New PC

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Ares

Ares God Of War
Ok guys I know I have been talking about this for a long time but Im really ticked off now. My laptop randomly shuts off sometimes and Im really mad. I decided within the next month I want to buy a new pc. I think Im gonna go Dell. I dont feel like building one so thats out of the question.

Ok I went online and "Customized" an XPS 410 desktop. I think Im done with laptops....

Now here is the deal. I want to play games but I doubt I will need a 1GB video card like they are advertising.

Ok here we go.

1. They start off by asking what type of processor you want. The best on the list is an Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6700 (2.66GHz, 1066 FSB) which is a $250 difference from the Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066 FSB).

2. Next they have 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs or for $140 more they have 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs.

3. 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ or for $40 more a DataSafe 320GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive)

4. 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache or for $50 more 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro or $200 more a 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS

Like I said I just want to play some games like Guild Wars, Diablo 2, and maybe some Oblivion once in a while. I dont think I need a super good video card.

5. No idea what this is for, I dont think I need it. AGEIA® PhysX® physics accelerator [add $249

After doing a sample customization the price came to around 2100 with tax and shipping.

Any help and suggestions are appreciated. I sorta would like to hear from Recky cuz I know you are into computers, but everyone else please help.


My main goals with the computer is to play some games, have my music library on it, and be fast.
 
Heck, the cheapest way you can go with that is like 50 times better than my "gaming" computer and I still play games fine. :lol

My opinion: Save some money where you can.
 
Do the following and you will be covered for any game out there.

1. Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066 FSB).

2. Next they have 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

3. 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ (but get a one touch backup drive or some sort of usb backup)

4. 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache or for $50 more 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro  << either of those

5.Skip the Physix card (If you really want to you can get the PhysiX card for future games but it's not necessary)

I have been using and building PCs for over 15 years, so believe me, you only need the above specs. Get on AIM if you need more help.
 
4. 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache or for $50 more 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro << either of those
Click to expand...

It was going good till you said that video card.

Expect all your games to look like crap with either of those.

Seriously, I could get an X1800XT off of Newegg and plug the thing in myself.
 
Nova said:
It was going good till you said that video card.

Expect all your games to look like crap with either of those.

Seriously, I could get an X1800XT off of Newegg and plug the thing in myself.
Click to expand...

Puh-lease... You do not need a top of the line graphics crad by any strech. I use an ancient ATI Radeon 9200 and it works just fine. Not as in, running everything on low looking like crap fine, but Half Life 2 on Medium settings at 55 FPS fine.
 
To be honest, you do need a pretty good card for demanding games such as Oblivion. If you want to be able to play AND enjoy games like Oblivion, you will need at least an Radeon x1600pro 256mb, or an equal card from Nvidia {not sure if it's the 6600gt or 7600gt}. Both the ATI or Nvidia cards will run about $100. I do wish you would reconsider building it yourself though, you will save so much money it's not even funny. I'm telling you it's super easy. It's like this, pop in the processor, pop in the RAM, screw in the motherboard, slide in the hard drive/floppy drive, pop in the video card, hook up the wires, done. Your motherboard will come with a manual that explains how to do everything, not to mention basically unlimited resources on the web {you've got a great one right here} which can aid you in your build. I just hate to see you spend like 2 grand when you could build that yourself for about a grand. Oh, and if you do go the Dell route, please make sure they put a good power supply in there {you'll want no less than 400 watts}. I'm sure Korecky can help on more of this too. Good luck.
 
Nova said:
It was going good till you said that video card.

Expect all your games to look like crap with either of those.

Seriously, I could get an X1800XT off of Newegg and plug the thing in myself.
Click to expand...

From the Oblivion site, Supported Video Card Chipsets:

ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
ATI X1600 series
ATI X1300 series
ATI X850 series
ATI x800 series
ATI x700 series
ATI x600 series
ATI Radeon 9800 series
ATI Radeon 9700 series
ATI Radeon 9600 series
ATI Radeon 9500 series
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
NVIDIA GeForce FX series

If you feel you are going to be playing really graphically demanding games then just go ahead and plunk down some cash for the 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS.
 
The problems with building a computer yourself lie in the fact that a custom-built laptop doesn't exist. Yes, PCs are better for gaming than laptops.

If you still wish to continue with your laptop purchase, I would recommend against the XPS series. You can get comparable specs in a different model laptop, such as the E1705. You can find some good coupons for them online as well, just search Google. They frequently have 20 or 30% off the E1705 coupons, so that'll save you a bunch of money. That added to the fact that a far superior E1705 still only cost about $1600 before rebate in comparison to the XPS you customized.

I'll make some general statements about the build, and come back when I find another 20-30% off the E1705 coupon for a full customization.

Processor:
Any Core 2 Duo is more than enough processing power for gaming. Most games today rely heavily on the GPU, so even the 1.86GHz C2D is plenty for what you intend to play.

RAM:
I recommend 1GB of the 533MHz DDR2 RAM, as you can get another 1GB stick on Newegg for about half what Dell would charge you.

HDD:
Mostly personal preference. The higher the RPM, usually the quicker load times. This all depends on other aspects, such as fragmentation, the amount of data stored on the drive, background processes, etc. If you can spare the cash, go for a 7200 RPM.

GPU:
For Oblivion, there's no doubt that you'll want the 7900 GS. The other chips available will run Oblivion, but it will look like Tetris with faces and struggle to stay above 10 FPS on the lowest resolution and settings. They're also completely worthless for future games, so the 7900 GS is a must here.

PhysX:
Useless. The list of games that support it lacks in number, and those games suffer a framerate drop with the additional effects anyway.

Display:
I highly recommend the upgrade, as the glossy screen (XBRITE, ClearView, whatevertheycallit) makes a huge difference in brightness and color representation in comparison to a standard display.

The rest is all personal preference.

As for the actual purchase of the machine, if you go to Newegg or whatever and write down some prices you could get the hardware for there rather than Dell's upgrades, you can call Dell and order that way. It's easier to haggle them for a price over the phone than it is online.

For example, Dell charges you $160 to upgrade the hard drive from a 5400 RPM 120GB drive to a 7200 RPM 100GB drive. On Newegg, you can get a 7200RPM 100GB drive for $170, but still keep the original 120GB drive. This means you can spend another $10 to turn the 120GB drive into an external USB hard drive, while having the 100GB drive inside the laptop. Pretty much the same price for twice the storage capacity.
 
So far it seems we are all agreeing on :

1. Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066 FSB).

2. Next they have 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

3. 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ (but get a one touch backup drive or some sort of usb backup)

4. 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS

5.Skip the Physix card
:)
 
i dont want to build... I just want to get a cool pc that i can open up and there it is.. haha
 
If your planning to play any of these
http://ageia.com/physx/titles.html

then you should get one.
Its got a hefty list of support.
 
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