34 replies to this topic

[Afrika Korps]

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Thats a good point. I don't all the bells and whistles of die-hard gaming (i.e. Lights and fishtanks). Just enough to get by. I have been with Dell for a while now and I have had NO problems thus far.
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My current PC:

Intel P4 1.7GHz

256mb RDRAM (RAMBUS/ Pc-800)

Nvidia GeForce 2 MX (64mb i think)
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The PC from Dell im looking at cost $785.50 with an optional $23/month.

But I don't need more than 40gb's of HD space. I only have 27gb left on this one, which is 40gbs.

Also, I didn't get an exact response for the Vid Card...(128mb Radeon X300 SE)

Should I go with the basic "Graphics Accelerator"? And get a 3rd Party Card?(i.e Nvidia 6000's/ATi Radeon 9600)

[Racer]

I got the GeForce 6800 GT and I'm VERY pleased with it !

[Grunkzzz]

how can u get more Ram on ur computer and how much is it

System ram? or system cache ram?

[Grunkzzz]

I'm building a PC from Dell, will you tell me if these specs are good enough to run future games? (i.e BF:2)

I'm curious about the Radeon X300 (128mb), is it good?

Here are the full specs of the system:

Processor

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 540 w/HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800FSB)

Memory

512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (2x256M)

HD

40GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)

CD Drive

Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive

Vid Card

128MB PCI Expressâ„¢ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeonâ„¢ X300 SE

X300 (128mb)
I wouldn't buy that.

512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (2x256M)
You really need 1Gb of ram

128MB PCI Expressâ„¢ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeonâ„¢ X300 SE
Ok more specifically I wouldn't buy a card with less than 256 ram soon they are coming out with cards with 512mb of ram on them.. Your poor little 128mb would quickly fall behind ensuring you wouldnt beable to play games possibly as early as next year without an upgrade.

[@n@rchist]

I was thinking if you wanna be able to ugrade a DELL wont help much...They make there machines very un-upgradle. Look around for a local computer store to do it for you...

[Mackstan]

Just upgraded my system, i bought a GF 6600GT TDH from leadtek(189 Euro)
and a new power suply (650 W).....i must say that im 1 big greasy happy man now....lol

[wildest5]

With a RADEON 9500 PRO in your system already then an upgrade would not give you the best bang for your buck in my opinion. I think it would serve you best by filling those 4 RAM slots with 512MB sticks. You would have 2GB of RAM and everything on your comp would run as smooth as glass.

-Limp

i hear you can add TOO MUCH ram on your comp. Is that true?

[Wasabi®]

Yep, as Grunkzzz said for gaming you should get 1GB of RAM (although 512 will work). Especially on MMORPG's, the performance increase from 512MB->1GB is significant. (Not really on BF1942, more so on Counter-Strike Source and newer games) AND, your files open faster and overall system response should also improve.

As for the X300 my belief is that it's just a strategy Dell is using to attract customers (Just putting "Radeon" and "X300" makes it seem nice...). If you plan to go ATi get a separate X700 Pro.

[Assumed]

i agree with wasabi only cause i have a dell and it sucks!!! therefor the dell company sucks also but if i got a new video card i would get the GForce 6800 ultra but thats if i had the money so if you are tight on money then the X700 is better for you.

[pr0nasaurus rex]

There is a common myth that the quantity of video memory is a direct representation of the card's performance.

A GeForce 6800 128MB will absolutely blow away a 256MB x300 (which are selling in disturbing quantities to uninformed buyers). I have a friend who made the EXACT SAME MISTAKE with Dell and the X300. I would recommend you buy no video card at all with the Dell and get an aftermarket video card, preferably a GeForce 6600GT.

Also, you might get a better deal if you build it yourself. The DIY pc has better upgradeability, and it's surprisingly easy to build a computer.

[Enforcer]

Again, I will defend Dell. With the exception of the bundled software that you get, the equipment is fairly decent. I run the ATI 9800 pro with no problems, have 1.5gig of RAM, 2.8gig CPU, and my computer just hums along. The only hitch is that I had to buy the additional memory from Dell, however, from a company perspective that would make sense.

Now, with that being said, my next one will probably be homebuilt by someone...

[adinar]

Here's a thread from ArsTechnica that one of the members compiled to show the performance of current video cards out on the market. That should be a good rule of thumb for people to follow when trying to decide what videocard to get.

Like pronosaurus rex said, video memory does not equal performance.

Enforcer - I suppose I may be up for a house call if you decide you want to build one in the future?

[Enforcer]

Thanks. I will supply the requested beverages and some sort of grilled meat product.

[Grunkzzz]

how can u get more Ram on ur computer and how much is it

OK you have slots on the motherboard where the ram go. Some boards have 2 slots some boards have 3 4 on and on most boards have 4 slots. There are many different types of ram and different motherboards use different types. You should look up your mother board and figure out what type of ram it uses and then figure out how to install the ram from some websites (use google) then go to newegg and price your ram.

[pr0nasaurus rex]

Make sure your memory all runs at the same speed, because your ram is only as fast as the slowest module you're using.