Looking for best system that lets me keep my already upgraded graphics card (size matters)

[alberchick]

Need some experienced advice:

It is a desktop computer (from 2006) used for computational chemistry, so it is heavy on the graphics and often I am running many programs at once (multiple concurrent calculations). I also use it for the basics of word processing and power point etc, and some data analysis programs. What has happened is the hard drive got fried (broken head?) and now I have the option of a new hard drive or a new PC.

Current specs:
Dell XPS 700
Pentium D processor
2GB (2x1GB) RAM.
We just upgraded the video card to an ASUS GTX550Ti directCU.

I'm not overly unhappy with my system, despite the ancient processor, so I am wondering if there are any improvements that I can do (i.e. Upgrade the memory? Pick a better hard drive?) when I replace the hard drive so that I get more out of the video card. Or is the processor going to be the bottleneck no matter what.

In that case, if there really is no point and I should just get a new system, it needs to be something that has a big enough case to fit the video card (it's BIG) but not too expensive. I don't want to buy a system that already has a decent video card because that would be a waste if I'm just going to switch it out, but I want something that can support a higher end card. Any suggestions?

We just bought an AlienWare X51 and are probably going to also get a couple i5 Dell Inspiron 660 or XPS 8500 for the newbie students as well.


Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Kisianik]

Are you asking which Dell to buy without video card, so you can you 550TI, correct?
Just so you know, Inspiron 660 is a good choice in this case, but its power supply is too weak for this card and would have to be upgraded (extra $70 USD).
Only XPS stock power supply might manage this card, I have to check if needed.

Am I on the right track?