Posted: 12/4/2005 2:24:45 AM EDT
|
I am thinking of getting a dell XPS for christmas and was wondering the difference between the Pent. D and Pent. 4. I know its the duel processors but has anyone had any experiance with them are they better, faster what? Thanks for the help |
|
Build one yourself, save about $400, and go with AMD-64. I built myself a computer in Feb2002 that was $1700 for the box and it is just now becoming the standard PC specs, except for the video card that they no longer make. (ATI Radeon 8500DVi All-in-Wonder 64mb, you now have to buy an AiW and a TV tuner, and I still dont think it comes with all the doodads this one did for $330) If you have a 19" monitor and a set of speakers, then you just saved about $500 right there. |
Agreed. Lately I've been buying parts from a local shop. It's kind of nice. I forgot how cool it was to have a local dude right down the street. My IT career started in a shop like that. |
Games mostly, I was looking at alienware until I found this one |
YOU LOOKED AT ALIENWARE AND NOW YOU'RE LOOKING AT A DELL??  Man, you've got that exactly backwards. You look at a Dell, and then when you realize what a compromise Dell is, you go to Alienware or Falcon Northwest Computers If their price is too rich for you than:
 Dell
|
|
Most games aren't programmed to take advantage of the dual core CPUs and a lot of them wouldn't run faster even if they were programmed to take advantage of them. I think it will be another ~2 years before having a dual core CPU yields any real benefit to the home desktop user. And everyone else is right about the value of a Dell XPS gaming system. The special value of Dell products went down the crapper years ago. They're just another mainstream pre-built PC vendor today. If you can field strip an AR15 then you should be able to build your own PC. I built my current rig for just over half of what it would've cost me to buy it as a complete pre-built system. And I got to use superior components because it was me choosing the parts, and not a bean-counting corporate suit. Check out these links: www.anandtech.com www.hardocp.com www.newegg.com I know learning how to build a PC is easier said than done, but if I can learn how to do it I think anyone on this board can learn how. Galland |
+1 Build it yourself, its not difficult, you will save a lot of money plus its a more quality built machine. I only build machines with AMD. Most important buy a quality mother board, I like ASUS. You can always IM or email and post questions here. |
You don't have to hide VooDoo3dfx, AMD makes a great chip. I think the problem all of us home builders have, is that the processors have increased in price exponentially since the year 2000. Top-of-the-line processors have always commanded a premium, but I'm seeing the seconds & thirds on the list with heavy price tarrifs also. I've been wanting to build a new system myself. I currently use a Pentium 4, 3.0Ghz. But when I look at a processor that is fast enough to justify a rebuild, the $$ of the proc seriously degrades the money I'd have for other components. Unfortunately, that is were the corporate system builders have an edge. They are getting more and bigger discounts than ever, so they are not being hurt by the processor premium like the retail processor buyer, who is being spanked by the $$ |
+1. Computer people generally are geeks with no business skills, so they won't rip you off, and most will sit down and honestly answer every question you can ask. most enjoy their work, and would like nothing better than to get you the best system for your needs. |
if you're looking at dual core chips, it makes sense b/c you're basically buying 2 processors. |
Not exactly . . . . Don't let the marketing schemers at AMD & Intel corrukpt your mind with propaganda! As of now, for multicore processors, AMD and Intel are using processor cores originally designed for single core chips, because that’s all they’ve got. Intel’s first dual-core processor, the Pentium EE, looks like a duct-tape job. Under pressure to match AMD’s multicore, Intel crammed two Prescott Pentium 4 cores on the chip & routed their communications through the external chipset. - - And we’re supposed to pay a premium for this?? I’ll agree to a slight $$ increase for a dual core chip, but since all multicore processors on the market are just siamese twined together, I don’t think it’s worth the extreme cost. When they have a newly engineered dual proc low power core with shared, on-chip cache, they can charge a premium price for that. |
I used these two + newegg and anandtech to help me build mine. The only thing I bought locally was the case, mouse and keyboard. The last two came from Worst Buy. www.mwave.com www.pricewatch.com |
|
jmboom, Do yourself a favor and do not get raped by dell or alienware, these companies are ripping people off everyday. You can build a superior system very easily for almost half of what dell and alienware is charging. Do some research online. Newegg has the best prices on parts. Seriously you get a better warranty through the manufacturers of the individual parts than what dell or alienware supplies. All you need is a case, motherboard, processor, video card, sound card, power supply, and memory and your good to go. And you can buy your monitor from dell becuase they have the best prices on those seperatly if you use a coupon code off the internet. Seriously, tons of people will help you out, check out guru3d.com for tons of info and help on building your own. Its not that hard. You can build a complete top-of-the-line awesome gaming system with monitor and mouse etc. for $2700-3300. Versus 6000 for an alienware comparable. Use the savings to buy yourself an new rifle. Oh, by the way, for gaming you need to go AMD, it blows P4 away |
Thanks guys, I believe I am going to hold off and look into this a little better. |