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(03-03-2012, 06:47 AM)-Magi Wrote: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.asp...ngItemName
If I did it right maybe the link above will take you to the latest offer I received from Costso. I wanted to compare what Costco has to what Dell offers and I get confused. So - I will keep it simple .... does this one look like a good deal? Anyone want to check out Dell's offerings and see if there is something better at that price or even up to $200 more. I have monitors...quite a few. They are not wide screen, but I am assuming that I can use the ones I have now and upgrade more later. I am pretty sure that my sound system has 6 speakers and guess that would work with this.
Any reviewers and advisors? Thanks!
That machine will be miles better than the specs of the machine that you had from 2005. Even the video card is better. If you don't make any changes, then the 460W power supply will be fine. Any screens you have lying around from the 2005 ish days will work with no issues.
Yes - if you goose the video card to the Nvidia 560 or ATI 6850 or higher - you may well want to look at a 550W or higher power supply (I use a 550W Antec on a similar machine with 3 x 7200rpm drives and an ATI 6870 - runs fine).
Dell usually make quite acceptable gear. Costco are probably just being a reseller - there are box stores here in Australia that do the same.
HowGozit
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One thing to consider before buying a new video card for OEM built computers. The cases they use for their non-gaming machines are pretty small and even mid-range graphics cards are getting up there in size. I went through the hassle of trying to find a decent card that would fit into my old HP system and had to settle for a much weaker one.
I'd also recommend a much better PSU if you're going high end because you don't want your PSU running at full load pumping all that heat into a case that wasn't designed to handle it.
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(03-05-2012, 12:20 AM)Erigion Wrote: One thing to consider before buying a new video card for OEM built computers. The cases they use for their non-gaming machines are pretty small and even mid-range graphics cards are getting up there in size. I went through the hassle of trying to find a decent card that would fit into my old HP system and had to settle for a much weaker one.
The Dell XPS series are gaming machines. I'd be really shocked if their cases weren't designed to handle a high-end video card.
I just checked Google and it's at least big enough to accept a XFX radeon 6870, which is a decently large video card.
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(03-05-2012, 02:56 AM)DeeBye Wrote: (03-05-2012, 12:20 AM)Erigion Wrote: One thing to consider before buying a new video card for OEM built computers. The cases they use for their non-gaming machines are pretty small and even mid-range graphics cards are getting up there in size. I went through the hassle of trying to find a decent card that would fit into my old HP system and had to settle for a much weaker one.
The Dell XPS series are gaming machines. I'd be really shocked if their cases weren't designed to handle a high-end video card.
I just checked Google and it's at least big enough to accept a XFX radeon 6870, which is a decently large video card.
I thought Alienware was now the "gaming" line for Dell? But you're right if it can fit a Radeon 6870 you'll be able to put in pretty much anything but the highest of the high end card.
Also found the link from Google which includes an image of the innards of that thing and I'd be hard pressed to say that case was designed for high-end gaming. That is one ugly looking build.
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(03-05-2012, 03:09 AM)Erigion Wrote: I thought Alienware was now the "gaming" line for Dell? But you're right if it can fit a Radeon 6870 you'll be able to put in pretty much anything but the highest of the high end card.
Also found the link from Google which includes an image of the innards of that thing and I'd be hard pressed to say that case was designed for high-end gaming. That is one ugly looking build.
Not sure on the Alienware thing, but maybe I should have said that the XPS series are "performance machines" instead of "gaming machines". I think we can agree that a machine with an Intel i7 2600 and 16 GB RAM is a really good computer.
I also googled an image of the innards of a XPS 8300 case and I agree, it's ugly as sin. It looks okay on the outside though.
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I got mine from iBuyPower and I'm very happy with it.
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
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Thank you all for your help. <3 I just ordered this machine. I will let you know how it goes. It looks like it will take a couple weeks to get built, then it needs to get shipped. Hopefully I can get it before the end of the month. I am sure it will be better than what I am using.
The next step will be my attempt to hook it up! I did get to observe Pete doing this over the years, so hopefully enough of the what he shared and all the notes that he kept on each system will help me get it right. I think it should be pretty simple.
Thank you very much - again!
-Magi-
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(03-05-2012, 03:45 PM)-Magi Wrote: Thank you all for your help.
Keep us updated!
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Will do. Rignt now we are at the part wher it takes 12-15 days to get built. I will let you know when it ships so you can all share my anticipation!
-Magi
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Shipped! I should get it on Thursday. Then on to Phase 2 - geting it set up and working. This is almost like a game in itself! I am pretty excited. Thanks again for your help on selection. I still have a hard time believing some of the numbers! A 1 TB drive - 16 GB memory - those numbers seem so unreal!
If all goes well, next weekend I will be up and playing on the new machine.
-Magi-
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Got the computer! Now to get it set up and working. I should be ready for May 15!
-Magi-
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(03-15-2012, 03:07 PM)-Magi Wrote: Got the computer! Now to get it set up and working. I should be ready for May 15!
-Magi-
I am so happy for you! There is just nothing like new toy day!
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Well, I got it hooked up and working! Even played WoW on Saturday. Every now and then I suddendly find myself looking at the desktoop instead of the game...but I get back to the game screen real fast. I think I am adjusting to the new keyboard and hitting the windows key, but maybe not!
What the heck am I going to do with a 1TB drive? I bet you all have good ideas on that.
Don't laugh at me, but I needed to get one of those usb drives with at least 8 GB free on it to make into a recovery drive to restore the system. So, went to the store and bought one that said it was 8 GB. I plugged it in and it did not have enough space! I deleted the 3 files that came on it...still not enough space. Do all 8 GB drives only have 7.XX GB on them? I felt like I should have known that. Anynow...got a bigger one today. 16 GB was the next size up so it should have lots of room.
You get a whole different type of computer updates from me!
Happy playing everyone!
-Magi-
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(03-20-2012, 03:18 AM)-Magi Wrote: Don't laugh at me, but I needed to get one of those usb drives with at least 8 GB free on it to make into a recovery drive to restore the system. So, went to the store and bought one that said it was 8 GB. I plugged it in and it did not have enough space! I deleted the 3 files that came on it...still not enough space. Do all 8 GB drives only have 7.XX GB on them? I felt like I should have known that. Anynow...got a bigger one today. 16 GB was the next size up so it should have lots of room. Yes. In general, storage manufacturers report the potential un-formatted space on the drive. Once you format the drive and install the Operating System structures, the space available for the "Logical Drive" portion will be a bit less than the advertised amount.
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
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(03-20-2012, 03:18 AM)-Magi Wrote: Do all 8 GB drives only have 7.XX GB on them?
both same page: Inconsistent_use_of_units, Flash_drives. Does this match the missing capacity?
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03-20-2012, 08:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-20-2012, 08:27 PM by Taelas.)
Spelunker's right. The disconnect is because of 1 kilobyte being 1024 bytes (and 1 megabyte being 1024 kilobytes, and so on) in operating systems--they work in binary, which is a 2-base system (1024 being 2^10), while the manufacturers tend to use the prefixes as meaning multiples of 1,000 bytes (so 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes, etc.). For instance, my 1TB drive actually has 931 gigabytes. If I open the properties, it has a line saying: "Capacity: 1,000,194,015,232 bytes 931 GB". It is confusing for the consumers, but that's how it's always been. Most just accept that drives tend to have less than what is advertised, but if you aren't aware of the discrepancy beforehand, you can end up in situations like yours.
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