Hey guys, so I'm trying to decide now between the dell xps 8100 and the dell xps 7100. Both seem pretty decent to me, and both seem to have their pros and cons. But in all honesty, my knowledge of computers is pretty darn lacking, so I really want to just leave it to you guys to help me decide which one I should get.
I'll be using this desktop as my main computer (I would say mostly for gaming, but also for almost all other normal things like browsing, downloading music/movies, word documents, etc.. nothing too intensive like photo editing or anything. I would like if this computer lasted me atleast for 3-4 years, and would be able to play most games on high/ultra settings on 1920x1080 (although I don't mind bumping the resolution down). Basically I just want a mid ranged gaming pc that is somewhat "future proof" that can handle every day stuff easily. I'm not into making my own PC, even though that seems to be the better choice in most situations.
*I'll leave out the stuff that doesn't matter, like the OS which will be windows 7, and the speakers, keyboard, etc...*
Dell XPS 7100
Processor: AMD Phenom™ II X6 1055T + ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Memory: 6GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMS
Hard Drive : 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Monitor 24.0" Dell ST2410 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable
Optical Drive: 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Price: $1,587 (before tax)
Dell XPS 8100
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor (8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)
Memory 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
Hard Drive : 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Graphics Card ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
Optical Drive Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
Price: $1,539 (before tax)
So with the 7100, I can get a great GPU, however it comes at the cost of a Bluray drive and from what I've read, a slower CPU. With the 8100, I get a decent GPU, more ram (but over 4 is overkill from what I've read so it's not a big selling point for me), a faster processor, and a Blu-ray drive.
One of the things that's bothering me about the 7100 is the AMD processor. I'm no computer expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to me that the intel core i5/i7 are more popular now and are more widely used than the AMD phenom processors and so I would have an easier time if it came down to problems with the CPU as it's more commonly known (in my mind it's similar to PC's and Mac's, if that makes sense?). Also it struck me as odd how the processor and GPU for the 7100 were bundled together, as if they're kind of stuck with each other? Like I can't upgrade them over time? However like I said, I'm no expert so what I just said could be complete nonsense.
Overall I just want a computer that will last me for the next few years that will easily handle just about anything I throw at it and be able to play games on moderately high/ultra settings. Any advice is much appreciated, thank you very much.
I'll be using this desktop as my main computer (I would say mostly for gaming, but also for almost all other normal things like browsing, downloading music/movies, word documents, etc.. nothing too intensive like photo editing or anything. I would like if this computer lasted me atleast for 3-4 years, and would be able to play most games on high/ultra settings on 1920x1080 (although I don't mind bumping the resolution down). Basically I just want a mid ranged gaming pc that is somewhat "future proof" that can handle every day stuff easily. I'm not into making my own PC, even though that seems to be the better choice in most situations.
*I'll leave out the stuff that doesn't matter, like the OS which will be windows 7, and the speakers, keyboard, etc...*
Dell XPS 7100
Processor: AMD Phenom™ II X6 1055T + ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Memory: 6GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMS
Hard Drive : 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Monitor 24.0" Dell ST2410 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable
Optical Drive: 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Price: $1,587 (before tax)
Dell XPS 8100
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor (8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)
Memory 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
Hard Drive : 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Graphics Card ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
Optical Drive Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
Price: $1,539 (before tax)
So with the 7100, I can get a great GPU, however it comes at the cost of a Bluray drive and from what I've read, a slower CPU. With the 8100, I get a decent GPU, more ram (but over 4 is overkill from what I've read so it's not a big selling point for me), a faster processor, and a Blu-ray drive.
One of the things that's bothering me about the 7100 is the AMD processor. I'm no computer expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to me that the intel core i5/i7 are more popular now and are more widely used than the AMD phenom processors and so I would have an easier time if it came down to problems with the CPU as it's more commonly known (in my mind it's similar to PC's and Mac's, if that makes sense?). Also it struck me as odd how the processor and GPU for the 7100 were bundled together, as if they're kind of stuck with each other? Like I can't upgrade them over time? However like I said, I'm no expert so what I just said could be complete nonsense.
Overall I just want a computer that will last me for the next few years that will easily handle just about anything I throw at it and be able to play games on moderately high/ultra settings. Any advice is much appreciated, thank you very much.