Hello all:
Long time lurker whose never built a system. I personally will pay a bit of a premium for a better performing chip set (like Intel Core I7) that may last a number of years. After all, I've stretched the life of a Dell Optiplex G240 until it won't play any game made today.
I've spent the time to compare components and pricing of a DELL XPS 9000 Core I7 920 system against similar components sourced at NEWEGG and find there's only $100. or so difference in price. I suppose someone with argue at the lower NEWEGG cost, I'm still getting some enhanced components like a 700w certified power supply versus 475w in the Dell system.
But Dell bundles a WIN7 OS and warranty and support into that small difference. AND - the DELL machine comes BUILT out of a box.
I've done loads of repairs, hard drive swaps, fan replacements, cpu swaps, memory upgrades, etc. But I consider that to still be far different than building disparate manufacturer's parts into a working PC.
I'm struggling to find a significant benefit here. I'd appreciate more experience views here.
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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: as soon as I can figure this all out, preferably within a week or two.
BUDGET RANGE: under $2000, prefer to bring this down if possible without sacrificing too much.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Business use, Some gaming, INternet browsing, Web development with Dreamweaver and Photoshop.
Would like to be able for kids to do video and audio editing esp. for scholarship applications now requiring movies - Never had a home machine powerful enough.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor - or maybe a 2nd monitor if these cards support two displays - I don't know how to research that point.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: anywhere reputable.
PARTS PREFERENCES: None, just good compatibility desired
OVERCLOCKING: probably not; mild OC if anything
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Hmmmm... my PCs were never really powerful enuff to worry about this. I do have a 22" widescreen ACER LCD now but have run it at the limitations of the old video card.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
* I value performance and reliability.
* This would be my first complete home build.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Studio XPS 9000: DELL
Case: XPS 9000
Power supply: 475W
Mobo: Intel Motherboard
Proc: Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
OS: Win 7 Home Premium, 64bit
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
Memory: 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
hard drive: 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive: 16x CD/DVD Burner & Roxio 10
Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB
Sound Card: Soundblaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio
Speaker: Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
Keyboard: Dell USB Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
Mouse: Dell Studio Optical Mouse
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet
DELL $1,528.00
NewEgg
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 ATX Full Tower 139.99
Powersupply: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W SLI Certified $99.99 *
Mobo: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX $289.99
Proc: Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz) $288.99
OS: WIN7 Ultimate UVA Student discount $10
Memory: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600 Triple Channel $229.99
Hard drive: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA $109.99
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 24X D SATA CD/DVD Burner $31.99
Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit $189.99
Sound Card: Integrated MB - Eight channels of HD sound -ADI AD2000B audio chipset $0
Speakers: Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System $99
Keyboard: Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 $17.99
Mouse: Logitech LX3 Silver/Black 3 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB or PS/2 Wired Optical Mouse $21.99
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet
NewEgg $1,529.90
$(55.00) Combo rebate on Proc/Case/MB
$(30.00) Mail-in rebate on Proc/Case/MB
$1,444.90 Total
Long time lurker whose never built a system. I personally will pay a bit of a premium for a better performing chip set (like Intel Core I7) that may last a number of years. After all, I've stretched the life of a Dell Optiplex G240 until it won't play any game made today.
I've spent the time to compare components and pricing of a DELL XPS 9000 Core I7 920 system against similar components sourced at NEWEGG and find there's only $100. or so difference in price. I suppose someone with argue at the lower NEWEGG cost, I'm still getting some enhanced components like a 700w certified power supply versus 475w in the Dell system.
But Dell bundles a WIN7 OS and warranty and support into that small difference. AND - the DELL machine comes BUILT out of a box.
I've done loads of repairs, hard drive swaps, fan replacements, cpu swaps, memory upgrades, etc. But I consider that to still be far different than building disparate manufacturer's parts into a working PC.
I'm struggling to find a significant benefit here. I'd appreciate more experience views here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: as soon as I can figure this all out, preferably within a week or two.
BUDGET RANGE: under $2000, prefer to bring this down if possible without sacrificing too much.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Business use, Some gaming, INternet browsing, Web development with Dreamweaver and Photoshop.
Would like to be able for kids to do video and audio editing esp. for scholarship applications now requiring movies - Never had a home machine powerful enough.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor - or maybe a 2nd monitor if these cards support two displays - I don't know how to research that point.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: anywhere reputable.
PARTS PREFERENCES: None, just good compatibility desired
OVERCLOCKING: probably not; mild OC if anything
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Hmmmm... my PCs were never really powerful enuff to worry about this. I do have a 22" widescreen ACER LCD now but have run it at the limitations of the old video card.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
* I value performance and reliability.
* This would be my first complete home build.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Studio XPS 9000: DELL
Case: XPS 9000
Power supply: 475W
Mobo: Intel Motherboard
Proc: Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
OS: Win 7 Home Premium, 64bit
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
Memory: 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
hard drive: 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive: 16x CD/DVD Burner & Roxio 10
Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB
Sound Card: Soundblaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio
Speaker: Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
Keyboard: Dell USB Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
Mouse: Dell Studio Optical Mouse
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet
DELL $1,528.00
NewEgg
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 ATX Full Tower 139.99
Powersupply: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W SLI Certified $99.99 *
Mobo: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX $289.99
Proc: Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz) $288.99
OS: WIN7 Ultimate UVA Student discount $10
Memory: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600 Triple Channel $229.99
Hard drive: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA $109.99
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 24X D SATA CD/DVD Burner $31.99
Video Card: EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit $189.99
Sound Card: Integrated MB - Eight channels of HD sound -ADI AD2000B audio chipset $0
Speakers: Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System $99
Keyboard: Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 $17.99
Mouse: Logitech LX3 Silver/Black 3 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB or PS/2 Wired Optical Mouse $21.99
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet
NewEgg $1,529.90
$(55.00) Combo rebate on Proc/Case/MB
$(30.00) Mail-in rebate on Proc/Case/MB
$1,444.90 Total