I have been looking at a new computer, but don't really have a huge knowledge of individual parts!
My friend made one for me on a shopping cart and sent me the list, he also said he could build it for me for free :)
http://twinrova.co.uk/computer.png
I've also looked at this dell one,
http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/gaming_great_deals/fs.aspx?refid=gaming_great_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1
and it was this one on that page!
Dell Studio XPS 8100
Exceptional performance thanks to the Intel Core i7 processor and strong nVidia graphics!
Both of them are more or less the same price but which is the better PC?
THANKS :)
PC
Platform »
The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.
Which is the better spec computer?
From a rather cursory look the Dell looks better, but it's also around $300 more.. I'm sure you can get better performance if you put that money into the custom rig. You might also consider shopping around; I'm not sure the best places in the UK for PC parts, but stateside most people use newegg or mwave.
this is a double edged sword, I recently offered to build my sisters new gaming rig with I7 etc but she settled on the studio xps and i gotta admit after setting it up for her and quickly cracking on crysis it's a pretty solid machine, xps service line has always worked fantastic for me if I've ever had problems with a previous machine I owned. Of course it's upgradable too and the link for the dell didn't show all the options you customised before your buy if it's the baseline machine upgrade that 240gs and you should be good to game..
" The second one, by far. I'd stay away from ATI video cards, really. Nvidia has been ahead for a while now. Plus, you know, the second one has 2TB of space. "Not really, in terms of power the most powerful Nvidia card does beat the most powerful ATI card, but there's no actual need for so much power. Nvidia cards also run louder, require more power and are more expensive. ATI's 5000X series is by far the superior line of cards. I would say that the 5870 is overall the best card on the market.
Massive hard drive, lots of RAM, good graphics card. I'd say go for it.
For general processing, the second one for the i7 860.
" The second one, by far. I'd stay away from ATI video cards, really. Nvidia has been ahead for a while now. Plus, you know, the second one has 2TB of space. "That's not true at all, and this is coming from an NVIDIA fan boy.
Also the Dell is the better machine if priced at only 800euros (??) compared to the other at nearly the same price. However i'd upgrade the graphics card, and i'd do it myself and not go with the 5770 or 260 that dell has for options.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410.html
" @newfound: off the top of my head the I5 are just standard quad core but the I7's are quads with true hyperthreading meaning 8 logical cores as oppsed to 4 so for encoding editing etc the I7 is the way to go for sure (don't quote me on that though) , also noticed on the one your mate offered to build there was no OS so unless you have one thats an extra 100+ off the bat. In my case with my sister the deciding factor was that she got a discount off the dell. this is a fairly meaty article giving a rundown of the I series cpu's http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410.html "It's 4 physical cores and 8 logical threads for the i7 (2 per core when HT is turned on), but 4 threads/cores for the i5.
Difference between i5 and i7 is minimal in gaming, but more pronounced in other processor-hungry applications.
The one your friend cooked up is overall better, and the difference of an i5 to an i7 is minimal at best.
I thought it was something like that it's been awhile since I read up on them as I have no job right now and i wanna upgrade my current q6600 system to an I7 860 it makes me sad everytime I look at them, only game i've seen that recommends an I7 is empire total war and it's the sole reason I want one too as after 150+ turns on a standard quad the a.i turns can take 2-5mins to complete.......not really fun spending that much time doing jack but your right. also cant the I series cores communicate with each other at a cpu to cpu level so they can spread the loads out between themselves? very handy if you run multiple monitors with multiple apps.
Cheers guys for all the input for me I think I am going to go for the dell with an upgraded Graphics card!
And like george said I'd have to be getting myself an OS system etc
Also I may get a new monitor and I think if I go with the dell they can throw it in as part of a deal!
Cheers for the help guys!
" @DCFGS3: I've been stuck with a 4870 for a while, so maybe the 5xxx series has improved dramatically? ATI support for DXVA is utter crap, and generally if you run into any strange graphics issues playing games it's because of shoddy ATI drivers. Their openGL support is better, but the list of issues ATI cards have with DirectX games (especially some older ones) is insurmountable. "I've had a 5770 for a while and it's been great
Or you can get your friends build and get a i7 instead of an i5. You can at least overclock it, not sure if you can with a dell. Dells are usually overly expensive, however at least their monitors are usually quite good.
" @DCFGS3: I've been stuck with a 4870 for a while, so maybe the 5xxx series has improved dramatically? ATI support for DXVA is utter crap, and generally if you run into any strange graphics issues playing games it's because of shoddy ATI drivers. Their openGL support is better, but the list of issues ATI cards have with DirectX games (especially some older ones) is insurmountable. "Maybe your graphical issues are from something else? I've yet to have issues with any of my ATI products, whether it be my two 5770s or my old X1950 Pro. None of them have ever given me a problem nor have the drivers. I would hesitate to recommend the new Nvidia cards right now because though they are more powerful, they turn your PC into a space heater and eat power like nobody's business. Maybe I could recommend the 465, but definitely not the 480 or 470.
One point I refuse to concede, however, is ATI's horrible, horrible DXVA support. Playing 1080P+ video on a PC with a mid-tier processor is nearly impossible on an ATI card. On Nvidia's end, however, their drivers will automate the entire process and reduce CPU drain immensely, offloading most of the processing to the GPU. ATI forces you to jump through hoops and in the end, it may not even work properly, while Nvidia's technology (while actually slightly inferior when it comes to processing) is compatible with pretty much every video ever encoded. This means that, for whatever reason, my 8800GTS is leagues above my significantly newer ATI card when it comes to watching HD video.
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