I'd like your thoughts on my XPS 9000 Build

[realdeal]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this and just wanted to run it by you guys for any input before I buy, thanks!

Studio XPS 9000
Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition(8MB L3 Cache, 3.33GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
12GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
22 inch SX2210 Widescreen Flat Panel with Webcam
nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell AY511 Attached Speaker w/ 5.1 Surround for Dell Monitors
Dell USB Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
Dell Studio Optical Mouse
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet

 

[rockyjohn]

Looks decent fairly powerful for multipurpose use and medium for gaming.

What are you planning to do with it?
If gaming is the major consideration you will be ahead to get a slower processor and faster video card.

Do you really need the i7-975 instead of the 920? I'll bet that will save a bundle and unless you are doing some heavy video editing or CAD work you won't even notice the difference.

Most applications today - even while multitasking - fail to take advantage of more than 3 GB total of RAM - so 12 GB is overkill. Get 3 x2 MB now and save a little bundle, then if you ever do need it add 6 later.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-module-upgrade,2264.html

Dell is notorious for charging quit a bit for upgrades. Did you price out what it would cost to go with the smallest GPU Dell lists and then buy the GTX 260 from a third party vendor? It is a simple install - and today being Black Friday you might find a good price on the card.

 

[clairvoyant christopher]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this and just wanted to run it by you guys for any input before I buy, thanks!

Studio XPS 9000
Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition(8MB L3 Cache, 3.33GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
12GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
22 inch SX2210 Widescreen Flat Panel with Webcam
nVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell AY511 Attached Speaker w/ 5.1 Surround for Dell Monitors
Dell USB Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
Dell Studio Optical Mouse
Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet

It's a very nice build. I have a simular computer to yours called: Dell Studio 435T. The name was changed to Dell Studio 9000. I like the CPU i7-975 will be faster than the i7-920 which is what I have. There is nothing wrong with having 12GB of ram because windows 7 hogs memory from 1.5GB-2GB total. Take advantage of upgrading to the Dell Data Safe Local back-up were you call back up all of your program files as well as windows files. The program was alife saver for me. You have a great package bundle. GO FOR TI!

 

[rockyjohn]

There is nothing wrong with having 12GB of ram

THG reports that "today's test shows that 3 GB is still usually enough." THG started with the question "Do You Really Need More Than 6 GB of RAM?" and ended up deciding systems rarely used half that amount. They show that even with multitasking few programs can take advantage of 3 GB, let alone more. If you do any gaming, you would likely see little, if any, decrease in performance from cutting back to 6 GB and a significance increase from spending the difference on a faster graphics card.

I guess Claire never read the article that I linked above:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-module-upgrade,2264.html

There is something wrong with having an unbalanced system where you waste money on one component and undersize another. You might want to also review this article.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-balanced-platform,2469.html

Note that you should compare the cost of buying a faster graphics card through Dell versus getting the cheapest option you can with the system and buying a faster card through a third party vendor. The latter is often cheaper, especially with Christmas sales.