Is this Dell XPS a good deal for $1,079 + tax?

[amazins15]

I'm starting to consider a new desktop, probably a Dell since I've had good luck with their systems over the years.

For $1,079 plus tax, I could get an XPS 8930 configured like this. Is it a decent price?

8th Generation Intel Core i7-8700 6-Core Processor (12M Cache, up to 4.6 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
16GB, 2666MHz, DDR4 up to 64GB
256GB PCIe x4 SSD + 1TB 7200RPM HDD
460W PSU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti with 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory
Tray Load DVD-RW Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
Integrated 5.1 with WAVE MAXX Audio Pro
802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1
Killer e2400 networking

I would it primarily for web browsing (up to 10 tabs open at a time), streaming music and video, Office work (mostly Word). As is, Firefox 59 chews up 2-3 GB of RAM on its own. Less often, I might do some light photo editing (GIMP) or video editing (VSDC) but nothing all that advanced. I don't play PC games.

Right now, I have an older Inspiron 3847 with an i7-4790, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, 1 TB 7200 RPM HD, Intel 4600 HD graphics and either a 250 or 300 W PSU.

On Passmark, the 4790's average score is 9996. The 8700 destroys it 15242.

The 1050ti scores at 5885, obliterating the 4600 HD's 710 score.

I'm looking something powerful enough now that it will last about 5 years.

Thanks for any input.

 

[nobspls]

If you don't play PC games why would you even spend money on 1050ti? You can always buy video card down line if you change your mind later.

And if you want a work machine, not for games, AMD's ryzen 5 or ryzen 7 will get you more bang for buck for video-editing workloads.

 

[SkyBill40]

Quite honestly, you would probably get more out of a custom build though that would require the experience with building one yourself or having someone do it for you. That won't come with any kind of assisted support, mind you. There are no shortage of people who would be happy to make suggestions for you if you were interested enough to ask.

 

[amazins15]

The 1050TI is what the system comes with.

The only cheaper option, by $50, is an AMD Radeon RX 560 with 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory.

But unless I'm seeing things wrong, the 560 PSU requirement is 450W, a little too close for comfort when the system ships with a 460W PSU.

The 1050ti only requries a 300W PSU and has twice the VRAM.

 

[nobspls]

If your really want a Dell, here is the Dell XPS desktop without the video card, with Windows 10 Pro:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-desktop-computers/xps-tower/spd/xps-8930-desktop/dxcwvmax001h?selectionState=eyJGUHJpY2UiOjc5OS45OSwiT0MiOiJkeGN3dm1heDAwMWgiLCJRdHkiOjEsIk1vZHMiOlt7IklkIjoxNDYsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiN1A3TllYIiwiUHJpY2UiOjI1MC4wfV19LHsiSWQiOjc0OSwiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiJDSTdTTUwifV19XX0%253D

Comes to $860 + tax.

 

[amazins15]

Will Intel's integrated video going to be enough, though? The UHD 630 integrated graphics is seemingly only marginally better than the 4600HD from way back in 2013. For coming out four years later, I'd expect more of an improvement than that.

 

[nobspls]

The integrated video is more than adequate for non-gaming uses. They will work perfectly for 4K video playback without any issues. You can easily attach multiple monitors to a PC with integrated video too. Unless you game, a video card is just more power consumption and more money.

 

[william p]

Since you use it for work Dell is a good idea. They sell so many millions of computers to businesses, and know every possible problem they can have. So they get the bugs out, and weed out any troublesome components. The 1050Ti is a good choice to have some headroom for future proofing. You might get more bang for your buck with a custom build, but not always. Aftermarket GPU and RAM prices are high right now due to shortages. Dell buys direct in huge quantities. Add in warranty, tech support, service. You might not even save anything, and could lose a lot down the road.
BTW I'm a computer modder. Dell tech support is useless for modified computers, and they actively discourage it. But if you just want to buy a computer and use it as is it's a good way to go.

 

[amazins15]

I ended up taking the advice of those here and stuck with the UHD 630 integrated graphics. It seems like the system will let me add a dedicated graphics card later on if I really want/need to.

With the savings on the dedicated graphics card, I was able to bump my storage from 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD to 512 GB SSD + 1 TB HD.