When is my computer going to be outdated?

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Encoding takes time, but does the time it takes really, really matter?
I mean you are not like using your PC as a server to run the local public works department or anything are you? If it has to sit for a couple of hours encoding, you could find something else to do....mow the yard, wash the car, go shopping, go fishing, read a book, etc.

As everyone says, it's up to you when your PC doesn't cut it anymore. But unless you are encoding movies everyday for a production company, so what if it takes a while? But ultimately, it's your decision when to break into the bankroll.
 


Oh ok, nvm then :) I've never really done encoding before. Would you mind telling me which encoder/enhancer you use?
 
Well the Core 2 line is not obsolete as of now as all of the LGA 1366 based hardware is still extremely expensive...that rig would last, maybe 4GB of RAM or 6, (if you want?) Upgrade to a 9800GT or something along the way. =)

 
I would recommend to stop buying dells, no offense to OP.

Your processor isn't that bad, It has unlocked power, find a motherboard maybe on the newegg, or ebay, That is a decent price and Quality that can handle a good overclock on that Q6600 and upgrade your OS to Vista home prem. 64 bit. OEM version is only $99.00 on newegg also, and your hard drive can be upgraded to either a WD 640 black, I have 2 in Aid 0 setup, I am seeing avg's of around 190mbs, with this set up, and they were only $79.00 a piece, even one of them or a seagate 750gb barrcuda with 32 mb cach will be a nice upgrade with avg on 110mbs. read times and only 67.00 bucks. You can also then upgrade your ram, DDR2 is so cheap right now you could get 4gb of 6400 (800mhz) for less then $50 bucks, you might end up having $350 into this upgrade total, however you will have a computer that will be built how it should of been built in the first place. That is if your case air flow is good enough, and PSU can hold up...

I have seen that version of Dell at walmart- best price on it so far I have seen on sale is $890 dollars.... For what you got, even with a monitor, it doesn't seem to be to good of a price, and yes Dells like most store sold computers are cheap, at least when it comes to parts in them.
 
I'm in Canada, so everything is a lot more expensive here.

I'm not sure if I can replace the motherboard myself. The XPS 420 has a weird design inside.

I don't want to upgrade my components in my computer (too much hassle, expensive, void warranty)

Isn't 9800GT a renamed 8800GT?

I got my computer in Feb 2008, without the sound card and speakers, for $1570 + tax. Is that a good deal.

Been posted too:) Badaboom's quality is really bad.

 
To answer your question is $1600 a good deal for that Dell xps 420 for you....

1. you can't even upgrade it without voiding the warranty

2. If you could Overclock your Q6600 you would not need to worry about upgrading or a slow computer for awhile, IMO. Of course making the upgrades I talked about in my last post,(harddrive, ram, better vista 64 bit OS, and making sure you have proper air flow in you case....)would give a very fast system that I am sure will handle your needs for awhile to come.

3. you could of built a custom Q6600 for the same with better quality parts, or less back in 08, and you would of been able to upgrade it down the road, instead of having this problem with the Store bought Dell right now.

4. If doing a simple mother board swap is to much hassle to unluck the true power of that Q6600 then just spend another couple grand with Dell for a new rig, It will come with a warranty... if money is tight with your family then I would recommend now would be a good time to start learning how to put together or upgrade your own system on your own. The internet and these fourms are a great source of info on how to do this the right way. It is not that hard, and you will save yourself alot of money in the long run and have a much faster computer then any Dell your going to buy... Good luck

this is my rig built at about the same time you paid $1600 for your Dell.... I have about the same or just alittle more into mine and it has Raid 0 setup(2x 640 gb wd blacks) +1.5 tB seagate, bluray player, 28" Hanns-g 1080p monitor, custom water cooling from the Danger Den, 4870 grafix card, 4gb of 1066 G.skill Ram, a Phenom II 940 overclocked to 3.6 ghz stable. etc. etc.

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I'm pretty sure the 4870 did NOT exist in February 2008. Did you built that in February 2009?

I'm gonna try to see if I had a good deal.

An X38 was around $250 during that time (it was just released)
A Q6600 is $270
3GB of RAM is probably $50
A 500GB HDD is probably $100 back then
A 8800GT is about $250 (it was just released back then)
A 22'' monitor is $300
A Blu-ray burner is probably about $300-350, we'll use $300
PC case + power supply + cables + mouse and keyboard, I'm guessing $75 (I don't know, just a guess)
Windows Vista is $150

$250+270+50+100+250+300+300+75+150=$1745 (WTF, more expensive???)

 
I am not sure when the 4870 came out, but I upgraded from a 3870 and I also have a bfg 8800gts 512mb (G92)

I paid $100 for my LG bluray player

My only point was that you spent $1600 back then, You don't have a bluray as far as I know so drop the $300 you added for it, but keep the amount of $300 and the $75 you figured for a case, power supply, mouse key board, and even if your counting what it cost were your at, Canada I believe you said, that is till only $1745. for a build that you have a good case, proper air flow, and a motherboard and PSU that can handle Overclocking that very nice Quad you have. Right now you are stuck with having to buy a new rig if your not happy with your dell computer or having to put the parts into it, motherboard, ram and PSU to make it into a rig you have upgrade paths to and able to overclock to meet your performance needs.... See my point
 
lol dude 24 gigs of ram lol there is no way you need that much ram even in 2011 you wont need that much ram i have 8 gigs at the moment and i hardly use more than three the 8 cores will do you good but 24 gigs of ram is outrageous at the most get 12 gigs of ddr3 2000 and that is still more than you will need as far as the video card goes the 8800 is on the verge of being outdated but at the moment it is still a very good card if you want to go such high end instead of getting the 8 core processor get the two cpu motherboard skullrail and put two i7 in it or what till the 4 quarter of 2009 or earlier 2010 and there will be something better by then i am not trying to be rude about the ram but there is just no way you need that much you will just be wasting your money unless you just want the bragging rights
 
wow thats alot of ram and no vista 64 bit because it costs so much, $99 from the egg. thats a waste of about 21.3 gb of ram bought, thats gota be a typo, lol
 




The point is with out a motherboard or a bios for your dell that supports overclocking(good luck with that) you are dead in the water with upgrades on that rig.... if you could over clock it, add a better hard drive, add vista 64 bit, and a total of 4gb of even 6400 ram (800mhz), even with the 8800gt you have you would have a nice system. Add the new upgrades including the mother board and Vista 64 bit, hard drive, or sell your Dell and buy another one from them and have the same problem in a year when you feel your system is no longer running that great or to your speeds, since just building your own system that you can upgrade in the future and Overclock is to much trouble for you to learn how to do. Good luck either way
 
well there are many many peeps who tell others the more ram the better and that is true they just leave out anything over 6 is just a waste i used to be one of those people till i found out that even if you have vista 64 which i do that you still will not use more than 4 unless you are doing some kind of cad engineering i went out and bought 8 gigs not knowing this i was highly upset when i found out hell i could have bought another game lol there r some cases where you do use 24 gigs of ram but not for personal use i you actually use that much you are doing for some kind of business r even maybe on servers r somthing but as far as gaming no more than three to four
 


I can easily use 8GB of RAM. Run 2 HD encodings (60-70% CPU) and play CoD4 (take the rest) at the same time.

medjohnson77, let me rephrase what I said before about warranty. Warranty is still here of course say if I upgraded the HDD. But if I *u*k something up during upgrading, I won't get support.

So basically you're telling me my computer sucks right now. Maybe I should upgrade sooner, or buy extremely good parts on my next upgrade.
 


hd encoding while playing cod4 yes that would take more ram not 24 gigs though encoding while playing cod4 it does not matter what kind of pc you have you will notice a severe drop in fps doing both at same time
 






No your computer doesn't suck per say, however, because of the PSU, which I m sure it can not be a very good one with it being a dell stock psu, The Problem your running into that is holding back the full power of your Q6600 is the crappy motherboard they built that rig with and the fact of no support for a bios upgrade so you can over clock your rig.... giving you alot more performance and speed. Hard drives and vista installs are very easy to deal with, changing out a hard drive is simple, and if you buy a retail version like seagate you will get a free version of Seagate tools, so if you have a seagate already in your dell for the Harddrive you can clone your old hard drive onto the new one, very simple process and the disc walks you thru the whole thing.

I would start doing some research on how to do these simple upgrades, (mother board, PSU, harddrive, installing Ram,) and would say to hell with the support from Dell since there really not supporting you anyways for Overclocking your computer... If you drop the $350 or so on these new parts, only go with 4 GB of ocz or g.skill 800mhz or 1066mhz high speed ram if your new mother board supports it, and get a hard drive that is atleast 32 mb cach, you will see the full power and speed of your computer, and will not have to worry about upgrading for another couple years atleast. Thats if money is tight on your end right now, if it is not and you like the support that you get from Dell then buy another Dell, LOL, if your not willing to go and do the research to build your own system. You will be much better off not buying Dells from now on and learn to build your own computers...
 


Sounds like the ol' Nemesis theory :). Except Nemesis is actually a brown dwarf (too small to support nuclear fusion) hiding in the outermost fringe of the Oort cloud.

Come to think of it, that pretty much describes some of the more extreme posters here on Tom's as well - are you reading this, Thunderpants, wherever you are?? :sol:
 
Can you explain how building my own computer is cheaper?

The estimate that I did before showed that I would have paid more if I bought the parts myself.
 
You would of paid a little more if more at all,

In the long run you would have had a much better build, been able to Overclock it, and still had room for a new processor Q9650 when your Q6600 could not perform to your needs. If your happy with Dells by all means keep buying them, you are on a custom build site, and that is what 85% at least of the members here do, we build custom computers. If you haven't got how a custom build would be cheaper yet, then your not going to. No offense to you, but stick with Dells then or look for a other company that sell you a crappy build at a high price, because it is less trouble then taking it upon yourself to learn to build your own.
 
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