View Single Post - Need PROFESSIONAL help on buying a new computer.

audiobahn1000 · 08-21-2006, 05:58 PM

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST CAREFULLY! Please do not post if you are not going to read the whole post. I cant afford any errors.

Currently I have a Dell Dimension B110. The graphics card does not support many games and there are no PCI slots like I thought there were so its useless. So I am thinking of upgrading to either Dell's top of the line mid level computer or their middle of the line high end computer (XPS).

I asked someone else on a different forum if the current computer I have will work for gaming and I was told yes. Well obviously he was wrong. So please, if you are not a professional DO NOT REPLY to this thread. I do not want to loose another $400 because I made the wrong choice.

I will be using this computer for some medium level gaming and Internet surfing.

Here are the two choices I was looking at.

Dimension E510:

Pentium® D Processor 805 with Dual Core Technology (2.66GHz, 533FSB)
OR
Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB)
FOR AN ADDATIONAL $50

-XP Media Center
-1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x512M)
-80GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ 8MB cache
-16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
-19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel
128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory
OR
[color=red]256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory[COLOR]
FOR AN ADDATIONAL $40

-Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio Sigmatel STAC9220
OR
Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition
FOR AN ADDATIONAL $25
-310 watt PSU

Total base cost without any upgrades $679

System option 2:

Dell XPS 400

-Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB)
OR
Pentium® D Processor 915 w/Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz,800FSB)
FOR AN ADDATIONAL $30

-XP home media center 2005
-1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
-250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ 8MB cache
-16x DVD+/-RW with double layer write capability
-19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel
-128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory
OR
256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
FOR AN ADDATIONAL $40
-Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
OR
-Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition
FOR AN ADDATIONAL $25
-375 watt PSU

TOTAL WITHOUT ANY UPGRADES $870

So what should I do. I dont want to go with the more expensive one if I dont have to but if its required then so be it. I dont want to have to to upgade again in a year.

PLEASE check that the video card it comes with is compatable with current games. I also need to know what upgrade are required for gameing. PLEASE check that the audio card it comes with is fine for gameing. Its an intergrated card. Also I need to know if the porcessors that it comes with is ok or what not.

Once again please DO NOT reply if you are not a professional. I cant afford to make this mestake again.

Here are the DETAILED specifications for each computer:

E510:

Level 1 (L1) cache
16 KB

Level 2 (L2) cache
1 MB for Pentium 5XXX processors

2 MB for Pentium 6XXX processors

(depending on your computer configuration) pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM

Memory

Type
400-MHz and 533-MHz DDR2 unbuffered SDRAM

Memory connectors
four

Memory capacities
256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB non-ECC

Maximum memory
4 GB

NOTE: See "Addressing Memory With 4-GB Configurations" to verify the amount of memory available to the operating system.

BIOS address
F0000h

Computer Information

Chipset
Intel 945G Express

RAID Support
RAID 1 (Mirroring)

DMA channels
eight

Interrupt levels
24

BIOS chip (NVRAM)
4 Mb

NIC
Integrated network interface capable of 10/100 communication

System clock
800- or 1066-MHz data rate

Video

Type
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (GMA950)

Audio

Type
Sigmatel STAC9220

Expansion Bus

Bus type
PCI 2.3
PCI Express x1 and x16

Bus speed
PCI: 33 MHz

PCI Express:

x1 slot bidirectional speed - 500 MB/s

x16 slot bidirectional speed - 8 GB/s

PCI

connectors
two

connector size
120 pins

connector data width (maximum)
32 bits

PCI Express

connector
one x1

connector size
36 pins

connector data width (maximum)
1 PCI Express lane

PCI Express

connector
one x16

connector size
164 pins

connector data width (maximum)
16 PCI Express lanes

Drives

Externally accessible:

one 3.5-inch FlexBay (may contain an optional floppy drive or an optional Media Card Reader)

two 5.25-inch drive bays

Available devices
Serial ATA drives (2), floppy drive, USB memory devices, CD drive, CD-RW drive, DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, DVD and CD-RW combo drive, and Media Card Reader

Internally accessible:
two bays for 1-inch high serial ATA hard drives

Connectors

External connectors:

Video
15-hole connector

Network adapter
RJ-45 connector

USB
two front-panel and five back-panel USB 2.0-compliant connectors

Audio
five connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone/ side-surround, surround, and center/subwoofer connector (LFE channel); two front-panel connectors for headphones and microphone

System board connectors:

Primary IDE drive
one 40-pin connector

Serial ATA
two 7-pin connectors

FlexBay Drive
one USB 10-pin header for optional Media Card Reader (3.5-inch bay device)

Floppy drive
one 33-pin connector

Fan
one 5-pin connector

PCI 2.3
two 120-pin connectors

PCI Express x1
one 36-pin connector

PCI Express x16
one 164-pin connector

Controls and Lights

Power button
push button

Power light
green light — Blinking green in sleep state; solid green for power-on state.

amber light — Blinking amber indicates a problem with the power supply inside the computer. If the system cannot boot and there is a solid amber light, this indicates a problem with the system board (see "Power Problems" in your computer Owner's Manual).

Hard-drive access light
green

Link integrity light (on integrated network adapter)
green light — A good connection exists between a 10-Mbps network and the computer.

orange light — A good connection exists between a 100-Mbps network and the computer.

off (no light) — The computer is not detecting a physical connection to the network.

Activity light (on integrated network adapter)
yellow blinking light

Diagnostic lights
four lights on the front panel (see "Diagnostic Lights")

Standby power light
AUX_PWR on the system board

Power

DC power supply:

Wattage
305 W

Heat dissipation
1039 BTU/hr

Voltage (see the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide for important voltage setting information)
90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz

Backup battery
3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell

Physical

Height
41.1 cm (16.2 inches)

Width
18.8 cm (7.4 inches)

Depth
43.9 cm (17.3 inches)

Weight
14.3 kg (31.4 lb)

XPS500:

Cache
2 MB

Memory

Type
dual-channel 533- and 667-MHz DDR2

Memory connectors
four

Memory capacities
256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB

Minimum memory
512 MB

Maximum memory
4 GB

BIOS address
F0000h

Computer Information

Chipset
Intel 945P

DMA channels
eight

Interrupt levels
24

BIOS chip (NVRAM)
4 Mb

NIC
integrated-network interface capable of 10/100/1000-Mbps communication

System clock
800- or 1066-MHz data rate

Video

Type
PCI Express

Audio

Type
internal 7.1 channel or PCI option cards

Expansion Bus

Bus type
PCI 32 bit
PCI Express x1, x4, and x16

Bus speed
PCI 33 MHz

PCI Express 100 MHz

Bus throughput
PCI Express:

x1 slot bidirectional speed — 500 MB/s

x4 slot bidirectional speed — 2 GB/s

x16 slot bidirectional speed — 8 GB/s

PCI

connectors
three

connector size
120 pins

connector data width (maximum)
32 bits

PCI Express

connector
one x1

connector size
36 pins

connector data width (maximum)
1 PCI Express lane

PCI Express

connector
one x4

connector size
98 pins

connector data width (maximum)
4 PCI Express lanes

PCI Express

connector
one x16

connector size
164 pins

connector data width (maximum)
16 PCI Express lanes

Drives

Externally accessible:

two 3.5-inch drive bays (FlexBay)

two 5.25-inch drive bays

Available devices
serial ATA drives (2), floppy drive, USB memory devices, CD drive, CD-RW drive, DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, Media Card Reader, and DVD/CD-RW combo drive

Internally accessible:
two 3.5-inch hard-drive bays

Connectors

External connectors:

IEEE 1394
one front-panel 6-pin serial connector (with optional card)

Video
15-pin VGA connector

28-pin DVI connector

Network adapter
RJ-45 connector

USB
two front-panel and five back-panel USB 2.0-compliant connectors

Audio
five back-panel connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone, surround, and center/Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel; two front-panel connectors for headphones/microphone

System board connectors:

Primary IDE drive
40-pin connector

Serial ATA
four 7-pin connectors

FlexBay Drive
USB 10-pin header for optional floppy drive or optional Media Card Reader (3.5-inch bay devices)

Fan
two 3-pin and one 5-pin connector

PCI
three 120-pin connectors

PCI Express x1
36-pin connector

PCI Express x4
98-pin connector

PCI Express x16
164-pin connector

Controls and Lights

Power control
push button

Power light
green light — Blinking green in sleep state; solid green for power-on state.

amber light — Blinking amber indicates a problem with the power supply inside the computer. If the system cannot boot and there is a solid amber light, this indicates a problem with the system board (see "Power Lights").

Hard-drive access light
green

Link integrity light (on integrated network adapter)
green light — A good connection exists between a 10-Mbps network and the computer.

orange light — A good connection exists between a 100-Mbps network and the computer.

off (no light) — The computer is not detecting a physical connection to the network.

Activity light (on integrated network adapter)
yellow light — Blinking indicates activity on the network.

Diagnostic lights
four lights on the front panel (see "Diagnostic Lights")

Standby power light
AUXPWR on the system board

Power

DC power supply:

Wattage
375 W

Heat dissipation
1280 BTU/hr

Voltage (See the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide for important voltage setting information.)
90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz

Backup battery
3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell

Physical

Height
46.48 cm (18.3 inches)

Width
18.54 cm (7.3 inches)

Depth
45.42 cm (17.88 inches)

Weight
15.4 kg (34 lb)

08-21-2006, 05:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
audiobahn1000 Gold Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 430	Need PROFESSIONAL help on buying a new computer. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST CAREFULLY! Please do not post if you are not going to read the whole post. I cant afford any errors. Currently I have a Dell Dimension B110. The graphics card does not support many games and there are no PCI slots like I thought there were so its useless. So I am thinking of upgrading to either Dell's top of the line mid level computer or their middle of the line high end computer (XPS). I asked someone else on a different forum if the current computer I have will work for gaming and I was told yes. Well obviously he was wrong. So please, if you are not a professional DO NOT REPLY to this thread. I do not want to loose another $400 because I made the wrong choice. I will be using this computer for some medium level gaming and Internet surfing. Here are the two choices I was looking at. Dimension E510: Pentium® D Processor 805 with Dual Core Technology (2.66GHz, 533FSB) OR Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB) FOR AN ADDATIONAL $50 -XP Media Center -1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x512M) -80GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ 8MB cache -16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability -19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel 128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory OR [color=red]256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory[COLOR] FOR AN ADDATIONAL $40 -Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio Sigmatel STAC9220 OR Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition FOR AN ADDATIONAL $25 -310 watt PSU Total base cost without any upgrades $679 System option 2: Dell XPS 400 -Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB) OR Pentium® D Processor 915 w/Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz,800FSB) FOR AN ADDATIONAL $30 -XP home media center 2005 -1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs -250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ 8MB cache -16x DVD+/-RW with double layer write capability -19 inch E196FP Analog Flat Panel -128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory OR 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache FOR AN ADDATIONAL $40 -Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio OR -Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition FOR AN ADDATIONAL $25 -375 watt PSU TOTAL WITHOUT ANY UPGRADES $870 So what should I do. I dont want to go with the more expensive one if I dont have to but if its required then so be it. I dont want to have to to upgade again in a year. PLEASE check that the video card it comes with is compatable with current games. I also need to know what upgrade are required for gameing. PLEASE check that the audio card it comes with is fine for gameing. Its an intergrated card. Also I need to know if the porcessors that it comes with is ok or what not. Once again please DO NOT reply if you are not a professional. I cant afford to make this mestake again. Here are the DETAILED specifications for each computer: E510: Level 1 (L1) cache 16 KB Level 2 (L2) cache 1 MB for Pentium 5XXX processors 2 MB for Pentium 6XXX processors (depending on your computer configuration) pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM Memory Type 400-MHz and 533-MHz DDR2 unbuffered SDRAM Memory connectors four Memory capacities 256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB non-ECC Maximum memory 4 GB NOTE: See "Addressing Memory With 4-GB Configurations" to verify the amount of memory available to the operating system. BIOS address F0000h Computer Information Chipset Intel 945G Express RAID Support RAID 1 (Mirroring) DMA channels eight Interrupt levels 24 BIOS chip (NVRAM) 4 Mb NIC Integrated network interface capable of 10/100 communication System clock 800- or 1066-MHz data rate Video Type Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (GMA950) Audio Type Sigmatel STAC9220 Expansion Bus Bus type PCI 2.3 PCI Express x1 and x16 Bus speed PCI: 33 MHz PCI Express: x1 slot bidirectional speed - 500 MB/s x16 slot bidirectional speed - 8 GB/s PCI connectors two connector size 120 pins connector data width (maximum) 32 bits PCI Express connector one x1 connector size 36 pins connector data width (maximum) 1 PCI Express lane PCI Express connector one x16 connector size 164 pins connector data width (maximum) 16 PCI Express lanes Drives Externally accessible: one 3.5-inch FlexBay (may contain an optional floppy drive or an optional Media Card Reader) two 5.25-inch drive bays Available devices Serial ATA drives (2), floppy drive, USB memory devices, CD drive, CD-RW drive, DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, DVD and CD-RW combo drive, and Media Card Reader Internally accessible: two bays for 1-inch high serial ATA hard drives Connectors External connectors: Video 15-hole connector Network adapter RJ-45 connector USB two front-panel and five back-panel USB 2.0-compliant connectors Audio five connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone/ side-surround, surround, and center/subwoofer connector (LFE channel); two front-panel connectors for headphones and microphone System board connectors: Primary IDE drive one 40-pin connector Serial ATA two 7-pin connectors FlexBay Drive one USB 10-pin header for optional Media Card Reader (3.5-inch bay device) Floppy drive one 33-pin connector Fan one 5-pin connector PCI 2.3 two 120-pin connectors PCI Express x1 one 36-pin connector PCI Express x16 one 164-pin connector Controls and Lights Power button push button Power light green light — Blinking green in sleep state; solid green for power-on state. amber light — Blinking amber indicates a problem with the power supply inside the computer. If the system cannot boot and there is a solid amber light, this indicates a problem with the system board (see "Power Problems" in your computer Owner's Manual). Hard-drive access light green Link integrity light (on integrated network adapter) green light — A good connection exists between a 10-Mbps network and the computer. orange light — A good connection exists between a 100-Mbps network and the computer. off (no light) — The computer is not detecting a physical connection to the network. Activity light (on integrated network adapter) yellow blinking light Diagnostic lights four lights on the front panel (see "Diagnostic Lights") Standby power light AUX_PWR on the system board Power DC power supply: Wattage 305 W Heat dissipation 1039 BTU/hr Voltage (see the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide for important voltage setting information) 90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz Backup battery 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell Physical Height 41.1 cm (16.2 inches) Width 18.8 cm (7.4 inches) Depth 43.9 cm (17.3 inches) Weight 14.3 kg (31.4 lb) XPS500: Cache 2 MB Memory Type dual-channel 533- and 667-MHz DDR2 Memory connectors four Memory capacities 256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB Minimum memory 512 MB Maximum memory 4 GB BIOS address F0000h Computer Information Chipset Intel 945P DMA channels eight Interrupt levels 24 BIOS chip (NVRAM) 4 Mb NIC integrated-network interface capable of 10/100/1000-Mbps communication System clock 800- or 1066-MHz data rate Video Type PCI Express Audio Type internal 7.1 channel or PCI option cards Expansion Bus Bus type PCI 32 bit PCI Express x1, x4, and x16 Bus speed PCI 33 MHz PCI Express 100 MHz Bus throughput PCI Express: x1 slot bidirectional speed — 500 MB/s x4 slot bidirectional speed — 2 GB/s x16 slot bidirectional speed — 8 GB/s PCI connectors three connector size 120 pins connector data width (maximum) 32 bits PCI Express connector one x1 connector size 36 pins connector data width (maximum) 1 PCI Express lane PCI Express connector one x4 connector size 98 pins connector data width (maximum) 4 PCI Express lanes PCI Express connector one x16 connector size 164 pins connector data width (maximum) 16 PCI Express lanes Drives Externally accessible: two 3.5-inch drive bays (FlexBay) two 5.25-inch drive bays Available devices serial ATA drives (2), floppy drive, USB memory devices, CD drive, CD-RW drive, DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, Media Card Reader, and DVD/CD-RW combo drive Internally accessible: two 3.5-inch hard-drive bays Connectors External connectors: IEEE 1394 one front-panel 6-pin serial connector (with optional card) Video 15-pin VGA connector 28-pin DVI connector Network adapter RJ-45 connector USB two front-panel and five back-panel USB 2.0-compliant connectors Audio five back-panel connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone, surround, and center/Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel; two front-panel connectors for headphones/microphone System board connectors: Primary IDE drive 40-pin connector Serial ATA four 7-pin connectors FlexBay Drive USB 10-pin header for optional floppy drive or optional Media Card Reader (3.5-inch bay devices) Fan two 3-pin and one 5-pin connector PCI three 120-pin connectors PCI Express x1 36-pin connector PCI Express x4 98-pin connector PCI Express x16 164-pin connector Controls and Lights Power control push button Power light green light — Blinking green in sleep state; solid green for power-on state. amber light — Blinking amber indicates a problem with the power supply inside the computer. If the system cannot boot and there is a solid amber light, this indicates a problem with the system board (see "Power Lights"). Hard-drive access light green Link integrity light (on integrated network adapter) green light — A good connection exists between a 10-Mbps network and the computer. orange light — A good connection exists between a 100-Mbps network and the computer. off (no light) — The computer is not detecting a physical connection to the network. Activity light (on integrated network adapter) yellow light — Blinking indicates activity on the network. Diagnostic lights four lights on the front panel (see "Diagnostic Lights") Standby power light AUXPWR on the system board Power DC power supply: Wattage 375 W Heat dissipation 1280 BTU/hr Voltage (See the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide for important voltage setting information.) 90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz Backup battery 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell Physical Height 46.48 cm (18.3 inches) Width 18.54 cm (7.3 inches) Depth 45.42 cm (17.88 inches) Weight 15.4 kg (34 lb)