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Originally Posted by Ballzor
So im tired of my pos dell inspiron laptop and want to upgrade to something thats going to be able to handle all of the things I do with my computer. So I'm a huge fan of Dell just because of the service I've had with their technical support (they actually answered my call in less than 2 hours and rebuilt my laptop after I fried it), and I'm looking to get a dell xps tower. I play a lot of games on my computer and I want to get a system thats going to 1. be upgradable, 2. last longer than 2 years before I have to worry about upgrading. I've done some research and this is the system i think is within my price range:
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If you buy this PC from dell, you won't have to upgrade for 3 years at least.
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Originally Posted by Ballzor
-XPS 720
-Intel core 2 duo 2400-2900 (Is the quad-core worth it? does it have any advantages/disadvantages?, also is the core 2 extreme worth buying? I mean I can overclock the system myself but probably not as well as dell, anyone have any experience with this?)
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I would buy the Core 2 Duo E6850. Quad-Cores sound cool and perform well in most tests, but in gaming, the 6850 breezes past in many cases. You don't want to get into overclocking if you're a gamer, especially with a Dell.
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Originally Posted by Ballzor
- Windows Vista (I dont want to start a whole discussion thread about vista but for gaming how does this OS work. I know you need vista to recognize all 4 GB of ram but again is that worth it?)
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Buy Windows XP, not Vista. Vista won't recognize the 4 GB of RAM unless you get the 64-bit version. XP won't either but you might as well buy the OS that is completely optimized for gaming (XP). Vista will make games run about 20-30% worse than they should due to drivers not being perfect for it yet.
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Originally Posted by Ballzor
-nVidia GeForce 8600-8800 ?mb (this is the thing that I know the least about. Is it worth it to shell out a whole grand for the 8800, a few years ago I bought the top of the line ATI card but neglected my processor and it made little difference, also what difference does 256/768 MB make?)
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Since Dell doesn't let you choose the 8800 GTS, I'd go for the 768 MB 8800 GTX. DO NOT buy the 8800 Ultra or the 8600 GTS. <B>8800 GTX 768 MB</B> is what you're looking for.
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Originally Posted by Ballzor
now the main issue is the price. I know if i bought this system direct from dell with all the best components I would be looking at a 3000-4000 dollar system, but ebay and delloutlet have systems with most of these components ranging from 1700-2400. I know the risk of buying a system off of ebay, but how about delloutlet, anyone have any experience with this website? Also does anyone know of a better website or store to get a system with these specifications at discount?
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Yes, you will be paying a MASSIVE markup for buying it through Dell. You could order the same PC on NewEgg.com unassembled for less than $2,000 (probably closer to $1,500). What you do get from Dell is tech support if it randomly blue screens, tech support if the hardware fails, a preassembled PC that is ready to play when it gets there, etc. In some cases it's worth it. If you like building PCs, I'd order it yourself.