Dracoro

Am about to put an order in for a DELL XPS 420 and want to know if any of you have any recommendations/tips on the spec. i.e. any bits where I should upgrade or downgrade a component etc. Things missing or superflous etc. I'm hoping this PC will last a long time.

The main choice I had to made was the processor. I intend to run a number of apps at the same time, normally day to day the following:
iTunes
Firefox
Outlook
Excel
Media Player/VLC
SQL Server 2005 - express ed
Visual Studio for C# and VB.NET development

So I may be running some code in C# that's updating the database and at the same time be watching a video or listening to iTunes whilst sending e-mails or browsing the web.

As a result of that, I believe the Quad will be better than the Duo despite the Duo's being faster chips (2.8 or 3ghz I think they were for the Duo)

Anyway, whaddaya chaps think?
Intel Q6600 Quad, 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, 8MB cache.
Windows Vista Ultimate
Office 2007 Basic - Has Word, Excel and Outlook yes?
22in 2208WFP Ultrasharp monitor
4GB 800MHz RAM
640GB HDD (2x 320 so I guess I could replace one of these in the future when 1TB disks get cheaper etc..)
512 ATI Radeon 3870 Graphics - Not a big gamer but would be nice to know that I COULD if I wanted to

Is this spec considered good?

about £1000. I like the look of the XPS and the fact that it comes all in one so any problems, dell sort it out. This I can't do with a home build (and I doubt I'll get it for the cost anyway with Vista ultimate and Office?? but open to suggestions) as any problems is down to me... Will other manufacturers (who?) be about the same price for that spec?

thanks in advance chaps..

wwp8

PC World - Shop for cheap PCs - DELL INSPIRON 530/1142 DELL INSPIRON 530/1142 + 20" WIDESCREEN TFT MONITOR

vista ult. upgrade is £49.99 WBW


DELL XPS 420 at PC World - Buy cheap Gaming PC Base Units - DELL XPS 420 DELL XPS 420



and in our store we still have some (2 actually) packard bell y8530 in stock
base unit £579.97
Packard Bell iXtreme at PC World - Buy cheap Gaming PC Base Units - Packard Bell iXtreme Packard Bell iXtreme 8530

Dracoro

Sorry but I wouldn't pay lots of money to DSG/PCWorld for one thing (no offence ).
Regardless, to get the spec to as I want it, it costs more than buying direct from Dell.

wwp8

i don't blame ya. i wouldn't buy anything from there unless its cheaper.

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

I do believe my mate has this PC (he has a better graphics card,more disk space,less memory (only 3gb) and it ****ing rocks (played COD4,Company of Heroes and Silent Hunter 4) and they looked soooo nice.

Dracoro

Did you test run it? What was it like running Vista, office, IE/Firefox etc...?

Which graphics card did he get?

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

I've asked him to send me his exact spec and software that he's running.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Hi, I've just bought an XPS420 with E8400 Core2duo n Nvidia 8800GT base, and well it's feckin awesome. I only paid £480 for it off ebay, brand new sealed in box, 1yr onsite warranty. Exact same spec from Dell is over £700. It was from a guy who obv has trade dealings with Dell. Performance is sweet, 5.6 Windows index in Vista, max achievable is 5.9, runs really smooth in Vista and Office 2K7 (I have enterprise). Any game I've thrown at it runs no probs on max details, bar Crysis obviously, which it still runs very well on high. It really is a nice piece of kit. So your spec will be very similar n give u an advantage in video editing. A grand seems alot to pay though. I would wait for similar specs on ebay n take a punt, like I did

Dracoro

Cheers, how long does the pc take to boot up?

How long does stuff like iTunes, office take to load up?

Will look on eBay but understandably nervous about spending that sort cash through eBay, happy to buy little things but not part with large amounts.

btw, did you get a monitor in the deal? I'm after the Ultrasharp with the built in USB ports etc.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Bootup not sure havent actually timed it, approx 30-40s from switch on to Vista login.

iTunes - 2s, Office2k7 e.g Excel - 3s, 1-2s once in RAM.

No, I already have a 19" LCD. The price I quoted from Dell is also without a monitor. If you're worried about USB ports the system has 10 already. 2 front, 6 rear and 2 internally

eBay isn't an issue just make sure you pick a good seller with rep to back it up. As a rule I never buy from anyone who even has neutral feedback. Common sense

Dracoro

Thanks.

I had a little search, no real savings to be made as most don't have the right spec (office basic and ultimate when buying from Dell are cheaper than buying it separately afterwards etc. as well).

I know the pc has loads of usb's but I like to have more accessible ones (i.e. on the monitor or keyboard etc.) as the machine will be well under my desk. OK, not a deal breaker by any means but if I can have it then I will have it!

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

I just built my own PC last weekend actually.

Intel Q6600 CPU (easily overclocked from 2400MHz to 3200Mhz)
Asus P5K-E Wi-Fi motherboard
4GB DDR2 memory
8800 GTS graphics card
Samsung 750Gb hard drive
Lian-Li PC-7B case

Cost not very much basically about £530.

Dracoro

What about once you add monitor (£250 for what I want), office basic (incl outlook), vista ultimate etc. I suspect the XPS is the best way (for me at least) to get everything in.

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

My mates machine spec

1.5 TB hardrive (2x 750 MB in Raid 0 config

3G Ram

Vista 32bit Premium

Quadcore 6600 processor (4x 2.4 Ghz)

Nividia 8800 GTX card

Sound blaster something 7.1 sound or 5.1 sound