7 GHz)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• Studio XPS 7100 Desktop
• 250 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
• 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (4 DIMMs)
• 16X DVD +/- RW Optical Drive
• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5

Get an i5 if you can; per Tom (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2971-5.html) the I-series does well against the AMD series in gaming benchmarks.