Customize Comp. vs Upgrading?

D4V1DC · Apr 2007

I am looking into building a new computer or upgrading my old one.

Do I upgrade the Dell 9100 to its full potential?

Do I create a brand new custom rig that will hurt my pockets but be worth the money?

Any links and guidance would be appreciated especially those of you who have bought a new PC recently I would like your comments also.

Current system:

Dell 9100
Pentium D 3.0 GHZ
1GB Ram
Radeon X600 256MB HyperMemory

That's what I am working with now btw, how much could I sell this bad boy for?

McIlroy · Apr 2007

Hmm that's a tough one . The thing is what kind of mother board do you have because that will depend a lot on how much you can upgrade. The mother board is the most underrated part in the computer but really the most important in my opinion because it effects your current computer and all future upgrades . Another thing is how much could you spend on a custom rig ? I mean if you only got 500 for a new comp or an upgrade that would be a clear choice for upgrade . So need a little more info .

Personally I would always go for the custom job but to get a good computer custom would be at least 1200 and you could probably get a good computer out of what you got for a lot less then that . All you really need is a better graphics card and another gig of ram and you'll be pretty good for gaming and most applications .

notman · Apr 2007

Ditch the Dell. I don't agree with the $1200 estimate for a custom, unless you go high end on most of it.

The reason I say go with custom is to get dual core. You Dell is still a pretty nice machine, but dual core can help with your rendering and if you do any sort of video editing.

jgarland · Apr 2007

I don't imagine there's much room for upgrading, considering it's a Dell. My guess is that the motherboard was designed to prevent it.

I'd go gung-ho and get a brand new machine. I think you be much happier, considering it's something you're going to have to live with and use just about every day for the next few years.

aesir · Apr 2007

yea, your kinda screwed on upgrading Dells. I say, build your own new machine so you can just upgrade it at your leisure.

Fordy · Apr 2007

Dell are well known for using many non-standard parts in their PCs, even down to fan headers. If you want to upgrade, you'll probably find you have to buy most of the kit from Dell at inflated prices.

Time to escape from the clutches of the Dell cash-cow!

Sage · Apr 2007

I have a friend at work that has money to burn. He bought a dell highend quad core and decided to only get 2 gigs of ram. Later decided he wanted to max it out the ram that is for no reason at all, since most of what he does is AIM and burn movies.

I wish I was making this up. He got pretty pissed when he found out he had pay so much more for his ram, about 100 to 200 bucks more than he would have had he not gone with a dell. I forget the exact price it was funny how much higher it was.

Alex

rooster · Apr 2007

if someone were to go down the pre-built route, are there any good companies that do quality builds and dont try to screw you over?

jgarland · Apr 2007

Well, there is of course, Alienware. They're now owned by Dell, but they're an excellent company, nonetheless, if a bit pricey.

If you're looking for something a bit less expensive, you should check out iBUYPOWER. Their rigs look nice, run well, and aren't as expensive as some other options.

If you truly want to get all that you can out of a new computer, however, I suggest building it yourself. You'll learn more about the computer and how it works, you know exactly what you're getting, it's easily upgradeable, and you can keep the price within a reasonable range.

notman · Apr 2007

Sure there are... they aren't big name companies though. I honestly don't know any off the top of my head, but I've seen them. Most smaller computer stores will build you one, which isn't really a pre-built in the same sense as a Dell or HP, but it takes out all the guess work and provides some accountability if there are problems. The only thing I don't like about small stores are they tend to opt for cheap motherboards so they can keep the price competitive.

There is a list I of companies that I found listed at nvidia's site that appear to be pretty nice machines, but they are probably very pricey, but any decent pre-built machine is likely to be much more expensive: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_buyprebuilt_us2.html

Richard Kain · Apr 2007

I just dropped $500 on my rig. But I got a fairly large overhaul for that sum. I got a new motherboard, a new processor, a new power supply, new RAM, and a new video card. It's all lower-end brands (for the most part) but I'm actually quite satisfied with the performance I'm squeezing out of it. The motherboard is an Asus with one PCI-Express slot, and two slots for memory. (and it can run them in parallel) The bad thing about this motherboard is that it doesn't allow for SLI or Crossfire. (only one video card port) That limits how much I can upgrade it. On the other hand, I really don't think that level of graphical performance is necessary to meet my computing needs.

The Processor is an x64 AMD dual-core 4800. It gets the job done. I've been told that Intels are better for intensive on-line gaming. But I generally prefer to use my rig for single-player and graphical applications. The only on-line game I run on it is World of Warcraft, and I didn't need an upgrade to play that. So I went with the AMD. The Power supply is 500W. Since I'm not running a dual-card setup, I'm pretty sure it will be sufficient. The video card is an ATI 1550, 256 MB PCI-Express. It is also getting the job done. As a bonus, it IS compatible with Crossfire, so the possibility of holding onto it for a later upgrade exists. The Ram is 2 1-Gig sticks of DDR2 800Mhz.

So far, the whole upgrade is working out very well. It's been a while though, so I was past due for this.

D4V1DC · Apr 2007

Hi all and thank you for getting back to me with feedback on which would be the best direction to go. I have done some researching today and made a selection of what would be good to have in the machine to do everything I want to do with it.

Here is a screenshot from Newegg's shopping cart that <u>might</u> go into affect soon:

After some healthy feedback on whether this maybe too much too soon because of upcoming hardware that may serve to be a much better purchase?

Or is this choice too expensive?

Can anyone find more pricing links on this processor:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=Inte...le&ct=title

I think it was released yesterday.

I'll get back to everyones comments soon.

Jesse Moody · Apr 2007

The proc was slated for 1199. So yeah 1200 bucks. Not a huge difference between the non extreme version though. You might want to look into that if the price is a big difference.

I have a dell xps notebook. I love this thing. I am gonna be tossing in 4 gigs of ram and a new core 2 duo chip this coming june / july. Then after that it is time to build another custom desktop for gaming and fun stuff.

It really comes down to your budget man. If you have it to spend and want to have a kick ass rig then go for it.

There was a guy I worked at best buy with that as soon as the new top of the line stuff came out (like every six months) he bought it. I got a brand new 7800gtx from him for free because he upgraded. he just gave away 2 7950gtx's when he got the new nvidia cards.

Crazy world. I tell ya

PfhorRunner · Apr 2007

Do you REALLY need to spend $450 on RAM? Seems like an excessive waste to me, I mean, is it really gonna get you that much more? its still the same stock speed as any other PC6400...

And the thing about the new intel's is that the "lower end" chips can overclock up to, and past the high end, high stock speed chips... But it may be a common misconception that the faster stock speed, the more you can overclock =P...

Oh well, your choice, I'm not really at liberty to tell you whats a good buy or not, just from personal experience, that RAM is gonna be $250 wasted.

D4V1DC · Apr 2007

Thank you runner that is why I asked for some feedback don't worry your comments are going into the useful information pile.

I will look into a different brand my first pick was the kingstone ddr2 1gb X2 memory, don't know the exact name.

I do not want to spend this much at all I just want a good enough computer to last long enough to be able to run future softwares.

McIroy:
I was about to post the motherbord though I agree with notman, jgarland, aesir, and fordy dell's gotta go.

sage: Yea dell's impossible to deal with.

Note to rooster:
I would recommend creating a rig in alienware or that ibuypower then checking it out on possible newegg and you might see a difference in those prices. That's what I did with the above and I saw a huge price drop.

Jagarland is right I have had two custom computers and they haven't even given me any problems. As for this dell I had a serious error more than once that required other means of repair that was problematic like on this PC there are no Ps2 ports but 7 ubs ones...

richardkain:
Good job on that rig at least you can upgrade if you want maybe not so much still good.

PfhorRunner · Apr 2007

Yeah, and sorry if I was a bit confusing about the Processor. What I was basically trying to say is that you can get near, if not the same performance out of a much cheaper Core2Duo, as that extreme. I can completely understand not wanting to overclock right away, it can be risky. But like most electronics, the price goes up exponentially as stock speed increases, so maybe the "extreme edition" isn't really worth your pretty penny.

EarthQuake · Apr 2007

never EVER buy super top of the line shit, it always will cost you twice as much as the more reasonable stuff, and be like 15% better, makes no sense! such a waste..... $1200 for a cpu? Thats just insane.

notman · Apr 2007

I agree with Earthquake... step it down a few notches on the CPU and I'm sure you'll be just as happy, but probably spend about $500 less. Then again, if you can afford it and you can deal with the warp speed depreciation on it, then go for the uber CPU

I also agree with runner about stepping down the RAM a bit. You can get a Crucial 2GB package from Newegg for $271 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565 ) and many other brands for even less. I've been pretty happy with my Geil RAM. Make sure to look at the user reviews there (and make sure you consider how experienced they seem).

As a final note, try to get your case locally if you can. While they typically have a better price on the case, the shipping kills the deal (usually). Most places charge around $50 for shipping on cases, and if it comes damaged, you'll have to pay that to exhanged it.

notman · Apr 2007

Here's an example btw... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115011

For $970 you can get a quad core that is just slightly slower than the 6800, but you save $300. I'd rather have my $300 than a sliver of speed that I'd probably never notice.

Customize Comp. vs Upgrading?

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